Get More Clients Online

Step-by-Step Internet Marketing Action Plan to Keep Your Client Pipeline Full

What's the biggest issue small business owners have with marketing?  Paying attention to marketing tasks when they're trying to run their business.  So many times marketing falls to the wayside, only to be resurrected when the client pipeline is drying up.  Frankly, then it's too late to worry about marketing, for no amount of last-minute marketing will help you pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat when you're desperate for clients.

It's only when you decide to integrate marketing into your daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly routines that it becomes a habit that you no longer have to think about. So, rather than a hodge-podge of strategies that you change every time you hear of something that sounds more compelling, find the mix of strategies that works well for you in your business and stick to it.  Remember, consistent action yields prime results.

Rome wasn't built in a day.  Neither will your Internet marketing action plan.  Start small, and add in additional strategies that you both enjoy and that make sense for your business.  The strategy that you choose is less important than consistent implementation of your plan.

To help you along, here's what I'm doing on a regular basis to market my business online:

Quarterly Tasks

1. Send out post card to touch base with former clients and customers to remind them to think of me when they need marketing assistance.

2. Write promotional copy for a free preview call or list-building teleclass and have my assistant submit the teleclass description to major event and teleclass sites.  My assistant then creates a squeeze page with an opt-in form for the class. I create the handouts and the call to action or special offer and host the class.

3. Create a new information product (product, sales page, promotional copy for emails) and upload it to my site to sell.

Monthly Tasks

1. Have my assistant update my site's media page with links to new press coverage I've received or press releases I have submitted.

2.  Create a tips-based press release based on the content of one of my articles and submit it through PRWeb.com.  Then, about a week after submission, I have my assistant post the same release on a handful of free press release sites.

3.  Have my assistant pre-schedule a list of quotes or business tips into HootSuite.

4.  Have my assistant request and gather testimonials from my clients, newsletter and blog readers, members of my membership site, purchasers of my products, as well as speaking gig hosts and update my site with those as appropriate.

5.  Review my yearly and quarterly marketing calendar (outlines events, promotions, sales) and update as appropriate.

Weekly Tasks

1. Have my assistant complete my Marketing Dashboard spreadsheet so that I can see my marketing statistics (site visits, ezine and blog subscribers, keyword ranking, etc.)

2. Post 1-2 new articles on my blog. One of these posts is usually a reader-submitted question that I receive from my "ask a question" squeeze page.

3. Write a brand-new, high content "how to" article for my ezine, as well as a business automation tool review and a personal note to my readers.  When I write each of the articles, I also create a 450 character summary for each, a list of 10 keywords for each, as well as the resource box I want to use when submitting my primary article to my article submission service.

4. Have my assistant format and publish my ezine to my list.

5. Have my assistant publish my primary article and business automation tool to my sites.

6.  Have my assistant submit my primary ezine article to my article submission service for distribution on various article directories, article banks, and online publishers.  My assistant also submits this article to niche-specific sites not covered in the automated article submission process.

7.  Have my assistant research questions on Linkedin Answers and note the ones to which I might be able to respond.

8.  Have my assistant create a Powerpoint presentation from an article I have written and submit that presentation to Slideshare and Scribd.

9.  Send out cards by snail mail to current and former clients for their birthdays or to congratulate them on a personal or professional achievement.

10,  Have my assistant create a list of keyword relevant info compiled from Google Alerts and keyword searches on Twitter and forward to me for further action.

11.  Have my assistant scan the listings at Help a Reporter, PitchRate, Blogger Linkup, and Reporter Connection and send a list of possible media inquiries to which I can respond.

12.  Have my assistant social bookmark my blog posts through Onlywire.

Daily Tasks

1. Read 2 of the top 10 blogs to which I subscribe in my industry and post comments as appropriate. When you do this 5 days per week, you will have posted comments on 10 blogs.

2. Review the emails from the discussion lists, forums, Linkedin Groups and Facebook Groups to which I belong and answer some questions and make some comments that add to the discussion.

3. Log in to HootSuite and respond to any @ replies from Twitter, comments on my Facebook or Linkedin status updates, or any direct mail messages in Twitter.  I also respond to any direct Facebook messages within Facebook.

4.  Have my assistant send out birthday greetings to my Facebook friends using the message I have created for the occasion.

