Archive for November, 2008
SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions Wins Top Honors in Business Competition
Posted by: | CommentsStartupNation Honors Nation’s Top Home-Based businesses
Stacy Karacostas of Seattle-Based SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions Wins Top Honors in
Business Competition Under Slacker-friendly Category
Seattle, Wash. – Nov. 26, 2008– Stacy Karacostas of SuccessStream has been recognized by StartupNation (http://www.startupnation.com) as the second-place winner in its annual Home-Based 100 competition under the category of Most Slacker-Friendly.
Many of the StartupNation Home-Based 100 submissions revealed that small business owners are bucking the current economic downturn and finding business success in these tight times. Historically some of today’s most well known businesses started in a downturn, including Microsoft and General Electric.
“It’s such an honor to be chosen by these illustrious judges as runner up out of the more than 300 entrants in my category!” says Karacostas. “As a Practical Marketing Expert specializing in helping other small business owners take the stress, struggle and confusion out of marketing, I’m thankful my company is growing fast despite—or maybe because of—the down economy, and hope this honor will allow me to help more entrepreneurs do the same.”
“The 2008 ranking shows that the home-based business is more relevant than ever. The current recession has spurred a new wave of home based businesses as a response to loss of jobs, the need for supplemental income and the sheer passion for blazing your own trail and running your own show,” said Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation.com, one of the leading small business networking and advice websites. “Home based businesses are the biggest block of all businesses in existence and we expect numbers to grow ever greater as extra bedrooms, kitchen tables, basements and garages become host to the innovative thinking and pursuit of success by millions of Americans.”
The StartupNation Home-Based 100 highlights 10 top-ten lists making it not just your ordinary business ranking. From the wackiest, to the most innovative, to the best financial performers – this unique and diverse list highlights the home-based businesses that usually go unrecognized, but still play a vital role in the economy today. The ten categories for 2008 include:
- Best Financial Performers
- Most Innovative
- Boomers Back in Business
- Greenest
- Yummiest
- Wackiest
- Grungiest
- Recession Busters
- Most Slacker-Friendly
- Most Glamorous
In addition to StartupNation staff, judges for this year’s Home Based 100 ranking included Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method Products, Howard Behar, former President of Starbucks North America, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, Mel Robbins, host of Make It Happen radio show.
The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s website http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100.
View Stacy Karacostas’ Winner Profile at http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/winner/1598/index.php
You can learn more about her at http://www.success-stream.com and at her online press kit http://www.stacykaracostas.presskit247.com/index.asp
Or, contact her directly at 206-200-7594 or stacy@success-stream.com
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About StartupNation
StartupNation (www.startupnation.com) provides over 175,000 pages of business advice and networking for entrepreneurs and serves millions of entrepreneurs annually.. . StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs with the intention of providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, including blogs from a host of experts, podcasts, webcasts, eBooks, award-winning step-by-step advice, and more. .
About the Startupnation’s Founders – The Sloan Brothers
StartupNation co-founders and “chief startupologists,” Rich and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country’s leading small business experts and ran their business from home for eight years. The Sloan brothers speak frequently at entrepreneurial forums and act as sources for top media venues nationwide. They are authors of StartupNation: Open for Business, published by Doubleday, and provide their insight online at www.startupnation.com. The Sloan brothers are regularly quoted and featured in media such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and many others.
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For more information, press only:
Kathleen Gratehouse, Borders + Gratehouse (415) 963-4174, kathleen (at) bordersgratehouse.com
[tags] Stacy Karacostas, SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions, SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions Wins Top Honors in Business Competition, Business competition, StartUp Nation, StartUpNation, home based business, home-based business [/tags]
_Businesses?
Posted by: | Commentsthis week’s podcast:
"Articles.The Ultimate Multi-Purpose Marketing Tool for Small Businesses"
Time is precious.
Money is precious.Especially when it comes to marketing and growing your
small business.
