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How to Keep Your Business Passion Fuelled

February 19, 2012 | Posted by Stacey Byrd | No Comments

There comes a time in the life of many business owners where your dream business can begin to feel like a drag. You may contemplate selling the business or put forth a lackluster effort. It’s unfortunate and it doesn’t have to happen. You can keep the passion for your business burning brightly; maybe even hotter than it was when you first envisioned going into business for yourself!

Step Back

Take a few days, or even a few weeks, to step back from your business. Assess what you love about your business (or what you used to love and enjoy). Explore what you dislike about your business too. For example, maybe you’re a service provider and you used to enjoy your clients but your new clients are difficult and not enjoyable to work with. Or perhaps your desire to be a service provider has waned.

Knowing what you like about your business, and what you don’t like, can help you create a plan to modify it to fit your changing needs.

Embrace What You Love

Often, regaining or retaining your passion for your business means focusing on the tasks that you enjoy and finding ways to eliminate the rest. If you find that your passion is wavering, perhaps it’s because you’re doing too many tasks that you dislike.

Focus again on what you love and use that brilliant entrepreneurial mind of yours to find ways to get rid of the rest. It may mean modifying your systems so some tasks are no longer necessary. It may mean automating something or hiring outside help. Trust that when you’re able to focus on what you love, your passion will be sustained.

A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

It’s amazing what a little gratitude can do for the spirit. And when you’re an entrepreneur there are so many things to be grateful for. You’re the boss. You’re in control of your financial future. You get to spend your days doing something that you love. Whenever you feel your passion disappearing and procrastination setting in, think about all of the wonderful things you get to experience by owning your own business. It’s a quick and easy way to gain perspective and appreciation for your business.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Changes

Finally, remember that sometimes maintaining passion for your business is about keeping things interesting. If you’ve found yourself in a rut, consider how you can improve or change your business to keep the fires burning. Constantly striving to provide better products or services, or to make more money, is a great way to stay motivated and enthusiastic.

You own your own business and that gives you the power to control your day to day destiny. If you find that you’re feeling unenthusiastic about your business, take action to make a change. You already know you’re capable of great things.

Tags :business, passion for your business

Brand Building Success Tips

February 13, 2012 | Posted by Stacey Byrd | No Comments

Building a successful brand can solidify your business in your niche. It establishes you and your business as a name that can be trusted. Here are some tips to help you build brand success.

What Is a brand?

When you see the swoosh logo, what does it make you think of? And how about Coca-Cola? You know the tagline, don’t you? And if we say “You’re in good hands with -” you can probably finish the sentence.

All of these show how a particular brand has influenced not only society but also our idea of what these certain products should be. For instance, when it comes to photocopying, people use the term “Xeroxed.” Actually, Xerox is a brand name that has become synonymous with the act of photocopying. How is that for brand success?

Building Your Brand

Who’s to say that you won’t become as big as Xerox one day? For any business, you start in the same place – building your brand.

Here are some tips to get the ball rolling:

* Be real with your customers – Anyone can create a “smoke and mirrors” advertising campaign. You can promise the world and some will believe you. But, when you don’t deliver, your credibility is shot. One way to be real is to put a face on your business. Add your photo. Speak plainly and in simple terms with your customers.

* Make good on your promises – The problem with many companies is poor customer service. If you promise to send a confirmation email after purchase or an answer to an information request, then do so in the time promised.

* Sell your product – Inspire customers to buy by giving them a reason to use your product or service. Describe how their life will benefit from having your product in it. Help the customer make an emotional connection to your product.

* Promote your product in as many places as possible – When new products come out, do a press release. Promote it on your social networking site, your blog and your website. Create YouTube videos and also podcasts about your products to increase the talk. Don’t forget offline promotion as well.

* Be consistent with your brand – Whatever you decide that your brand will stand for, be true to that. Use people and ideas that are in line with your brand to help identify it for your audience.

* Target your customers – Now that you know your brand, you have to connect with the people who “need” what you offer. Use keywords to draw your customers to you. Create a list of potentials and then stay in contact with them.

What does your product stand for? Take some time and create your brand. Then, provide quality products that connect with your customers so they almost sell themselves.

