Month: July 2011

Marketing Strategies for Women–Implement Key Offline Marketing Methods

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A marketing strategy is essential for you as a woman in business. Perhaps you are already a stay at home mom but need a way to earn some extra money. Or you may be stuck in the corporate world desperately wanting out so you can spend time with your family. You may be a seasoned business woman but are feeling stagnated. You might be an artist or writer, passionate about your craft, but you hate marketing.

Whatever your particular situation, how can you develop an effective marketing strategy that will propel your business to the next level? Or, if you’re just starting out, how can you get your business on a good, solid footing? If you are an artist or writer and hate marketing, how can you be better at promoting yourself?

One idea is to implement offline marketing methods.

Decide how you are going to duplicate your brand. One essential would be business cards. Design professional ones and keep them with you at all times. Have prepared a 30 second elevator pitch. What’s that? It’s the quick answer to the question, “So what do you do?”

When conversations naturally lend themselves to handing out your card, give one to your prospect and say, “You may or may not be interested, but I have this free….” Develop a free offer that your prospect can easily download online and have this printed on your cards.

Be sure to put your photograph on your card and all marketing materials. Be consistent with your brand. This lessens confusion and builds credibility with your prospect or customer.

Keep checking back for more ways to implement offline marketing in your business! I will be posting more in upcoming days!

Want more ways to make your brand sizzle? Check out my free mini video course and free report!

Can’t wait to get started on building an authentic identity! Join me in a journey to unmask your brand identity today!

 

A WOMAN WITH A BUSINESS CARD
© Raphotography | Dreamstime.com

Brand Identity Marketing-My New FREE 10 Day Mini-Video Course!

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These days, gaining brand visibility over a wide variety of mediums is crucial to a successful business, especially for online marketers.

But in order to be effective, your brand must soar above the competition!

How? By creating a compelling brand based on your authentic identity!

Announcing my new free video course for online marketers, entrepeneurs, business owners, ministry leaders, authors and writers, and high school and college students!

Here is the first video:

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dk9QV4gcbm2E img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/k9QV4gcbm2E/0.jpg embed=false share=true width=500 height=300 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

Sign up below and you will get 10 free videos delivered to your email. While a few of them are available for public viewing, most are exclusively unlisted just for my subscribers!

Plus, every subscriptions comes with my free report, 10 Ways to Make Your Brand Sizzle. And, to give you ongoing support, you will automatically be enrolled in my ezine, BrandNotes.

Just enter your name and email below and you will receive your first emails immediately.

I hate spam as much as you do. I promise never to rent or sell your private information.








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Tips To Start Your Own E Business – 12 Steps to Creating an Online Presence!

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So you want to start your own e business. After all, Internet marketing is hot. Not long ago I heard a statistic that more people look on Google to search for businesses than the yellow pages. More and more people buy online. It is a huge, growing market and one with endless possibilities.

But how do you start an e business? What is the process?

Here are 12 steps to building YOUR own e-business!

1) Thoroughly analyze the following: what’s your passion? What do you love to do? What makes your eyes light up when you talk about it? What are your skills, gifts, talents, experience?

2) Choose one of these passions and consider business start-up ideas. Love organizing? Start a professional organizer consulting business. Is your passion to create crafts? Select on online store like Etsy and build your business around that. Do you have a skill or experience that can be turned into an ebook or Amazon book? Become an author! Want to produce and sell music? There are several outlets for independent musicians, like CDBaby. Interested in writing a book? Learn how to sell books on Amazon.

2) Once you have selected your business concept, ask yourself who your target market would be. Whom would you serve? You might want to select an affinity or niche market. What group of people do you most identify with? For instance, if you are a homeschooling mom, then your affinity market might be homeschoolers. You might consider developing a product or service homeschooling moms need, want, or desire.

Get to know your audience. Do thorough research. What is their pain? What are they afraid of? What do they desire? Whom influences them?

3) When you have gathered all this information, decide on a name. You may want to promote your name as the business or create a descriptive one. It’s whatever excites you and keeps you motivated that matters. You might also want to create a slogan. Make sure the name is not trademarked with the U.S. trademark and patent office. At this point, you may want to register as a sole proprietorship or Limited Liability Company. Weigh the options of both. Talk to your attorney and tax accountant for legal and financial issues. If you plan on selling retail products, get a sales tax license through your state and city.

