| Taking the Fear Out of Marketing so You Can Really Grow Your Business |
posted 11-10-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| I’m a full-time marketing professional and I still suffer from fear of marketing sometimes. Typically I’ll be trying or launching something new and suddenly realize I’m procrastinating about some of the marketing tasks. Here’s how I get back into action… |
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| Staying Positive about Business Success in a World Full of Negativity |
posted 11-02-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| With negative messages coming from everywhere, finding the positive can be a challenge. Here are some strategies to build a great support system to keep a positive attitude and a positive trend in your business. |
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| Dream Big but Start Small: A Recipe for More Business Success with Less Stress |
posted 10-26-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Lots of mindset gurus say you shouldn’t even consider failure as an option. But not everything you do, or launch, in your business is going to be wildly successful. So how do you play big without taking big chances… |
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| Is Online Marketing and Social Networking All You Need to Grow Your Business? |
posted 10-17-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| The best way to market is with a combination of online and offline tactics. Below are a few of my favorite old-school offline tactics plus how you can combine them with new-school online techniques to catapult results through the roof. |
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| If Your Business had a Voice, Who would it Sound Like? |
posted 08-25-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Every business has a voice that comes through in your marketing. That voice has the power to grab your prospect’s attention and hold it, or make them turn away in boredom or frustration. So if you’ve never given the voice of your business a second thought it’s time to reconsider. |
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| 10 Simple Rules for Growing a Successful Business |
posted 08-10-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Entrepreneurs…Are you tired of working your butt off for too little money? To help you get on the road to creating the business—and life—you’ve always dreamed of, here are ten simple rules to help you unchain yourself from your business, create more success, and enjoy life WAY more. |
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| Five Ways to Stay in touch with Clients and Prospects without Breaking the Bank |
posted 08-03-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Most entrepreneurs do marketing whenever they have a minute to fit it in—or they don’t do it all. But if you’re not staying in front of clients and prospects regularly they’re sure to forget all about you and the value you offer. That means you’re losing business… |
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| Getting Past Fear of Failure and Growing a Successful Business |
posted 07-28-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| When it comes to growing a business, every entrepreneur is bound to make mistakes along the way. It's easy to let your emotional self get frustrated, fearful and freaked. But you can't let a couple mistake -no matter how painful -keep you from being successful! |
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| Five Secrets for Getting Twice the Marketing Done in Half the Time |
posted 06-30-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| I feel that way too sometimes—and I’m a marketer and copywriter by trade. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get it done. And it doesn’t mean I work ridiculous hours to make it all happen.
In fact, I work less and get more marketing done for my own business now than ever before. |
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| Overwhelmed Solo-Entrepreneurs…Here’s Why You Gotta Outsource to Grow Your Business |
posted 06-03-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| If you’re an overworked solo-entrepreneur, or any business owner looking to leverage the power of the Web to market your business, I guarantee you can benefit from hiring a VA team too—no matter your budget.
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| Working Smarter Versus Working Harder to Market and Grow Your Business |
posted 05-09-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| If you ever want to be able to put your business growth on autopilot and have more time for things you enjoy, working smarter is critical. The thing is, working smarter doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Most entrepreneurs have to, well, work at it a bit. But it’s worth the extra effort up front because it lets you get more done with less effort later.
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| Is Your New Customer Bucket Full of Holes? |
posted 02-26-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Most small business owners focus most, if not all, of their marketing efforts attracting new clients—and hardly any on following up. That’s like pouring water into a holey bucket. Find out how to plug those holes with simple customer retention strategies in this helpful article…
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| Three Ways to Take Control and Grow Your Small Business in Any Economy |
posted 02-26-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| People not buying what you’re selling? If you’d rather take control and make things happen than fall victim to the slowed economy, there is quite a lot you can do—in any economy—to make your business more successful.
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| Business-Building Lessons Learned in 2009: What Highly-Successful Small Business Owners Are Doing that You Can Do Too |
posted 02-12-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| I know some small business owners who’ve experienced unprecedented growth this year. I’m talking growth that would be considered stellar in a good economy. So, what are successful entrepreneurs doing differently?
