Take Your First Step

Have you ever dreamed about what you would do if you won the lottery?

It's nice to dream but in reality we have a higher chance of being struck by lightning!

So how about this? Have a think about what you would do differently with your life if there were absolutely no limitations of any kind, what you would do if you could not possibly fail and if you didn't have to answer to anyone else?

Write down your answers, because within your thoughts are seeds of ideas that you will certainly offer an awareness of a new sense of direction. When you know where you want to go, you can then create and take the first steps towards that ideal destination.

An Autobiography in five short chapters

CHAPTER 1
I walk down the street and there is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost,
I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.

CHAPTER 2
I walk down the same street; there is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.

CHAPTER 3
I walk down the same street; there is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in, it's a habit, but my eyes are open. I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

CHAPTER 4
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

CHAPTER 5
I walk down another street

Author unknown

What is your Keep in Touch Strategy?

How are you going to stay in regular contact with your prospects?

Picture this:

You have just spent the past week preparing for a speaking engagement at a large trade event, you made a good impression. Following the event you have a pocket full of business cards - contact details of people who are already interested in your product or service or in other words, warm leads.

What do you do next? Be honest – what do you do?

I know for sure that many of the women I work with make great efforts to keep in touch, sadly what is often lacking is strategy. Often their attempts are random, unpredictable and unplanned. They haven’t clearly defined or thought through a series of steps or a process which will deliver a specific message to their contacts. The trick is to create a natural blend of messages that gradually move your prospects closer to becoming paying clients.

Nurturing the relationships you already have I believe, is crucial to growing and sustaining your business. If you don’t these warm leads will quickly become cold again.

What does caring for a new puppy have to do with marketing?

Two weeks ago we brought home our adorable new addition to the family, an 8 week old Tibeten Terrier puppy, Bodington, or Bodders for short. He really is adorable and my daughters simply can’t wait to come home from school to play with him in the garden.

So why am I telling you this? Surely this can’t be pertinent to running your own business?

Well, it is and let me tell you why.

When Bodders left his mother and 7 siblings to start his life living with us there was a lot of adjusting he had to accustom himself to. The first night he slept soundly until 6am. Well wouldn’t you if you had to contend with your first car journey, a ferry ride across The Solent and a completely new environment, with strange people, oh and a cat. Pretty tiring all in all.

The second night, he initially settled well but then woke at 1am, making a noise which has since developed into a full blown bark. We’d been advised to leave him, to see if he would settle but after 20 minutes I must admit, I gave in, threw back the bed covers and went down stairs to reassure him.

This happened several times each night for the following four nights, each time I went downstairs and settled him and then he was fine.

I had to keep reminding him I was there, just like you need to consistently remind your prospects that you are there too. After all customers and clients can’t walk through your door if they don’t know you are there.

Keeping in touch with your prospects is such an important strategy that enables you to develop strong relationships with your prospective clients so they gradually get to know you, like you, trust and remember you before until they become ready to buy.

So what is your strategy? How do you keep in touch? how do you follow up and strengthen the relationships between yourself and your prospects?

How To Increase Your Fees And Still Get MORE Clients?

There’s so much talk about tightening purse strings but don’t be tempted to cut your prices. Many business owners believe that if they cut their prices they will gain more customers – not so.

It doesn’t necessarily follow that your sales volumes will increase. Putting up your fees is actually doing your clients a favour.

This is just one of the topics that marketing expert and author Hannah McNamara will be covering on her FREE Teleseminar event ‘ How to increase your fees and still get more clients’ on Thursday 9th July 2009.


You can claim your free place on this very special tele-seminar here:

Hannah McNamara will be covering so much material including:


* Why you could easily earn an extra £26,000 ($42,000) per year from your
coaching sessions alone - it won't happen overnight, but if you apply what
Hannah tells you, the results are guaranteed

* Which niche markets you should focus on and which you should avoid like the
plague if you want to be successful

* 3 ways that you are sabotaging your clients' successes - many coaches are
stopping their clients achieving their goals without even realising it

Hannah will also be previewing material from her new tell-all marketing training programme on this call.

Until now she has only revealed this information to a select number of people on her one-to-one coaching programme.

Fancy a sneak preview?

Claim your free place on this tele-seminar here:

Top tips on how Twitter can help women in business

Last evening I had the pleasure in interviewing Sam Russell on Building Your Business Using Facebook and Twitter. As it happens Sam and I have both been inspired and guided by Mark Shaw, Mark has built a reputation on helping clients effectively Twitter.

Mark recently published a great article and I am pleased to be able to share it with you here.