At this point, you may want to do a professional business plan written, as well as a cash flow projection chart. What kind of capital do you need to get started? Unless you are involved in something technology driven, it’s probably smart to not go into debt over your new business but let it grow slowly. All you absolutely need is a computer and a fast Internet connection.

4) Have a professional photograph taken of yourself. If you can’t afford a professional photograph session, make sure you trust the abilities of the one who takes the photo.

5) Choose an image that represents your business. Build a brand that communicates the essence of who you are and what you do. Include your photo and slogan, if you have one. If you have a descriptive name for your business, you might want to consider putting your name somewhere as part of the logo.

6) Set up your sales funnel. Decide where you are going to sell your products and set it up. Are you going to take orders through a site like Etsy, or do you need PayPal? If you are taking recurring orders, you will need your own merchant account.

7) Purchase a domain name for your business. Develop a free product, something of value, that will entice your target market to give you their name and address.

8) Sign up with an autoresponder. Create a weekly online newsletter. You want to share gold nuggets of information with your prospects. Give them valuable content and also include a small promotion about your business.

9) Make your marketing plan. What balance of offline and online marketing will you do? Offline ideas include business cards, postcards, bookmarks, display advertising, or door hangers. Online includes article marketing, video marketing, social media marketing, pay-per-click ads, banner ads, online classified ads, and ezine ads. Decide what frequency you will do these actives.

10) Develop your product or service. If it’s a product, like an ebook to be downloaded from the Internet, test, test, and double test.

11) You may want to make a launch plan and stick to it. Write press releases and send online and to local venues.

12) Launch your product or service. Work your marketing plan consistently. Make sure you have a system for your finances and administration. Have fun and enjoy your new business!

Follow these twelve steps and you will build an e business that sizzles!

To learn more about creating your own brand image and how you can make that brand more effective, download my FREE report, 10 Ways You Can Make Your Brand Sizzle at http://www.makeyourbrandsizzle.com

Want to get started right away to make your brand sizzle? Check out my extensive course at http://www.brandidentityquest.com that will teach you how the basics of brand design and marketing.

Dana Susan Beasley is principal and publisher of AngelArts, a Creative Arts Agency and Publishing House, and the author of a 3-month graphic design and marketing course called Brand Identity Quest. An experienced and creative graphic artist, she has been helping companies, organizations, and artists reach new heights in their branding for over 17 years.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6411392

Small Business Women Start Up-How to Market Your Product of Service for Free!

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So you have a vision for your business, you’ve started your company or signed up as an associate for a direct selling organization. You have built your brand. You are ready to start flying!

But your budget is tight. Perhaps you don’t even have a budget!

Thankfully, with the advance of the Internet, you can promote your business for free or for very cheap!

What do you need to promote your brand? Here are some ideas to get you started:

1) First you need a domain name. This costs about $12 per year at GoDaddy. You also need personalized emails. Gmail and yahoo email addresses are not professional and come across as “spammy.” You can also get custom email with GoDaddy for minimum cost.

2) You need a website. The easier and cheapest way to build a website is a WordPress one. But go for WordPress.org, which means you need a hosting company. A really easy, inexpensive way to do this is to buy a hosting package from HostGator. If you buy their Baby package, you can have unlimited domains and emails. I highly suggest at least this one. You can also buy your domains through them, which I recommend. Through HostGator, you can also have autoresponders and many more features. Just check them out!

3) You need a blog. You can use WordPress again for this. Or maybe you just want your blog to BE your website. That is perfectly fine.

4) You need a Facebook account. Social media is big these days and is a huge avenue for promoting your brand. Who influences your target market? Find these people and become friends with them or like their pages. Comment often with these people. Be a thought leader. You will find your target market can’t wait to friend you!

Remember that with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, it’s about relationship marketing. Tell them about yourself. Don’t just post links to your product or service. This is tacky and will turn off your audience. Give of yourself, encourage others, engage in conversations with your friend. Cultivate a community. Join groups that align with your passions, your target market, and your business. Use the time on Facebook and other social media sites wisely. Balance your posts between authentic sharing of yourself and promoting your business.

5) Do keyword research and write articles around those keywords. Wordtracker has a very effective tool for this. Study how to do keyword research. Find out what information your target marketing is looking for and give it to them. Submit your articles to article directories like EzineArticles.

6) Make a YouTube Channel. Video marketing is hot. It’s immediate and compelling! You don’t need an expensive camera and loading your videos on YouTube is free! Again, use keywords. Give gold nuggets of information that people need, want, and desire!