5.  Check my Twitter Lists in HootSuite and retweet posts that I think my followers can use and comment on some, as well.  Then I submit 1-2 status updates to all of my social networking sites through HootSuite.

My list has changed pretty dramatically in the last two years, so be prepared to adapt to changing times with your plan. How do I get it all done? I set aside time on my calendar to consistently implement these tasks, and it helps to have a great assistant whom I've trained to carry out a number of these tasks for me. Start to consistently implement your plan, and watch your pipeline fills with new clients.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Introvert Marketing Coach Donna Gunter helps professional service businesses stop the client chase and create online businesses that drive clients to them. Want to learn specific Internet marketing strategies that can be automated to help get more clients online? Discover how to automate your marketing by requesting the audio download of this program, Stop Obsessing About Your Online Marketing and Automate It at ==> http://www.EasyMarketingAutomation.com

5 Proven Tactics to Uplevel Your Client Base

I hear from clients constantly who say that their clients can't afford to pay them, or that they're constantly besieged by requests for "pro bono services."  Don't get me wrong -- helping those in need is an admirable part of any business plan and business philosophy. However, if your entire client base is filled with people who can't afford to pay you what you need to charge to stay in business, then you've got a major problem.   You are working with the wrong segment of your target market.

Most of my clients are in the helping professions and feel a great sense of guilt and remorse that they cannot help the many people who truly need what they offer but are unable to pay for the service.  The only way that you can stay in business long enough to offer pro bono services on a selective basis is by finding that segment of your target market who can easily afford to pay what you charge. 

Many of my business-to-business (B2B) service provider clients get a different kind of request from other business owners who claim any number of excuses about why they can't pay the full fee or request free help -- they're a non-profit, they're just starting out, they just went through a divorce, etc.  Here's one thing to remember if you're a B2B service provider:  It is not your responsibility to subsidize another business that has not made adequate financial preparations to be in business.  Period.

Here's how you can uplevel your client base to get in front of more affluent clients:

1.  Raise your prices.  There is an inherent value associated with price.  Are your prices putting you at the bottom, middle, or top of other service providers in your category?  You can offer the best service for a premium price, or you can give your services away very cheaply.  I usually urge moving toward the middle of the pack, but not always.  Regardless of the reality, low prices often connote poor service or tell your clients you're not worth it.  And, by increasing your prices, you get yourself out of the segment of the market who could just barely afford to pay you into a more affluent segment who can more easily afford your rates.

2.  Create a packaged value or system.  Rather than offering time for dollars, try to find better ways to serve your clients through a variety of package options or through creating a system. By doing so, you give the customers options so that they focus on the value of what you offer rather than on the amount of time your spend offering the service.  When your rates reflect this value, you increase the likelihood that the customer will stay with you for a longer period, or will return to you repeatedly.  And, people love to invest in a step-by-step system that makes it easy for them to get their needs met and their problems solved.

3.  Offer a variety of price points.  As your business grows and develops, you'll have more latitude to be able to develop ways to serve clients at all price points, from the very low to the very high.  Many times you can help others by offering information products at lower price points and reserving your higher prices for packages and systems that incorporate some 1:1 time with you.  Develop your upsell funnel so that you have a clear vision of how someone comes into your marketing funnel (typically by signing up for something you offer free of charge) and how the upsell process works to get customers to flow into higher and higher price points as they continue to work with you. 

4.  Make sure your marketing materials are top-notch.  Does your web site, blog, or social networking profiles have a customized, quality look to them, or does it look as though you threw these things together with a minimum of money and effort?  When you have an online business, your online reputation depends upon creating a "wow" factor when someone visits your storefront, i.e. your web site, your blog, your video channel, etc.  Andrew Lock of the "Help! My Business Sucks!" web television show says, "Everything is marketing and marketing is everything."  Don't let a sloppy online presence cost your business.

5.  Clearly articulate the benefits and results of working with you.  People rarely buy a service just to buy a service.  What they're buying are the results of the service.  Do your clients understand the benefits and results gained when they work with you?  Even if you offer a service where the results aren't often quantifiable, you can still look at the impact your service has on every part of your client's life, from health to money to satisfaction to relationships.

If you're not attracting the clients you want to attract, try at least one of these strategies and watch how your client base is transformed!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>
http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com.

