Startup (24)

How To Create the Perfect Spicy Sales Cycle

dreamstimefree_2204450-150x150.jpg?width=150I am such an impatient person. I can admit it right out of the gate, but one thing I've learned after a number of business "beat-downs" is that planning is priceless.

One of the steps often forgotten in the excitement of creating a new business that you're going to market is the planning phase. But this is particularly important when you're creating your sales and marketing strategy.

You have got to spend some time mapping out how your content, products and services, and marketing are all going to work together to build a profitable online business.

To help you out, I'm going to share a few key steps - all of which I'll be talking about in my brand new coaching program that launches in a few weeks - Spicy Hot Systems That Sell (SPICY = simple, profitable, impactful, convenient, and getting your buyers to YES!):

Step One: Develop high quality offerings. Starting off on the right foot with your customer service approach is very important for the livelihood of your online business. Quality products, from the very first freebie to your largest ticket item, will help you gradually build a positive reputation for yourself. Any future dealings you have where you can do repeat business with your customer should leave them feeling as if they were treated as well if not better than the first time around.

Step Two: Create your product line. A sales funnel is a series of incrementally more valuable, and perhaps more expensive, products or services to offer your customers. However, people are going to enter your funnel at various stages. Some may begin by taking advantage of your free offer while some may jump right in and buy a product or service. Create a plan for each type of customer. Set the stage for the next level of products you have available. Figure out which ones might be of interest to your clients, or which ones could be useful. Help them to see just how they can be helpful and how to implement them effectively into their present business or organization.

Step Three: Maintain the Communication. In addition to creating a line of high quality products and services, you’ll also want to establish consistent communication with your prospects and customers. Accomplish this by continuing the flow of valuable information in the form of blog posts, email messages and perhaps a newsletter.

Maintaining the flow of valuable information makes it easier for your customers to confidently pass your information on to others. You could soon find yourself starting the process all over again with new referrals, or other people you have found on your own who have become customers.

Planning is the key to online business success. Create your sales funnel plan, marketing plan and content plan and work to integrate the three into a seamless and efficient system. Consistency is the key, and by using the same plan over and over again with each new person, your online business will grow. And everyone will be receiving the same great quality products and services you have to offer.

Now that's SPICY!
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This is part 2 of a 4 part series where I'm sharing the essential systems entrepreneurs must have in place to support a solid brand.

System #1: Customer engagement

iStock_000007773142Medium-150x150.jpg?width=150Brand support system number one is about the way in which you engage your customers. This is the process by which you create a path of attraction to your business. It's the way that you make it easy for prospects to meet you, to love what you do, to test drive your services. This might look like your current opt-in strategy. Or it may even be the type of events you host that attract people to your business.

Creating an easy path for prospects to engage is critical to building your pool of interested buyers. As a system, this path should be outlined in such a way that you can powerfully reflect your brand with ease. The goal is to create a connection between you as a solution provider and the potential client, or prospect.

What is evident when you view an entrepreneur’s website is whether or not there is an easy way to determine your next step. Successful entrepreneurs are clear in the single action they would like for a viewer to take when visiting their website the first time. But unfortunately too many business owners fail to streamline the instruction for their prospect. There is no opt-in form. There is nothing “sticky" about the page that keeps a person there, so viewers leave after only visiting a few seconds.

One example of a way to engage customers that capitalizes on the way they first interacted with you is to create a social media landing page. This blog post by visibility guru Nancy Marmalejo tells you how to do this: http://vivavisibilityblog.com/social-networking-landing-page/.

There are other ways to engage your customer or prospect. One of the most widely used ways is to develop a strong opt in form. A blog post by marketing diva Ali Brown shares great insight into how to make this work for you: http://www.alibrown.com/blog/?p=722.

The key to customer engagement is to entice prospective buyers within the first few seconds so they can receive your valuable information.



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

About the Author: Tanya Smith is a creative business strategist specializing in showing coaches, consultants and freelancers how to spend more time making money with simple, yet profitable marketing systems. Her company Be Promotable provides clients with fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote their small businesses as power players in their market. Claim your instant access to a free 10 part ecourse, 10 Ways To Grow Your List at: www.bepromotable.com.
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I've been studying copy quite a bit lately because I want to improve my own business brand and make sure my stuff gets more eyes on it! What about you? Doesn't that matter to your business? Writing good copy is actually ESSENTIAL to your success, so even if you choose to outsource your writing, you should be familiar with at least the basics.Study and save this simple list of words you can use to attract more views.
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System #2: Customer Relationship Management

The customer relationship management system refers to the way you take care of your current customers. It may be the way that you process their intake into doing new business with you. It's about how you provide here and service once your clients have already paid or invested in your services. Ultimately the goal is for prospects to become clients and eventually to become raving fans for your business. This happens when you treat current clients or fans very well.

