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	<title>Business Marketing Articles</title>
	<link>http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/cat/index/50/Business-Marketing-Articles.php</link>
	<description>Business Marketing Articles - Latest business
news &amp; management advice on how best to build your own business -
Free, independent business articles on Strategy, eBusiness, Change
Management &amp; much, much more.</description>
	<language>en</language>
	<docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs>
	<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:26:24 +0000</pubDate>
	<managingEditor>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</managingEditor>
	<webMaster>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</webMaster>    
	<item>
      <title><strong>Letterheads for Your Business Needs</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a businessperson, you need to have a letterhead for your business needs. It is inevitable. You will need one when communicating with your associates, business partners, clients, and even your own employees. 

You need to have a professional face, a legal representation for your business. Otherwise, other people, particularly those who are very particular with official correspondences, will not honor your letter. Every reputable company has one for use when sending out official correspondences. Remember, as a businessperson, you are also expected to do the same. 

Take time in making your letterhead. It does not take long to create one. In a few hours, you can finish one on your own. You can create using your desktop computer with simple computer programs installed. You need not to make use of complicated design software. Moreover, you can make use of design templates which you just need to edit! If you are new to the concept of letterhead printing, allow us to introduce you to the ABCs and 123s. Take note of the following:

What are letterheads?
Just like your business name and logo, letterheads are an important representation of your company. As the world of business entails official professional meetings, official correspondences, and written memorandum, these letterheads are considered as legal representations. It is also part and parcel of the corporate identity and reflects the business image the company wants to present. 

What is on it?
If you are not familiar with this and you are planning to create one, it consists of the following, organization logo, company name, and contact information, which includes phone or fax numbers, email address and website, if the company or business has any. This is to allow your target clientele to get in touch with you, which can translate to increase earning potential as well as quick turnaround for your business. 

Where to find one?
Over the internet, you can search for design templates that you can use whe ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5523/Letterheads-for-Your-Business-Needs.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5523/Letterheads-for-Your-Business-Needs.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Become an Expert…Write an Article</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the easiest ways to gain expert status – at no cost – is to have your own byline. A published article promotes your expertise, your products, and your services. And writing articles is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your Web site.

Getting started…

Now you may be thinking two things: I can’t write…and what would I say if I could write. If you can talk, you can write. And if you know anything at all about your business, then you have lots to talk about.

What questions are you hearing about your products or services? What are your answers? This can be the foundation of your article.  Or how has your product or service benefited others? What else can you do with it? What’s unique to your field that no other type of industry can offer? 

Start by writing down all your thoughts, questions, and answers. You’ll be amazed as the ideas begin to flow and it won’t take long before you find several topics to write about.

If you’re concerned that you can’t write, imagine you’re explaining a particular aspect of your business to a friend. Make that friend understand what you’re doing in logical steps – by talking (writing) directly to that person. Use clear, concise words that can’t be misinterpreted.

For example, if you operate a technical business doing vibration analysis on buildings you must write in a language that is understood by your readers – the building owners or managers. Explain in plain terms why their buildings may shake – it can be a simple equipment misalignment – and how they can actually save money on their annual power costs by correcting the imbalances. 

Your article should give information that is valuable to the reader.  Do not make the mistake of turning it into a blatant advertisement for your business – that’s the purpose of paid advertisements.

Elements of Style

When writing for online article directories, keep your story short.  Aim for 350 to 750 words with short paragraph ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5522/Become-an-ExpertWrite-an-Article.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5522/Become-an-ExpertWrite-an-Article.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to do a Custom Letterhead Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are starting your own business, you may want to work on your letterheads, presentation folders, and envelopes.  These are among other materials that you use when dealing with other businesses.

You can also use these when communicating with associates or dealing with your employees. Letterheads, which you will use when sending official correspondences, are important. These are not just needed elements for letters, memorandums, notices, or correspondences. There are also other benefits that it offer. 

These can improve your business image, set your business presence, and enhance your corporate identity. You may notice that corporations, big and small, send out official correspondences with letterheads. That is because it has an influence over the receiver; you may not notice it, but there are always non-verbal hints that letterheads invoke. These can increase the significance and urgency of the letter, even if the content does not convey those message. 

If you are planning already to create, let us help you out in the process. Making custom letterheads can be easy. Although challenging, the whole process can be a breeze. So, here are the guidelines on custom letterhead printing. 

•	Do not forget to include the necessary information
By necessary information, we mean company or business name and contact information, such as phone and fax numbers. You can also include email address as well as website. Aside from that, do not forget to put the logo which fosters brand recognition and heightens your business image. You may also opt to include your company motto or business slogan to send the message that you are one company that offers quality and service. 

•	Make wise use of colors and other design elements
In making a letterhead, you do not have to do it monochrome. Part of its appeal is the colors used. You can make use of the company or business colors to be consistent with the design. You can also play with font style and size. Experiment o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5520/How-to-do-a-Custom-Letterhead-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5520/How-to-do-a-Custom-Letterhead-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Businessperson Guide to Letterhead Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How many times have you received an official letter bearing a letterhead? If those letters are coming from companies, business, organizations, and individuals, the probability is that all of the letters bear such. 

These are part and parcel of official correspondences. If a letter, supposedly coming from a big-shot company does not bear one, make room for doubt. That may be coming from elsewhere. No company sends out official correspondences without using such. 

There are different advantages, aside from the practical reason that it easily shows from which company or organization the letter comes from. It foster brand recognition or brand image as well as sets a corporate presence. It means that “Hey, I am a company serious in my mission, vision, and goals. You need to take notice of me” or along those lines. Therefore, if you are thinking of the same way, you need to create your own letterhead. 

You may think that these are just used when sending official notices within or between agencies, departments, or organizations. However, using it actually extends elsewhere. These are used when announcing HR-related issues, forwarding quotations, sending proposals, making purchases, and many others. Sending letters to your existing or potential clients or customers also need to look professional. Sending a business proposal should always be official. 

There are many ways on how you can create one. These are some of the ways:

1.	Downloadable templates available over the internet

A quick online search for templates can lead you to different links. There are websites that offer letterhead templates for use. If you have already decided on one, you can just save it on your computer and edit it according to your preference. You just need to replace the default parts featured on the templates, such as company name and logo. 

2.	Available design templates on your desktop computer

Open Microsoft Publisher, one of the computer programs that may be availabl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5510/A-Businessperson-Guide-to-Letterhead-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5510/A-Businessperson-Guide-to-Letterhead-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Making of a Successful Poster Print</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Face it, in any project, apprehensions can inevitably happen. Even when it comes to poster prints. However, there is no need to worry because this article will give you some pointers to help you see your project through. 

Read them and understand the things that you should avoid in full color prints so you do not make a mess of yourself.

Firstly, choose the most appropriate printer for your project. This printer will give you the results that you want. Therefore, check out all the printers out there and choose wisely. Know if they have good reputation, if they offer reasonable rates or if they have high-technology machinery that would produce quality prints for you. This is when the Internet can help you a lot. Go search for the best online printer that makes use of offset printers. They are proven to produce high quality color posters.

Second, pick out good designs. When you send your design to your printer, have some more versions for back up. This ensures that you can have a substitute design in case incongruities happen in the printer. For instance, send your main design with options on the colors to use.
Next, it is smart to print samples first for the printing company. 

You can have them printed in your office to give your printer a very clear idea of how you want your product to be. Also by printing samples, you can see any error that you might have overlooked in the digital copy. Hence, this will avoid any hassle that you may have with the real printing.

Fourth, smartly choose the materials that you are going to use. The smart choice of materials can greatly contribute to the success of your product. Make sure that you specify the right materials so that it will be easy for the printing company to give you the output that you want. Hence, you might want to upgrade your knowledge on the best materials that you can use. You might want to try using a glossy coating that will surely spice it up.

Also, make sure that your material is sent to th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5509/The-Making-of-a-Successful-Poster-Print.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5509/The-Making-of-a-Successful-Poster-Print.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Identify and Eliminate Common Poster Printing Mistakes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are several elements at play with in making your poster printing venture succeed. These include the design, the content and of course the message that you want to impart through the material. 

You know that a striking and an easy-to-read poster will get the undivided attention of your target audience. However, even if you have the most impressive ideas and brilliant concepts for the layout and design, all your efforts will go to naught if it is not even reader-friendly in the first place.

Now prior to reading, the attention of your target audience would first have to be grabbed by the design. Your poster design reflects the capabilities of your company and the layout helps your message to better get through your audience. The design will also say if you will stand out from the rest or if you will just be like anyone else.

In this article, you will find important points that will help you avoid printing mistakes. Read them all and find out how you can make your project prevent blunders to achieve its objectives:

The first common mistake is the use of too much color or putting too many colors in your design. Remember that you want your reader to read and understand your message. Hence, you do not want these colors to distract him or create a cluttered scene to the eyes. Just put in the colors that you need enough to make it interesting, and your reader will surely stop and read.

Another mistake that usually happens is the use of unnecessary graphics or illustrations that will make it crowded and again, distracting. Sure, you can use borders and backgrounds but do not overdo it. You do not want to confuse your reader and shove him away because it looks muddled. Remember that you also do not need many decorations. Graphic accents should be there to give a purposeful barrier among the contents.

Then there is also the mistake of creating a chaotic headline. This is one major element to go through. Usually a chaotic heading contains too much words ( ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5505/Identify-and-Eliminate-Common-Poster-Printing-Mistakes.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5505/Identify-and-Eliminate-Common-Poster-Printing-Mistakes.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Choosing between Quality and Quantity in Poster Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you are into a poster printing project, where should you really focus your attention on? Is it how attractive and impressive your poster is? Is it the quantity you put up to let more people know? 

This has been one major topic of discussion in the industry for so long. Do you need outputs with good quality to make an impact on your target audience? Alternatively, would it be wiser if you distribute low quality materials just so you can have wider coverage? Apparently, these questions cannot be easily resolved. It is because many elements are at stake that will either make or break your endeavor. Among these are your objectives or what you want to achieve, what you want your output to be, and of course your resources – specifically the budget that you would be working on.

You will find in this write-up certain pointers about quality as against quantity poster printing. May this serve as your guide as you make decisions for your business venture:

First, let us talk about quality. When you say quality, you achieve excellence and class in executing your design, colors, layout and message. To achieve that professional and tasteful look, you may have to use paper and inks that are a little more costly. However, think of how you will impress your readers and how you will be able to leave that good, lasting impression. You may have noticed how classy-looking materials grab more attention than cheap-looking ones. So if your exhibit that touch of “magnificence”, expect more people to pay attention to your material.

Now how about the not so good side of quality? I have mentioned it already. If you opt for the best paper and ink, expect to pay a little more as well. So if you are strictly following your budget, you might be able to print a smaller quantity rather than if you choose cheaper printing. So it is all about achieving a balance between coming up with good designs (including the paper and ink) and a reasonable budget for your material.

Let us  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5503/Choosing-between-Quality-and-Quantity-in-Poster-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5503/Choosing-between-Quality-and-Quantity-in-Poster-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Make Your Custom Brochures a Potent Marketing Tool</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you endorse a product through a custom brochure, it is not enough to just put it there, with the flamboyant adjectives and all. You have to think of brilliant ways to present and explain your product through your brochure. 

You have to conceptualize something great and convincing to make your product sell. Otherwise, it is useless to come out with a brochure in the first place. Remember, custom brochures are a potent tool in successfully introducing your product or service. It is a powerful instrument in your quest to make your reader understand its features. Hence, this write-up might be of use to you if you are aiming to present your product. See the following tips and make them work for you:

FAST FACTS
Most readers do not have the luxury of time to read an essay explaining a product. Apart from being turned off by the lengthy presentation, they can also get displeased of the crowded words and paragraphs that comprise your “essay”. Therefore, it would be wise to present the facts and features of your product through a bulleted list. This makes reading fast and uncomplicated. It would also be easy for your reader to check all the information he or she needs without having to go through the whole text. Write down a quick list of the key features and advantages of your product and your potential client will surely read on.

PICTURE PERFECT
A picture can speak a thousand words; hence, if you are using photos, see to it that you use the photos that complement your text. Use photos that help you further explain your product. Use photos that will effectively advertise your product. In addition, remember photos and illustrations give your material that extra punch. People are visual. Hence, your photos will entice them to get to know your product. Try putting the photos in different angles. Try using photos of different sizes. Just do not exaggerate. Best of all, if you are advertising a tangible product put appealing photos of good quality. If your pro ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5501/Make-Your-Custom-Brochures-a-Potent-Marketing-Tool.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5501/Make-Your-Custom-Brochures-a-Potent-Marketing-Tool.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Beef Up the Cover of Your Custom Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What do you see and read first when you get hold of a custom brochure? Of course, the cover! Before you even proceed to the text, the first thing that you would usually do is look at the cover. Find if it connects with you. 

When you find the cover engaging, you move on to the text. So now, you know that the cover is a very essential part of just about anything. Without a catchy and interesting front, your material might as well go to waste. The success of your custom brochure depends a lot on what your reader sees first.

You will find in this write-up some pointers on how to develop the cover into the perfect face that you want it to be. Read on and find out how these can be helpful to you and your business.

First, if you must use a photo on the cover, make sure that you put your own photo/s --- meaning these are not taken from the internet or any other source aside from you. In addition, make sure that these are not just plain photo. These are quality and attention-grabbing photos. Using your own photos will establish the credibility of your company and the earnestness of your message.

Second, try playing with colors. Think of appropriate, catchy hues that will make your custom brochure more impressive and appealing. However, make sure also that the colors you use are reflective of your company’s image and are consistent with your theme and purpose. These colors can emphasize major elements on your cover or beef up the message of your material.

Third, remember to develop a memorable tagline. This statement should be suitable to your target clientele and should be easily understood. Make it brief but bold. Make it simple but engaging. Think of your recipients. Think of what they want to hear. Then create an instant connection with them through your words and images. 

Fourth, see to it that the cover is appropriate to the concept of your custom brochure. For instance, if your product is food, use photos of food and other relevant images on the co ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5491/How-to-Beef-Up-the-Cover-of-Your-Custom-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5491/How-to-Beef-Up-the-Cover-of-Your-Custom-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Some Pointers for Easy Brochure Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you first heard of brochure printing, did it overwhelm you? Did you believe it is something that only a connoisseur in the field could do? You could be wrong.

The task of printing might actually be intimidating since it may appear too technical or tedious. However, do you know that it can actually be trouble-free if you just learn and understand the craft? This article will give you tips on easy brochure printing and help you realize that you do not need to be an expert to do it. Read and follow these pointers and see how you can effortlessly undertake this activity.

First, you have to learn thorough proofreading. To learn easy brochure printing, you also need to know how to proofread or double-check your material for possible errors. Before sending your material for printing, it should be as perfect as possible and without any errors or inaccuracies. This would prevent any hassle in printing. This would avoid having to stop in the middle of the printing process or undergo re-printing because of the corrections or revisions done. So to save you time and money, see to it that your output has been thoroughly reviewed or proofread before it finds its way to the printer.

Next, know your options. Prior to printing, you must also know what your options are. Printing can be a hassle if you do not even have knowledge and understanding of your materials such as the paper, or ink, or even the fold. Take time to gain knowledge on the elements of printing so you know what you want. This will also save you time and money because you can precisely specify your requirements to your printer and make them produce your desired output. So check out your options and see how printing can be easier to manage.

Try using brochure templates. To avoid trouble with printing companies when it comes to accepting your designs, you might want to check out templates that are already available for anyone’s use. Since these are already patterned or outlined, it would make the prin ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5487/Some-Pointers-for-Easy-Brochure-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5487/Some-Pointers-for-Easy-Brochure-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Guide on Surviving the Booklet Competition</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[While other people do not know it, the people who print booklets do understand that in booklet printing, some markets are just hard and competitive to work on.  In this guide, I will teach you how to survive that competitive market.

I will teach you some proven competitive design and printing concepts.  Just follow these tips and guides faithfully and I assure you that you will survive, and even achieve success with your goals. So let us start with one of the most important mottos you need to learn.

•	Know more about the market. It is half the battle – To survive a competitive environment between custom booklets, half the battle can be won by knowing your market. By doing your market research right and tallying down what your market wants and needs, you can easily adapt your designs to cater to those needs. Readers should respond more to these booklets because all the right information that they want or need is presented in them in the right way. This means more readers liking your outputs and increased chances of success in achieving the goals of your booklet printing. So make sure you know about the market and give yourself an advantage with your knowledge.

•	Always go for full color printing – Full color booklet printing is the immovable rule when you are faced with tough competition. All others for whatever purpose these days are printed in full color with full color designs and images. Black and whites will only look sad and boring when compared to colored others and doing this will not make your own output competitive enough. So always try to go for full color printing. You will need those colors to make designs that beat the competition.

•	Compose an original cover design, different from the rest – Another good tip to know to be competitive in printing booklets, is to always compose an original cover design that is distinctly different from the rest. By being different, original and prominent in terms of designs, your output should cat ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5481/Guide-on-Surviving-the-Booklet-Competition.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5481/Guide-on-Surviving-the-Booklet-Competition.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Confessions of a Long Time Booklet Printer</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[After printing thousands of booklets in my long run in marketing and public relations, I have learned a lot about booklet printing and design. Now, to help those beginners out there, I am going to confess a few great concepts and tips.

These should help everyone to print booklets. Once you understand and take to heart these confessions, your own outputs will probably become more effective and successful at their job. So read on and understand carefully.

•	Full color printing all the way – This is a simple but very important confession for you to remember. Full color is the best way to go, at all times. Full color booklet printing allows you to create whatever design you want with the right colors that can impress people. Everybody is printing with color these days because black and white are just plain boring. Therefore, you really have no choice. It is full color printing all the way or your outputs will not really mean something to anyone.

•	The key is the cover – Another confession that you must know is that the key to design is the cover. If you make sure that the cover looks great and feels great, then it will generally have clear sailing ahead of it with more people responding to it. With a great cover, people will have a great first impression that should really last quite a long while.

To do this, you will need to always use the best materials for the cover, as well as the best binding methods and of course, the best full color designs. The better your covers are, the more people will be attracted to pick it up and read it. Even if the inside pages are printed in black and white ink on cheap paper, as long as the cover is impressive, it should be able to do its job well.

•	Binding means a lot – A lot of people usually forget to think about the binding carefully. In most cases, people just use the default or standard type of binding method for their custom booklets. However, you should note that the binding directly affects the qual ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5475/Confessions-of-a-Long-Time-Booklet-Printer.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5475/Confessions-of-a-Long-Time-Booklet-Printer.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Market Forces or Elements to Consider in Booklet Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Booklet printing is more than just text, images and printing. When you print booklets, you have to consider several market forces and elements that will determine the features, design and ultimate performance of your output. 

So let me explain to you the market forces that you need to consider. Just read the list below and try to understand each item one by one. Your color booklets should benefit a lot once all these factors are considered in your design and content.

•	Your readers – They are the major market elements to consider.  Your readers will of course have different needs in terms of information and functionality for a booklet. Some will want a copy that gives information simply and easily, others would want detailed information in it. Moreover, some readers might also prefer those with various designs or styles to others.

If you can match those needs, design preferences, and integrate that into the content and design, your readers should be able to engage more with your custom booklets, giving your copies the best chance of success. So always try to understand your readers and see to it that what they want and need are already there in yours.

•	Your goals – The next big market element is your booklet goals. Whether they are business goals or personal goals does not matter. The goal will set some of the specific content that will be integrated into the design. If you need to get more sales, then you will need specific content that calls people to action and respond. 

If your goal is different however and you just want to communicate information, then your copy should have more detailed content that your real readers need. Your goals will have a big influence on the overall approach to your designs. So make sure you are clear about them, so that you can also be clear with your booklet designs.

•	Your competition – The competition is of course a well-known market element. Your designs and even the overall process can and will most ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5471/The-Market-Forces-or-Elements-to-Consider-in-Booklet-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5471/The-Market-Forces-or-Elements-to-Consider-in-Booklet-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Survive the Catalog Printing Wars</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Catalog printing is a war of sorts. Especially if your industry as well as your specific market is a competitive environment, you have to print catalogs as weapons in a sense and try to survive the onslaught. 

In this guide to catalog printing, I will help you survive these wars and cutthroat competition. Just follow the tips below. These will help you stand out, survive and perhaps even succeed in these wars.

•	Be one, but be different – Now, here is a simple yet ever so complicated motto in catalog design. However, this is an important one to remember. This motto has you being one with the industry in terms of basic design, but being different enough that other people can remember yours even if they have seen hundreds. You have to be one with others in terms of functionality and configuration, while you also need to be distinct enough so that it is easily remembered. Learn that great balance of looking like a common catalog but being totally different and you should have a higher chance at surviving.

•	Target readers precisely with content and designs – Another important tip to consider is to target readers precisely. Just like precision guided weapons, yours must have content and designs that targets specific readers precisely for a response. That content should appeal to the wants, needs, tastes and common issues that those target readers can relate with. If you can get the right attractive content and design to a specific kind of market, you might just succeed.

•	Use the best printers possible – Surviving a war also means using the best equipment right? Hence, it is important to use the best catalog printers possible to produce your designs. I do not mean using your own great digital printer at the office or house. In this situation, I mean you will have to hire a professional printing company to do all the important printing work. This should give you the best color catalog weapon that is durable, powerful and fresh/new looking. So try  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5464/How-to-Survive-the-Catalog-Printing-Wars.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5464/How-to-Survive-the-Catalog-Printing-Wars.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Confessions of an Expert Catalog Printer</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I have been doing catalog printing for years now, and for you new ones out there, I have a few confessions that you may want to hear about. It is not actually complicated or hard to print catalogs so you do not have to be afraid. 

Especially in this day and age, catalog printing is a cinch really. Therefore, to ease your mind on the seemingly daunting but actually fun and easy task of printing catalogs, here are my confessions as an expert catalog maker for many years.

1.	Designs are several times easier to do today – My first confession is the one that you should take to heart. Designs today are several times easier than it was years ago. Now, with digital technology, you can use digital cameras to get images, use digital image editors to enhance and edit them, while desktop publishing office applications will help you with your layout easily. Everything can be done through computers and advanced printers today making things faster and easier.

So do not be afraid of printing. With the right computers and tutorials, anyone can create with simple tools and wizards.

2.	Printing today is really better – Another important confession that you should know is that printing today is really better. You do not have to go anymore to the printing company shop or factory to get your designs. You can have the whole process done online. By logging on to these online printing websites, you can easily develop your own designs, and send them for easy printing. You will still get your own personally designed catalogs delivered to your house for an affordable price after a few days. It will arrive faster, look better and generally help you a lot in your work. Thus, it is really a good investment nowadays.

3.	Full color catalog printing, always! – Now here is a confession that you must definitely repeat. All experts print in full color and you should too! Full color is THE only choice since it is only with color that the content and images can be impressive enough t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5452/Confessions-of-an-Expert-Catalog-Printer.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5452/Confessions-of-an-Expert-Catalog-Printer.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Key Market Research Factors for Competitive Catalog Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are indeed clever in catalog printing, you will always pay attention to the key market research factors. This data will help you design those print catalogs more competitively. 

If you are a beginner at this though, and do not know these factors, you will have some extra learning to do. Fortunately, for you, I am going to teach you these key market research factors. Let us get started then. 

In the list below, you will find the five most important market research factors that should shape your catalog designs and printing processes. Use them as guide and you will have competitive marketing material that will give you real results in projects and campaigns.

•	The audience and the target market – The first major market factor in your designs for catalog printing is of course the market itself. The general audience and your specific target market demographics will have different preferences and reactions to certain design themes and messages. It is important that you be informed well about their preferences so you can match specifically the catalog design with what those audiences and target markets like. The better matched your design is to the audiences preferences, the more your material can succeed at its main purpose.

•	The competitors – Another big market element is your competitors. You will of course not want to print catalogs that are too similar in design and content with your rivals. Doing that is not only a sign of lack of originality, but it also means that you will not stand out to your audiences. Therefore, it is good to know exactly what your competitors have in terms of designs. The more you know, the more you can differentiate your designs to make yours look more original and eye catching. So do your homework and try to see what your rivals are working on. This will give you the best chance of to try to make some minor adaptations that help make your own look unique.

•	Your resources – It is of course also a fact that ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5446/Key-Market-Research-Factors-for-Competitive-Catalog-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5446/Key-Market-Research-Factors-for-Competitive-Catalog-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>I cannot Fix the Text in my Catalogs</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I have heard this lots of times before in catalog printing. It does not matter if you are printing cheap catalogs or luxurious ones. Sometimes, your text for product descriptions just will not fit the spaces that you want them to fit to. 

Many new designers in catalog printing struggle with this situation, but most find no answers and are forced to cut their content short, or sometimes add padding. With this article though, we will help you avoid this situation.  Below are a few professional techniques that most experts use to tweak their text. Learning these tricks will help you manipulate your text in so many precise ways. You should be able to fit them quite comfortably in any space where you want them to be.

•	Just use a different font – BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, if you are having trouble with fitting your text in certain design elements, you might want to see if changing the font style solves your problems. Not all fonts are the same and even with the same font size value, some will look bigger or wider than others will. By testing out first if you can get away with other font style options, you should minimize your effort in trying to adjust things in a little bit more technical level. There are many different but slightly similar fonts out there. Who knows? You might find another great style that will help you fit your text content.

•	Decimal values in font size – Now, if changing the font style did not work, then let us explore changing the font size in a more precise manner. In almost all updated design applications today, it is possible to use decimal values on your font size. Therefore, instead of just 12pt or 14pt, you can actually insert values such as 12.5. This precise decimal value can really be useful if you want your text to fit in precisely where you want them to fit in. So try it out and see if you can set your text exactly the way you want to with this font size precision.

•	Precise values in line spacing – The next step afte ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Extra Things to Put in Color Business Cards You Never Knew About</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Color business cards today are getting bolder and better. Gone are the classic and traditional print business cards. Today, many innovative and creative businesspersons print business cards with flair and a nod to being original.

If you want your own personal cards to shine, you might be interested to know of a few things you never knew you could put in them. We have listed down below a few of the most common and powerful elements that some professionals use today.

•	An advertising message – If you were selling a product or a service, a good addition to the design would be placing an advertising message. Some people do not expect this, and it can be an effective at getting you some extra sales and interests.

This can easily be setup by simply printing your advertising message (with full color image of course) on the back. You can give your card backside first for them to see your advertising message, and then have them contact you by just viewing the front contact information. A simple addition can get you some great opportunities.

•	An extra fold – If you need to put in more content, such as advertising messages, slogans or even a small catalog listing, you might want to invest in an extra fold. There are folded designs out there that actually have business card configurations with a fold. This doubles the area of the business card layout, helping people add all the extra information that they want. This of course will make your business card thicker, but if the extra information must get through, this is the best way to do it.

•	Scents and fragrances – Like greeting cards and business stationery, you can also have cards with scents and fragrances. Specialized printing companies can offer this service and many businesspersons have tried it out. 

The basic concept is that the sense of smell is directly connected to your memories. By using a unique scent, you can get your information more embedded in memories with that fragrance. It is a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5441/Extra-Things-to-Put-in-Color-Business-Cards-You-Never-Knew-About.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5441/Extra-Things-to-Put-in-Color-Business-Cards-You-Never-Knew-About.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Key Elements of Your Catalog Profile</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you worry about the profile of your catalog? In catalog printing, a catalog design profile is important as it decides how people treat it and respond to it. 

The set design profile will determine if you created cheap catalogs that are unremarkable, or if you created a great professional catalog design.  If you think you need more information on this for your catalog printing, then you have come to the right article. In this guide, we will teach you the key elements. Each element is supposed to be a key focus point for your attention.

•	The main theme – The most important element of a design profile is its theme. The theme concept will basically decide the marketing angle, business projection and overall impact of your catalogs. Also, the theme will decide if they will be a more professional corporate catalog, or if it becomes more of a fun, creative advertising catalog, or of course any kind of theme in between. Hence, this is usually the first and most important thing that must be determined and thought about carefully. So before you do anything else, decide on your main theme first in catalog printing.

•	The font – The next key element in the design profile is the font style. The font style is a function of the design theme. However, it is a big enough element in the catalog that it also must be thought of carefully as a separate factor. The font will decide how people react to the catalog content. A wild, creative and interesting font style will add energy and excitement to catalogs, while a formal, clean and simple font style will convey respectability, formality and practicality. Depending on the design profile that you want to project, you should match and decide on the proper font style carefully.

•	The content – Of course the content is another key factor in catalog printing. You should know that the content of your catalogs is not just content. You can choose specific content that will determine key factors in its design profile.  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5434/The-Key-Elements-of-Your-Catalog-Profile.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5434/The-Key-Elements-of-Your-Catalog-Profile.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Makes You So Special?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Unless you operate in a highly specialized industry where there is virtually no competition, you are probably constantly trying to one-up your competitors. Whether you get sucked into price wars or the &amp;quot;why our product is better than their product&amp;quot; game, it's draining and endless — and honestly, not a very good way to expend your energy or your budget.

Let's try something new. First, take a look at your competition. Pay attention to what they do and do not promote. Pay attention to what they do and do not offer. Pay attention to how they operate and how they interact with consumers.

Next, start paying attention to positive consumer reactions to your product or service. Really pay attention. We're not talking about surveys and focus groups here. We want a real world perspective. Keep records of everyday encounters. This could reveal something they are value in you, but not in your competition. Pay attention when someone says they were referred to you or that your product was recommended by a friend. Do they find a specific feature of your product to be an especially nice touch? Do they value the level of courtesy and support they receive from your customer service staff? Do they find your sales people to be particularly helpful and a pleasure to work with? What is that one something that makes people buy from you instead of your competition? It might be something you intentionally designed into your product or your brand strategy, or you might find it to be something unexpected that reveals the true nature of your company. Whatever it is, this is what makes you special. This is what will help you rise above and beyond the reaches of your competition.