Recurring Income Tips: 10 Examples of Continuity Income in a Service-Based Business

Tired of the day-to-day struggle of chasing one client to the next? Want a better way to run your business that enables you to better predict your monthly income? One of the best ways to stabilize your income when you're a self-employed service professional is to create a monthly recurring source of income for yourself, commonly referred to as a continuity program.

Many continuity programs focus on providing products each month (think of any number of beauty product clubs you see on infomercials) or providing coaching or information (think of an Inner Circle Club where the members get one call per month from an expert, along with a CD and transcript of the call).  While there's nothing wrong with these continuity models, I think that an independent service professional builds the strongest business when the business contains multiple streams of income, or in this case, multiple streams of recurring income.  I'm in the process of updating my business model to include service-based recurring revenue, all related to Internet marketing tasks.

Here are 13 examples of how I've seen recurring income for services offered:

1.  Landscaping and yard care:  I pay a monthly retainer to a local landscaper for complete care of my yard, from mowing the grass to picking up limbs after a storm to replenishing the mulch in the plant beds to staking the crepe myrtle trees to the ground during hurricane season.  I don't worry at all about anything to do with yard maintenance, and I occasionally hire them at an extra fee to add additional plants to the landscape.

2.  Housecleaning: I pay a twice-monthly retainer to a small company to come and completely clean my house two times a month. I HATE housecleaning, so this is one of my favorite checks to write, as I do enjoy nice, clean-smelling surroundings.

3.  Air conditioning/heating:  I pay a yearly fee for our AC service to come out twice a year and check and clean the AC/Heating system, once before the AC season and once before the heating season.  They check connections, knock out the dust, and inspect both the inside and outside units.  Upon completion, they give me a checklist of what they did, and let me know if there were any problems of which I should be aware.

4.  Accountant/bookkeeper:  A monthly retainer to enter a business owner's income and expenses has long been a recurring income strategy of accountants and bookkeepers.  Most of these businesses then turn to that same person to do their business and personal income taxes, as well as buying additional consulting time regarding major financial moves or investments.

5.  Blog designer:  For service businesses with Wordpress blogs, finding someone to help you if your blog crashes or if a feature stops working can be a nightmare, as there's no tech support provided with this open source software.  I've begun to see many blog designers offering monthly blog maintenance packages where they upgrade the software and plug-ins each month, as well as back up the blog, and provide other services as necessary to keep your blogsite up and running smoothly.

6.  Web site designer:  The primary way that I've seen web designers create recurring income is through the sale of web site hosting packages.  Once they have designed a site for you, you continue to be their customer by paying them a monthly, quarterly, or annual hosting fee for your site.  Many web designers include basic tech support/trouble-shooting in this fee, so if you have a problem receiving your email, for example, you can call or email them for assistance.

7.  Publicist:  I think there's a need for publicity experts to offer packages featuring 1-2 custom press releases per month optimized for online submission and SEO.  Many business owners won't take the time to write their own releases (or simply don't know how).  Finding someone who can create a release from a previously written article would be great for online business owners who would like to use these releases as part of their traffic generation strategy.

8.  Writer:  A writer who is familiar with creating articles for traffic generation could offer a couple of 600-800 word keyword-optimized articles for a monthly fee.  An online business owner could use these articles in her ezine, blog, or in an information product.

8.  Videographer: I just signed up with a service that will give me a 1-minute flash video every month. All I have to do is provide the info for the voiceover, and images (like logos or head shots) or video (of me talking to a web cam, for example) to add in, if I have them.  They do everything else, and have a stock of rights-free images and video that can use in my videos if needed.

9.  Audio voiceover:  Ever wanted to create a podcast or audio version of your ezine?  I think this is a great opportunity for audio voiceover experts to offer a retainer to provide a professional "reading" of written material that you create that you can repurpose in any fashion that you like.

10.  Newsletter expert: I've been working with a company who formats and publishes my ezine each week for a monthly retainer.  I simply give them the articles and images for the ezine, and they put it together in an HTML file that is uploaded to my email marketing service as well as placed on my web site.

Bonuses:

11.  Social networking expert:  I've seen many virtual assistants offer a "social networking done for you" type retainer in which they  go in to your social networking platforms and update your status, look for and add friends/followers, and send your followers/friends birthday wishes.

