Tips from Tonia Boterf

[tonia boterf]

Sorry for the disappearance but I've put a big blitz on in my business and it has taken all of my time. Some thoughts on my current experiences that might be of assistance to you.

1. We all have our fears - fear of success and fear of failure seem to be the most common ones new business owner run into. You'll find yourself procrastinating, perhaps not going out in public as much as you need, writing and writing and creating but not really doing tasks that will get you immediate clients.

The need is to acknowledge your fear and then to move around it. You'll find yourselt successful and at times not. It takes time to put the fear to rest and one of the best ways, is by getting more clients. If you are in business, I dare you to focus on acticitivies who's only purpose is to get immediate paying clients. Two weeks, all tasks gears for immediate clients. Do it and report back here on what happens.

In one afternoon, I make appointments in 5 businesses where I could get clients within 2 weeks. I also have a list of others to follow-up on. Be creative, spend your time well, be prepared and watch what happens.

2. Are you expecting all of your business to come from the internet. Don't! Todays economy and the amount of internet competition makes totally expecting your business to come from the internet to be unrealistic. Look around your area and look for opportunties, be creative and see what partnerships or joint ventures you can do besides advertising for clients. If you say there is nothing around you, then you're wrong - I live in an area of low income and few people and I've found opportunities. No excuses.

3. Are you not getting as much done as you'd like, are you over whelmed, do you feel like your treding water and not getting ahead? Get a coach. Every successful person I know has, had or is just in between having a coach of sometype. I personally make more progress when I work with someone. For me, 1-1 is best or once in a while, a specific class. For others, a mastermind group can be a great support but you have to know which ones are best.

Whether you utilize me or someone else (I can help point you towards reliable sources too specific to your needs) for mentoring, you will move faster towards your goals. Also, a Virtual Assistant can really help move things along faster - utilize your time more effectively. Phil Crandlemire, is a VA and a web designer (for me it's been great dealing with only one person for everything, he is my 3rd VA and I'm sticking), Phil's prices can't be beat and he'll care as much for your business as you do. He is very honest too (I don't get any kick back from saying this stuff either). Reach Phil at 207-872-2985,

The folks I'm coaching on self-employment right now are making outstanding progress. From starting with the idea of their business to when I expect they'll make their first dollar is 4 months for one, another is 2 mn, another was 2 mns and is going great guns, another who followed a suggestion of mine, immediately got 7 clients and is doing well.

Based on what my clients have said, I will have a biz start-up coaching site up very soon, my clients designed a great coaching package - Jasper which is $150 a month with a 3 mn commitment that offers unlimited coaching hours each month and short e-mails. I also sent pertinent info at times too. This offers flexibility to go as the speed you want and gett the support when you need it, no waiting for days or week.

4. In my own website world: regular newsletters going out, major article distribution going well and kinks worked out, getting a lot of local buzz and business interested, doing Podcasts weekly, upped my social media presense, joint ventures, doing audios, designed squeeze page which we are gauging effectiveness, improved website, starting to install affiliate products, looking at having my books as affiliates, adding new resources, getting ready to do public TV, writing PR releases and follow-up with old clients.

I want every life coach to suceed and if you would like to discuss how I might be able to help you, just call me at 617-895-0249.

By the way, there will be lots more articles coming regularly now too.

Warmest,
Tonia Boterf
The Practical Expert
617-895-0249

[tonia boterf]

“The 11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship”

The entrepreneurial mindset is a distinct way of thinking, like an genetic mindset, that produces
extraordinary results. That’s why I say that an entrepreneur is a different type of “species”, if
you will. The mindset I am talking about is instinctual and in my opinion has more impact on
professional success than education, connections, good looks, or money.
Instinct is, by definition, “An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a specific
species.”
However you define it, most agree that there’s something “different” about the classic
entrepreneur. My intention is to help people everywhere understand these unique
characteristics, and develop them. They’re valuable for anyone; business owner, employee or
manager. In fact, Jack Welch commented recently in Business Week, “In the end, pedigree is
less important than the entrepreneurial nerve…that’s needed to succeed.”

11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship

Here’s a quick look at the 11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship:
1.

