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Prilosec wants to sponsor me and my stage play, The Virgin Mary Monologues but I need your votes to make it through the final round. Please click the link below to send a message to corporate America that "we" support each other. Thank you in advance.
"The Right Kind of Change Can Transform Your Life and Your Business!"
- Trina Newby, Business Success Coach
With June marking the half way point before year-end, I'm focusing on the goals I set for myself and business. Some of my goals I am on point with and some I have allowed myself to be distracted and have not been so focused. Below are 5 things that I did to get myself re-focused, so I can accomplish my goals:
- Admitted that it was time for a CHANGE! Yes, that's right I had to quickly face the facts that I what I was doing was not working and that I had to evaluate the changes needed to get better results and meet the goal.
- Started eliminating habits that prevent me from reaching my goal. One habit that I discovered was that I was staying on the internet too long when social networking and checking email. To remedy this habit, I created a system to check my email and social network and made a commitment to stick with it. Guess what? It's working! (Y-E-A-H)
- Drawing alliances and creating new partnerships! I know for sure that in order for me to reach my goals and be successful that I can not do it alone! I must be willing to bless others and develop relationships with others who compliment what I do and vice-versa.
- I evaluate my time schedule morning, noon and night to ensure that I am in alignment with my goals and on schedule with tasks.
- I completed a cash flow analysis to determine how I was going to meet my financial goals before the end of this year.
A Special Note for You:
If you're feeling like it's time for a CHANGE, please connect with me. Let's discuss and let me share with you what's working for me and how you can get more things accomplished in your business as well!
Schedule a FREE PowerTalk Coaching Session with me Today!
About the Blogger:
Trina Newby is a business success coach, host of Successful Woman Radio Show and founder of Women About Biz. She is passionate about helping women to realize their full power and potential to have and live an abundant and joyful life.
There was a time that you could put up your offer for a free Newsletter and you could be guaranteed nice opt in rate. Now a days it takes a little more than a post that reads “Sign up for my free newsletter.”
It makes you wonder if E-mail marketing is dead?
A related aspect of online marketing that can be as annoying as it can be effective is targeted e-mail campaigns. Improper use of this avenue has lead to the use of so-called “junk” e-mail filters and huge campaigns against vendors and sites that knowingly send out millions of e-mails to any e-mail address they can harvest.
Junk e-mail is typically sent without regard to whether or not the person in question is a potential customer or not. Returns of less then 1% on these campaigns are common, and still considered a “success” because the costs are so low that any return seems worthwhile.
So is it worth my while to consider this strategy? While e-mail is one of the most abused forms of advertising on the Internet, it can be a great way to start a marketing campaign. Use it carefully and correctly, especially with customer acceptance and true manned “removal” systems.
So what is the key to successful e-mail campaigns?
The key to successful e-mail campaigns is to target people who would actually want to hear from you about your product, and then to personalize your e-mails in such a way that it isn’t apparent you are mass-marketing. One thing you will need to get started is an autoresponder. This will help you automate the process of capturing the prospects name, email and building rapport by sending follow up emails with value added content and hopefully converting them to a client/customer. This is of course after you build trust and demonstrate your expertise. You’re working on the know, like and trust factor throughout this process. Just be sure you act responsibly, or you may find your e-mails going into junk e-mail bins and all your marketing dollars wasted!
If you’re looking for a great autoresponder I recommend Aweber. It’s great to use while getting started. You can click here to learn more and get a 21 day free trial.
Consider adding e-mail marketing to your marketing plan. If you feel a little shakey and want additional support in this area and Online Marketing as a whole, I invite you to join other dynamic entrepreneurs and I for The Online Marketing Breakthrough Boot Camp.
Click here to learn more and secure your enrollment.
Empowering you!
Robin aka The Empowerment Diva
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If you want to turn your ad strategy into sales, evaluate your idea from every possible angle. Is your campaign a fresh angle or a tired approach?
Many campaigns fizzle because they try to play on old ideas. Grab a potential customer's attention from a new perspective. You'll be putting your heart and soul into starting this campaign so make sure the idea's one you'll want to live with in the long run.
How's the market for your campaign?
You wouldn't want to sell snow shovels in Florida, so make sure your concept is a good fit for the market you want to hit.
What's your advantage over some of your competitors?
AKA will customers have a reason to use you over the other guy? Don't just say you're charming and can get the job done. It's going to take a lot more than that if you're trying to lure customers away from other companies or gain new customers altogether.
What's your time frame for getting your ad campaign off the ground and your product/service into people's homes?