12.  Tech support specialist:  I pay a monthly retainer to a group who'll install scripts and blogs for me, update web sites, create forms on pages, among other things.  They offer a point system in that I purchase so many points each month, and what I don't use rolls over to the next month.  I've also seen companies offer tech support subscriptions for troubleshooting computer issues. So, rather than paying $200 to have Outlook reinstalled if it crashes, you could pay a tech support company a monthly retainer to help you  with tech emergencies without a wait.

13. Software developer:  There are any number of products for which I pay monthly fees to access a software service, from audio/video hosting to a shopping cart system to an email marketing system to an online collaboration system to a receipt scanning system.  This type of recurring income is the most powerful, as you have a large chunk of your business assets tied up in this service when you subscribe to the service, which makes it unlikely that you'll ever leave the service, as it's time-consuming and painful to change services.

Did any of these ideas spark an idea for your business?  I'm fairly certain that there's an opportunity for every service business to offer a continuity service program.  What can you offer?

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Marketing Results: 7 Crucial Stats You Need to Track Your Marketing Success

You may feel as though you're on a hamster wheel when it comes to measuring your marketing.  You run, run, and run some more, but don't seem to be getting anywhere.  That feeling is perfectly natural if you're not measuring your ROI (Return on Investment) with your marketing.  For years, I've been on this hamster wheel myself, without a system that I liked to help me measure my marketing results. Numbers and statistics have never been my strong suit, and even though I got A's in most of my math classes, it took every brain cell I had to do so. :)

Late last year, I finally determined what was important for me to track in my marketing, and now have created a system so that I can track my marketing from week to week.  Whether you set up your system in a document or spreadsheet, you'll be amazed at the power that you feel when you view the numbers from week to week and can spot trends developing or problem spots that need a solution.  I was amazed to discover that when I started paying attention to my weekly stats, I actually found myself engrossed, fascinated, and excited! Now that I am tracking these numbers, I know exactly where to spend my time and efforts to receive the highest and best rate of return.

Here are 7 items that I track in my weekly marketing tracking system:

1.  Number of marketing activities.  I now list by name and amount of the total number of marketing activities in which I engage each week.  This number includes article submissions, direct mailings, direct contacts (in person or by phone), press releases, and programs given.  I've noticed that the higher the number, the better the rest of my marketing results for the week.

2.  Web site stats.  I'm primarily seeking the number of unique visitors to my web site each week. However, it's also important to know what keywords visitors used to land on your site as well as what sites referred the visitor to your site.  I don't keep a separate log of this info, but do have a weekly Google Analytics report emailed to me with this information.  Google Analytics is a free web tracking program that's easy to install on almost any site.

3.  Blog stats.  I want to know the number of people who read my blog this week.  Now, this is a difficult stat to measure, as blog readers use any number of RSS readers to view blog posts or subscribe to my blog via email.  So, I have also installed Google Analytics on my blog and look at those results to determine the number of unique visitors to my blog in any given week, which I interpret as number of blog readers.

4.  Ezine stats.  My weekly ezine serves as my primary connection to my list.  I track how many new subscribers I gain each week on that list, my open rate for each issue of my ezine, the number of clickthroughs for each issue, and my total number of ezine subscribers.

5.  Social networking connections.  I'm not in a contest to acquire the most connections possible for all of my social networking sites.  I believe it's the quality of the connection (i.e. relevance to your target market) rather than the quantity of connections that will be most useful for you.  What I'm primarily tracking here is that I'm making a slow and gradual increase in the number of my connections on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

6.  Product and service sales.  I note how many product sales I have made each week as well as how much revenue I have earned in the services and consulting side of my business. Because my primary product is my membership site, I probably have many more product sales (i.e. memberships) than many of you who sell information products as an income stream in your business.

7. New clients.  I get a number of requests from potential clients each week, but never tracked those in any meaningful way.  Now I know how many inquiries have come in, how many have become new clients, and which inquiries need follow up at a later date.  This system always keeps me in motion and in front of new client prospects.

Measuring the results of your marketing activities is crucial to your success, and anyone can do it. Start to evaluate your marketing activities to empower yourself to make those strategic decisions about how and where to focus your efforts going forward so that you can achieve the level of success you desire.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Bash the New Year's Resolution -- Adopt a New Year's Theme Instead!