But, just knowing is not enough. This special something must be decidedly integrated into all direct customer interactions, all social media efforts, and all paid advertisements. This is nothing short of a complete rebranding.

When you figure out what makes you so special, you raise the bar. You n ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5431/What-Makes-You-So-Special.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5431/What-Makes-You-So-Special.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Adjusting Text Just Like the Experts in Business Cards</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you having a lot of trouble in adjusting your text content for your print business cards? I have been there and I know where you are coming from. I have had many experiences in creating my own personal color business cards.

 I remember all the troubles that a stray line or word gave me as a created the layout. It took time, but I did slowly learn how manipulate these elements. This is why, I am going to teach you how to adjust text just like the experts. Below is the list of tricks you should know to manipulate text just like a master in business card printing.

•	Precise font size values – The first lesson is very simple. If you look at the usual font size values, you see on your desktop publishing application, you will discover that most of them are whole numbers. In fact, in some cases, you will see in the drop down menu that the choices you have are usually even numbers spaced further and further apart from the next font size.

You should realize that these are not all your choices when it comes to font size. It is possible to actually type in precise font values (even decimal values!) as a font size. If you are having trouble fitting your text perfectly in a design element in your business card, this is crucial. By just adjusting your font size numbers precisely, you should be able to set just the right font size for your text. So explore this option, it can save your design.

•	Fiddling with the standard font height – Now this is the simple part. The next thing we will go to is the standard font height. It is possible to fiddle with the font height of your text, independent from the font size. Many design software allow you to set the font height settings precisely to what you want. In most cases, the font height is a percent value (100%) representing the default height setting for the font size and style. By going to your font or text settings/controls, you can change this figure to a lower figure (to make it smaller) or to a higher figur ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5430/Adjusting-Text-Just-Like-the-Experts-in-Business-Cards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5430/Adjusting-Text-Just-Like-the-Experts-in-Business-Cards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tips in Creating Your Own Business Card Template</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are a sales clerk or an on the go business marketer, I bet that you always try to do your own business card printing with your own designs. A mark of a true marketer and sales clerk is a dynamic business persona.

One who adapts to changing market environments with business cards that change to boot.  I have worked with many of these marketers and I have seen them switch from a lot of different templates and themes as they try to be competitive in their work. 

While business card templates might work best probably for marketers and maybe even for you, it is still a better move to create on your own and develop your own kind of template. For a truly personal kind of design that is original in all respects, it is necessary to do this.

Therefore, if you like the idea of creating their own templates for business, I have here a list of tips that should help you. Below are all the basic things you will need to know to create your own.

•	Decide on a set dimension/configuration – It never really is good to change from different sized business cards. This not only presents you with little problems in storage, but in terms of your designs, changing from one size to another with a template is not efficient. Therefore, if you are creating your own, I recommend that you choose the best configuration for your purposes and set that as your standard dimension.

For example, if you are doing a lot of foreign business and are always meeting people from around the world, then you might want to use the international dimension standards in business card printing (ISO standard settings). If all your business is in your country though, then it is good to use the standard configuration in your country. There are specific industry or market standard configurations that you may want to use as well. Just try to stick to the most useful configuration so that your template can help you with the most number of designs and contacts.

•	Set guidelines and margins – It ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5429/Tips-in-Creating-Your-Own-Business-Card-Template.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5429/Tips-in-Creating-Your-Own-Business-Card-Template.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The 4 Factors of a Business Card Design Profile</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the biggest things you should decide on in business card printing is the design profile. The design profile is a collection of different factors that communicates a certain business image and some other details. 

Most business card templates (the good ones) will more or less decide the profile for you. However, if you want a truly original and distinctive design, you should try to do it yourself and create the design profile that you want.

As a guide for you, we are going to give you a list of the five major factors of a design profile. By deciding carefully in these design factors, you should create the proper profile and the personal business image that you want.

1.	The dominant color – The first major factor in a design profile is the dominant color. It might sound odd, but the dominant color will in fact shape the whole profile that you are trying to communicate. For example, a plain white business card will make it look common and traditional while a black business card is very unusual and mysterious. 

Most professionals today use some creative color as their backgrounds that match the theme of their business. For example, energetic industries in advertising and marketing use bright and vibrant colors. Serious industries on the other hand like the academe prefer more subtle and cool colors to make things look respectable. So the dominant or background color choice is no joke in business card printing. Choose precisely what you want to create the design profile that you need.

2.	The choice of font – The font style of course also is an integral part of a design. A font is a major factor in the overall theme. Creative fonts will make for a creative profile that is more related to energetic markets, while fonts that are more formal of course project the image of a more corporate environment. Moreover, some fonts are actually trademarks of some businesses, so this adds to a more specific corporate profile that your business cards can exploi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5427/The-4-Factors-of-a-Business-Card-Design-Profile.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5427/The-4-Factors-of-a-Business-Card-Design-Profile.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What are the Different Hazards of Multitasking?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was in a meeting discussing things that I do not care about so I decided to fiddle around with my Blackberry. I opened my inbox and decided to respond to a client. I know it is rude but I just had to maximize my time. 

Multitasking, if you like, is the buzzword today. It is the buzzword among business executives. Accomplishing more in a limited time span is something that everyone must know how to do. Or is it? 

Well, the bad thing is when it came to me to respond to a question of the chair of the company, I realized I had not heard the question as I was busy replying to messages in my inbox. I wanted to ask him to repeat the question but I did not want to give the chair the impression that I was not in full attention to what was being discussed. I took the cue from the topic thread and tried to give my opinion about the proposed brochure printing design. I rattled off until my colleague nudged me to tell me that we have moved on to another topic. I was embarrassed but I tried to salvage the situation. This is the danger of multitasking. 

Studies showed that people distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQs. How does a 10-point drop in an IQ equate to? It is no different to losing one night of sleep. I bet you have experienced this before – up all night and working the following day. I bet you could not even get your brain to start even a sentence. 

Doing several things at once is something we play on ourselves to get more things done. However, in reality, our productivity goes down by as much as 40%. We do not actually multitask. We switch-task, that is, we rapidly shift from one thing to another, interrupting ourselves unproductively, and losing time in the process. 

You might think you are wired differently and that you have done it so much you have mastered the art of multitasking. Practice, they say, makes perfect and all that. Nevertheless, this is not exactly true. Research shows that heavy multitaskers ar ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5426/What-are-the-Different-Hazards-of-Multitasking.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5426/What-are-the-Different-Hazards-of-Multitasking.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Birth Pains of Starting a Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There is value when you look at how businesspersons started their company. While there are snippets of experience here and there, there is no real forum to describe the real experience of starting up a company. 

Most of what is written deal with the technical aspect of setting up the company like designing the business plan or drafting the marketing strategy, or developing marketing collaterals like brochure printing or print brochures and even flyer printing. However, there is little interest in the human aspects of starting a company. It seems that this aspect is completely ignored because most writers want to focus on the inspirational and positive features of creating a start-up business. Yes, setting-up a business has its ups. You will experience satisfaction, fulfillment, and oftentimes, it can be life altering. 

Nevertheless, what we tend to not discuss, albeit deliberately, is that in starting a business one goes through both emotional and physical stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, panic attacks, destruction of relationships either with family or business partners, embarrassment, lawsuits, health problems and worst, bankruptcy. There are the doubts or the if thoughts… 'If I could have just…. or If I could have borrowed more… or If just lowered the cost…. – Indeed, these are thoughts that could haunt you for life. 

Given the other side of starting a business, would you still pursue your dreams of owning and managing your own business? Yes, it can definitely be a nightmare, but you would not want to be haunted by the thought that you chickened out, would you? I always believe that people who do not fail are those that do not risk. Having said that, I still believe that despite the negative aspects of starting a business, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. What you should do is to try to understand and accept some things in the process. This would help you become more resilient.

First, you must come to an agreement with yourse ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5405/Birth-Pains-of-Starting-a-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5405/Birth-Pains-of-Starting-a-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Low Cost Marketing Ideas</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing usually takes a lot of your business operational budget. For a new business marketing is the number one expense.
Home based business’s especially have a very limited budget when it comes to advertising. Their main aim is to make consumers aware of their products/services at the lowest possible cost. Even though I have mentioned specifically home businesses, this is true of many different types of business.

Let’s look at some examples of low cost marketing methods.

A pet breeder had been struggling to gain a market share with his business. She came up with a great inexpensive marketing method to increase customers to her business. She started giving away customised birth certificates for the pets that were sold. This had a great impact on her business and sales rose more than 10 per cent.

Another business, a home cleaning business was trying to attract new clients.
This business owner couldn’t afford to spend anything substantial on advertising so she came up with the great idea of offering home cleaning seminars to local community groups and charities. After a few months of this, and through word of mouth advertising, she gained a large number of both enquiries and clients.

Marketing effectively can make the difference between a business succeeding and failing. You have to inform potential customers about your products and services and give them a reason to buy from you. If you can achieve this, your business will be well on the way to being a success.

There are two ways to promote your business.

1. Take the conventional marketing method to promote your business via media campaigns (TV, radio and press). This can be effective but also expensive.

2. Think outside the box, like the examples mentioned earlier. Try a number of different approaches this way you can launch a cost effect marketing campaign to market your business and increase customers.

Traditional marketing methods are invaluable, if your business is large enough  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5400/Low-Cost-Marketing-Ideas.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5400/Low-Cost-Marketing-Ideas.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Web Sites as Round the Clock Shops</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A website is the window to your business. It does not let people in, but it gives a glimpse of what they can expect from your business. Hence, a quality website makes a strong impact on the image of a business corporation. 

Websites offer potential customers an idea of what the business can offer in terms of products and services. It continuously provides customers or clients access to the business regardless of time zone. If you like, you can compare websites to a 24-hour convenience store. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Imagine having a shop that operates in a similar fashion and you would have a shop that is continuously offering services to a wide array of customers and clients. 

It is therefore very important to have a website that you and your organization can be proud of. A good website is a good indicator that the business maintains a good reputation. For instance, if you land on a webpage after a search for poster printing companies that is not friendly and navigable, you immediately click the back button to go back to the search results. There is no point in trying to figure out how the website works if there are thousands upon thousands of poster printing companies. 

That is a good reason why you should invest in a good website. A good website attracts and entices customers to look for more. Once, I was looking for a good spa when I chanced upon a company that has a good website. I looked around and found out that they have more to offer. I did not only get the spa I wanted, I also got a good body scrub. Need I say more about why you should invest in a good website? If you are still unconvinced, read these tips to have an effective website: 

•           Make sure that your website has a well-designed logo. Always remember that your logo, be if for your website or posters, is your brand. It is the face of your business. It usually appears at the top of the site. Naturally, just after opening your site, this is  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5375/Web-Sites-as-Round-the-Clock-Shops.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5375/Web-Sites-as-Round-the-Clock-Shops.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Troubleshooting your Business Strategies</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A business strategy is a work in progress. It is not a one shot deal. It should continually evolve to suit the current business climate. At some point in time, you may have assessed if your strategy is actually doing what it is meant to do. 

You probably asked this question because chances are that someone you hired had specifically developed this for you and prepared this strategy. 

This is true for many business owners because either they do not have the time to actually sit down and write the strategy, or they are terrified when they hear the word business strategy. For some it involves a lot of analyzing using tools like SWOT analysis, environmental scanning, risk analysis, financial prospects, etc. Well, they are. However, as a business owner you cannot just rely on a specialist or a consultant to do the thinking for you. True, they are trained and paid to do business strategies. However, implementing the strategy is another thing. 

More often than not, these specialists and consultants are not very familiar with the ins and outs of your business. Often they come in, interview a couple of management people, look at some graphs, refer to some statistics, and Voila! They have a business strategy for you. I do not have anything against consultants or specialists but these people come in to your business with a package. They are not coming in to really look into the business in order to develop a plan; they are bringing in a template. A template that they have been prescribing to many businesses long before you hired them. A little tweaking to factor in some business peculiarities and you have for yourself a business strategy. 

A template, though not necessarily bad, can go wrong. This can be particularly if it does not suit the business. Perhaps the strategy is not achieving the desired results, or worse, a misguided strategy can put the entire business at risk. Regardless of the severity of your concern, it is up to you as the business owner to make t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5371/Troubleshooting-your-Business-Strategies.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5371/Troubleshooting-your-Business-Strategies.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Important Images for Your Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Color brochure printing is not just about the designing and printing of important information about your business. It is not just about translating and making necessary details of your company available to your target clients and customers. 

Moreover, it does definitely not have to be concise when designing a printing template in order to fit your message. It requires the consideration of important images that are related to your company. There are images that you must never ever forget when you are designing a high quality output for your business.

In order for you to have an effective printing endeavor, you have to carefully take note of the images that are very vital in developing the image and philosophy of your company. This will help you achieve the goals of your advertising materials faster and better. There are crucial images that you should always remember when printing.

Your Company Logo

A logo is one of the staple items that you need to have if you are starting out a business. Your company logo is the symbol of your business. It is the reflection of your company. It adds credibility to your company by making it more official, legal, and authoritative. Most of the time, by just looking at this standard representation, your regular and target customers and clients can easily identify the products and services that your company offers. By just its simple presence in other printing materials such as your flyers, catalogs or even custom print hangtags, it can also immediately serve as a reminder and advertising tool of your company to your target consumers and clients. 

Your Team Picture

You can also incorporate pictures of your group or team of the company. You can add photos and pictures of your staff and employees. By introducing the members of your team or your human resource, you actually make other people feel more welcome in your company as they see real people actually working to make your products and services care for your target cl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5370/Important-Images-for-Your-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5370/Important-Images-for-Your-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>7 Brochure Development Tips for Smarter Work</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let me help you work smarter and faster when it comes to color brochure printing. If you want to really save time and effort in brochure printing, you have to be systemic with your development process. 

In addition, it is important for you to gather or create your own tools to make sure that the printing and design process runs smoothly. I will teach you how to do all this with the seven tips listed below. 

Let me get you started first with brochure templates.

1.	Create or use your own brochure templates – It is smart to create and use your own templates. Templates are great time savers since a lot of the mundane layout and design process have already been set and saved in them. You will be able to create designs faster with templates, while at the same time helping to make your design more suited.  You can easily get templates from your desktop publishing application or a free download from the Internet. So when possible work smartly in printing, designing and creating by using your own templates.

2.	Know the software layout shortcuts – Another simple way to make your work smarter and faster is to know the software layout shortcuts. I know it might sound very simple, but knowing the keyboard shortcuts in your software application can indeed build up to get you extra time savings. Knowing the shortcuts for bold, italic effects, image free transform, scaling, cutting and other formatting commands have been proven to cut design time by 10-40%. So learn those shortcuts and try to apply them. You will be surprised at how fast you can design a proper color brochure.

3.	Create your own style settings for text and images – In terms of style, it is also a good idea to create and save your own style settings for text and images to help you work smartly. If you look at most up to date desktop publishing applications today, you will notice that there are preset formatting styles for different but common text and image elements. For example, some applicatio ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5363/7-Brochure-Development-Tips-for-Smarter-Work.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5363/7-Brochure-Development-Tips-for-Smarter-Work.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Additional Design Elements Your Brochures Might Benefit From</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A basic design for color brochure printing is already enough to succeed at communicating essential marketing messages and other kinds of information. There are, however, certain additional design elements that your project might benefit from. 

Let me give you five other additional elements that you might become interested in inserting to your color brochures. Many expert designers use these elements in improving their color brochure designs.

1.	Borders (both traditional and non-traditional) – Primarily, borders are a great additional design elements. In one hand, borders are great framers and dividers. You can effectively divide sections, images and other design elements to a proper layout to make it more appealing.

Moreover, borders are a great way to enhance and improve the design theme for brochure printing. By choosing the appropriate style of brochure border, you can add an elegant, modern or exotic look, just because of the border style. So make sure to try to see if borders can be used in your brochures.

2.	Text boxes – Now, it is also a known fact that many expert brochure designers use text boxes. Additional text boxes at a layout may have several uses. For one, it can be a venue for featuring certain parts of the main text, much like a teaser or commercial. Moreover, text boxes can also be used as information boxes that insert important information and arguments within the body text itself. Finally, text boxes can be venues for testimonials, call to action elements and even quick information snippets that help people to understand and respond to the copy more. That is why it is also a great investment to use text boxes in your brochure printing.

3.	Section dividers and borders – If you want to add that extra detail element, or maybe establish and improve the theme more completely, a good design element that you can insert to your layout are section dividers and borders. Dividers and borders not only help in the overall layout. They als ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5358/Additional-Design-Elements-Your-Brochures-Might-Benefit-From.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5358/Additional-Design-Elements-Your-Brochures-Might-Benefit-From.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of Spaces in Color Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you think about the spaces that come in your brochure printing design? Not many people actually pay attention to the role of spaces in color brochure printing, but they do play an important part in an efficiency and beautiful printing layout. 

Let me explain to you the role of spaces in color brochures in this simple guide. Spaces have four major roles that you should know about.

1.	Provide a sense of professional cleanliness and order – The empty spaces in provide that sense of professional cleanliness and order. If you look at a cheap and cluttered copy, you will understand this. Imagine a brochure that is crammed to its margins with content. Also, add to that a background that is textured with varying colors and shapes. All those elements combined will provide little space and breathing room for the eyes. The custom brochures will look much cluttered and it will be hard for some readers to make sense of the layout without spaces.

If you add some empty spaces in your layout this all changes. Things will be less crowded and readers will have some empty space to rest their eyes. The output will look cleaner and more orderly. So do not cram everything in a layout for your color brochures, make some space.

2.	Helps divide sections without using dividers – Another important role of empty spaces in color brochure printing is to help divide different sections without using dividers. If you look at most common designs today, you will discover that they use only a minimal amount of dividers and other extra design elements. This is because less is more is the name of the game in brochure designs. Empty spaces will help achieve this look by helping divide sections. With just a little ample space between paragraphs, you can easily establish a break of a section and the start of a new one without adding more design junk.

3.	Provides an area for the background to come out – Of course, another good thing about empty spaces is that it provides areas where  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5355/The-Importance-of-Spaces-in-Color-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5355/The-Importance-of-Spaces-in-Color-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Photoshop Tricks You Should Not Overdo in Brochure Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One thing that I see when amateurs do their color brochure printing is that they overdo some of the special effects that Adobe Photoshop or other software applications offer. I know it is great to try out these new desktop publishing applications.

However, sometimes it does go a little overboard that it makes the color brochures look a bit cheesy or amateurish. Therefore, as a warning for would be designers, I have here five Photoshop or application tricks that you should not overdo. Keep this in mind, and you will have better outputs in the future.

1.	Shadows – The use of shadows is really a good move in most cases. Shadows lift up certain text and images to make them pop-out more. However, the problem with some people is that they use shadows too much. They put shadows on all titles, headings, subheadings and even the body text. When this happens, the whole color brochure becomes littered with “floating” text and design elements, which will look bad and amateurish. 

It is best to use shadow effects only for a few elements in a design. The title and some images are where most of your shadow effects should be. Do not overdo it by using it on almost everything you see.

2.	Color strokes – When using color strokes, you should also be careful on where and how you use it. Color strokes are great for text and shapely images since they provide a kind of border or background to these design elements.  In the proper places, color strokes can be effective. Especially for logo designs and special images for emphasis, color strokes add that well-rounded element that ties a design element together. 

The problem with other people using this feature though, is that it gets used around in some areas too much. Using this feature on all images and titles makes for a messy layout. You are putting in splotches of color strokes everywhere if you overdo this. That is why it is best to reign in this effect in and only use it in one design element per panel.

3.	Gl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5349/Photoshop-Tricks-You-Should-Not-Overdo-in-Brochure-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5349/Photoshop-Tricks-You-Should-Not-Overdo-in-Brochure-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The 7 Rules in Writing Content for a Vacation Brochure</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you think that writing content for a color brochure is easy? Well, it is not, especially if you want to create a specific kind of brochure, such as a vacation brochure. 

There are rules that you have to follow to make sure that the brochure printing goes off well – with effectively written content. Let me layout for you all these rules in writing content for a vacation brochure in this article. I hope that this would give you a good framework for writing effective messages.

1.	Adopt a positive and energetic style – One of the rules in writing is to try to adopt a positive and energetic style. You are not making an awareness or a corporate brochure here. You are creating something that needs readers to get excited about travelling and going on a vacation. Therefore, it is important that the style of writing is a little bit less formal, positive and energetic. Use some great adjectives in the descriptions and try to be visual and emotional with the writing. This rule should set the mood right.

2.	Use key powerful words for impact – Now, another important rule in writing is to use key powerful words for impact. The words of course will vary for different travel destinations, but the keywords should be related and descriptive of what people can expect and should want in their travel destination. 

For example, for a beach destination, good and powerful keywords would be sun, golden sands, cool azure waters, secluded, relaxing, etc. You must litter your composition with these key words so that readers will be engaged and respond. This makes for an effective and powerful brochure with text that has impact.

3.	Create different sections with topics that matter – Now, in terms of the text layout, it is important to write in different sections with topics that matter. Divide your written text content into several detail sections for accommodations, amenities, special features, business details, travel details etc. This must all be compartmentalized an ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5347/The-7-Rules-in-Writing-Content-for-a-Vacation-Brochure.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5347/The-7-Rules-in-Writing-Content-for-a-Vacation-Brochure.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Create Your Own Brochure Template</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Developing your own template for color brochure printing is a wise decision. This is true especially if you are a business that invests in brochure printing on a regular basis. 

With a brochure template in your hands, you do not have to hire a layout artist every time you do a brochure printing. You only need to pull up the template, customize the details you need, and send that design off to printing.

Thus, if you want to create your own useful brochure template, you have to learn the things you need to prepare and do. In this guide, I will teach you the steps on how to create and save your own template. First, let us start with the technical details.

1.	Get the technical details first – The first step in creating your own template is to get the technical details that you need first. This basically means that you must try to know the dimensions, fold style and other technical details that make up the template that you need. Sometimes, it is good to try to look at other templates as a start. It is also possible to download some free templates from the Internet and use those settings as a guide for your own personal template. Mark the dimensions, guidelines, printing bleed allowances and other settings.

2.	Setup your document with margins, guidelines and bleeds – Now, with the initial document settings for the template known, it is time so setup your document. The first thing that you need to do is to basically open up your software application and then set the document for your brochure template with the margins, guidelines and bleeds that you need. Be sure to mark where the folds are and make sure everything is accurate. Bring up the rulers in your work area to make your time in making this template more effective.

3.	Create your master page design – With all the technical details and guides set, and then it is time to create your master page design. This involves adding all the images and placeholder text that will be part of your template. Fo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5345/How-to-Create-Your-Own-Brochure-Template.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5345/How-to-Create-Your-Own-Brochure-Template.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Redefine your Marketing Strategy Based on Client Response</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[While reading this article you might be finding it hard to get new customers to come to your doors. You might even find it difficult to get the ones who have already bought an item from your shop, to go back and buy another of your products. 

In short, you are in dire need of a consistent flow of clients in your business. Whether it is to get one-time clients to do repeat business with you; or to get your phones ringing off the hook – the bottom line is to have clients and customers keep coming back for more of what you have to offer. When they do, you will surely have a nice cache for you to get profits, which will then help you reach your goals for your business.

Nevertheless, reality states that this is always not the case for many businesses. More often than not, even when you believe that what you have to offer is what your target clients actually need, you still fall short when it comes to generating the right kind of clients to your business. When we say the RIGHT clients, we mean those who have the capacity to actually buy your products or avail of your services.

So why are you still not getting the clients you need to grow your business? What went wrong? What happened along the way when you were marketing with your brochure printing or print brochures?  

Many of the businesses still struggle to grow their business because they fail to conduct market research of their business. They fail to consider whether there is a demand for, one, the kind of service they are offering, and if they have positioned themselves well enough to be a cut above the rest of the businesses in the marketplace.

More than anything else, it all boils down to the fact that most businesses rely on what they believe in rather than on what is tried and tested in the market.

So why do most business owners and marketers fail to do research? This is because they just do not think about it more enough. The reason behind this is that market research takes time, effort, ener ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5336/Redefine-your-Marketing-Strategy-Based-on-Client-Response.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5336/Redefine-your-Marketing-Strategy-Based-on-Client-Response.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Get New Clients for Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If there is one thing, you need to learn to acquire when you are in business, it is how to have the skill to attract clients. Nevertheless, let us go further and say that you need to learn the skill of attracting the RIGHT kind of clients.

More than any other skill or capability when marketing one’s business, attracting the right clients is one ability that can help your business to achieve its goal. And despite being economically unstable at the moment, your business will never want for profits and financial security as you will find your marketing endeavors such as your brochure printing or print brochures become more responsive to the goals you want to accomplish. 

Having this skill can also provide you with enough time to not only devote it to growing your business, but more importantly to having quality time with your family and other social events. The bottom line is to attract not only more clients, but also especially those people who have the capacity to pay for what you are offering. When you learn how to attract the right target clients, you will truly have an amazing tool that can get you the leads you want, when you want it and where.

The next question now is how you figure out what your target market wants. The answer lies on the following steps:

1-	Remember that being visible is not enough to get you your clients. Nor is getting your words out there. These things are not adequate to secure you the leads you need in order to grow your business.

2-	Most clients and customers know what they want. They will not buy anything just because you believe they do want them.  More often than not, consumers buy according to their wants.

3-	Again, customers buy because they want to, not because they need it. Therefore, unless your offer matches what your target clients want then securing the right kind of clients will always be something of a dream for you. What is the solution to this problem? Keep tabs on your target clients and research on wh ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5331/How-to-Get-New-Clients-for-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5331/How-to-Get-New-Clients-for-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Step Up to the Challenge of Growing Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Taking that next step to ensure that a business will start growing is indeed quite a challenge. This is true for every budding business owner. Although it is a very challenging step, it is also exciting.

Indeed, it is both a challenge and an excitement to plan and map out what you need to do in order to have everything in their right places. So what do you do to take that next step to success? What are the most important elements you need to address to get the ball rolling for your business? Here are the important aspects you need to be familiar with so you would be ready to start growing your business according to how you want it.

Primarily, you have to ensure that you know what your target clients really want. This is not something that you come up with at the snap of your fingers. Or even the things that you think or believe your target clients will need. You have to deliver to them what they want because no matter what kind of marketing campaign you employ – be it the more expensive brochure printing and custom print brochures, or simple flyers – no amount of convincing or cajoling can make them buy a product or avail of a service that they don’t have a need for. 

Therefore, this is where you need to focus your energies on – you have to find out what product, service or program that your target clients really want so that you will have the guaranteed success you are looking for. Even before you start thinking of putting your plans into paper and begin promoting your business to your target clients, be sure to research first what is it that your target clients are looking for that is not already out there in the market. When you do have the answer, then you can deliver something that is of value to your target clients. What is the result? They would want it, seek it, and then demand for it even if you do not promote too much in the market.

Next, you have to learn to spend your budget. This means that you have to be smart when spending what you ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5329/Step-Up-to-the-Challenge-of-Growing-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5329/Step-Up-to-the-Challenge-of-Growing-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Test Your Marketing Brochure Yourself</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you not have that professional marketing team to test the effect of your brochure? Why not do some tests on your print brochures yourself? It is easy! I will teach you how. 

Just read the list of steps below on how to test your brochure printing output. This should cover all the investigative steps in determining the good and bad elements and the actions you can take to further improve it. So let us get started!

1.	Initial comparison with others – The first thing you have to do to test your own custom brochures is to compare it with others that it might have competition with. You can just try to acquire those by going around your market area, or you can also look at some related outputs online. 

Once you have those other brochures, try to see how it compares to yours. Is your copy very different or is it just the same? What makes your copy stand out from the others? What are the good things and bad things about each of them including yours? After answering all these questions, you should have a better idea about the status of your printing output.

2.	Getting the basic opinion/reaction – After comparing with other color brochures, the next step is to get the basic opinion and reaction about them. Try to ask your friends, family and other colleagues about it. Ask them what their opinion is, their initial reaction and their overall impression about your marketing material. See exactly what attracts them to it or conversely what they abhor about it as well. This should give you a great qualitative impression about your design and message approach. Take note of all these reactions so that you can fix the failings and improve the strengths of it as well.

3.	Experimenting with different approaches – With all the initial comparison and reaction data done, the next step in testing is the actual experimentation of different approaches to your printing. The first thing to experiment with should be your message. You should try to compose several message  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5325/Test-Your-Marketing-Brochure-Yourself.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5325/Test-Your-Marketing-Brochure-Yourself.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Office Brochure Printing versus Professional Brochure Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With all the new gadgets for office publishing, it should now be easy for everyone to do their brochure printing in their offices. If you do print brochures at the office, you should be aware that there are still specific disadvantages to this.

Compared to printing in the office, professional brochure printing is still better. Let me clear out all the arguments to you by presenting the pros and cons of office and professional printing. Let us first start with the pros of the office printer.

•	Office brochure printing PROS – Printing at the office has a few very specific advantages. First up, office printing is generally cheaper in small amounts. If you are only planning to print brochures in small numbers, the overall printing cost is cheap because you can print and spend only on the specific number of outputs that you need. You are not a slave to set printing orders when printing at the office.

Beyond that, office printing also gives you a chance to control every aspect of the whole printing process. If you require specific custom elements and cuts, you can easily implement it without really fearing of getting it wrong. Therefore, if you really want that control over the look and cost of your color brochures, office printing is the best.

