SeeMeRememberMeBuyMe

Virtual Phone Services

2009-12-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

As a small business owner, what do you need in your phone system or service?

I recommend Ring Central's virtual phone services. Here's why:

Reliability: When someone wants to call you, you've got to get that call.
Toll-Free Number: Although land line and mobile phones have diminished the cost of long distance, a toll-free number still sends the message that you want to talk to your customers, and you'll do it on your own dime.
Local Number: Having both a local number and a toll-free number is the standard. Voicemail: If you can't pick up, having voicemail is expected. It lets the customer know you can handle their needs.
Fax: Sending and receiving faxes may at first seem unneeded with all the other forms of communication available. You need it. You need it so you can offer and sign contracts. You need it because some customer's needs will be met better if you have a fax.
Extensions: Even a small business of 10 to 20 employees needs extensions. People buy people, not stuff. Much of your business will happen because of the relationships you and your employees develop one-on-one with customers. If you've got more than one person, give your customers the ability to reach the person they need.

Marketing Strategy
Your phone system is part of your marketing strategy. Marketing is the entire image your company presents. Your phone system is part of that presentation. You do so much work to get customers to call you, a bad impression cannot be afforded. When a customer calls you with new business, there is one thing on their mind: Are you the right one to meet their need? If your phone doesn't give the impression of a professional, you will lose credibility. It could cost you a sale.

Customer Service
What is the most important phone call that you will ever receive? When a customer has a problem. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, even in this technology age. It works both ways, more so when it is negative. If a customer has a problem, you've got to get that call or that message. Customer service is also part of your marketing strategy.

Why Virtual?
Virtual phone services do not require any system hardware; they can be activated instantly with your existing phones. Best of all, RingCentral gives you all this for free during your trial. This way you can test it out before making the final decision for meeting your virtual phone service need.

Which is Better? Natural Traffic or Pay Per Click?

2009-11-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

And the answer is: Yes.

After seven years of off again on again Internet Marketing, I have finally become convince that I should learn Pay Per Click. Now, maybe you think “Duh, what took you so long?” Here's the thing: There are enough free ways to get traffic that I wanted to champion the natural (also called organic) search engine optimization. I felt that people already spent enough money on scams and training that good content and sound elbow grease would be the hallmark of my expertise.

Where did things change for me? Right where they do for most businesses: my bottom line. As more and more people are making money online, the competition has increased. To keep myself marketable as a mentor for Internet Marketing, I no longer wish to turn away customers who want PPC. So now I embark on a learning curve and become, again, the student.

I still champion free traftic. Just like Word-Of-Mouth Marketing, it's one of the axioms of Internet Marketing. If someone finds me because of a referral, and if I have exactly what they want, the profit from the sale still tastes sweeter.

I don't believe good content will ever go away. Even with mobile media on the horizon. Now, I have to admit I may be wrong. One of my mentors once said that blogging was a fad and would soon fade. I'll folllow his example and state my best guess, stake my profits on it to some extent.

I challenge you to do the same. Become committed to life-long learning of your field. It used to be said that computers and programming were the primary fields where life-long learning was required. Now it is every field. If you don't learn more as you go, you'll miss out to someone who has been.

What Do You Remember After Christmas?

2008-12-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning comes, the kids open tons of presents and what then? The excitement is over, the mess is big, and the credit card is maxed out.

What do I remember today of yesterday's holiday? The people. My kids. The realization that my 5-year-old is very nurturing. She was very concerned that her new baby only came with one diaper--not because she wanted more toys, because the baby needed to be cared for.

Like many families of today, we are an Internet family. Much of our time is spent in the same house each on our separate computers, sometimes talking on MSN even though we are in the same home. The key is still to connect with people, especially family.

My oldest son gets this deep down in his soul. His present to me was one of time with him--online. Two years ago he got me hooked on playing an MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game). The one he plays is Final Fantasy XI. Now I have my own character again (I had left playing the game to spend more time Internet Marketing).

The two years since I last played has taught me the importance of relationships. One of my favorite marketing slogans is: People Buy People, not Stuff.

How is marketing related to playing an MMORPG? Relationships. In Final Fantasy XI, your character is out in the wilderness fighting monsters. At a certain point, you must band together with other characters (operated by other players around the world) in order to kill the monsters. This requires meeting people and working well in small groups. The connections my son has made over the last few years he has played this game have impressed me. He has gotten some business, yes, but of course that isn't the reason he plays. Still, I see playing this MMORPG will help my Internet Marketing in at least two ways: 1) It will increase my experience building relationships, and 2) It will increase my awareness of the cyber world. We live in a time where a significant percentage of our customer's time is spent online, we need to understand that culture by living it.