You simply can’t afford to keep running new ads, creating fresh promotions
and reinventing the wheel.
Instead, you have to do more with less. Luckily there’s lots of ways you can
reduce, reuse and recycle your marketing materials to get more bang for your
marketing buck.
One of my favorites is by writing articles.
Whether you write them yourself, or have someone edit or ghostwrite them for
you, a well-written article is the ultimate low-cost, multi-purpose
marketing tool.
Articles can promote your products or services, drive traffic to your
Website, and increase your search engine rankings. They can highlight your
knowledge and expertise, and help you become more well-known. You can use
articles to stay in touch with your clients, or attract new ones.
The list goes on and on.
The key is that if you really want articles work for you, each one needs to
be informative, well-written and carefully targeted to your audience. And
you’re going to need to write more than one.
Here are ten different ways you can put one single article to work for you:
1. Post your article to your blog.
2. Publish your article in your own print or email newsletter.
3. Other businesses are often looking for content, so offer to let them
publish your article in their newsletter or on their blog.
4. Put it on your Website. The more fresh, relevant content you have on
your site, the higher it ranks in the search engines.
5. Submit your article to free, online article databases like
http://www.ezinearticles.com/ <http://www.ezinearticles.com/> or on social
networking sites like www.biznik.com <http://www.biznik.com/> . This creates
incoming links pointing to your Website, gives others the opportunity to use
your article and spread your name and links, and also drives people directly
to your Website.
6. Give your helpful article away as a handout at networking events.
7. Mail a copy of your article to clients, contacts or prospects.
8. Build your list by offering your article for free on your Website in
exchange for reader’s names and email addresses.
9. Include an article (or two) with any promotional packets you send
out to prospects.
10. Expand upon one article, or combine several, to create an e-book to
sell or give away.
Just remember, while you can always include a link or two in your bio, or
even a call to action, don’t be overtly salesy in your article. Just make
sure it’s easy to read and packed with useful info and people will want to
know more.
Got more ideas for marketing your business with articles? If so, please do
share by leaving a comment below!
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How to Use the Power of Online Media and PR to Grow Your Small Business
Posted by: | CommentsAn inexpensive online PR campaign can be a highly effective way to market and promote your business.
After all, few things beat the marketing power of getting a quote, interview or article published about you or your business. These days, the best place to start your PR machine is on the Web.
If you’re not using online tools to help you get noticed by the media, you’re missing out on all kinds of amazing opportunities to promote your business at little or no cost to you.
Even better, it’s not that hard to do….Once you understand the basics and know which tools and Websites to use.
To help you get the power of online PR working for you, this week I’m interviewing nationally known PR Expert Drew Gerber—co-founder of Wasabi Publicity and Press Kit 24/7. I’ve known Drew for years, and he’s got a heckuva reputation for being a top-notch PR guy and entrepreneur.
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-7.html
Over the years Drew has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs both large and small use the media to get killer PR that grows their businesses.
Now he’s going to share every thing you need to know to get your own online PR campaign going including:
- What really needs to go into your press kit to get the media’s attention and make it easy for them to use you as their expert source.
- How to use your press kit to control the type of media coverage you get and make sure crucial information isn’t left out of an interview or article.
- Where you should post your fabulous new press kit to make sure it gets noticed.
- A bunch of free resources you can use to get more PR.
- Drew’s personal list of powerful online PR tools available today.
- How to reach out to the media in the way they prefer so they’re happy to hear from you.
- Tips on media protocol—what to do when reporters come knocking so they want to use you as a resource again and again.
The live interview happens this Thursday, November 20th at 12:00 PST. But I’ll be recording as always and sending you a link to download the audio after the fact if you’re registered.
So whether you can make the call live or not, register now at:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-7.html
I’ll make sure you get a copy of the audio a couple days after the interview. And I promise, you won’t want to miss the valuable info Drew is going to share with us. I’ll have my pen and pad ready to take copious notes!
