Archive for August, 2009
Selling Yourself | Not your Opportunity
Are you trying too hard? Do you find yourself grasping for that next sale or customer?
That may be the biggest mistake you can make in trying to increase your sales volume or attract customers. People are very wary nowadays, specially in this economy. They want their dollars to provide them something of value, something that they can say – ‘hey – I got my money’s worth from that business’.
If you are selling and promoting your opportunity or product without first selling yourself – then people whom are not familiar with who you are are not going to be that willing to open their pocketbooks and shell out their hard earned dollars. First promote yourself, promote from your heart, offer a solution too what people are needing a fix for. Show people what you stand for, provide them honest and concise information, give them value | Not value from your business or product side – but value from a human side.
Some websites and business systems are so automated that you sometimes get the feeling you are working with or for a robot:
“Prospects enter here. Input info here. Wait for email and follow instructions. Give me money and I will make you rich”.
To an extent automation is good but there still should be a human side – A side with some emotion and feeling.
I would rather deal with a business that has a human brain behind it rather than an automated program that filters everything coming in and going out. I want to know that there is somebody I can call or contact to get help or information from when needed.
If you sell and promote yourself – I feel you show a more open side of you and your business opportunity.
People may or may not like you depending on your personality – but wouldn’t you rather have people that like you and know a little bit about you – working with you?
So if you are going to sell – sell the person not the business. Sell the human element – not the automation.
Make business about people and not the money.
Determine Your Specialty
It’s common knowledge that the U.S. economy is beginning to rebound, and that positive development has benefited other markets in the Western world. Entrepreneurs who were once reluctant to test the waters are now taking the crucial steps to launch a fledgling business. There are plenty of ways to make money online, and many people are lured away from the daily grind of a 9 to 5 job in the hope of succeeding elsewhere.
Not all online ventures are successful, of course, so a bit of market research will improve your chances of investing in the right enterprise. Bear in mind that specialized products and services are infinitely more marketable than those that can be sold cheaper and more efficiently by a big box store or an online giant. As an entrepreneur, you should limit your focus to a small selection of specialized products that target a given niche.
Brand yourself with Passion!
You may wonder what this “personal branding” talk is all about and how it affects you. It actually affects everyone who is running their own business because it is an integral part of the overall marketing effort. What every marketer aims for is mindshare on the part of their targeted market, and mindshare is created with repetition and with presenting oneself in a unique fashion. The ultimate goal is to become well-known and trusted among your customers and potential customers so that it creates viral marketing momentum.
Consumer products companies have known this for more than 100 years, and the best of them are still around today – Ford, General Electric, RCA, Coca-Cola, John Deere, Johnson & Johnson, 3M, to name just a few. There is great brand loyalty, especially among the lower socio-economic classes, and internet marketers know how valuable their brands are to their bottom line.
Just like everything else in marketing that is connected with building trust, it’s a long-term process. You must prove over and over again that you deserve your customers’ trust. Personal honesty is the best way to build a brand. When you decide on a business that resonates with your inner needs – a business that you feel truly passionate about – building your personal brand will be much easier. Consumers are swamped with hype these days, and they are sick and tired of it. Above everything else, your brand must be believable in order to convince. So make sure that your messages come from the heart, show your passion, and truly connect with your market.
Think carefully about what type of business you start. If you have professional expertise that you gained as an employee, and you are considering marketing your expertise as a consultant, make sure that it is something that you have always enjoyed doing. If not, look for something else that resonates with who you are as a person and will give you plenty of personal satisfaction. You will be working very hard as an entrepreneur – probably harder and longer than you ever did – make it something enjoyable!
Basic Principles of Social Media Management for Business
Follow Val on Twitter
Admittedly building your brand on social networks like Twitter and Facebook takes far less responsibility than ruling the free world would, but the principles of hard work and sacrifice are not only applicable, but highly recommended when approaching the work each day.
The easiest thing your social media manger could do is click the add friend button on Facebook to random members all day long, this also happens to be about the worst thing they could do. Instead, using Facebook as an example, one would first look to immediate connections such as family, friends, and business partners to add as friends on the account. The search feature on the website will be key in identifying these people, either through name searches, inbox synchronization, or browsing existing company networks. Once the low hanging fruit has been thoroughly plucked, it’s time to look for influential figures in your business field.
Some would argue what really matters on social networks is to engage with as many potential clients as possible, but truth be told another contingent deserves as much attention, the professional leaders of your industry. Just as you’d gain near instant credibility if you showed up at a political fundraiser with the mayor of your city, so would the brand on social media properties that interacts with their leaders of industry. In other words, leverage the success of others in your industry as a way of showing potential clients these powerful people endorse your brand.
