photo credit: Neil Boothman

Jim Kukral has this great video explaining the anthropology of YouTube.  While it might sound boring to you I think you may be surprised.  Not only is it entertaining BUT there some very important things you can learn here that will help you better understand your market.

Did you know that many college age people today don’t even own or watch a television?  Yet they spend hours on the internet watching videos, sending and receiving instant messages, researching for information, etc.?  Did you know the number of people turning to the internet for information and connection among people 50 and older is growing too?  What might that mean to you?

One of the reasons the internet is so important to people, and anyone wanting to market themselves is it provides the means for people to form a community.  People naturally like to group themselves.  You naturally join groups based on: how you earn a living, how you like to recreate,  and your beliefs and values.  Blogging was one of the first ways people who searched the internet formed communities.

Why is that important to you?  Because when you can get people to form a community with you those people begin to trust you and they may just be good prospects for you, or they can spread the word about you to people who are good prospects for you.

Bottom line you can’t ignore the future.  Make sure you know how this marketing giant works, and start thinking about how you could make it work for you.  For more marketing ideas read on.

photo credit: steews4

A long time ago I read Robert Ringers best seller “Winning Through Intimidation”.  The title is misleading as you would think it was about intimidating people to get your way.  Actually it’s just the opposite.  Mr. Ringer shares how he worked through his struggles to get what he wanted in spite of being intimidated by others.

The book is inspirational and I highly recommend you at least visit his website and delve through his many other inspirational materials.

There are many things that stood out for me as I read the book.  He has a captivating way of sharing any story making you want to keep turning those pages.  Yet, there was one idea that really stayed with me and I think this idea has great value for you as well.

You’ve been told since you were little that you have to work hard and pay your dues to get what you want.  You believe those words to be true because someone you thought highly of said them, and because you’ve heard those words countless times.  Yet the source and spaced repetition don’t make them true.

The fact is if you focus on what’s relevant rather than fighting and clawing your way to the top you can get there in leaps.  Thus you leap to a much higher level until your continued focus on relevance makes it possible for you to once again leap to a much higher level.  When you can accept this concept the impact is almost magical.

No longer do you stand for options that require unnecessary heavy lifting because you know there’s a way to get where you want to go almost instantaneously.  That way is contingent on you reaching out and getting the help you need to make that leap.  To reach out for the right help you need to assess your challenges and focus on overcoming the challenge most relevant to your immediate success.

Are you ready to take the leap increasing your sales to the next level, or do you prefer to continue grinding it out?

photo credit: Esparta

When you ask how to get more prospects are you being told you just have to pick up the phone and make more calls?  That old saw seems to be the only mantra some sales managers and industries know.  But are they right?

Are you doomed to a life of picking up the phone bothering complete strangers who have no interest what-so-ever in speaking with you?   Colleen Francis shares an email conversation with just such a person.  Someone who thinks cold calling is just the best way to get business now.

Cold calling can work.  So can a lot of other things.  The problem is you have to look at the bottom line facts and data on the return you get from your investment.  If you know how to effectively market yourself there’s no way cold calling can be your most profitable way of attaining prospects.

Another consideration is how easy it is to maintain and sustain the process used to obtain prospects.  Cold calling is a high maintenance difficult to sustain method for obtaining prospects even if you eventually hire others to make those calls for you.

In contrast, an effective marketing plan can run on autopilot once you get it set-up.  I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of stuff I love.  Read more sales marketing strategies…

Thanks for the great survey response. I think you’ll find the information useful to you and your business. You were very clear about what you wanted and why.

Watch the video for the full details.

When you’re ready to overcome your prospecting struggles check out the ebook that will get you started on a path for prospecting success

photo credit: SunCat

Clayton Makepeace is not only one of the greatest living copywriters he’s also just a great guy who can use words more effectively than anyone else I know.  Even though he wrote this post for copywriters the point is every bit as valid for independent business owners and sales professionals.

No one owes you success.

There isn’t a business owner or entrepreneur who doesn’t face challenges each and every day.  There’s a big difference between the way successful business owners and entrepreneurs respond to those challenges, and the way the failures respond.  That difference is founded in the actions you take.

No one owes you a successful business.  No one is going to help you succeed for free.  Why should they?  Those who’ve succeeded didn’t get free help and neither will you.

Successful people from all walks understand you get what you pay for.  If you aren’t willing to invest in yourself to get the help you need you can expect a long painful journey that ends in failure.  You’ll continue to do the wrong things, and you’ll have no clue what you’re doing wrong or  why it’s wrong.

The difference between what works and what doesn’t can be a simple as a single word and the way you use it.  But you’ll never know or understand that if you just keep doing what you’ve been doing that doesn’t work.  You’ll never know unless you seek the expertise of someone who understands how to get the success you want.

It takes courage to admit you need help and even more courage to act on it.  It takes courage to invest money you don’t have in yourself when your business isn’t even paying the bills, but if you don’t it will never pay the bills.  It takes courage to look at what you’re doing and identify what isn’t working.

The sad thing is most people fail just short of the WIN line.  They’re just one small improvement away from turning business failure into business success.  However, they don’t realize it because they don’t understand what it takes or how to succeed.

There are three keys to your business success.

1. You have to effectively market yourself
2. You have to effectively sell yourself
3. You have to effectively back-up what you marketed and sold for repeat business and referrals

Read more about how you can accomplish the first step…how you can get all the highly qualified prospects you need to succeed in your business.

photo credit: www.MonjurulHoque.com

Are you paying for mailing lists, hot internet leads, calling lists, etc?  Have you found little, if any, value in those leads?  It’s time for you to stop getting ripped off.

