Sometimes our self-confidence is shaken when we make decisions that are not supported by family, friends or people we respect.  When we feel that we are by ourselves regarding our choices, it is important to apply the universal law of cause and effect. Acknowledging others rights to their opinions opens the way for us to receive the same treatment. The adage shows itself over and over, what you do unto others will be done unto you.

Remember you can create the life you want to live by your actions. Being gentle and loving yourself is the way to bring that behavior into your life from others. Although it may not feel apparent, life supports you. The universal order of life does support you. This may sound airy-fairy, but it is a real and important principle to believe in when feeling challenged. Understanding that everyone has a right to live and think as he or she chooses removes the emotional conviction that others opinions are personal attacks. Each adult is their life decision maker, and one’s opinion does not overthrow anyone else’s choice.

Your ability to hold this idea and conduct yourself on this principle will govern others manners when engaging or having a relationship with you.

Valuing yourself is a requirement for a successful life. Lacking self-worth is mirrored back to us through our personal and work relationships.  The characteristics of caring and respecting yourself are reflected in how you address other people’s degrading and dismissive attitudes. Life already supports you; you are here. The statement, "you are an accident", is only an attempt to devalue your existence. It is your primary responsibility to embrace and love yourself.

Sometimes we allow the opinions of others to reign over our internal voice. That is a sign that we need to stop and remember what is important to us. Getting clear about the way you choose to live your life and what you value gives you the strength to make seemingly hard choices. You regret less when your actions are decided from how you choose to be in this world. Living this way opens you to new ideas and activates your potential.

Aiming for a successful life based on your values can sometimes feel like a struggle but the end results are worth it. Gaining self-confidence is the practice of making and moving forward with your decisions that are founded on what is important to you. Every opportunity you have to apply this principle will help you become self-confident authentically.

 I swear this is the greatest thing ever.

Okay maybe ever is an overstatement, but hear me out.

Every now and again I come across a tool that excites me. 

Inspires me.

Reminds me of WHY I'm in business. 

Every now and again, I discover something that makes me want to sit down and write a post without thinking about keywords, or H1, H2, H3 tags or any of the other technical aspects to make a post rank higher in the search engines.

Every now and then, I see something SO GOOD I just have to share. 

And that's how I'm feeling right now. 

I've been doing a lot of research on how I can convert the traffic I get from various sources ( free and paid) to leads and then to actual buyers. 

One quick glace and the online marketing world and you'll find that's the number on thing on everyone's mind. 

Well... 

I discovered something last night that I believe will bring me (and you) one step closer to the goal. 

The First Step to Get More Leads

Before I tell you about my discovery, the first think you need to understand about how to get more leads is that the lead itself isn't what you're after. 

See, most marketers get so caught up in getting the actual lead itself that they fool themselves into believing they've crossed the finish line as soon as it comes through their autoresponder.

Your goal as a marketer is not to get the lead.

Leads don't pay your bills. 

Your job as a marketer is to get the sale.

That means you want leads that will actually buy something from you. 

And in order to go from lead to prospect to buyer you have to take your suspect through a high converting funnel. 

What I discovered was a simplistic, yet genius way to target and capture subscribers at the initial point of decision... 

THE LEAD CAPTURE PAGE

Sounds simple enough, but trust me... everyone doesn't get this. 

Now just think, what if  you could geographically target your capture pages with just the click of a button? Meaning anyone, anywhere would see your capture page customized to their exact location?

Don't you think the chances of them opting in would increase?

Of course it would

CLICK HERE TO DISCOVER WHY

http://BusinessCreditAmerica.com 5 Reasons Internet Marketers Fail in Business.

In this video I discuss why Internet Marketers fail in business and how to avoid these failures.  
goo.gl/ycLkHf
1. Internet Marketers or online marketers don't know how to properly structure their business.  They seek out help from companies like Legal Zoom to help them structure the business.  However, companies customer support  does not understand that their is more things that go along with structuring the business then just filing some secretary of state paperwork.  The clients business must be properly registered online in multiple data bases, so the company can get the exposure it needs from 3rd party companies.