How do you deliver on the promises that you make in your brand. Does it require a lot of manual labor? Can you automate delivery of your services? Can you set up systems with the click of a button that will accept payment and deliver on the promise? If you're conducting a coaching group is there self-service function word new clients can go and access their profiles, pay an invoice, create a support case? This is all part of delivering on your brand promises.
When you have easy tools and systems in place it's much easier for your clients to rave about your services and to refer others to them as well. A great service experience can immediately expand your level of influence and authority.

I am a huge fan of Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM). CRMs were like a dream come true because I was tired of manually tracking loose pieces of paper, sticky notes, e-mails that flooded my inbox from people I worked with. A solid CRM can manage projects, automate your billing, and make it easy for you to find essential correspondence between you and the customer. Examples of great CRMs to research for your business include BaseCamp, Salesforce, Capsule CRM, and WorkEtc.

Another part of the relationship management, however, involves your approach to follow-up. Send Out Cards is a simple but highly distinctive way to show your clients you care. I purchased an account with the company years ago but did not realize the power of the program until I used it to mail personalized postcards to members of a course I was teaching online. It really made an impact with my clients to receive a special thank you from the right at their doorstep.

Trust me, in this age of Internet marketing a postcard or greeting card will help you stand out from the crowd. It will also help to solidify the emotional connection with your customer, which has the potential to generate more sales. Besides, sales are really about creating a personal experience for the buyer.

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 business strategist specializing in showing coaches, consultants and freelancers how to spend more time making money with simple, yet profitable marketing systems. Her company Be Promotable provides clients with fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote their small businesses as power players in their market. Claim your instant access to a free 10 part ecourse, 10 Ways To Grow Your List at: www.bepromotable.com.
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dreamstimefree_1333671-300x199.jpg?width=300Every solo business owner has a set of processes or systems that either promote their business very well or contribute to the business’ demise. There are really 3 essential systems that any successful business owner needs in place in order to automate the things they repetitively do over and over again, while adequately supporting the brand. These systems form the structure of success because they are the ways in which you continuously reinvigorate your business for expansion and growth.

What is a system?

For purposes of this article, we’re going to define a system as follows: a set of integrated, interdependent processes that can be replicated over and over again to produce similar results.

This article is designed to explain the 3 critical brand support systems for real breakthrough in your business. These essential systems are key to ensuring your success and creating a structure on which your brand can thrive.

It all starts with the BRAND

Before we cover these systems, let’s talk about brand first. As a solopreneur in the “entrepreneurial renaissance” age – a coin termed by business coach, Marcia Bench, you will have to compete against many people who claim expertise in the same field as you. Regardless of their level of experience or visibility, the sheer numbers require that you carve out a way to stand apart from the crowd. Your brand must be distinctive, powerful and recognizable.

The brand is the foundation of any effective marketing strategy. It is how people perceive you. The brand is YOU in a single owner business. If your brand is weak, the systems I will describe below will not operate to support your business. An analogy would be like building a new house, installing a beautiful kitchen, hardwood floors, and hiring a dynamic salesman to greet buyers at the door when the house has no walls yet.

The support systems we will talk about in this article will allow you to deliver great service, they will engage your customer base, and they will automate your delivery but only when you have taken the necessary steps to first put in place your brand strategy.

This means getting clear about what you do, the market you serve, and how you provide the service. Brand support is most connected to the latter – the “how”.

We will spend time outlining the 3 systems over the next group of articles in this series.



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

About the Author: Tanya Smith is a creative business strategist specializing in showing coaches, consultants and freelancers how to spend more time making money with simple, yet profitable marketing systems. Her company Be Promotable provides clients with fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote their small businesses as power players in their market. Claim your instant access to a free 10 part ecourse, 10 Ways To Grow Your List at: www.bepromotable.com.
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graphorange-300x221.jpg?width=300Sticky notes are not the best way to keep track of a prospect you need to call. There is a better way - thankfully. It's called a CRM.