The dawn of a New Year means the creation of New Year's Resolutions, right?  Resolutions smesolutions. I've been done with resolutions for a long while.  I managed to stick to them for about a week, and then all hope of ever keeping them was abandoned..LOL

My former life and business coach, Edie Pereira Hulbert, often talked about creating a theme for the New Year, rather than resolutions. She advocated that you'd be much more successful in focusing all your time and energy around your theme for the year, or your big picture for the year.

What do I mean by a theme? Well, you’ve heard of the Chinese calendar, right? 2010 is the year of the Tiger. 2009 was the year of the Cow.  This is similar to my approach with a theme. At a high level, it’s what I want the year to represent or stand for.

I've never particularly felt compelled to set a theme until this year.  Perhaps it's because we're at the beginning of a new decade.  Perhaps it's just time.  Perhaps I'm finally ready.  Or perhaps it's because I've truly made a commitment and have the ability to easily track the progress of my business this year.

So rather than finding the latest and greatest productivity tool or creating more to-do lists, I want to focus on this big picture, and trust that the to-do's will fall naturally into place.

You'll discover that your theme will be your well of inspiration from which you can continue to draw and renew your energy and momentum and can help you get back on track.  It will help your year stand for something powerful.  And, most importantly, it helps you be accountable to yourself, which I know is my greatest challenge..<g>

So, I sat back, relaxed, and asked myself the following question, “What do I want this year to really be about, exactly?" and "How will I know if I have achieved this?" You can easily do the same for yourself.  See what bubbles forth for you.  Jot down what shows up.  Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here -- the "true" answer is the one that will psych you up for the year.

Here are a couple of tips I've borrowed from Edie on how to set your yearly theme:
--Make the theme short and sweet -- one to three words MAX.
--Make it broad enough to cover all aspects of your life, not just your business.
--Make it consistent with your value.

And, so, without further ado, I present my New Year's Theme:

“2010: The Year Of Expansion”

I think 2010 will be a year of tremendous growth for me -- new products, services, income streams, personal insights...you name it.

What's your theme for this year?  Share it with me in the comments below. I can't wait to see what you've come up with!

Evaluating My Business

Yesterday I participated in a virtual retreat in Sandra Martini's  Create Your Best Year Ever Program, where I plan to take a long, hard look at what I'm doing in my business.  It's again time to blow up my business and re-create sections of it, and I'm looking forward to doing that with Sandy's help. I've been procrastinating on doing my annual business retreat this year, but Sandy offered an opportunity to do something similar at a truly reasonable price.  I decided that this program offered exactly the motivation I needed to do the brainstorming and create the plan I needed to create.  Talk about perfect timing!  What is the saying -- "When the student is ready, the teacher appears"?  I'm living proof that it's true! :)

Update:

Melissa Godley-Kingdon, Recruitment & Hiring Specialist of Start Tomorrow Job Placement Services, sent me the following note that you might also find helpful as you do your business planning: "MBA students are required to take an Entrepreneurial and New Company Creation class (title may differ from school to school-but the course details remain the same) and as such do a project of a business plan.  They will partner up with local companies and do THEIR business plan so that they have a real subject.  All you have to do is search your area for the local school and then contact their office to see how to get involved.  I have my consultation with my team of 5 to update and streamline mine on January 18th and some of these people have worked for Fortune 500 companies!"

Very cool opportunity if you have a university with a MBA program in your area.

How to Get 95% of Your Clients from Internet Marketing

I've had an online business since 1999, and I started it from my rural, East Texas hometown where the reigning industries are bass fishing, forestry and timber, banking, and education, none of which are markets in which I have any interest in working.  So, what's a new online biz owner to do when she lives on the backside of nowhere with nary a business networking opportunity in sight?  Take advantage of the power of Internet marketing, of course.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize right away the power I had at my fingertips, and I was a slow adopter of a number of proven strategies.  But, if I could go back in time knowing then what I know now, I wouldn't have hesitated a moment in implementing a complete Internet marketing plan.

If you're starting an online service business from scratch, or even if you've been in business a few years, here are the 21 steps I recommend that you follow to get 95% of your clients from Internet marketing:

1.  Describe your target market.  Understand fully what they do, where to find them, what their most pressing problems are, and how they will benefit from your solution.

2.  Know your keywords. Begin searching for the words (keywords) that potential clients will search for when looking online for the solution you offer.  Use these in articles, article titles, title/content of blog posts, your business, and your web site URL.