One last thing: Playing computer games can drain your time very easily. In fact, the makers of Final Fantasy IX have placed this warning as one enters the game.

I told myself I would not play until I got my blogging done for today. I have several blogs I write in, some I have neglected to the detriment of one of my own goals: to post 4 times per week on each blog. Well, with this motivation I've posted on each one. Now off to fight monsters!

Commenting On Blogs

2008-12-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

One of the primary tasks of Internet Marketing is commenting on other people's blogs. Find blogs that match your niche and comment on them regularly. This should be a weekly thing. This is one of those things that is easy to do. The caveat is that it is also easy not to do. Just like posting new blog posts (which I struggle with), commenting on blogs is one of those things that you ought to do regularly, following the philosophy of The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life.

How to Comment on Blogs
When you find a blog post that matches your niche, read it. This may seem obvious, but a common faux pas in blogging is a commenter who obviously has not read the post. Read the post. At the bottom of the post there is usually a link that says how many comments there are or to leave a comment. The etiquette is that your comment must add value to the conversation. You do not want to simply put in a plug for your website. If you are commenting on a blog that allows you to enter your URL along with your name, then your name will become a link to the URL you enter. There is no need to plug your website. Simply write a sincere, valuable comment and let the link do its work.

2008-10-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

In a college class about the literature of the Renaissance, the professor pointed out that at the beginning of this period, the world was changing so rapidly that people could choose whether to live the new way or the old. This is where the term, Renaissance Man came from, to describe someone who was embracing the ideas of the Renaissance: the importance of learning, the ideas of progress, and the improvement of life through education and innovation.

Professor Lee said that we live in such a time today, at the beginning of "The Information Age." People could choose whether to use computers, the Internet, and other technology ... or not.

This ability of choice is going away. Whether because eventually those of us born before the 1980's or 90's will pass on, or because The Information Age will permeate everything to such a degree that such a choice is impossible.

Here is an example of how today's world is very different, but at the same time, the more things change, the more they stay the same:

This statement is attributed to Boyd K. Packer, a leader in my faith. I mention it here because I want to share his description of "The Great Depression" of the 1930's:

We live in troubled times. There is great financial crisis
and we've seen something that hasn't happened in the last 60 years:
the world's financial markets are collapsing. I was six years old
when the Great Depression began: the 10th of 11 children. My father
was a mechanic and times were difficult for all of us. Many families
were suddenly out of work all at once. There were large public
projects to try and provide employment.

We today may or may not be on the brink of another great depression. No matter what you call it, things are tough. Here is another statement. This one is of one of the Internet Marketing gurus I follow, Ken Evoy of SiteSell Services:

Bailouts only delay the pain for as long as we live in a world where people (and companies) depend upon governments to bail them out and we are all encouraged to live beyond our means. SBI! is a tremendous way to set yourself apart from this mess and build a life and future that you own.

Of course Ken is promoting his product, SBI. Go beyond an answer that would make me or you money, and think about what's different now versus 1929:

With the Internet, there is a global marketplace. I primarily mean it's big.
We can reach customers wherever they are.
In troubled times, people will be looking for ways to make extra money.
Things change more rapidly than they did in the 1930's.
Technology is introduced more quickly and adopted by the planet more quickly. Exponentially more quickly.

So what does this all mean for Internet Marketers? I say it means we have a fighting chance to put and keep our financial houses in order, and we have a huge responsibility to help others do the same.

Let me point, yet again, to the words of Napoleon Hill from Think and Grow Rich:

The business depression started in 1929, and continued on to an all time
record of destruction, until sometime after President Roosevelt entered office.
Then the depression began to fade into nothingness. Just as an electrician in a
theatre raises the lights so gradually that darkness is transmuted into light
before you realize it, so did the spell of fear in the minds of the people
gradually fade away and become faith.

***

The business depression marked the death of one age, and the birth of another.
This changed world requires practical dreamers who can, and will put their
dreams into action. The practical dreamers have always been, and always will
be the pattern-makers of civilization.

Do not give into the fear. Riches begin with thoughts, desires, plans, and action. Whether you are seeking riches via Internet Marketing or some other vocation, believe, dream, pray, and work. You will find your reward.

Network Marketing

2008-09-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

I used to think Multi-Level Marketing was bad. All of it. All the companies. My parents joined one and had a terrible experience, and several people pitched me over the years. Very pushy. I joined one a few years ago, and was told to be pushy.

I'm not pushy. I don't believe in pushy.

As you might read in my blog, I am an Instructional Designer by trade. I was given the assignment to develop a course of instruction that would teach people how to be successful in Multi-Level Marketing companies, so off I went to do research. I found an organization, Mentoring -for-Free, that convinced me that Multi-Level Marketing is by itself not bad or evil. There are scams and unscrupulous people, but if you have the right information you can choose a good company to join and you can find success. I joined Mentoring-for-Free, and promote it.