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Women face many particular challenges in the business environment, from juggling work and family commitments, to establishing authority in a world that is often still male-dominated.

Online social networking technology can be a great way to overcome many of these challenges, and probably the most important network at the moment is Twitter.

Twitter allows you to stay in touch with your customers while you're on the run, connect with industry leaders, gather accurate market information in real time, and much more besides. I'm convinced it's one of the most powerful new tools available to help people in business, from struggling small business owners to busy executives.

Why do I need Twitter?

There's been a lot of coverage of Twitter in the media recently, so it's natural to be a little skeptical. This is one case where you should believe the hype, however. Twitter is a simple but great idea that has been picked up by millions of people, and in the process has become a highly versatile, very cost effective business tool.

You probably already know that Twitter allows you to build a network of contacts, then communicate with them via messages of 140 characters or less. Typically, people use Twitter messages (tweets) to describe what they are doing, or to link to interesting online content.

The really exciting thing about Twitter, though, is that it allows you to do your marketing, networking, and business research much better, and on a lower budget, that you ever could before.

Once you're set up (which takes a minute and costs nothing), you can target your particular business niche very accurately, while getting global reach. In your marketing, for instance, you might choose to focus on reaching customers in your home town, or alternately you might reach out to users all over the world who have expressed an interest in your product.

You can speak directly to your customers to get feedback on new product ideas. You can track trends in your market as they happen.

And if you're running your own businesses, on those days when you're feeling a little isolated Twitter allows you to connect with collaborators, experts, and investors around the world, without leaving the office.

Making the most of Twitter for your business

In any new community, it pays to know a few ground rules so you get the maximum benefit (and don't make a fool of yourself!). Here are a few tips that will give you a head start on the rest of the pack:

1. Your profile page is very important. Use a high quality photo of yourself, and give enough information to give a sense of who you are, what your business is, and what you're hoping to achieve on Twitter.

2. Try tweeting about ten times per day, and make sure you share useful information and links as well as posting the 'I'm walking down the street' style of tweet.

3. You'll find the Twitter website is very limited, so try downloading a third party application Tweetdeck helps you manage your contacts and messaging, and Tweepsearch will help you find users who share similar interests to your own.

4. Try to convey your true personality and don't always be talking about your business. Users will be turned off quickly if you try too hard to sell to them, but by being honest and transparent you'll connect with people who can help you.

Like anything new, you'll need to spend a bit of time listening in, while you get the hang of it. Soon you'll see how the Twitter community can help you in every aspect of your business. Have fun! So why not get started today twitter.com/

About Mark Mark has been twittering for over a year and has made it his business to help others effectively use Twitter to help their business. He has amassed a wealth of knowledge and techniques on how to make Twitter work and how to get the most out of it. He currently advises clients on how to establish themselves on Twitter, how to grow their following, how to become recognised as an expert in their field, and how to generate leads from the medium.For more information go to www.markshaw.biz/

Using Twitter and Facebook to Build your Business 'How to create Social Networking Success’

Every networking group or business related function I attend at the moment the topic of conversation sooner or later turns to that of Twitter or Facebook.

The extraordinary growth in Social Media has led to a huge amount of public attention so it is probably inevitable that it is constantly at the fore of many peoples minds.

Facebook and Twitter have also become prominent marketing tools for business. Marketing strategies have certainly changed in the last five years since I started out in business and any wise business owner knows it is important to keep up with the latest trends if they wnat to stay ahead. I’m not saying every business owner should have a Facebook or Twitter account to generate business but both applications do open you up to wider social network that will help you make powerful connections, forge strong relationships and an opportunity to share information.

To find out why you need to be participating in social networking NOW and to hear Success stories from small and big businesses that have used Social media as a platform to market from click here

How Are You treating your Clients?

If you want happy satisfied customers, treat them well!

I spent the best part of yesterday inviting complete strangers in to my home to quote for some pressing plumbing work, I had two experiences that were poles apart.

One of the guys briskly pushed passed me, climbed the stairs to the bathroom where he took no more than a second glance at the job in question and abruptly told me that he would have to knock down part of a wall to do the job, that it would be very difficult for him as there was little space, he tutted, he sighed and his general negativity towards the job made me feel very uncomfortable.

In stark contrast I was met with a smile and an extended hand as I opened the door to the other tradesman. He asked my permission to go and look at the job, he was courteous and allowed me to lead the way. He enquired about the job in hand and gave me the impression he was genuinely keen to help.

First impressions count! Whatever your business.

It’s simple really - Happy customers will buy from you and tell more people about you.