3. Outline your client attraction device. Create a description and outline of your ethical bribe (client attraction device) to give away to entice visitors to opt into your list.  To complete this task, you must incorporate the problems of your target market and your keyword research as you describe this device.

4.  Purchase a keyword-rich domain.  Get the .com version of the domain if at all possible.  People stop listening after you say "dot", so they think you've said .com even though you may have said .net or .biz instead.  That's why it's smart to find a keyword rich domain in the .com version.

5.  Set up your hosting account. Get a hosting account that permits you to host an unlimited number of web sites, offers unlimited bandwidth, and offers Wordpress as an option that you can activate when needed.

6.  Create your blogsite. Start a blogsite (blog/web site hybrid) focusing on your target market niche. Using a blogsite as your web site platform enables you to update your site regularly rather than having to hire someone to do it for you.

7. Purchase your email marketing system. Sign up for an email marketing and payment/shopping cart system so that you are prepared to capture your visitor's contact info and sell to them, as well.  Some solutions offer both of these as one service.

8. Write your autoresponders. Write a series of 10 autoresponder messages to send to prospects after they request your client attraction device using your email marketing system.  These autoresponders serve to keep you in front of your new prospect as well as to continue to educate that prospect about what you do.

9.  Create your opt-in.  Add an opt-in box to your blogsite where visitors can sign up for your client attraction device, get on your list, and thus become a prospective client. You can easily do this through your shopping cart/email marketing system.

10.  Create your client attraction device for your ethical bribe. It can be an ebook, audio, video, special report, etc. Make sure offer is valuable enough that people would be willing to pay for it.  Have a graphic image designed to represent your client attraction device on your web site (visitors like to "see" what they're getting) and put a value on the download.

11.  Begin blogging. Submit blog posts 2-3 times per week, 200-300 words per post.  Don't fret too much over these posts.  Write about a problem you helped a client solve (without mentioning specifics, of course), a new resource your discovered, an ah-ha moment you had in your business, or your response to some remarkable occurrence in your industry.

12.  Design your ezine template. Create your template for an email newsletter.  An ezine is most effective is it sent out weekly to your list.   If it seems overwhelming to begin a weekly broadcast, start out monthly with plans to increase frequency from there.

13.  Begin social networking. Join 2 social networking sites (the ones your target market uses) to help you build your list.  Install or begin to use one of the social networking management tools like TweetDeck, Seemsmic Desktop, or HootSuite to help you better manage your social networking efforts.

14.  Become active on discussion forums. Get in front of many members of your target market all at once by answering questions on 2-3 active discussion forums in your industry.  This is a great way to easily demonstrate your expertise.  Log in several times a week to see how you can help out the other members on the forum.

15.  Write the content for your first ezine. Insert the content into the template you created, and send out your email newsletter via your email marketing system.

16.   Begin article marketing. Begin writing articles that provide valuable content to your target market. Be sure that you use keywords and keyword phrases from your earlier research and incorporate two of these into your article headline and article content.  Submit your articles to articles banks and directories.  You can begin this process by taking the primary article from your ezine and submit that to the major article directories.

17.  Repurpose your content. Create a repurposing plan for your articles and implement the plan.  This might include creating a podcast, video, press release or teleclass from your written article content.

18.  Create an information product. Once you have created a number of articles or conducted several interviews, you have enough material to create your first information product for sale.

19.  Write your sales letter. Create a list of the features and accompanying benefits for your product.  Use that, along with an introduction that tells your story of why you created a product, to write the sales copy for the product.

20.  Create an affiliate program.  One of the best tools available to help you sell your product is through an affiliate program, or an unpaid sales force who loves your product but doesn't get paid until they sell your product/service to someone on their list. Your shopping cart program may include an affiliate management piece that will help you set up and run an affiliate program.

21.  Build your list with a telesummit. Hold a telesummit (a virtual conference on a telebridge line) for your target market/industry to help you drive traffic to your site, build your list, and create some revenue in the process.  By asking well-known industry experts to speak at your telesummit, you'll gain a higher profile in your industry.