Mentoring-for-Free is not an MLM. It is a teaching organization that will train anyone from any company. There are even parts of the training that are relevant and open to people who want to succeed in other industries - not MLM at all. If you are interested, click the image to the right and download the eBook, Success in Ten Steps.

If you do, you will learn that only 15% of the general population likes pushy and thinks a pushy salesman is a good one.

My mentor, Michael Puskas, has as his "day job" a sales job. He has been in traditional sales full time for over 15 years. He has been very successful. He taught me yesterday that his success comes from not being pushy, but by finding the true need of potential clients and offering a sincere, valuable solution to their need. "They sell themselves," he says.

The same goes for Internet Marketing. You see a lot of hype on the Internet. Hype must work, because like spam, it would cease to exist if it didn't work. But I couldn't sleep at night if I used hype in promoting my network marketing (MLM) business or on my websites. Not only do I not like pushy, I think it is wrong. At least when it results in a customer buying something they don't really want, that isn't what is promised, or isn't what they really need.

It is possible, and in my opinion more lucrative in the long run, to present what you have to offer and let people sell themselves. If your product or service is of value, it will happen value is always rewarded. Your marketing purpose is to get potential customers to see you. You need them to see you often enough to remember you. This way, in the moment when they realize they need what you offer they will then buy you. This is the source my pen-name for this blog. I say buy "you" because people buy people, not stuff. If they are going to buy stuff they will go to Wal-Mart or Amazon.

You can get people to see you, remember you, and buy you without being pushy. Here are some sound tips to sponsoring.

Thinking Outside the Box

2008-09-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Some of the most profitable marketing comes from thinking outside the box. For a long time, I have not considered any Cost-Per-Click (CPC) advertising other than Google Adwords. However, in the Fall 2008 issue of Search Marketing Standard, they suggest that there can be advantages of using CPC services of the other popular search engines.

Speaking of MSN, Yahoo!, and Ask, they say,

"A substantial number of people out there are fiercely loyal to one of the engines and never use Google, so avoiding these traffic sources means you are missing some potential clients."

The artist in me says to only rely on traffic from natural searches via the search engines. This is because I know that valuable, original content is what the search engines reward with high rankings.

The pragmatist in me says I should also use CPC to increase targeted traffic. By targeted traffic, I am thinking that someone if more likely to click on a sponsored ad if they are shopping.

Cleaning House

2008-08-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

One of the barriers to effective productivity is mess. At least for me. I'm known as one of those people with piles of paper around their desk. I used to find this effective because I would spend an extra day, maybe come into the office on a Saturday once a month, and go through the piles.

Those days are long gone. My desk at the office is clean compared to my old habits. There is one small pile of papers, and it's gone by the end of each week.

There is also a spiral notebook. If I need to take hand-written notes, it goes in the notebook. Usually, though, my notes go into our company's software for keeping track of our interactions with clients.

But working at home has taught me that I truly need to make a place for everything and keep everything in it's place. I need a filing system for hard copies of papers and files.

I use software to keep track of my contacts. I use Highrise from 37 Signals. This tool is for keeping track of people, entering notes of each communication, and even has tasks so you can tell it to remind you when to follow up with the person next.

I also use Basecamp from 37 Signals. This is a project management tool that is suited for a small business like mine or a large business with many projects. You can track time, show clients your progress, and upload files related to many projects.

For scheduling my home business meetings and events, I use Backpack. Backpack is a calendar that allows you to share your schedule, your ideas, and files.

With these three tools, my piles of paper and the need to go through them are a thing of the past. There are other tools out there, but these are inexpensive, and scalable. As your business grows, you can upgrade to the next level of each tool.

If you are serious about working from home, you need a place to work. This place needs to be just as formal or informal as needed to get you to actually work. With Basecamp, for example, I keep myself focused by tracking my time. Tracking my time also helps me know if I am charging the correct prices for my services.

Whether you use these tools or not, get organized, so that unlike me, you don't waste time looking for things when you need them. From today on out, I'm staying organized, using these tools and The Slight Edge.

2008-08-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

You read a lot of hype about what it takes to make money online. Here is a gem of a description of "What Google Wants" from Super Affiliate Mindset

"The bottom line is that Google is looking for advertisers that are building a long term business & a real site off of one or a handful of domains. Google does NOT want advertisers that are launching one thin site after another, just to make a quick buck."

I think Amit hit the point squarely. Long term. Business. Not quick buck efforts. Original Content.

Period.

Expert or Not?