Resisting the temptation to ignore the technological complexities of these networks is another way some businesses seem to build cult like followings online. Simply put, technology moves at breakneck speed, and in order for your company to fully utilize these networks it needs to be a student of these new technologies, regularly reading articles about effective tools for these networks. What is working for other companies? What is not? Believe it or not there is a lot of data already surfacing on best practices for companies on these networks, and it’s for the most part free to access.
With a pocketful of fresh research on these networks completed, look at the tools that can make these websites easier to navigate. Such tools are often called apps, or plug-ins, and they are the fuel that propels today’s top businesses online to levels of massive exposure.
In short, build a solid foundation on these networks by adding the right people, understanding the way they work, and investing time and resources in ongoing education and you’ll have a better shot than most to grow into a social media powerhouse.
Author: Clark Covingtin
For more information about Clark Covington and his innovative service visit socialmediamanagementservice.com
Article Source: articlealley.com/article_1029378_15.html
Tips for Building Wealth
There are a lot of different theories on how to build wealth; some work, and some don’t work. However, there are a few core principles to building wealth that people often neglect. First of all, in the world as it is now, credit is king. Having good credit goes a long way in making all major purchases. It’s also important to avoid stocks. While the stock market can be quite profitable for millionaire investors, for the person who doesn’t have a whole lot of money, stock market investments are risky and often have more risk versus reward. Instead of investing in stocks, invest in bonds which have more reliable interest rates. It’s also a good idea to maintain a bank savings account with a small amount of money added each month, even if it’s $20, just in case of emergencies.
When building wealth, a lot of people choose to do multiple jobs. In fact, having a primary and supplemental source of income is a trait many millionaires share. Having a full time job in addition to committing to a wealth system or side business is a great way to make extra cash.
Change your Life/Business with these 4 statements.
‘We all have ways of testing opportunities that enter our lives. Some of us dive right in based on feeling, others walk straight in to what we know is right by a gut feeling or intuition. And if it’s not gut feelings or emotions that are the tests of opportunities, it is the logical mind persuading us to ignore those feelings and emotions and test it with our reality of reason.
Do you have a predetermined strategy for testing opportunities, or even more generally to test the actions you take and the choices you make in your lives.
Consider the statement below:
“Of the things we say, think or do:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”
There is an easier way to determine if our choices we make and the opportunities we receive ‘pass the test’. The above statement of business ethics was first created in the 1930s and used to turn around a failing company. These four questions were applied by each employee to each and to every minute detail of the company’s workings. This little list of four questions from Rotary International, a humanitarian business organization, is the most widely printed, translated and reproduced piece of business ethics today:
Because of our societal influences, we most often are inclined to make choices and act based on a competitive mind. This comes from the perspective of lack, scarcity, and ultimately greed.
If we built businesses and our lives based on these simple 4 questions we would be coming from a place the opposite of the competitive mind and the lack mentality. As you can see, these questions prompt you to pick what is true, fair, and nice, making choices that can build friendships and goodwill. It helps us to see how the choices we make can be beneficial to all concerned.
The competitive model encourages people to rely on a source outside of themselves to give them what we require. This denies the power of their own ability to generate what we need. This narrow focus shows we are choosing to ignore the possibility of generating this opportunity in their own lives, instead of trying to win the spot from millions of others.
Any opportunity based on the model of competition will simply not pass the test. Competition promotes strife. It embodies winning. taking it away from all the other people who need it. It misleads people to believing there is only one chance for success, when in reality there is plenty for all. Do you want the whole pie or just a slice of it? Do you share or are you selfish?
I invite you to use these questions to test your actions and opportunities in your life. If you are seeking opportunity, these questions may help you see things in a different way. In doing this, perhaps you might find an opportunity in your life which truly allows you to benefit the world, while simultaneously reaching whatever your dreams, goals, and desires are.
This simple testing technique takes us out of the competitive mind of greed, scarcity and lack. It turns our thoughts and choices toward the positive, realizing there are opportunities we can take that can provide increase for all concerned.’
Advertising Online: Choose Wisely!
Are your pieces in place?
In order to increase your online business traffic, it requires appropriate advertising to make the business popular. As your online business is overcrowded into the world wide web along with thousands of others selling the same product or service as yourself. Search engines have the potential to deliver a deliver a steady flow of targeted traffic to your web-site. there’s 3 basic areas to consider for efficient use of your funds when it comes to getting traffic to your web-site.