You don't want to invent the wheel if you have to sit on it for a long period of time. There's always someone out there that can beat you to the finish line. You have to move fast. And over time, your passion for the ad strategy will fade as well.
Will the money from this ad strategy burn a hole in your pocket or just burn you?
Evaluate your income potential. Is it worth it to start this campaign financially?
Advertising is key to making your business successful. Just watch out for the common pitfalls campaigns fall prey to and you'll see increased sales and happy customers in no time.
You need customers now but you've waited until the last minute to start an advertising campaign. How are you going to get customers at such a late date?
One word: perks.
Use these perks to help you turn a potential customer into a paying customer.
Free Shipping:People love the convenience of shopping online. But they don't like paying for shipping. Offer your customer free shipping and you'll generate more sales than you'll lose in shipping costs.
Tip: When developing your free shipping special, consider a minimum order amount before the free shipping offer kicks in.
Discounts:
Who says 10 percent doesn't go a long way? Discounts can help you obtain long-term customers the easy way.
Gifts:
If a customer orders an item you specify or a minimum amount of products/services, give them a special gift. The gifts you give don't have to cost too much. They're just a way for you to show your customers your appreciation for their business.
Specials:
Having different specials every month gives customers a variety of reasons to keep coming back. Give your specials a variety so they can appeal to all customers. For instance, you wouldn't want to offer a free coffeemaker with every dishwasher purchase month after month after month.
No Payments:
If you can offer financing or delay someone's payments for a period of time, this is an excellent way to get people in your store. Be sure you have the proper financing restrictions and policies in place before offering this option to your customers.
Easy Billing:
Splitting your billing into two or more easy payments for your customers gives customers more of an incentive to make expensive purchases.
Giveaway:
Giving away products drives people to your store with little to no cost to you. You can require customers to have to fill out an entry form for your giveaway in person to get them in your store.
Sale:
The most basic of advertising opportunities is often the most overlooked. Having a sale requires advertising through outside mediums but if your sale is good, customers will flock to your store with wallets in hand.
I 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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Always treat your hands and neck the way you treat your
face. The skin on the neck is thinner than the skin on the face, yet most women
don't care for it as well. Same goes for the hands. After you apply a treatment
(like a retinoid or antioxidant serum) to your face, rub it on your neck and
the backs of your hands, too.
Do You Want to Discover Specific Networking Tips that will HELP MAKE YOUR BUSINESS PROFITABLE and Take it to the Next Level?
Karmen A. Booker is a Business Attorney and the Chief Consultant for Compu-Perfect Professional Services - www.compuperfect.net. Compu-Perfect is a business consulting firm that specializes in 501(c)(3) tax exemption applications, corporate, limited liability company, and nonprofit entity formations, copyright registration, trademark search and registration, asset protection and estate planning services.
Mrs. Booker has 15 years experience writing contracts and business plans, forming business entities (Corporations, LLC’s, and Nonprofit Organizations), 501(c)(3) tax exemption, copyright/trademark registration, and estate planning. She also has 20 years editing experience.
She has written several E-Books, which include "Business Tips", "Biblical Entrepreneurship", "Nonprofit Handbook". Her latest e-book is entitled “Successful Networking Tips for Your Business” for ONLY $1.00.
CLICK THIS LINK TO BUY HER Networking Tips E-book - http://kbooker.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/networking-tips/
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www.howtostartanonprofitorganization.wordpress.com
Elevator Pitch Competition
For the past few weeks, I've been squawking about how amazing the 2011 Black Enterprise Entrepreneur's Conference turned out to be. One of the most exciting events was the Elevator Pitch Competition. The winner took home a whopping prize of $10k (congrats to our home town hero Brandon Butler of The Website Shop). Contestants were first given 60 seconds to pitch their product or service, and finalists were allowed 30 seconds to re-pitch. This competition was geared towards investors, and I couldn't help but think that a pitch to an ACTUAL prospect should be much shorter and sweeter.15 is the New 30
For the last 4 years, I have been training clients to perfect a 15-second pitch. The premise is to make the pitch feel more like a conversation than a used car salesman's chatter. One trait of a successful brand is the ability to remain acutely aware of trends. Ever notice how quickly people get distracted or bored these days? As we embrace the trend of the 'microwave' age (age of instant access), its pretty clear that Attention Spans have become shorter and shorter. ThatCompany.com recently posted an article siting that the 15-second commercial is becoming increasingly more popular (READ FULL ARTICLE). So if major brands are limiting their message to 15 seconds, why shouldn't you?Potential clients only give you their undivided focus for about 3-7 seconds before they decide to stay plugged in or check out. If they remain plugged in, then you have a good chance of connecting within the 15 second window. I know what you are thinking. How can you possibly say everything relevant in 15 seconds? The short answer is that you can't, nor do you need to. If the client is interested after the first 15 seconds, they will engage you and ask for more information. Often times you can squeeze in another 15-30 seconds of your spiel. And if your pitch resonates, you can get in up to 1 or 2 minutes of your sales pitch without making the client feel bored or anxious.