2008-07-31T07:37:00.001-07:00

With the high volume of scams on the Internet I am not surprised when I am at times challenged whether or not I can call myself an expert. Yes, I earn a living by teaching people how to use the Internet to earn money. That in and of itself does not make me an expert. Having a combination of formal education, private training, and experience over time does. Still, this does not mean that I know more than anyone else, or that I need to show my earnings to qualify as an expert.

While it is true that one should get marriage counseling from someone who has been married, or car advice from someone who has experience successfully fixing cars, it is also true that when one has a Mastermind, the issue of expertise becomes moot.

A Mastermind is a group of people who readily share their experience and skills for the benefit of each member of the group. Henry Ford, the innovator and founder of Ford Motor Company, once sued a local newspaper because it labeled him as 'ignorant.' He saw his credibility coming under fire. During the trial, the attorney for the newspaper kept asking Mr. Ford questions he could not answer. Finally, Henry said something like, "What does it matter that I don't know the answer? I have a group of men available at my disposal such that any question that comes up, all I need to do is push a button and I am connected with the expert in that field. With the combined knowledge I have access to, I myself do not need to know every piece of data you have asked me here today."

Henry Ford won his case. In many subjects, Internet Marketing included, it is not possible for one person to know every single aspect of the subject. Nor should one be expected to, even one such as myself who earns a living passing on what I have learned.

Each of my students knows that I present myself as both a student and a mentor. I have clients who know more than I do. These clients are wise enough to understand intuitively the power of the Mastermind and include me in their Mastermind group.

If you are considering purchasing training, do your due diligence, and see what background your potential mentor has, yes. However, also consider what resources come with that mentor or resource. Get referrals in addition to testimonials. See if you can actually talk to clients of whomever is giving you a sales pitch. Stay away from promises of earning large sums of money in a short period of time. Stay away from promises of virtually no work.

For myself, my Mastermind Group includes people from different disciplines. I know enough to teach what I know and I have access to people to answer questions I have. More expertise will cost you more money. Most people I've met who are really making the good money aren't really interested in mentoring others, they are too busy playing! So a mentor who is also a student is just fine. I will teach you what I know and we will learn together.

Here are some resources I recommend. I use these regularly to learn and to teach:

The Wealthy Affiliate University This website is a membership website that will teach Internet Marketing. It is the best resource I have found with the lowest price.

Site Build It SBI offers a website builder and education. A builder is a combination of software and hosting. This product takes you step-by-step via text and video instruction.

Omni Business Solutions is the company I work for, my "Day Job" if you will. I am a Trainer as well as an Instructional Designer. Omni has teamed up with "Internet Money Map" to provide a builder and coaching. When you go to Internet Money Map, the trial is a temporary access to the Omni Site Builder--be sure to cancel if you don't want it for longer than the temporary period. The Full Package is to purchase the builder right from the start (monthly fee), and the Premium Package gets you the builder plus telephone training with a trainer like myself. Who knows, it could even be me.

Both Site Build It and Omni Business Solutions offer website builders. This is hosting plus software that allows you to build a website without knowing HTML or other programming. The Omni product is easier to use and costs more. The Site Build It product costs less and requires that you pay a year at a time rather than monthly like the Omni Site Builder. So they both have advantages.

2008-07-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is an email from one of my mentors. We read the book, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, and these are his thoughts about the last chapter.

"Fear is the most insidious of all emotions. I like
the way Dr. Hill put it: "Indecision is the seedling
of fear." Indecision gives birth to doubt and doubt
manifests itself as fear. When fear sets in, it will
paralyze you. I know that it did me.

I used to be captive to all the fears (at least more
so than I am today) that Dr. Hill mentioned. I feared
poverty, criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age
and the biggest fear of all: Death.

When I was young, money was always tight in the family.
I always heard Dad or Mom say that we didn't have
enough. My Dad worked two jobs just to make ends meet.

As I grew and entered adulthood the fear of lack grew
with me. I thought that just making ends meet was
normal or maybe just the curse of our family. To make
matters worse, I bought into the religious philosophy
of poverty being a virtue.

I came to believe that riches were "of the devil" and
I should not seek riches or wealth but be "content"
with what I had.

Every time I attempted to do something to gain wealth
the religious beliefs, that I held, stopped me. I
always wanted to make a go of network marketing because
I knew that was a great vehicle to gain wealth and
financial freedom.

My aunt and uncle were in network marketing and they
seemed to always have money, nice homes and cars.

However, I never could follow though with my desires
because of the lingering fear that wealth was some
thing bad. Thus I remained broke and unfulfilled.

By God's mercy, about 3 years ago a chain of events
took place that changed my life forever! I believe
it was God working "all things together for good."
Sandy and I became quite tight financially.

I was making good money, but no matter how much I
made, it seemed to disappear. Actually, for a college
drop out, I was doing VERY well, but my pockets had
holes.

