Not Enough Fresh Sales Leads? Marketing is the New Sales
June 14, 2007
Your sales are down and leads are rare. The phone’s not ringing. Let’s blame marketing!
If you join this band wagon to rationalize your poor sales results, you need to step up and take responsibility for your own fate. It’s amazing how often sales teams play the victim here. They blame the marketing department, team or an individual, for their lack of sales.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side. Often, in a typical, let’s say "traditional" organization, there is disconnection between marketing and the sales organization. There is a lack of communication, team work and common goals. Sad but true.
Often, the larger the company, the less marketing serves the individual sales professional. In corporations, it seems the norm for marketing is to concentrate on selling "the brand" and not products and services. Corporate marketing sells ‘the logo’ to trigger trust and positive emotions when people see it. Not all, but most, traditional marketing leans on advertising which fails to work directly for you in attracting new prospects and leads.
In small to medium-sized companies, there is usually a very small marketing team or a single very, over-worked marketeer. Worst, as a business owner or independent professional, you don’t have a budget and you do everything! Again, marketing is absent or not good enough to generate enough new opportunities.
The 9 Key Distinctions of Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs!
June 13, 2007
SUCCESSFUL Solo-Entrepreneurs approach life and business from a perspective that is new, fresh, and rather unorthodox. The differences are subtle, yet significant. These distinctions are more than just fads or interesting tips; they are direct, measurable SHIFTS in how you will approach your business, your personal life, your relationships, etc. - for the rest of your life! They are direct from the experience of hundreds of successful solo-entrepreneurs!
First, one pre-distinction. We are not talking about "habits" in this article. There’s really nothing wrong with habits, except that you are still looking at habits. And, you probably already knew the habits before you even read about them?you just weren’t getting them to stick.
The problem with habits is that it’s easy to backslide because they aren’t really YOURS. You haven’t really owned them. Just when you are about to decide they are valuable and working, something comes up that throws a twist in the whole thing and there you are back again, living your same old habits.
6 Simple Steps to Dealing with Difficult Managers
June 12, 2007
The challenge of managing difficult managers can be rather daunting, especially when you inherit them! If they are your own born and bred, then hopefully they would have evolved into great managers!Experience shows that difficult managers are difficult because they are angry and frustrated about something or somebody (even themselves - especially where they are, or have become, a square peg in a round hole of a job), so the steps to take are these:-
Website Promotion Strategies For Targeted Web Site Traffic
June 11, 2007
If you’re looking to drive more targeted traffic to your web site, you’ll want to pay close attention to the website promotion strategies presented in this article.
As an internet marketer, or a want to be internet marketer, you know that web site traffic is your livelihood. Without it you have nothing. No traffic - no sales - no profits. You’ll continue to be stuck in a dead end job or worse yet, unemployed with no way to take care of yourself or your family.
I’ve written this article to end the hype and confusion that’s abundant on the internet about website promotion and getting quality prospects to your web site or affiliate link. There are no secrets to website promotion. Common sense and proven principles prevail.
Website Promotion Strategy Rule # 1. Tap Into Existing MarketsThe first consideration when it comes to your website promotion strategy is your product or service. Too many people think they must reinvent the wheel or come up with something new or exciting.
Why Do Most Online Small Businesses Fail?
June 10, 2007
Search Engines account for almost 90% of all web traffic!
In the Offline world its all about “location, location, location.”
Put your business were people crowd around and your set. Have your products ready and benefit the rewards.
Online, small businesses fail to act on the fact that the fundamental reality of how people use the Web is totally different. No one “passes by”.
People are searching for information that you know.
To build an Online Business, give them the answere…
Yes, Start where they start…Build Content. Turn your knowledge into revenue.
The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at doing what they most enjoy - Malcolm S. Forbes (1919 - 1990)
Traffic is the most important next step that makes or breaks your online business. Keyword - focused content attracts targeted Traffic by Search Engines.
The next step is to Presell interested visitors. Interested visitors become warm, willing-to-buy prospective customers because you overdeliver what they seek…information and solutions.
After the content, traffic and presell you must monetize, only after you achieve these three.
Make Money Online While You are Sleeping
June 9, 2007
Make Money Online While You are Sleeping
by: Chintan Soni
Excited???