Part 1: Key Content for the First 15 Seconds
- Clearly state the company name
- Identify the primary service
- State the clear results that you deliver
- You may also include a secondary service or unique selling proposition of time permits.
"My company is The Brand Coach, based in Atlanta. We offer business, personal and celebrity brand development services. We help our clients build solid brands that they leverage LONG term, to increase their brand equity. "If the prospect is interested they will ask for more details, like "So who have you worked with?" or "I could use some help, explain the services you offer?". That is your queue to launch the second half of your pitch.
Part 2: Beyond the First 15
The second half of your pitch should focus on your Unique Selling Proposition, and success stories. It is important for prospects to understand the difference between you and your competitors. People also relate more to stories than sales strategy, it creates a comfort zone when one feels like they are speaking to an old friend. However, be sure your stories are something your listener might relate to.Lastly, it is important to practice the pitch to perfection while maintaining flexibility with it. Prospects might interrupt you to find out more about a service or to interject a specific need that they have. You should be prepared to take any direction with the conversation. It is also a good idea to have multiple versions of your pitch, just in case you need an alternative.
Note: If there are multiple members of your sales team. They should have have the same content in their elevator pitch, but personalized to fit each person's speaking pattern. The parroting effect will allow consumers to formulate a clear snapshot of your brand no matter where it is encountered.
Bowing Out
Sometimes the listener will give you a flat "Ohhhh I see." That is a clear sign that their interest has not been peeked. At that point I would encourage you to ask about them. Listen intently for a need that you might be able to fill. But stay focused on the quality of the conversation. When prospects like you, they will exercise more patience in getting to know you and what you have to offer. But everyone you engage won't have an interest, sometimes you should simply bow out and find a better connection.Addition Credits: See video spotlight of Brandon Butler at The Website Shop (Atlanta)
Happy Branding Everyone…
You can continue this conversation on Twitter @brandcoachllc or on Facebook.com/TheBrandCoach
Want to know how to get 16,000+ Twitter followers? Click here.
Click here to hear an interview with me about how to get more customers, more clients and more money.
Here's to your success!
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Building a social media network takes time, patience, and perseverance. The sooner you start social media activities, the better. Don’t wait for your book launch to begin to build a following! Successful social media campaigns happen 365 days a year; you never know when your outreach will lead to book sales, consulting offers, speaking opportunities, or new business endeavors.
Social media can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. You are not required to participate on every social network available, nor do you have to spend your entire day promoting through social media. All you need to do is:
- Pick the social media outlets that are most relevant to your platform and that you are comfortable using.
- Determine what amount of time you have available, whether it’s once a day or once a week, and devote that time consistently.
- High-quality, relevant posts are more important than volume.
- The key to social media is engagement—be willing and able to interact with others and pay it forward when it comes to sharing other people’s activities and information.
- Be yourself—authenticity is the key to drawing people in and sharing your message.
Twitter
Here are some free tools to get more Twitter followers, join a Twitter group, establish yourself as a Twitter expert, or run a Twitter contest.
Increasing Twitter Followers
- Mr. Tweet—a free service—analyzes your existing followers and the subject matter of your tweets and makes recommendations of other Twitterers and Twitter groups you should follow.
- Twibes allows users to join an existing group of people sharing a common interest or start their own group.
- Listorious helps you establish yourself as an expert on Twitter and answer questions from around the Twittersphere.
Twtawa is a free online tool that lets you schedule a giveaway. The service will randomly select a winner at the end of your contest, and it also searches for all tweets with a specific hashtag and makes them relevant to your contest. Your followers can join the contest by simply tweeting a link to it.
Making Your Tweets Interesting
Make liberal use of hashtags within tweet content. Use a hashtag already in use, or create a new one. A hashtag is a keyword or phrase prefixed by a hash symbol (#), such as #books or #authormarketing. Hashtags enable people to search for and follow all tweets that include a particular keyword; the tagged word will appear in search results for that term.