Now I understand what the "hole" was; it was the Fear
of Lack. The fear of lack kept me in lack. I began
seeking the Lord for the way. Eventually I was intro
duced to Mike Murdock and that lead to many other
teachers and writers on the subject of wealth and
abundance.

I began a quest to study wealth from both the Biblical
and secular perspective. My studies began to open my
eyes, big time.

God is rich and abundant.Lack isnt in His comprehension.

Everything He touches produces MORE.He touched 5 loaves
and 2 fish and ended up feeding over 5,000 people! He
came that we would have life and have is MORE ABUNDANTLY

He touched a withered hand and it became whole. The
dead were raised and the blind saw. Why, because
He know no lack. So why was I buying into being
broke as the "way it should be" philosophy?

What can a "broke" person do to augment their own
life or the life of another?

I am come to realize, for me, that it is okay to
gain wealth.Even the Bible says that God gives us
power to gain wealth. For the first time in my
entire 53 years I am free from this fear...the fear
of poverty.

I have an abundant Source within me who WANTS me
to be wealthy and share my wealth with others.
Abundance is from God and is limitless and He want
be to enjoy all the riches He has for me.

With this freedom came the freedom from criticism.
Man, was I living in that! I was always concerned
about what "they" thought of me.I always wanted to
make a "good impression." I never wanted to be
considered a "failure" or "money lover" or anything
like that. But NO MORE!

Today I am learning to not be concerned about what
others think of me. What's important is what God
thinks of me and what I think of me. I know God
thinks I am awesome, so why should I feel any
different than He does?

If people want to judge, have at it; it only hurts
them and not me. Yes, this fear creeps in every now
and then, but now I have the knowledge of what it is
and bid it farewell.

Ill health was somewhat a fear of mine. I would
worry that I had some fatal disease whenever I had
an ache or pain that I never had before.

However, since my study of the mind-body connection
and the knowledge of the power of thoughts I exercise
to keep my mind off all thoughts of ill health and on
thoughts of good health.

I don't complain or mention my aches and pains.I just
thank God for the health I do have and move on.
Eventually, when I stop pay attention to those aches
and pains, and exaggerate them by doing so, I find I
am able to go on with little difficulty.

Because of time, I won't discuss my experience of
the other Big Fears. I do experience them, but I
have endeavored to deal with them in the same fashion,
take my focus off of that thing I fear and focus on
the things I want.

Instead of worrying about the loss of a loved one,
I cherish them. Instead of fearing old age, I live
life to the fullest and laugh a lot! As for death,
no fear there because I believe in the One who over
came death that I could live forever.

The mental cleanse has been a great experience. It
is teaching me to do what MFF is all about: Learn
HOW to think; not WHAT to think. It is blessing to
all of us that you have provided this system for
us and for that I am grateful to you and Linda,
who has sacrificed so much that others could
begin to experience freedom from these 6 big fears."

Michael Puskas

Get Rich Quick

2008-07-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

No matter how you slice it, any program you see on the Internet that says you can earn large amounts of money quickly with little work, little time, and little education needs to be carefully scrutinized before you spend any money on it. I have been in business since I was 12 years old when my dad and I started Gary and Larry's Yard Care. I have never seen nor do I ever expect to see a legitimate program that is guaranteed to make you a lot of money in a short period of time.

While 85% of the people hate to be hard-sold, more than 85% of people seem to get hard-sold quite often on these programs with grand, quick promises. But when you read the guarantee, it is actually quite different.

In my personal business, I have taken point from one of my mentors, Jeremy Cobb. Jeremy is the CEO of the company I work for, and I have my own business on the side. Jeremy's company and mine both have the same guarantee: "We will work with you until you say you don't need us anymore"

If I do some work for someone as my own company and they are not satisfied, I will continue to work on it until they are--within reason. I don't want to get in any situation where I am taken advantage of. But if someone is sincerely dissatisfied, I'll do what I can to make it right. Since I give a service, I cannot give the product back, so I do a little more.

Omni, (Jeremy's company), has the same guarantee: We work with our clients by being available via email for as long as they need us.

When you are looking at programs that promise to teach you how to make money online, look for these kinds of guarantees. They are more realistic, and chances are they come from reputable companies like ours.

Gary

How Did It Go?

2008-07-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, if you read the last post you know I made some Slight Edge goals for Tuesday. I did them all except for having dinner as a family.

Most of time a person doesn't begin a project or gives up on a project, it's because they are trying to wrap their brains and motivation around a project that is too large. Just take things one day at a time, and make sure you do one thing for that project each day. Even if that one thing is small.

Implementing the Slight Edge

2008-07-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Slight Edge philosophy probably has many names. My father-in-law calls it the Law of the Harvest and says it is a principle as old as time. I agree.