It’s time for you to stop making excuses, and start getting your own “hot leads” that really are highly qualified prospects.  No matter what service business you’re in the internet is a great way for you to get the prospects you want for your business.

Most web developers and graphic designers not only charge you outrageous fees, but they also don’t have a clue about what a website is supposed to do.  A website is not a place to post an electronic brochure to market your business.  A website is strictly a sales tool.

What you do to get people to visit your website involves marketing.  Once a visitor gets to your website the one and only purpose is to sell that visitor.  You either directly sell them something, or you indirectly sell them.

In a service business you aren’t typically directly selling them anything.  You are indirectly selling them on giving you their name and email address, so you can continue the relationship with them until they tell you to stop.  Only people interested in your marketing communications will visit your website.

Once they get there your website must answer three simple questions.

1. Am I in the right place?
2. What can I do here?
3. Is their greater value in giving you my email address than the pain of getting more email?

That’s it.  If you can effectively answer those three questions you can have a website that consistently produces qualified prospects for you.

One of the big excuses I hear is you can’t put up a website because you can’t afford to have one designed.  BUNK!!!  Here’s a link to 45 free website templates

You don’t need a fancy looking website to succeed at getting prospects.  You just need one that answers those three questions, and an effective marketing plan to get people to your site.  Okay, I’ve just taken that excuse off the table now go out and increase sales by getting prospects contacting you.  Read more sales marketing strategies here.

photo credit: Office Now

Join in Tuesday August 5 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.

A one hour webinar that will help you beat the competition.  You may have gotten off to a good start.  Now it’s time o blow the competition out of the water.

Your success depends on your ability to keep your momentum going.  You don’t want the start and stop roller coaster you and others struggle with.  You want to build up steam like a freight train speeding down a mountain.

If you’ll set aside one hour you’ll:

* Uncover the formula for success
* Discover how to change what you see
* Identify the underlying obstacles holding you back
* Get the scoop on a performance formula guaranteed to produce results
* Discover proven techniques to get results now

You’re a savvy business person who knows the success you enjoy today won’t get you where you want to go tomorrow.

Use this link to reserve your spot now…

How to Out Perform & Outlast the Competition

Don’t get locked out.  Register now…

August 5 Webinar How to Out Perform & Outlast the Competition

photo credit: jseattle

I was reading Patsi Krakoff’s blog and her post reminded me of a free tool that can save you a lot of money. The free tool is a survey tool.   You may be wondering how or why this free tool can save you a lot of money.

Do you know why many businesses fail?  This underlying problem causes cash flow shortages, undue stress and frustration, and it isn’t curable.  Many businesses fail because they try to sell the wrong thing to the wrong people.

Of course, no rational business owner would ever do this intentionally.  It happens because the owner fails to take the necessary steps required to know you’re on the right track before jumping in hook line and sinker, and sinking to the bottom of the abyss.  You think your service and products are exciting and that everyone would want them.

However, what you think isn’t important.  It’s what the people who will buy your product think that’s important.  But how do you find out?

That’s where this free tool comes in to play.  I’ve just created one myself.  Not only is the tool free, but it was easy to use and I think it will be fun for you to give it a try.

Follow this link and take the survey yourself.  Then you can decide if you might benefit from using it in your business.  Take the survey now

photo credit: Easternblot

Are you feeling invisible?  Does it seem like the only people who know you’re open for business are you, and the people who will never work with you?  What can you do to change that?

There is something you can do today to get the right people noticing you.  It doesn’t have to cost you a thing other than your time.  It will not only get you noticed, but it will get the right people taking action.

What is that something?  A simple press release properly placed in the right publications, radio stations, or TV stations.  A simple press release with relevant information and a means for the receiver to take an action.

Before I go into more details I want to comment that “yes” you can pay to have your press release submitted.  But you also can do the work yourself and get your press release placed at no cost to you other than your time.  The choice is yours.

There are 3 key elements to a successful press release.  The first element is proper placement.  You want your press release in publications or on stations where you know your qualified prospects read, listen, or watch.

The second key element is relevancy.  Face it the editor will only use your press release if it has perceived value to their audience.  Your press release must have topical relevance, but you also want to add timely or newsworthy elements making it more interesting to the editor and the editor’s audience.

The third key element is a trigger mechanism.  This is your call to action.  You must specifically communicate the action you want receivers to take.  You also want that action to move the audience at least one step closer to working with you.

What might an actual press release look like for someone in a service business?  Here’s a recent example from a press release I just issued about increasing sales in a struggling economy.  Review it and think about what’s newsworthy about your business and how you can use a press release to get the right attention for you and your business.

photo credit: scudsone

Join in Tuesday August 5 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.

A one hour webinar that will help you beat the competition.  You may have gotten off to a good start.  Now it’s time to blow the competition out of the water.

Your success depends on your ability to keep your momentum going.  You don’t want the start and stop roller coaster you and others struggle with.  You want to build up steam like a freight train speeding down a mountain.

If you’ll set asidee one hour you’ll:

* Uncover the formula for success
* Discover how to change what you see
* Identify the underlying obstacles holding you back
* Get the scoop on a performance formula guaranteed to produce results
* Discover proven techniques to get results now

You’re a savvy business person who knows the success you enjoy today won’t get you where you want to go tomorrow.

Use this link to reserve your spot now…
How to Out Perform & Outlast the Competition

I encourage you to get registered now so you don’t get locked out.  Go now…

August 5 Webinar How to Out Perform & Outlast the Competition