As you  surely know the downturn in the economy has made times more challenging for the entrepreneur.

However, any savvy marketer knows that developing powerful partnerships can be the key to surviving any economic storm.  So in this post lets look at how you can successfully connect with influential marketing partners in your industry.

Before choosing a JV partner make sure that you:

•  Know exactly what they want most from the venture… It may not be what you assume.

•  Are fully aware of your own goals… and that you’ve communicated them to your would-be partner.

•  Both feel that you can better achieve your objectives working with each other

The Platinum Rule

We’ve all heard of “The Golden Rule” – Treat people the way you would like to be treated.  And while the concept is sound, it becomes problematic because it assumes that everyone has identical desires and perceptions.

Authors Tony Alessandra and Michael J.O’Conner rephrased the tenet and renamed it “The Platinum Rule.” It goes like this, “Do unto others as they’d like done unto them.”  This requires a real understanding of others and what motivates them… and there’s no better way of learning that than by asking them. Otherwise, we risk offending others by incorrectly presupposing the answer based on our own sensibilities.

Following are some quick tips for developing healthy joint venture partnerships…

•  Do your research ahead of time… make sure they’re the type of person you like and their business is healthy and respectable.

•  Approach them with a “what’s-in-it-for-them” stance…  not how great you are.

•  Be specific…don’t leave things “squishy” regarding anything – this is how misunderstandings begin.

•  Respect their time… let them know you value theirs as much as your own.

•  Develop simple deals… especially ones which don’t require either of you  to “look over the others’ shoulders”.

•  Give before you get, particularly if you’re just starting out… people are understandably more leery of opening up their hard-earned business resources before you’ve proven yourself.

•  Avoid using a “sales pitch”… it’s no way to begin a give-and-take partnership.

•  Don’t obsess over who’s getting more out the deal… make your best deal and forget about it.

You will find that solid  partnerships can be the key to thriving in a challenging economy. Go out an find one today!

Mitch Meyerson, author of Mastering Online Marketing and Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coaching

Become A Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach: www.GMarketingCoach.com

I’ll bet you have heard most of your life that effective goal setting is essential for success.   Why then do so many of us fall short on this essential business and life skill?  The answer is complex and there are a variety of psychological reasons.

However rather than digging into the “why”, we will first quickly assess where you stand then use the following 10 tips for developing more powerful goals. Start by asking yourself these 3 questions:

1) Do I have clear, written and measurable goals for my business and personal growth?

2) Have I created specific action steps required to achieve each goal?

3) Do I regularly track and measure the progress of each of my goals?

If your answer is no the ten keys below will help you to become more effective with your goal setting efforts and achieve more measurable results in your business.

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. Brian Tracy

In my 2005 book Success Secrets of The Online Marketing Superstars I interviewed legendary author, Mark Victor Hansen about goals.  He is the co-author of the best selling series in history Chicken Soul For The Soul knows quite a lot about developing BIG goals.   Here are his tips about goal setting:

1) Your most important goals must be yours.

Not your spouse’s. Not your child’s. Not your employer’s. Yours. When you let other people determine your definition of success, you’re sabotaging your own future.

2)  Your goals must mean something to you.

When you write your goals, you must ask yourself, “What’s really important to me?” “What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?” Your reasons for charting a new course of action give you the drive and energy to get up every morning.

3) Your goals must be specific and measurable.

Vague generalizations and wishy-washy statements aren’t good enough.  Be very specific!

4) Your goals must be flexible.

A flexible plan keeps you from feeling suffocated and allows you to take advantage of genuine opportunities that walk in your future door.

5) Your goals must be challenging, exciting.

Force yourself to jump out of your comfort zone to acquire that energy and edge.

6) Your goals must be in alignment with your values.

Pay attention to your intuition, your gut. When you set a goal that contradicts your values, something inside will twinge. Pay attention.

7) Your goals must be well-balanced.

Make sure you include areas that allow time to relax, have fun and enjoy people in your closest circle.

8) Your goals must be realistic.

Be expansive but don’t be ridiculous. If you’re four feet tall, you will probably never play in the NBA. Also, be sure to allow yourself time to get there.

9) Your goals must include contribution.

Unfortunately, many people get so wrapped up in pursuing their goals that they don’t have time in their lives to give something back to society. Build this into your goals program.