I use the term, The Slight Edge, because of the name of the book where I learned it: The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life.

To quickly define it, it is the philosophy that wealth (or health, relationships, art, nations, families) will grow based on small, non-dramatic actions and events over a long period of time rather than short and dramatic events or actions. One of my mentors has said that wealth comes most often by long-term discipline, not by the lottery or inheritance.

I speak now as a student of creating financial freedom, because I am on that road--not wealthy myself. As you might read in my profile, I am a student and mentor. In terms of achieving financial stability and eventually wealth I am a student. However, I have found some mentors I have chosen, and I share them here.

Now that I have an understanding of The Slight Edge, here are my plans. If you are learning along with me, you will see how this goes, what I learn. Join me on this journey.

One of the fundamental principles that I have followed for many years is to focus on one particular thing and let everything else take a second or later priority in my life. For example, my yard is in shambles. I actually have said to myself many many times over the years that once I reached a certain financial goal, I would keep up my yard. I reasoned that I would have more time then, and it wouldn't be long before I reached that goal anyway. Well, it's been years and I haven't reached that goal at all. In fact, I would say that only now do I understand how to reach it and am committed to what is needed.

We all have several roles in our lives. I am Father, husband, a child of God, an employee, a member of a Boy Scout committee. I have responsibility to eat right, to take care of my yard, to build sound and nurturing relationships with my children.

The Slight Edge teaches that I should be doing things relative to each of my roles on a non-hurried, non-dramatic, but consistent basis.

As I look at my yard, I now see taking care of it as part of a holistic set of activities that will bring me the things I want in life. For example, as I learn how to take care of a large tree, I'll learn how to take care of other things, such as a business. As I discipline myself to do the small, regular things that are needed in my yard, my discipline in getting things done in my business will also increase.

I have made a fundamental change in my thinking and planning. I will no more hurry to put out the fires I perceive. Most of them are not really emergencies anyway. To quote one of my mentors, Michael Puskas,

"Keep your mind focused on what you DESIRE and off of the APPEARANCES of lack in your environment. For that is all they are, appearances."

I have been blessed to have an employer for my day job who was willing to allow me to work 4-ten hour days and have one weekday off. I spend part of this day volunteering in Boy Scouts of America, and part of the day working on my own business.

So this week my plans are different. Instead of ignoring the lawn, and the tree; instead of not exercising, and instead of a few other things, I plan to mow the lawn, maybe I'll set an amount of time to work in the yard. Unlike other attempts, I won't try to clean the whole yard in one day so I can leave it for a year. Like most important things in life, a yard requires cultivation, a little work here, a little there, maybe a bit more on Saturday. But I will do a small thing or two. I won't exercise all day long and try to convince myself it will do me for a month. Instead I will go for a walk. I will do one (slightly larger in terms of time) thing for my business, and one thing for Scouting. Tuesdays are my days to cook dinner for the family, and this time we will sit down and eat together.

This is how I figure I can implement The Slight Edge into my life. I challenge you to do the same.

Change Is Good

2008-06-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

One if the most common challenges in Marketing and Business is managing change. I recently had a change that when I learned of it, I was concerned. But a friend and coworker of mine (we all need more than one mentor, I'll blog about that sometime) helped me realize I was being negative which was contrary to a goal I had set for myself that she didn't know of. I am very grateful to her for that heart-to-heart talk.

Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich! says that with every event we first see as negative, there is a positive waiting to be found. My friend reminded me about this, so I read that part again. I've been working for about a year as an Instructional Designer for Omni Business Solutions designing what we teach people. Omni is a training company that teaches Internet Marketing. The change in my role here is that now I am one of the trainers again, meaning I work directly with our clients in teaching them how to make successful websites. It turns out that I am having the time of my life. I learned so much over the last year (as one always does when you teach or create educational materials) that I am becoming a better trainer, and a better designer of educational materials as well. I love the immediate feedback and the gratitude expressed when you are able to make a difference in someone's business.

Top Of Mind

2008-06-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Top of Mind is a phrase you hear a lot when you study marketing. Whether you are in Network Marketing, Internet Marketing, or Marketing your brick and mortar business. Top of Mind means that a potential customer has seen, heard, or read about you enough that in the moment they decide they need or want what you offer, they think of you.

Car commercials seem to be the preeminent subject of marketing and advertising. One of the most common television commercials, their purpose is to have you thinking of a certain brand and model when you are ready to buy your next new car. Ever notice the balloons and streamers as you pass a car lot? Car lots that don't use them don't sell as many cars.

You need to create marketing strategies that put you and what you offer in the minds of potential customers often enough so that you are near the top of their mind. Not only do you want them to think of you when they need your product or service, but you need to be aware that 85% of your potential customers do not like a sales pitch. By being "Top of Mind" you don't need a sales pitch. I could lose some readers (the 15% who like sales pitches and believe in doing them), but they won't listen to me anyway.