The Solution Instinct: This is about ideas and always seeing them. It’s about seeing new
opportunities while traveling, shopping, or working. Seeing problems and potential solutions to
those problems is at the heart of valuable ideas and business models.
2. The Detective Instinct: This is about fact-finding and due-diligence. It’s about letting go of
the emotion and excitement of a good idea and taking a venture-capitalist approach. This
instinct is something that keeps one constantly assessing how a business model will work, scale,
and succeed… without personal bias.
3. The Great Communicator Instinct: This is about connecting and constantly selling. It’s a
constant awareness that every point of communication matters. Whether communicating
with partners, investors, vendors, employees, or competitors; every communication is an
opportunity to strengthen your company.
4. The Youthful Genius Instinct: This is about doing what you love. When we were young, we
dreamed big dreams and showed glimmers of what we might become. Tapping into the
expectation of our youth is central to successful entrepreneurship.
5. The Entrepreneurial Heritage Instinct: This is about how our heritage can reveal some or our
natural gifts. What has your family and ancestors been successful at already? Exploring your
roots can help one tap into opportunity. There is a reason why many families pass along
entrepreneurial success and create “dynasties” of their own.
6. The Risk-Taker Instinct: This is about going out on a ledge. No risk, no reward. It’s a
fundamental factor of business building or almost any major endeavor. Finding the calculated
balance of risk and opportunity is key.
7. The Work-Horse Instinct: This is about paying the price. Doing whatever it takes. Those
“overnight successes” usually require at least 5 years of hard work and incredible sacrifice to
get there.

11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship

8.

The Thick-Skinned Instinct: This is about being tough. Resilience, optimism and a positive
mindset reside in every great entrepreneur. The fundamental key to success in attaining
goals? Never give up.
9. The Flexibility Instinct: This is about being willing to change. Emotion and pride must be
removed from the process while building a business and paying attention to the best route to
take. The right path naturally eventuates; if you’re willing to recognize it and take it.
10. The Human Instinct: This is about people. Attracting the best people is more important than
the business model itself. Treating people well, leading well, and serving with care is a
fundamental reason why anything worthwhile should be built in the first place.
11. The Knowledge-Quest Instinct: This is about constantly learning. Reading, thinking, listening,
observing, absorbing, and applying is a hallmark trait of a great entrepreneur.
These are unique instincts and in my experience, everyone possesses at least a touch of each
of them. And it’s my observation that every natural instinct can be discovered, uncovered,
and developed by anyone interested in doing so.
Look within and uncover your entrepreneurial instincts. You’ll find that your personal ambitions

and goals will rapidly progress, improve, and materialize.

[tonia boterf]

As you start your business, one of the first and most important factors to gain, is a business mindset.

Often people are excited and eager to get things rolling, get a business set up, start getting clients, marketing, exploring and learning things but if they are doing these activities without being in a business mindset, you can quickly burn many bridges, destroy any credibility you have, make mistakes that will cost you money, time, stress, business and errode your self-confidence.

What is a business mindset?

It means approaching everything you do for and in your business from a point of view of an objective business owner/operator. You also make your decisions based on this mindset. It can take some time to gain this new point of view, just as it takes work to gain a self-employment attitude and point of view too. Both point of views are things you need to develope for success.

If you need help, briefly, to develope these attitudes, a session or two of coaching can be of great assistance.

Here is something a friend of mine wrote to me today:

commitment = success.

Our goals need to be SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable/Achievable
Realistic
Time

How rich people think, remembering that this isn't necessarily rich in dollars:
Create your life (poor people let others do that for them)
Say "I expect to be rich." (poor people just don't expect it)
Take action (poor people are paralyzed)
Take responsibility (poor people blame)
Focus on opportunities (poor people can't see them hidden in all the "problems")

And me? I just one day told myself that part of being free to move about is being unhindered by weight. As in, don't put off things. Get it off your to-do list, get it done - no matter how much you want to avoid it - and get released! When you are free to think, your mind come come up with some really creative things - even in your sleep.

On another note, my new how to start a coaching business website will be up in a couple of days and I will be offering a 4 week class (1 1/2 hrs, once per week) of 8 seats only. Topic: client forms, role playing of difficult clients situations, the art of listening/non-verbal communication and how to take all of that and create suggestions or language to help your client. The agenda will be finalized once members decide on any additional content they would like. Satisfaction guarenteed!

