Maintain a Success Circle in Direct Sales & Relationship Marketing

Archive for June, 2009

Despite a lot of effort and hard work many entrepreneurs and home-based business owners find it challenging  to attract people to their website, whether it's a static website or a blog, or even a landing page.  If you are selling a product you created or promoting an affiliate product, it is essential to have visitors to your site.  Targeted visitors are vital as these are more likely to be the ones who purchase from you.  But…you first have to get them to know you even exist and herein lies the challenge.

This morning I read a post that provides succinct information which I found to be helpful and  I believe would be of benefit to you. The article is entitled "Attracting People in Your Niche to Your Site" and is written by Stephen Beck.  Stephen outlines three ways to get people to come to your site.  Click here to read the full article.

Remember to go to the top right-hand column of this page and sign up to receive my Free Report and audio MP3. 

Make someone smile by sending them a greeting card, which will be delivered through the US Mail. Send me an e-mail at yjones@mysuccesscircleonline.com to discuss how you can become a Sender of Cards.

A characteristic is defined as
the distinctive quality of someone or something; moral strength.  In
order to become a successful entrepreneur, it's essential to have the
following qualities:

1.  A passion for business:  This must come from within.  It's the main
way that you'll be able to maintain your enthusiasm and interest in
your business, as well as allow you to find ways to overcome obstacles.

2.  Be a leader and decision-maker:  An entrepreneur needs to learn this quality for you will need to be able to guide and influence others. 
Your ability to make decisions of major importance will grow, but do
not allow lack of experience to stop you from making progress and becoming successful in your
new business.

3.  Be clever, be smart: This is referred to in some circles as having
'native intelligence.'  Be discerning so you're not taken advantage of
in your business dealings.  You need to be mentally alert and show
intelligence so as to earn the respect of your network – clients and
customers. At the same time maintain a sense of humor, which can
lighten or diffuse any unpleasantness.

4.  Be a risk-taker: You will never have all the answers or be able to
foresee all outcomes of a particular action, but as an entrepreneur, you will have to take
risks from time to time.  It's just a part of doing business.

5.  Be honest and trustworthy: People will do business with people they
know, like and trust.  It is an essential part of doing business. It takes time to develop relationships, but when
people know you are a person of integrity, you are more likely to keep
them as clients or customers for life.

Please be sure to go to the box on the upper right-hand side of this page to sign up for my Free Report and MP3 audio recording.

Most dictionaries define an entrepreneur as a businessperson who finances or initiates emerging commercial enterprise.  So any persons who finances, manages and/or organizes a business venture can be called an entrepreneur.

Although you are reading this article online, keep in mind that the same basic principles apply to both online and offline entrepreneurship. The following are 5 things you need to get started on your entrepreneur journey:

1.    Identifying Your Market:  This involves reasearching carefully to determine what products or service you will promote by balancing what the market is in need of with what you are passionate about.

2.    Deciding on a name for your business:  This is often ignored or regarded as less important in offline marketing, but keep in mind that the name of your business will be reflected on your business cards and should be a marketing tool.  It's a critical component of your online marketing as it involves search engines and should quickly identify the nature of your business.  Online attention span is even shorter than offline and readers should not have to wonder what you do.

3.    Determining the Form of Business:  Depending on the type of business, this is something you may or may not need to focus on immediately, but your tax accountant or attorney can advise you on where to start, whether as a Sole Proprietor or a Corporation.

4.    Permits and Licenses:  Depending on where you live, you may be required to obtain a permit or license.  Your local city hall, county government or even your local Chamber of Commerce are valuable
resources.  If you will be selling a product that requires you to collect sales tax, you'll need a seller's permit or whatever term is unique to your area.

5.    Find People Who Need Your Product or Service:  Most people who made the decision to become entrepreneurs have never had training in marketing so this is one of the areas they find most challenging.  Mary Kay Ash was fond of saying, "Nothing happens until you sell something." So finding customers is an essential part of your entrepreneur journey.

You are constantly bombarded with negative news, negative ideas and negative thoughts can easily become a part of your way of thinking.  Thoughts that can have a profound impact on your home-based business before you are aware of it.  Think for a moment:

• Are you excited about setting realistic goals for yourself and your business?  Do you find that you allow the excitement to wane because you become filled with negative thoughts and self-doubt?
• You see other people's success, are encouraged by that and think, "If they can do it, I can too?"  Is that often followed with "Who am I to think that I can achieve that level of success?" 

Positive affirmations play a huge role in overcoming negative self-talk, but it takes discipline. Note that affirmations are not a cure-all as they are just basically positive statements.  However, by replacing the negative self-talk with positive affirmations you will be re-programming your mind so that positive actions can follow.

Recognize that negative things happen to just about everyone as we are all imperfect, but rather than focusing on those, focus on the positive things you bring to your business like your individual talent, your personal qualities of honesty and integrity and your desire to provide the best product or service.  Affirm these good qualities by turning each into a positive statement that you say aloud.  If necessary, record them and play them over and over. 

There are positive affirmations on CDs that are helpful to many, but in my opinion, when you make the affirmation from your heart, it has a greater impact on your mind and actions.

I invite you to share your thoughts on the topic by adding your comments.

Whether your business is offline or online, it is important
that you and your business become well-known.   If you have an online business, it is
critical that prospects are able to find you on the internet so that they can learn to know, like and trust you and 
become your customers.

