Archive for Small Business Copywriting
What’s on this Entrepreneur’s Reading List?
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the keys to growing any business is to keep learning and stay open to new ideas. That’s why, every so often, I like to share a few of the books that have most recently topped my must-read list. Some of are non-fiction and specific to your business, and a couple simply inspired and entertained me in special ways that make them worth sharing.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
My new favorite read…This book is right up there with Cialdini’s Influence, and a must read for anyone interested in the psychology of why we buy what we buy, or why we make some of the clearly illogical decisions we’re all prone to make. Author Ariely, a professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT, is clearly fascinated with this subject and his fascination quickly rubs off. He believes that most of our irrational is totally predictable. And though he’s often discussing his own research studies, the writing is anything but dull or academic. Ariely’s delivery is informative and entertaining—sometimes even laugh out loud funny (people do make the darndest choicest!). Entrepreneurs, salespeople, and anyone who ever buys anything will benefit from reading this book.
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Brafman
While not quite as good as Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational—perhaps because they rely on secondhand studies while Dan is writing about the results of his own research—if you’re at all fascinated by Behavioral Economics, and why we make the choices we make, this is a worthwhile read. If you’re an entrepreneur or a salesperson, it will give you insight into what might sway a prospect into buying from you. For everyone else, it’s an illuminating look at how irrational we humans can be.
Riches in Niches: How to Make it BIG in a Small Market by Susan Friedmann
As more and more business start taking advantage of the marketing power of the Internet, competition grows. The solution is to become known as an expert in a particular niche! But how do you do this without losing out on all that “other” business? Friedmann breaks it all down into simple, manageable steps in this helpful book. Regardless of the size of your business, there are big lessons to be learned here. And while the small type and pages jammed with text can seem a little daunting at first, she does a terrific job of breaking everything down it bullets, numbered lists and bit sized pieces. If you want to make your business stand out from the competition read this now!
Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
This is by far my favorite fiction book of the year…So much so that I keep feeling compelled to give it as a gift. If you’re looking for a good read that’ll make you laugh and think…This is a winner! Given to me by a friend before a long plane flight, I had few expectations when I cracked the cover. I was more than pleasantly surprised by what I found on its pages. Merullo is a skillful wordsmith; painting vivid pictures with surprising turns-of phrase that stick with you long after the page has turned. And he takes you along on an often amusing journey across the country, and into one man’s exploration of spirituality. Light reading with a deeper context—you can enjoy it as the often hilarious page-turner it is, or spend time contemplating the subtext. Either way you’re sure to enjoy it.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
Read this book, and you’ll never again be able to deny the power any one person has to change the world. This is a true account of mountain climber Greg Mortenson’s quest to provide education to impoverished boys and girls in Afghanistan…Something he never set out to do. But after losing his way on the way down from an aborted summit attempt on K2, he spent time recovering in a tiny mountain village in Afghanistan. To pay back the villages hospitality he promised to return and build a school. Today Greg is co-founder of the Central Asia Institute, and has built more than 130 schools in the most remote areas of the Afghanistan and Pakistan. If you need a solid dose of inspiration, look no further.
What Olympians Have in Common with Successful Entrepreneurs
Posted by: | CommentsThe winter Olympics are off to an interesting start, as always. And while I’ve only caught parts, I did manage to watch short track skating when Apolo Ohno miraculously won silver. From the qualifying heats to the final race he was pretty amazing to watch.
While his competition in those qualifying races wasn’t super stiff, you could still see the mark of experience…As well as how strong and fit he is going into this competition. In both of those early heats he calmly hung out in the back of the pack waiting for the chance to make his move.
Then, when that chance came, he made it in a big way. In the second qualifying heat he passed all five other skaters with one huge burst of speed…flying past them so fast he easily gained, and held, a half-lap lead for the rest of the race.
Pretty impressive for a guy who’s old enough—and medaled enough—to retire happily. Yet here he is again, past the age when most speed skaters retire, and he’s never been more prepared to compete and win!
In a recent Seattle Times profile of Apolo Anton Ohno (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/olympics/2010986192_ohno07.html ), Ron Judd said “In his 13 years in the sport, Ohno has become an advanced student of short-track. He watches race tape like a football coach. He studies other teams’ training regimens. He has soaked up all the sports-performance knowledge thrown his way in a decade of residence at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and used it to retool his body to compete with younger racers whose legs don’t scream as loudly at the end of the day.”
By now you’re probably wondering what all this has to do with marketing your business. Well, there’s a lot you can learn from Ohno’s example.