Cost is just $99, so call and reserve your seat ahead of time. Starts April 7th, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm ET. Calls will be recorded and you will receive the audio - free. 617-895-0249

Tonia Boterf

[tonia boterf]

Had to share this article, is best I've seen written on the subject.
Don't forget to sign up for my 4 week class on improving your coaching skills for $99, I'll also be offering Business Start-up Foundation Building 4 week class too. www.coachingbusinessstartup.com is quickly coming together, give me a few more days and you can sign-up and see what we're doing. tonia

Create a Client-Enrolling Sales Letter Using This 12-Step Formula

in Get More Clients


Many coaches struggle when it comes to enrolling clients, even though they have great programs and can truly transform their coaching clients’ lives. The reason? Lack of enrollment letters, traditionally called “sales letters”. Try using a sales letter and, all things equal, you’ll increase your enrollment rate significantly!
The problem is, writing sales letters isn’t easy. Some people spend years mastering their copywriting skills. I’ve personally invested at least an hour a week on this skill for the last 5 years, and still haven’t mastered it enough to call myself an expert. (Well, perhaps that’s not where my true passion lies).
The good news is that you don’t need to be an expert. You just need to be able to communicate the value of your program to potential clients.
My good friend and colleague David Frey created a brilliant “12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template,” which will make it easy for you to create your own letter, regardless of your copywriting experience or passion for writing.
“12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template”
You don’t have to be an award-winning copywriter to create effective sales letters. In fact, writing great sales letters is more of a science than an art. Even the pros use proven “templates” to create sales letters that get results. The following is a 12-step template for writing foolproof sales letters.
Overcoming the Hurdles Leading to Buying Resistance
Every person has some form of buying resistance. The objective of your sales letter should be to overcome your reader’s buying resistance while persuading them to take action. I liken writing a sales letter to running a steeplechase foot race. The first one to the finish line who has jumped over all the hurdles is the winner, or in this case, gets the sale.
Whether you’re giving a sales presentation in person or on paper, the process of overcoming the hurdles leading to buying resistance are much the same. These hurdles are manifested in many spoken and unspoken customer comments such as:
1. “You don’t understand my problem”
2. “How do I know you’re qualified?”
3. “I don’t believe you”
4. “I don’t need it right now”
5. “It won’t work for me”
6. “What happens if I don’t like it?”
7. “I can’t afford it”

Results-oriented sales letters will need to address some or all of these objections to be effective. The 12-step sales letter template is designed to overcome each of these objections in a careful, methodical series of copywriting tactics. The 12 steps are:

1. Get attention
2. Identify the problem
3. Provide the solution
4. Present your credentials
5. Show the benefits
6. Give social proof
7. Make your offer
8. Inject scarcity
9. Give a guarantee
10. Call to action
11. Give a warning
12. Close with a reminder

Each of these 12 steps add to reader’s emotions while calming their fears.
Motivation Is An Emotional Thing
It’s important to remember that people are motivated to buy based on their emotions and justify their purchase based on logic only after the sale. This means that each step in the sales letter process must build on the reader’s emotions to a point where they are motivated to take action.
That being true – - there are only two things that truly motivate people and they are the promise of gain or the fear of loss. Of the two, the fear of loss is the stronger motivator.
Think about it.
Would you rather buy a $50 course on “How to Improve Your Marriage” or “How to Stop Your Divorce or Lover’s Rejection?” I have empirical data that proves that the second title outsells the first 5 to 1. Why? Because it addresses the fear of loss.
Underlying the promise of gain and the fear of loss are seven “universal motivations” to which everyone responds. Whatever product or service you are selling you need to position it so that its benefits provide one or more of these universal motivations.
1. To be wealthy
2. To be good looking
3. To be healthy
4. To be popular
5. To have security
6. To achieve inner peace
7. To have free time
8. To have fun
Ultimate motivations are what people “really” want. The product or service is just a vehicle to providing these benefits so make sure your sales letter focuses on these motivational factors.

[tonia boterf]