Here’s to your future success!
Stacy
P.S. Although I’m taping the call, you only have until Thursday morning to register. So go here now to guarantee you don’t miss out on any of this valuable business-building info.
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-7.html
[tags] Small Business, Online Media, PR, Grow Market Marketing, Drew Gerber, Wasabi Press Kit 24/7 [/tags]
For those of you who read my blog regularly, I apologize for the gap in postings. I just got back from 5, fun-filled days at the Glazer-Kennedy Info Summit in St. Louis yesterday (the place for info-marketers to gather!) and my head is still reeling.
Of course, I had the best intentions about writing blog posts while I was gone. But after 10 hours of listening and learning each day, plus a few hours of networking over meals and in the bar, I just couldn’t make it happen.
Boy was it all worth it though. I’m reenergized, motivated, and now up to speed on the latest of what’s working and what’s not for the big players in the info-marketing world. Plus I met a ton of terrific people, some of whom gave me incredible tips for growing my own business (Love that), and others who are interested in having me speak at their upcoming events (Love that too!).
If you’ve never been to a big conference like this, you owe it to yourself to go. Sure, it can seem a bit spendy on the surface. And near impossible to take the time off from the daily grind. But the info you learn and the connections you make are priceless—especially if you make a point of taking action ASAP when you get back.
I’ve already signed up for the 2009 Info-Summit. I’m planning to go to the eWomen conference in Dallas next spring. And I can’t wait to try out all the new marketing tactics and business ideas I learned this year. I’ll keep you posted on results.
Have you been to a terrific seminar that really made a difference in your business? I’d love to hear about it! Share details by posting a comment below….
[tags] grow your small business, marketing, workshops seminars [/tags]
Stacy Karacostas shares a terrific example of a small business USP
Posted by: | CommentsSee a perfect example of how one small business owner uses clever business card marketing to stand out from the crowd.
[tags] Stacy Karacostas, Mike Carpenter, Small Business, Marketing, Unique Selling Proposition, Stand out from the competition [/tags]
10 Simple Ways to Get Your Small Business Unstuck
Posted by: | CommentsEver feel like your small business is totally stuck, and you have no idea what to do about it? If so, you’re not alone. And I don’t say that just because of all the craziness with the economy.
Problems, road blocks and Murphy’s Law moments happen to everyone. Sometimes the issues lie in your marketing. Other times its operations. Or a fatal flaw in your planning and/or execution.
The thing is…When you run a small business all by yourself, unless you have an amazing mentor or a ton of resources, you’re going to run out of ideas and solutions every so often.
When that happens, you absolutely have to take action as quickly as possible. But not in a bailout sort of way.
The last thing you want to do is go off half-cocked and not think through everything first. Otherwise you’re likely to spend your money in the wrong places and not get the results you’re after.
What I mean is that you need to start seeking answers ASAP. Thankfully, there’s lots of ways to do that…Some free, some cheap, some requiring a bit more of an investment. But if you choose wisely you can not only get your business unstuck, you can catapult it to new heights!
Here are a few of the many options out there…
• Read a book or ebook on the subject
• Hire a coach or consultant
• Join a mastermind group
• Find articles on the Web (I’ve got more than 100 on my Website http://www.success-stream.com free for the reading)
• Join a membership site belonging to a trusted expert
• Post your questions on social networking sites like StartUp Nation and LinkedIn
• Start your own support group of small business owners and share ideas and resources (either live, via phone, or on a social network)
• Attend a conference or convention
• Find a strategic partner and do something together to grow both of your businesses
• Take a few days off to rethink, regroup and reenergize
Whatever you do, you don’t want to stay stuck for too long or it will sap your energy. Plus, it’s always easier to increase your current momentum than it is to get moving again from a standstill.
I’m taking my own advice on this right now and investing in growing my business. How? By heading to St. Louis this Thursday for the 4-day Glazer-Kennedy Info-Summit. I expect to come back fully energized with tons of great new ideas for growing my business.
