Maintain a Success Circle in Direct Sales & Relationship Marketing

Archive for May, 2010

I am so excited! This video was created as part of an assignment from my Mentor, Connie Ragen Green for the Internet Marketing 6 Pack Course. Creating videos is an effective way to connect with your readers on a different level and you may choose to do these so your readers will see and hear you. Or you may choose to do videos where only your voice is heard, but based on the statistics, creating videos should become an integral part of your online marketing strategies. It can also help to build your brand. Now that gives me something new to work on!

Please leave your comments below if you’re already using video as a marketing tool and the results you’ve experienced. If like me, you’re not doing so, do you plan to?

Making $100 does not seem like such a big deal in the offline world, but making your first $100 online seems to be a much greater achievement.  Do you remember the first $100 you made online?  Or, have you made your first $100 online?  You may be new to the internet or just recently started your business.  On the other hand you may have been online for sometime, but it just has not happened.  Do no despair; it can and will happen.  It’s easy to feel that you are a failure because others seem to be achieving success at a faster pace.  There is nothing wrong with you as a person; you may not have been shown how to do so.

I remember when I got my first affiliate sale how excited I was, then my second and it seemed to stop for a while.  It was challenging for me to continue because I was used to seeing growth quickly in my business in the offline world.  But I persevered and I am so glad I did.  As I continue to learn the various ‘how to’s’ correctly, I have the opportunity to share this information with others.

One of the persons I’ve learned from is Kathleen Gage and was most recently in her VIP Program.  Kathleen has produced some amazing reports and her “Discover How to Make Your First $100 online” is chock-full of information that when applied will propel you forward.  Kathleen has been charging $17 for this report, but on June 1st the price goes up to $27.00.  I would recommend that you get a copy of this report before the price goes up.  She will also be including an MP3 for a limited time.  This report, along with others by Kathleen like, 5 Simple Steps to Money-Making visibility for Your Blog have been of tremendous benefit.

Order Kathleen’s “Discover How to Make Your First $100 Online” before the price goes up on June 1st!

You set your goal; you put it in writing and you made yourself accountable to others. But…you did not achieve your goal within the deadline you had set. Did you fail? Do you consider yourself a failure?

Firstly, no one usually plans to fail and there is no such thing as failure when it comes to improving your life. Failure is defined as “a lack of success” and as the “loss of ability to function normally.” Did you lack success? Did you lose the ability to function normally? Perhaps if a body part was affected that would apply, but in terms of achieving your goal you did not fail. It just means that your deadline had to be adjusted. In reality, if you took just one step forward towards reaching your goals, even if you did not complete all the steps, you moved forward…and that’s the key! Read the rest of this entry »

Most people will readily admit that they are not where they want to be in life.  Perhaps spiritually, financially, in their relationships, academically, etc.  Recognizing that there are deficiencies is one thing; willingness to do something about it is another.  Unfortunately statistics show that although a large percentage of the population is unhappy with their status, they are content to live with the status quo and are unwilling to take action to achieve fulfillment.

Change is never easy because we become comfortable with the way things are, but change is the one thing you need to take hold of to alter the course of your life and in taking this step it is important to lay the foundation for growth, progress and success by setting goals.  You may have to work on changing your mindset in order to accept the need to implement setting goals. Goals are essential because they give you a clear focus or path to follow. Without specific goals your efforts can be derailed quite easily by the negative influences that are likely to come along the path. Read the rest of this entry »

A customer is anyone for whom you provide a service or sell a product and the names or terms customers are referred to may differ depending on your market.  A customer may be called a client, a purchaser, a buyer, or even a student. A customer who has not yet made a purchase or exchange of service or product may be referred to as a prospect.  Regardless of the terminology unique to your business the bottom-line remains the same: your customer if the lifeline of your business.  The service that you as the business owner provides will have a direct impact on the success or failure of your online business and so it becomes critical to be sure that you always provide superior customer service. This is a part of building your personal brand.

