Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category

“There’s an elephant in the room… so it is hard to get around it. Yet we squeeze by with “How are you?” and “I’m fine…”   And a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.  We talk about the weather.  We talk about work.  We talk about everything else… Except the elephant in the room.  We all know it is there…”  Excerpt from “The Elephant in the Room”  by Terry Kettering

Many online entrepreneurs mistakenly leap into action and rush to build their web sites – without giving it sufficient time, thought and planning – enticed by the gobs of money they’ll earn and the relatively low cost of entry.  They falsely believe that they can create a profitable business even though they lack the vital information and tools to carry them through successfully. Read the rest of this entry »

by Craig Valentine, 1999 World Champion Of Public Speaking. He is the co creator of the World Class Speaking book and Certification Program. Get Your Free World Class Speakers Audio Toolkit

If you want to drastically improve your very next presentation, it is important to understand 4 of the pitfalls that keep most speakers in a ditch out of which they can never seem to climb. If you see where these traps are, you can easily avoid them. As a result, you will clear your pathway to a powerful and persuasive speech.

Here are the 4 costly mistakes:

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are like me you have heard about the 80/20 rule for years. You know it, it’s called the Pareto Principle – 20% of your activities account 80% of your results.

Well as Bob Dylan said about 40 years ago, “the times they are a changing”. In my opinion the more accurate reality of this notion is the 90/10 principle. Why?

Simply this… Technology has seduced us all into many new activities that didn’t exist a few years ago (creating websites, watching videos on I pods, viewing webinars on our computers). It’s endless and very very addictive.

While cool and exciting, it has also turned us into culture of multi-taskers. I think we are developing what I call “technological ADD”. You know it — you live it. You listen to teleconferences while you are checking your email and IM’s, scan through hundreds of channels on your TV while eating and talking, talk on the phone while cleaning, text while driving (I hope not) …this list goes on and on. You may even get restless just doing two things at once because we are so addicted to these new forms of stimulation.

How Does This Affect Your Business?

Big time. Your audience is distracted too and they are hardy even listening when you talk (remember they are multi-tasking). And with Twitter and other social media platforms thousands of people are all talking at the same time! Read the rest of this entry »

In this 3 minute video I will explain the guiding principles that allowed me to become the featured expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show and how you can use them to create bigger results in your life.

For more info on my books and programs visit:

www.MitchMeyerson.com

In 2008  I co-wrote four books:  Mastering Online Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing On The Internet, World Class Speaking  and Guerrilla Marketing On The Front Lines.   Sound like a lot?  Yes it is but I couldn’t have accomplished this with out the following five principles.

I hope you can apply these ideas  to your business so you can get more done in less time as well.

1)  Develop A Clear Strategy

Know exactly what you are trying to accomplish and why.   For example, if you want to have a financially successful business it is very important to focus your time on your most important revenue-generating activities. This could be teaching group tele-courses like my Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program or create or resell  products that people really need like an online shopping carts or e-books.

My online sales strategy has two essential parts. 1)  encouraging visitors that come to my website   2) converting subscribers into paying customers with an irresistible offer.

Do you have a strategy and system  for building your mailing list?   Do you  sell something people really need in this environment?  If not  it is time to look at your strategy and improve it.

2) Leverage  Your Time and Intellectual Property

To work less and make more  it is critical that you create, repackage and repurpose your content.   If you’ve written an article, consider re-purposing it as an audio, video, live  presentation or mini course  that you can deliver in the real world and online.

You can also leverage your time  by teaching courses to groups instead of just single individuals which of course will allow you to make more money per hour and also create a lively interactive environment.

What can you do today to leverage your time and existing content?

Read the rest of this entry »

by Bea Fields, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach , author of Millennial Leaders , Edge: A Leadership Storyand President of Bea Fields Companies, Inc.

As we move into future, we are going to be experiencing both changes and opportunities in the business world that are going to challenge us in ways we have never experienced in the past.