•	Office brochure printing CONS – The disadvantages of office printing comes down basically to you and your printer. If you are a novice or are totally clueless about office printing, then printing at the office is not a very good idea. Novice printing will usually result in bad looking, misaligned color brochures that will be a waste of ink and paper. Also, if your office has only a standard printer that is not really set for printing special prints and documents, you might be in trouble since it won’t produce the best looking brochures that you need. So if you lack the skills and the equipment, do not go for this.

•	Professional printing PROS – The best thing about professional printing is of course t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5323/Office-Brochure-Printing-versus-Professional-Brochure-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5323/Office-Brochure-Printing-versus-Professional-Brochure-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Brochure Printing Essentials for Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Success in brochure printing comes down to five major essentials. That is right. It is very easy to print brochures that will be successful as long as you adhere to five essential elements in brochure printing. 

Let me teach what those five elements are and help you to achieve success.

1.	That attractive factor – All successful color brochures need that attractive factor. They must be able to catch the roving eye of the readers even if they are far way or have others beside them. This can be tricky for most designers, but basically you need a very distinctive element such as a wild unusual color, a shocking/impressive image or a good leading title to get that attractive factor. Always have at least one of these in your color brochure to get that essential element of attractiveness.

2.	Something beneficial for readers – Another important essential factor for successful custom brochures is the benefit for the readers. Every copy must have a good premise for readers, telling them that reading it is something worth doing to get something. It may be a chance to get a great deal on a product, or maybe they can gain some very important information about some aspect of their lives. Whatever it is do, it should be something that really matters to your readers. This gives them the reason to read, making the marketing tool more effective. So make sure you really give some benefits to the readers.

3.	Durability and longevity – Brochures of course must also look great long enough for people to read them. That is why an essential element in successful printing is durability and longevity. This entails using durable paper materials that increases its lifespan. Thick and water resistant materials is a must to make sure that your marketing tool can last a long time even when exposed to the typical physical trauma that they will commonly face. So choose your printing options wisely and get the most durable materials you can afford.

4.	Specific roles and goals – ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5319/5-Brochure-Printing-Essentials-for-Success.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5319/5-Brochure-Printing-Essentials-for-Success.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Slice Through Those Brochure Printing Costs</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Everybody is economizing these days and for businesses that invest in brochure printing (like yours perhaps?), the story would probably be about the same. So let me teach you how to slice those brochure printing costs effectively. 

Do not worry, you do not have to settle for output that looks bad and cheap. You can easily print brochures that are attractive and effective while still slicing through costs. Here are the steps that you can take.

•	Slash down the size – The first logical step would be to slash down the size of your color brochures. If you are printing large such as oversized tri-folds, long Z-fold brochures or even those specially large French folds, there is no doubt that the printing costs a lot. You can easily slash your costs in brochure printing if you just cut down the size and use a standard sized trifold brochure. You may need to cut down on content, but it will make the printing cost a lot more affordable.

•	Cut down to standard options – The next step to slashing costs is to cut your printing options to standard options. Lose the expensive glossy coatings, special trimming and that thick paper material. Just go for the standard printing options that are usually the cheapest when you go to a brochure printer. This will of course cut down the quality of your color brochures quite a bit, but they should be typical and standard enough for commercial use. As long as you get to save 20-30% of your printing costs, it should be well worth the switch to standard printing options.

•	Make a stab at doing your own checking/proofreading – Many printers offer a standard proofreading or checking service. However, you should know that you could actually cut down a few dollars in the printing costs if you do not avail of that service. You can just try a stab at doing your own checking and proofreading to save some money. It is just some extra work for you, and it lets you improve and make perfect your color brochures in your own way. So ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5314/Slice-Through-Those-Brochure-Printing-Costs.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5314/Slice-Through-Those-Brochure-Printing-Costs.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Beat the Evils of Brochure Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let me help you beat the evils and troubles in brochure printing! You should not fear problems when you print brochures anymore. I am going to give you specific solutions and answers to most of the evils in brochure printing with this article. 

We are going to go point-by-point and problem by problem. So let us start with the most basic evil or problem, and that is the cost.

•	Beating high costs – Beating the high costs of printing is simple. All you really have to do is to be wise with your choice of brochure printer. Did you know that some of the operational costs in stem from the popularity of a brochure printing company? Popular printers will typically have higher costs than less popular ones, just because of the name and reputation. 

That is why all those advertisements and the position of the printing company on an online search engine should not distract you. Be smart and compare printing companies based on their merits. Compare printing costs with quality and speed. Be exhaustive with your search and you should be able to find a cheap printer that has the right price and the right quality for you. Trust me this works, and you will be surprised at the savings you can make just by making the right choice.

•	Beating lacklustre quality – If quality is your problem, you should try to take it into your own hands. Many people make the mistake in letting the printer decide the features by choosing standard printing options. The best way to beat lacklustre quality is to choose the printing features and qualities that you want. 

Try to choose the paper material, the inks and the appropriate configuration of folds. Of course, try to be smart with your choices and get the best options that improve its looks. By deciding on your own quality choices, you should be able to get the output you deserve. So read up and pick the right quality printing choices that you need.

•	Beating slow delivery times – If you need outputs fast, I recommend that  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5308/How-to-Beat-the-Evils-of-Brochure-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5308/How-to-Beat-the-Evils-of-Brochure-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Does Your Brochure Need a Design Makeover?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you still using your year-old print brochures? If you still are, then you might want to ask yourself if it needs a makeover. Regular and fresh new brochure printing outputs is important for them to be competitive. 

If you start lagging behind, your marketing tool will slowly lose its worth because it will not be effective enough at doing this job. Therefore, to make it easier for you to see if your custom brochures need a makeover, I have created this list of questions. Answering the questions below and examining their ramifications should help you judge the status of your color brochure better. 

Hopefully this should give you the information you need to act on the makeover.

•	Is it getting results? – One of the first indicators of the need for a makeover is its power to produce results. Is your marketing tool still getting customers or responders for your business or project? Do they come with your brochure in hand? On the other hand, do most of them now come after they have seen your online advertisements? Try to determine this by asking your responders where they saw or read the information about your business or project. If they are not coming from brochures at all, then it is time to revamp your color brochures. You do not want to be wasting money on something that is not producing results.

•	Is it making an impact? – Another important thing to ask is impact. Are people impressed? Do they remember your marketing materials after reading it for some time? Do they still get excited once they read them? 

Impact is important since this is what drives most people to act on them. So try to determine this by just asking some people what they think about your material now. See if they are attracted to it immediately or if they just consider it as a run of the mill. If yours do not grade well with their expectations, then it is time for a brochure redesign definitely.

•	Is it competitive with others? – You should of course also ask yours ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5302/Does-Your-Brochure-Need-a-Design-Makeover.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5302/Does-Your-Brochure-Need-a-Design-Makeover.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Doing Competitive Business with Brochure Printing and Branding</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you into brochure printing? Do you find it difficult to market your products using your print brochures? Well then, it is about time to invest on something that would make your business more competitive. 

But do not worry because this will not cost you that much. All you need is a creative imaginative that can come up with innovative ideas. Admit it, many companies out there also offer the same benefits and claim the same features as your products or services. It is therefore a big challenge for you to arrive not only at a good but also unique quality that would make your products or services standout from the competitive market. 

To print marketing tools that are of great quality is a good strategy. However, you can still add more to it. You can make use of brand marketing to set you apart from the competition and make you stand out from the rest of the group.

Even though companies offer the same features and benefits, your product or service can still be noticeable because one way or another there are other areas that could make you different. This is where the magic of brand marketing comes in. Brochure printing is a valuable technique to promote your business. Nevertheless, coupled with brand marketing, it becomes more profitable and beneficial to your business. 

Branding allows you to hold on to a distinct characteristic. Again, let me reiterate that at one point or another, all the companies will possess something unique and different. This is all about finding your niche. This comparative advantage should be flaunted when you print brochures.

For example, your company might be using products that are from abroad. On the other hand, other groups may make use of local products. So in this case, you can brand yourself that you are using imported items that are of high quality. Another example is your type of delivery. When your company resort to all forms of delivery such as house-to-house, and even overseas shipping, compared to the competito ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5300/Doing-Competitive-Business-with-Brochure-Printing-and-Branding.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5300/Doing-Competitive-Business-with-Brochure-Printing-and-Branding.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Strategies for a Hassle Free Brochure Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are a beginner in brochure printing, you may find it hard to print brochures yourself. There would be instances that you would have misaligned the dimensions. Sometimes, you will forget other features of your design. 

There are a lot of possible hindrances in creating a good brochure. Nevertheless, you can avoid these difficulties by preparing enough through understanding several strategies that this article will offer you. 

Primarily, you must not forget that you can use templates to make it easier for you not only to print but also to design. Templates are already made for proper printing set-up. It means that the dimensions, orientation and other essential features are already hooked up or plugged in the template. In addition, it is easy to find them. 

Brochure templates can be generated from brochure printing companies. You can look for them in the internet. These templates can provide you with professional and exquisite look. However, you have to be very keen in choosing the appropriate template for your product. When you use a downloaded template, you can at least have the assurance that your output will look great. Just be reminded that there are also necessary adjustments that you have to do yourself so you can have brochures that are appropriate for your own marketing needs.

Next, you must always utilize the guidelines. Such can have different folds depending on the layout and design. These folds also add to the uniqueness. Moreover, guidelines on folds will help to print properly. You can be assured that in using the guidelines no images or texts will serve as obstruction in the fold. Remember that your goal is to create better, cleaner and more beautiful outputs that would be highly appreciated by your target audience.

Furthermore, you can add printing bleeds, which are the extended areas of the layout that goes beyond the design dimensions that have already been arranged. Printing bleeds are crucial in assuring that once you print b ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5295/Strategies-for-a-Hassle-Free-Brochure-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5295/Strategies-for-a-Hassle-Free-Brochure-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Cure Option Paralysis with Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Option paralysis happens when, presented by so many option, you cannot decide which one to take. I bet you have experienced this before when, as a kid, you went to a candy store. 

With so many choices, you just could not make up your mind if you wanted the Snickers bar, the candy cane, or the cotton candy. This phenomenon is real and it makes decision-making processes very difficult especially among discerning customers. 

Now, how can you help your clients and customers get over this paralyzing situation? Well, there are ways. Read on.

There are various media that businesses can use to persuade clients or customers to buy your product or your services. There are the proverbial print ads in major dailies or popular magazines. TV remains to be a powerful medium but a bit costly. Radio airtime is not that costly yet very pervasive. However, all these media combined cannot even match the power of color brochure printing. 

Brochures printing have been around since the marketing term was coined. In fact, when one mentions marketing strategy, there will always be something that will be said. This is so because brochures are the most dependable marketing collateral because it not only delivers your key message with sniper precision. It also delivers it in a way that is not heavy on the budget. 

A well-designed, well-conceptualized brochure will certainly leave a lasting impression among target populations. Read on and know why this folded piece of paper is one powerful tool.

1.	They get the message across. Unlike flyers or posters, you can only work with two sides but with brochures, because of its ability to be expanded, you have more space to persuade buyers to buy your product or service. You can talk about its specifications. You can add testimonials from satisfied clients. You can add images, contact details, etc. Your clients or customers will appreciate this information. This is, by far, the most important advantage of a brochure. 

2.	High pass-o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5293/Cure-Option-Paralysis-with-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5293/Cure-Option-Paralysis-with-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Parts of a Tourism Brochure that You Must Never Forget</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A tourism brochure has many important parts that must make it to the brochure printing process. Not all brochure templates show these important parts, simply because some template makers think it should be plainly obvious for everyone. 

However, if you are a beginner, it is not as obvious of course and you may want to know about these important parts before you design something for tourists. Let me list down these important parts for tourism brochures for you. Knowing these will help and you will not have any problems in designing.

1.	The promotional cover – The first and most important part of a custom brochure for tourists is the promotional cover. Of course, most tourists want to be wowed and amazed at what they see on the cover. Thus, you must always go all out with your covers to get the best and most attractive cover design that you can get. Try to get the best full color pictures, with most artful and attractive text that you can find and compose. It is crucial for your covers to catch the eyes of tourists, so that they can begin to read the more important details inside. So do not forget to compose and deploy the best promotional cover that you can.

2.	Displayed benefits – The next most important part is the displayed benefits. After the cover, you must tell the reader what they can get or what benefits they gain when they read through and try to understand your color brochures. Usually, you should be displaying the best benefits that they can get when they visit your tourist destination or service. Take note though that your tourist readers must not only learn about these things though, they must also FEEL that they should want those benefits.

Do this by displaying not only the benefits themselves, but also the lifestyle and the image that your tourist service or destination provides. This gives them the extra incentive to not only go to your destination, but also to “become somebody” or to “do something amazing”. This is an importan ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5290/Parts-of-a-Tourism-Brochure-that-You-Must-Never-Forget.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5290/Parts-of-a-Tourism-Brochure-that-You-Must-Never-Forget.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Psychological Analysis of Brochure Readers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In order to truly get readers to pay attention and read your color brochures, there is no need to follow any kind of brochure templates. What you need is to have a psychological understanding of the reader.

This is done so that you can match the kind of brochure printing tactics your target readers may need. In this guide to printing and design, I will teach you on how to psychologically analyze your brochure reader and the questions they ask themselves as they evaluate your designs. 

I hope that this should give you some great insight on how to approach your design composition for brochures. So read on and learn about the psychology of a brochure reader.

•	Can they see it/notice it? – The first part of the whole psychology is attention. The reader must see or notice your marketing material first before anything can happen of course. While you may think it is as simple as placing them in plain sight, this is not actually the case. It is quite difficult to catch the attention of the people since they are always preoccupied with whatever it is that they are thinking of, feeling, doing, wanting and needing. To break through all these preoccupations, you need marketing materials that will help distract. They should be prominent enough in the environment so that people would pick them up.

This means that you will need to break the psychology of ignorance by using designs that are loud and attractive to people. You will need to use noticeable colors, awe striking headlines and of course eye catching images. These all must combine into a distracting that breaks preoccupied people so that they pay attention to your message. So think of something inviting and distracting to get through this initial psychological state of the brochure reader.

•	Is it interesting enough for me? – The next phase is interest. Readers will typically try to determine if the content is interesting enough for them. Is the issue being discussed or is the offer being displayed i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5277/Psychological-Analysis-of-Brochure-Readers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5277/Psychological-Analysis-of-Brochure-Readers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>There Is No Box</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It happened again. A client came to me about doing a new direct mail campaign and said, &amp;quot;We need to start thinking outside the box.&amp;quot; The problem is that most people don't really get what outside the box means and they tend to use this phrase either out of frustration of not having an immediate answer to why their marketing efforts have been sub-par, or as a way of covering the fact that they are simply lost and don't know how to approach their marketing needs.

The non-existent box as explained in The Matrix…

    Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.
    Neo: What truth?
    Boy: There is no spoon.
    Neo: There is no spoon?
    Boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Thinking outside the box requires a willingness to take new perspectives and to create value in new ways. The problem is that people tend to approach this without looking inside first. The results are generally off-the-wall ideas that get everyone excited but miss the mark and are really little more than a gimmick. So instead, let's try focusing on who we are, where we fit in, and how we relate to our intended audience…

    * What is our key opportunity?
    * Who is our target audience?
    * Where do we want to be?
    * How do we get there?
    * What is our primary consumer benefit?
    * What should the consumer's net impression be?
    * What support do we have?
    * What are the mandatory facts that we must communicate?
    * How do we want the consumer to respond?

Thinking outside the box creates a separation between our brand and our audience. Just as Neo must become one with the spoon, you must become one with your brand. Once you've done that, you begin to realize that there is no box and that your brand can interact freely with your audience. You will development more creative — and more effective — ideas to bend your marketing in the right direction.  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5276/There-Is-No-Box.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5276/There-Is-No-Box.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Evaluate the Success of Your Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Evaluating the success of their color brochures is one big problem that some small businesses face. This is so when they do a brochure printing project. It does look hard to try to evaluate something as dynamic as marketing brochures. 

Their biggest problem usually is that they do not really know how to evaluate. However, a few tricks can be used to determine if your brochures indeed have some kind of beneficial effect in business. Let me teach you a few of these tricks in brochure printing evaluation. 

Below is a list of five of the common techniques that most experts use to evaluate. See if you can do them yourself.

1.	Initial pre-distribution testing – One of the best tricks in evaluating the success is an initial pre-distribution test. This means that before you actually deploy, give them first to several focus groups to get a sense of how they are received. This helps you gauge quite well how typical audiences will react. Just make sure that you get a good sample of different demographics in your focus groups to make sure that the whole spectrum of the market is represented in your study.

The best thing about this kind of evaluation is that you can still try to alter your designs even if you discover that your particular custom layout sucks. This makes this evaluation trick one of the most common practices experts do in their evaluative process.

2.	Marketing time isolation testing – Now, a more complex evaluative process for color brochures is isolation testing. This basically means that you isolate the effect of brochure promotions in a certain time period by simply using only color brochures for a set number of days. This trick is quite effective for small business owners with a local market reach. 

Therefore, as an example, a local gift shop may cancel all its other promotions such as flyers and posters for a month or so, while brochures are the only ones given out. That set time of isolating the effect should give some idea of how much ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5273/How-to-Evaluate-the-Success-of-Your-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5273/How-to-Evaluate-the-Success-of-Your-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Seven Things to Do when Designing Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let me make your design process for brochures a little easier by giving you my standard brochure printing and design to do list. Below are the seven things you need to do to prepare and start designing brochures.

Just follow steps 1-7 carefully and you will be well prepared and be able to do color brochure designs with the right materials and concepts. Let me get started by teaching you the first and most crucial step.

1.	Determine your objectives – The first thing to do when making designs is to determine your objectives. Different outputs depend on different objectives. Some are for marketing and advertising, while others are for information awareness and dissemination. You must determine precisely what your objectives are first so that you can layout your design and printing correctly. So take some time to discern precisely your objective.

2.	Determine your target audience – The second thing to do in designing is to determine your target audience. This decision will help you choose the theme, language and overall style. It is important to know who your target audience is. Are they young or old? Are they dominantly male or female? Are they rich, middle class or poor? Are they educated to what degree? You will have to do some decent amount of market research to do this, but it is important for you to match your designs with that specific target audience.

3.	Determine your theme – Thirdly, you will need to determine your theme itself. With your objectives and target audience set, this should be easier to think about. You must try to brainstorm a proper theme to adopt considering your objectives and the target audience. Be sure to do your market research right so that your audience should be able to like your theme without it looking to constructed or forced.

4.	Write your content – Next, with all the main decisions set, it is now time to write your content. Remember to write your content in a concise manner. Make it as short as possible, with  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5265/Seven-Things-to-Do-when-Designing-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5265/Seven-Things-to-Do-when-Designing-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Develop the Proper Objectives in Brochure Design</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of commercial brochures is not simply to get people to read them. True brochure printing for businesses (big or small) has several important objectives that need to be met. There is not only one objective. 

Many need to be addressed by different elements. In this guide, I will teach you how to develop the proper objectives of brochure design for business. There are three main objectives that you need to determine and develop.

•	Message Objectives – The first major objective is to deliver its message. While this is undoubtedly obvious, it merits your prime attention because your objective for your custom brochures is to deliver the message properly and effectively.  This means not simply communicating the message. It means communicating the message in such a way that is easily understandable, for a certain target market.

To do this, you will not only write your content to state your message. You will have to use a specific style that is appealing to your target market. Therefore, if you are writing for teens for example, then your objective is to write in the style that appeals to teens. You might probably want to write in a more creative way with the information that only teens need to know. If you are writing for a more professional older audience on the other hand, then you might want to adopt a style that is more mature and professional with the important and detailed facts that older people need. Your objective is to always write the best possible content for your target readers.

•	Emotional Objectives – Brochures also have “emotional” objectives. This means that besides providing the raw facts that readers need to read about, you also need to present your designs in such a style that is emotionally appealing to readers. This means adopting a certain kind of theme or design philosophy that gets your readers excited or awed by what they see.

For example, if you are printing for a luxury item or service, the best theme to u ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5261/How-to-Develop-the-Proper-Objectives-in-Brochure-Design.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5261/How-to-Develop-the-Proper-Objectives-in-Brochure-Design.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tricks to Make Poster Printing and Design Absolutely Easy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you want to make your poster printing and designing process absolutely easy? Let me give you a few tricks that you can try out to make this possible. You will discover that it can be really easy and fast to design and print all on your own. 

Just try to try to keep up with the following tricks listed below.

•	The template trick – The first trick that I will teach you is the template trick. This trick, as you may have guessed uses a poster template. Templates are a really great way to make your designs in a quick but very effective manner. Most professional templates already have the pre-set guidelines, dimensions and even printing bleeds that helps prepare your design for printing. 

So, you do not have to worry about converting your designs for certain formats or even making mistakes in setting dimensions, guidelines and printing bleeds. With a poster template, everything is set for you. All you really need to do is to get them from professional printing companies. Try looking for them online and download free templates. It is that easy.

•	The gather and loading trick – Now, another trick to help you make designs fast is the “gather and load” technique. This trick basically has you getting all the design elements you need first before doing the actual design. Many amateur designers do not do this practice and this lengthens their design process considerably. 

If you prepare your images, text and other design elements before doing your actual layouts though, you can easily cut design time by half. Moreover, this will really make layouts really easy for you since all the things you need are prepared already. No more scrounging around and stressing yourself in finding the right image or text. Everything can be easily inserted quickly. So try to adapt this technique, it should be quite beneficial for you.

•	The online printing trick – Finally, we have the online printing technique. If you want the printing process to be done quite qu ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5259/Tricks-to-Make-Poster-Printing-and-Design-Absolutely-Easy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5259/Tricks-to-Make-Poster-Printing-and-Design-Absolutely-Easy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Solve Poster Printing Problems Over the Internet</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Poster printing is a cinch, especially when you use the Internet to solve problems. That is right! You do not have to suffer problems in printing, software and design when you print posters anymore. 

If you have an Internet connection, you can easily solve all your problems over the Internet. Let me give you the facts straight and easy on how this is possible. You do not even have to be an expert to do this!

•	Printing problem solved through online printers – One of the first major problems is of course finding the right poster printer. In the yellow pages, you might have a few good listings, but very little information is available in there. When you look for online printing companies through the Internet, though, your options will probably skyrocket. 

There are hundreds of printers online and you can easily find extra information about them since you are on the Internet. You can easily see sample prints, printing quotations and their printing options online. Moreover, you can even research for reviews and testimonials of your prospective company to really be sure that they are the ones you need. That is why you will have no problems if you do your project online. 

•	Design problems solved through online design resources – Now, if your problem is in the design, the Internet has also a few things that can help you. Off the top of my main list, the internet can provide two major things. Those things are templates and images.

o	Poster templates – these can really help you develop your design easily. With a template, all you really need to do is to copy and paste your design elements into it. All the major guidelines and dimensions are already set within the template so that your whole draft can be easily ready for poster printing. The great thing is, you can download these templates online from printing companies. So this is really a great tool to use and easy to get as well online.

o	Poster images – Images are also freely available on th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5252/How-to-Solve-Poster-Printing-Problems-Over-the-Internet.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5252/How-to-Solve-Poster-Printing-Problems-Over-the-Internet.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Business Cards are Powers that Come in Small Packages</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Print business cards might be small compared to other marketing collaterals. However, do not discount their impact. They may be small, no miniscule compared to large format printing, but they carry a mean wallop.

These type of marketing materials open opportunities. They not only deliver your message and your contact details, you are also expanding your network. A cliché, I know, but it is like hitting two birds (actually more) with one stone. They are the most portable and the most compact, yet they can deliver the biggest impact.

They offer endless possibilities. It can list all your services for instance. It can feature a calendar for easy reference when you need to set the next appointment. It can have your photo or those of your services or products. It can list testimonials. You can do so many things using it. I once saw a card with a teaser inside, &amp;quot;You are making the right decision just by dialing this number. Go!”

The best thing about custom business cards is the ability to manipulate the size. Just like the conventional ones, they are highly portable and easily kept in a shirt pocket, bag or wallet. They are very handy compared to other marketing collaterals like posters, brochures and even flyers.

I have seen a lot of these marketing tools and they are really showcases of flexibility and creativity. Businesses can express their creative genius by splashing the cards with vibrant colors or eye-catching images. The possibilities, as mentioned earlier, are limitless. The more creative, the more unique and the more eye-catching your card, the more customers it can attract.

A flower shop might use a print business card as a coupon to offer discounts. A wine shop can use the card as some sort of a wine guide. A pest control shop can enumerate all the services that he can offer – or all the insects he could get rid of. A restaurant might have an image of their most popular dish. An interior designer might print a color wheel to show cont ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5250/Business-Cards-are-Powers-that-Come-in-Small-Packages.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5250/Business-Cards-are-Powers-that-Come-in-Small-Packages.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Considering a Photo on Your Business Card</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Have you ever wondered how your business card would look like if you put your photo in it? Some would shudder at the thought of it but some would like to believe that adding a photo on print business cards make it more personalized. 

Would you agree with this? To add a photo or not - that is the question. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages to adding your photo. Let us look at them and you decide whether to add or not to add.

Why do candidates plaster their faces and names on posters? Because they would like to be remembered. If you want a name to be remembered easily, put a face to it. That is an advice I heard from experts on how you could improve your ability to remember names. The trick is how you associate the name with the face. Take this name/face recall strategy that I always use. For instance, if someone introduces himself to me as a Rick, I would try to find something in his appearance that would sound like his first name like Rick with the big stick. Or Larry who is lanky. 

Clients, associates, or even high school classmates are more likely to remember you if you have a photo. So when a client rummages through their rolodex, your photo on your print business card would help them remember you. There is even a greater probability that they would get the services of the business with a photo on it. A card with a face on it creates some sort of a connection right away. Agree?

If there are obvious advantages, there are of course some disadvantages. The photo might have been taken several years ago when you were 30 pounds lighter and 10 years younger. How do you suppose your contacts would react to it when you hand them your custom business cards? One thing is for sure, the photo would not help your clients remember you upon seeing you again. Unless you print your business cards regularly, photos can make your cards obsolete. 

Despite some disadvantages, photos can really help because photos or faces build trust.  A photo can help co ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5248/Considering-a-Photo-on-Your-Business-Card.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5248/Considering-a-Photo-on-Your-Business-Card.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Do not Miss Out On Great Opportunities, Network with Your Bosses</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are like me, I shudder at the thought of going to a social gathering alone with just my color business cards. I always feel this way because I am an utter failure when it comes to small talk. 

I often feel that what I am saying is not worth the time of the other person so I rush it just to get it over and done with. I personally feel that the topics I discuss are irrelevant and not at all interesting. This feeling remained and I just stopped going to any event, be it organized by a company or even social gatherings. That is, until I came across this article on how to have enough confidence to engage people in small talk.
 
I found it comforting when I learned that even experienced people have had issues with small talk particularly if the people they are to engage in are their big boss, a personality, or a VIP. It can be especially daunting if we have to engage someone who has authority over us. Right? Anything involving a boss can be a bit unnerving. 

Indeed, conversations with a boss can be nerve-wracking. Nevertheless, it can also be a source of many great opportunities. Danger comes from being unprepared to engage your boss, hence, committing a blunder can either be from saying something offensive or saying something that is better left unsaid. Opportunity, on the other hand, arises because you can introduce a completely new aspect of yourself to someone who has the power to influence. 

I learned from this helpful article that if I know that I am attending a gathering, I had better prepare myself to engage in small talk. Small talks are not always spontaneous, as you would think it is. You can actually design how the conversation would proceed by knowing what you will say or how you will say it in advance. Here are a few pointers that I learned on how I can prepare myself so as not to miss out on any great opportunity. 

First, I make sure that I actively introduce myself to company executives. Company presidents, CEOs, as well as Board of Di ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5245/Do-not-Miss-Out-On-Great-Opportunities-Network-with-Your-Bosses.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5245/Do-not-Miss-Out-On-Great-Opportunities-Network-with-Your-Bosses.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Essential Guide for Designers in Business Card Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Welcome to this tutorial on business card printing. I will teach you here the essential tips that you should know when creating a design for business cards. As a designer, you should know how to prepare your designs for printing. 

Below is a list of things that you should prepare on your design and printing options when you print business cards. Follow these tips and you will have little difficulty in designing and printing your own personal business cards.

•	Work with standard templates – One of the best rules a designer can adhere to is to work with standard templates. If you look at the world of business cards, there are a lot of standard formats both at home and internationally. Some are smaller, some are larger, and some use a different orientation or format. 

The important thing here is that you use the standard template that will be acceptable for your industry. So choose the proper printing template that applied to that. Along with the guidelines and printing bleeds of these templates, your designs should be well prepared for printing.

•	Know the effect of paper materials – Another important thing you must know about in business card printing is that materials used for production. Different paper materials for business cards printing will have a different effect on the design. A glossy paper material will make a design shine and gleam in the light, while a rougher texture will be more subdued. You should always be aware of these effects on the design so that you know what the right colors and lighting values used. So always try to study up on the common materials used for printing.

•	Know the effects of special inks – Inks are also an important area of concern for your color business cards. You should know the effect of those special inks on your design. For example, some inks are actually metallic and they gleam or shine when hit by the light. A printed name will benefit from such inks since it will make the name look more elegant ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5240/Essential-Guide-for-Designers-in-Business-Card-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5240/Essential-Guide-for-Designers-in-Business-Card-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Proper Investment Strategies in Business Card Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you have a limited amount of money reserved for business card printing, you will probably want to know the best aspects to invest on. This is for you to get the best-looking business card with your limited budget. 