Eighty-five percent of everybody does not like to be sold. Forget closing techniques. You need "Top of Mind" techniques, sound integrity, and the ability to build relationships. People Buy People, Not Stuff. This is more and more true the smaller you are. Like most people, I go to Wal-Mart when I want the cheapest price. I don't have a relationship with any Wal-Mart person. But if I need a lawyer, I'm going to choose someone I know or a referral of someone I trust. If I find a product online, I base my buying decision on the credibility of the website. Every single time I hire someone who is a one-man sole proprietor at whatever he's going to do for me, it's someone I have a relationship with or to whom I've been referred.

Take the time to slow down if needed. Get rich quickly is not going to happen. Marketing will bring results just like the farm brings crops: slowly with careful beginnings, cultivation, before the harvest.

Greed and Ego

2008-05-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a lot of strife happening in the world of Network Marketing lately. Monavie and Imagenetix started fighting in the courts, only to come to terms fairly quickly, Herbal Life is getting attacked, and Mary Kay is coming under scrutiny. These kinds of issues seem the daily grind for the Network Marketing industry as a whole.

What is there to do?
I have seen two general reasons for trouble in business, regardless of industry: Greed and Ego. Years ago I worked directly for the Vice President of one of the largest companies in my town. I was privy to some information that showed a pattern of decisions made based on what would make the company more money, regardless of commitments made, laws broken, or even employee harassment.

In another capacity, I worked with someone for a time who’s ego was so large she would often decide based on what boosted her ego and gave her control over options that would have (in honest ways) made the company more money.

These are only two examples from my own life. When my mentor, Michael Dlouhy, told me that he has seen the same thing in over 30 years of experience, I started watching for these two things. Now, when I see greed and ego involved in the decisions of an individual or company, I work to change the relationship. I will conclude commitments, and make changes when it is financially safe for me to do so. At times I have had to make such change when it was financially unsafe. I will not trade my integrity for my paycheck and neither should you.

On the other hand, don’t get caught up in the drama. Do what you must; do what you can. Determine your values and stand by them. Over the long term, you will fare better than if you tried the shortcuts you see others take, even if they seem to profit well from them.

I don't know the details of the drama surrounding the three companies I mentioned above. I try to stay away from that kind of negativity. The details don't matter. Your course of action and your principles do.

Business Websites for Local Profit

2008-05-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

"How Can the World Wide WebHelp My Local Business Which Has Local Clients??"

Do you have a small business (1-10 employees), that is largely offline? Are your clientele mostly local?

For example...

A real estate agent or lawyer in Tempe, Arizona... or Anguilla, British West Indies -- own your geographic niche
A landscaper in Juno, Alaska -- get the jump on competitors
A gas station in Hudson, New York -- build a devoted clientele
A Mexican restaurant in Vista, California -- run "Net specials of the week"
A bagpiper in Ottawa, Canada -- get hired for "gigs" for 100 miles around
A grocery store in Bristol, England -- differentiate yourself and take business from competitors
A local manufacturing company -- attract and support customers.

You might think that the Net, more specifically your own Web site, offers few opportunities for businesses with a customer base clustered in a small geographic area. After all, the Web is "world wide"... a "global medium." And you would have been fairly correct, up until recently.

If you are a slmall business owner, read more about how a website can increase local profit.

Let's Grow Rich Together

2008-04-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleaon Hill is a must-read for anyone serious at being successful in marketing: online or off. I will be sharing my thoughts as I read through this book. Click here to get your copy:

Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised

So to start things off, here are "My Notes from Chapter 1 of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

"The man who Thought His Way into Partnership with Thomas Edison"

“When a man fully DESIRES a thing so deeply that heis willing to stake his entire futue on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.”
Edison found this to be true. That means it is true for me, too. That means when I set a goal, I must ask myself, what am I willing to do to make this happen? I must work until it does happen. And I need to believe it will happen and always cast out doubt.
“Barnes was DETERMINED TO REMAIN READY
UNTIL HE GOT THAT WHICH HE WAS SEEKING.”

– To me this means that by doing the same thing, setting a goal with the determination to work at it until it happens is a worthy goal. It may not happen in a length of time conveinient for me, but it will happen partly because I will remain ready (not just work at it, but remain ready) until I get that which I am seeking.

His answer/goal came different form and direction than expected – I need to learn to recognize opportunity.

Initiative, faith, will to win.
Seek expert counsel.

Hill tells a story of a colored girl. I won't repeat it here because I want you to read the book. This story might seem to teach to use pressure to get what you want. In fact, the first network marketing company I joined used this very story to teach me that I needed to be pushy. Instead it teaches to use belief to get what you want. Barnes didn’t get his goal by initimidation, he got it by the look in his eye. He got the look in his eye by his persistent, definite, determination.