Here’s a guy who has been competing successfully since he was 14 years old, yet he’s still trying to get better. And he does it by studying the competition, seeing what others have done and are doing today, then changing his own training regimen as a result. And practicing hard.
When was the last time you truly studied your competition’s marketing? Or analyzed what worked and what didn’t in your last marketing campaign?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, the answer to both of those questions is: “Never!”
What about training? What are you doing to make sure your next marketing effort is more successful than your last? If the answer is nothing, then the chances are good that you’re not going to be any more successful down the road.
If you want to grow your business you’ve got to practice, train, and frankly, do what most other entrepreneurs don’t. Below are three things you can do right now to help turn yourself into an Olympic caliber entrepreneur:
1) Watch your competition. Ohno regularly looks at other teams training regimens. Then he takes what he learns and applies it to his own skating.
Most entrepreneurs never take the time to see what their competition is doing. Yet that’s one of the best ways to figure out what you could or should be doing to grow your business.
So take some time to do a bit of Internet research and see what your competition offers, how they offer it, what they charge, and how they market themselves.
2) Study. Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Because if you don’t market your business effectively, no one will know you exist or what you have to offer and you won’t have any clients. Without clients you don’t have a business.
Yet few entrepreneurs spend any time at all studying marketing. While you can’t exactly watch and analyze race tapes, you CAN review books filled with winning advertising and marketing campaigns. Many books written by Ad greats John Caples or David Ogilvy are packed with sample ads and breakdowns of what made them great.
3) Practice. Olympic athletes practice a lot…WAY more than most entrepreneurs for sure. Apolo Ohno practice three times a day. And even then he still doesn’t always win in competition.
Few entrepreneurs practice marketing at all, yet they expect to win all the time. And are discouraged when they don’t.
Need to write new content for your Website? Don’t expect to get it perfect the first time. Create many practice drafts, then edit until it’s the best it can be. If you’re planning to send out a sales letter, write a few versions and test them. Then refine them until you’re getting the results you’re after.
To Niche or Not to Niche…?
Posted by: | CommentsDoes it really pay to be a jack of all trades?
Or should you focus on a small, specific group of customers?
If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve probable heard (or read) people saying the money is in the niche markets. And that you need to focus on serving one, highly defined group of potential customers—those most likely, willing and able to buy from you.
Yet so many entrepreneurs run themselves ragged trying to market to everyone they can find or anyone with money…Or trying to be the “go to” guy or girl for all of their customers’ problems.
Typically this is because they are afraid that if they focus on one, specific niche they’re throwing away all that other potential business. So they try to be everything to everyone. Then they wonder why they’re struggling to make money.
Face it…These days most people don’t go out looking for a generalist. They want someone who has exactly what they need to fix their problem, fulfill their wants, fill their needs, or achieve their goals. In other words they want a specialist—and chances are they’re willing to pay more for one too.
This means it really is in your best interest to focus on one, specific niche market and be seen as the specialist or expert.
But how do you choose a niche that’s right for you? And what do you need to differently to market your business once you do?
Find out this month when I interview internationally-known speaker Susan Friedmann, author of “Riches in Niches: How to Make it Big in Small Markets” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Target Marketing”.
And the best part is, you can listen in for FREE! Just go here to register:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-20.htm
I’m going to ask Susan exactly what it takes to grow a big business by focusing on small markets. She’s promised to cover:
- What is niche marketing and why is it a necessity for your business in today’s economy
- How to pick the niche that’s right for you
- How to establish yourself as an expert in your area of expertise quickly and easily
- Why you should be a specialist rather than a generalist
- Common marketing mistakes that small business owners make and how to fix them
- Powerful niche marketing strategies that will put you miles ahead of your competition
- And much, much more!
Plus, as always, I’ll be opening the line up for live Q & A at the end. So you can have Susan answer your specific questions about niche marketing.
If you can’t make the live call I will be recording it. But the only way to get the recording is to register:
http://www.success-stream.com/teleseminar-20.htm
Already have questions about niche marketing or choosing the right niche for you? Post them here in the comments and I’ll be sure we cover them on the call.
Got a success story or tips about choosing a niche for your business? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
Hot Tips from the Small Business Success Telesummit – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsThanks to all the powerful, business-building tips shared by the experts at the Small Business Success Telesummit, I could write an entire book. Instead I’m dedicating this, the second of two articles, to sharing ideas from each of the speakers with you. That way, even if you weren’t able to make the live calls, you can still benefit from the wisdom of the 12 fantastic small business experts who participated.