2.  Many internet marketers don't use their own products.  This is a problem because if you don't know your product then it becomes challenging then to get someone else to purchase and use your product.  The force their products on potential customers not knowing if that  product it right for that customers. 
goo.gl/ycLkHf

3.  Internet Marketers need to build relationships with their customers.  Building a good relationship before and after they purchase from you.  This help builds the customer confidense that they made the right choice in purchasing from you. You never want a customer to have buyers remorse, because you never communicated with them after they purchased from you. 

Although, many of them may not use the products giving them a follow up call or sending them an email shows that you were interested in their purchase, and you want to see if they make have an issue with the product.

4. Learning how to manage the business.  A lot of internet marketer don't treat this as their business. They look at it as away to earn some extra cash with out the responsibility. Understanding they may be using it as a career change, it still is a business.

You still need to invest in the business, whether it may be education or software to help you run the business much soother.  Their accounting and taxes to be paid for what ever income that's generated from the business.

5. Many internet marketers want instant success.  They don't realize it takes time to grow the business in order for your to have success in it.  It's not easy, it's a growing and learning process.  We would all like to have short cuts in business, but it could lead us to a loss.  
goo.gl/ycLkHf

I encourage you to join the business credit forum to get access to more videos and other resources to help you grow your business.  
goo.gl/xfsIVs http://BusinessCreditAmerica.com

I love automation. It's one of the reasons I have a business, but it can also be a big pain in the rear when it doesn't work.

I remember this one week where I was having terrible problems with my meeting scheduler. I was using a service to set up complimentary appointments with prospective clients and I'd done this big promotion about it. What was supposed to happen is the person would go to this page, click on a link to see my available calendar, and in about 2-3 clicks they're all set.

They'd get an email confirmation and the meeting time would pop into my calendar. No back and forth, no wasted time, boom - there is the appointment.

I had a number of people trying to set up their free time to connect but they weren't getting the handy little meeting schedule. Instead every one of them kept getting an "error 404" page ... those error pages always get on my last nerve especially when it means I have a link not working! Ever had that happen to you?

So what was happening is I kept getting phone call after phone call telling me the link didn't work, asking for next steps, requesting a return phone call. Some were even downright insults saying things like "this is unprofessional" (and yes, remember I said it was a free offer ---sometimes those are the worst kind when things go wrong).

Well once I figured out what the problem was, I'd missed at least 20 prospective meetings. I had to personally call each person back who left a voicemail and arrange the meeting manually, which is what I'd set up the service to help me avoid in the first place! That free time turned into triple the hours I'd planned for.

After that little incident, I learned my lesson. I'll give you a few quick hitter tips you can use so you don't end up falling prey to an automation disaster like this.

Always Test Your Automated Systems

When I sent out the promotion emails and let people know the links were open, I should have already tested the entire process myself along with having a friend or assistant test it. I know this now. Most of the time I'll remember this horrible week and I will have someone go through the entire process as though they are signing up. That way, any errors can be worked out before the whole world hears about it.

Remember, It's People Over Process

Many people think more of their super fabulous tools and systems than what the experience will be like for the end user. If you take the time to put yourself in the other person's shoes -- you know, the person who might just be investing in you or your stuff? -- you will know if you're headed in the right direction. Think about things like, "how easy is this to use?", "how many buttons would I click?", "does this frustrate me more than endear me to the service?".

You should make it easy for people to do business with you, not harder. The more difficult it is, the less likely they will buy.

Always Have a Back Up

Sure in this case I was the back-up. I literally sat down and made a list of all the people and manually called them myself. But what if there was a better way? If I had an assistant at the time, I would have had more help. Or if I learned through the testing process that the service wasn't working, I would easily have changed over to a new scheduling service before the promotion ever went out.

Think through your backup plan. What could you use if a part of your system is not flowing smoothly? What resources are available quickly and within your budget? Just thinking this through may save you a ton of time and money.

Now I can't tell you I've never had an automation problem ever again, but I can say that putting systems in place to help me replicate my work has always cost me less in the end than doing it all manually...both in dollars and in sanity. If you remember the tips I shared with you in this post, you'll reduce the chances of automation fail.

Want to learn more about how to use automation the right way? Get more over at my main blog www.tanyasmithonline.com.

