Best Internet Marketing Training
By · CommentsWelcome to Solopreneur.biz - Making It Solo In The Business World. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.
A long weekend in Atlanta – perhaps you picture great shopping, restaurants and seeing the sites. Instead I want you to picture the best internet marketing minds making themselves accessible to your every question, almost 200 people huddled over their laptops most of each day and more excitement and buzz than you can guess. That was my experience at NAMS this past weekend.
NAMS, that’s short for the Niche Affiliate Marketing Systems, is without doubt the best internet marketing training I have ever heard of and I am grateful to have been there. I have new ideas, resources, partners and information that will easily repay my cost of registration. You’ll be hearing more about what I learned over the next months here on the blog.
NAMS is held twice a year in Atlanta (there have been 3 events so far) and if you market your business online at all, I would highly encourage you to get yourself there in August or in January 2011. Eighteen of the biggest internet marketers of all were there to teach us and each spent the entire weekend – including meals, evenings and break times – answering questions and making sure we all learned as much as we could. Let me drop a few names so you understand the quality of the information – Willie Crawford, Kevin Riley, Jeff Herring, Denise Wakeman, Lynn Terry and Kathleen Gage – and a DOZEN MORE!
As I was leaving Atlanta, I discovered we would each be getting recordings of all of the NAMS sessions including those from the two previous NAMS events. If you are interested in purchasing those recordings, a total of more than 50 hours of quality business education, you can do so now. Hurry, the price goes up on February 8th. Check back to the site again in about a week if you are interested in attending this event in August. The best prices for registration will be soon and the price continues to go up as the event approaches. Take advantage of some great education in marketing from some of the best internet experts and get in at the low price now
Professional Speaking to Help Your Business Grow
By · CommentsYou Have a Dream – To Impact Others as a Speaker…
To share what you have learned, to make a difference, to inspire,
to entertain…… and to enlighten…
But you haven’t a clue where to get started or how to begin…
Join nationally renowned speaker, Peggy Collins, as she spills the secrets of becoming a professional speaker in Command the Stage: Secrets of Professional Speaking. You’ll love this teleclass – all the amazing truths – how to choose your ideal audience, how to create a presentation that will get you those critical bookings… Don’t make the common mistakes of beginners, do it right from the very start. Avoid the frustration and waste of time that often stymies a speaking career.
Janet Slack will be hosting Peggy Collins for this ground breaking 5 week teleclass beginning Monday, February 8th at 7:00pm ET. Command the Stage will take you straight to the secrets for flourishing as a Professional Speaker. You will be able to get started quickly in the world of professional speaking.
Speaking is one of the fastest routes to increase your visibility, showcase your expertise and grow your income and your business. Yet you have to “play by the rules” in this field – how hard is that if you aren’t sure about the rules?
Peggy will get you past all those questions and indecision. She has the expertise of more than 17 years as professional speaker and is ready to give all the inside details. She’ll teach you:
+ All about the business of setting up a professional speaking office
+ How to identify your very own unique speaking style
+ Four types of markets to choose from for the very best fit
+ How-to’s for designing your invaluable “One Sheet”
+ Steps to create those difference-making presentations
+ Methods to turn Free into Paid
+ A dynamite system to craft stories that sell you
+ Tips to take the fear out of marketing (and speaking)
+ How to language your sales message and create a friend in the process
+ Tactics for titles that anchor and sell
+ The inside story about Event Planners and how to work with them
+ And so much more we can’t list it all!
Join Peggy and Janet for this powerful 5 week teleclass and hit the ground running as a Professional Speaker. Class begins Monday, February 8th at 7:00pm ET. Get your spot reserved now before they are all gone, mark your calendar and get ready to grow your business with professional speaking.
Use Social Bookmarking to Gain Recognition
By · CommentsWho wouldn’t want to be viewed as an expert in their field? It can mean more traffic, more sales, more credibility and greater visibility. Your readers and social bookmarking sites can help you there.
When you find something that you love to read, you want to tell everyone. You also want to be able to find it again if you needed to. That is part of what a social bookmarking site is all about.
When you provide good quality content, your readers are happy. They are sometimes so happy that they will bookmark your content on their favorite social bookmarking site.