So today we continue with golden nuggets from the second half of the Telesummit:
1) Paulette Ensign, “The Booklet Queen”, shared so many priceless ideas about creating tips booklets and using them to market yourself and your expertise it’s hard to choose just one. In fact I have a whole list of ideas I’m going to incorporate from this interview alone! But if I have to pick one, and I do, it would be:
The seven ways to use one tips booklet…
Create a print version; Turn it into a PDF; Record it as an audio; Burn it to a CD; Turn it into an autoresponder series; Create a card deck; Reformat as a journal with one tip per page; Flesh it out into a print and electronic book.
2) PR Expert Nancy Juetten gave us her foolproof formula for creating a compelling bio. Simply combine: stunning results, a succinct story, sassy sound bites, and social information to help them connect with you. Mix all these parts together to take your bio from boring to better than the rest.
3) From Erin Blaskie, the head of my VA firm, comes some sage words of advice on getting started delegating to Virtual Assistants and other professionals…
You want to give your new team, even if it’s virtual, the time to get to know you and the time for you to get to know them. And a lot of people kind of give up early thinking it’s not working…The team isn’t getting me.
But if you think about getting a normal job outside of the entrepreneur world, you get like a two to three week training period, right? Same thing when you outsource. It’s going to take time to learn how to work together and what you both want and need to achieve your goals. You have to give it time to really allow that natural relationship to grow.
4) Leanne Hoagland Smith, the “The Results Coach”, hit the nail on the head when she talked about the power of knowing the numbers then planning to reach them…
Making sales is all about knowing the numbers. For example, let’s say you go out and speak locally for free, or a very nominal amount, and consistently get one client worth $3,000 annually each time. If you want to make $36,000 more this year, you need 12 new clients. That means doing one speaking gig a month.
So you break it down that way. Once you know what a client is worth annually, and how many you can bring in or work with, you can easily make a plan to reach your financial goals.
5) Nancy Fox, consultant and founder of HUBstreet social networking site, and I talked in depth about your personal brand. And the conversation couldn’t have been more timely, because while your personal brand has a huge impact on all your marketing, it’s especially critical when it comes to your social networking efforts.
So what is your personal brand? According to Nancy, it’s far more than just a tagline…It’s your mission, personal values and the benefits of working with you all rolled into one and represented by everything you do, say, wear and provide.
6) My own topic was how to get more marketing done and grow your business—while still having a life—by outsourcing to Virtual Assistants. And today I’m going to share two of my tips on this subject that I believe can have the biggest impact on you:
1 – In order to outsource happily, you have to understand that while someone else may not do things the way you would, there is a good chance they’ll actually do it better.
2 – Outsourcing doesn’t always go as planned…Not everyone will be a good fit for you, your needs or your working style. And some folks are just plain flaky (Plus, you have to learn to outsource correctly. But that’s a whole ‘nother topic.).
Rather than get discouraged, keep in mind that finding good people to outsource to is a lot like dating—you’re likely going to have to kiss a few frogs to find a prince (or princess).
Or, get all the juicy, business-building info from 12+ hours of interviews and lectures now and start applying them to your business right away!
Just click this link now and pre-order a copy of the audio and transcripts at a special, low price:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com
As soon as my team has everything edited and uploaded to the Web, then turns it all into stand-alone products for sale, the price is going to have to go up to cover my costs. So order right now before you forget and miss out on all the amazing, business-building information these experts shared.
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com
Have you ever noticed how some small business owners get more done than others? I’m talking about increased productivity that isn’t because of working longer days or multi-tasking to madness, either. You know…those incredible people who have successful businesses and still manage to have a life.
What I’ve learned is that it’s not about how hard they work…It’s about how smartly they work.
There was a time when I was new to running my own business and “working smarter” seemed so pie-in-the-sky. It was something other people somehow pulled off. I wasn’t even convinced it was real. I didn’t have time to stop and think about better managing my time because I was working too hard!
Somehow, it was clear that other entrepreneurs were better at doing things that truly created more efficiency for themselves—in how they completed tasks, achieved goals, arranged their day, got found by potential clients, and so on. So I’ve spent the past eight years learning how to make this happen for myself and my clients.
The thing is, it’s clear working smarter doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Most small business owners have to, well, work at it a bit. But it’s worth the extra effort up front to get more done with less effort later.