A CRM is a sales and marketing term for "customer relationship management". It's a system to keep track of important information about your clients, customers, sales prospects and a way to centralize your business communications and resources.

I love technology. You may already know that from some of the resources I share. But I really didn't discover the power of a CRM until I started realizing that I had too much paperwork floating around with my client's notes, names of people I needed to follow up with, and even keeping track of any missing payments to my client accounts.

So here are some benefits of using a CRM:

  • Organizes your business records
  • Creates a safeguard of all your key contacts
  • Automates your appointments
  • Helps you develop a "pipeline", which is the path you work each client or prospect through to work with you
  • Gives you an easier way to pay attention to your customers
  • Makes it easy for people to pay you
These are just a few of the things that I've learned a CRM can do for my business. And when you're a solopreneur, it helps to make your workflow as simple as possible.

Need a few ideas on CRMs to try?

I'm developing a video kit to help you use the simple, slick system I use, but for now here are some recommendations you can look into: www.CapsuleCRM.com, www.HighRiseHQ.com, www.BigContacts.com, www.SalesForce.com.

Try one and let me know what you think in the comments below!

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 business strategist specializing in showing coaches, consultants and freelancers how to spend more time making money with simple, yet profitable marketing systems. Her company Be Promotable provides clients with fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote their businesses as power players in their market. Claim your instant access to a free 10 part ecourse, 10 Ways To Grow Your List at: www.bepromotable.com.
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iStock_000007606415XSmall-150x150.jpg?width=150I had a dream last night. In the dream I invested in some type of postal supplies shop - you know, like the ones you see on every corner now? This guy from an office next door kept coming in to say he was there to help me. Seemed like a nice enough man. At first, he offered to lay a customized floor tile that looked like a stamp for me in front of the counter. He described how it would have my initials, my favorite colors, and it would really light up the place. I was convinced and I said, "sure, that would be nice". Then after he put it in and I realized it wasn't just one tile, it was half the floor. Cha-ching.

Next, he came in and offered to change the locks on my door. I said, "yes, that's probably a good idea". And of course, he upgraded the entire door. Cha-ching...again. After a series of these offers, I realized I'd drawn up quite a bill. That's when I finally sat down to look at the total costs of my initial investment, the add-ons, and the history of success the shop had before me. Guess what? The previous owner sold it because she hadn't made a profit.

It was a pretty dismal outlook. I had the same dream at least once more the same night. It was like I had to go through it all over again, even knowing what the end would be. Then I woke up.

I realized that this was a pretty accurate picture of some decisions I've made before as a business owner. Not researching the so-called investment first, saying yes to everything that looks short-term shiny, looking at the total profit/loss picture only after I've spent all the money...

Notice I didn't say anything about "adding value" or "profit generating" decisions? What investments are you making in yourself and in your business that will add long-term value and generate profit? Got the wake up call yet?

 

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 of Be Promotable is a premier personal branding & marketing coach. Her creative genius has unlocked the potential of many women solopreneurs, helping them to reinvent themselves as power players in their startup business. Claim your free instant access to a free video download, 5 Secrets to Developing Your Unique Brand Proposition at: www.bepromotable.com.

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4 Parts to a Fabulous Personal Brand Statement

iStock_000008473282XSmall-150x150.jpg?width=150I often hear the question, "how do I develop a personal brand statement?" and my answer stays the same most of the time. A strong personal brand statement can be one of the best tools you can have and certainly one of the most critical ones for your branding and marketing toolkit, whether you are a business owner, or a professional working for someone else.

There are certain components that are variable and others that are pretty foundational in developing your personal brand statement (P.B.S.). Some of the factors that may be variable are:
  • When and how you will use it - e.g. interview for a job? networking situation? speech?
  • Who you're talking to - e.g. language needs to meet the needs of the audience; the message is the same, but the approach should be adaptable
Even though these may change, there are basically four parts I like to use in developing the main statement, so I'll share these next. A great basic statement tells people:
  1. Who you are - let the recipient of the statement know your identity, your name
  2. What you do - the core service or opportunity you provide
  3. Who you do it for - your target audience and/or ideal client you work with
  4. How you do it - your style, your unique approach, what distinguishes you

Let me give you an example of how this might work -

"Hi, I'm Tanya Smith of Be Promotable, the No Guesswork Branding & Marketing Resource for women solopreneurs. We show our clients practical, step-by-step online marketing strategies to confidently promote their business and get them noticed."