10) Your goals need to be supported.

Either selectivity share a few of your dreams with a number of people, or share all of your dreams with a select few people. In either case, you’re creating a web of support and accountability for yourself.

Open your mind to all the possibilities. Start each goal with “I am” or “I will.” Don’t even think about restricting yourself!

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Your Coaching Action Step: Review the list above and write 5-7 specific 3 month goals (e.g. 10 new clients, 1000 new subscribers to my mailing list) then write the specific steps you will take to get there and track your progress every day!

by Mitch Meyerson

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you”.  Dale Carnegie

Even though social media sites make it much easier to develop connections – a cornerstone principle for all sound marketing systems – cyberspace “followers” are not the same as cyberspace “friends.”

If your ultimate goal is to use social media marketing sites to grow your business, then it’s imperative that you turn followers into real friends – and that requires a genuine connection.

No matter how tempting it is, don’t do the opposite and mistake illusion for reality. Go the extra mile and do what’s necessary to strengthen, not weaken, the “human bond.”

How Do You Turn Strangers Into True Friends and Fans?

First realize this is not an event but a committed process of building relationships and rapport with your targeted audience… one which helps them to know, like and trust you.  When done correctly, it provides the opportunity for online business owners to achieve their ultimate objective of acquiring and retaining loyal and profitable customers.

For some of you, the conversion “journey” will be a straight and speedy highway directly to a sale … but the vast majority must be prepared to take a slower, more methodical route.

In order to achieve this, you’ll need to create an online environment that makes your audience feel welcomed in a warm and sincere way and makes it easy to take action.

It’s similar to inviting people to your homes. I’m sure that most of you greet your guests at the door with a broad smile, handshake or hug; offer them something to drink or eat; suggest they sit in the most comfortable chair; etc.

You don’t bombard them with stories about how great you are; ask them to lend you money or borrow their car or leave them on their own to wander aimlessly around your house.  This may seem like a far-fetched illustration, but hopefully, you get the idea.

Here are just some of the ways you can transform your followers into genuine friends…

• Acknowledge personal details – “ping” them on their birthdays, ask about their families and share stories about your own, offer to help them with a personal problem, etc.
• Discover the topics your followers are passionate about and mention or discuss them in your online conversations
• Provide them with warm introductions to likeminded friends and colleagues
• “Re-tweet” their “tweets” (when appropriate)
• Comment on their Facebook status
• Mention them in your blog posts and link back to their sites.

Once again, social media marketers who have with the right mindset, recognize that it’s not about numbers – it’s about people. And if you help enough of them get what they want, you’ll get what you want as well.

And remember that once you start developing your list of true fans, treat them like gold as they will not only continue to buy from you but will refer others as well.

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Parts of this post were adapted from Mitch Meyerson’s Chapter in Success Secrets Of The Social Media Marketing Superstars (Entreprenuer Press August 2010).    Sign up for our email updates so you don’t miss excerpts from the other Superstars in this collection.

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by Denise Wakeman

Before you get to the nitty-gritty of setting up your blog, there is some pre-work to do. This will ensure that you start right and put your best foot forward. If you already have a blog, review this list to make sure your blog is focused and on track to get the results you want.

1.  Before you do anything else, examine the reasons why you want to publish a blog. What’s the purpose for the blog?  How does the blog’s purpose relate to your business purpose?

2.  What are the business objectives or outcomes or goals you want from your business blog? Some people use a blog as a lead generator to build their database. Some are looking to build a visibility platform while others use the blog to develop content for other purposes like books, articles and programs. What do you want to get out of your blog?

3.  Who is your ideal reader? Who are you writing to/for? For most businesses I’ve worked with, the ideal reader is similar to their ideal client. It’s important to know your audience so you can meet their needs and address their concerns, challenges and what they’re looking for to improve their lives.

4.  How do you want your readers to feel when they read your blog? This may seem like a weird question, yet it will help you tap in to the emotions of your audience. Do you want your reader to be inspired, motivated and moved to action? Again, tapping into this will help you focus your content on serving your reader.