If you do not know these proper investment strategies for business card printing though, do not worry.  In this article, I will help you print business cards cost effectively by telling you the proper aspects that you should focus on in business card printing. 

Below is a list of items on which you should always invest on when you print business cards. These are the proper investment strategies that should give you the best color business cards without spending too much on them.

•	Investing in good paper materials – One of the first and most important aspects to invest on is the paper. The paper materials in business cards will not only determine the appearance of the business card, but it will also determine its texture and its durability. Therefore, you have to think carefully about your choice of paper materials. 

If you have a limited amount of money, I suggest that you go for smooth type paper materials because that is a good standard. However if you plan on distributing to a lot more people in a lot more places, I suggest you go for the thick and durable ones. Just choose your materials according to your specific purpose. You will be assured of investing in the right aspect.

•	Investing in good inks – Another important aspect to spend on are inks. You should not settle for simple black inks if you are really serious about printing. It is good to splurge a bit when it comes to inks. I recommend that you go for glossy color inks that cause your name and other text to gleam in the light. This adds a very professional and impressive element in your business card that your possible business contacts can respect. It is also possible that some of these inks are waterproof. So if you can, try to spend on these great inks as well. B ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5235/Proper-Investment-Strategies-in-Business-Card-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5235/Proper-Investment-Strategies-in-Business-Card-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Get Direct Mail Marketing Work for You</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you facing some problems with your direct mailing campaign? Let me help you fix it. There are a lot of improvements that you can do to your marketing materials and mailing services to increase the impact of your direct mail marketing. 

Below are several tips that would help make your mailing services to become more precise at marketing as well as make sure that your marketing tools become more effective. So let me start you off with a simple tip about mailing.

•	Get great services – Yes it is that simple. Get great mailing services that are highly recommended by others. Do not settle for the local ones. Try to search online for recommended services that actually are experts at distributing marketing materials. Trust me, there are a lot out there. Some are even partners with printing companies that specialize in special direct marketing tools. 

With a good partner, you can improve your marketing campaign quite impressively. You can expect your marketing tools to arrive on time, at the right places and in pristine condition. So always be on the lookout for these great services.

•	Get detailed mailing lists – This is another good tip that you should apply to improve your campaign. Do not just buy lists that have addresses. Get detailed ones that are organized in terms of demographics. Addresses should be easily organized via social class, sex, age and even ethnicity. These detailed lists can help you be more precise with your marketing tactics. You would be able to deliver precise marketing messages to the people who will respond best to your marketing ploys. So try to get detailed lists from reliable list brokers when you can.

•	Study your changing market – Another important trick to learn is to always study your changing market. Do not stop doing your market research and always try to learn from changing market conditions. By knowing what are the popular themes today as well as the current needs and aspirations of your market, you will  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5231/How-to-Get-Direct-Mail-Marketing-Work-for-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5231/How-to-Get-Direct-Mail-Marketing-Work-for-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Every Trick You Need to Know in Direct Mailing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you want your business to be known as the best at direct mailing promotions? Do you want your company to be more effective in using mailing services for marketing? 

Well then, if you want to learn how to do these things and more, you have come to the right place. In this guide, I will teach you every trick you need to know in direct mailing. From using mailing services and proper material tactics, you should be able to learn the essential tricks that will make a direct mail marketing campaign succeed. 

So read on and learn.

•	Using local, national and international commercial mailing services – the best trick I can give you for direct mailing is to hire different services for different locations. Sometimes it is good to hire the local services to handle your campaign since they know more about specific areas than those bigger ones. Therefore, if you want to be accurate and precise with your marketing, you should go for the local distribution.

However, if your marketing campaign requires a broader market, then a mass mailing national or international service is better. They have the wider infrastructure that should be more reliable for large marketing areas. 

Use these services separately or in tandem to get more results that are precise for your marketing. This should help a lot in making your marketing succeed.

•	Demographic based mailing – This is another good trick that you should know about in marketing. This is the trick of mailing only to people that will be more responsive to your particular marketing campaign. Therefore, you do not distribute your materials to several big locations in this method. You mail individual people in many areas based on demographic data.

This can help you be more precise with your marketing campaign, giving you a better impact for each piece of marketing material. You may need to do some hard market research and buy mailing lists for this method, but it should be all worth it.

•	Getting mailing  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5230/Every-Trick-You-Need-to-Know-in-Direct-Mailing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5230/Every-Trick-You-Need-to-Know-in-Direct-Mailing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Precision Guided Marketing through Mailing Services</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing is not just done through broad based advertising or promotional campaigns. It is also done through precision guided marketing like direct mailing promotions. 

By using mailing services as a precise tool for distribution, direct mail marketing can be considered as one of the best modes of precision guided marketing for businesses.  If you do not believe me, then let me give you the facts. 

In this article, I will tell you how direct mail marketing can be done effectively through mailing services with great precision.

•	Targeting precise marketable locations – you are allowed to target marketable locations precisely. If your market research suggests that people in a town, county or city seems to respond more to your marketing message, you can easily send marketing materials to all residential addresses to that location. 

By hiring a local mailing service in that area, you can quickly send marketing materials to everybody. You do not even need to have a mailing list if you are doing marketing in a location. The local service can sometimes be relied upon to distribute those materials by hand to the area in question. You also need not pay for a list if the service already knows where to send those marketing materials of yours.

•	Targeting precise individuals – you can also target precise individuals in your advertising campaign. If your market research suggests that certain demographics actually respond to your message better, then you can adjust your campaign to target only those precise individuals.

In this regard, you may want to acquire lists with specific demographic details about the people in it. By only sending to the proper demographics who will respond to your marketing, you can precisely get the customers that will give you the best profits. This kind of precision can only be done through direct mailing and you should really consider using such for your business.

•	Using custom made marketing materials to people - gives ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5222/Precision-Guided-Marketing-through-Mailing-Services.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5222/Precision-Guided-Marketing-through-Mailing-Services.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Great Direct Mailing Tools for Marketing via Mailing Services</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What you send through your mailing services for direct mail marketing is an important decision to make. You will not want to send just a simple letter to your present target market. 

You will have to send a variety of direct mailing tools to really get the attention of your target market. In this article, I will give you a list of tools that you may want to send through your mailing services. These marketing tools are the new and effective tools that get the job done in marketing today.

•	Marketing postcards – Postcards are one of the essential tools in direct mailing. Since they already have that marketing message at their cover, they are one of the best tools that get that marketing message across quickly and effectively. Of course, since these kind of marketing tools are already made for mailing without an envelope, they are also quite easy to send. All you need is a mailing list and maybe stamps and your direct mail marketing can go on immediately. That is why a lot of businesses have used such marketing materials for their campaign.

•	Marketing catalogs – Another great thing to send for marketing purposes are catalogs. Catalogs are basically “mail in” shops that bring your store to the homes and hands of your market. You can show off all your products through images and detailed amounts of text. They are quite effective at really exposing your whole product line to the market effectively. Therefore, if you want all your products featured in your campaign, I suggest you use these marketing materials.

•	Marketing greeting cards – Now, for alternative ways, these are one of the best things to send. Greeting cards are of course something that almost everyone likes to receive. For direct mail marketing, this is a great advantage since people will read them almost immediately to see what it is about. If you have a lot of rivals, or just want to have a unique impact on your market, these are one of the great things to use. So try and consid ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5220/Great-Direct-Mailing-Tools-for-Marketing-via-Mailing-Services.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5220/Great-Direct-Mailing-Tools-for-Marketing-via-Mailing-Services.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Wise Tips on Spending Money for Catalog Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In my experience, I have discovered that money will always be not enough in catalog printing. You may have a lot of great plans during the catalog printing process. However, there is not enough money to go around achieving your plans. 

That is why you have to be wise when spending money for catalog printing. In this article, I will teach you how to spend wisely and provide you the important areas where you should concentrate your money on. 

Read the list below, and you will know where your money should be spent on.

1.	Expert catalog printers – One of the most important things to spend on is the catalog printer. You have to choose a company that offers affordable services and which can be trustworthy and certified experts at printing catalogs. For your money to be really worth it, it is best to look for catalog printers with a good reputation and have good printing samples. I suggest that you look online for expert catalog printers so that you can easily compare them. Whatever the case though, it is good to spend the time and money in hiring a good printer. Trust me, with a professional printer by your side, your money would be well spent.

2.	Tough cover materials – One of the most important areas to spend on is your cover. Therefore, you should always try to find the best and tough cover materials. Tougher covers mean spending on thicker covers for durability. This will help your design look well for a longer amount of time. Even in prolonged marketing campaigns, your materials must always look new and fresh if you spend wisely on your materials. Make it a point to focus a veritable amount of your resources for the covers.

3.	Image enhancing inks – Inks are also something you must work on. Do not spend on cheap inks that will deteriorate or fade easily in water, harsh light or light physical damage. Always invest on glossy, moisture resistant four-color inks that are tough and look impressive to people. Trust me, this is money well spent because ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5217/Wise-Tips-on-Spending-Money-for-Catalog-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5217/Wise-Tips-on-Spending-Money-for-Catalog-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Need to Know List of Designers in Catalog Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[All designers of print catalogs listen up! Before you go ahead with catalog printing and design, I suggest you read this list first. Below are all you need to know to pull off proper catalog printing output. 

That is right! Printing catalogs is not as simple as you might think it is for designers. You will need the reminders below so that it goes on with no difficulty or complications. Therefore, read one and learn.

•	Proofreading is an essential practice – This is something you should not skip on as a designer. Proofreading is an essential practice because it minimizes the risk of an error being produced hundreds of times. Always check your content and your design layout at least three times before going for the final printing process. Have some break in between each time so that it is easier to spot anything you may have overlooked.

•	Templates help quite a lot – Another thing that you should know is that templates help quite a lot. They will help you build catalog designs easily since they already have the standard formatting and layout for a proper design. Moreover, since it has guidelines and printing bleeds, designs from template are typically easier for catalog printers to print. This should make the whole process easier and faster. Thus, it is great to invest in templates.

•	Cover materials affect your designs – You should also know that cover materials have a very far-reaching effect on your design. A design printed in glossy paper will typically look better than one printed in rough cheap paper. You should always try to spend a little more when it comes to your cover materials. This will help a lot in the overall impact of your design.

•	Printers play an important role in quality – Finally you should know that printers play an important role in achieving high quality outputs. Even though some firms may look the same, each will have some strengths and weaknesses when it comes to printing. They may have different tools and a di ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5208/Need-to-Know-List-of-Designers-in-Catalog-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5208/Need-to-Know-List-of-Designers-in-Catalog-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Quick Catalog Printing Done Easily</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let me teach you how catalog printing can be done easily. Do not worry it is not as troublesome as you think. By reading the list of tips below, you should be able to print catalogs overnight and still make them look great. 

Do not worry, you do not need any special training or knowledge to do this. Just read on and understand.

•	Use a standard format – Standardization is key to printing catalogs quickly and easily. Do not use a custom design or format. This will only make your catalog printing and design last longer. Use a standard format with a standard template instead if you want everything to go fast. Since you will be using a standard format, anyone from the designer to the printer will know how to easily deal with your designs. They will not need to adjust or convert anything so everything will be done fast with little complications. So try to do this and you will help make the printing process faster.

•	Keep those layouts simple – Another important thing that will help you make the process of printing faster is to keep those layouts simple. You do not need wild and wacky designs. Just use a simple grid or list layout and everything should be done quite faster. There are no special formatting features and you do not have to work hard to customize each page. With a simple layout, everything should be quite easy and fast.

•	Pick simple printing options – Your printing options can also affect the speed of the printing process. That is why it is important that you pick simple printing options. For example, it is good to use staple binding method instead of perfect binding because binding using staples are of course faster. These little choices can mean a lot in the overall speed so make sure you pick the right one that will help you make the process a lot faster.

•	Print overnight online – Finally, to print quickly, you should go online for your catalog printer. Online printing companies will typically offer you fast overnight print ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5207/Quick-Catalog-Printing-Done-Easily.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5207/Quick-Catalog-Printing-Done-Easily.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Spending on the Right Stuff in Booklet Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you not aware of the right options on which to spend on when you print booklets? Well, let me teach you which of the stuff to spend your money rightly for your booklet print. 

As a designer for many years, I have already discovered the important areas in the printing process that can hugely benefit the output. Therefore, read the list below and spend on the items listed. These items will be the major factors in getting the best print booklets that you want.

•	Cover Materials – This should be a standard. You should always spend on great cover materials. The cover is of course what most people usually see first in a booklet. This is the reason it is important that the materials used are the best you can afford. Go for paper that’s thicker for durability, as well as glossy materials for that impressive effect. Trust me, with great cover materials, your output will turn out quite great looking.

•	Cover inks – To enhance your booklet designs even further, I recommend that you spend on special inks for the cover. Not all inks are the same, and some have special properties. By investing in the use of metallic inks for your custom cover, I assure you that your cover designs should look quite impressive. Your output would look quite epic with their gleaming cover inks, and everybody should be impressed enough to really be interested in what your printing output has to say.

•	Binding – Another important thing to spend on is the binding. The binding of course is an indicator of quality. Cheap binding means an output that would probably deteriorate quite quickly, while expensive binding methods can assure you of better quality materials that will last a long time. Thus, I recommend that you invest in expensive binding methods to make sure that your custom booklets are tough. Go for perfect binding if it is possible.

•	Booklet printer – Finally, I recommend that you spend money on the best printer in town. Do not just let your amateur friend  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5201/Spending-on-the-Right-Stuff-in-Booklet-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5201/Spending-on-the-Right-Stuff-in-Booklet-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Every Trick a Designer Needs to Print Booklets</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are a designer for a booklet print, you need to read this article. Listed down below are every trick that a designer needs to print booklets that are impressive looking and tough. 

Learn these tricks well and your prints should come out quite well and look professional.  So let us get the lesson started with the first trick and that is the wise use of templates.

•	A wise use of templates – One of the best tricks to make booklet printing quite easy to do is to use templates. Booklet templates might sound like a bit of overkill for simple ones. However, by wisely using this tool you will be doing your design a favour. Designs based from a template are typically a lot easier for a printer to deal with. 

Sending your design based on a template will minimize any adjustment or conversion that the printer will need to do. This means that they will be able to print them just the way you want to, without the printer changing certain aspects of your drafts that might ruin your design.

•	Cunning choice of materials – You also have to know that materials can actually change the quality of your design. Smooth glossy paper can typically enhance the look of your design while rough or textured paper can have a very different effect.  You have to be cunning with your choices and get the ones that will enhance your design theme. 

I for one, use those glossy paper materials to make my custom booklet designs gleam. However, a rough textured design might be more appropriate for your theme. Just try to see what material is good for your designs. Make no mistake, though, material choices will really help a lot.

•	Proper guidelines and bleeds – It is important as well for you to always add proper guidelines and printing bleeds in your booklet design. These help you create good layouts that will not hamper the effectiveness of your color booklets. Guidelines help you put your content right where they will be seen, away from folds and cuts. Moreover, by a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5190/Every-Trick-a-Designer-Needs-to-Print-Booklets.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5190/Every-Trick-a-Designer-Needs-to-Print-Booklets.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Worst Advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It never fails, every time I hit the highway I see a billboard that boldly states…

&amp;quot;Does advertising work? It just did!&amp;quot;

I bet you've seen a similar billboard on your daily commute — proudly displaying it's pointless message in a horrible combination of fonts and colors. It is designed to serve one purpose and that purpose is simply to get everyone's attention. This, my friend, is advertising at it's worst. Why would I suggest that getting attention is bad advertising? Because it congratulates itself on having produced a result, but the result was nothing more than me reading the message. The advertising was in no way relevant to me as a consumer. Getting my attention achieved nothing. The simple fact is that the billboard company would be doing itself a huge favor if they would simply state, &amp;quot;Your message here.&amp;quot; with their phone number prominently displayed. This would have addressed a potential prospect's need while providing a call-to-action. Their message does neither.
Just Be Relevant

You can impress your audience with a bold, cutting edge style. You can even wow your audience with a really creative concept. Your ad could show off every incredible feature your product offers and you can have the lowest price in town. But, if your message is not relevant to your target audience, no amount of persuasion is going make it sell.

The first thing you must do is make sure you are talking to the right audience. The second things is to make sure you show them how your product is going to meet their needs or fulfill their desires. For example, help them make or save more money, save them time, allow them to avoid doing stuff they don’t like, help them feel better about themselves. Whatever the case may be, make sure your message is relevant — and your product lives up to your pitch — and you'll be on your way to producing the best advertising ever! 


Howard L. Theriot
Catch Light Productions
http://www.catchlight.com]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5182/The-Worst-Advertising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5182/The-Worst-Advertising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Great Options to Make Booklet Printing Done Fast</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So you want booklet printing that is done quickly? Look no further. I am going to teach you the great options that you need to choose from and help get your booklet print done quite quickly. 

By just going for cunning and great options, a printed output can be produced quite literally overnight and still be done in good quality. So let me show you the options that you need to know.

•	Simpler binding methods – The first option that you need to learn about are binding options. To make printing go fast, it is best to go for simpler binding options than more complex kinds. Staple binding and ring binding are just a couple of simple options that you should try to use. These methods only require a few seconds and an expert machine to finish binding. They are relatively tough and most booklet printers offer these as standard options.

Try to stay away from options like stitch or string binding and even perfect binding, since these methods will take time and makes binding longer. They take a lot of effort to do, and are usually more expensive as well. Therefore, it might be a little sacrifice for you to do so, but going for those simpler kinds of binding will give you the speed you need when you really need them.

•	Standard booklet sizes – Another good option is to use standard sizes. Do not customize your color booklet with your own preferred size. It might look unique and original, but a customized one will be more work for the printer as they readjust their machines and equipment for booklet printing. This adds to more time spent waiting for the outputs to arrive. If you are in a rush, this is not really an option.

That is why it is good to stick with standard sizes. In this way, the printer will have an easy time printing since they just need to load your design up for printing. So always try to download booklet templates to make standard sized booklets that can be printed faster.

•	Quick printing online – Finally, for fast results, I sugges ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5161/Great-Options-to-Make-Booklet-Printing-Done-Fast.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5161/Great-Options-to-Make-Booklet-Printing-Done-Fast.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Looks and Substance of Marketing Collaterals</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing collaterals should not just be loud enough to be heard. They should in fact be able to scream! While most business marketing collaterals like print brochures whisper, you can make them loud enough to be heard by your target clients. 

Some collateral do not even say anything and they are just there because they are part of the overall business marketing strategy.  What you should have your marketing collaterals do is to proclaim to the world how exceptional your services are and how fantastic your goods are. Those who are not buying your service or products should be told that they are missing a lot by not knowing your product or service. 

You want your clients to know the brand of service you provide, or that melt in your mouth type of cake, or the hassle-free check-in at that departure counter. When people do not know these things, then you do not expect them to avail the services or buy the goods that you offer. 

How do you make an ordinary brochure printing output scream? This is the question that your minds are asking right now is it not? Well, read on and know how you can make simple and ordinary marketing collaterals scream out loud. 

First, these brochures, flyers or catalogs are printed matters. I mean, they do not call attention to themselves if you do not do something about their appearance. You can compare this to a well-dressed executive in a tailored suit to a guy in tattered jeans and loose shirt. Who do you think will get the attention? You guessed that right. Your marketing collateral is no different from this. You have to dress them up and make them stand out to get the attention they deserve. Good marketing collateral do not just promote your retail merchandise. They also convey a professional image. 

Second, most business strategists fail to optimize the use of these marketing collaterals because they treat them as just a come-on. Wrong. Yours are not just teasers. They are in fact, good conveyors of the business message.  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5159/The-Looks-and-Substance-of-Marketing-Collaterals.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5159/The-Looks-and-Substance-of-Marketing-Collaterals.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How NOT To Design Your Print Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are good brochure printing design and there are just some that are… My mother always told me that if I do not have anything good to say then I might as well shut my mouth. Anyway, careful planning can make a difference. 

Before starting any printing design, you must have a clear idea of your objective. What do you want to achieve with your print brochures? A good brochure design should be able to convey what you or your business wants to establish. This could be achieved with proper layout. A good layout trains the eye and mind towards the single most important message in your brochure.

Let me tell you how to start a good design by suggesting how NOT to design. First of all, do not clutter. Yes, there are available spaces but it does not mean that you have to fill them all up. Spaces are good to allow your readers to breathe. The spaces could also be your margin. Without a definitive margin area, it becomes hard and confusing for the reader to understand it. Besides, lack of a definitive area makes your design look boring. Most designers compensate this obvious lack of margin by making the fonts bigger and bolder which does not necessarily make your design more appealing. 

Second, do not squeeze in everything. Make use of negative spaces. Negative spaces are the spaces around the letters or images. These spaces add depth to the design. Many consider the use of equal negative space as a good approach and as a balance to the visible image or text itself. This basic and often overlooked design principle gives the eye a 'place to rest', thereby increasing the overall appeal of the design through very subtle means. 

Third, do not stick to one color. Add contrast by varying the fonts. Consider the most important images or message to help you identify what fonts to use. For example, if your business is called Sam's Bed and Breakfast, you obviously would like people to know that your business is a Bed and Breakfast hence, you put an emphasis on the word  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5157/How-NOT-To-Design-Your-Print-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5157/How-NOT-To-Design-Your-Print-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Target Your Marketing Efforts and Master Your Business Niche</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to make more money in today's competitive environment, then you need to master your business niche. Let me show you a perfect, prime example of niche marketing at its best:

The AARP card appeared in the mail again. This time I actually opened the envelope and reviewed the material included with the invitation to join. Offers of insurance, magazines, on-line registrations and general information related to aging spilled out across the table. Everything in the packet maintained the specific intent of enticing a middle age person to join the group dedicated to senior citizens. 

A scant five years ago, I wouldn't have acknowledged the promotional material. It would have been swept into the nearest garbage can as I briefly wondered why this organization wasted its marketing dollars on me. Now, as I scan the introductory letter, the supporting messages delivered in the envelope are beginning to make sense. I've discovered that the magazine is dedicated to providing me with information on medical advancements for cholesterol control, suggestions to slim the middle age bulge and tips to improve my memory. That last one caught my attention.

Startled, I realized that I aged into the targeted demographic of The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and didn't feel it coming on. When, for god's sake, did I stop being 35? AARP knew it would happen and patiently primed the pump for several years as it waited for me to emotionally recognize that my body and brain would change. My perspective would alter and this organization graciously waited until it was needed.

Now, that's niche marketing!

When is Niche Marketing Most Effective?

Niche marketing is most effective when you immerse yourself in a specific topic area and then start building your reputation for being a thought leader on that specific topic. It may sound intimidating, but in reality, all it demands is focus. 

Nido Qubein, a recognized business strategist and forward thinker coi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5152/How-to-Target-Your-Marketing-Efforts-and-Master-Your-Business-Niche.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5152/How-to-Target-Your-Marketing-Efforts-and-Master-Your-Business-Niche.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Designing Brochures for All Types of Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Designing print brochures is exciting. You first need a very imaginative approach to the design process then you are on your way to creating a fantastic advertising tool. 

Nevertheless, before starting brochure printing, you must first understand why such are a great advertising medium.  Brochures as defined by Wikipedia as a type of leaflet. They are commonly found in places that tourists frequently visit. There are racks or stands that may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest. 

There are also interpersonal types, which are ones based on other people. Then there are many others types that you can find. For example, in hospitals and health clinics there are types that talk about drugs and health. The two most common styles are single sheet and booklet (folded leaflets) forms.

Brochures are fantastic advertising medium because they increase the visibility and profile of your company. They call the attention of travelers when they first arrive in an airport or seaport. They show images or pictures of the different activities that vacationing families could enjoy. They outline the type of services that you can avail of in a particular health and wellness clinic, or to the menu of services of spa. Whatever type of business you are engaged in you surely need such advertising tool to help you do business. 

The effectiveness however, lies on how they are designed. They must be able to capture the imagination and sentiments of your target sector, be it families, honeymooning couples, senior citizens, etc. To achieve this, your output must have a very strong design. 

The following tips will give you an idea of how to design them to achieve maximum effect.

Know your desired outcome. With any marketing tool, you must first establish what effect you want to create. Do you want brand recognition? Do you want to bring in more people to your resort? Do you want to promote a healthy way of life? These questions are some basic questions th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5150/Designing-Brochures-for-All-Types-of-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5150/Designing-Brochures-for-All-Types-of-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Where your Money should Go in your Custom Notepad Design</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Spending money on notepad printing may sound easy. If you are printing your own personal custom notepads, however, it pays to know which part of your project would your money go exactly. There are many options when it comes to notepad printing.

These options can really determine a lot of big things for your printing project, from its looks and the overall quality. If you do not know a lot about notepad printing though, you should not worry. I will tell you which options you should spend your money on. 

Just read the tips below:

•	Invest in good paper materials – One of the initial things that you should definitely spend on are the paper materials. If you want your output to last long and look exceptionally great, your paper materials will be a crucial factor. Try to spend on thick paper materials to make the pages more durable. Moreover, to make it more water resistant and better looking, I recommend spending on the glossy kind of paper material as well. With thick and glossy paper materials, your outputs should look better and last longer. Everybody likes those, right? So make sure you spend your money on the best paper materials available.

•	Use special full color inks – You should also invest in full color notepad printing. Even though using black inks are cheaper, nowadays, printing materials are always printed in full color. The logos and extra images will stand out more in full color. People will remember your notes more with those especially colorful letterheads. That is why it is good to invest in full color printing. Do not print without color today.

•	Choose a good binding method – Binding is another place where you should spend money on. You will not want the pages to come apart quickly of course. That is why you should not just use weak adhesive materials. Try to have them bound in high strength adhesives or even metal or plastic rings. This will increase the strength and quality.

•	Hire the best notepad printers – Lastl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5147/Where-your-Money-should-Go-in-your-Custom-Notepad-Design.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5147/Where-your-Money-should-Go-in-your-Custom-Notepad-Design.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Reasons Why You Should Start Using Article Templates Right Now</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you a small business owner or internet marketer who's pulling hair out, grinding teeth and wiping sweat from your brow trying to figure out how to write articles that drive targeted traffic to your website? 

Well, then it's a good thing you're reading this article, because I'm going to give you the power to get out of that dark, cold, gloomy corner and see the light. 

How?

First, I'm going to explain in detail what article writing templates are - and how they can help you overcome your writer's block. Then, I'm going to give you an opportunity to get 3 of my instant article writing templates for free! These article templates are guaranteed to help you write articles faster - and in many cases, you'll be able to write articles in 30 minutes or less. So keep reading.

What Are Instant Article Writing Templates

Article templates serve as a blueprint for building great articles in a particular style. They provide the guidance and inspiration you need to quickly and easily build an incredible inventory of high-quality, original articles. 

For example, when you get my instant article writing templates at http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com you get worksheets that guide you throughout the process.. Each template is in chart format. All you have to do is put the information that's in your head and put it exactly where I ask you to. Once the template is complete, all you have to do is copy each section and paste it into a new document - and you'll have a finished article.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Start Using Instant Article Writing Templates Now

*  Inspiration - Are you stuck at the gate?  Are you confused on how to begin your article? Are you stuck for ideas? Just browsing through through article templates will help you spark an idea for your next set of articles. 

*  Speed - Are you thinking in your head right now - It takes too much time to write articles. That's because most of your article writing time is spent staring at a blank, wh ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5140/5-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Start-Using-Article-Templates-Right-Now.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5140/5-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Start-Using-Article-Templates-Right-Now.php</link>
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      <title><strong>3 Thought Leader Article Templates That Will Help You Attract More Clients </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Some business owners attract clients and customers like magnets. Their marketing seems effortless. They don't advertise. They haven't made a cold call in years. They charge more. They're regularly asked to speak at conferences and are featured in newspapers and magazines. Their articles are found on top websites and ezines. They're invited to be guest bloggers on very influential blogs. And, everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle.

It's almost as though they were famous.

Their names come to mind when people are looking for a particular product or service. They get more business - not only more, but the right kind of business. Unlike you, they don't have to work so hard to get it.

Why?

Because they have become a thought leader in their industry. You can too if you start writing articles with the idea of becoming a thought leader. 

3 New Article Templates for a Thought Leader WannaBe.

Article template #1 - A Little Bit of Controversy

An article stating a controversial opinion can attract interest and readers if it is written well and based on facts and if it avoids inflammatory statements or personal judgments. Although &amp;quot;controversial&amp;quot; implies disagreement, you don't have to use words that intentionally create divisions among readers and set one group of readers against the other.

Your goal as a thought leader should be to tell the truth, even if it's uncomfortable or challenges common assumptions. Make controversy a side effect of your article rather than its goal.

Article Template #2 - Predictions

It's generally believed that authors who make informed, reliable predictions gain credibility in their field. Good predictions are based on knowledge, experience and an ability to recognize and explain trends, developments and signals. They provide a glimpse of what lies ahead and are highly sought after by those not yet in-the-know.

Using this article template, you can quickly tap into your partic ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5139/3-Thought-Leader-Article-Templates-That-Will-Help-You-Attract-More-Clients.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5139/3-Thought-Leader-Article-Templates-That-Will-Help-You-Attract-More-Clients.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Designers should Know when Printing Custom Notepads</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Before you start designing and printing custom notepads, let me first give you some important facts that should guide you in notepad printing. As a designer, I have learned quite a lot of good professional practices.

These always assure me of great notepad printing and design. I have listed these good practices and tips below. Hopefully, it will help you in printing your own.