Now you try it. Add your own P.B.S. with the 4 parts in the comments and I'll share feedback...come on, you can do it!

About the Author: Tanya Smith of Be Promotable is a premier personal branding & marketing coach. Her creative genius has unlocked the potential of many women solopreneurs, helping them to reinvent themselves as power players in their startup business. Claim your free instant access to a free video and audio download, 5 Secrets to Successfully Starting a Solo Business While Working Full Time at: www.bepromotable.com.

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Simple Steps to Creating Your Marketing Map

iStock_000001184887XSmall-150x150.jpg?width=150Solo professionals are like big businesses when it comes to the need for a solid marketing strategy. The distinctive thing about solopreneurs, however, is that you get to be the head decision maker for every part of the business. That means it is all the more important to take your strategies from complex to simple whenever possible.

Now is a great time to develop your branding and marketing plan. While you definitely need to consider mapping out a strategy that is more comprehensive to cover you for at least the next twelve months, here are four simple questions you can answer in order to set a basic foundation for promoting your distinctive brand and services you provide:

How will I generate leads?

This is one of the most critical steps to developing a solid branding and marketing strategy. Assuming you have already identified who your ideal clients are, you must now figure out where to find them. Immerse yourself in studying your target market - find out what they read, where they frequent, and what they buy - and put yourself in front of them.

How will prospects get to do a "taste test" with me?

Before a potential client will buy BIG from you, they will want to know what your services are like. Depending on the business you're in, you will need to decide what is most effective and most practical to give away. For example, you might offer a free strategy session, or a free audio, or even an e-book. What can you offer that will be of interest and take little effort or investment on your part?

How will I direct them from one point to the next?

Now that your prospect has had a taste of what you do and they want more, make it simple for them to know what is next. This involves some thinking on your part of what your marketing funnel looks like. Whenever you engage a client in your product or service, be prepared to promote the next thing and make it easy. At the end of your teleseminar, share the next program or info product. This is the time where you can extend even greater value to your new customer - at the point that you have already made good on your initial promise!

How will I follow up?

The client engagement process usually follows a certain path - suspect --> prospect --> client --> advocate/evangelist. In order to move people through these stages, you need some idea of how to continuously follow up and stay in touch. Whether this looks like a series of autoresponder emails, a regular ezine, postcards, etc. consider how you will stay in front of your leads. The key is to add value to their inbox, not being pesky.

 

I now invite you to claim instant access to a free video and audio download, 5 Secrets to Successfully
Starting a Solo Business While Working Full Time
at: http://www.bepromotable.com to learn even more about great solo professional business branding tips. - Tanya Smith, The Solo Business Brand Coach at Be Promotable.

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Goal Setting Is Not Dead...Just Boring

iStock_000015158998XSmall.jpg?width=167This post was originally published on Tanya Smith's blog. Click here to see the original post.

Goal setting always gets to be pretty popular this time of year. You hear a lot of techniques about how to do it and one of the most common ways is the SMART technique. I'm not writing about that here, because it's so overused now, I don't think you'll care.

No matter what you use, the new year always kicks us off with a great start, right? But then somehow you lose interest. There is this cycle that we seem to get into and it goes a little something like this:

  • Day 1: Whoo hoo, yeah, I'm on it this time. I'm going to [your goal here] -->
  • Day 3: This is great. I can't believe how this is changing [enter positive results] for me! I will definitely keep this up. -- >
  • Day 5: You know what, I'm just going to take a little bitty break...I'll come back to it, I promise! -- >
  • Day 10: What was that thing I was trying to do again?
  • Day 20: Start over again or drop it completely..
Part of the reason this happens is that we haven't really developed for ourselves a tangible, exciting "why" and "what". What I mean by this is the vision of what we want to get to and why we're doing it was never really that clear and constant.

You see, when you are setting a goal, it's important to identify the most clear picture possible of what you want. And doing this early in the process is one of the best ways to I learned this training in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) when I studied with a celebrated master pracititioner, Susan Stageman, for over a year.

Yes, it took me that long to really get it and start applying the techniques . I can be kind of hard-headed, as my mom used to say. There were so many good ones, but the one that has stuck with me forever is called creating a "well-formed outcome" (WFO).

This is a very powerful way to set long-term and short-term goals so that they STICK...and really, that's what we set them for in the first place.