There are bookmarking sites for just about everything. Readers can tag content, videos, pictures and more. You can create your own account with these sites and add icons to your blog (like mine, see below this post) or website content pages.
The sites don’t copy your content but index a link to it when someone bookmarks it. The bookmarked content or media is voted on by other members of the site. You could even be featured on the front page which could bring you more readers.
There is one crucial point: Readers won’t bookmark your content if you don’t try to build relationships with them. Listen to what readers say in surveys, comments on your blog and make changes on your site or to your products. Knowing that they are being listened to is a great way to build additional credibility.
Don’t stop there. Your readers may be writers in their own right. Endeavor to find to what your readers are interested in. If they have blogs, read and comment on them. Bookmark posts that you find interesting. If you see any of their bookmarked content, leave comments when you vote.
Reply when readers post on your blog. Use your responses to start a conversation with them. It can be both a fact-gathering mission and curiosity about those who read what you write or buy your products.
When your loyal readers see your stuff bookmarked on a site like Digg or StumbleUpon, they will vote for you. Social bookmarking is one way to drive traffic to your site and help build expert status. Choose social networks that cater to your type of content.
If readers like and trust you, they may be more inclined to use social bookmarking to interest others in your work too. Reciprocate by visiting their blogs or websites and tagging their work. Again, the reader/business relationship can prove to be mutually beneficial.
Increase Your Visibility
By · CommentsYou may have a strong business idea and a great product, but are you doing everything you can to be seen by the right people? Increasing your visibility can change the way that potential customers see your business.
Visibility is the glue that holds all other strategies together when it comes to achieving success as a business owner. Each strategy gets your name out among other business owners, movers and shakers and potential clients. Being seen goes a long way with the word-of-mouth crowd.
Here are a few ways that you can increase your visibility:
- Attend business seminars
- Public speaking
- Write press releases
- Start a blog
- Publish a newsletter or ezine
If you are comfortable doing what you are doing and it works for you, still try at least one or two of these ideas. No one ever became a success by playing it safe or being comfortable. Trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone is one key to gaining visibility.
For some business owners, business can become stale. They only want to do certain things all of the time. This goes back to the issue of comfort level. When you are on Facebook and a fellow business owner is looking for speakers for his online conference or a local event in your area, throw your hat in the ring. Try something new that will increase your visibility.
Does someone in one of your associations need advice or a speaker for the next meeting? Take that spot for yourself. Every opportunity places another feather in your cap. It is a point that you can add to your bio and to your press releases for new products or events.
And, you can create newsletters for your customers. Sending a monthly or quarterly newsletter about your business gives you the chance to add information about accomplishments that have occurred since the last newsletter. Each solidifies your expert status in the eyes of current and potential customers.
Once you put all of this in place, keep a monthly check list on your ventures to be sure that they are still bringing about the desired effect. Some of it won’t require much tweaking – just checking in with the movers and shakers to be sure they still know your name.
Achieving expert status inspires confidence on the part of customers and fellow business owners. Increasing your visibility is the first step and the information in this post can help you do just that.
The Great Organizing GiveAway Starts Today
By · CommentsDid you know that getting organized always lands in the Top 10 list of New Year Resolutions? That must be why now is the perfect time for this GiveAway. There are many outstanding resources available to help you organize, but you know how hard it can be to to find the right ones for you. The Great Organizing GiveAway has solved that problem by collecting about 100 FREE resources in one spot!
The Great Organizing Giveaway starts today!
Go to the site and simply register to get access to the resources such as e-books, tip sheets, audio programs, complementary consulting and more! You can also enter into drawings for amazing prizes. My colleagues have really stepped up to the plate to deliver quality content just for you and it will cost you nothing!
Information at the site is divided into three main categories: your office, your time and your home. Business professionals, parents and students will all find expert material that fits their personal productivity and organization needs.
Here’s just a sample of the material you’ll find there:
And there’s lots more. While you are there, look for my free report – Efficient Computer Use.
Here’s the link again so you can find the right organizing tool for you.
Visit Reader Blogs and Get to Know Them
By · CommentsReaders visit your website each day. They are there for information to start. They may keep coming back because of your knowledge or to get to know you before they try your product or service offerings. Let them know that you are a real person by returning the favor and visiting them too. It’s great add a comment to your blog post where your reader commented, but it’s another game all together to return the favor by commenting on their blog.
