Archive for Personal Updates
Using Video as a Solopreneur
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If you have an online business, then you’ve likely considered video marketing. Once you’re convinced of the power of video marketing, the next step is to decide how to use videos to promote your business. Here are just a few examples:
Education – Use video to educate your market on the use of your products. Lead them towards the sale by answering their most frequently asked questions and objections.
Case Studies – If you’re involved in some kind of before-and-after (website design, fitness, SEO, etc.) case studies are an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise. Seeing an example helps the potential customer understand exactly what impact your service or product can have on their business.
Testimonials – Ask your customers or clients to give you quick 1-minute videos of their feedback. You can also interview them about your business for a more structured testimonial.
Product Reviews – Video brings an added element to product reviews, particularly if you’re reviewing a physical product. But hearing you talk about a book or piece of software is effective too.
Webinars – If you provide webinars or other video presentations to your market, capture them via video and offer a replay to generate leads or even sell as a product.
Commercial – Done correctly (meaning compelling with a clear call to action), commercials for your product or service can be very effective.
Business Overview – One of the first things many people look for is who they are buying from and what they stand for. Let your potential customers learn about you and your business through a business overview.
As you can see from the list above, there are many ways to use video to promote your business. Just creating video is not the only step to effective marketing. You must craft a video that responds to the wants and needs of your market. They are looking for solutions to problems and questions. It’s your job to figure out how to use a video to solve issues, answer questions, provide the right solutions and lead them to the next step.
If you want to learn how to create powerful video for your business, check out my upcoming FREE teleseminar with Lou Bortone, Online Branding Expert and Video Marketing Strategist. Click here to find out more!
Best Coaching Blog
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Solopreneur.biz is in a contest for the Best Coaching Blog of 2011. Last year we were honored to come in third place in this annual extravaganza hosted by the School of Coaching Mastery. We are in the running again and wanted to let you know!
We chose to be a participant in this contest for several reasons. First, it is a great support to the coaching industry and the wealth of wisdom held by those who coach. Secondly, it is a great way to get the word out about what we do and perhaps gain new blog subscribers. And finally, the contest is a remarkable demonstration of business alliances in action – there is obvious benefit to each blog owner in the contest, but the School of Coaching Mastery also benefits by the larger amount of traffic the contestants drive to their site and by the high visibility their project achieves. Let it be an example to you as you think about what possible creative ways you can build alliances with others who serve YOUR target market…
Now to the details if you would like to vote in the Best Coaching Blog contest. This is a one- vote-per-person contest so please look around at all the possibilities. To vote, just click on the up arrow and it will turn green when your vote is registered. If you are trying to find Solopreneur.Biz, you will have to look carefully – we are hidden on page 2! Scroll to the bottom of the first page, click “Next 20” and scroll down again. I would be honored if you chose to vote for our work.
Enjoy the contest and some of the most interesting reading that you are likely to find on a whole range of topics. Please post a comment here about your impressions of the contest.
Adventures in Business
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Owning a business shouldn’t be that hard. Any mega-successful business owner could tell you that his or her success was easy. Not simple, but easy. When a business is right, things just work. Then why is it that you might be struggling in your business?
It’s all about adventure. When my family leaves the house for any extended reason, we say “Let the adventures begin.” What we mean is that there are unknowns ahead and that we are up to any challenge. We gather our best selves. We make sure that we respond to the twists and turns we inevitably encounter using our strengths and best attitude. Having the spirit of adventure always ensures a great experience.
Running a business is an adventure. The most important piece is that you explore your own mindset and attitude. What do you believe about your business and what it takes to grow it? How could you make it easier? Let’s take a quick trip through some of the most important ways to ensure that running your business is easy.
Be realistic. One of the most common business fantasies is that your business will blossom overnight if you can just find the magic key. While rapid growth can happen, it happens when it is connected to dedication, solid business fundamentals and a little luck. Be wary of your business fantasies. Learn about business and make sure that your plans are grounded in what’s doable rather than in your fantasy scenarios.