Remember that old Biz Markie song, ♪ "You, you got what I neeeed...." ♫.  Don't you wish that every time your ideal client or customer saw your stuff online that song would just automatically pop up in their head?

If you don't, you should.  Because that means you've made the right connection.  See it works like this...

But often we just focus on the first part of the equation - what we want to sell.

The fact is it can be pretty time consuming to do market research, but it's crucial to your business.  It's just one of those things you've got to do.  Otherwise, you can spend a lot of time creating products and promoting services no one will every buy.

You know my answer to almost everything when it comes to saving time, right?  Turn your research into a system, (my quick definition?  a system is a set of repeated activities you can map out, delegate and automate to get similar results).

Where Should You Start?

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the first step for most solo service providers. It helps you understand what people are searching for online and what words they are using. There are numerous tools that can help you do this research, including Google’s own AdWords keyword tool, a free and paid tool from Wordtracker, and a popular software program called Market Samurai.

It takes a little practice to learn to do keyword research well, but knowing the most commonly searched terms will help you target the problems that people are facing. It also means you can optimize any content you create, helping it rank in the search engines.

Study Problems People Are Facing

When you know the problems people are facing in your target market, you can create solutions. Solutions sell. Look at the questions people are asking and why they are asking them. Look for the places your target market hangs out, like forums or Facebook groups, and listen in.  You might even create a list using a tool like Evernote or Google Drive.  I call this list my R&D (research & development) list.

Other places people don't really think about are YouTube videos and Amazon books.  What's popular?  What are people talking about around the topic you're interested in promoting?  Watch the discussions that take place and the questions asked. If there are problems that people consistently talk about, you’ve just found a great opportunity to provide a solution.

Paint a Portrait of Your Customers

It helps to paint a portrait of your ideal customer in as much detail as possible. This isn’t necessarily a visual picture, though some people do that, but one that describes little details about them. What are their demographics, such as age, gender, occupation, where they live, etc? What is some of the lingo they use? Do they tend to have similar interests or hobbies? Write it all down. Some marketers even keep this list in front of them whenever they write anything for or to their customers.

While it can take what seems like a lot of time, having a system you use to do market research can save you from sinking a fortune in time and money in a doomed project. The more market research you do from the start to understand your market, the less risk you face and the more likely they'll be singing your song loud and clear. ;)

In my lunch time series coming up I'll share a few more tips on how to create great, but simple systems for your biz.  Get on the "notify me" list now so you get reminders.  

Very few people I know use business process mapping, but it can be a really good way to figure out the difference between what is happening now vs. what you want to have happen with certain systems running in your business.

For example, you might have this really great product out in your online store, but you somehow keep losing customers -- like 85% of the time -- after they click the "add to cart" button.  What happened?

Or in another instance, you may have tons of referrals and they come to you willing and ready to invest, but you only convert 10% of them into clients.  Where's the breakdown? How do you know?  And what resources do you need in order to increase that number?

Many times, knowing the solution that works the best for you does not just pop up in a magical light bulb over your head.  Instead, it requires knowing what is taking place, step-by-step, so you can make improvements for the better.

Business Analysts (also known as BA's) tend to take advantage of process mapping because it suits them perfectly since they tend to be practical thinkers, always looking for the "why" behind what's going on.  They also get really passionate about information.  I like how this article from TDWI says, "They love to wallow in it, get it all over themselves, see what they can do with it, and see it change state and morph and eventually crystallize into facets of meaning."

Basically, these guys can get really geeky about improving a system, or set of activities so you get the most optimal results.

How do I know?  Because I actually have an analyst background in my "other" career.  Yeah, that's how I got to be such a systems geek.

Now here's what is cool about that...

There are a lot of creative thinkers marketing how great it is to use your creativity to ...well...create things. Products, new service offerings, you name it. I love it and I think that's great.  If you want to promote creative thinking, mind-mapping is a very effective tool. But that's a whole different type of method than what I'm talking about.

The thing is, not everyone is naturally given to creatively wild or illustrative thinking.  Some of  us tend to be a bit more structured and systematic in our thinking.  Having those type of people in your business network can be tremendously helpful because we help with the execution of the actual sale of that wonderful new product, or we help you fix problems with the way you're handling questions from prospective buyers so they feel better about trusting you and affirmed when they buy.