For a downloadable version of this list–> click here

1. Blog regularly and set up Ping.fm to distribute content to Facebook, Twitter and other sites

2. Create downloadable PDF’s with valuable content and active links back to your site (like the one above)

3. Use signature files on all emails with call to action

4. Approach online partners and retweet each other when appropriate

5. Post in discussion and newsgroups in your industry

6. Write articles and submit (google “article submission”)

7. Set up your own Twitter account and share valuable information

8. Give testimonials to others with your web address

9. Create offline ads with your web address

10. Optimize your site with SEO to get better search rankings

11. Set Up Your Facebook and LinkedIn pages and make connections

12. Host a teleclass and send students to your site for information

13. Create A Trackable Marketing and Traffic Calendar

14. Create a viral offering such a joke or flash movie with your website on You Tube

15. Put your domain on all marketing materials

16. Write a book and put your domain on the cover and inside

17. Be a guest on a radio show and send people to your site

18. Write an article for a magazine or blog with your web address in the resource box

19. Speak in public and give a useful handout link to site

20. Mention your web address every time you are talking business

Although specific estimates vary, online researchers agree that email recipients make quick decisions on whether or not they will open and read promotional emails. Obviously, if they like, want, need, and/or are actively seeking the products being offered, they’re far more likely to open them. But emails come with their own special challenge, the subject line – that short, information burst that can make you or break you.

Like direct mail envelope “teasers,” emails’ subject lines must grab the recipients’ interests and increase the chances that they’ll open the messages. That’s why you’ll want to work on getting yours just right.

Start getting ideas scanning your own inbox. Jot down any that catch your interest and then see how you can tweak them to suit your needs. You can also look at headlines in your local newspaper, magazines, websites, and the like and see it you can covert any of those into intriguing subject lines.

Then use these tips to fine-tune your choices.

1. Keep them short and to the point. Less is definitely more in this instance, especially since overly long subject lines will get cut off from view anyhow.

2. Don’t divulge too much information. Add intrigue. Build curiosity. Make them want to open your email to find out more. For example:

- Zach, have you heard this yet?

- The Psychology behind the $40 Pet Rock Craze

- When $100 per hour is just okay

3. Use your recipients’ first names, unless it’s awkward or sounds forced. For example:

- John, will you help me?

- Mary, you’ll want to print this email.

4. Ask questions, such as:

- Is procrastination killing your business?

- Do you believe in this deadly marketing myth?

5. Include your product or service’s number one benefit and make sure it’s relevant to your target audience, like”

- One tip for losing ten pounds in one week

- 5 Free Ways to Sell More Houses

6. Avoid sending off “hooey” and spam alarms with exaggerations, or hints of high pressure sales tactics, such as:

- Triple your…

- My dear so-and-so

- Your e-commerce business

- Earn thousands at home

- Making Money the easy way

- Immediate action required

Adapted from Guerrilla Marketing On The Internet by Mitch Meyerson, Jay Levinson and Mary Scarborough

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In this 2 minute video you will learn three tips that will definitely help you in tough times.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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?

3) Develop Powerful Partnerships.

Find people who are energetic, focused and positive.   I have  had the  good fortune to partner with some of the top names in our industry  through Guerrilla Marketing,  Traffic School, Product Factory, and World-class Speaking Programs.
Each of my books and programs  had an excellent proactive partner and saved me a lot of time.

Working with great partners can inspire you,  get you thinking out of the box  and of course allow you to increase your  exposure by marketing to multiple mailing lists.  You may find someone who has a following in a niche  that would be perfect for your product or service.   You can offer them a commission or affiliate fee and you can both share the profits.

Ask yourself:   Who your industry would be a great partner  for you?  What do they bring to the table?  What do I bring to the table?  Be specific. What  is a win-win partnership?   If you don’t have a large list  to offer,  be a  guerrilla  and see what you can offer in terms of time energy and imagination.

How to approach a partner the right way

4) Implement Consistently.

The key to success in any business is not only having a great strategy  for finding powerful partners  but  taking action on a consistent basis.  The challenge with being an entrepreneur  is that our time is largely unstructured, which means it is up to us to stay proactive.

To create systems of structure and support,  I like the concept of the “accountability partner” and have one myself.   This is someone you can check in with on a regular basis to see if you are staying in action with your goals.   With my guerrilla marketing students  we are starting to set up  buddy systems and  accountability days were people check in on the hour  on the completed tasks.    Who can you enlist as an accountability partner?