While I’m there, I’m consciously going to be looking for strategic partners, joint venture opportunities, and a terrific business mentor (and posting updates to my blog). I can’t wait to see where my business is going to go and grow next!
If you’re going to be at the Info-Summit too, leave a comment below and let’s meet up in person in glorious St. Louis.
Or, if you’ve got some other terrific ideas for getting your business unstuck, please do share by leaving a comment below.
Struggling to get great response from your marketing efforts? Chances are good you’re guilty of one of the 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins. Grab a copy of my FREE REPORT on the subject and learn exactly how to tell if you’re guilty—and what to do about it—at http://www.7deadliestsins.com
[tags] marketing, small business, growing [/tags]
If You Want to Grow a Successful Small Business,
Posted by: | Commentstoday’s podcast, "If You Want to Grow a Successful Small Business, You Can’t
Do It All Yourself"
When I was growing up, I worked in my parent’s animal hospital. It was a
really fun job for a kid-what with all the puppies and kittens and parrots
and all (poo cleaning not withstanding). Plus I learned a lot of valuable
lessons about running and growing a successful small business in the
process.
Some I continue to live by to this day. Others, not so much.
The biggest one I had to let go of is one I followed without fail for many
years. That was my mother’s unshakable belief that if you want something
done right you have to do it yourself.
I heard her say that all the time. As a result, I worked myself to the bone
trying to do everything myself for years. Thankfully, now I know better.
If you want something done exactly the way you do it every time, then yes,
you might have to do it yourself. But most things don’t need to be done
exactly the way you do it. In fact, someone else may have a quicker, easier,
faster, better way of doing something that you never even thought of.
However, the bigger problem with this line of thinking is that you simply
can’t afford to do everything yourself. If you’re an accountant, the last
thing you probably need to be doing is updating your Website.Or calling to
confirm appointments.
If you’re a massage therapist, you have no business wasting time trying to
do your taxes.
Your main priority as a small business owner is to focus your time and
energy on things you do really well and things that bring in revenues. That
means finding someone else to do the stuff you’re not good at, or that takes
too much time, or that you could outsource for way less than your hourly
rate.
So although I don’t have any employees, I have two teams of Virtual
Assistants who handle the online side of my business and marketing, a
virtual bookkeeper, an accountant, a graphic designer, a Web designer, and a
few copywriters who all do work for me on a regular basis.
The result? I get WAY more done than ever before.Without working more hours.
The best part is, if you focus all your newfound time on money-making
pursuits, you quickly make back the cost of hiring some things out.
So if you’re still trying to figure out how to build your blog, or where to
find time to follow up with clients, or how to submit articles online, or
write killer marketing copy, or anything else that isn’t one of your core
competencies.Stop now and hire someone else to do it for you-starting with a
good Virtual Assistant (VA).
Not sure what you could really let go of and outsource to a VA? Sign up for
the terrific free 30-day e-course my main VA, Erin Blaskie, offers on her
Website at http://www.bsetc.ca/ <http://www.bsetc.ca/> .
Having trouble outsourcing? I’d love for you to share your problems below
and I’ll try to provide solutions.
If you’re already happily outsourcing, let everyone know what’s working for
you, and why, by leaving a comment below.
P.S. Are you struggling to market and grow your business? Chances are you
might be guilty of one-or more-of "The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing
Sins". Find out now, and learn what you can do to go from struggling sinner
to successful saint by downloading your F*R*E*E REPORT at
http://www.success-stream.com/7sins.htm.
Mobile post sent by Stacyk using Utterli. Replies. mp3
“WARNING! You could end up spending WAY too much for a Website that does nothing to make sales or grow your business!!”
Learn:
If you can plan a vacation road trip, you can write a highly effective small business marketing plan with this e-book!
Discover:
Ready to jump-start your small business sales?