How many of these steps are you implementing in your business? Remember, consistent action is the key to business success. Go down the list, complete each step, continue repeating some of the steps as appropriate, and watch your business soar!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

7 Reasons Why an Online Business is the PERFECT Business for Introverts

I recently realized that much of my 1970's childhood upbringing both enhanced my natural tendency toward introversion and prepared me to own a virtual online business.  I grew up out in the country, about 10 miles out of town.  My friends lived 10 miles from town in other directions (about 20 miles from me), and my parents, having raised my siblings and me with a Depression-era mentality, didn't believe it was necessary to chauffeur us from place-to-place like parents do today.  In fact, other than getting to school each day on the school bus, we were limited to one trip to town per week on Saturdays.  There were no after-school trips or activities unless we could find alternate transportation back home, which was difficult, at best.  Is it any wonder I could relate so well to "The Waltons" or to "Little House on the Prairie"?  LOL 

There was also no vast array of cable television channels, DVD movies, or video game entertainment options available to us. We got reception for only 2 television channels on a good day, so we had to become adept at entertaining ourselves (or we'd be put to work doing household chores if we complained that we were bored).  I had only my cousins or siblings to hang out with, and if we were mad at each other, then I was on my own.  Hanging out by myself became my norm, as did responsibility for structuring my time. This was the genesis of my ability to work by myself at home.

This lifestyle meant that I could only talk to my friends during the time we were in school together.  Fortunately, we did have a phone, even though it was on a party line, as private lines weren't available in the country at that point. We essentially shared the line with 3 other families, 2 of which were our relatives.  Despite the challenge of navigating a 4-party line system, I still managed to spend 2-3 hours each night (and more on weekends or during the summer) on the phone with my friends, since we'd do homework together and talk about what had happened during the day.  This gave birth to my ability to collaborate virtually across distances using the telephone.

And, because our shopping was limited to White's Auto (my aunt and uncle's store that also carried toys, appliances, and household goods) and Gibson's Department Store, we ordered many things from catalogs.  In fact, my Christmas list was almost always exclusively chosen out of the Sears and Roebuck Wish Book, or perhaps from something I saw in the S&H Greenstamps catalog.  I spent many a summer afternoon pasting Green Stamps into Green Stamps books (these stamps were given based on the dollar amount of your purchase at the grocery store).  This gave birth to my ability to locate and purchase goods and resources remotely.

Because of our isolation, we eagerly awaited mail delivery each day, as that brought interesting material to read.  I was allowed to subscribe to a number of magazines, which I read from cover-to-cover. Because making long-distance calls wasn't allowed, I often kept in touch with out-of-towns friends and relatives through frequent letter writing.  This was the birth of virtual information gathering and sharing for me.

So, given this upbringing, it's no wonder that the whole idea of creating a virtual online business wasn't a new concept to me.  I'd been doing this all of my life, except that advances in technology now make the process MUCH easier than when I was a kid.  Add to that my natural inclination toward introversion, and it was a match made in heaven.

Introverts often take a beating in traditional employment, as by-and-large they are an outnumbered minority. Since extroversion is the more common personality trait, those who don't live their lives under those ways of being often don't fit into what society deems as "the norm."  In many cases, entrepreneurship is the way that introverts choose to make a living, as they can set their own rules, and the structure of an online business offers some key advantages for introverts.

If you are naturally an introvert, here are 7 reasons why an online business may be ideal for you:

1.  Home-based.  You can run your business from the comfort of your own home.  You don't have to get dressed if you don't want, nor talk to anyone all day.  Best of all, you completely eliminate any and all involvement in office politics and office gossip.

2.  Clients come to you.  If you engage in proper traffic-generating strategies and spend some time on search engine optimization for your web site, you can get 100% of clients online without having to go look for them.  I haven't actively sought out clients in years.

3.  Virtual networking.  An online business requires no 1:1, face-to-face networking, as many clients find you through Internet searches.  However, with the advent of social networking, you can even engage in this virtually, as well, if you wish.

4.  Telephone marketing.  No longer do you need to travel to a meeting to speak to your target market. Instead, you can speak to groups via a teleconference bridge line or webinar service and convey the same information with much less hassle. 

5.  Virtual client conferences.  All client contacts can be handled on the phone rather than meeting them face-to-face for coffee.  This may be a big leap for your clients to make, depending on your business and your target market, for you may have to train them to understand that you can be as effective by phone as you can in person.