This is the beautiful place where process mapping comes in.

In my upcoming webinar, 10 Ways To Design Better Systems For Your Business, I share more about process mapping and what it can do. Plus I'll be talking about more ways to improve what you're doing in your business, so you can be more efficient which => (ta-dah) more profitable.

Business process mapping may just be the answer to your problems. Oh, and if you search the internet now for some process mapping resources, it will probably look a lot more boring than how I do it.

I've made the webinar publicly available.  No registration required.

=> Just click here to watch and get my free Systems Success Roadmap

I have been building my subscriber list for a few years now. It's had wear and tear, much of it because of my abuse.  I switched focus, lost focus, tried different paths, different brands...all of the things new business owners tend to do when they're finding their way.

There are a ton of reasons people stay on your subscriber list.  Many stay even when they're no longer getting value. Maybe it's because they like you as a person, though they don't have interest in your topic. Or maybe they forgot to disconnect at some point. Instead they just delete everything you send.

Perhaps, they find a few tidbits of information you've sent for free they could appreciate, but now that you're asking them to invest they are offended.  The point is - my audience members came in for different reasons and stayed for different reasons.

The danger in this is at some point, you may find yourself with a huge list of people that DON'T CARE A THING ABOUT YOUR OFFER.

Signs of a list that needs to be downsized? You have dead silence when you're sending out market survey questions. You actually look at your metrics and find that your open rate is not only low, it's in the red. No one shows up for your special events that are only for your subscribers.

When these things are happening although you have list quantity, it's a good chance you have a list that needs to be downsized.

Recently I did a downsizing of my list.  It gave me a sense of freedom I never thought I'd have. At first, I was afraid (♪ I was petrified ♫...I love that song...short digression...ok, back on track now). Seriously though, when you work hard to build a good sized list it can be very intimidating to even think about minimizing it or tearing it apart.

But I had to do it.

Ever heard of the law of the vacuum?  Catherine Ponder talked about it in the book, The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity.  It says something like, "Make room for the thing you desire by letting go of that which you do not appreciate or use. Give it away with a giving, charitable heart, and let the Universe compensate you."   In other words, when you let go and make space you have more room to receive what's really meant for you.

I knew that downsizing my list would put me in a different place, giving me the freedom to really talk directly to an interested audience of people who want what I have to share. No more wondering "do they care?" or "is anybody listening?" And for them - the ones who were purged voluntarily from my list - I gave them back freedom, freedom to read and receive information they truly would find useful and immediately applicable.

So how did I do it? I'll break it down for you:

First, I used my email marketing service, Mailchimp (shout out - "eep eep"), to evaluate my list. They have some pretty decent analytics and along with a tool called Hairball, it was pretty easy to create a small list, or segment of people who were rated below a 3 rating. These ratings give you an idea of how often your emails are opened or clicked by the user, along with a few other stats. Your service may have a different way to show you this information.

The key is to figure out who is least active in your list over a period of time. By the way, I did not include users who were fairly new and still building a rating.  Since they recently added themselves to the list, I assumed they have an interest in my content.

Second, I sent out an email to the folks in that group about 14 days before the purge date (you can adapt this to your comfort level). The subject line read something like "Only open this if you want to keep getting my emails!". I wanted to make it super easy for those who didn't open them anyway to take little to no action. Only the genuinely interested people would reply back to say "leave me on the list". And yes, I had several who read the email explaining my "Spring Cleaning List Purge" and they asked to stay on.

Great! That separated those who were missing in action, but still interested so I wouldn't remove them from the active list.

Third, on the date I'd set for myself I exported the segmented list (minus the ones who wanted to stay) and did a mass unsubscribe. I will admit, I was pretty nervous but after I clicked enter I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.  It was like, "now I get to talk to people who really care to connect with me and to get the full benefit of my sharing".

Here was another added benefit I didn't think about until later. You know how many email service providers charge you based on your total count of subscribers? Well, I was able to reduce my own email marketing fees because of the reduced count. Cha-ching!