So I'm going to share with you my criteria for remembering the WFO in 5 simple steps. Maybe this will keep your goal setting from being so boring. ;). I call it the PLEAS approach (as in, can I have another goal, "pleas"):

Positive

State the goal in positive terms. Describe the present situation and compare it with the desired future goal. Make sure you can see yourself having obtained the goal.

Level

Line up the goal with your values and beliefs. For me this means lining up what I've asked for, or stated, to be sure it is in the will of what God has for my life. I pray and ask for spiritual guidance around the goal. You may line it up however you see fit. It's important that your goals are a good fit with what's important to you.

Evident

Describe the goal using "sensory" terms. What will let you know that you have attained that desired state? This is a critical piece - think in terms of what you will hear, see, and feel when you have success.

Appropriate

Consider if the goal is right for you in all areas of your life. Is there something that may hold you back? Is this goal right for you right now, in this place where you are?

Self-initiated & Maintained

Self-initiated and maintained. Your goal must be something that you can initiate and maintain. It must not be something dependent on other people. Make sure that your goal reflects things that you can directly affect.

If your goal, or outcome is set each time with these criteria in mind, you will have crystal-clear vision that you can hang on to and it will get you past those tough times when you're ready to let go. OR it will bring you back to what you wanted in the first place...SUCCESS!

Share one of your clear outcomes in the comments below.

 

About the Author: Tanya Smith of Be Promotable is the "no guesswork" personal branding & marketing coach. Her creative genius has unlocked the potential of many women solopreneurs, helping them to reinvent themselves as power players in their startup business. Claim your free instant access to a free multimedia downloads including 10 Branding Mistakes Made by Solopreneurs and 5 Secrets to Successfully Starting a Solo Business While Working Full Time at: www.bepromotable.com

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5 Steps to Create Your Vision Board for 2011

Every year, my kids and I create a vision board to capture goal highlights for the year using posters, magazine clippings, crayons, glitter, glue sticks -- you name it, it's on the floor on 12/31. We have the music going, candles lit, and complete focus on what we're doing. Here is our process laid out in 5 steps for you. I hope you then enjoy the short video version of my board that was designed using Animoto.com. Head over to Life Vision Boards and get another take on the "how to". They use Animoto as well and you certainly can too - it's a free tool for creating video using images and music. Use theirs or add your own.

5 Steps To Creating Your Vision Board

  1. Get yourself to a quiet place
  2. Imagine that it is now the end of 2011 and you are reflecting back on your accomplishments for the year
  3. Write down a list -- brainstorm freely at first
  4. Now highlight the top 3-5 things you really want to focus on for the year
  5. Cut, draw, and paste images that represent your goals onto a poster board (you can even make a miniature version on an index card to carry with you)

That's it! Now set a date to get the board finished. ;)

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Personal Brand Kung Fu - The SWOT Analysis

iStock_000006195022XSmall.jpgOkay, yes the title may tell you I know a little something about martial arts...but no, I don't. Only as much as the last Karate Kid movie
(which is one of my kids' favorites) and the line from Kung Fu Panda
which says that Kung Fu stands for "excellence of self".


I was thinking about that today after having watched the main character, a Panda named Po, one of 50 jillion times. I think personal brand work is like working out your Kung Fu - it truly stands for mining
and understanding how to portray your self excellence.


I thought I'd share how you can strategically do some kung fu kicks with identifying your personal brand strategy below. One approach is using the SWOT analysis.


SWOT Analysis is a well-known method of identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, while also examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. All four areas can help you clarify your personal brand and your
distinctive and unique value.


Often carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework will be enough to reveal changes that need to be made in your plan.


Try to work through the following questions and think about what insights you have from this focused work:

Strengths -

  • What do you do well?
  • What can you do better than anyone else?
  • What comes naturally for you?

Weaknesses -

  • What could be improved?
  • What might you do poorly?
  • What comes with more difficulty for you?

Opportunities -

  • In what areas do you see possibilities?
  • What resources or circumstances can you leverage?
  • What trends might you use to your advantage?

Threats -

  • What obstacles are in your way?
  • Who is your competition and what are they doing well?
  • Are you financially challenged?
  • What else do you find yourself up against?


About the Author: Tanya Smith, Career & Personal Brand Coach, offers women professionals, with dual roles in a corporate career & solo side business, access to cutting-edge strategies to help them thrive
and promote themselves as experts in a progressively competitive work and
marketplace. Claim your free instant access to two fill-in-the-blank brand templates and a special report, The Beginner’s Guide to A Successful Career
Brand
at: http://www.bepromotable.com.