6.  Little selling required.  Introverts generally hate the selling process.  Rather than having to engage prospects in a sales conversation, you can set up your web site to disqualify prospects.  Thus, only those "perfect" clients enter your marketing funnel, many of whom are already primed to hire you by the time you speak with them.

7.  Connect through information sharing. Introverts are naturally reticent about tooting their own horn.  So, instead, you can demonstrate your expertise by sharing what you know in articles and blog posts that you've written. Knowledge marketing makes is very easy for introverts to connect with their target market.

If you're an introvert and you desire to be self-employed but wonder how you'll ever be able to generate enough sales to make a living, take heart.  You can create an online business and use your natural introvert tenedencies to make it a profitable business.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Business Planning: 4 Steps to Creating Your Online Business Model Blueprint

I'm in the process of completely rethinking my business model, and that will be my primary focus as I plan this year's business retreat for myself.  Your business model doesn't have to be at all complex, but should provide the guiding force for all that you do, like guiding you to the opportunities to accept (and those to decline), the joint ventures and strategic alliances to pursue, and the new ideas you should retain and develop, as well as those to let go of.

Here's are the 4 steps I'm following as I create the blueprint for my business model:

1.  Make clients pay well for your most valuable commodity -- your time.  I see many service business owners tying themselves up with (and tying themselves down to) far too many 1:1 clients.  You have only so many hours in the day, and at some point you'll hit the wall and not be able to expand the number of 1:1 clients you see.  Sure, you can hire and train additional staff to handle the overflow, but in many cases, you make less money in this model while tripling your headaches.  Make your 1:1 time with clients your highest-fee service, charging a premium fee to dispense your expertise.

2.  Ongoing recurring revenue is key.  Feast or famine seems to shape the life of the service business owner, regardless of industry.  Wouldn't your life be much more sane if you knew that you could count on recurring revenue each and every month, rather than having to  constantly go out and find new clients?  This was one of the models I adopted early on in my virtual assistant practice, i.e. working exclusively with clients on retainer rather than a "pay as you go" model.  What is it that you clients need from you that you could provide on an ongoing basis with them that isn't time-intensive for you?

3.  Always have an upgrade.  Never offer a stand-alone product or program that doesn't have a natural tie-in to the next level of program or service that you offer. If there's no way to leverage what you're offering into some type of upgrade, don't offer it! For example, a free teleclass can lead participants to enroll in a paid short-term group program.  From that program, plan to enroll a certain percentage of those participants into a recurring revenue continuity program. You can then upgrade a percentage of these participants into a live event or small ongoing mentoring program, and from there make an upgrade offer to your premium 1:1 time.

4.  Design the blueprint.  Brainstorm all of the types of programs, products, and services you might offer in your business.  Your list might look like the one below:
 

• Consulting

• 1:1 Service Provision

• Group Coaching/Mentoring/Continuity Programs

• Sale of Info Products

• Private Retreats

• Strategy Sessions

• Live Events

• Speaking

• Information Products or Books

• Licensing/Certification Training

• Teleseminars/Webinars

• Subscription Membership Website

Pick 3-5 of these items that will make up your business model, and then determine what percentage of income you want to derive from each.  Your total needs to equal 100%. Then, determine the order in which you offer the components of your program over the next 1-2 years.  This becomes your blueprint for action.

How do you determine your success? If your business still suffers from feast and famine, take a long, hard look at your business model for the solution. Every offer you make in your business should flow seamlessly into the next, which will result in a steady, predictable income that you can increase over time as you become more expert at designing and following your blueprint.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a  baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Poor vs wealthy business owners

I just read some thoughts on poor vs wealthy business owners by T. Harv Eker, CEO of Peak Potentials Training:

T. Harv Eker offers this sage wisdom on the way Poor Business Owners vs. wealthy people think around business.  Which one are you?

• Poor Business Owners: Have only one intention: how to make money today.
• Wealthy Business Owners: Have three intentions: to have daily income, passive revenue streams, and add huge value to their company.

• Poor Business Owners: Struggle because their business is dependent on them.
• Wealthy Business Owners: Set up a business that works without them; using teams, delegation and systems.

• Poor Business Owners: Play it safe
• Wealthy Business Owners: Take risks

• Poor Business Owners: Do everything themselves.
• Wealthy Business Owners: Create teams and delegate

How did you score?