Everyone is a real person but not everyone comes off like they are. Business owners who intentionally stay aloof from their readership set themselves up for all sorts of scathing comments. They are like royalty in ivory towers – high and unreachable.
You are one part of the business equation. Your readers (potential customers) are the other part. Without traffic, you can’t hope to make a sale. Unless you build relationships with the readers, they won’t see any reason to stay loyal to you.
Blogging
Chances are, at least one third of your readers have some sort of presence in cyberspace. More than likely it will be a blog. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Take some time to highlight some of your regular readers on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
Next, visit their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy “I came to visit you to say hello.” Really get involved. Remember the old saying, “treat others the way you want to be treated?” This old saying, when put into practice, can really catapult your expert status.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Participate just like any other follower of the site. They will recognize your name.
Sites, that you like, will benefit when you link back to them on your site. Organic links rank higher in search engine eyes than simply doing each other a favor and exchanging links. On your blog, you can post reviews of their blogs or just write posts that highlight each one. This is essentially a review without calling it that.
Interacting with your readers and getting to know them in this way is mutually beneficial. Those organic links work both ways. Besides, you never know who will hear about your business through these comments and other relationship building techniques.
Organize Your Business
By · CommentsAs an entrepreneur, your systems are the processes and procedures by which everything in your business runs. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly, or as smoothly as possible when running a business.
Systems are essentially a step-by-step process written out for each aspect of your business. They help you stay on track, they make you more efficient, they streamline your business and they help you see where you can improve and where your business is excelling. When your systems work, everything runs smoothly. When they don’t work…well you get the picture.
Some potential systems include:
- Customer service
- Marketing
- Sales
- Product creation
- Product development
- Purchasing
- Production
- Producing an ezine
- Billing
- Invoicing
- Outsourcing
Systems are particularly useful when you’re outsourcing a task to a virtual assistant. If you’ve done the processes in advance, then, you’ll have everything written down from the very first to the very last step, and your virtual assistant will know how you like your business handled.
Creating your systems
The first step to creating systems is to realize what processes your business uses. Simply make a list of the processes you go through on a daily or weekly basis. Once you have your list, it’s time to actually create your systems. They’re created initially by simply writing down the steps to accomplish a task. As new processes are added to your business, you’ll simply create a new system for that process. For example, if you add on an affiliate program then you’ll have several new system like a payment system, a communication system, a recruiting system and so on.
Once your systems are created, the processes can be fine-tuned by using several steps. Firstly, you may want to simply evaluate the process you’ve written to see if it works and if there are any loopholes or steps you’ve missed. Secondly, you may want to include goals and measurements to determine whether the system is a success.
For example, if you have a customer service system and your goal is to have 100% customer satisfaction, and you end up losing 20% of your customers due to an inadequate customer service policy, then you know the system needs to be tweaked.
Storing your systems
Because you are a business owner, you are probably on your computer at least 50% of the working day, and more than likely you’re on it almost 100% of the working day. This means it makes sense to organize your systems on your computer. A simple file with the date and the name of the system will make them easy to access. You’ll also want to organize your goals and how you’re going to measure the goals.
Systems are a business owner’s best friend. They’ll help keep you on track and running smoothly today, tomorrow and for years to come.
Wanna be a Professional Speaker? I Do!
By · CommentsOne of the most exciting and challenging decisions I’ve made in my business recently is the decision to add public speaking as an income stream in the business. Exciting for me and good for you – if you would like to walk alongside me as I learn how to do just that! Take advantage of my journey and learn how to be a professional speaker yourself.
In order to take this step, I enlisted a very successful and vastly experienced professional speaker to teach me the ropes. Peggy Collins has been speaking since 1993 on sales and marketing, relationships, networking, women’s issues and much more. Peggy has extensive experience as a speaker and in 2008 alone, she spoke to 48 live audiences, appeared on 4 television interviews and 67 radio shows. Peggy’s list of clients is amazingly long and is a rare collection because she has spoken to both corporations and associations/conferences. In addition, she’s a member of The National Speaker’s Association and an MPI Platinum Speaker (a designation for stellar performance by Meeting Professionals International) and the author of the book, Help is Not a Four Letter Word. Peggy really knows her stuff.