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You can also listen to this article at: http://bit.ly/aMmLA8

Everyone is an expert at something - whether you know how to marketthat knowledge or not is the key to creating an expert personal brand.
Wikipedia describes an expert as "a person with extensive knowledge or
ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular
area of study". I have invested in a number of programs, courses,
books, and live presentations over the last several years. All of this
because I believed the facilitator to be an "expert" who could share
information with me that I did not already know.
How is it that some people become recognized as the expert and others,
who may have more information and knowledge about the same topic, do
not?
Three things in general distinguish people who get to wear the expert label:
They are clear on what they believe. Experts tend to rise to this title
because they have taken a stance or a position on something within an
area of study. For example, Dr. Wayne Dyer is a well-known expert in the
field of self development. Dyer has certain principles he believes. It
is clear that part of his message is that each of us is accountable to
our own success and growth. Carole Martin, the Interview Coach, is an
expert in her area. She has developed clear steps to preparing for an
interview.
They tell other people what they believe. People who are recognized as
experts do not keep their beliefs to themselves. Instead, they
communicate a message in some type of written, visual, or auditory form
so that others know their principles. It is one thing to have a thought -
it's another level when you share the thought with someone else. And
the wider your net, the higher and faster you rise to the top as an
expert brand. Dyer and Martin could simply have their beliefs about
steps to take and principles to apply, but until these were shared as
messages to others, no one would have recognized them as a possible
resource.
They are consistent in telling other people what they believe. Having
an expert brand means you are consistent with the beliefs you share with
others. If you say one thing today and have a completely opposite
message next week, it will take away from the credibility of your
personal brand. Consider this example - John Maxwell is seen as an
expert in applying leadership strategies based in Christian principles.
If next month, he came out with a book about loving life as an atheist,
Maxwell's credibility as an expert may drop considerably.
I would now like to invite you to enhance your expert brand and claim
FREE access to my upcoming Career Marketing Style teleclass. Learn 5
different ways you can successfully market your brand and get the
recognition you want YOUR way. Visit http://careermarketingstyle.com for more details & to grab your seat.
From Tanya Smith, The Expert Brand Coach and The CareerPreneur Success Circle.
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Having a well thought out personal brand strategy is the fastest and best way to promote yourself in any career.

There are, however, 3 key mistakes many professionals make with their brand that keep them from advancing further in their career.


Personal Brand Mistake #1 - Failure to think like an entrepreneur at work. These days it's now more important than ever to recognize that things aren't like they used to be. Whether you work for someone else or not, do not make the mistake of having an employee mindset - you are self-employed.


What to do instead - To boost your perceived value at work so that you are top choice for the best job opportunities, it's time you start thinking like a business owner. Be an independent thinker, offer creative solutions, and always think a couple of steps ahead, strategically positioning yourself for the next action in case (B) happens instead of (A). Get noticed for your ability to be a results-driver who is adaptable to change, because change is happening faster and bigger these days.


Personal Brand Mistake #2 - Failure to track your own accomplishments and articulate them well. You can not rely on your manager to understand the work you do, or to know when recognition is warranted.


What to do instead - Keep track of accomplishments, praise reports, and great results you have achieved with and for your business partners. When the time comes to sit down for that next performance review, be ready to list out how well you have contributed to the company's overall goals. And if that performance review somehow does not get scheduled? Make an appointment yourself to meet with the manager and share your accomplishments, in a way that boosts their confidence in your work as an achiever. This record will also be great for your portfolio when it's time to move on.


Personal Brand Mistake #3 - Failure to connect with people who can be champions for your success. It's great to spend time with your colleagues at work - after all, we spend a large part of the week there. But many people mistake this group as their group of supporters.


What to do instead - Make sure you are connecting with people of influence outside of your normal circle. Tap into knowledge and experience that will help you broaden your thinking. Share solutions and creative ideas when you meet with mentors - formally or informally. They might just be your champion behind the scenes when you need it most.


I would like to invite you to claim FREE Instant Access to my Beginner's Guide to a Successful Career Brand when you visit http://bepromotable.com. You'll get a set of 3 great articles, along with a Promotability Quiz. Are you promotable?