You must be wondering that how any one can earn while sleeping. I am telling you truth that you can earn and make money while you are sleeping.
This article reveals the truth behind the phrase “work from home” This is total guide to the online internet business.
Many of you have heard that work from home, part time job, earn $$ in just 2hrs. But I am sure none of you have paid attention on this. But telling seriously, you can also make money from your home.
There are many ways from which your can earn money online. In this article I’ll show u the first and most popular way to make money by working from your home
Defining Success Your Way!
June 9, 2007
In my career advising practice, I often find that my clients are not clear about what success means for them. Our society defines success primarily around three elements: power, money and fame. Many of you reading this may be saying, "wait a minute ?those elements are not the most important things to me." Success is often intangible. It’s certainly unique to each person. Have you considered how you will know when you are successful?
For one of my current clients, a definition of success is having autonomy in her work. She wants to set her own goals and direct her own activities. She’s considering part-time consulting work as a transition to her success. Another client defines success as a satisfying family and personal life ? she’s looking for work that allows her flexible hours and telecommuting days.
In her book, "If Success is a Game, These Are the Rules", Cherie Carter-Scott gives several examples of success:
? financial terms ? enough to retire by 50 or to buy a cabin in the woods? emotional fulfillment and stability ? a harmonious family life? glory ? athletic accomplishments? courage ? overcoming a serious illness or tragedy? making a difference ? change people’s life in a positive way? accumulation of knowledge and understanding
Attracting Clients With Ease
June 8, 2007
Whether you are already running your own business, or still thinking about starting your own business, I suspect that deep down you know you have gifts and talents that can really make a difference to others. In an ideal world, you’d spend the majority of time doing the work you love to do, with a steady stream of clients knocking at your door as and when you want them. The reality, however, can be somewhat different, and the whole process of finding new business can be a time consuming challenge full of uncertainty.
Some would be entrepreneurs are so intimidated by the idea of finding clients that they never put their dreams into action. Others start promising businesses, yet give up disillusioned by the frustrating lack of clients. Some die-hards persist, but at great emotional and financial cost as the uncertainty about attracting and maintaining clients takes its toll.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a way to reverse the sales process. Imagine, if you will, a situation where instead of having to go out and chase new business, qualified buyers are seeking out YOUR expertise. Imagine putting your marketing efforts on ‘automatic pilot’ so the right work turns up as and when you need it. Imagine being able to pick and choose which projects you want to work on. Can you imagine having the confidence to turn down work that doesn’t meet YOUR criteria?
The Five Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make
June 7, 2007
Over the decades that I’ve been involved in sales, I’ve worked with tens of thousands of salespeople. Certain negative tendencies — mistakes that salespeople make — keep surfacing. Here are my top five. See to what degree you (or your sales force) may be guilty of them.
Mistake Number One: Over concern with strategy instead of tactics
Gather a group of salespeople together around a coffee maker and listen to the conversation. After the obligatory complaints about all types of things, the conversation inevitably drifts to questions of strategy. How do I accomplish this in that account? How do I get this account to this?
In my seminars, I often hold a “clinic” where salespeople write down any sales-related question and submit it to the group for discussion. These questions are almost always related to strategic issues. In one form or another, they ask the same question: How do I achieve this effect in this account?
While this thoughtfulness is encouraging, it reveals an erroneous mindset. The belief behind these questions is this: “If I can only determine the right sequence of actions of my part, I’ll be able to sell this account, or achieve this goal.”
What Should You Do When Designing A Business Card Online
June 6, 2007
What Should You Do When Designing A Business Card Online
by: Florie Lyn Masarate
Designing a business card online is not any different from designing one offline. There are a lot of factors to consider to ensure that your business card will serve the purpose that it is intended in the first place.
When designing a business card online you should:
1. Try to design the business card yourself. Nothing like avoiding the charges you have to pay when hiring designers to do the job. Besides, you are your own boss. Nobody will tell or criticize you on what you want attained.
2. Use shadows on texts so that when you use light texts, it will be easier to see even though the background is also light. You would not want your readers squinting their eyes out just to see what is written in your cards.
3. Go for bulks. Did you know that having more quantities printed can save you a lot in printing costs? Many people do not know that by cutting on the amount of printing materials, they are paying more than they think they are. If you compute the overall value, you will see that you actually save more by printing more copies.