•	Full colors are great – A lot of people think that personal notepads only need some extra black ink printing for a letterhead or signature footer. What you should know though, is that this is not always the case. In fact, using full color letterhead logos is a great way to enhance design. Not only does this make the notepad and its pages look pretty good, it also adds a sense of professionalism and authority to the custom notepad. Thus, if you have that extra money, it is actually good to print in full color and have your logo or your signature printed in color.

•	Templates are useful – A lot of designers out there are designing from scratch. This might be good if you really are trying to create a complex type. However, if you are like most people and just want a standard one, it is actually good to just use standard templates. 

These templates will help you design a good custom layout quickly while at the same time helping your printing go fast since printers can easily use your design for printing. Therefore, it is always a good idea to download a template. Look for them online through online printing companies. These should be useful to you.

•	Materials will affect your design – Another major thing that you should realize is that the materials will affect your design. Your designs can look different when it is printed on glossy paper or in rough paper. That is why you should know what materials your printer would be using. If possible, try to specify your paper materials yourself so that you know how your printing output will turn out. This is really important so ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5138/What-Designers-should-Know-when-Printing-Custom-Notepads.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5138/What-Designers-should-Know-when-Printing-Custom-Notepads.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Where Your Money should be in Flyer Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Okay, so you have a limited amount of money reserved for flyer printing. Where do you need to spend it exactly? What are the important parts of print flyers that you should focus on to make it great? 

Well, look no further for answers, because I am going to give them to you here. Below are the important aspects of flyer printing where you should be investing your money in. Spend on these options and I assure you that your custom flyers will turn out great.

•	The paper – You may not know it, but in the world of printing today, you have a lot of options in terms of paper materials. Therefore, if you want to optimize the use of your printing funds, I suggest that you spend it on quality paper materials. The best middle ground material you should go for are one-sided glossy paper materials. 

These are not as expensive as those fully glossy professional paper materials, but they do make the front look great while at the same time help you save money on the back. This kind of investment on paper material will maximize the use of your resources and get the best output you want.

•	The numbers – Another aspect that you should spend your money on is the number of pieces that you want to print. It might seem costly at first, but it is actually best to print in bulk. You should print the number you need in one order so that you can have a wholesale discount. 

A lot of printing companies do offer bulk printing discounts, so you should try to avail of it if you can. Trust me, in the long term, printing in bulk is a wiser investment for your money.

•	The best printer – Lastly, you should invest your money on the best flyer printer you can get. All the money in the world is worthless if you go to the wrong flyer printing company. To get the most bang for your buck, you should choose the best flyer printing company that prints good quality outputs for a reasonable price. Make sure that you also choose a printer that offers great discounts for bulk print ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5137/Where-Your-Money-should-be-in-Flyer-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5137/Where-Your-Money-should-be-in-Flyer-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Looking at Flyer Marketing in a New Perspective</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Only a few innovative businesspersons nowadays think that flyer printing is a great investment in their business promotions. Most are caught up in the new hype of Internet marketing that they hardly notice the still potent power of flyer printing. 

Well, I am here now to give you dear readers a chance to look at flyer marketing in a new perspective. It is not as antiquated as you may think. In fact, there are quite a few advantages when you print flyers for promotional campaigns. 

Let me refresh your views and convince you that printing flyers are still a great investment.

1.	Cheap and accessible to everyone – this is the biggest advantage. Whether you are a big business or a small shop, such marketing tools are accessible to you because it is cheap. One will only cost a few measly cents, and printing in large amounts will even get you a discount opportunity. So absolutely anyone can use such since it is very affordable. It is a low risk money investment that would give you great rewards in promotions.

2.	Great local impact – Now speaking of rewards in promotions, such marketing tools proved to have a great local impact. With the proper distribution method, you can reach hundreds of people within your area and get people interested in whatever it is you are promoting. People cannot help but read them since they are just easy to read and understand. Many businesses, big and small have indeed been successful in promoting their products and services locally. They have been so successful in fact, that it is a staple for most of their marketing campaigns. So never underestimate its impact on your local market.

3.	Easy to change and adapt – Another great thing is that they are easy to change and adapt. Since flyers are pretty much just single pieces of paper with a marketing message, you can quickly change it to suit changing market situations when needed. 

For example, if your first marketing message gets a negative review or reaction, you can imm ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5134/Looking-at-Flyer-Marketing-in-a-New-Perspective.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5134/Looking-at-Flyer-Marketing-in-a-New-Perspective.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Quick Explanation on Fast Flyer Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Cannot print flyers fast enough? Well let me give you just the tips you need to make flyer printing really quick and fast. You just need to streamline your development and processes so that everything works perfectly and of course quickly. 

Thus, just follow the following tips given below in order for you to know how you could have fast flyer printing services, especially if you really need it.

•	Use an industry standard template – To help make your design process fast for color flyer creation, the best thing you can do is to use an industry standard template. Using specific templates accomplishes two good things for you that make the process faster. First, by using a template, you can design faster since a lot of the major options and guidelines are already set in the template. 

Second, by using an industry standard template, your printing company will not have to adjust your draft or their equipment for printing. They only need to load up your design made from the template and let the printing begin. Therefore, it also quickens the pace of the printing process to a good degree. That is why it is good to use industry standard flyer templates.

•	Keep things simple – Another way to help you design faster is to basically keep things simple. The fact is, flyers should not actually be complicated. They should be very straightforward and direct with their design and message. So do not over think the layout or message. Just say what you need to say in simple words and images. People will get it, and you will not have to spend a lot of time thinking about it. You will be cranking out those outputs faster this way.

•	Have several people check your design – Now, when it comes to checking and proofreading, you can do it faster and better by  having several people check your design. Not only will this make the checking faster since lots of people are in it, but it also helps spot errors more accurately since plenty of different objective eyes will be ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5130/A-Quick-Explanation-on-Fast-Flyer-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5130/A-Quick-Explanation-on-Fast-Flyer-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Designers Guide to Printing Great Flyers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Getting great print flyers is not all about the design. The process of flyer printing itself is determining a lot in terms of the quality and the appearance of your flyers. 

Therefore, when you are a designer, you should not only concentrate on the design of your color flyer, you should also be serious about printing. Do not worry if you are clueless about the whole process of printing though. In this guide, I will teach you all the important elements to remember in flyer printing. 

Follow these tips below to get great outputs from your great designs.

•	Use great paper material for flyers – Flyers nowadays can be printed in more than just “plain paper”. With the new kinds of paper materials out there, you can actually invest in great paper materials such as one-side glossy, or 2-side glossy materials. There are even other options that increase the thickness of the paper for better durability.

Using these great paper material options gives your custom flyers better quality, while at the same time improving their overall look. Especially when you use the glossy type of materials, your printing output will be too beautiful to simply throw away like the other cheap ones. Your designs will really come out and will be printed in the flyer that they deserve.

•	Standard templates make things easier – Another important thing that you should know about is that using standard templates makes the whole process a lot easier for you. You may want to be original and using custom sizes, but that will make the process harder with the customizations and extra costs involved. 

However, when you use standard printing design templates and sizes, all that trouble goes away. When you submit your designs in standard templates, printers will have an easier time printing with no extra costs are involved. So do yourself a favour and use templates.

•	Print in wholesale to get discounts – Now, here is a tip that I guarantee you will absolutely like. It is go ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5125/A-Designers-Guide-to-Printing-Great-Flyers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5125/A-Designers-Guide-to-Printing-Great-Flyers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>All the Things You Need to Know about Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are going to be designing and printing a brochure soon, there are considerations you have to make to ensure that you get your desired results from your print brochures. As you know, there are decisions you have to put together.

This is in order to be successful in your marketing strategy. By knowing what goes on into the creation of your brochure printing material, you would be more likely to have brochures that get the job done.

As a marketer or graphic designer, getting the right answers can go a long way in making your printing effective marketing tools. When you know the right questions to ask, you will be able to have exactly the kind of output you expect.

What is a brochure?
A brochure is often a small pamphlet that contains content and copy to market a product or service or a business. “Brochure” is actually a French word that means, “to stitch”. This would mean then that business owners and marketers often “stitch” the pages of the brochure together to provide the target read with product or service information.

What is the size of a brochure?
Contrary to popular belief, brochures are not often small. There are times that they come out in the market quite large. It is more than a small booklet or pamphlet, which can come in different shapes, as well as the range of folds. As for its content, a print brochure can have varying information, depending on the purpose you have of printing brochures.

So, what can a brochure do?
Honestly, a lot. However, you also have to consider a lot of things to make your project output do the job. For one thing, your brochure can work according to the purpose you have. What is your objective in printing brochures? What do you intend to do with them? In addition, more importantly, what do you intend to accomplish with your brochures?

According to how you plan on printing, you can do a lot of things with your marketing tool – generate leads, increase your sales, answer inquiries, support a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5123/All-the-Things-You-Need-to-Know-about-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5123/All-the-Things-You-Need-to-Know-about-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Innovative and Creative Ways to Print Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Aside from being innovative and upbeat to brochure printing technologies, you have to be creative when printing your marketing tools. It is important that you have an effective output that would affect your target market at all the right places.

You should look out for a lot of elements in your marketing tools to make sure that they turn out as the perfect tool to use. If you want to be effective enough to get your target clients to consider doing business with you, here are simple yet innovative tips to printing brochures.

Look out for your size. This means having to make a decision on the size of brochure you prefer to have printed because it would be very difficult to remedy any errors once they are finished. Thus, you have to be sure about your layout before you run them to press. The wrong setup would only waste your money, effort and time, as well as that of your printer. Moreover, when your printer has to shrink or increase the size just because you gave the wrong set-up, expect to pay more to correct the output. 

Look out for the bleed. Bleeds are the extended color or design to the border edges of your print brochures that allow your printing provider to cut the page without having to sacrifice the solidness of your design. As your printer would need to cut the edges of the output, having bleeds eliminates any cut images or color or even borders so your brochure would not be missing a part, especially if it is important to your marketing message.

Look out for your resolution. High resolution is the only way to go if you want impressive brochures that your target clients would be interested in. Your images would be the ones to benefit the most when you finally get your order from your printer. By providing the best resolution, you are ensuring that your graphic images and pictures do not get blurry and hazy when you give them to your target clients.

Be sure to have the minimum of 300 dpi for your resolution to get your images to print clearly  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5120/Innovative-and-Creative-Ways-to-Print-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5120/Innovative-and-Creative-Ways-to-Print-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What You Should Consider Before Printing Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When printing brochures, along with designing and putting your message, one crucial consideration you have to make is to choose how many panels the output should have to effectively market your business.

 Whether your marketing tools have a bi-fold or tri-fold or any other fold, here is what you should know before you have your printer go with reproducing your marketing tools.

1-	What are the kinds of information to place? How much should you have in your copy?

2-	Why do you want to print brochures? What is your purpose? How are you going to use your marketing collaterals?

3-	Are you considering a bleed? If so, which pages do you need to have them? 

4-	Would you want die cuts or unique folds so you can be different and become a stand out?

5-	How will you use your brochures? Would they be direct mail pieces? If so, would you need to consider the size? How you are going to send them out using the postal services?

6-	How much is your mailing cost?

7-	Do you want a reply card along with it?

8-	What would be your budget in marketing? Is it enough for high quality marketing tools? Can you afford expensive brochure printing?

As a marketer and business owner, you have to consider all the factors and elements that would be included. The specifics will influence how you are going to decide on everything that you need to decide on. You will be working with these parameters while designing your marketing tools. By knowing all these elements, you will be able to estimate how much the whole project cost will be. 

Make sure to ask your printer if you do not have any idea how much you should consider for your budget. Your printer would be able to provide you with ample information to help you decide on the most appropriate specifications for your marketing needs – from the size of your brochure to the types of folds you would apply to your marketing tool.

After that, it is time for you to decide on what information to convey to your target audi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5118/What-You-Should-Consider-Before-Printing-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5118/What-You-Should-Consider-Before-Printing-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Designers Guide to Online Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[For a designer, online printing can be a different world altogether. Unlike a traditional printing company, online printers have different needs and options that an old school designer might have trouble dealing with it. 

In this article, I will help some of you old school designers out there in online printing. Below is a list of things you should learn to focus upon in order to make it easier and better for you to design even when dealing with the online printing technologies.

1.	Get the proper templates – Printing templates play a large part now in designs. If you want your project to go on smoothly, you have to acquire templates from the printer that you want to do business with. The templates that you get are usually ideal, because they already have the proper guidelines for folds, sections as well as printing bleeds that help make cutting your designs in paper better. So if you are a serious designer, do not forget to use templates.

2.	Be aware of color modes – Now, if you are really an old school designer, or maybe a newbie in layout designs, it is important that you are aware of color modes. Since you will be designing a lot in the computer, you should know that computers display things in RGB (red green blue) while online printers use CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) in printing.  Thus, when you are designing something for online printing, you should convert your drafts to CMYK color mode first. This should help you see if the right colors are indeed set in your design.

3.	Check your drafts three times over – It is also crucial that you check your drafts three times or more. For a lot of designers out there, errors in typing, grammar and image quality can be trouble, especially when these errors are passed on to printing. You always have to prevent this from happening by checking your drafts three times. In fact, it is good for you to let other people do the checking so that they can see all the errors with far more objective eyes. With th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5117/The-Designers-Guide-to-Online-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5117/The-Designers-Guide-to-Online-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Make that Printing Output Arrive as Fast as Possible</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Engaging on an online printing project is one of the fastest ways to get your prints fast. However, did you know that you could do a few things to make the output arrive faster than it usually would? 

It is easy to make prints arrive faster if you know how to work with a printing company. Let me give you a few tips that should expedite your printing output quite well.

•	Use the template as guide – A great way to make your printing output arrive faster is to use the online template as your foundation for designs. Whatever kind of material you need to have printed, by using the template provided, you can help speed up the process because everything is already set. 

The online template is already pre-designed to make printing easier since it has the proper guidelines, settings and dimensions that the online printer expects. They do not have to convert or alter your design. They just need to load it and it the output would be produced fast.

•	Proofread your own work three times over – Proofreading thoroughly is also another important thing to do to make your output arrive faster. Most online printers do some proofreading before they mass-produce. It is only logical to do this since you would not want to waste materials in online printing if there are mistakes in the initial drafts.

By proofreading your own work three times over and making it perfect for printing, you will prevent any situation wherein the blueprint will be sent back for editing. That is why it is good to do a thorough check. You will not need to waste time in going back and forth in proofreading.

•	Use standard options when possible – You might also want to consider using standard configurations and settings to make the process faster. Typically, most have preset configurations in their printing machines. These configurations are usually aimed for receiving standard print designs and options for production. By using the online printer’s standard options and minimizing you ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5115/How-to-Make-that-Printing-Output-Arrive-as-Fast-as-Possible.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5115/How-to-Make-that-Printing-Output-Arrive-as-Fast-as-Possible.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Wanted: Good, Fast, Reliable Professional Printers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you need a printing company that is good, fast and reliable? If you do, then I suggest that you throw out those yellow pages and go for online printing. That is correct.

Online printing is THE only real choice if you want good, fast and reliable printing.  Do not worry. Online printing companies can be easy to deal with. Let me help you how to find and use your own online printer with a few of these tips.

•	Where to look for the best – To look for the best, I suggest that, you use a reliable search engine such as Google. In using Google, type the term “online printing company” or “online printing”on the search bar along with any other qualification that you may want. Usually, I with use other keywords such as “cheap”, “overnight”, “four color” and other determining keywords along with the standard term for the search. By adding those extra qualifiers, you should be able to narrow down your choices to the most relevant printers for your particular purpose.

•	How to identify the trustworthy printers – When you have narrowed down your search, you must then try to identify the more reliable and trustworthy. To do this, you have to check several factors about the company.

First, try to see if they already have a reputation. Good trustworthy printers should have good testimonials and reviews at forums, blogs and other types of websites. Moreover, if you see a lot of results like those testimonials and reviews when you search for it, this means that their company is quite popular and probably trustworthy.

Secondly, you should try to check the contact information listed on the website. You may want to make call them, or maybe you may want to look at a map if their address and location do indeed exist. By checking out if the information they gave are indeed true, you would be able to confirm really if they are real and trustworthy.

•	Making sure your prints turn out good – Now, with your choice locked in, let me tell you h ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5111/Wanted-Good-Fast-Reliable-Professional-Printers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5111/Wanted-Good-Fast-Reliable-Professional-Printers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Getting the Right Impression Across through Business Cards</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When I first created my color business cards, people thought I was an investment banker (I am not of course, I specialize in marketing). What happened was, people caught the wrong impression of me because of the style of my business card.

Back then, I used some professional templates in printing them. Thus, my theme was very corporate, formal, and for some people it looked like I was not creative and too business-like just like some bankers are. 

If you are having problems like this in business card printing, you are not alone. Many people can sometimes make the mistake and give off the wrong impression. This of course is caused by the wrong kind of design theme. 

Now, in this article, I will teach you what I have learned in printing throughout all these years. Read the list below and you should be able to give that correct impression using your cards, to get the proper business contacts that you need.

•	Pick the right information to display – One of the initial things you can do to make sure that you are giving of the right impression is to pick the right information to display. Besides the standard name and contact information, your other details such as credentials, images, logos should be the right one that represents your personality and profession. 

Stick with the information that people will need, to know you as a professional, and do away with irrelevant details that are not related to your industry. With all the correct information, you should give off precisely the right impression about you.

•	Use the appropriate design theme – Besides information, the design is of course a big factor in getting that right impression. As I said above, people thought I was an investment banker because my design was too corporate and formal, unlike the ones most marketing professionals use. 

By using the correct design theme for your industry or your profession, you will of course be able to project the right kind of personal and professional im ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5110/Getting-the-Right-Impression-Across-through-Business-Cards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5110/Getting-the-Right-Impression-Across-through-Business-Cards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>4 Indicators Your Business Cards Should Measure Up To</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you not sure if your color business cards measure up to professional business card printing? Well, let me help you give a grade on your business card printing output. 

There are four indicators of professionalism to which your cards should measure up to for them to be considered an expert. I have listed the criteria below. Try to see if your color business cards are on these levels, or if they still need improvement.

1.	Expert content – The content is the first major criteria when judging for expertise. Besides the usual content that includes contact information, a professional business card will always have that one distinguishing factor in its content. This can be an impressive logo, a catchy tagline or even extra information such as credentials or a link to a website. These extra contents should make a card more memorable and distinguishable from the others out there. If you do not have them, you should really think about adding them now.

2.	Expert designs – Expert cards usually have designs made by professional layout artists. These usually have a clean and logical design that really displays the personality as well as the authority of the person with the business card. If you want your custom business cards to look like an expert’s, I also recommend that you hire a professional layout artist to do it for you. Tell them what impression you want to give off to people, as well as the important information that you want to convey. As long as you are able to hire that great and professional layout artist, you should be able to get color business cards just like the experts.

3.	Expert materials – Of course, your printing materials should also be a factor when it comes to judging them. The materials you should use must be high quality. Do not just use rough, thin paper materials. It is good to choose smooth glossy paper materials that are thick for durability.  Most experts use these materials so that their business cards will look fresh and ne ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5102/4-Indicators-Your-Business-Cards-Should-Measure-Up-To.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5102/4-Indicators-Your-Business-Cards-Should-Measure-Up-To.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Business Card Tricks to Get People Excited about Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you want people to get excited about doing business with you when they see your color business cards? If you do want that, then I have a few business card printing tricks that you might be interested in. 

In my experience in business card printing, I have found that certain design tricks can really engage people and add more impact to my color business cards. Now, I have shared these tricks in the list below. Try to see if you can apply these tricks, too.

•	Insert an impressive logo – A logo can really make people excited about you. Whether it is an official company logo, or your own personal sign, there is something official and formal about a logo that makes people it. Apply special ink and embossing and the logo can really become impressive. People will be rightfully respectful and excited about doing business with you. So if you can use a logo, make it special. It will help a lot to get that right impression.

•	Make your name gleam – Another thing that can make readers excited about you is printing your name with special glossy ink. Some professionals do in fact use glossy inks to make their output more impressive. By printing the name in glossy or metallic inks, it will actually look more expensive and impressive at the same time. When people see your name, they will know that you are someone to be reckoned with in business. So, if your business card printer can use glossy or metallic ink, why not try it out?

•	Display your credentials – Now, here is a sure fire way to get people excited about you. If you print your credentials and qualifications, people can in fact get excited with doing business with you. Since your credentials and qualifications display your ability and authority in the business, people can of course rightly judge you as a good business contact. They will be more interested in doing business with you than other people who do not really have the right qualifications in business. So, when you have extra space, why no ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5100/Business-Card-Tricks-to-Get-People-Excited-about-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5100/Business-Card-Tricks-to-Get-People-Excited-about-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Wanted: Perfect Envelope Printing Output</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you want to have the perfect custom envelopes for your business? Well, if you do want to do perfect envelope printing, you will need to know the proper ways in dealing with the process. Lucky for you, I just have the information you need.

This information will help you get your envelope printing output to come out perfectly. I have made a list of important tips that you should do when printing. Try out these tips and your output would likely turn out quite great and almost perfect.

•	Use the best template – To get the perfect custom envelopes for your use, one of the best tools you should always have is a good printing template. Templates of course will vary depending on the type that you want to use. However, the most important things that a template should have are guidelines and printing bleeds.

If you get a template from printing companies, you should see that theirs usually have those all important guidelines that help designers decide where a certain design element is in the envelope, once it is folded and done. As you may have guessed, there are a lot of intricate folds and flaps once printing is finished. Thus, you need the best template you can get to help you not make mistakes in your design. Make sure that you have customized design options if you want to apply your own design idea.

•	Hire the best designer – Now, if you want your design to be perfect, I recommend that you find and hire the best designer or layout artist that you can find. This is especially important if you are printing for business purposes. There are plenty of affordable layout designers out there. Plenty can even be hired online for really cheap fees. Just be sure though that you check their past works to see if they are good.

As long as you choose the best designer that you can find, your expected output would be perfect. Do not forget to hand the artist your preferred template so that he or she has a guide on what you want done.

•	Use the best material ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5099/Wanted-Perfect-Envelope-Printing-Output.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5099/Wanted-Perfect-Envelope-Printing-Output.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Make the Perfect Poster Message</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Creating the perfect message for posters is quite a difficult task. Anyone can print posters, but getting the perfect message with the perfect custom poster printing can be hard. 

If you are having trouble composing the perfect poster message, then you have come to the right guide. In this tutorial, I will show you how to make the most ideal message that would attract the most number of readers.

So without further ado, let us start with choosing the right words.

•	Choosing the right power words – Words are as important in posters as images. In fact, it might even be more important since people will respond to some power words a lot faster than images. 

First, let me explain what power words are. Power words are basically words that have an innate ability to attract people’s eyes. Of course, this will vary from language to language, but the meaning is all the same. Words like danger, attention, free, discount, savings and many other related words have that power to attract.

The perfect message will have at least one power word at its disposal. From afar, people will immediately identify the word and get their attention. Usually you will put that power word as the headline or sub headline of your poster. With those words easily read in your custom posters, you would be one step closer to having a perfect message.

•	Choosing the right image or graphic – Now we go into images. The right image or graphic is usually dynamic with meaning or emotion within its imagery. It is best to avoid static images or pictures that are just portraits or stills with nothing going on or no one in them. The perfect message will usually have a person (or an anthropomorphic symbolism) that expresses an emotion, as well as an action element that places that person in a situation. 

Messages like these will usually communicate its message quite effectively as people are more tuned to reading images with people and emotions. So when you are creating your poster mes ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5095/How-to-Make-the-Perfect-Poster-Message.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5095/How-to-Make-the-Perfect-Poster-Message.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Wanted: Great Poster Printing Output</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I would imagine that anyone who does custom poster printing would want his or her particular project output to look great.  I know I have always wanted my posters to look great. 

However, wanting that something and the reality of poster printing is hard to put together. It takes a few years experience to intimately understand the best tricks to really make your posters great.

Luckily for you though, you will not have to wait too long to know these important things about poster printing. In this article, I will teach you the things I learned in printing great posters. If you do these tips and techniques, you will have a good chance of creating your own great custom posters. Just read on and learn.

•	Great Message – This is the primary thing that you should focus on above all else. Without a great message, your custom poster is just mere decoration. 

To do this, you should always keep in mind your readers. What are the concerns and issues they have in life? What are the things they love, and the things they hate? If you are able to get even just a portion of an answer to these questions, you should be able to use that information to compose a message that they will be interested in and love. So always do your market research first for poster printing to be able to compose your message. It will go a long way in helping you compose.

•	Great Image – Another key factor in creating is that great image. The main image is what people will see along with the main title and message. Thus, it is important that you think about the content of your image very carefully. Again always take into account your market research and see what your market wants to see or will be interested in seeing. Use images that they will know and respond to quickly. Of course, make sure that these images are in high quality and in full color. Do this without error to have your output a few steps closer to being great.

•	Great Presence – The presence is determined in two wa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5092/Wanted-Great-Poster-Printing-Output.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5092/Wanted-Great-Poster-Printing-Output.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Company Newsletter Marketing Quiz: Is Your Print Newsletter A Pop Gun Or A </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You're a smart entrepreneur. You 'get it.'

You realize company newsletters are the best way to build a relationship with your customers.

And you're savvy enough to know print newsletters are a magical client retention marketing tool.

But... you have this bad feeling in your gut. Perhaps your company newsletter is missing something. You fear it lacks power and pizzazz.You know it should be generating better results.

Put Your 'Feet to the Fire' and Answer These Two Burning Questions:

-  Is your current newsletter just good enough... or is it a marketing weapon of mass destruction?
-  Is it packed with a payload to blast your referrals through the roof and detonate profits into the stratosphere? 

Still not sure?  

Take This Easy, 6 Question Quiz To Get The Answer:

1.  Is my company newsletter in color? If it's black and white, over 70% of your customer may not even open it, let alone read it. Color gets attention. It gets your attention, doesn't it? It will work for your clients, too.

2.  Is my company newsletter personalized? This means you have your clients first name printed on their personal newsletter. This is also called Variable Data Printing (VDP). If you're not using VDP – you're missing out on a boatload of money. Personalization can double your returns and go as high as 10-15 times your return on investment.

3.  Do my company newsletters look professional? If it looks like your 7th grader ran it off your home printer, then the answer is 'no'. Graphics, style and formatting are huge factors in how your newsletter is received and perceived by your customers.

4.  Do my company newsletters get my clients 'involved'? A hyper-responsive newsletter has multiple involvement triggers to make your customers crave more information that they need to know. You have to make your customers want to rip open your newsletter to see what the next page has to say.

5.  Is my company newsletter a direct response marketing tool? Is there an i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5089/Company-Newsletter-Marketing-Quiz-Is-Your-Print-Newsletter-A-Pop-Gun-Or-A.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5089/Company-Newsletter-Marketing-Quiz-Is-Your-Print-Newsletter-A-Pop-Gun-Or-A.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Essential Things You Need to Know when Printing Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A brochure printing output is one of the best friends of businesspersons for their marketing arsenal. When done properly, brochures can very well become one of the best accessories that complement the marketing campaign of businesspersons like you.

Having an effective and excellent brochure that gets the job done starts at the very beginning – when you plan them. The planning stage is crucial because it is where you decide which design and what kind of brochure would be best for your marketing objective. Therefore, here then are some of the most essential things you need to know when planning. These factors should be considered even before you put ink to paper or click that mouse on your first icon.

Function –
What do you want to accomplish with your marketing tool? What would be their function in the whole buying and marketing process? How do you want your brochures to work as a marketing tool? By knowing the objective you have in coming up with your marketing tool, you would more than likely get the results you want.

There are certain functions you have to consider to determine where you would place your marketing material in your buying process. Would you want a leave-behind brochure that you intend to distribute during meetings? A point-of-sale one is perhaps one that your target customers would be able to pick up while waiting for their turn in the dental clinic? Would you want a direct mail brochure or a response-to-inquiries marketing tool? The key is to find that purpose so you can focus your message to the kind of target market you have for your business.

Stand-alone or part of a bigger campaign –
This would determine the theme you would develop. If it is a stand-alone then you can very well do a theme without considering the rest of your marketing tools. Nevertheless, if it is part of a bigger campaign, then you need to be consistent with your theme. This then would make it easy for you to provide one message in all your marketing tools ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5082/Essential-Things-You-Need-to-Know-when-Printing-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5082/Essential-Things-You-Need-to-Know-when-Printing-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>This is How You Should Promote Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When we promote, this means having marketing activities that lets your target clients and customers become aware of you, your business, and what you can do. The marketing activities often get the word out for you. 

They allow you provide your target clients with information so they can know your benefits that you can offer them. Such marketing activities include sponsoring community events, involving yourself with your locality, and the most popular, providing freebies and giveaways during trade exhibits and conferences so you can be exposed. By doing so, you will be able to have a business that is recognized and remembered by your customers and prospective clients.

However, the image you would want your target clients to have of your business would depend greatly on the promotional activities and strategies that you use for your marketing tools. Questions such as what, where, when, and why can make a big difference when choosing the market you would want to focus on when you market. Moreover, knowing the answers to these questions can help you reflect an image that would make an impact to your recipients.

A brochure printing for example can represent the image you would want to have for your company. Print brochures distributed during a conference to celebrate the Earth Day shows your strong beliefs in keeping the environment clean, green and healthy. 

It is therefore advised that you choose carefully the issues that you would involve yourself in especially when your intent is to market your business. Activities such as community and local events are great venues to market the beliefs and values you have to encourage your prospects to believe in your worth. By supporting your locality, you are opening doors for your target clients to become avid supporters of your business. The image of involvement in your community is a strong endorsement for your business.