1. Use proper keywords to target to draw traffic back to your primary web-site.
2. Use Google’s pay-per-click program matching with targeted keywords.
3. Use proper content on your website’s homepage.
Pay-per-click programs are an excellent way to advertise your business without taking a risk that you have advertised in the wrong place. With pay-per-click, you can advertise your site and only pay for those who click the link and go to your site.You must spend adequate time and effort to research and generate a list of relevant and effective keywords. If you’re promoting your own product you can always reinvest your earnings to continue your campaign and grow your income.
There is another option for drawing traffic to your web-site is based on the use of custom written articles and other targeted content. You can use your budget to have some unique articles written on your favorite key topics, but this can be pricey and time consuming. Articles such as these can be submitted to editorial directories.
Article marketing is huge. Create your own, have someone write them for you or use free content and modify it with your own special flare. Imagine hundreds of new articles each month on a topic of your choice…articles that use their content to attract visitors and can be added directly to your own web-site or used in a variety of other ways for drawing more traffic from forums, blogs, press releases, etc.
Your aim should be to find a balanced mix of online and offline advertising. This will go a long way towards getting the greatest bang for your advertising buck! Be sure to explore your options and use your time and funds wisely in the method. With a little creativity you will be maximizing your profits while minimizing your expenses.
Plan Your Success – Business or Personal
As soon as you discovered your passions in life, you would then need to recast your priorities so that you are brought in order with your purpose in life. With your purpose, you can get the directions in your life without fear of being lost. Sure, there are a lot of things that might go wrong along the way, but this is all a part of the process of working for your goals. You had better embrace this process. Otherwise, the process becomes boring too. You need to take a look at your present situation and take stock of where you are.
What have you achieved so far? The years will not retreat. If you are still young, well and good, you still have plenty of years to pursue your passion and discover the meaning of your life. If you are already in your middle years, do not worry, you can still find your purpose and work at finding meaning as long as you are willing. This process of taking note of where you are is important. It enables you to know precisely where you are. After all, you cannot get to where you want to be unless you know where you are.
After analyzing where you are, you better understand the path you have to take. Once you have discovered your purpose, it becomes your roadmap to where you want to go. The roadmap to your dreams can be discovered by a purposeful searching within yourself of what you want to do and what you intend to achieve. More than the achievement though, you also need to plot the steps that you take. It does not matter if the steps are small ones as long as you are progressing and moving towards your goals. If you are truly willing to achieve your goals, you need to make progress everyday even if those steps are but simple ones. Just like drops of water on a bucket, when they are gathered, they will fill the bucket up. Whether it be for business, personal goals or just something you are passionate about let that bucket overflow.
Remember though that achieving the goal is but a part of the process, the journey is more enjoyable than the process of arriving at the destination.
The journey helps develop your character and your qualities such that you become more focused in achieving your dreams and your goals in life. When you have taken a good look at where you are and you feel disappointed, that is well and good. But do not forget that you are in the business of pursuing your dreams and your goals. With perseverance and character, you can get from here to there.
6 Common Mistakes To Avoid For Successful Blogging
Blogging requires lot of time and effort in order to make it successful. However, many bloggers make some mistakes in pursuit of rapid success. These mistakes have potential to destroy the credibility of a blog and make it unsuccessful. In order to avoid it, bloggers need to identify and correct some common mistakes.
1. Non-frequent and erratic postings
The enthusiasm and passion in many bloggers does not remain the same after a few weeks, compared to their initial days of blogging. A blog requires to be updated frequently to maintain their readers.
2. Not reviewing or proofreading content before posting
Low quality content diminishes the quality of a blog. Proofread the content before posting. It helps bloggers to avoid grammatical and spelling errors in their blog. Blogs with poor grammar or vocabulary are likely to be considered as incredible by its readers.
3. Ignoring comments
Blogs are an effective means of interaction. They enable bloggers to interact with their readers in form of comments. This helps bloggers to create a potential relationship with their readers and create a loyal readership for their blog. However, the content in the blog must be interactive and provoke its readers to discuss it and make comments.
4. Don’t be Desperate to monetize the blog
Many bloggers start their blog in order to make a considerable monetization from it. However, focusing entirely on monetization may affect the readership and credibility of the blog. Remember, when a blog creates no value; you will not make money from it.
5. Poor maintenance
The appearance of the blog is as important as effective content. The blog need not be very flashy or decorative. What matters for the reader of a blog is the ease of navagation, easy to read template and structure and the content. Keeping a blog maintained and current, replicates the effectiveness of the blog in building its credibility to the reader.
6. Irrelevant titles
Many bloggers try to get visitors to their blog by posting with irrelevant and tricky titles. This may work for a short period, but in the long run, it impacts the credibility of the blogger and the blog.
* A blogger cannot become successful by not committing mistakes, but learning from them and not repeating them in the future is key.