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| Seven Cold, Hard Truths about Social Networking |
posted 02-12-2010
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Every time you turn around it seems someone is shouting about all the wonders of social networking and how easy it is to use it market your small business…On the flip side, a quick online search will turn up plenty of articles wondering how, or if, you can actually make any money from Twitter or Facebook.
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| Don’t Go There—6 Small Business Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague |
posted 10-16-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Every promotion you do should give people a good reason to want to know more, and an incentive to do it—right now. Fixing even one of the following 6 mistakes is sure to catapult your marketing results.
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| Is Temporary Insanity Keeping You From Growing Your Small Business? |
posted 10-16-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Successful people, and businesses, recognize the need for change early. They embrace it. And they go looking for it. Because of this, they are also usually quick to see when something is not working and not afraid to change it.
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| Market Your Small Business for Free by Harnessing the Power of Online Forums |
posted 09-18-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| According to a report on the internet research firm Website eMarketer.com, more than 260,000 small businesses in the U.S and Canada use Social Media marketing tactics. Yet only 28% of them use forums to market their businesses. I believe you should be part of that 28%!
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| Transform Technical Jargon into Reader-Friendly Marketing Materials |
posted 08-28-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Turn 50-cent words into 5-cent words. Go through your writing and find every word with three or more syllables. Then try to replace it with one or two shorter words. Of course, sometimes technical jargon needs to be in there. But you can always explain the techie bits using less technical lingo and shorter words.
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| Getting Started with Online Video…The Easy Way! |
posted 08-28-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
|
When I made my first video I thought I was having a bit of a
bad hair day. But I posted it anyway. Then lo and behold a
friend spontaneously posted a compliment about my hair when she
saw the video. Go figure. |
| Read more.... |
| 12 Ways to Tell If Your Website Needs Work |
posted 08-11-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and find emails from 3 hot leads who are dying to hire you? Or that you made $300 in online sales while you were sleeping? Duh, of course it would! And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make it happen.
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| The Secret to Staying Booked Solid |
posted 07-20-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Tired of feast or famine? Wish you had a long waiting list of new clients? If you provide a service like consulting, graphic design, Web design, Interior Design, copywriting, etc. you can book yourself out weeks or even months in advance. All you have to do is follow the airlines’ lead… |
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| The True Cost of Free Marketing, and How to Choose the Right Marketing Tactics for Your Business |
posted 06-30-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| No matter what anyone tells you, there is no such thing as “free advertising”, and even cheap advertising usually isn’t. At the very least you have to count your own time costs to create your promotion. Plus you may need to hire a graphic designer, copywriter or even a marketing consultant to get the results you need. So don’t base your marketing and advertising decisions solely on initial cost. Instead you want to consider your goals, the true costs and the potential gains or ROI.
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| 10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing |
posted 06-17-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| These days, the Internet has created tons more competition in any field
than there was just 5 years ago. So you’ve got to have your
marketing ducks in a row before you try to sell a thing.
Otherwise someone out there is sure to be making a better
impression than you. Thankfully, creating a top-notch impression with your marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
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| Get More Clients by Making Your Marketing Materials the Life of the Party |
posted 06-07-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| When you sit down to write your marketing materials, you’re really getting ready to have a one-on-one conversation with the person who’s going to read them. It’s up to you to decide what kind of conversation that’s going to be. If you make it sound like your typical, formal, boring, all-about-me marketing, people aren’t going to stick around to read the whole thing…
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| How to Write Articles at Light Speed and Use Them to Market Your Small Business |
posted 05-22-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| The easiest articles to write are tips and how-to articles. Everyone loves to read them ‘cuz they are quick and easy. And you’ll love writing them for the same reason. |
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| Why Sizzling Hot Prospects Suddenly Go Stone Cold…And What to Do About it! |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| It happens all the time…
You get a call or email from a prospect. They sound interested, and interesting. You chat. It goes swimmingly…Perhaps so much so that you’re already mentally shifting your calendar to fit them in.