From Tanya Smith, The Expert Brand Coach and The CareerPreneur Success Circle.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tanya_M._Smith

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Hello Superwomen,


I'm sharing the free audio from my recent teleclass, Your Career Marketing style, at http://thepromotablebrand.com/. You can download the handout there too.


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You are invited to listen in at no cost to get great tips on five ways to professionally market your brand & to find out more about the upcoming 6 week program for designing an attractive personal brand that will powerfully enhance & sustain your career and/or solo side business.


It's called The Promotable Brand: How to Get Clear, Get Known, and Get Paid in Your Career or Solo Side Business.


You will say, after participating, that the rewards of this 6 week program are to have:

  • A greater sense of security knowing you have confidence in your ability to promote yourself and your services;
  • Enhanced professional skills that carry over on-the-job and in your side business;
  • Greater recognition from your clients as well as your work colleagues - where it counts;
  • Higher level of trust in your purpose and faith in case the unexpected happens;
  • A more attractive professional brand when you compete for positions you choose
  • Success on your own personal terms and based on what's important to you

Early bird for the program - The Promotable Brand: How to Get Clear, Get Known, and Get Paid in Your Career or Solo Side Business ends tomorrow at midnight, so check it out soon and save big...seriously. I'm also throwing in my recent 12-CD telesummit as a gift for people who act quickly: http://thepromotablebrand.com.


As always - to your success,


Tanya Smith, Your Career Strategy Partner
BePromotable.com

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Women's Empowerment tips: Believe

What do you do when all of your motivation has dried up?
How do you continue on?


When you’ve tried everything and it seems that your dreams will never
come to fruition you’ve got to believe!


Yes, believe. It may look dark and grim, however, it’s at this time that
you must go back to your why, revisit your vision and believe.

Believe: 2: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something Merriam Webster Dictionary


Take inventory of why you started on the path to Health and Fitness, building a business, strengthening your Faith, building a successfulmarriage. Assess what worked and what didn’t. Write down action stepsthat you will need to take for a different result.


Reignite your passion and believe! Believe in your dream. Believe in the
goodness of the realization of your desired result.


You don’t fail unless you quit.


“It’s never too late to redeem your dreams.” Sharon Williamson


Believe in and redeem your dreams!


Of course it’s going to take more than believing, however, you can resuscitate your motivation and passion when you simply make one more effort to Believe!


For a limited time you can listen to the replay of an incredibly empowering call

"Master your mindset so you can unleash the power within and soar to your greatness!" This will help you as you take the Transformational journey to empowering success by believing in yourself and your dreams. You will be empowered not only to dream but to take targeted action! http://budurl.com/WEMBpr




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Women will come from across the states for personal, spiritual and business empowerment,
structured networking and refreshments.

If you've been looking for something to change the course of your life and business forever, this is it!

Select women will experience an onstage Business Spotlight! You'll receive information on
how you can be one of these women after registration. You'll walk away with at least one idea
and a spotlight for your Business.

Be sure to bring your Business Cards.

Secure your seat today! http://www.EmpowermentSuperStar.com

Limited seating.

Online registration ends Thursday at 12:00 midnight. Registration at the door is more.


Read more…


Is your mindset holding you back?


Don’t know?


I’m going to share 3 mindsets to avoid.


1) I’m not good enough.
I’ve been there and have seen all too many times women who are always

Getting better and this is not simply personal development it’s continued activities based on the comparison with others. You should
always avoid this self doubt. It is draining and will sabotage any
endeavor of empowering success. So shake the mindset of “I’m not good
enough.”

2) It’s too late for me. Sure things may not have happened the way you want them to happen, however, as long as you have breath in your body there’s hope. Take inventory of why things are not working. Don’t
be a victim of time. There are many who started in there latter years
and actually realized more in their latter years than their earlier
years. Spend your time discovering new ideals, strategies and
resources. Determine who it is you are here to serve. Develop an
appropriate brand and make sure you have an online visibility plan.


3) Who am I to charge that? Okay this is where I had an incredible shift in my life and business. I kept hearing the limiting belief or
you could say negative chatter and it included “Who am I to charge
that?” If you have determined who you serve, a solution to their
problem and can help them get results, you had better charge for that.
Don’t look at it as what hourly rate you can charge but rather what are
the results that you help them achieve? What’s it worth to them? If you
can provide solutions and help them manifest the desired results, you’re the person for the job. Besides it’s not a money thing
with everyone. Charge too little and they may start doubting the
effectiveness of your program, product or service.