5) Automate and Delegate

This is probably my favorite of all  because allows me to get my website to work for me  when I’m not even paying attention!   Consider this: There are people all over the world constantly visiting websites.   If they come to your site wouldn’t you like them to join your mailing list?  If so  set up an opt in box with an irresistible offer and  increase your visitor to opt in conversion dramatically.    My Easy Web Automation system  not only  makes this optin easy  but allows me to sell products on my website and have the money funneled right in my bank.   What can you automate on your website?

Now more than ever,  it is essential that you use your time wisely,  develop a sound strategy,  build powerful partnerships,  automate  and take action on all these ideas.   If you do, you will be in the 15% that not only has a growing business  year after year but you will get a lot more done in less time!

Interested in our next Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program. Learn Low cost, high impact marketing strategies perfect for challenging times.

Get the full story here: www.GMarketingCoach.com

The amazing growth of the Internet has created new found opportunities for millions of businesses who previously would have never been able to compete in the global marketplace. Yet while the low entry and marketing costs have truly leveled the playing field for many entrepreneurs it has also created a staggering amount of competition.

In fact, the average person, at least, those who live in metropolitan areas, is exposed to more than 3,500 marketing messages a day. That’s 24,500 messages a week and 1.2 million each year.

And to make online sales even more difficult, marketing studies have shown that it takes nine or more impressions for your business to be remembered by a potential customer. This means follow-up is essential. But in today’s world this type of relentless follow up for the average business owner is not often practical. Fortunately there is a solution that many online businesses are using every day – online marketing automation.

Imagine being able to capture new leads on your website, build customer confidence through automated sequential responses, deliver products digitally while you sleep and track all of your prospects and clients without lifting a finger. For thousands of online businesses this happens every day.

In today’s competitive environment, automation is not a luxury; it’s a requirement for keeping the competitive edge you need. In fact, the benefits of automation are so numerous you can’t afford to ignore them.

Five Keys to Automated Online Success:

1. Capture Email Addresses. Your list is your goldmine. It is critical to all your marketing and is literally your most valuable asset. To build your mailing list it is essential that you make a compelling offer. “Sign up for my mailing list” is no longer enough. Try something like this: “Free Special Report: The 5 Keys to Dramatically Boosting Your Website Traffic in 30 Days”

Through online automation you can offer digitally downloaded special reports, e-newsletters, mini-educational courses, or free trials to entice visitors to share their name and email. When their data is entered, it is automatically placed in your database and can be programmed to trigger autoresponders which are one or multiple automated messages. Share your privacy policy below your opt-in box as well as assurance that they can unsubscribe at any time. And of course, never spam anyone.

2. Set Up Sequential Autoresponders. A very effective way to build trust with your prospects is to offer a mini-course which delivers content-rich, relevant information to your opt-in subscribers. These automatically-distributed email messages not only provide content, but also motivate prospects to revisit your site for the latest offers. And of course once they click through to your website you can offer more content delivered via audio, video and other multi-media options as well as offers for your products and services.

Since studies shows that 48% of sales people give up after the first contact and 25% after the second, this is a perfect way to make sure your follow-up stays consistent. Best of all, after you program the series it will perform flawlessly for you for years to come. There are many great automated systems on the web like: www.EasyWebAutomation.com.

3. Take Payments Online. It has never been easier or more affordable to set up online payment systems through PayPal or your own merchant account. And once you set up your payment account it very easy to sell products or services online by purchasing an online shopping cart. A shopping cart will allow you to capture email addresses, automate responses, track leads and then sell you product to customers around the world 24/7. These systems are surprisingly easy to setup, operate and maintain.

4. Track and Measure Your Marketing. Over the years I have trained and coached hundreds of business owners in marketing through my Guerrilla Marketing Coaching Program. Through a series of assessments it has become very clear that most businesses fall short in the area of measurement.

Here are some questions to consider:

1) How many unique visitors come to your website?

2) How many visitors opt-in to your mailing list or order your products?

3) When you send emails, how many are opened and how many people actually click through to your website?

The reason these metrics are so important is because if you don’t know these stats, you won’t know what to improve. It could be variables like the pulling power of your headlines, the copy or navigation on your website. You won’t know until you start measuring. Many of today’s automated systems include ad trackers which automatically calculate your click-throughs and conversion statistics.