7) Set up a way to capture leads, through an autoresponder. Produce a free item that will attract people to your list. DO NOT use your own email program. Use the autoresponder in HostGator, or a service like Constant Contact. A lot of these services have free trials. Develop a weekly email newsletter so you can get your brand in front of your prospects.

I hope these ideas spur you on in your journey to build a small business! It is a learning adventure and one that is very worth it, because, as the old L’Oreal commercial used to say, “You’re Worth It!”

And if you do this, you will have a brand that sizzles!

Car Magnets Advertising–The Pros and Cons and How to Do It

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Car magnets advertising is a very affordable way to get your name out there to the general public. Just think–you are driving down the road and thousands of people are seeing your brand over and over again!

But what are some of the drawbacks of magnetic car advertising? And how do you get that sign done, anyhow?

First off, the pros of magnetic advertising are numerous. It is relatively low-cost, it gets your name in front of a large group of people, and it travels wherever you travel!

This kind of display advertising is especially beneficial for local or regional service businesses, such as home organization consultants or property management companies.

But think before you delve into this form of display advertising. There are some definite cons.

For one, are you reaching your target market by displaying a magnetic sign? Just driving down the road you may not. When you have a niche or affinity market, this option may not be the best idea, unless you plan on spending a lot of time parked in lots where your affinity market is also hanging out.

Additionally, magnetic signs can fall off your car. This happened to me! And if your body is fiberglass, it won’t work.

You might want to consider vinyl advertising, instead, if you are worried about either one.

So, now that you know the good, the bad, and the ugly about car magnet advertising, how do you go about getting a sign?

Google car magnet advertising or some variation of the phrase. You will find many companies who do an excellent job. Some do only one or two color, others offer full color. Some companies have stock designs you personalize, others have an online design program.

Be sure to check what technical considerations are needed for your sign. Most websites list that under an FAQ section or a section devoted specifically to that. If you have any questions about it, don’t be afraid to call and talk to their technical department. They can guide you step by step what you need.

If you want to have a sign done locally, look at your local copy or sign shop. Copy shops often have reasonable prices, although they don’t seem to be as competitive as online shops.

Consider going with full color designs as opposed to one or two color. Color sells, especially in this Internet age we live in.

Make sure you use your brand consistently. What does this mean? Be sure your logo is the same as your business card as your magnetic sign as your website. Then when a prospect goes to your website after seeing your sign, they will immediately recognize that they’re at the right site.

You want to have one strong marketing message. Don’t list too many products or services. Keep it simple. Remember, white space is good! In design, less is more.

In other words, if you clutter up your sign with too many images and words, you will only confuse your prospect and you will not see any results.

Make sure the fonts are readable. Make your phone number and/or website stand out by putting it in another color.

By designing and purchasing a car magnet, your advertising will reach new heights and your brand will sizzle!

Branding in Marketing–Make Your Brand Sizzle by Designing a Unique Logo!

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Here is my latest video in my series, Make Your Brand Sizzle!

What does it take to make a sizzling brand? A uniquely designed logo! Find out more in this video.

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Want more videos? I will be announcing an exciting new FREE video series soon! I’m in busy production mode! In the meantime, please do me a favor and share this! I really appreciate it!

My Latest Disaster Reminds Me to Backup My Computers

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Well, disaster struck last night. It happened. My son dropped my Macbook and the hard drive is possible permanently damaged.

Two weeks of work lost. Mostly my article marketing. That’s primarily what I do on my laptop.

Fortunately, I had backed it up before. Most everything is on there. But those two weeks are hard to let go of. I am devastated and discouraged.

But this is progress. Last summer my hard drive crashed and I had NO backup. That hurt.

I at least had set up a manual process. But honestly, it’s one more thing that takes effort. I have too much to think about.

I love how my backup service, Carbonite, automatically backs up my iMac. I never have to worry about it. I can access the disk anywhere.

If my laptop survives, you can bet I will be adding that computer. It’s just not worth it to lose all that work!

What about you? Have you considered an automatic backup service? Are you REALLY going to manually backup your laptop or desktop? What happens if disaster strikes? What will it cost you in time, money, and frustration?

Backup those files today. Believe me, you will not regret it when disaster strikes!

And please, if you like this post, do me a favor and share it! You can save people a lot of heartaches if you do so!