Sites to monitor trending topics and hashtags:
- Use WhattheTrend and Wthashtag to learn about trending hashtags and try to incorporate them into tweets when possible.
- Use Twubs collects Twitter groups built around content aggregated from hashtags. You can register an original hashtag and encourage other tweeters to adopt it in their tweets.
Tools to enhance tweets:
- Share documents on Twitter
- Share photos on Twitter
- Another way to share photos on Twitter
- Share videos on Twitter
- Another way to share videos on Twitter
- Create polls, ask questions and get feedback from followers on Twitter
- Create surveys to better understand your followers
- Create coupons online and reward your followers
Facebook
To kick-start your network on Facebook, it’s preferable in most cases to start a fan page rather than a Facebook group page. There are fundamental differences between the two types of pages.
Facebook Fan Pages
Purpose: Helps you promote your personal brand, build a network, and raise visibility and public community interaction.
PROS:
Allows you to post a new discussion, post to existing discussion walls and forums, send a message to all members via fan updates, gain visitor statistics, create events, and invite fans to upcoming events.
SEARCH ENGINE BENEFITS:
Any links you post on a fan page are “do-follow” (meaning they are indexed by search engines). Also, since fan pages are visible publicly, they are likely to show up in a Google search for your book or topic. Also, after you gain 25 fans, you have the option of creating a branded URL for the page.
WHERE MESSAGES TO YOUR FANS APPEAR:
In the notification bar, on the right-hand side of their profile.
Facebook Groups
Purpose: Allows you to have an online discussion about similar interests or to establish yourself as subject-matter authority among peers.
PROS:
You can host a discussion, post to discussion walls and forums, send messages to all members of the group, and participate in a public video or photo exchange. Additionally, any group member can send bulk invites to his or her network for group events
CONS:
You cannot get visitor statistics.
SEARCH ENGINE BENEFITS:
None, since groups are private. Your group URL is a mixture of random letters and numbers, which makes it difficult to share with others.
WHERE MESSAGES TO MEMBERS IN THE GROUP APPEAR:
In the member’s Facebook inbox.
- Leverage your LinkedIn profile headline or summary to prominently announce your book title. Example: John Smith, Business Consultant and Author of “Book Title”
- Use LinkedIn’s Amazon Reading List application to enhance your profile. Add your own book as well as other books you’re planning to read. Click here to learn more about LinkedIn’s Amazon Reading List application.
- To establish yourself as an expert, monitor LinkedIn Answers for questions related to your book’s topic. Post answers with a link back to your profile.
SlideShare
Business and nonfiction authors and those looking to establish themselves as subject-matter experts should consider SlideShare, which enables authors to easily upload and share PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, videos, and webinars online. With over 25 million monthly visitors, it’s the world’s largest online presentation-sharing community. It’s also a great opportunity to share ideas and connect with others seeking your expertise.
Online Book Communities
Goodreads
Goodreads is the leading social network for book lovers and one of the fastest-growing sites on the web, with 3.3 million registered users. Goodreads allows authors to create a page containing an author bio and list of published books for free!
Additional author features allow you to:
- Publicize upcoming events, such as book signings and speaking engagements.
- Tap influencers and get books in the hands of fans by listing a book giveaway.
- Gather reader feedback by creating custom trivia questions and online polls.
- Interact with readers by participating in an online Q&A session.
LibraryThing
With over 19 million books cataloged and nearly 300,000 members, LibraryThing claims to be the world’s largest book club. This popular online book cataloging and social networking site will help you put your book in the hands of fellow book lovers.
If a LibraryThing member has already added your book title to their online library, it’s quite possible that your author page has already been created. Once your free author page is set up, you are allowed to add a photo as well as other links to your website, blog, or fan sites. With a free account you can add as many as 200 favorite or comparable titles to your profile, which allows readers to find you through similar books.
FiledBy
FiledBy is a community in which readers can discover and connect with authors online. Authors can create a free profile with photo, links, and more. Every time an author edits or updates his or her profile with something new (e.g., a photo, biography, or news item), the activity is posted across the FiledBy website, including on the homepage and on appropriate Category pages. There are 50 category pages and thousands of subcategory pages. Authors can sign up here.
Rochelle Carter is the President/CEO of Ellechor Publishing House. Ellechor is a publisher of Inspirational Christian books, including Adventure and Romantic fiction, and non-fiction/devotionals dealing with Relationships, Suicide Prevention and General Self-Help.
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Learn how you can be a part of a FULL week of education from different health experts.