Join Peggy and me on Monday, January 25th at 7:00pm ET for the free teleseminar Find Yourself as a Speaker. On this call, we are going to cover the basics of what you MUST know in order to get started as a professional speaker. Perhaps you’ve been toying with the idea of speaking, but don’t know where to begin. You already realize that professional speaking is one of the fastest routes to increase your visibility, showcase your expertise and grow your income and your business. If so, you’ll want to be on this call.
Peggy will teach us Six Simple Steps for Hitting the Ground Running:
- Grasp the Secrets for Success from the very beginning
- Identify your unique message, your ideal audience and get started
- Learn about each of the four Speaking Tracks and dive in
- Choose your initial specialization wisely – Keynotes vs. Workshops
- Discover “How-To Tips” for crafting a powerful presentation that will get you booked over and over
- Develop your Next Steps Action Plan
Register for the free call here.
I really hope you can join me live for this event to get the most from Peggy’s wisdom. If you can’t be on the call, make sure to register anyway so that after the call we can send you the link to listen to the recording.
Again, here’s that link to register for Find Yourself as a Speaker.
7 Reasons to Use WordPress For Your Website
By · CommentsYou are ready to do it. You are ready to have your voice be heard. You are ready to start your own website or blog. Good for you – now to decide which platform to use…
Blogger, WordPress and TypePad are just a few of the more popular platforms. While there are several different applications that are low cost and/or free, most solopreneurs find themselves in the world of WordPress. There are many good reasons to choose WordPress over the competition, including open source content management and SEO ability. If you find yourself trying to decide which is right for you, here are some everyday reasons to use WordPress as your platform of choice.
1. Personality Zone – WordPress is all about you. There are hundreds of free themes available to personalize and provide an Internet presence that represents who you are as a solopreneur.
WordPress themes are flexible and can be customized to your niche audience, service and product line. Best yet, if you get tired of the theme you are using on WordPress, simply change it by uploading a new theme. With a simple click of a button WordPress moves your content to the new theme for you.
2. Plugins! Plugins! Plugins! – Get the idea? Plugins are another way to customize your space. Popular plugins include contact forms, site statistics, search engine optimization, and photo resources. WordPress currently offers many different free plugins and is adding to their plugin resources daily.
3. Pagination – Back in the early days of blogging or using a platform of this type, blogs appeared as online diaries with one post following the next and comments intermixed between. With WordPress you can actually create pages to separate your material or to provide additional information.
Maybe you have a blog that focuses on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each of these could be placed onto their own unique page, making it easier for your readers to find the information they are looking for.
You can also create additional pages such as ‘Contact Me’, or ‘About Me’ pages. This functionality also makes WordPress the perfect platform
for businesses, not just bloggers!
4. Performance – Believe it or not, not everyone who uses WordPress is an expert at web design. Creating your own website or presence can be a daunting task for anyone. WordPress provides easy to use functionality with a built in dashboard to help manage your sight. Also, because of its popularity WordPress has many resources available to their users including online forums, help references, and support teams. Best yet, if you just want to try blogging out for a bit before you invest in your own domain name, WordPress allows you to register your blog on their site for free at www.wordpress.com.
5. Permalinks – When you create your blog and/or website, you want the world to be able to connect to that specific blog quickly. This is where permalinks come into play. For every blog you post, WordPress creates a unique permanent link to that specific post.
6. Ping Back to Me – What is auto pinging anyway? It is a tool that allows you to notify the search engines that you have posted a new entry. By default, WordPress has pingomatic.com built right into the platform, so the search engines are automatically notified that you have posted to your blog. In addition each time another website or blog owner links to one of your blog posts, you are notified on your WordPress Dashboard as well as in the post iteself in the comments section.
7. Pathways Back – Have you ever commented on another person’s blog? Many times the blog will only post your user information when you leave a comment, but if you use WordPress and you are commenting on another WordPress blog, then WordPress has the ability to automatically provide a link back to your blog for anyone to see. A great and free tool to increase your readership.
This is only a small list of reasons bloggers choose WordPress to host their blog. Ultimately, you need to choose the platform that’s right for your needs. Keep in mind, WordPress prides itself on being one of the most user friendly platforms and is constantly striving to make things better for users.