I have shared 3 mindsets to avoid. There are many more that you want to stay clear of. There are also mindset shifts that need to be made and this comes as you master your mindset.

I’ll be sharing this during my upcoming live event in Sacramento, CA Click here to learn more ,as well as The Women’s Empowerment and Mindset Breakthrough Online Boost Camp click here to learn more.


If you’re tired of being stuck, not getting results and reinventing the wheel
be sure to connect via one of these opportunities.

Having the right mindset is crucial to your Authentically Brilliant Life and Business Empowerment. Empowerment is a choice. Make the choice for maximum empowerment today!



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Imagine.... You EMPOWERED to finally live your best life ever!

Dear friend,


My family and I just experienced the most frightening crisis of our life. Our oldest daughter on Life Support. We almost lost her not once but
twice. How did we persevere, remain focused and resist the temptation
to succumb to fear? We are now experiencing victory and an amazing
surge of EMPOWERMENT! She is off life support, was moved from ICU and is regaining strength daily. The Doctor's gave us another report, however, we held on to the report of our God! It wasn't easy but it was possible.

We tapped into possibility. We tapped into Empowerment through our union with Him. We stepped boldly with courage and confidence that it was DONE!

You can experience the same empowerment , courage and confidence to stay focused because you have learned life skills, become faith-full and are mastering your mindset!

This is the only way you will send out the energy to create an
atmosphere for God's miraculous intervention in your life and the lives
of others.


Feel like you're working hard but getting nowhere?
Are you frustrated by the day to day tasks of managing your personal and business life?
Want to play a bigger game but can't due to a lack of confidence and/or entertaining your limiting beliefs? Or maybe you don't know what's holding you back.

"Give me 40 minutes and I'll share keys to maximizing your
EMPOWERMENT and realizing mindset breakthroughs so you can finally live life on your terms while increasing your client/customer base and revenue."


Join me for The Women's Empowerment and Mindset Breakthrough Teleseminar series



This week's Topic: 4 Surefire ways to Blast through your fears to COURAGE, CONFIDENCE and Maximum EMPOWERMENT!

When: Bi-Weekly The next call is July 8
Time: 11:00 AM PST, 2:00 PM EST
Cost: Free

These teleseminars will sell for a minimum of $147
Get your free access today!

Register here

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Your First 90 days in Business

.The process of starting a business involves key steps from choosing a business name to selecting a business structure. Once your doors are open, the first 90 days of being in business sets the foundation for successful survival. Learn what you need to know during the first 90 days of starting a business.Get the First Customer: You aren't in business until you have a customer. If you didn't have a customer at the beginning of startup, make this priority one. Reach out to your warm contacts. People who know you will want to see you succeed and will give you the necessary business or referrals.Master Selling: Selling is essential to business success. It's a business function often downplayed by new startups lacking sales experience. Set a regular time weekly to learn and apply new selling skills in your business. Forget the hype that marketing will do the selling. Marketing is a separate function from sales. Marketing will create the interest to contact your company. Once you have contact, use your selling skills to close the deal.Make a Profit: Sales revenue shows on the top line of financials. The profit is the bottom line. Without profits your business will fail. Understand the costs of your business and ensure you focus on making money. For certain businesses, profits will follow an investment in inventory or other start up costs. Run financials to determine when your company will be profitable.Evaluate Pricing: When starting a business it's common to make assumptions about what prices to charge customers and the profits made. During the first 90 days your assumptions will be challenged with the realities of the market place. Take a close look at your price strategy. Don't make the common error of trying to be the lowest price provider. Your competitors have established their businesses and can often undercut prices longer than you.Set Quarterly Goals: Running a new startup is time consuming and stressful. You have to learn multiple skills and have numerous systems to setup. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day. Successful entrepreneurs know seeing the horizon and having a 90 day plan with objectives and milestones can mean the difference between failure and survival.Find Your Entrepreneurial Type: Your business personality type is the traits and characteristics of your personality that blend with the needs of the business. If you better understand your business personality, then you can give your company the best part of you.Reward Yourself: Starting a business is like launching a rocket into space. The amount of energy to leave the earth's gravity force is tremendous but once beyond the pull of the earth the energy needed is reduced. Recognize the energy you have expended to start your business and take the time out to reward yourself. The time off will recharge your motivation and ensure success for the next 90 days.
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