The 12-Step Sales Letter System

1. Get Attention
Assuming the reader has opened your envelope, the next step is to get their attention. The opening headline is the first thing that your reader will look at. If it doesn’t catch their attention you can kiss your letter goodbye. People have a very short attention span and usually sort their mail over the wastebasket. If the headline doesn’t call out to them and pique their interest, they will just stop and throw your letter away.
The following are three headline generating templates that are proven to get attention.
“HOW TO _____________________”
People love to know how to do things. When combined with a powerful benefit the “How to” headline always gets people’s attention. In fact, they’re probably the two most powerful words you can use in a headline.
“SECRETS OF _________________ REVEALED!”
People always want to know “insider secrets.” We love to know things that other people aren’t privy to. Knowledge is power and those who have it feel powerful. Besides that, most of us enjoy a good mystery, especially in the end when the “secret” is revealed.
WARNING: DON’T EVEN THINK OF ___________ UNTIL YOU ___________.
Remember that people are motivated by fear of loss more than the promise of gain? Well, the “warning” headline screams fear. The word “warning” demands attention and combined with something of interest to the reader, is a very powerful headline.
2. Identify the Problem
Now that you have your reader’s attention you need to gain their interest by spelling out their problem and how it feels to have that problem. The reader should say to himself, “Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel” when they read your copy. In fact, you shouldn’t stop there. Pretend that it’s an open wound that you’re rubbing salt into.
This technique is called, “problem – agitate.” You present the problem then agitate it so that they really feel the pain and agony of their situation. People are such strong creatures of habit that we rarely change our ways unless we feel great amounts of pain. For example, if you were selling garage door openers you might agitate the problem by telling a short story about what happens when it doesn’t work.
“There’s nothing worse than getting home in the evening and not having your garage door open. It’s dark outside and after tripping on the porch step you search for your front door key.
Finally, you find it only to scratch your new front door up trying to find the keyhole. Exhausted, you get inside and plop down on the couch just when you remember your car is still running in your driveway….”
In this scenario the problem was a faulty garage door opener and the agitation is all the terrible things that happen because of the faulty garage door opener.
3. Provide the Solution
Now that you’ve built your readers interest by making them feel the pain it’s time to provide the solution. This is the part of the sales letter where you boldly stake your claim that you can solve the reader’s problem.
In this section you will introduce yourself, your product and/or your service. Relieve the reader’s mind by telling them that they there’s no need to struggle through all their problems because your product or service will solve it for them.
4. Present your Credentials
In most cases, after you have introduced yourself and your product or service your reader is thinking, “Yeah, sure he can fix my problem. That’s what they all say.” So now it’s important to hit them right away with the reason why you can be trusted.
List your credentials including any one of the following:
1. Successful case studies.
2. Prestigious companies (or people) you have done business with.
3. The length of time you’ve been in your field of expertise
4. Conferences where you have spoken
5. Important awards or recognitions
Your reader should get the impression after reading this section that “you’ve been there and done that” with great success and that the reader can expect the same results.
5. Show the Benefits
Now it’s time to tell the reader how they will personally benefit from your product or service. Don’t make the common mistake of telling all about the features of your product without talking about the benefits. As I already stated, people are interested, not so much in you, or even your product or service, but what it will do for them.
Get a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the paper. Now write all the features of your product or service on the left. Think about the obvious benefits and not-so-obvious benefits of the each feature and write them down on the right side of the paper. Most of the time your product will have hidden benefits that people won’t naturally think of.
For example, a hot tub not only soothes and relaxes your muscles but it also gives you an opportunity to talk to your spouse without interruptions. The hidden benefit is greater communication with your spouse and ultimately a better marriage!
Bullet point each benefit to make it easier to read. Think about every possible benefit your reader may derive from your product or service. 6. Give Social Proof
After you’ve presented all your benefits the reader will again begin to doubt you, even though they secretly want all your claimed benefits to be true. To build your credibility and believability present your reader with testimonials from satisfied customers.
Testimonials are powerful selling tools that prove your claims to be true. To make your testimonial even more powerful include pictures of your customers with their names and addresses (at least the city and state).