In addition, choose an event or program that is specific, doable and that can provide tangibl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5079/This-is-How-You-Should-Promote-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5079/This-is-How-You-Should-Promote-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Which is Which, E-Brochures or Print Brochures?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The challenge is on. Would you choose e-brochures or print brochures? 

Much has been said about the power of the Internet. It has been regarded by some as the portal to the development of a new society. It has revolutionized how we conduct our affairs and that includes how we do our business. From personal to business matters, we have relied on the power of the internet to send e-cards to peers, order flowers for your sweetheart, or purchase a hard to find book for yourself. Yes, it has made life a lot more convenient. 

Gone were the days when you would do everything yourself. Gone were the days when you would personally go to the bookshop to browse through their collections. Gone were the days when you have to smell and touch the flowers before making a purchase. Everything has become a little bit ah, well, impersonal. 

Is this also the reason why businesses are re-thinking their decision to use e-brochures instead of the traditional print brochures? Well, let us see what has more advantages (or disadvantages).

First, print brochures are something you can touch and feel which the electronic variety does not have. This just means that with a print brochure, there is a bigger chance that your target clients would actually read the contents; whereas, if you send e-brochures, there is also a big chance that your e-brochures will be….trashed. 

In the literal and figurative sense, your brochure printing has more 'weight' because it is something that is tangible or something that is real and solid. You could actually see and feel its texture. Hence, it can be kept for a long time unlike e-brochures, which is just a screen image. 

Second, print brochures are designed to be more personal. They were designed and printed with the target clients in mind. It does not get more personal than that. Add to that the efforts of the company to design and negotiate with a brochure printing company.

Third, it is accessible. It goes directly to your hands while an  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5065/Which-is-Which-EBrochures-or-Print-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5065/Which-is-Which-EBrochures-or-Print-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Design a Simple Brochure from Home</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Can this be done? I mean, can you actually print brochures from home? Well, if you have a home based business and you do not have the resources to hire a layout artist or a creative artist, then you just have to work on it yourself. 

The only thing you need to get you started is to let your creative juices flow. Tap into your talents and you might even be surprised to find out that you actually have skills to become a professional layout artist. How would you like that? 

Anyway, this article is a simple step-by-step guide in printing brochures for your home business right at the comforts of your home.  There are a lot of ways to this but the main point here is that you just have to be creative and innovative. 

Before you begin your project, be sure that you have the following: a printer that can print on card stock, scissors or paper cutter, Word Processing Software, pens or pencils. With these simple supplies, you are now ready to print brochures from home. 

Follow these simple steps to create your very own brochure: 

Step 1: From your Word Processing software, create a new document. Some software has ready templates for your brochure printing project. Choose from among the many samples then start filling in the blanks.  

These templates are helpful especially if you are a newbie or inexperienced. These templates are easy to use and you will just have to add images or text to a pre-designed brochure template. Add clip-arts, photos and text to the blanks screen. Experiment with colors and shapes. Let your imagination run wild.  

Step 2: Now that you have created the document, you can now go ahead with the designing of the brochures. When you design, always remember the purpose why you need this particular marketing tool. Try to visualize your recipient and then design something for them. A lot of people often make the mistake of designing something for themselves and not for the intended recipient. 

Step 3:  Brochure printing. When you are re ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5061/How-to-Design-a-Simple-Brochure-from-Home.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5061/How-to-Design-a-Simple-Brochure-from-Home.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Five Crucial Things You Must Do To Build Your Business With Social Networking</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The age of social networking is more than upon us-it is becoming INGRAINED in us. Many of us are so addicted that we can hardly get out of bed before we begin checking to see status updates on Facebook and Twitter. Reconnecting with old friends and staying in touch with current ones are great reasons to use social networks-but what about using them to market your business?

The fact is, those same networks that you are using to share pictures and reminisce about old times can be great sources of income for your business. In addition, there are plenty of social networks out there that are made specifically for doing just that.

Below is a list of five crucial things you must do to utilize social networking effectively for your business:

1. Choose networks that cater to potential prospects for your business. There are so many social networks to choose from now, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all of them. In order to be effective, you simply have to make choices. Choose networks that cater to your particular market. The more targeted the network, the more interest and activity you are likely to generate.

2. Take time to create a comprehensive, well-written profile. Many people simply assume that they will make money by filling out a profile on a social network and adding their website address. This is highly unlikely. The benefits of a social network come with interaction-and that can only happen when folks can get to know you. Take the time to fill out your profile completely, with both business and personal information (your interests, hobbies or goals) so people can get to know you as a person and a business owner. People tend to do business with people they feel like they know, so the more cold and impersonal your profile, the less likely people will want to interact with you. Liven it up! Show your personality-but do remember to behave in a friendly but businesslike manner.

3. Interact with community members and build relationships. In order t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5060/Five-Crucial-Things-You-Must-Do-To-Build-Your-Business-With-Social-Networking.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5060/Five-Crucial-Things-You-Must-Do-To-Build-Your-Business-With-Social-Networking.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Sexy Marketing is the Name of the Game</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Anticipation is the name of the game. This is to suggest that one of the best ways to market is to create anticipation from your target clients. Why do movies have trailers? Why are movie trailers shown months before the actual showing of the film? 

Why are there words like coming soon?  You guessed that right. Anticipation. Trailers are like teasers – they build the drama, the anticipation, the excitement. This is one way to market a product or service. 

Now use this concept for your product or services by teasing your target clients. The more intrigued they get, the more they become excited. Have you ever wondered why you are drawn to a crowd who is watching something? You find yourself straining to see what the fuss is about. Admit it or not, the crowd does draw you because you are intrigued by what captured their attention. 

One way to do this is by distributing teasers like flyers or print brochures to tease target clients about an up and coming product or service. Try to give them a glimpse of what they are going to expect – just like your movie trailers. Give them a glimpse of what they are to look forward to without giving away the entire plot. Make your brochure printing work for you by keeping them so interested. Reveal only what is necessary until your target clients are hooked. 

Anticipation marketing, if we can call it that, not only introduces a new product or service, it also keeps the excitement going as early as the pre-launch stage. Until such time that you finally unveil your new product or service, you can feed the excitement. Start by giving your customers a glimpse then move on to giving more details without giving away everything. Build the excitement until your customers can no longer contain it – then you reach a climax. 

When you employ this strategy, remember the following tips: 

Build the excitement but do not keep them waiting too long. Foreplay is good; but overdoing things will not do you any better. Holding off ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5057/Sexy-Marketing-is-the-Name-of-the-Game.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5057/Sexy-Marketing-is-the-Name-of-the-Game.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Great Ideas for Spring Marketing Postcards</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you plan to print postcards for marketing this spring? Well, spring is indeed the perfect time for postcard printing since there are lots of great marketing themes you can adopt. 

In this guide, I will teach you about four great ideas that should make your spring marketing look better and of course become more effective in this colorful season.

1.    Using nature images – Of course, since it is spring, the best theme to adopt are natural themes. By this, I mean using nature images of plants, animals and landscapes that really help people picture that the world around them is coming alive. Lots of marketing color postcards succeed using this design idea because people really respond to such colorful and vibrant images after they are exposed to the drab white and cold of winter. So early on, as spring sets in, do not forget to deploy your nature postcards for marketing.

2.    Using abstract color – Besides images, people actually respond to simple colors. I have found many businesses using great bright colors for their marketing tools in the spring to their advantage. Printing floral color patterns, bright geometric patterns and many other colorful abstract designs can actually attract the eyes of their target market and get that marketing message across easily this spring. As long as there is a significant amount of color, it will really be something to look at in spring.

3.    Print things big – Another good thing to do this spring is to print big. The bigger the sizes of your postcards are this spring, the more they can display that colorful design. Being big makes sure that your marketing tool and its message are noticed and picked first before the others. Therefore, if you are really serious, you may want to print larger sizes with more impact.

4.    Keeping things vibrant with glossy postcards – Finally, to add that glistening, wet and fresh look, you should try to print them in glossy paper materials. Just ask your printing company to  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5055/Great-Ideas-for-Spring-Marketing-Postcards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5055/Great-Ideas-for-Spring-Marketing-Postcards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Problem Do You Solve?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Authenticity Rules
What Problem Do You Solve?

Remember the TV commercial with these lines?
•	Boy: What’s this stuff?
•	Brother: Some cereal. It’s supposed to be good for you.
•	Boy: I’m not gonna try it.
•	Brother: Let’s get Mikey.
•	Boy: He won’t eat it. He hates everything.
•	Both: He likes it! Hey Mikey!

How about the TV commercial with this line?
•	Elderly woman: “I've fallen and I can't get up.”

uncommon formula
These ads are famous for these lines. The first contributed to enormous success for Quaker’s Life brand breakfast cereal; the second, for the Life Alert Emergency Response pendant that auto-dials an emergency dispatcher. Importantly, they also share an uncommon though effective approach to marketing: Identify the problem that you solve considerately, then identify your solution.

common problems
Many affluent parents struggle to get their children to eat a good, healthy breakfast every day. For some, this includes a struggle to resist breakfast foods that offer little nutrition and better resemble candy. Likewise, many adults worry about their mother, aunt, or other elderly family member who lives alone and could suffer a fall or other calamity from which help would be needed to recover.

comforting solutions
In the cereal ad, after the boys discover that the hard-to-please Mikey likes it, a voice-over describes Life as a “nutritious, delicious” cereal that even picky children like Mikey enjoy eating. In the pendant ad, less memorable is the dispatcher’s reply, “We're sending help immediately, Mrs. Fletcher.” Both ads offer to save consumers from the difficulties that they credibly portray. Both also triggered many people to buy what they were selling. So, why is the same formula not used in more advertising?

not for creative ad execs
When marketers take the route of simple, truthful authenticity – such as sympathetically demonstrating that they understand the problem that their produ ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5034/What-Problem-Do-You-Solve.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5034/What-Problem-Do-You-Solve.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Outsourcing Your Marketing - Should You Hire Outside Marketing Help Now?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[After huddling in our bunkers for much of the past 18 months we look forward to restoring growth and prosperity to our companies.   Many firms will find, however, that they are unable to harness the early breezes of expansion due to resource constraints that are a direct result of recent knee-jerk staff reductions.

Peter Cappelli, Wharton management professor and director of the school's Center for Human Resources observed that the recent economic crisis forced many managers to focus only on the short-term.  Slaves to quarterly performance expectations, departments cut employees with little concern for the long-term impact of layoffs.  In many cases they were forced to sacrifice core competencies resulting in a devastating brain drain.  

As an expert on post-recession employment recovery Cappelli knows that it will be some time before hiring begins again in earnest.   &amp;quot;Companies will always wait to see that the demand is there because the fixed cost of hiring isn't trivial.&amp;quot;  Instead companies will use contract/temporary workers to hedge their bets on hiring, rather than committing to paying wages and benefits to permanent, full-time workers.

The use of contract labor to augment one's staff isn't a new concept.  In fact prior to the recession it was fairly commonplace in IT, Finance and even Human Resources.  Many firms outsourced whole projects or departments to large staffing firms.  But this practice was less prevalent in marketing.  

Top 5 Reasons to Hire Outside Marketing Expertise Now

If you find yourself short on talent necessary to grow your business consider these benefits of augmenting your existing staff with temporary marketers:
  
1)	No long-term commitment.  You can generally hire full- or part-time marketing resources by the hour, week or month without committing to long-term employment.  This allows you to cover temporary holes (i.e. maternity leave) or limited workload surges (i.e. a new product launch) without affecting h ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5027/Outsourcing-Your-Marketing--Should-You-Hire-Outside-Marketing-Help-Now.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5027/Outsourcing-Your-Marketing--Should-You-Hire-Outside-Marketing-Help-Now.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Article Marketing:  How To Choose An Article Submission Service</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The majority of people I speak to about article marketing admit that it is actually the submission part of the process at which they get stuck.

It is time consuming and tedious to submit articles by hand or even with the help of software.  Not everyone can handle such a thankless task, so I recommend you consider hiring a service to handle submissions for you.

There are many companies offering article submission services, so how do you decide who to hire?

Do some due diligence and ask about the service in forums about article marketing, ask an article marketing expert for his/her recommendation, and insist on getting references from any company that you are considering.

It is critical that you ask the important questions before committing to a submission service.  The list below includes the basic questions you should ask before seriously considering a service.

1. Will they be using software or submitting by hand? 
2. Do they offer complimentary proofreading or editing services? 
3. Do they offer keyword research to optimize the title, body and byline of your article?
4. How long have they been in the article submission business? 
5. How many sites do they submit to:  newsgroups, directories, forums, blogs and individual sites?
6. Do they screen and submit to reputable article directories rather than blast your article to hundreds of worthless sites?
7. Do they open accounts at article directories and other sites when required?
8. Do they handle e-mail confirmations received from sites where they have opened an account for you?
9. How do they handle questions from publishers after your article has been submitted?
10. Do they have relationships with publishers?
11. Do they notify Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media sites that your article has been published?
12. Do they bookmark your published article in social bookmarking sites?  
13. How much does their service cost and what kind of payments do they accept (credit cards, Pa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5024/Article-Marketing--How-To-Choose-An-Article-Submission-Service.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/5024/Article-Marketing--How-To-Choose-An-Article-Submission-Service.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Article Marketing Strategies That Will Get You More Customers Fast</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Recently, I was in a karate tournament competing in the 18 to 34 year old advanced black belt division.  I was fighting for 3rd place, when all of a sudden I was caught by a punch in my eye.  The punch was so hard and fast that I did not see it coming.  When I woke up, I didn't even know what I was hit with.

Now, that black belt was disqualified for malicious contact.

But as an Internet marketer and article marketer, you want to legitimately hit your competitors so hard and fast that they don't see you coming.  And, when they wake up, you already have their traffic and sales.

How to Get New Customers and Sell Like Never Before with Article Marketing

By writing and submitting articles online to the top websites, ezines and article directories, you will get more links, more traffic and more sales without any problem.

But, if you really want to compete with the BIG guys and girls in your market, then you need to follow my secret strategies to getting new customers:

1.  Write articles that give away your best information for free! 

Most people are afraid to give away great information so they resort to giving the same old information as everyone else.  But this doesn't differentiate you.  This doesn't show that you truly are the expert.  It doesn't give me a reason to go to your website instead of your competitors.  You want to wow me with truly great, free content that makes my mouth watery for more.  You want me to be like: &amp;quot;Oh my god, I can't believe the information he's giving out for free.  I can't wait to see the information that I have to buy for.&amp;quot; If you do this you will be a step ahead of your competition.

2.Write articles that educate the prospect on how to buy products and services within your niche.  

Inform them on the types of questions they should be asking and what they should be looking for.  Every question that you include should be something you do, that your competition doesn't.   An example, would be my article:  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4988/Article-Marketing-Strategies-That-Will-Get-You-More-Customers-Fast.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4988/Article-Marketing-Strategies-That-Will-Get-You-More-Customers-Fast.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Close More Sales!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most of my article marketing clients and newsletter subscribers love when I relate business lessons to real life experiences.  In this article, I'm going to show you how to close more sales - and I mean higher priced sales using the same process I used to ask my girlfriend's family for their blessings.

See, in just a couple weeks, I'm going to be proposing to my girlfriend, Kristina Jaramillo.  Now, I'm very respectful and old-fashioned, plus I know the fact that she's extremely close with her family - so during the past weekend, I asked her family for their blessings.

First, I asked her sisters - which I got my first yes.

The next easiest target was the grandmother.  I got my second yes.

Now, I already went through the process twice.  I already got 2 yeses.  And, although I was quite nervous (I paced up and down) before I spoke to the parents, it was still 1 million times easier.

Why?

Because I already got 2 smaller yeses.

Closing More Sales is a Series of Yeses!

Just like I went through a series of &amp;quot;yeses&amp;quot; to get the &amp;quot;yes&amp;quot; I really wanted - you need to go through a series of &amp;quot;yeses&amp;quot; with your customers in business.  

See most article marketers try to promote a high-priced product or service in the bio box.  Then they wonder why they're not getting website traffic or sales.

Your prospects need to get used to you.  You need to build trust.  You need to prove that you are the expert - just like I needed to prove to Kristina's parents that I will take extremely good care of her and our future family.  

So, How Do You Get More Prospects to Move Forward and Say That First Yes?

1.  Offer prospects a free special report or sneak preview in the bio box.

2.  Be sure to include a reason why they should go to your website to get this free incentive.

3.  Send prospects to a focused squeeze page - with no outside distractions.  This way, it will be easier for prospects to say their first &amp;quot;yes.&amp;quot;
 ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4987/How-to-Close-More-Sales.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4987/How-to-Close-More-Sales.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Managing The Marketing Mix</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Problem. Many organizations approach marketing by writing a marketing plan and then putting a lot of energy into producing the projects to fulfill that plan. And all to often, the plan goes astray and the budget gets blown on unplanned incidentals, leaving the company at a loss or dipping into next year's budget in order to keep things moving. The results are inefficient and generally ineffective marketing tactics.

Solution. Complete the circle. A marketing plan is only as good as a well developed strategy. While your Individual campaigns and projects may make up the bulk of your budget, establishing and maintaining the right corporate and brand identity will ensure consistency and effectiveness. And targeting your audience by demographics is only half the process in lead generation — you must also qualify these prospects in order to produce the best ROI. Finally, the often overlooked areas of public relations and customer service, which rely more on effort than on dollars, can quite possibly create the make-or-break situation. In other words, plan your strategy and tactics rather than just listing projects and goals.

Vendors vs Partners. Will managing a marketing plan internally on an as needed basis and distributing individual projects to multiple vendors will save money and allow more projects to be produced for greater results? No necessarily. The average cost for a client to take on a new vendors is approximately 12.5% of the budget. This is due to the following problems:

    * Short-rated contracts
    * Transfer of artwork and other files and information
    * Out-of-pocket and time lost to conduct a new vendor search
    * Time needed to get the new client/vendor up to speed
    * Start-up inefficiencies for the new vendor as they learn the client’s business and procedures

By forming a relationship with your agency as a strategic partner, you will be following the lead of successful companies who understand the benefits of of such an alli ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4978/Managing-The-Marketing-Mix.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4978/Managing-The-Marketing-Mix.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Fallacy of Search Engine Marketing Only</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Allow me to offer a pre-emptive caveat - I own a successful search engine marketing company. Like most businesses, we are constantly trying to expand our client base - primarily through using the same search engine and internet marketing methods that we deliver to our clients. A quick search on terms such as &amp;quot;search engine optimization company&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;internet marketing company&amp;quot; on Google will demonstrate that we practice what we preach. As I write this, on a &amp;quot;clean machine&amp;quot; (one with all browser settings reset and cookies removed), my search engine marketing company ranks number 1 on Google for both of these phrases and the plural forms of the phrases. Based upon your past search tendencies, your specific location, and whims of the Google Gods, your mileage may vary, but you should find us near the top of the SERPs for those and hundreds of other related terms.  

The Value of Integrating Different Internet Marketing Methods

The point here is not to boast - these results are due to the collective efforts of my expert team, not solely my own expertise. The point is to back up my contention that we practice what we preach and that the vast majority of our leads come from the internet marketing methods we apply to our own site. However, there has been much debate over the years in the search engine marketing community about whether it is proper or even hypocritical for a search engine marketing company to use other forms of advertising unrelated to internet marketing. The naysayers generally have a common argument: a quality search engine marketing company &amp;quot;shouldn't need&amp;quot; to engage in any forms of offline marketing.  Depending on the goals one has for their search engine marketing company, this may actually be true for some. A smaller boutique firm or an independent consultant may have all the leads they ever want from their internet marketing methods. They may even be turning business away while they make blog posts about ho ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4952/The-Fallacy-of-Search-Engine-Marketing-Only.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4952/The-Fallacy-of-Search-Engine-Marketing-Only.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Loyalty Without Bribery</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Loyalty Without Bribery

Phrases such as points program, loyalty rewards, frequent buyer, and loyal customer are often used in similar contexts. The central idea is that a company that rewards consumers for making repeat purchases can secure steady business from them over time. While this may be true, real loyalty is seldom involved.

Some marketers describe incentive programs as extending a thank-you gesture to keep customers coming back. Experts in business psychology liken the practice to bribery. They point out that repeat purchasing is not the same as true loyalty. Indeed, loyalty does not depend on discounts or give-aways. Real loyalty can be spoiled by bribes.

Customer loyalty is a matter of business relationship management. In contrast to points programs and pay-your-bill-to-enter lotteries, there is a higher road to true loyalty. It is more profitable and requires a different view of the business relationship.

Many retailers use club membership cards with give-aways and points programs as buyer incentives. As intended, these generally do secure repeat business and keep customers from leaving for competitors. However, the benefits to these companies come at a considerable cost. Close study of card-based loyalty programs reveals the main advantage: consumer data from tracking customer purchases.

For example, when a grocery-chain customer has his or her card swiped at the till, a computer links the products purchased to his or her name. This contributes to consumer statistics involving the information that the customer provided in applying for the card. Thus, the give-aways and discounts associated with shopper’s club cards are a cost that grocery chains sustain to gain consumer information for targeted marketing campaigns as well as repeat customers. 

Though retailers and their suppliers naturally seek more and better consumer statistics to sell more products to more customers, and to keep them coming back, true customer loyalty is left out  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4930/Loyalty-Without-Bribery.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4930/Loyalty-Without-Bribery.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Do Promotional Products add value to your exhibit plan?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Last month I posted a question on the TSEA (Trade Show Exhibitors Association) Group/Linkedin about the use of promotional products. Forty-five comments later and the discussion is still going strong. Comments ranged from those who thought promotional products were a waste of time and resources to those at the other end of the spectrum who found them very useful.

Tote bags, pens, mouse pads, lanyards, CD’s, note pads, candy, gizmo’s for your computer, stress balls,  luggage tags, buttons, pins, card holders, golf tees, sweat bands, mugs… don’t you just love it? Lots of people do. Ask visitors why then attend certain shows or what they remember best and they say - “all those cool giveaways.”  

Ask them what they remembered more, the give away or the exhibitor, and nine time out of ten the answer is the give away.  So, does the investment in promotional products at a show make sense?  Sure it does. But there is more to making a promotional product work.  It’s serious business and requires some serious thought. 

A study by the Promotional Products Association International reported some interesting findings:

Of the people who received a promotional product in the last 12 months, 

•	76% could recall the adversities’ name
•	52% did business with the advertiser
•	52% had a more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving the item.
•	34% had the item on their person

The advertising specialty people like to use cost per impression as their method of measurement. A study by the Advertising Specialty Institute found that bags topped the list with a staggering 1,038 impressions per month per bag given away. Caps were next with 476 per month followed in descending order by shirts (365), writing instruments (363), Business accessories (294), Glassware (251) and Calendars (227).

The other noteworthy response was that in terms of wearables. The average respondent usually kept the article for seven months, bags were nine mo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4921/Do-Promotional-Products-add-value-to-your-exhibit-plan.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4921/Do-Promotional-Products-add-value-to-your-exhibit-plan.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Capture Website Visitors Contact Information and More Sales</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[     Today’s Internet-savvy consumers look everywhere for essential content. They  have no time to waste and deeply resent unwanted advertising messages. They want to make up their own minds based on their own research. In short, our customers don’t want to be sold.
	
      Business owners and marketers are now facing a serious dilemma, because all we know how to do is sell, sell and sell. We have to change our way of thinking. We can no longer expect our web site visitors (potential customers) to give us their most prized possession, their contact information, in exchange for a cheesy newsletter or free offer.  Our customers have been tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled.  We now have to earn the right to ask them for permission to give us their contact information.
	
     So how do we earn the right to ask our customers to obtain their information? The answer is simple content, content and more content.  We have to work harder to provide relevant and valuable content. We have to be more open and share our wealth of knowledge with them.  If we are not willing to share our information, then how can we ask our potential customers to do the same?
	
     Now how do we get the information out to those potential customers?
•	Content Rich Websites
•	Blogs
•	Newsletters
•	Print Magazines
•	Digital Magazines
•	RSS Feeds 
•	Microsites
            o	News Release (PREWEB) Sites
            o	Article Submission (ArticleDashBoard) Sites
            o	Audio (PodCast) Sites
            o	Video (Utube) Sites
            o	Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter) Sites
            o	Social Bookmarking (Digg) Sits

     This may look like your basic SEO and in a sense it is. You still continue building links using your keywords. The difference is that the content is now going to benefit the reader as well as your SEO efforts. Remember the goal is enrich and offer valuable hassle free information for your readers. Do not sacrifice content for key word pl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4901/How-to-Capture-Website-Visitors-Contact-Information-and-More-Sales.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4901/How-to-Capture-Website-Visitors-Contact-Information-and-More-Sales.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search: What Should Your Philosophy Be?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a search engine marketing company, we are often asked by clients and prospects if there's a basic philosophy when it comes to organic search engine optimization and paid search advertising. 

&amp;quot;Is one tactic more favorable than another? How do I know which channel to pursue?  Should I do both?&amp;quot;

Without a hard look at your company's goals and unique situation, there really isn't a concrete answer to these questions. The true test of pursuing either an SEO campaign or PPC advertising (or both) is knowing that it all boils down to your company philosophy, ROI objectives, budget, and countless other monetary and marketing factors. To determine which, or what combination of both, might offer the most bang for your buck, let's examine five types of &amp;quot;models&amp;quot; that my search engine marketing company often deals with.

1. SEO Only. 

Some clients are strictly interested in kicking off an SEO campaign, usually for a few basic reasons.  They often have tried pay-per-click and decided it didn't work, so they aren't interested in trying it again in the foreseeable future (whether the initial campaign was set up effectively and the channel should be revisited is a subject for future discussion).   They also often feel that since they themselves ignore PPC ads on the right hand side of the page, everyone else must do the same.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with pursuing search engine optimization exclusively, it can take awhile to achieve rankings for competitive, profitable keyphrases, and there's simply no way for your search engine marketing company to accurately predict (as they probably can with some degree of accuracy with PPC advertising) exactly what the initial results will be, and precisely when they will appear. However, for companies which do not have an immediate sense of urgency in their online marketing initiatives and who for whatever reason do not want to pursue PPC, organic SEO still offers a great, albeit slightly delaye ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4893/Search-Engine-Optimization-and-Paid-Search-What-Should-Your-Philosophy-Be.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4893/Search-Engine-Optimization-and-Paid-Search-What-Should-Your-Philosophy-Be.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Publicity And Success With Your Own Posters</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Whether you are promoting yourself as an independent agent, or you are promoting your business or a company you work for, poster printing is one of the great strategies you can invest upon for publicity. Poster printing can work in many angles to make sure that you can get your message across effectively to the most number of people. Along with a good design, you can easily generate positive publicity for the subject you need, all for a cheap price. Below is a low down on how this works.

Getting your message through.

Posters can get your message through to people in quite effective ways. Take the food poster for example. By just posting some good color posters around their location, a small restaurant can generate quite a lot of interest for their new types of foods. Basically, it generates some publicity for it. Since the posters are very visual and can be displayed at many places indefinitely, that message will be displayed for all people to see 24/7. Moreover, since they can display a lot more text and provide more details about their subjects, color posters can give the complete message across to people along with the specific and important details. These are the things that radio and television advertisements cannot quite achieve. So if you want a more detailed and effective message to come through to people, poster printing is the one best recommended.

Reaching people everywhere.

Also, the good thing about posters is that you can generate publicity for your subject in almost every location you want. You can place your posters everywhere from hallways, public bus stops, food places, billboards and even the bare walls of your shop. Everyone will be able to see your posters without the limitation of electronic devices. So your market will not only be the radio listening or TV watching audience at certain commercial breaks, everybody who can walk and read will be your potential audience. Basically you can reach anybody anywhere as long as your posters  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4807/Publicity-And-Success-With-Your-Own-Posters.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4807/Publicity-And-Success-With-Your-Own-Posters.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Something Unexpected</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In today's highly competitive marketplace, consumers can choose from any number of competing sellers in order to get what they want. When you and your competitors offer the same quality product and rely on low prices, loss leaders, and special incentives to make the sale, the product becomes a mere commodity and price is all that matters. But, when you shift your focus away from the sale and toward the consumer experience, you change the playing field.

Far too often, consumer experiences are delivered short of expectations. With the heavy presence of social media in our lives today, there's big buzz about &amp;quot;engaging&amp;quot; the consumer. But, I don't think too many of us understand what that really means. Doc Searls in writing about “the intention economy”, suggests that buyers find sellers, as opposed to sellers capturing buyers. He also shows us that the seller must earn respect and trust, and that branding is only useful if it is based on truth. Sellers must focus first and foremost on building relationships with buyers. The sale is a by-product of this relationship.

Building successful relationships with consumers means becoming transparent and giving them more than they expect. Now, more than ever, we must be focused on the quality of the consumer experience in addition to the quality of our product and service. Relationship building goes much deeper than simply putting your best face forward. It goes deep into that all important courtship, and it takes a whole lot more than giving flowers and holding hands to grow a beautiful relationship. It takes trust. It takes passion. It takes creativity. It takes honesty.

The average consumer prefers recommendations from family and friends over advertising. And, according to a Forrester research study examining consumer trust with various forms of advertising, consumer opinions posted online scored higher than traditional marketing tactics. Social media has permeated our daily lives to the degree that buyi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4776/Something-Unexpected.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4776/Something-Unexpected.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Introducing  “Affiliate clone X blueprint”</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
The incredible thing about affiliate marketing is that you can easily make six figures and still maintain complete freedom in your life - you have no customer service headaches, no staff, no overheads, and yet the amount of money you can make is totally uncapped, the sky is the limit.

You need no prior experience affiliate marketing online. This methods are simple, and run contrary to popular affiliate techniques. Whether you are a seasoned affiliate, or a complete newbie, the cash will come just as quickly.