Hill says that riches come quickly when they come? Wow. This might seem to support the get-rich-quickly schemes we tend to fall prey to. Again, I don't think that is the point. I think that Hill is saying that we need to be prepared.

In the story about Henry Ford and the 8-cylinder engine, Ford was not concerned about when his goal was reached, he simply refused to give up. This refulsal is one of the keys. In my experience mentoring people who want to build websites for earning money, so many people give up that I sometimes question the method that I teach. Combine this with a question asked to me by one of my other mentors: "Would you get marriage counseling from someone who had never been married but had just studied marriage from books and online?"

This question, combined with Hill's description of the need to never give up have worked together to create in me a passion to 1) Find out for myself if the method I have been teaching really works, and 2)Never give up.

If you would like to join my mentors and I in a weekly conference call where we discuss a chapter per week without any companies or promotions mentioned, visit Thirty-Day Mental Cleanse. This is free training for anyone who wants to clear their mind and move toward their goals following Napoleon Hill's book.

With this combination, I am convinced that it IS possible to make money online using what some people call the C->P->T->M method. Click the link to learn what that is.

But to be honest, I, myself have not done it yet. I am working this system on more than one front. Read my Current Projects to the right of this post to find out the details.

Success Comes From Within

2008-04-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

I never truely had success in my life until I was no longer afraid of it. I've had many mentors along the way who told me I was afraid of success and kept getting in my own way.

Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite books:
"What You Think of Me Is None of My Business"

"When you are conscious of your spiritual self and understand how it works, you are no longer controlled by yesterday's experiences and no longer fear that others won't love you."
This was huge for me. In marketing, we cannot fear that the customer might say 'no'. (the business version of 'others won't love you.').

When I first heard of this book's title, I thought it was silly. "Of course it matters what others think of me," I said. "Isn't that the basis of whether someone will buy my stuff? "

At that time I knew that people buy people, not stuff. But what I didn't know was that I needed to be sure of myself before others would believe in me.

If you want to know about what helped me really learn this deep in my heart, click the Mentoring for Free link to the right. It's free information with no catch. Sounds like my first sales pitch doesn't it?. Honest it isn't. It's my third.

-Gary

Marketing Offline

2008-04-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

With all the hype about Internet Marketing, marketing in the 'real world' gets the short end of the stick in my opinion. If you have something to sell, don't limit yourself to online marketing efforts.

But the thing that drives a lot of us to only market online is that we don't want to be that pushy salesman that most of us hate. Only 15% of the general population appreciates a suave salesman who can sell ice cubes at the North Pole. The rest of us, the rest of your potential customers, don't like a hard sell.

So what should we do?
First, remember that people buy people, not stuff. Whatever you have to sell, whether it's online or off, people buy people not stuff. If you have a website that sells stuff, the number one principle that gets visitors to convert to customers is the credibility of your site. Why do we shop at Amazon.com? Because we trust them to have reasonable prices, the book we want, and to deliver/ship without problems.

Second, learn and follow ten proven steps to marketing. You can read about Success in Ten Steps by following this link and downloading my free eBook.

Third, know that value is always rewarded. For example, I'm giving the eBook mentioned above for free. I do ask for your contact information, but no money. The book will save you years of frustration, and it is the gateway to accessing even more totally free training.

Note: the book, Success in Ten Steps is written to an audience of people who want to be successful at Network Marketing. However, the 10 principles are valid for any business.

Follow these ten steps so that your potential customers will See You, Remember You, and Buy You, without you being the pushy salesman 85% of us don't appreciate.

Why This Blog

2008-04-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I love writing, I love Education (teaching, learning), and I love computers. So becoming a blogger was inevitable. I have been an Instructional Designer for 12 years, designing educational materials that would be delivered to students via the Internet.

I have 9, yes NINE, blogs that I want to do. This is the second I have actually started. It's ok if you react with surprise. I'm used to that. I have six kids, and people say, “Six? Really?” Are blogs like kids? Do the older ones help the younger ones?

Currently my instructional design is for a training company that teaches Internet Marketing. After working for these people for two years, learning from their experts and organizing what they have researched into instructional lessons and courses according to sound educational strategies, I decided to put it into practice.

I have learned from these experts that there are four fundamental principles of Internet Marketing specific to a website:
· Content (Information on your site, its value, quality, and credibility).
· Tenure (Length of time your site has been on the Internet).
· Linking (Number and quality of links from other websites to yours).
· Frequency (How often you add content to your site.)

Social Networking is now the fifth principle. Like the “Fifth Race” from Stargate. I need to learn it, and learn by doing.