7. Make Your Offer
Your offer is the most important part of your sales letter. A great offer can overcome mediocre copy but great copy cannot overcome a mediocre offer. Your offer should be irresistible. You want your reader to say to themselves, “I’d be stupid not to take advantage of this deal.”
Your offer can come in many different formats. The best offers are usually an attractive combination of price, terms, and free gifts. For example, if you were selling a car your offer might be a discounted retail price, low interest rate, and a free year of gas.
Hint: When developing your offer you should always try to raise the value of your offer by adding on products or services rather than lowering your price. Include vivid explanations of the benefits of the additional products or services you are offering in order to raise the perceived value of your offer.
8. Give a Guarantee
To make your offer even more irresistible you need to take all the risk out of the purchase. Remember, that people have a built-in fear that they are going to get ripped off. How many times have you purchased a product and got stuck with it because the merchant wouldn’t give your money back?
Give the absolute strongest guarantee you are able to give. If you aren’t confident enough in your product or service to give a strong guarantee you should think twice about offering it to the public.
In reality, almost all small businesses already have a very strong guarantee, but don’t realize it! If you had an irate customer that wanted their money back would you just say, “No, I’m sorry. I will not give your money back?” Probably not. If they insist on getting their money back, in most cases you’ll give it back to them.
You see, most businesses already have a strong guarantee and don’t hold it up and trumpet it for fear that a lot of people would take them up on it. That’s simply doesn’t happen. When was the last time you asked for a full refund on something? If you’re like me, it’s been a while.
Here is an example of a guarantee that I give for one of my products:
“100%, No Questions Asked, Take-It-To-The-Bank Guarantee”
I personally guarantee if you make a diligent effort to use just a few of the techniques in this course, you’ll produce at least $4,490 profit in the next 12 months. That’s right, $4,490 extra profit you never would have seen without this course. If you don’t, I’ll refund the entire cost of the course to you.
Actually, you get double protection. Here’s how. At any time during the 12 months, if you sincerely feel I fell short in any way on delivering everything I promised, I’ll be happy to give you a complete refund. Even if it’s on the last day of the twelfth month!
This guarantee extends for an entire year and that they will receive specific benefits (in this case it’s money). It they don’t get what they expect, they get their money back with no questions asked. This virtually eliminates all the risk for the buyer.
Hint: Your offer may be so good that people won’t believe it. You’ve heard the old axiom, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” To avoid this thinking, give the reason why you can give such as great offer. 9. Inject Scarcity



Most people take their time responding to offers, even when they are irresistible. There are many reasons why people procrastinate on investing in a solution. The following are just a few:

• They don’t feel enough pain to make a change
• They are too busy and just forget
• They don’t feel that the perceived value outweighs your asking price
• They are just plain lazy

To motivate people to take action they usually need an extra incentive. Remember when I said that people are more motivated to act by the fear of loss rather than gain? That’s exactly what you are doing when you inject scarcity into your letter.

When people think there is a scarce supply of something they need they usually rush to get some of it. You can create a feeling of scarcity by telling your reader that either the quantity is in limited supply or that your offer is valid for only a limited time period.
Your offer could sound something like this:
“Our supply is limited to only 50 (product or service) and will be sent to you on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. After they are gone there won’t be any more available.”
Or
“This offer is only good until (future date) after which the (product or service) will return to its original price.”
One word of caution: If you make an offer you need to live up to it. If you go back on your word after the deadline date you will begin to erode the trust and confidence your customers have come to expect from you.
10. Call to action
Do not assume that your reader knows what to do to receive the benefits from your offer. You must spell out how to make the order in a very clear and concise language. Whether its picking up the phone and making the call, filling out an order form, faxing the order form to your office etc… you must tell them exactly how to order from you.
Your call to action must be “action-oriented.” You can do this using words like ‘Pick Up the Phone and Call Now!” or “Tear Off the Order Form and Send It In Today!” or “Come to Our Store by Friday and …” Be explicit and succinct in your instructions.
Plant your call to action throughout your letter. If you are asking the reader to call your free information line then perhaps some of the testimonials might say, “When I called their free information line” or in your offer you might say, “When you call our free information line…” Then when you give the call to action at the end of the letter, people won’t be surprised or confused. It will be consistent with what you said all throughout your letter.
11. Give a Warning



A good sales letter will continue to build emotion, right up to the very end. In fact, your letter should continue to build emotion even after your call to action. Using the “risk of loss” strategy, tell the reader what would happen if they didn’t take advantage of your offer. Perhaps they would continue to:

• Struggle day to day to make ends meet
• Work too hard just to get a few customers
• Lose the opportunity to receive all your valuable bonuses
• Keep getting what they’ve always got
• Watch other companies get all the business
• Etc.