Wanna be one of those folks who works smarter instead of harder? Here are some simple tips for you to get started…
- For starters, let’s take multi-tasking. Believe it or not, studies now show that multi-tasking doesn’t increase productivity or speed up the completion time for each task. (Just type ‘Juggling Too Many Tasks Could Make You Stupid’ into a search engine for a great Wall Street Journal article by author Sue Shellenbarger. Or go here: http://208.144.115.170/columnists/workfamily/20030228-workfamily.html)Americans are a distracted bunch, and we have so many more ways now that things compete for our attention. You know the drill—the phone, email, Facebook. You may have a huge sense of busy-ness, but don’t mistake it for true productivity. Basically it ultimately creates a kind of stress response and messes with your memory so you get less accomplished and everything takes more time.
Stop doing it and work on just one task at a time until it’s done.
- Create more hours in a day by staying focused. Be committed to setting aside time for doing work with your phone and email turned off, and your office door closed.Few things come in via email or voice mail (remember that handy tool?) that must be handled right now. A few hours or a day later is typically just fine. So actually schedule time in your day to focus on a project, or time in your week or month to sit in a quiet space and do some planning.
- Stop reinventing the wheel! While for most people the idea of sitting down and creating process docs for the different tasks you do seems like about as much fun as a trip to the orthodontist, it needs to be done—even if you’re a solopreneur.Otherwise you end up wasting time figuring out how to do the same thing each time and your efforts lack consistency. Plus, when you are ready to hire an employee or outsource tasks, those process docs are worth more than their weight in gold.
- Get it off your plate! This is one of my favorite solutions for getting more done with less effort…If you’re really strapped for time, or you have tasks you just can’t stomach doing or are bad at, hire a Virtual Assistant (VA).They can do everything from answering email to setting up social networking profiles to building blogs, creating newsletters, sending holiday cards, and more. Some even specialize in online marketing. I hired my first VA 4 years ago and it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for my business.
- Turn it down! Not the volume—rather, be more choosy about work that you take on. Juggling as many projects as you can doesn’t inherently mean more success for your small business.Especially in the beginning, it’s easy to take on any and every client or job that comes your way because you need the cash. But it might well end up being just more tiring to take on more work rather than adding significantly to your bottom line. Plus, you want to make sure your more lucrative projects/clients don’t suffer from your diluted attention and efforts.
- Make it happen, even on a budget. If you know you need to put more energy into marketing but you keep putting it because of funds there are some very inexpensive low-hanging fruit to go for.Try putting out press releases online, using social networking sites and doing email marketing. And when is the last time you spruced up your personal bio? Or committed to attending live networking meetings? If you have stuff to say that potential clients might want to hear—have you thought about blogging? You can create a blog for free on WordPress!
If you need more info on these marketing ideas, or other ways to manage your time and grow your business more easily, I’ve got another terrific resource for you…
While today is the last day of my f*r*e*e* Small Business Success Telesummit 2010, you can still join in for the final four experts. And you can also grab a copy of the audios and/or transcripts so you can listen in on all 12 hour long calls.
Five of the presentations cover information exclusively devoted to helping you run your business more efficiently and drive up your productivity. The other seven are devoted to things you could be doing to spread the word about your business, products or services and help more potential customers find out about what you have to offer.
Here’s a list of all the speakers that joined me for the three-day event:
Social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten “The Bio Whisperer”, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of the HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
With the help of these amazing experts, you can get the info you need to transform your business without traveling anywhere!
Phone lines for the calls are limited, so get all the deets and nab your spot right away by going here:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/
If you’ve already missed the live event (the last call ends at 2:30 PST Thursday, January 21st), you can get your very own copies of the recorded audios and/or transcripts right here. Or, if you register on the live events page listed above, you’ll be taken to a page with all the purchasing options.
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/sales.html#up
Do you have other tips and tricks you use to get more done with less effort? If so, I’d love to know about them. Please do share by leaving a comment…
Entrepreneurs can Get the Latest Information on How to Better Market and Grow Their Small Businesses—Both Online and Off—By Attending (Via Phone) this FREE, Three-Day Telesummit Event. Featuring 12 Expert Speakers Plus Live Q & A to Make Sure Attendees Questions are Answered, this Event is Designed to Give Small Business Owners the Jump-Start They Need to Achieve Their 2010 Goals.
Entrepreneurs everywhere looking to jump-start their small business growth are invited to attend a free, three-day teleseminar event featuring 12 expert speakers Jan. 19th – 21st at no charge. Topics include using social media and other online tools for marketing, creating a more compelling personal bio, mastering in-person networking, how to market your expertise using tips booklets, time-management techniques and more. Registrants can attend from anywhere via phone. The hour-long calls are live and include time for audience Q&A with the experts.