No hard work or long hours: Affiliate marketing (when done the right way) is the easiest business online. And you will have a lot of leisure time on your hands - you could quit your day job and join me in the world of the cash-rich, time-rich self employed affiliate.

A revolutionary formula, that no-one else is using: completely Unique Gold. Meaning minimal competition, and a real edge over almost every other affiliate on the planet (and we will be taking from the guys who know what they're doing). Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned pro, you will never see this information presented this way - anywhere on the web.

With the step-by-step techniques, you can work the hours that you want to work, and potentially enjoy the freedom that very, very few others enjoy.

These are just some of the things that you can get from this amazing product:

• The critical first step you must take: to &amp;quot;clone&amp;quot; the explosive results of the Guru's: Don't start until you understand this &amp;quot;key to Wealth&amp;quot; 

• Discover the fool-proof &amp;quot;litmus test&amp;quot; for instantly selecting the right product and right system: simply apply this test and guarantee your success 

• What you need to know to select the right product for your business: All products are not created equal and some have vastly better chances of succeeding online - learn the difference here... 

• What you should look for before marketing a PLR product: This tip will save ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4764/Introducing--Affiliate-clone-X-blueprint.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4764/Introducing--Affiliate-clone-X-blueprint.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Authenticity Rules: A Reality Check for Creative Advertisers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Authenticity Rules: A Reality Check for Creative Advertisers

One lovely day in the summer of 2002, I had an in-person business meeting scheduled with an Englishman. He was a new client and I had been advised by a colleague who also rode motorcycles not to reveal myself as a motorcyclist until after a new business relationship had been cemented. Yet, it was a beautiful day and my motorcycle was a 2001 Triumph, made in England. I considered the sunshine and the English connection (if my client noticed that I arrived on a Triumph) an excuse to ride to the appointment.

pass test in a blink
Within minutes of my arrival, the Englishman led me out to the parking lot to show him my motorcycle. When he read the name on the gas tank, he whispered, 'A Triumph.' Then, taking on a dubious tone, he turned to me and said, 'Aah, but was any of it made in England?'

Fortunately, Triumph had placed a tiny Union Jack decal above the taillight. I pointed to it, said yes, and witnessed a change in facial expression that suggested I had just passed a critical test.

What my made-in-England Triumph  has is the perception that authenticity equates with value. This is true of much more than motorcycles. Indeed, the perception of authenticity equates with value among informed and uninformed consumers in any market – so much that it often makes deep wells of creativity unnecessary in effective marketing.  

authenticity = value
Because the concepts home-made and locally-grown trigger the impulse to buy, a small hand-made sign offering home-made relish made from locally-grown cucumbers helps to sell more hotdogs at a hotdog stand. Likewise, a poster of Shaun Cassidy from 1977 might sell at a garage sale today. The same poster autographed by Shaun Cassidy can fetch a high price on e-bay. These are further examples of how authenticity increases value.

You want the real thing?
Authenticity relates to truthful origins. The word comes from the Greek   authentikos  which means or ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4696/Authenticity-Rules-A-Reality-Check-for-Creative-Advertisers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4696/Authenticity-Rules-A-Reality-Check-for-Creative-Advertisers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Sellers and Retailers Guide of Wholesale Apparel</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The wholesale apparel segment has revolutionized the garment demand by producing the apparel more cost effective for the shoppers. The wholesale apparel trader purchases the apparel away distinct producers and markets it to the marketers who in turn market it to the particular buyers. Clothing photos hold come to stay as a essential tool to get out to latent clients through style magazines and on the internet clothing shops.

[URL=http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale+apparel.html]Wholesale apparel[/URL] has reduced the prices of the apparel importantly ever since the concept of bulk production as well as lump marketing techniques was introduced in the 19th century. Wholesaling normally includes, marketing in bigger magnitude and at vitally lower prices than the mean reseller cost. Garment encompasses men clothing, ladies garment and youngsters clothing. It might as healthy extend to include apparel such as sport or riding garment. Wholesale apparel is complete approximately selling of products in large quantities at deep and cheap costs to stores and enterprises, rather than selling them straight to individual buyers in the stores. It proves to be cost-effective whether you are ordering garment in bulk.

The adulthood of the folks have to characteristic to wear the most modern apparel on earth nonetheless don't characteristic to order huge amount of money for them. This is probably the purpose why manifold of the clothing traders nowadays offer fashionable outfits alongside cheap costs. And this makes the garment industry accord with actually popular in the integrity planet.

When talking almost garment, wholesale apparel provides to total type of tastes ranging from casuals such as sports shirts, T-shirts, outwear, rob, active bear, and informal dress shirts to headquarters formals such as venture fits and its accessories. For men, it includes an extensive variety of designer tops such as knits, graphic tees, shirts and polo for both superficial and casual line be ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4686/Sellers-and-Retailers-Guide-of-Wholesale-Apparel.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4686/Sellers-and-Retailers-Guide-of-Wholesale-Apparel.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Wholesale Apparel Supplier for Men's Wear</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you transact with the apparel labor, you would recognition that men's apparel and women's clothing hold a numerous amount of differences. Aloof away the patent similar skirts and underwear, men's apparel is more toned down and conservative. Women's clothing, on the different fist, has added choices - added variety. Though men's garment might be less gaudy, they can be more expensive by comparison. Men typically dress for their age and this entails them using same garment whole the time whereas ladies strive for variety daily.

Clothes mold the staff and lady, in this instance. It's not rigid to imagine equally sexes expending additional than customary sum of assets impartial to create them look pleasant and experience pleasant. 'Big name' businesses have recognized this style of men and lady and possess come aloft alongside numerous categories of styles to try and convulsion them.

Sometimes as a men's provider, you hold to be wary what apparel you purchase. Is it merit getting a few of a trademark or styles or comprehend a lot on a single trend alone? The reply is tricky; that is why as a trader you have to view the apparel fashions warily. Where may you get these garment tends? Solitary alternative is to scrutinize the trend shows and order eyes to their forecasts; from that you can then adjust in a nice way.

Just surfing the web might reveal how diversified men's wholesale apparel has become as related to numerous days past. Men's clothing are now as varied or even added flashier than women's. Clothing enterprises have recognized the reality that males none need additional variation in their [URL=http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale+apparel.html]wholesale apparel[/URL].

Even whether you try to trade at wholesale apparel business, sometimes you might not increase a profit. Sometimes you could impartial break even. When this eventuates it could be time to seek one more supplier. You have to avoid a jobber or middleman at complete prices. Alongside having  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4659/Wholesale-Apparel-Supplier-for-Mens-Wear.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4659/Wholesale-Apparel-Supplier-for-Mens-Wear.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Printing Your Posters</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the best ways to advertise your events, products or services is through the use of print posters. Poster printing has always been a staple in the marketing community as it is a quick and easy way to get the customers’ attention, as well as to impart the necessary information. Therefore, you must have the pertinent ideas in poster printing. Here are some ideas to help you gets started.

First off, you must start with your content. The information you put in your poster must be succinct and direct to the point. Details must also be included, depending on the kind of poster that you are making. For an event poster, the event name, venue and time should be included. Other teasers such as performances (if any) should be included as well. For a product poster, you must put in where they can find the product and the suggested retail price if possible. For a service-oriented poster, the branches of your company where they can avail of the service must be included.

After finalizing the content, you need to design your poster. It is usually easier to design them on the computer. There are a lot of software available for these kinds of things, like Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org Writer, or even Microsoft Publisher. There are also downloadable ready-to-use templates that you find on the Internet. If you are having a hard time visualizing what you want to put in your poster, you can always hire a professional to do it for you. Be sure to describe what you want as detailed as possible in order for your poster to be a success.

Lastly you need to choose the right printer for your printer needs. Review your printing preferences and look for the printing company that can provide them satisfyingly. They must be able to procure the paper stocks, inks, and shipping services that you require. Your print posters are most attractive when printed in full color, but if you are a bit tight on the budget, you can opt to print them in black and white as well. The paper to be us ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4636/Printing-Your-Posters.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4636/Printing-Your-Posters.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Key Message Blunders - Part 3: Promoting Features Not Compelling Benefits</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Key Message Blunders - Part 3: Promoting Features That Do Not Provide Compelling Benefits 

In promoting their company or its products and services, many people choose to present their achievements rather than how they solve their market’s problems. In doing this, they place unimportant distractions where a simple, relevant key message would be more effective at advancing their promotional efforts. 

Consider these examples:

* 'Award-winning graphic design' – on all stationery and promotional collateral of a design agency. 
* 'Proud of what we do' – in the advertisements of an accounting and management-consulting firm. 
* 'Laboratory tested' – on the package of a skin-care product. 

The unimportance of such statements is intuitive to anybody but their authors.

For instance, a prospective client for the renewal of a website might respond to example 1, “How does your having won awards address my needs?” 

The same would apply for people who would respond to example 2, “Does your pride somehow lead to me getting a good deal?”

When encountering example 3, one might ask, “Shouldn’t I assume the laboratory testing of any skin-care product before it appears on store shelves?” 

The crux of the problem is that many businesses are proud of their accomplishments and lose focus away from clearly communicating how their market can rely on them to provide great value.  

Unless a promoter can present to their market a simple, relevant, compelling promise to satisfy their market’s needs, then they should not promote features that do not provide sought-after benefits.

The awards you’ve won or the professional designations of your key people might provide reassurance after the buying decision has been made. Yet, for any enterprise to acquire new clients and earn the loyalty of its market, the focus of key messages ought to be on providing solutions to challenges that the ideal client faces.  

 
- Glenn R. Harrington, [URL=htt ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How To Make Your Classic Looking Custom Greeting Cards</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Craving for custom greeting cards with that classic effect? Want your greeting card printing to look very poignant with a little of that nostalgic effect? Well, trying to make custom greeting cards look classic or old is very simple. You just use a few effects and some color know how. In this quick guide, I will show you four simple tricks that should help.



• Losing the color – The simplest thing you should do to make custom greeting cards look classic and old is to lose all color information. Changing the color mode of your color greeting card design to “gray scale” makes it look like the images were done in a time when black and white images were all the rage. Of course not only does this make the design look dated, it will also accent the darker and lighter parts of your designs more clearly. This adds that great classic effect that makes designs look meaningful and poignant.



• Adding texture – Plain pictures are hardly classic looking until you add some texture. Texture in images is basically the effect of adding a “material” behind or into your design making it look like it was printed or is made of a specific kind of surface. Satin effects, canvass effects, brick effects and all other texture overlays can have an old and dated effect on custom greeting card designs. As long as the texture matches your theme and design concept you should have that used looking effect through the texture.



• Adding noise – For a more “worn out” effect for your greeting card design, you should try and add some noise. Little scratches, tears, holes and other specific design elements can do this. Moreover adding filter effects that add more noise should do a good job. Filters like “dust and scratches”, “despeckle” and the general “noise” effect filter should be okay for most designs. Just try to adjust the intensity of these filters so that they match the theme you are going for. Most of these effects should be found in common ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4621/How-To-Make-Your-Classic-Looking-Custom-Greeting-Cards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4621/How-To-Make-Your-Classic-Looking-Custom-Greeting-Cards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Key Message Blunders - Part Two: Over-promising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Key Message Blunders - Part Two: Over-promising

Many people like to present their company or its products and services as a wonderful surprise or as exceeding anybody’s expectations. The problem with such over-promising is that it implies low or misguided expectations as well as gullibility in the reader. This can strike people as a subtle insult. Even more certainly, it triggers skepticism. There is a better way. 

Consider these examples:

* 'Our mission is to exceed your expectations for quality and service every time' – on a company's website, customer receipts, and in-store banners. 
* 'Something special for everyone!' – as a slogan promoting a community event. 
* 'Why shop anywhere else?' – on the billboard for a shopping mall. 

Example 1 triggers a confounding dual response: uncertainty and skepticism. &amp;quot;How could they know what my expectations are?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Why be so presumptuous about how easily my expectations are exceeded?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Do they really think that they can catch me off guard in my gauge of quality and service?&amp;quot; Such thoughts come to mind when people encounter statements like this and can be counterproductive in marketing. 

Example 2 suggests that anybody could attend this event (e.g. concert, convention, rummage sale, community picnic) with anybody else accompanying and find satisfaction. Something special for everyone! makes too broad a promise to appeal to people as individuals with individual needs, tastes, and preferences. Its generic quality weakens it considerably.

In example 3, a rhetorical question implies that one shopping mall is a superior place to shop for any reason, for any aware shopper, under any reasonable circumstances. What could be more effective at evoking skepticism, outright rejection as false, or insult? These effects on market perception can be counterproductive.

When a promoter can promise an experience that consistently, appreciably distinguishes them from alternatives, over- ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4617/Key-Message-Blunders--Part-Two-Overpromising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4617/Key-Message-Blunders--Part-Two-Overpromising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why Traditional Article Marketing Should Be Dead!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article marketing is one of the best ways to gain instant credibility, increase website traffic, build your list and get more sales. But, the only way you'll experience these results is if you stop doing article marketing the traditional way!

Here's why most of what you have been told by other so-called article marketing experts and gurus is dead wrong when it comes to writing and submitting articles online. 

1. Traditional article marketing rarely results in any new traffic to your site.

Links from hundreds or thousands of unimportant article directories and sites are only going to build an army of low-quality links that do nothing for your page rank in the search engines. And it certainly will NOT bring you any more traffic. This is a mistake that tons of people are still making everyday on the web, and most of them don't even know it. They just assume what they are doing will eventually work - because that's what other experts are telling them.

2. Traditional article marketing does not establish you as an authority in your niche.

One of the biggest advantages of article marketing is that as soon as you publish your first article, you become a published writer in your marketplace. You will soon be considered an authority in your niche, which is great - but only if you are published at reputable sources. For example, my articles can be found on top websites like About.com, SiteProNews.com, MarketingProfs.com, Microsoft Community Dynamics and many more. Blasting out articles to a lot of low-quality sites makes you appear to be an amateur and not an expert, something that traditional article marketers tend to do.

3. Traditional article marketing promotes going for the quick-fix.

There are a lot of marketing &amp;quot;gurus&amp;quot; out there who claim to have the magical solution for helping you obtain thousands of links back to your site just by the push of a button. There are others who claim to have a solution for the duplicate content problem - and  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4613/Why-Traditional-Article-Marketing-Should-Be-Dead.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4613/Why-Traditional-Article-Marketing-Should-Be-Dead.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Danger Running Twitter on Autopilot</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Going from a brick and mortar business to being online requires a strategy for promoting and maintaining brand recognition. 10 years ago some small business owners were slow to accept the importance of having a website, even slower to add a blog, and now some are fighting tooth and nail against having a Twitter account. Before choosing a Twitter strategy, consider the danger of running Twitter on autopilot.

Adding original quality content often is the secret to online success. How to get there often requires having a quality website with a matching blog enhanced with a Twitter account. Taking shortcuts as a strategy on any of those could defeat your website purpose.

Consider Twitter and shortcuts for automating tweets before deciding on the easy route. The issue of duplicate content running Twitter on autopilot may have little impact on search engine ranking for your Twitter account, yet it may affect your reputation with real people. As Twitter matures and external apps are created to maximize efficiency, any automated approach with robots for tweeting becomes easier and easier to identify. 

People you follow who once interacted real time may not respond if they are running Twitter on autopilot.

The reality of how people tweet became very apparent recently when viewing tweets in Tweetdeck. Two people being followed created identical tweets two minutes apart, and each posted automatically using TwitterFeed. The text was identical in word, case, punctuation, and the reference hyperlink. Those were not retweets. They were consecutive tweets in a group column created in Tweetdeck, yet from different persons.

You can tell an account holder is using a robot if their posting method is entirely API, Twitterfeed, or another RSS format. This means tweets are generated and put in queue to &amp;quot;drip feed&amp;quot; into their public timeline to show activity when in fact follower interaction is probably not being monitored.

Twitter is social media. The purpose is ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4608/Danger-Running-Twitter-on-Autopilot.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4608/Danger-Running-Twitter-on-Autopilot.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Custom Postcards For Special People</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Want to send something special to the people you love or respect? Well then, you should try custom postcard printing as a new and interesting way to greet your loved ones. No one expects a personalized and professional looking color postcard as a greeting card, but with today's technology custom postcard printing is a cinch. You can even print cheap postcards if you are on a limited budget really.

In this article, I will show you how to create custom postcards for the people who are important to you. Let us start with the closest, your family and friends.

• For family and friends – Custom postcard printing for family and friends is simple. You actually just need a special picture that includes your whole family or your group of friends for the cover of the postcard. Sometimes the older the picture is the better so that you can feel nostalgic or you can tease each other about the good times. Just add that picture into a postcard template in a computer, write in some special message for your family and friends and then have that document printed in your color printer. Instant personalized postcard that can touch the hearts of your loved ones.

• For clients and business contacts – You can also print custom postcards for your clients and other business contacts. It is important for you to preserve these business relationships so that you will have great partners whether the business climate is good or bad. Printing nice company postcards that show gratitude to your clients and business contacts should be a good idea. You might want to use the company color scheme along with the company logo as part of the postcard cover. It should do well though to include an inspirational photograph in the cover that represents your gratitude to your business contact.

Again, you may want to use a postcard template to merge the photographs with your special message for your business contacts. It might be best to hire a postcard printing company to print your custom p ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4597/Custom-Postcards-For-Special-People.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4597/Custom-Postcards-For-Special-People.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Key Message Blunders pt 1: Presumptuous Use of &quot;Your&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When Key Messages Fail: Three Common Blunders - Part One 

1. Presumptuous Use of Your

In promoting their company, many people like to present its products or services as already adopted by or already belonging to their market. This is how the presumptuous use of your often appears in slogans and mottoes. The basic problem with this is its confounding falsity. There is a better way. 

Consider these examples:
* Your view - with a photo of the view from a new condominium development. 
* Your family pharmacy - on the storefront sign of a drugstore.
* Your outdoor store since 1946 - on the billboard for a camping outfitter.
* The falsity of such statements is intuitive to anybody but their authors.

To example 1, one might respond, 'No. Not my view.' 
The same would apply with example 2. One might respond, 'No. Not my family pharmacy.' 
When encountering example 3: 'Not my outdoor store. Not since 1946, either.' 

The crux of the problem is that the word your always speaks to the reader as the recipient of the message. Your never speaks for the reader as the thinker of the message in self-reference. 

Moreover, your never means my or our. Hence, 'Our new president' could be a perfect slogan to accompany a photo of the recently appointed president of a company in that company's internal newsletter. 'Your new president' would register awkwardly.

A good key message plants an intuitively acceptable idea into the mind of the reader instantly. 

Unless a promoter can present to their market what actually belongs to or has been adopted by every person in their market as their own, then the use of your has no place before the market’s eyes. It is effective at confounding people and ineffective at getting into their minds favourably.

Better to articulate an authentic, basically relevant key message that reflects the thoughts and feelings shared by people who match the ideal client profile.


- Glenn R. Harrington, Articulate Consultants Inc. www. ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4592/Key-Message-Blunders-pt-1-Presumptuous-Use-of-Your.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4592/Key-Message-Blunders-pt-1-Presumptuous-Use-of-Your.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Plastic Surgery Marketing Strategies-Write Google Ads that Get New Patients</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you're using Pay-Per-Click advertising to promote your plastic surgery marketing practice online or if you're even thinking about using PPC then you need to read this article right away. 

Why?

Because you can't just buy the first spot anymore! There's something called a quality score that Google uses.  And if Google doesn't like your ad or website, it will punish you by lowering the rank of your ad burying it so very few prospects will see it.  Now, if you don't write your Google Ads the right way, you can be spending thousands of dollars and not get one single new patient. 

Why Most Google Ads Fail to Bring In New Patients

Imagine you are seated in a room, shoulder to shoulder with your fiercest competitors. 
In the middle is a prospective patient for your plastic surgery practice. 

This asks, &amp;quot;Why should I choose YOUR PRACTICE in 15 words or less?&amp;quot;

What would you say? 

Would you waste any of the 15 words? Would you waste 3-6 of the words on saying your name once or TWICE???? Would you waste a few words on &amp;quot;Board Certified&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Free Consultation&amp;quot; that everyone else offers?

Well, believe it or not, the scenario above is basically your Google ad. It's a preliminary 15-word interview of you versus all of your competition. And, most people doing pay-per-click advertising online stumble by adding words that are a complete waste. People add words that do not make people want to click and visit their website. By not writing an effective Google ad, you can kiss tens of thousands of dollars in new patients goodbye.

How to Write an Effective Google Ad That Brings In New

Each word in your Google ad must earn its spot.  If there's not a strong persuasive element to every word you select, then you are wasting space and missing out on new patients. And, this includes inserting your name and the practice's name within the ad. In fact, this is the pay-per-click advertising mistake that is committed everyday. People ar ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4580/Plastic-Surgery-Marketing-StrategiesWrite-Google-Ads-that-Get-New-Patients.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4580/Plastic-Surgery-Marketing-StrategiesWrite-Google-Ads-that-Get-New-Patients.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Which Article Template Should You Use?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was recently asked by one of my Instant Article Writing Templates Kit customers:

&amp;quot;Eric, I am amazed by how many different formats and formulas you have created to help us write articles faster. Now, I want to get started in a BIG way. What instant article writing templates should I focus on first?&amp;quot;

Here's Your Article Marketing Expert's Answer to Which Article Templates You Should Try First...

It's hard for me to answer this question and tell you which article templates you should start off with as everyone has his or her own, unique writing style. If you want to find true article writing and marketing success then you need to decide for yourself which article templates, which formats and which writing styles work best for you.

See, I have more than 40 different instant article templates at StartWritingArticlesFaster.com that my clients could follow so they can write articles faster. But they very rarely have success using all 40 of those templates. That's why I offer a large variety of article templates for you to choose from, so you can see for yourself, which ones work best for you.

Why Every Article Template Won't Work For You?

Regardless of experience, aptitude, or willingness - everyone has a writing style that works better for him or her that may not work with another person.

Some clients worked better creating a list. Ex. Top 10 Things All Article Marketers Must 

Others worked better with the How-to formula. Ex. How to Write Articles in Less Than 30 Minutes

Some do better with the problem/solution format, and so on and so on.

The key is to find article templates and article writing formulas that work best for you and use those templates as much as your heart's content. There is no rule out there that you have to use a million different types of writing formats or styles. There is no law that says that every one of your articles cannot be a how-to or a list. That may be the way that you think an organize ideas. Some p ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4555/Which-Article-Template-Should-You-Use.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4555/Which-Article-Template-Should-You-Use.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Right Answer</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Effective annual marketing plans have always relied on a combination of real data and intelligent assumptions. Recent years have brought us a great deal of change at a very fast pace, which has created new challenges as well as new opportunities for preparing an effective 2010 marketing strategy.

I believe it is very safe to say that when it comes to marketing tactics, there is no common &amp;quot;right answer&amp;quot;. When asked by clients if a particular tactic will produce the desired results, I can only honestly say that it all depends on the product, target, message and — more importantly in today's changing landscape — how the consumer wants to be approached.

If you aren't familiar with the Four P's of marketing [see footnote], it's a tried and true concept that I believe is as relevant today as when it was first introduced a half a century ago. However, the fourth P, &amp;quot;Promotion&amp;quot;, requires some special attention these days. It isn't all about print vs broadcast media, public relations, and your sales force anymore. Today we are faced with — and perhaps blessed with — the possibility of building personal relationships with the masses. Today's buzz phrase is &amp;quot;Social Media&amp;quot; and it really can work if you are smart in your approach.

Before jumping onto FaceBook or Twitter, it's important to understand that social media can work with you or against you in two significant ways:

   1. Social media allows you to hold a conversation with your audience
   2. Social media allows your audience to hold a conversation with others about you

It is also important to understand that social media isn't just about FaceBook and Twitter. It's also about blogs, media sharing, widgets, mobile apps, podcasting, rss, email, and good ol' word-of-mouth. According to the MarketingSavant, a social media campaign by Ben &amp;amp; Jerry's yielded a 42% increase in time spent engaged with their website, strengthened existing relationships, and introduced young ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4525/The-Right-Answer.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4525/The-Right-Answer.php</link>
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      <title><strong>3 Little Known Facts About Customer Newsletters That Gets Clients For Life</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Tom did an incredible job.  He was punctual and thorough.  He made sure his client was satisfied… actually, more-than-satisfied. 

Yet, two weeks later these same happy clients couldn't tell you the name of his company if their lives depended upon it.  And the next time they need someone to do the same job?  They'll start all over again by looking in the yellow pages.

There is a way you can keep your clients life.  All you have to do is….

Publish a Client Newsletter

Client newsletters will build an iron cage around your clients so strong they would never even consider calling your competitors.  

You must understand, it doesn't matter what business you're in, what service you offer or if you work in a small town or a large city.  Life moves at the speed of light. And so does the awareness people have about you and your business.  A monthly client newsletter will guarantee that you always stay in their 'awareness path.'

Here's Three Reasons To Start Publishing a Client Newsletter Now

FACT:  Regular communication with your clients will separate you from the competition.

When your clients receive a personal custom newsletter from your company, it tells them you care about them; that you want to stay in touch.  They will instantly recognize your company as a cut above the rest. 

In addition, your newsletter is a golden opportunity to thank them again for their business.  This thoughtful attention to your client reinforces the differences between you and the other companies. 

BIG FACT:  75% of business (or buying) decisions are based on relationships.

Consumers buy from people they like. Don't you?  Isn't it enjoyable to buy from someone that's pleasant and likable?  It makes you feel good about your buying decision!

Every time the client receives your newsletter, it's another opportunity for them to get to know you a little better.  A well-written monthly newsletter can build customer relationships that last a lifetime. 

BIGGEST  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4501/3-Little-Known-Facts-About-Customer-Newsletters-That-Gets-Clients-For-Life.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4501/3-Little-Known-Facts-About-Customer-Newsletters-That-Gets-Clients-For-Life.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Overcome Writer's Block Fast So You Can Write Your Articles in 30 Minutes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I am a natural born writer, so writing has always come easy to me. But, when I had to start writing articles everyday for my blog, for my newsletter and for article submission - I quickly ran out of article topics. 

Then one day as I was reviewing all of my articles, I realized that there was a structure and a formula behind each article I wrote. By recognizing these formulas I'm able to write an unlimited amount of articles - and write them in record time.  

If you want to overcome writer's block and start writing articles faster, then you want to model proven article writing formats, such as those found in my &amp;quot;Complete Instant Article Writing Templates Kit&amp;quot;

Here Are 10 Different Article Writing Templates That Will Help You Overcome Writer's Block So You Can Write Articles Faster...

1. Myth Buster Article Template -- With this template, you crush your prospects' preconceived thoughts and notions about a subject. Take 3 myths people have about your industry. Explain to people why it's a myth. And, then show them what can happen if they clear this myth from their mind.

2. Top 10 Article Template - Have you ever seen a Jay Leno, David Letterman or any other late night television show that doesn't have a &amp;quot;Top 10&amp;quot; segment? Well, neither have I! It's because people love top 10 lists. So give readers and prospects what they want.

3. How-To Article Template - It's no secret that &amp;quot;how-to&amp;quot; articles and blog posts are some of the most sought after, linked to and bookmarked content online. People want useful information and they'll reward you by promoting it to others when you provide it. It's also one of the easiest articles to write.

4. Step-by-Step Article Template - If you think writing a how-to article is easy especially if you're using article templates, then you'll think the step-by-step article template is a cinch. In how-to articles I start off with the problem or pain that my prospects are experiencing. Then I give t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4488/Overcome-Writers-Block-Fast-So-You-Can-Write-Your-Articles-in-30-Minutes.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4488/Overcome-Writers-Block-Fast-So-You-Can-Write-Your-Articles-in-30-Minutes.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Stop Insulting Your Targeted Audience When You Submit Articles Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you write articles, if you don't keep your audience in mind then you are insulting them. Let me show you an example (unrelated to article marketing) of what happens if you don't keep your targeted audience in mind.

Recently my girlfriend, Kristina Jaramillo, attended one of the worst bridal showers ever. I've never heard of a bridal shower where more than 75% of the guests left insulted, have you?

Here's one of the reasons for the total disaster...

The bridesmaids thought it would be funny to put on a clothesline the different types of underwear to represent the different phases of life and marriage ending with Depends. Now this would have been a perfect gag for a bachelorette party, where all the guests would have been in their 20's and 30's. But not a bridal shower, where at least 75% of the guests were ages 55 to 75. 

The bridesmaids totally forgot who their target audience was. 

Out of respect for the bride, the guests did not leave, even though they were disgruntled. However, if you write articles or website content that's not geared for your targeted audience, people will leave. 

Keep reading this article below to find out if you're insulting your targeted audience - without even realizing it. 

3 Mistakes Most Article Marketers Make That Insult Their Audience

If you're making any of the mistakes, then you are insulting publishers, prospects and readers alike.

Mistake #1: Failure to identify your audience. 

I search the Internet all time for articles that can help me build my different online businesses. There are many times that I won't open an article because I don't know if it's for me. And, because my time is valuable, I don't want to waste it on an article that isn't for me. That's a slap in my face. So identify your audience in the title, in the introduction and in the bio box. 

Mistake #2: Failure to use examples that resonate with your targeted audience.

Let's say you write a sales article titled, &amp;quot;How to Do ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4487/Stop-Insulting-Your-Targeted-Audience-When-You-Submit-Articles-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4487/Stop-Insulting-Your-Targeted-Audience-When-You-Submit-Articles-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>7 Print Newsletter Design Tips to Get Your Client Newsletter Opened &amp; Read </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You spend a considerable amount of time and money producing your monthly client print newsletter.  Having it tossed in the trash along with the 'B' pile (junk) mail is the last thing you want. 