Now mind you, I would be fine paying more for a more responsive, targeted list. It was just a good reality check to realize that I was actually paying to keep people on my list who never really wanted the info anyway.

So that's my story...and I hope it connects with you in some way. Does it make you think about downsizing your own list?  Don't you think that having 100 or 200 or 500 people who really connect with your message is better than having thousands who don't get it and won't take action at all?

As a business owner, we have choices to make for the good of our customers and ourselves. I chose to downsize for peace of mind and it was one of the best decisions I've made so far in my business.

WANT TO RE-POST THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR BLOG OR USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE?

You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it...

About the Author: Tanya Smith is a creative online business strategist and coach specializing in showing independent service providers how to simplify, save time & stand out with simple strategies that engage more quality leads and clients. Her company Be Promotable provides fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote business owners as power players in their market. Get free tools to simplify and stand out online at: www.tanyasmithonline.com

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There are many ways to get followers on Twitter. There are

authentic ways and there are gimmicky ways. You want to make sure that you don’t
do the latter if you want to have any level of  sustained success using Twitter effectively.

So what is one quick and easy way to attract more Twitter
followers?

Retweeting. Yes you read it right. Retweeting.

With this method, you take the original twitter message
someone else has posted, and rebroadcast that same message to your followers. When broadcasting the message, you should
definitely give credit to the original poster.  I know at first it may sound like this will only be good for the original tweeter, but
retweeting can actually benefit you just as much if not more because;

1.  It provides added value to your followers.

 And you do want to provide added value correct? This will
definitely increase the know, like and trust factor. You are also more likely to attract followers. Providing quality content is always a great way to build your business no
matter what platform you use.

2. It will enhance your brand.

 If you point a reader to a source of good information that is truly relevant and beneficial to them, the amount of trust that they have in you will increase.

3. You build relationships with the original tweeter.

 Of course you shouldn’t retweet simply because you want
someone to retweet yours, however, giving will enhance your chances of
receiving reciprocation.

It’s all about providing value to your followers so don’t just retweet any and everything.

The bottom line is retweeting is a great way to add quality
and value to your Twitter page. If done right, retweeting can help
you educate your followers, build your personal brand, increase
future traffic, and connect you to other great people in your
niche.

On the flip side you want to be careful that you don’t use
this incorrectly, retweeting can actually hurt your personal brand and future
traffic. Keep your focus on treating your followers like gold. Don’t ever send
them to inappropriate websites or spam them with one sales pitch after another. I
share more about the proper ratio in my WWV Ultimate Twitter Challenge.

Always keep in mind that you want them to trust what you
have to say and the way you do this is to tweet added value content. Content
that will support them in finding solutions for their problems. You want to
stay top of mind as the go to person for what they’re looking for when they
need it and want it. Do this and you will increase your chances of getting the
results you desire.

How will you use this information? Learning is good, however, application is key.

I invite you to join other savvy business owners and aspiring as they turn their Twitter Frustration into World Wide visibility and explode their business success online! Take the Challenge. I will help you set the foundation to extend your reach 1000s and explode your business success online without the stress. Go to the WWV Ultimate Twitter Challenge enrollment page here.

Talk soon!

__________________________________________________________

Want to use this in your newsletter,Ezine, on your blog or
website? You can as long as you include the following blurb.

Robin Tramble CEO and Visionary of Robin Tramble
International Empowers Savvy Women, Aspiring, New and Enterprising
Entrepreneurial women to manifest their bold, brilliant, confident, empowered
self, get laser focused and unstuck so they can get out there in a big way while
prospering and make a difference in the world “authentically!” Robin was named
1 of 25 urban entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter and is an Empowerment and
Certified Social Media Marketing Campaign Specialist. Robin invites you to
apply for her World Wide Visibility Social Media Strategy Session by going towww.wwvsocialmedia.info

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Hey Fellow BBWO's (Black Business Women Online)! 

Here’s another piece of the internet marketing puzzle!

You’re gonna love this…

There are a ton of different ways to get traffic to your blog but today I wanna give you an extra traffic tip just for being a fellow BBWO (Black Business Women Online).

Today’s puzzle piece is........

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