Tags :brand, branding, niche, Social Networking

Using Social Networking to Generate Buzz

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Stacey Byrd | No Comments

Social networking has become one of the biggest business building tools for businesses of all sizes. Whether your business employs hundreds, or only one, you can use social networking to accomplish a number of business building goals. One common, and often quite successful goal, is to use social networking to generate buzz for a new product.

Buzz is defined as excitement. It embraces the concepts of viral and word of mouth marketing. People get excited about your product, or pending product, launch and they tell each other about it. While buzz marketing can work for a number of goals, generally it’s much easier to build buzz if you’re doing something new – like launching a product.

Here are just a few ways you can use social networking to generate buzz:

Get them Talking

You can initiate discussions about your pending product launch or about the problem your product solves. For example, if you’re marketing an organizing book, you might ask friends and followers what their biggest organizing challenge is.

Promote It

You can of course also post promotional messages about your new product or service. Make sure when doing this that you’re promoting the benefit of the product and not the product itself. People can be touchy on social networking sites, and rightfully so. They don’t want to be blatantly marketed to. However, a “learn how to organize your closet and clear out the clutter in 5 easy steps” type of message can work to promote your product. Of course don’t forget to include a link.

Make them Feel Appreciated

You can also use social networking to offer special coupons or discount offers. In fact, you can make your social networking friends and fans feel appreciated by making them an offer that other people don’t have access to. For example, “all fans get 10% off.” You may likely also increase your Facebook fans too.

Publish Videos and Content

Publish content related to your product. Continuing with the organizing book you might publish an article or a how to video that demonstrates the effectiveness or the value of your product. Videos are particularly good at creating buzz.

Use social networking to pre-launch your product with viral content too. Give away a free report. Don’t ask anyone to opt-in but give it away and motivate others to give it away too

There are a lot of ways you can use social networking to create buzz. Make sure that any tactics you implement are followed up on. For example, if you’re using social networking to drive traffic to a pre-launch opt in page make sure you actually send those people an email when you launch. Like any marketing strategy, establish goals, create a plan to achieve them, and then get to work making it happen.

Tags :generate buzz, product launch, Social Networking

Be Seen in the Crowd: 4 Steps to Massive Visibility

October 12, 2011 | Posted by Stacey Byrd | No Comments

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. That’s true, but not if the student can’t see theteacher. It doesn’t matter if you are the best coach or consultant in the world. You may have all the credentials, all the education, know all the right stuff and know all the right people. If you’re not seen, the phone won’t ring. Here are 4 steps to creating massive visibility for your business.

STEP 1: Your Brand

Your brand is your promise of the experience your clients will have with you. It’s the feeling people receive when working with you. You have to know what your brand is. You already have one whether you know what it is or not. You have to carefully craft your brand and foster that in everything you do.

STEP 2: Your Platform

A platform is something you stand on. It places you above the crowd. This is your marketing strategy. You need to know where you are going to be seen and by whom. But a platform is also something you stand for. People are attracted to passion. Using your marketing strategy to passionately share your message is a magnet for those who share or want a piece of that passion.

STEP 3: Give it Away

As a coach or consultant you are a wealth of information. Give it away! Don’t be afraid of giving away the farm every piece of information is already out there on the internet anyway. Be the resource and give “how to” or introductory information away. This is a perfect way to educate people to work with you.

STEP 4: Consistency & Persistency

This is the big one. It takes time to break through all the clutter and actually be seen. To do so, consistently offer high value that addresses your target audience’s immediate needs. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. Be persistent and you will see that visibility grow.

By implementing these 4 simple steps over time while offering relevant, valuable information freely, you will not only create a massive amount of visibility but also create brand awareness, position yourself as an expert, and demonstrate your unique value.

From Guest Blogger: Kathy Jo Slusher-Haas

Kathy Jo Slusher-Haas is a certified marketing and business coach who specializes in helping other certified coaches build their coaching empire. Interested in more tips to help you grow your business and market like an expert? Visit Market Your Coaching Business for instant access to your own free Marketing Survival Guide.

Tags :brand awareness, coach, consultant, Marketing, visibility