Be intentional. Don’t allow yourself to drift from plan to plan or even from tactic to tactic. Develop habits that will make a difference for your business by becoming comfortable with planning and discipline. Know what it is that you are building and how you intend to get there. When the inevitable obstacles appear on the path, be intentional about your goals and make the needed adjustments. Wandering can be adventurous but it rarely leads to a mega-successful business.
Be fierce. Use persistence to not give up. Fierceness is the knowledge deep within you that your business matters and that you can do what it takes to make it work. It’s that beautiful combination of hope, focus and flexible action that means you ARE going to get there. Nothing can stand in your way when you’re on your fierce adventure!
It’s time to let the easy attitude into YOUR business. What are you waiting for? Let the adventures begin!
PS – Today’s post is written from my heart. It’s what I have learned to be true for me about business and about life. I’d love to hear your reactions to it. Please let me know what your thoughts and feelings are about my philosophy by posting a reply.
How the Fierce Handle Fear
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I’m so excited – today is the day…book launch day.
You’ve probably heard from me already about How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times, the book in which I am a co-author. Let me tell you more about it though, because if you purchase the book within the next 24 hours, you’ll get a powerful free bonus. (And did I tell you that the proceeds from the book go to charity?)
I want to tell you the reason that I chose to be in this book, and to write about a very personal story from my life. These are challenging times and I really believe that your ability to handle fear is one of the most important skills you can master. This book of the best ideas of 22 amazing experts will help with exactly that whether the issue is little scary moments or the big, mind-numbing
fearful events.
http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com
Now, here’s the offer good for today only:
If you buy your copy of “How the Fierce Handle Fear” from Amazon.com within the next 24 hours you’ll also get exclusive access to the complete audio collection of the groundbreaking “Fearless Fridays Telesummit”. This was the recent event featuring over 30 amazing speakers offering their best tips on handling fear.
Just go to http://www.HowtheFierceHandleFear.com for details on how to get the recordings. Once you get the book, let me know how you like my essay, okay?
I’m so excited to be a published author again! And proud to be contributing through this project to Frank McKinney’s Caring House Project Fund which provides needed help to the desperately poor and homeless throughout the world.
Warmly,
Janet
P.S. – I would love for you to share this link with your family and friends. Getting a grip on fear will help us all to move out of these challenging times and on to the better ones ahead.
Help Us Be the Best Coaching Blog of 2010
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How often do you find yourself in the same category as those you consider great? Well it’s happened to me again. Solopreneur.biz is in the running as the Best Coaching Blog of 2010.
Here’s where we need your help and your vote. If you find Solopreneur.Biz to be of benefit to your business, please go to Best Coaching Blog of 2010 and vote for our blog, which is currently on page 2…we need your votes to move to page 1! The contest is not only fun, but you can also see who else is nominated. The blogs listed are some of the best in the coaching industry. Get your feed reader ready, because you will not want to miss out on the great content. You can only vote once, so hop on over right now to vote.
When we from our readers we get so excited and we get comments like these all the time:
I am addicted to my Google Reader and I always get excited when I see a new entry for Solopreneur.biz. Janet is one of my main go-to-gurus for straight forward, easy to understand and implement business advice. She never steers me wrong. If it wasn’t for the Solopreneur.biz blog and her weekly biz tips, I would shudder to think about where my business would be.
Becki Noles
Virtual Accuracy Companies
WOW!!! Ohmygod, I knew NONE of these things! I’m a brand new subscriber – and I’m looking to your next set of Biz Tips.”
Martia Nelson
www.DogDancer.com
What I really like about Biz Tips is that it packs meaningful, helpful information in small bites. I always read it right away because I know that it’s worthwhile…it doesn’t require a big investment of time.
Nancy Fightlin
Sunnybrook Life Coaching
If one of these testimonials resonates with you, consider contacting us (link to contact form) with a testimonial of your own. We will add it to this site and our sister site and give you a backlink to your website as well.
Thank you for your confidence and vote!