Try to paint a graphic picture in the mind of the reader about the consequences of not taking action now. Remind them just how terrible their current state is and that it just doesn’t have to be that way.
12. Close with a Reminder
Always include a postscript (P.S.). Believe it or not, your P.S. is the third most read element of your sales letter. I’ve seen good copywriters use not just one postscript, but many (P.P.S). In your postscript you want to remind them of your irresistible offer. If you’ve used scarcity in your sales letter, include your call to action then remind them of the limited time (or quantity) offer. It sounds like a simple step but postscripts get noticed.
The following are a few extra tips to help you write an even better sales letter:
Tip #1: Write the Features/Benefits – The biggest hurdle to writing a great sales letter is just getting started. Many people have a fear of writing. One way to get your letter started and develop a helpful guide for your letter is to write a feature/benefit list.
Take a set of 3 x 5 cards and write all the features you know about on one side of the cards. Then turn the cards over and write a benefit for each feature. You’ll have started your letter and produced a list of benefits you can use to write it.
Tip #2: Once you have completed the letter, let it sit for a day or so. This will allow you to be more objective you when you edit your letter. If you’ve just spent the last few hours working on it you will find it hard to catch the mistakes or edits in the letter because you’re just too close to it.
Tip #3: Develop a “swipe file” to help get your creative juices flowing. When you see a great ad or receive a particularly effective letter in the mail, keep it in a file that you can refer back to again and again. Companies pay thousands of dollars to develop their marketing materials; you might as well take advantage of that by using it as a model for your own work.
Tip #4: Before you start writing your sales letter, develop a customer profile sheet by documenting every thing you know about your target customer. Some great copywriters put a picture of a typical customer in front of them as they write to help them remember to whom they are writing the letter.
Tip #5: I often get the question, “How long should my sales letter be?” and my answer is, “As long as it needs to be.” Each part of your sales letter should be building your case. If it takes ½ page to build your case then that’s how long your letter should be; however, I use a 24-page sales letter to successfully sell one of my products.

David Frey

[tonia boterf]

If you write articles and submit them as a way for free advertising, then here are some great things to know to improve your traffic conversation.

Also, don't forget that I have 2 different 4 week tel-seminar classes coming up in April for just $99. One on coaching difficult situations and the other on starting a business. tonia www.thepracticalexpert.com


9 Qualities/Features of a Great Article Writing and Marketing System:

1. How long have they been in business? - Have they been in business for more than a year? Bonus points for those that have been driving traffic for 5 or more years. Systems that are less than 6 months old are too new and unable to get you traffic.
   
2. Who's actually running or moderating the site? - Can you figure out within 10 seconds of surfing the site who actually owns or is in charge of it? Article marketing system owners that hide themselves from the public probably don't want to be found. And most likely they won't worry about traffic finding you either.
   
3. Is the article marketing service human powered or fully automated? - A fully automated system is usually a sign that the owner doesn't intend to police the quality of the content. There's no pride in having your articles in a system that doesn't care about quality.
   
4. What's their response time? - If you email them, do they respond within 24-48 hours? Did your email to them bounce back as undeliverable? If you can't contact them, that might be a sign that they're not in the game to help you.
   
5. How many authors are listed? - The more authors they have the better. Article directories with less than 1,000 authors are still trying to get their foot in the door and probably can't give you much traffic.
   
6. Do they provide RSS feeds, email alerts, forward to a friend functions, social media integration and other strategies to increase the distribution of your articles? - Do they have thousands of members of their own double opt-in mailing lists to promote your articles? If they do, that's great. That just means that they are trying to help you get more exposure.
   
7. Are they responsible with the advertising on their site? - For example, do they have pop-ups, or exit pops? Are they shamelessly promoting random products or have the 'punch the monkey' ads? If they do, be careful. You want an article marketing service where your success is priority #1; not the advertisers.
   
8. Do they provide article reports to help you see which articles are getting traction? - If your success is important to them, then they'll give you tools so you can grow your skills and improve your success.
   
9. Does it generate traffic back to your site or not? - The whole reason you're writing and submitting articles in the first place is to get traffic back to your site. If you don't get traffic from them, you're wasting your efforts.

You make your articles available for syndication because you want to ...

• Improve your targeted web traffic ...
• Enhance your credibility ...
• Drive leads to your products ...
• Grow your email list ...
• And more!

Unfortunately, you don't have unlimited time in your day to submit your articles to every newbie article marketing system that begs for your attention. Prioritize the best article sites that meet or exceed the above 9 criteria to help determine which ones should get your valuable attention.

Remember: It's better to submit 100 articles to 1 top quality article marketing system, or niche site, than it is to submit 1 article to 100 directories.

[tonia boterf]

THINK ACT SUCCEED

“Not everything that is faced can be changed.
But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin

THINK: How does this apply to me?

ACT: What will I do to put this thought to work in my life and career?


My free 90 minute DVD on career and life success will really give you something to think about. You can get it at http://www.CommonSenseSuccessSystem.com/freedvdoffer.