There are many other
ways that involve search engine optimization, Google adwords, etc. but while I
use them, I’ll leave those topics to persons whom I believe are much more knowledgeable
and can provide you with more information. 
These are three of the things I’ve implemented that have got me noticed
by Google and through which I’ve been able to grow my list.

1)     
Blogs: My goal is 3-5 blog posts per week.  If you are able to do one per day, that’s
even better.  One of my mentors recommend
that you limit your posts to approximately 100-150 words – a limit I invariably
exceed.

2)     
Articles: Submitting articles to
Ezinearticles.com is a great way to get noticed and increase your visibility in your online business. To my knowledge several of my
articles have been published in other journals with my Resource Box intact,
which bring readers back to my blog to learn more about me and what I do.

3)     
Social Media: Be visible on Social Networking
sites like Facebook and Twitter. Post comments and provide valuable information
in response to queries.  Even if you're not great with small talk, as in 140 characters on Twitter, observe what others are doing and copy the persons who are doing it right.

In offline activities it takes time for people to get to know you and this is also true with doing online business.  Don't be overly concerned if you don't have a 100 followers on Twitter in one day.  Take time to build your online presence and as your online business grows, so will your visibility.

20 Ways To Make $100 A Day Online : A highly valuable e-book that allows you
to become an immediate affiliate. A “must have”!

One of the most effective ways I have found to build my subscriber list is through writing articles and submitting them to Ezine Articles.  There are many more article directories on the internet but since I started writing and submitting articles in January 2009, I've submitted to Ezine Articles.  Recently  I heard of a tool that makes it quite easy to submit articles to multiple directories at one time, but when I've tried that with success I'll let you know about it. When you recommend something, you do prefer to try it first, right?

But how does article marketing help? When someone reads your article they can follow the link through your Resource Box to your Blog or landing page.  Your article could also become viral when someone is looking for content for their ezine.  If done correctly, your article should be copied to include your Resource Box.  At that point visitors can choose to just learn more about what you do, or they may opt-in to receive the product/s that you offer as an incentive to join your list. 

The tracking report for my Blog shows that most persons who opt-in to my list came from Ezine Articles.

EBooks are excellent sources of information for building your personal library.  Once you complete the purchase, you have immediate access! No more waiting for the book to be delivered in the mail. 

Last December I purchased an eBook "20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online", printed it, read it, and implemented  one of the "Ways" mentioned.  I have been making an income on just that one step since January 2009. 

I recently pulled the beautiful binder with the printed pages and reviewed the eBook and it occurred to me that everyone who wants to grow their online business should have a copy of "20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online."  The Chapters consist of tried-and-true methods for small business that have worked for successful Marketers and can work for you.  It's an absolute must for beginners because it offers several ways, hence, multiple streams of income online. It's also an an excellent tool for someone who is working a regular job but wants to explore avenues of income in the online world.

In addition, when you purchase the e-book, you become an instant affiliate.  If you are new to or have been thinking about affiliate marketing, this is a great place to start.

I can see the expression on your face, "Huh?"  Please indulge me as I perform some self-therapy. There are a number of Anonymous Groups: Alcoholics, Gamblers, Overeaters, etc.  I'm starting an E-Mail Anonymous Group and I may be the only one in this group, but I have a feeling others could easily join me.

Do you find that the first computer program you open every morning is your e-mail?  Worse, how many e-mail addresses do you have?  Do you check them one after the other? Have you ever checked to see how long you spend reading other people's e-mail to you?  Don't forget about the attachments and links!

Like many of you, I work from home and I recently realized that without being aware of it I was spending  an hour up to two hours reading e-mails and links from my favorite marketers! Before I knew it I had been in my office for that length of time and had not accomplished anything for my home-based business.

The groups mentioned earlier have 'steps' to help persons overcome their problem…but they need support. My first step starting tomorrow is to write a blog post or an article, or go to my Send Out Cards account and send an unexpected card to bring a smile to someone's face in a few days BEFORE I open my e-mail. If you'd like to be my accountability partner, I welcome you; and I'd be delighted to be yours if this is a challenge for you.

Affirmation?  "My e-mail inbox is not my friend or my family. I do not need to wrap myself around it before I do something for my business."

In my previous post we talked about the importance of having
a schedule. Here are 3 crucial steps in planning your schedule.

1.      
Plan Sheet: Work from a weekly and daily
plan sheet.  A monthly plan sheet is
recommended but is optional.  Be sure to
include work and non-work activities on your plan sheet.

2.      
Identify Activities that Signify the End of
Your Workday: It’s important to determine what activities you will pursue
to tell your brain that your workday is over. 
If your office is in a separate room, it may be as simple as closing your
door and it may help to hang a sign that says “Closed” on the door.  If your office is in a shared room, you may
turn off the computer, or remove all paper, pens, pencils, etc. from your desk
and place them out of sight in a drawer.

You may even find it effective to
take a shower and change your clothes, or go to the gym, or perhaps a walk
around your neighborhood.

3.      
Plan Activities Away from Home: Isolation
can put a damper on your level of satisfaction in working from home.  If you meet with clients regularly, plan to
meet them at their home from time to time or at a coffee-shop.  Attend at least one networking event per
month. Meet a friend for lunch at least once per week.

Remember you work from home, you are not stuck at home, and rather than taking
time from your work, these activities will re-energize you in your home-based business.