Speakers scheduled for the three-day event include social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten “The Bio Whisperer”, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone who registers receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
Stacy Karacostas is hosting this event in an effort to give more small business owners the information they need to grow and better run their businesses in 2010 and beyond.
Karacostas, the owner of Seattle-based Success Stream Sales and Marketing Solutions, specializes in helping small business owners take the stress, struggle and confusion out of marketing. She regularly hosts monthly teleseminars interviewing a range of experts on topics important to small business success such as how to attract new customers, podcasting and Internet radio, online video, bookkeeping basics, Facebook marketing, and other current topics.
“I love doing monthly teleseminar interviews because they’re a terrific way to help small business owners get the info they need to really thrive. And my community loves the info other experts bring to the table. This Telesummit will concentrate a ton of great information—from business basics, to outsourcing, to the latest in online marketing—into three consecutive days. The goal is to help entrepreneurs harness the energy of a brand-new year and get the info they need to achieve their business resolutions” Stacy said.
The Telesummit details, schedule, speaker bios, and registration are available online at http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com
Registration is free and open to everyone!
Get FREE Marketing Advice
Posted by: | CommentsGet more F.R.E.E. marketing advice from me!
Did you know you can get your specific sales, marketing can copywriting questions answered by me right here in this newsletter?
Well, you can! I want to write about the topics most important to you, so I LOVE answering your questions.
Just comment or contact me at stacy@success-stream.com with your question. If I can answer it I will. If not, I’ll do my best to refer you to someone who can.
Lay it on me…Try to stump me…I’m here to help!
If You Want to Grow Your Small Business, You’ve got to Attend Events!
Posted by: | CommentsMy first few years in business, like most new entrepreneurs I was nose to the grindstone all the time. The problem with that is an awful lot can pass you by when you’re so focused on working, working, working. And these days, thanks to the Internet and the economy things are changing at an incredibly fast pace.
People everywhere are changing their priorities and their buying habits. While at the same time, new tools and technology make it easier to get your message and marketing out there. Unless you pull yourself out from behind your business periodically to see what’s new, chances are good you’re going to be left behind. That means your business is likely to suffer.
I’ve found one of the best ways to combat this problem is to regularly attend conferences, events and workshops outside of my industry. Because, while reading about the latest and greatest online or in books is great, nothing substitutes for meeting and talking with other people. Or hearing experts speak live about what they’re doing and what’s new.
Since I attended my first big seminar event back in 2006 my business has been completely transformed. I’ve changed my marketing, started creating my own products, help workshops, and even launched a membership site. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t learned how to do it by hearing other experts explain the nuts and bolts. As a result, I’ve made a commitment to attend at least one or two big live events each year.
But let’s face it, shelling out a few grand and taking a week off work to go to a conference or seminar isn’t always in the cards. So the next best thing is to attend live Webinars and teleseminars. These events let you get most of the benefits of an in-person event (sans the networking of course) without all the hassle and expense. And the best ones even let you ask questions live…Something you rarely get to do a big conference.
That’s why, this year, I’ve brought together a stellar lineup of small business experts for a FREE 3-day “Small Business Success Telesummit”. It’s all done by phone, so you can attend every session, or just one or two, from the comfort of your own home or office.
Topics include everything from using social media and other online tools for marketing, creating a more compelling personal bio, mastering in-person networking, how to market your expertise using tips booklets, time-management techniques, outsourcing secrets and more. I’ve even convinced all the speakers to stick around for live Q & A segment at the end of each call.
Here’s a list of all the amazing speakers scheduled for the three-day event:
social media expert Nancy Marmolejo, PR experts Shannon Cherry, Diane Ennen and Nancy Juetten, Time Liberator Susan Lannis, The Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign, Savvy Networker Zita Gustin, Results Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Founder of HUBstreet social networking site Nancy Fox, New Business Mentor Leah Grant, Internet Marketing Strategist Erin Blaskie, and me, Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas. Plus, everyone who registers receives a bonus ebook packed with helpful articles from these experts.
Now you can get the info you need to transform your business without spending a penny!
So what are you waiting for? While the event is totally free to attend live, phone lines for the calls are limited. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level go here and register for the Telesummit right away:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccesstelesummit.com/
What’s the biggest ah-ha moment you’ve had listening in on a teleseminar or attending a live event? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
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