In building your brand online your goal should be to be recognized as someone who goes over and beyond what is normally required to take care of their customers.  I happen to like the term ‘over-deliver.’  No one usually complains if you over-deliver.  This is the kind of reputation that will set you apart from the pack and make you stand out.  On the other hand using underhand tactics and not keeping your promises is the way to go to experience the death of your business.  Pete Blackshaw says it very well in the title of his book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today’s Consumer-Driven World. Read the rest of this entry »

As a solo entrepreneur who may also work away from home you have numerous demands on your time and different aspects of your life that demand constant attention.  In the past this seemed to be a challenge that affected women more than men, but in recent times there appears to be quite an equalizing.  One of the main reasons for this change is that due to the economy many men lost their jobs and have had to look at other means to create an income, including working from home.  I became aware of this significant shift while listening to introductions at networking events locally.

Part of being organized is making sure that you manage your time effectively and the following are time saving tips to help you throughout the day and hopefully lessen stress.

1. Do you have school-age children?  Do you also work away from home? Make lunches the night before. Instead of rushing around in the morning, trying to get everyone ready for school and work, make school lunches the night before and put them in the refrigerator.  Label them in bags and they are ready to go the next morning.

2. Lay your clothes out the evening before.   I find that this tip alone saves me at least 15 minutes or more and my choices are better. This is

3. Do errands on your lunch hour and make phone calls during break times and during your lunch hour.  This can save you a trip to the store after work and will help you stay organized. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us go through the daily motions of life and spend our time keeping busy at being busy.  The pace of life and the constant demands on our time make it necessary to squeeze as much out of our day as possible.  When was the last time you stopped to question if what you are doing is what you really want to be doing?  What is your passion?

One of the things that was shared with me when I first came online and I, in turn, share with others is that in order to determine the niche you will pursue a starting point is to identify your passion.  The main reason for this is that if you care deeply about a topic or area, you are more likely to stick with it and make a success of it.  This therefore means that once you have identified something that you feel passionate about you basically can start earning from it. Read the rest of this entry »

This may seem like a silly question because if someone does not know how to do a job it should be easy to correct it my asking someone else for information.  Shouldn’t it?  Perhaps. This is our 4th and final in the series to help Paula and she will have to confirm if this is what has been holding her back in launching her online business.

Does the idea seem far-fetched that a sharp, savvy and successful (offline) businesswoman would allow her lack of knowledge in a particular area to cause her to procrastinate?  For someone who is successful in other areas the idea that they are not able to master everything perfectly could become a motivational block.  Pride for one could prevent her from recognizing that she needs help, or even worse to admit to herself that she needs help.  Subconsciously this results in avoidance or even developing an aversion for the task. Read the rest of this entry »

We are on our third article to try to assist Paula in determining why she has allowed procrastination in  one important task to stall the launch of her online business.  We were first introduced to Paula when we considered that her fears may be holding her back.  She admitted that while she had some fears they were not strong enough to paralyze her so we suggested that she may not be assigning the task the high priority it deserved.  Today we consider the possibility that Paula could be procrastinating due to a lack of commitment to her online business.

Paula’s record of success offline is well-recognized and is evidenced by the fact that she sometimes has appointments booked up to two months in advance with her clients.  Does Paula really want to start an online business or is she just following a trend?  An online business is a business like any other and must be treated as such for it to be successful.  It demands time, energy, and money.  While an online business may be started with a small budget, a budget is still required to take care of basic start-up costs as well as monthly costs, regardless of how minimal. Read the rest of this entry »

Today we continue to help Paula, a savvy, sharp businesswoman who has had a successful business offline for many years, determine why she has not completed a very important task necessary to launch her online business. We shared the points regarding fear of success, failure and completion with her and while she acknowledged she had some fears, she did not feel they were enough to paralyze her.

Could it be that even though Paula knows this activity needs to be done she has not wrapped her mind around that it needs to be given high priority?  The fact that it is on her “Most Important Things to Do” list means that it is important and in talking with Paula she recognizes that someone has to do it.  She also realizes that it is not something that should be assigned to someone else; it’s something that she needs to do.  But what has happened everyday so far?  She has found something else to do in that time slot, which means that she has procrastinated each day and given something else priority. Read the rest of this entry »