[tonia boterf]

Social Media - Here are four simple ways to find the right balance for your business:

(1) Start With 10 Minutes of Monitoring a Day -- Don't try to do too much. Time-box 10 minutes every day to check the community sites that are important to your business. That isn't enough time to make a huge impact, but it is enough time to listen and see what's going on in your industry.

(2) Monitor Your Brand -- When you finish your 10 minutes of listening, respond to the people who have specifically reached out to you. For most businesses, this should be quick. If the volume builds, you'll have a community, so consider ways of empowering it to help answer questions.

(3) Pick Worthwhile Interactions -- Make sure you pick the right people to interact with. Reach out to the specific people who are likely to help your business. That means the people connected to the communities you want to reach, the people with the most reach themselves, and the people who are most likely to become customers. Use tools like Twitter Grader and Alerts Grader to do this.

(4) Pick the Right Social Media Channels -- Which channels are working best? Where are you getting the most volume? Where are you getting the best conversion rates? At HubSpot, we get the most out of Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. You need to know which channels are driving conversions for your business.

[tonia boterf]

I've known about booklets and I follow Paulette Ensign - the Queen of Booklet but until recently, I didn't fully understood their power.

I was asked by Paulette to be one of 14 experts to create a booklet on 'The Second Half of Life'. I felt humbled by her asking me and being in the same booklet with some very successful and published people.

Our booklet is done and for a limited time, it is free on my website for aging parent issues. Will be taken down because more of the group have decided to go beyond the booklet's production and us individually and to work together to go after larger commercial markets. Guess who is spear heading this team....what did I get myself into, learning like crazy on licensing agreements and all kinds of stuff.

I wanted to mention this to you because of a couple of reasons.
1. Look beyond the 1-1 customer markets, also check out to see if there is interest for what you do or provide in the commerical markets.

2. Creating the tipbooklet was very easy, my part done in an afternoon and fun. I also see how easy it is to use.

3. If you don't have your own material to gift out - find tip booklets in your niche done by others, that you can. Is a very quick way to have a good and proved attention getting freebie.

4. Create your own tip booklet. I got so carried away that I immediately wrote my own booklet which is currently being edited and then will be out. Think about doing your own booklet. Having it in PDF and reasonable cost of hardcopy (compared to a book) and it fits into a business sized envelope. Makes the whole thing easy for marketing purposes.

If you don't want to do your own or can't afford it, talk with Paulette about being part of a group to put one together.

I get no kick back for mentioning Paulette.

tonia boterf
the practical expert
www.coachbusinessstartup.com ..............told you I'd be creating a new site just for business. www.thepracticalexpert.com is a portal site which is also leads to the business site, my aging parent site, and several other sites coming. I'm very excited about the products I plan for the business site.

One of the clients I'm business coaching expressed that I way over deliver in material and information, that I explain things well and in terms that saves people time, that I keep them accountable and that they really felt I covered so much more than any kit on starting a business out there or what is even being taught in Mastermind groups.

I am blessed with the clients I have and their gratitude but I started the business coaching side because of I prior experience but most importantly, I hated the current system found on the web. I felt it took advantage of people financially and actually slowed them down in gaining paying customers. So much information is not told, so many gaps not bridged and so much lack of individualization. So, I'm doing something about it and my goal for every client is that they get paying customers within 3 months. This does vary due to how much work a client does, but it is totally possible. I get my thrills from watching my clients succeed.

later,
tonia

[tonia boterf]

Times are tough and many people don't have the money to spend on life coaches and some are failing but others are actually growing leaps and bounds.

Which will you be? Dead in the water or riding the wave

One of the marketing avenues most overlooked, besides your own backyard, is marketing to corporations, associations and organizations. Creating material that they can use in their newsletters, as a training tool, having you as a speaker, a product that increases productivity or decreases sick time usage or even makes happier employees is something to seriously consider.

What about creating a product that you can sell or license to a corporation, association or organization for them to give out to their customers, distributors or affiliates and others?

Talk to large companies or associations and even groups like the Knights of Columbus or the local merchant's association about creating a product for them to use, based on what they tell you their needs are.

I encourage you to think bigger than just getting one client at a time - think in terms of one mega client that happens to come with thousands of attached people. You make money on your client and you'll get exposure and possible additional clients from the client attached people.

tonia boterf
The Practical Expert
www.thepracticalexpert.com
Copyright 2010