5. Free Up Your Time to Work on the Most Important Parts of Your Business

When you automate daily tasks you gain more time to focus on priorities for the strategic growth of your company. This newfound discretionary time comes without your money-making activities coming to a halt, or hiring and training staff.

Also when your business becomes automated, your presence becomes optional leaving you time to actually take a vacation while making money at the same time. With most systems you can quickly and easily check your sales and orders from any web browser.

The Internet is a competitive, ever-changing marketplace. The right strategy combined with powerful and practical systems gives you an edge over your competitors. You’ll attract more customers and spend less time, money and energy winning them over. Automation services and software leverage the best technology available to make you money day and night, whether you’re there or not.

by Mitch Meyerson

“Every year I make a list of New Year’s resolutions, and by the end of January I can’t even remember what was on my list.”
“I have this great idea for a book, but I never get around to putting it down on paper.”
“Just when I start moving towards my goals I seem to hit this wall.”

Sound familiar? If you could “just do it” you probably would have done it. If you’re strong on ideas, but perpetually stuck at the starting line, the following tips will help.

• Be specific about what you want

Change “I want more money,” to “I want to earn $60,000 by December 31, 2004.” Revamp “I want to write someday,” to “I want to write forty pages by August.”

Keep your goals simple. Too many goals are overwhelming, a good excuse for doing nothing at all.

• Be suspicious of your failures

There’s an old saying that people vote with their feet. It means we are exactly where we want to be no matter how much we complain.

Be suspect of any goal you’ve had for more than five years and haven’t achieved. One man spent more than seven years trying to finish his MBA, dropping classes, taking extensions on papers, only to discover that he really didn’t want the degree at all.

When you’re doing what’s close to your heart, it’s easy. Work with your nature. Be suspect of anything that seems too difficult. People find it easier to blame themselves for laziness than to admit that it’s a difficult process to face up to who we really are and what we really want. It feels lonely to admit that we might be different from others, that your goals aren’t the same as theirs. Your failures might be your way of protecting yourself from becoming what you never really wanted to be.

What’s your current goal? Why do you want it so badly? Write two paragraphs answering these questions. Then convince a friend. Notice any possible resistance coming up. Ask yourself again “Is this what I really want?”

• Recognize your fear

Fear is a common response to risk and responsibility. The most common fears are fear of failure, fear of success or fear of abandonment.

The fear of failure indicates you may need to re-examine past disappointments. Talking them out in a supportive setting can release them.

A fear of success can often reflect an expectation of rising expectations–”If I achieve this, people will want more and more from me and I’ll never be able to give them what they want.”

Some of us have fears, often unconscious, of surpassing a parent with our success. A fear of abandonment reflects a belief that success will be connected with disapproval and loss of relationships.

• Are you “demand-resistant”?

Therapists define demand-resistance as having a chronic negative response to obligations or expectations. This is often unconsious. The person who suffers will make daily lists of things to do, then grow angry and anxious when it’s time to get moving. Unconsciously, he or she resents anything that smacks of being “told what to do.”

In some cases, even returning a phone call, or asking a friend to dinner is resented because it’s “expected”. Pleasurable activities, such as working out at a health club, or taking a class in Italian cooking, become “shoulds” to be done perfectly or on a rigid schedule. Work is a burden, and creativity and energy is blocked.

If you suffer from demand-resistance, you constantly find that you set goals and sabotage them. You are always angry at yourself, continually resolving to set goals and stick to them.

The antidote is to keep asking yourself, “Is this what I really want?” Demand-resistance is often a childhood response to overly controlling or overly protective parents. As an adult, such a person always feels vulnerable to being overrun.

The more sure you are of yourself, the more you work on building a strong sense of who you are, the less you’ll feel like resisting your goals just to prove a point.

• Create momentum

Write down your action steps with a dateline for completion. Suppose your goal is writing a screenplay. Your first action step can be something as simple as buying a how-to book. Your next step might be writing your idea for a movie out in one sentence.

Having one hundred small steps to one large goal isn’t unrealistic. Build in incentives. Reward yourself for the completion of each action step.

• Gather support

Let people know what you are trying to do. Don’t minimize the importance of support and reassurance along the way to any goal you set.

• Celebrate

Small successes lend the strength for bigger ones. Positive reinforcement can do more to reshape you patterns than self-criticism.

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