HARD DRIVER
© Jun Li | Dreamstime.com

Advertising Your Name As An Author-Why You Need A Brand

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So you’re writing that novel you’ve always wanted to write and you’re thinking of sending out query letters and book proposals. Or maybe you’ve decided to go the self-publishing route and have your book on Amazon.

You get that nod from a publisher and that’s it, right? Or you stick your book on Amazon and buyers will automatically come, correct?

Wrong!

Publishers are looking for authors with a following. And even if you get published, you still have to market your book and your name! This is the little known secret that publishers don’t tell you!

And plus, just because you stick something up on Amazon doesn’t mean you will sell your books, or at least not at the rate you are hoping for!

So what is an author to do?

Build a brand!

And what is a brand? A brand is a graphical representation of your business or pen name that helps prospects (whether publishers or online customers) recognize who you are and what you do.

Brands build recognition. By consistently applying your brand to online and marketing methods, you will advertise your name as an author.

Make sure your brand is professional and of high quality. You want to stand out amongst the slush pile on acquisition editors’ desks or the pages and pages of similar books on Amazon. If your brand looks cheesy or like everyone else’s brand, you will not get noticed. And then you will not be advertising your name!

When you build your brand, make a plan to get it in front of your target market. If you plan on submitting manuscripts to publishers, have professional business cards and return address labels printed. Think of creative promotions that will make your name memorable to an editor. Make a plan on how many editors you will write per week and stick to it!

Whether you are looking for a traditional publisher or a self-publishing opportunity, develop a blog. Provide excellent content and draw your target market to you. Implement online strategies like article marketing, video marketing, or social media marketing to get your name in front of people on a consistent basis.

However you market yourself, make sure your brand is consistently applied across all mediums, both online and offline. Be professional in your approach to advertising your name and you will soar above the competition and reach your dream to be published and known!

And your author’s brand will sizzle!

Branding in Marketing-Make Your Brand Sizzle by Knowing Your Audience!

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Here’s my second installment in my new video series, “Make Your Brand Sizzle!”

Learn why your audience is so important when building a brand!

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D8JSqZGi7E2Q img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/8JSqZGi7E2Q/0.jpg embed=false share=true width=580 height=280 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

For more ways to make your brand sizzle, download my free report at Make Your Brand Sizzle!

Want to get started immediately? Get started right away with my online branding course.

How To Start Business Without Money-4 Steps that Will Make Your Dream Into Reality

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So you want to start a business and you have no money. How can you make your dream a reality?

In today’s Internet age, it is more than possible!

Here are some ideas to help you in your endeavor:

1) First think about what you are passionate about. What do you love to do in your spare time? What service-oriented skill do you have that people need, want, and desire? What ideas keep you up at night? What are your life experiences?

Choose a business that does not require much equipment. Service businesses are perfect for this. Are you good at organizing? Then start a home organization business! Do you love to restore furniture? Buy some forgotten treasures and spruce them up with paint! You might even have the paint in your home if this is already a favorite hobby.

2) Select a target market. Whom are you in business for? Who are you trying to serve? Learn all about this target market. What are they afraid of? What pain do they have in their lives? What kind of people do they admire?

3) Develop a brand. What is that? A brand is a graphical image that communicates the essence of who you are and what you do. It is an appealing combination of fonts, colors, an image (but not totally necessary) contrast, and balance.

Combine what your passions are, your USP, with your target market. What solution to your target market’s pain can you bring? Design this into an image representative of that.

You want to make sure you have a professional brand, not one that looks sloppy. How can you do this with no money? Learn about how to design a logo yourself. There are many free design software programs out there to help you get started. Or take advantage of free trials applications like Adobe Photoshop offers.

4) Get your name out. Make people aware of your products or services.

Send press releases to your local papers. Advertise your business in Craigslist or other free online classified advertising sites, like Facebook Marketplace, if you feel comfortable. But be careful. Never give out your home address and always make sure you are safe.

Take advantage of Facebook and other social media sites like LinkedIn. Get involved in online communities and give gold nuggets of information. Start a blog and talk with passion about your chosen product or service. Write articles, make videos. Use what you already have at home. You don’t need fancy equipment to get started!

Starting a business with no money is possible. It just takes sweat equity, determination, and consistent work. Keep at it and you will find that pot of gold your looking for at the end of your particular rainbow!

Then your business will truly sizzle!