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| Are You Making This Costly Marketing Mistake? |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| The other day, I was getting ready to try this little Thai restaurant in my neighborhood. I’d picked up a copy of their to-go menu a few weeks ago, and finally decided to give them a shot. |
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| Tailoring Your Marketing to Different Audiences |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Whether you’re looking for a job or trying to find customers, you are engaging in a sales and marketing presentation. The only difference is, when you’re job hunting, the potential employer is the customer.
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| Simple Solutions for Making Sales When You Hate Selling |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| From telemarketers to used car salesmen, we’re bombarded with people trying to force us to buy things we don’t really want or need. And these rude, non-listening, aggressive types have given sales a very bad name.
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| Increase Sales and Marketing Response with an Irresistible Call to Action |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| The real goal of marketing and advertising is to get people to take action. Whether that’s calling for an appointment, going to your Website, walking in your store, or busting out a credit card and buying something right now. |
| Read more.... |
| Take Your Elevator Speech to the Next Level in 5 Simple Steps |
posted 05-19-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| An elevator speech—also called
30-second commercial, 1-breath introduction, or 1-minute
elevator pitch—is a short and sweet
introductions of who you are, what you do, who you do it for,
and why they would want it.
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| 8 Simple Ways To Start Writing |
posted 04-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| One of the best tricks, and one I use every time I put fingertips to keyboard, is the big brain dump. Instead of trying to get the words just right, write down everything and anything you can think of until you completely run out of ideas. |
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| How to Get All the Clients You Can Handle Banging Down Your Door |
posted 04-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| If you are doing something different, or valuable to your community, chances are it might make good news. And many papers and social networking sites have events calendars you can take advantage of. A simple press release can get your event listed, staff writers interested, and you interviewed. |
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| 3 Simple Steps to a Powerfully Effective Case Study |
posted 04-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Case studies are easy to write once you understand the basic
format. And they can be just a few short paragraphs, or a
full-fledged white paper up to about 18 pages long. Either way,
the same basic rules apply.
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| How to Get Your Marketing Materials Read |
posted 04-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Learn to write like you’re having a one on one conversation with the reader. To put it another way, you have to write like their best friend speaks.
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| Are Your Marketing Materials Selling the Wrong Things? |
posted 04-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| You need to decide whether to spend time and money convincing people they need the type of services you offer…Or convincing them to hire you in particular to provide that service. |
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| Three Types of Marketing Your Small Business Needs to Grow |
posted 04-14-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| When it comes to marketing and advertising your small business, you need to focus on more than just attracting new customers or clients. In fact, that’s the most expensive and difficult way to grow your business.
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| 10 Things You Should Know Before Hiring A Freelance Copy Writer |
posted 04-14-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Know the difference. Copywriters come in a few different flavors, and it's important to know the difference or you could end up hiring the wrong person. Here's a basic breakdown... |
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| 8 Simple Ways To Start Writing |
posted 04-14-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Let's face it...One of the hardest parts of writing is getting started. |
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| What Are the Best Marketing Tactics for Growing Your Small Business? |
posted 03-30-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Lately, it seems most entrepreneurs are looking for a marketing “silver bullet” that’s going to take their sales—and their business—through the roof. And plenty of folks are willing to sell you one.
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| Seven Tips to Amp Up the Power of Your Marketing Copy |
posted 03-30-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Have you ever had this experience? You decide to place some ads, send out a sales letter or put up a new Web site, so you spend hours agonizing over what it should it say. Then you spend even more time designing the layout, or you fork over the cash to have a graphic designer do it for you.
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| Reuse, Repurpose, Reduce: The Secret to Making More Money with Less Effort |
posted 03-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Are you struggling to constantly reinvent the wheel when it comes to marketing and growing your small business? Are you so swamped with running your business you can’t even think about putting together new products? If so, then you need to start following the successful small business owner’s secret of reusing, repurposing, and reducing to get more done with less.