As business, community and political leaders, we are going to be called to step up to the plate and embrace our employees, constituents and customers as our most valuable assets, because more than ever before, they are going to hold the secret to our success. I know that we hear this every day, yet many people honestly don’t know how to build a sustainable company through people.

In this article, I share five of the most important skills leaders and teams will need to embrace in order to thrive in tomorrow’s world.

1. Radical Innovation

Is your business or organization really designed for innovation? Are you sure? Every day I speak to leaders who swear that their businesses are designed for innovation, but in my opinion, this is usually not the case. Why? Because they are stifling open debate, shooting the messenger and making it unsafe for people to voice their opinions. Read the rest of this entry »

As it turns out, plenty! I went to a Boston Red Sox game with my family this weekend and, in between buying outrageously priced $6 hotdogs and $5 Cokes, I thought about what America’s past-time has in common with marketing. I know, you may think it’s a bit of a stretch, but these simple analogies are actually pretty obvious…

1. Keep your eye on the ball – Let’s start with the most apparent. It takes an intense focus and concentration to hit a 90 mile-per-hour fastball. You’ve got to have the same kind of deliberate attention to your business and your marketing efforts. Don’t take your eye off the ball!

2. Be (baseball) ready – During every single pitch, I noticed infielder Dustin Pedroia go into his “baseball ready” stance. On his toes, ready to respond, and completely ready for anything that might be hit his way. Are you paying attention in your business? Are you nimble, prepared and ready to react?

3. Swing for the fences – It’s rare that you see a wimpy, half-assed swing in the major leagues. These guys are playing like they mean it! In your marketing efforts and in your business in general, you’ve got to take big swings. If you want to hit home runs, you’ve got to swing for the fences!

4. Work as a team – No matter how good the individuals on the team are, it’s the team that wins ballgames. While this is painfully obvious, you need to ask yourself how teamwork can benefit you. Are you developing relationships and joint ventures? Are you leveraging your partnerships? How can you use the combined efforts of your team to win?

5. Have a game plan – While pro ball players may make it look effortless, they never take the field without a game plan in place. Baseball, like business, is a game of strategy. Plan ahead. Study the competition. Know your strengths and weaknesses. And most important, execute.

6. Focus on fundamentals – While at the Sox game, my son asked me why “Big Papi” still takes hitting practice. If you want to be the best, I explained to him, you’ve got to be great at the basics. You’re never too good to practice, and it starts with the fundamentals.

7. How you play the game is how you play in life – This was another “life lesson” moment for my son. The players he most admires are the guys who are as great off the field as they are on the field. You’ve got to bring your “A” game every day, both in business and in life!

8. Never give up – The guys in the “bigs,” as they call the Major League, understand that it ain’t over til it’s over. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you’re going to need that same kind of dogged persistence and determination. The Red Sox have become famous for 9th inning heroics and come-from-behind victories. Take a page from their playbook and keep playing hard all the way through!

9. Be aggressive – Good ball players hustle. They run hard. They act quickly. They don’t let up. How are you playing in your business? Can you put in even more effort? Can you push a little harder?

10. Use a variety of “weapons” – A winning baseball team like the Red Sox uses many different ways to win. They have a variety of weapons in their arsenal: hitting, pitching, defense, bench strength, late inning rallies. Are you using an assortment of marketing weapons in your business? Look for ways to add some depth to your playbook and don’t rely on just one or two methods.

The Red Sox won the game we attended, but I can’t say I’m surprised. The defending World Series Champions do a lot of things right, and they find a way to win. Follow their lead and your business should be off to a winning season!

Lou Bortone is an author and entrepreneur with extensive experience in marketing, branding and promotion. Before starting his own company, Lou was an award-winning marketing executive in the media industry. Lou served as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television, and later as Senior VP of Marketing and Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide, a division of Fox, in Los Angeles. Today, Lou helps entrepreneurs and solo professionals navigate their online businesses with services such as copywriting, video production and creative services. Sign up for Lou’s free mini audio course about using Online Video at http://www.TheOnlineVideoGuy.com.