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| 5 Easy Ways to Upsell Your Products and Services |
posted 03-29-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Are you leaving money on the table because you aren’t letting people know about your other products or services? If you own a small business, chances are the answer is yes! Because most small business owners and their employees have yet to master the art of the upsell. Maybe it’s that you don’t know how. Or maybe it’s that upselling (or even selling for that matter) makes you uncomfortable. If so this article is sure to change your mind and give you the tools you need to use totally non-pushy upsells to make your clients happier AND more money.
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| How to Create an Offer Your Prospects and Customers Can\'t Refuse |
posted 03-20-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| When it comes to making sales with your marketing or advertising materials (or even live and in person), a big part of your success hinges on the offer. Because if you don’t offer something people want, they’re not going to buy. And if you don’t give them a good reason to take action now, they probably won’t!
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| 10 Pieces of Business-Building Wisdom I Wish I would have Known Years Ago |
posted 03-20-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| It’s sad to say but true…Most of what you learn about starting and running a small business before becoming an entrepreneur is dead wrong! You can spend years figuring this out on your own (like I did), or you can read this article and benefit from my mistakes…
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| A Dead Simple Way to Get More Free Advertising for Your Business and Website |
posted 03-02-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Would you like a simple way to promote your business—and drive traffic to your Website—for free? One of the best things you can do is something far too many small business owners aren’t doing...Learn what it is and how you can take advantage of it in this sassy article from Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas.
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| Marketing Your Ideas |
posted 03-02-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| So, you’ve got an amazing idea, or you’ve found a way to build a better mousetrap. And you feel confident there are people out there practically dying to get their hands on this very thing.
That means the next step is to start your business or begin manufacturing products, right?
Wrong! |
| Read more.... |
| Reaching Your Small Business Sales And Marketing Goals |
posted 03-02-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Are you on track to reach your business, sales or marketing goals?
If your answer is no—or you’re not sure—believe me you are not alone. I can’t even begin to count the number of small business I’ve run across that aren’t on track to meet their goals—or have no way of knowing if they are or not.
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| Competitive Analysis - The Secret To Creating A USP That Sets You Apart From The Competition |
posted 02-17-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| If you can’t tell your prospects why what you offer is different—or better—than the competition, they have no reason to buy from you other than price. And price is not a good differentiating factor. Because, thanks to the Internet, there is almost always someone out there who is cheaper than you.
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| Planning For Small Business Success |
posted 02-17-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| You see, successful people don’t just wait around for things to start happening…they make things happen. And not just any old things—the right things.
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| How To Choose The Best Marketing Strategies For You |
posted 02-12-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Instead of making your marketing decision based on price, convenience, or familiarity, you need to look at your goals, the results you are likely to get, the true costs and the potential gains.
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| Seven Secrets of Writing That Sells |
posted 02-12-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Even in today’s tech-savvy world information is spread through the written word. Customers have to know what your product, service or idea can do for them—or they won’t buy. So whether you’re writing brochures, Web text or anything in between, you need clear, concise, benefits-oriented copy that really sells.
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| 10 Ways to Beat the Deadly Procrastination Demon |
posted 02-12-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| Get organized! One of the most common reasons for not getting things done is lack of organization (if you have to spend half a day looking for the items you need to complete a project, you have a problem).
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| Top 7 Things You Have to Know to Market and Grow Your Small Business Effectively |
posted 02-12-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| With the economy on the downslide, and people tightening their purse strings, making sure your marketing is effective becomes even more important. Because suddenly you aren't just up against your competitors…You also have to convince people to spend their hard-earned cash at all.
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| Ten Steps to Go from Idea to E-book for Sale |
posted 02-11-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| If your e-book sells well online, it’s much easier to find a publisher who’s willing to take you on…And actually give you the budget and marketing support you need to make it a winner.
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| Effective Small Business Marketing is About Building Relationships, Not Just Making Sales |
posted 02-05-2009
Category: Business and Professional Services , Subcategory:Marketing |
| So the key to getting more people to buy from you—especially high-dollar items—is to create a series of smaller steps that let them wade in and test the waters before taking a bigger, more risky leap. |
| Read more.... |