Yet this happens every day to small business owners just like you. In fact, it's probably happening to you right now.

Why?  Because most monthly client print newsletters are not put together in a way that screams out &amp;quot;READ ME!&amp;quot;

Having Great Content is Just the Beginning

Ignoring your newsletter's 'packaging' or formatting is like giving your clients a lovely gift... and then wrapping it with duct tape and plain brown paper. The fascinating articles and interesting content in your newsletter must be presented in an appealing way to capture the eye's attention. 

By following seven basic newsletter design rules you will ensure that your client print newsletter does not wind up in the trash. 

7 Tips to Get Your Newsletter Opened and Read

1.  Color attracts the eye. The only people who tell you color isn't important are the ones who refuse to use it. USA Today is one of the most popular newspapers in the world is - primarily because of its extensive use of color.  Why?  Because color animates everything!  It livens up and attracts attention.

2. Use interesting formatting.  Put your copy in a tinted text box.  Use reverse text (white text on a black background) somewhere in your newsletter. Also use a multi-column format. With the proper use of shading, reverse text borders and bold fonts, you can design a professional newsletter template that grabs attention.

3. Don't go crazy with fonts. Stick to a maximum of three font types throughout your newsletter.

4. Headlines get noticed. Decades of newspaper reading have taught us to look for headlines. We look for them to get an idea of what to read. We scan the subheads to pick up on the key points. Powerful, punchy headlines get noticed and read.

5. Make your lead article interesting.   This i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4486/7-Print-Newsletter-Design-Tips-to-Get-Your-Client-Newsletter-Opened--Read.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4486/7-Print-Newsletter-Design-Tips-to-Get-Your-Client-Newsletter-Opened--Read.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Simple Ways To Build Your List – four types of leads   </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[  

The process of creating a list leads to the potential for greater success and wealth, regardless of the business  you are in. This article  talk about some simple tools you can use to build your list. 

Sometimes it is best to rely on simple tools and small opportunities when you are just starting out in the industry. You will have much time to grow your business and expand your customer base if you follow the simple steps outlined in this guide. 

Subscriber leads 
One easy way to build your list is by collecting subscriber leads. This is one of the best ways to expand your business. There are many ways to acquire leads, but the best way to collect leads is to gather them automatically, through email or by your website through various forms. 

Opt-In leads 
Like subscriber leads, opt-in leads are a good tool for building your business. Opt-in leads are leads you get when you invite someone to enter their information into your database. When they do this, they are granting you permission to contact them in the future about new products or updates to your site. 

Survey leads 
Another way to produce automatic subscriber leads is by conducting surveys on your website. This is a simple way to increase the number of subscribers to your list. You can place survey ads on your website so they pop up when a customer checks out.  

Affiliating 
One way you can collect leads for your subscriber list is by affiliating. Affiliating means joining in or offering an affiliate program. When you take part in an affiliate program you immediately realize the benefits of getting leads that an affiliate will create and then forward to you.  For this process to work you need an opt-in program and an auto responder  programmer.
Using these programs you can gather information and instantly send out confirmation emails to new subscribers on your list. Don’t worry about having people fill in their address fields or phone number. Most people are hesitant to provide this ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4441/Simple-Ways-To-Build-Your-List--four-types-of-leads.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4441/Simple-Ways-To-Build-Your-List--four-types-of-leads.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Door Hangers as Local Marketing Tools</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you’re operating a small business, door hangers are great means to have to introduce your business to your target clients. Your door hanger printing is also a great way to get customers and clients coming in your door. Most of the time, these door hangers are used in local areas and communities, that’s why local businesses can really benefit from these print collaterals.

Because it works very well, a door hanger printing can drive people to your door just like a local pizza place. In fact, most small businesses find it very convenient and effective to use a door hanger as their marketing tool as it is where most of their business comes from.

Door hangers can work very well with businesses in the food industry. Why do you think local pizza joints use them to market their place? A print door hanger can target local customers and open up opportunities in the community where you are located. People are generally interested to find out what services are available in their local area that’s why a door hanger can very well be the most effective medium to get your marketing message across.

Nowadays, people are more aware of their community, as well as their responsibility in their locality. People would want to spend their money in their area to promote their community and everything that’s in it. Door hanger printing is one marketing tool that can do just that. They are very much local and community based that most people accept them as part of the everyday community life.

One way of finding out whether your door hanger can be effective is to find out what your target market is looking for. At this point, you will need to research to make sure that you get as much information as you can. As you are working locally, it would go a long way if you can cater to the market you are targeting. If you’re offering chiropractic services for example, be sure to have the demographics on your community.

Information on income levels, the average age groups, t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4437/Door-Hangers-as-Local-Marketing-Tools.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4437/Door-Hangers-as-Local-Marketing-Tools.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of Proofreading</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Content in your marketing collaterals count a lot when it comes to effectively marketing your business. What you say in your print brochures for example can either make or break you in your industry. Content in your print ads is not like your presentation folders where you rely much on the design to get the attention of your target audience. Although the design is a big factor, what you have written in your content can decide whether your target readers get to keep your collateral or not.

When writing content, even for custom folders where you include just a small amount of text, proofreading is an essential step to have that you as a marketer cannot ignore. You can never say that proofreading is just one simple effort that you can overlook. What you have written in your copy can go a long way in convincing your target readers of your worth.

Why is proofreading important?

Before sending out your collaterals for final printing, don’t forget to take the extra time and effort to proofread what you’ve written. Check for grammar, spelling, and even that the right punctuation marks are in place. A wrong grammar or misspelled word can mean a whole new and different meaning that can mislead your readers. You might have sent out a negative impression without you knowing about it. More often than not, subliminal messages that you didn’t really mean gets more attention from your target readers.

In addition, nothing gets me so ticked off than a reading material that is packed with grammatical and spelling errors. I can’t help but want to get a red pen and correct the whole copy. If I feel this way, so would your readers. They would even think less of your copy that they won’t be so inclined to purchase whatever it is you’re offering them. Just think about this: would you be able to trust a business owner who couldn’t even write one decent business copy, let alone run a professional business?

This is why it is equally important to have your marketing ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4427/The-Importance-of-Proofreading.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4427/The-Importance-of-Proofreading.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Weakest Link in Envelope Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Although envelope printing can be one of your most effective marketing strategies, there still have a few weak points in your custom envelopes that you need to understand. While other marketing strategies such as catalog and brochure printing can be both the content and accessory at the same time, you cannot say the same with envelopes. Envelope printing sadly, is considered as an accessory – a complement to your marketing collaterals. Nevertheless, its role in the success of your marketing strategy cannot be undermined.

Especially for direct mail marketing, custom envelopes have very crucial responsibilities when it comes to making your message read by your recipients. Nobody would want to open and see what’s inside your print envelope if it doesn’t interest them in any least. There goes your chance of getting your message across your target clients.

The key then is in the initial contact. Whenever you have to send your marketing collaterals in an envelope, you have to make sure that that first contact creates a huge impact to your target audience. This is the very first time that your target clients see your ad. If the recipient isn’t hooked by that time, you will never have them read your message no matter how valuable it is to your target clients.

Five seconds – that’s how long you have to clinch their attention. Five seconds and you can already determine whether they would want to peek inside your custom envelopes, or have your parcel thrown in the trash can directly.

So when planning your envelope printing, make sure that your five seconds count. Be creative and unconventional to attract the attention and keep it. Whether you design a unique theme or have a slogan that shouts your message, be sure to plan very well what you will apply to your envelopes to pique their curiosity.

The best way to have your target audience interested is to design according to their tastes. What would your target clients prefer for design? Would a slogan  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4419/The-Weakest-Link-in-Envelope-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4419/The-Weakest-Link-in-Envelope-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Top Mistakes Article Writing Template Explained in Detail</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Have you noticed any common misconceptions about your niche, or common mistakes that people in your field continually make?

If so, you have a prime teaching opportunity that you should take full advantage of by writing an article that reveals these mistakes.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to see what NOT to do.

Top mistakes articles also tend to catch readers' attention because they run counter to the popular 'Top Tips' articles.

If you're looking for a new instant article writing template to help kick start your next article, give the one below a try.

Now, Revealing the Top Mistakes Instant Article Writing Template...

1. Brainstorm and write down the mistakes your target market typically makes.

These could be misconceptions or actual behavioral mistakes. Don't think of this as harping on the negative. Many times people don't realize they're making a mistake until someone points it out. And, as the expert, it is your job to educate people on what they're doing wrong and what they should be doing instead.

Also, keep in mind that anyone who reads your article can avoid making the mistakes listed, so this type of article is like a preventative treatment to common mistakes made in your niche. Sometimes we're not so hot on learning new things, but we are definitely motivated to avoid disasters.

2. Write an intro.

Explain to your readers why the mistakes you're about to share in your article are so common and why the reader needs to avoid them. Tell them that it's not their fault and that - and that they are making these mistakes because no one explained the right way. 

You also want to show your readers what they have to gain by avoiding these mistakes and what they have to lose by committing these mistakes. The best way to do this is to share a story, preferably one of your own that shows your readers that you were just like them.

3. List each mistake/misconception.

Under each mistake you list, explain why it's a mistake and ho ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4407/The-Top-Mistakes-Article-Writing-Template-Explained-in-Detail.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4407/The-Top-Mistakes-Article-Writing-Template-Explained-in-Detail.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Write Short Articles Fast - The Right Way</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I have always tended to stay away from writing short 400 to 500 word articles. But now I'm seeing that there are some perks to writing short, snappy, get to the point fast articles.

The Perks of Writing a Shorter Article

*	Writing shorter articles can help you get out of a writing slump faster
*	Shorter articles make it easier for a reader to glean information from them and then go directly to your website for more.
*	Shorter articles force you to mercilessly edit your content and trim superfluous words.
*	Shorter articles can be written fast especially if you're using my Instant Article Writing Templates at StartWritingArticlesFaster.com

Now, there is definitely a right and wrong way to write a short article.

Do it correctly, and you'll have a quality article that readers and publishers appreciate even though it's shorter.

Do it incorrectly, and the article will look like it was created with the sole intention of gaining a back-link. This is not the way to win the hearts of publishers or readers.

So, what is the RIGHT way to write a shorter article?

The RIGHT Way to Write a Shorter Article

1. Use a word count limit.

For a 'short and snappy' article, think 400-500 words.

2. Stay focused. 

When writing articles, most article marketers wind up going in a tangent. There are times that I have to stop myself and focus on &amp;quot;what is the main thing that I want to get across to my readers today.&amp;quot; I then start cutting anything outside those boundaries.

3.  Think of your article as an appetizer, and your website is the main course. 

Yes, you want to wow your readers with great information. But, you also want to leave them wanting more. Do NOT feel the urge to give away all of your secrets. 

If you give a reader a tasting of information that appeals to them, then they will be more likely to seek out more info from you by clicking your website link in the bio box

4. Use article writing templates. 

You want to model prov ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4406/How-to-Write-Short-Articles-Fast--The-Right-Way.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4406/How-to-Write-Short-Articles-Fast--The-Right-Way.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix, Part II</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Achieving internal buy-in, leveraging your existing assets, and understanding the unique challenges of outsourcing to a search engine optimization company

This is part two of the article Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix. Read Part 1: http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4258/Adding-Search-to-Your-Marketing-Mix.php

Leveraging Your Assets 

Search engine optimization is not something that should be done in a vacuum if you wish to achieve optimal results, nor is it a discipline in which it is necessary to start from scratch. Many of the pieces necessary for a successful SEO campaign are already in place - it is simply a matter of identifying them and using them (and your search engine optimization company) to their full potential. 

Your People

While your search engine optimization company should take the time to understand everything that it possibly can about your business before embarking on your SEO campaign, nobody will ever understand your business better than you and your colleagues. This is why it is important for your search engine optimization company to help you to utilize key people that are vital to the success of the initiative, including people outside the marketing department.

Sales

Salespeople are the front line of your organization - the people who know how to talk to your prospects and understand what is involved in their decision making processes. When it comes to collaborating with your search engine optimization company on keyphrase selection (finding the phrases that will bring highly-motivated prospects to your site), your sales staff can be invaluable. Many companies have names for products or services that are very popular internally but very rarely used on the street, so targeting these phrases during your SEO campaign will not bring you the type of traffic that you seek. Your salespeople (at least the good ones) know how your prospects speak in the real world. A good search engine optimization company will  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4404/Adding-Search-to-Your-Marketing-Mix-Part-II.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4404/Adding-Search-to-Your-Marketing-Mix-Part-II.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways to Never Run Out of Stuff to Say in Your Articles</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you ever find yourself staring at a blank screen or a blank sheet of paper when you're supposed to be writing articles for your blog, for your ezine or newsletter and for article submission so you can promote your books, products or services?

How would you like to find ways to tap into a limitless supply of article ideas?

Yes, our imaginations run thin every now and then, and no, it isn't easy to come up with article ideas sometimes. But, I promise you that there are ways to tap into a limitless supply of article ideas. No matter what your expertise lies in, you can always generate new and interesting ideas for articles IF you follow these guidelines...

5 Ways to Never Run Out of Article Ideas 

1) Get inspiration from magazines covers.

Find a magazine that is as close as you can get to your niche and look at the titles on the magazine cover.  Look at the titles that jump out at you and make you say, &amp;quot;That looks like it would be a good article-I want to read that!&amp;quot;

Many times you can bounce an article off of a title you see on a magazine cover. Can you convert that title to apply to something in your specific niche?

Now, notice I'm saying, &amp;quot;find a magazine that is somewhat in your niche.&amp;quot; Many of us have websites that are in niches that do not have their own magazines. For example, there is no magazine that I know of about Article Marketing.  

But I sashay a short distance from my specific niche and look in related niches, such as Writing, Creativity, Productivity, and possibly even SEO. These are all issues that lie at the heart of article marketing, so they work as inspiration launching pads. 

2) Don't forget about the newbies.

When we're writing on our area of expertise, sometimes we can overlook the obvious. We want to write helpful, educational articles, and our minds quite often go to topics that are more advanced. 

Have you ever considered that someone reading your article might not even understand the ba ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Business automation with autoresponders - fast methods to build your list</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[


The goal of this article is to provide best practice 
guidelines that will allow to build your list fast 
using business automatiom with autoresponders

Automation is important to all businesses. The less 
time we have to spend doing small tasks, the more 
time we have to make more money – or we could 
spend that time doing something besides working. 
Putting an online business on auto pilot isn’t difficult 
at all – and it is all done with the use of 
autoresponders!

Autoresponders can be used to get people to your 
website, or to promote products and services. 
Simply plug your sales message into the 
autoresponder, along with some valuable 
information that your potential may want or need, 
and advertise that autoresponders address. 

Once the person arrives at your site, and goes 
through your ordering process, another 
autoresponder kicks in. This autoresponder 
should send out a receipt, as well as information 
that will grant the customer access to whatever it 
is that they have purchased. Another autoresponder 
message should be sent out after this, thanking the 
customer for their business, and letting them know 
about similar or related products or services that they
may be interested in.

The beauty of this is that while all of this ordering is 
going on, and these important customer service 
emails are being sent, you can be off doing 
something else! The more automation you can 
integrate into your online business, the better off 
you will be. 

Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past 
few years, but many in the know how have felt its rise even 
from way then. As more internet based businesses are put 
up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge 
based on this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing 
strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with 
the changing face of business the business world. 

The demand for online marketing tips and s ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4373/Business-automation-with-autoresponders--fast-methods-to-build-your-list.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4373/Business-automation-with-autoresponders--fast-methods-to-build-your-list.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Article Marketing Can Help You Even If You Own a Local Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Getting global exposure for your website and reaching customers all over the world are two perks of Article Marketing, but what if global domination is not your thing?

One of my long-time newsletter subscribers recently emailed me and asked:

What if you own a dry cleaning business in Madison, Wisconsin?

Or you're a real estate agent in Ontario, Canada?

Or you operate a bakery in Marrakech, Morocco?

If you own a local business and you want to attract customers who are in your neighborhood or city, can article marketing still work for you?

My answer = Yes!

Many of my article marketing clients at http://www.IWantMoreProspects.com own businesses that have local clients and customers. They use article marketing to increase their web presence, bolster their website rankings in the search engines, establish themselves as an expert in their niche, and also to generate more targeted traffic to their website.

So, although you may not be looking for national or international attention, you can still benefit from a targeted article submission campaign. Now, when I say &amp;quot;targeted traffic&amp;quot;, I mean that the people who are visiting your website are the type of prospects who might be truly interested in your business. They are not just random passers-by.

How can you get targeted traffic for your local business using article marketing?

To be sure that the traffic you receive is targeted, write about your area of expertise and in your resource box (that's the author bio that sits below your article) specify the location of your business. This would tell the reader that you only work with people in that location.

Also, if appropriate you could write some articles that specifically deal with your industry in your location. For example, if you are a Real Estate agent in Ontario, Canada, there may be some unique aspects of buying or selling a house that are specific to Ontario.

Here's one article idea: &amp;quot;10 Upcoming Neighborhoods in Ontario ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4359/How-Article-Marketing-Can-Help-You-Even-If-You-Own-a-Local-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4359/How-Article-Marketing-Can-Help-You-Even-If-You-Own-a-Local-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>21 Ways to Use Your Articles for Maximum Website Exposure</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most people think article marketing is just about getting links. They couldn't be any more WRONG! 

Article marketing is about getting your messages (in the form of articles) out to as many prospects as possible in as many ways as possible.

Here are 21 ways to use your articles so you can build your business:

1.	Send your top article placements via email to current clients. 
2.	Send your top article placements via email to former clients.
3.	Send the top article placements via email to prospects. This is how PR LEADS Article Marketing Expert client Kevin Berchelmann scored a $50K+ client!
4.	Post reprints on your website. Note - Turn your article placements into PDFs. Do NOT link to your top article placements. This will take people off your website!
5.	Include your article placements in book proposals.  Roxanne Emmerich, Dr. Vicki Rackner, Dr. Karen Sherman and many other clients of mine have used this strategy to win major book publishing deals.
6.	Include your articles in new business proposals.
7.	Include your article placements in new business PowerPoint presentations.
8.	Add your articles and/or mention your placements in your blog.
9.	Add the articles to your newsletter. Remember, your newsletter isn't ALL about selling. It's about building relationships based on trust. The way to earn trust is to educate your prospects with powerful knowledge that only you can provide in articles,
10.	Mention your article placements on the front page of your website. For example, put across the top of your website: As see on About.com, MarketingProfs, CEO Refresher and Small Business CEO Magazine. Then down the right hand side of your website, put links to your PDF versions of your article placements. 
11.	Send print copies of your article placements to your current clients.
12.	Send print copies to your former clients.
13.	Send print copies to your prospects.
14.	Mention your article placements in you website bio.
15.	Mention your article placements in ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4358/21-Ways-to-Use-Your-Articles-for-Maximum-Website-Exposure.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4358/21-Ways-to-Use-Your-Articles-for-Maximum-Website-Exposure.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Presentation Folders: The Proven Strategy For Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Presentation folder printing has always been proven as an effective strategy for success when it comes to reporting. Many businessmen and businesswomen have found that it can improve their chances of communicating well with their audiences, making their reports always a success. In fact, there are plenty of ways that folder printing can help a report succeed. To convince you of this proven strategy for success, below are the bare facts about presentation folder printing and how it can help you with your own presentation.

Improves message delivery – The major advantage of using presentation folders is that it improves your message delivery. If you have made a report in the past, you will of course know that there are those awkward pauses in a report as you pass around material for people to read. If you have lots of graphs, reports, images to give, this adds several minutes of awkward pauses that breaks the whole flow of your presentation.

Custom folders however eliminate this problem by collecting all your materials in one very useful folder. You just need to give away your color presentation folders at the start of the report. You can then go through your speech telling people to refer to their folder for certain information. There will be no awkward pauses and your message should get to your audience very efficiently.

Organizes important information – Presentation folders of course are also good at organizing all the important information that you want to give out. Besides having pockets for the usual paperwork, it is possible to add slits, special diagonal pockets, straps and other features that can organize everything you need for a presentation. This makes it easier for your audience to look at all the information you want since it is all one location.

Establishes a professional reputation – Your custom folders are also a mark of being a professional. The modern businessman or businesswoman usually pulls out all the stops when it comes to repo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4356/Presentation-Folders-The-Proven-Strategy-For-Success.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4356/Presentation-Folders-The-Proven-Strategy-For-Success.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Article Marketing Will Help Answer ,&quot;What Makes You Different&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What do you tell your prospects when they ask you &amp;quot;What makes you different from everyone else?&amp;quot;

Here's what management consultant John Reddish does.

He tells his prospects to search the number of mentions he has on Google! Since John has hundreds of articles and other links, he looks like a rock star compared to his competitors!

I follow this strategy all the time. I actually have people calling me up asking - so does article marketing really work? I ask them if they're by the computer right now. Then, I tell them to Google my name &amp;quot;Eric Gruber.&amp;quot; You'll see hundreds of links with my articles. 

If you do that right now, you should find on the front page my articles on Microsoft Dynamics, About.com, PublicityHound.com, SiteProNews.com and many others. 

I, not only use this strategy when I am trying to sell to new prospects, but also when I am speaking live on stage or on teleseminars. It helps me build credibility with my audience.

Remember, every time you write and submit articles, you increase your credibility and visibility - and that can pay off in many ways! But in order for this to work you must follow a few basic rules.

3 Article Marketing Rules You Must Follow If You Want to Increase Credibility and Visibility

Rule #1: Write and submit articles on a consistent basis. 

Article marketing will NOT work if you just write articles and submit articles every once in a while. You should write at least one article per month. If you need help generating article ideas - check out my Instant Article Writing Templates at http://www.StartWritingArticlesFaster.com 

Rule #2: Submit your articles to the top websites and ezines that your audience is going to every day for information that you can provide. 

Don't get me wrong, submitting to article directory sites like ezinearticles.com is good. It gives you more links and the more links you get, the higher you will rank in the search engines. But the article directory sites  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4344/Article-Marketing-Will-Help-Answer-What-Makes-You-Different.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4344/Article-Marketing-Will-Help-Answer-What-Makes-You-Different.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why Most Article Marketers Fail to Increase Their Sales Conversions</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The whole point to article marketing is to put your business on autopilot. You want to get your articles published on top websites, ezines and article directories that direct traffic to your website. You want to be able to capture prospect's names and email addresses so you can promote to them over and over again without lifting a finger.

Now, the problem is most people have greatly increased their website traffic with articles, but they have NOTHING to show for it. No one is signing up for their newsletters. No one is buying anything. And, the prospects are lost forever. 

It does NOT matter how much traffic you get from articles, if your website doesn't convert. 

Why Your Website Isn't Converting

Most article marketers link to their homepage in the bio box. This home page has a small little newsletter sign up box in the corner that is so hard to find. There are times that you need a magnifying glass to find the newsletter opt-in box mixed up in all the clutter.

The page itself has so many links and calls-to-action that it confuses prospects that are at your site to receive a free newsletter, special report, ebook or whatever your offering is. Confused prospects become frustrated prospects who leave your site and are never to be found again. That's why you need a focused squeeze page. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term squeeze page, it is a web page that is specifically designed to compel visitors to opt in to your list. A well-designed squeeze page can convert as many as half of the people who visit it, into opt-in email list subscribers.

How to Make Squeeze Pages Work for You

In order for the squeeze page to be able to do its work most effectively, there must be no other way for the visitor to get into your web site without opting in first to your opt in email list.

For example, check out:

http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com

http://www.RestrainingOrder911.com 

Notice to get to any of the other pages in the w ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4341/Why-Most-Article-Marketers-Fail-to-Increase-Their-Sales-Conversions.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4341/Why-Most-Article-Marketers-Fail-to-Increase-Their-Sales-Conversions.php</link>
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      <title><strong>New Instant Article Writing Template That Will Crush Competition to Pieces</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You know that article writing and article marketing is the #1 way to increase your website visibility, gain credibility, improve your website traffic and get more sales. So, what's stopping you from writing articles that make you the expert in your industry?

Is it because it takes too much of your time and energy to write the articles?

Well, today, I'm going to show you how to write articles fast.  In fact, you can write your articles in less than 30 minutes once you have completed your research!

How I Created My New Instant Article Writing Template

Recently, I've created an article for my WebsiteReviewsLive.com partner Adam Hommey entitled:

&amp;quot;7 Secrets Most Web Designers Don't Want You to Know&amp;quot;

In this article we revealed secrets like:

1.	Most web designers have NEVER sold anything online except their overpriced services. You want a web design firm that understands Internet marketing principles and knows what it takes to convert website visitors into paying customers.

2.	How it's usually the smallest tweaks that make the BIGGEST impact on your sales. Most web designers push you into a complete and total website makeover. But if you make the same mistakes on the new website - you will NOT convert any better. It's like putting your left hand on the stove and burning yourself and then putting your right hand on the stove thinking because you changed hands, your hand won't burn.

3.	An off-the-shelf solution may fit your business better than expensive piece of software that may actually hinder your business.

After writing this article - I said &amp;quot;Wow! I can use this article example to create a great template for my followers to use.&amp;quot;

So Here's How to Use My Newest Instant Article Writing Template:                                           
&amp;quot;What Most ___________ Don't Want You to Know&amp;quot;

Step1: Research Your Competitors. 

Before you even think about writing a single word, you must do your research. You mus ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4334/New-Instant-Article-Writing-Template-That-Will-Crush-Competition-to-Pieces.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4334/New-Instant-Article-Writing-Template-That-Will-Crush-Competition-to-Pieces.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Practical Sticker Printing For Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Sticker printing can be used in business for many number of practical ways. You can use these custom business stickers to help around your office work and get you more organized with information and equipment. If you want to know how this kind of practical sticker for printing works for a business, below are six great uses of custom stickers for the office.

1.      For file folders – Custom stickers can be of great help with your file folders. Before professional sticker printing, file folder labels and indications were done by hand, hence becoming the slave for the handwriting style. The worse the handwriting, the harder it was to manage file folders. However, now with custom sticker printing, you can place good indicative color stickers into file folders for easy filing and categorizing.  They are a good and fast way to manage your paper files and make sure everyone else understands their meaning.

2.      For equipment tracking – Sticker printing can also help in tracking your equipment at the office or at a work site. By placing company stickers, and reference numbers on all of your equipment you can track down who's got what equipment and for how long. If things go missing or get unorganized, you can at least be rest assured that you know who to look for to get one particular office equipment. Without those equipment stickers, you might not know if that particular item is really from your office or not.

3.      For product tracking – You products can also benefit from sticker printing through product tracking. By adding stickers with bar codes and reference ID's you should accurately know which batch of products go to which person or distribution center. This should really help solve shipping and logistics problems since you can organize everything on paper and have the stickers indicate which product will be sent where. It will take some organized logistical thinking but as long as everything has a label sticker, your problems should be resolved  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4315/Practical-Sticker-Printing-For-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4315/Practical-Sticker-Printing-For-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Easy ways to build an opt in list - articles and autoresponders</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

The goal of this report is to introduce you to a very powerful list
building system that will take you from were you are right now to a
phenomenally profitable online business.

Writing articles to market a product or service is an 
excellent way to build business. The articles should
be very informative, providing the reader with 
information that is relevant to a specific topic. The 
article usually includes a link to a webpage for more 
information. The webpage, of course, is designed to 
sell a product or service that relates to the topic of 
the article. 

These articles are commonly submitted to article 
banks, websites, and ezine publishers. This is one 
of the most effective ways to market a service or 
product on the Internet, and it can become even more 
effective when it is combined with the use of an 
autoresponder.

Begin by setting each of your articles up in your 
autoresponder. It is important that each article have 
its very own autoresponder address, so you will 
need an autoresponder service that will allow you to 
do this. Next, make a master list of your articles, with 
the autoresponder address for each article listed 
beside the title. You can even add descriptions of the 
articles on your master list if you want to.

Advertising your articles one at a time can take a 
great deal of time…but advertising one autoresponder 
address – the one for the master list – won’t take 
very much time at all. Simply put it in your newsletter 
and on your website. You can even allow other 
ezine publishers to use this is a free resource for 
their subscribers!

You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. 
After reading countless articles and sought expert advices 
and have read many success stories of people creating a small 
fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to have one 
of your own. Then it happens, you think you have known 
everything there is to know about opt-in lists and have 
 ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4314/Easy-ways-to-build-an-opt-in-list--articles-and-autoresponders.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4314/Easy-ways-to-build-an-opt-in-list--articles-and-autoresponders.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Achieving internal buy-in, leveraging your existing assets, and understanding the unique challenges of outsourcing to a search engine optimization company

The powerful capabilities of organic search engine optimization (SEO) are now a highly sought after marketing tool by many companies that want to alert customers to their products or services by focusing on certain keyphrases that highlight these offerings. And though SEO has embarked on a meteoric rise in the past few years, other non-traditional forms of marketing are now gaining a great deal of well-deserved credibility as well. More and more marketers are using paid ads to hone in on a potentially profitable client base, while other more traditional channels, such as PR and print ads, appear to be becoming somewhat less effective. 

In a recent study (1),  Forrester Research found that interactive marketing spending will reach nearly $55 billion by 2014, representing 21% of all marketing spend. And the fact of the matter is that marketers are continuing to place more stock in newer forms of marketing and social media, leaving many higher-ups to wonder if it is time for them to include these channels in their own marketing mixes. And with the help of your search engine optimization company, it's possible to achieve outstanding rankings and results!

What follows are some common considerations that should be analyzed prior to the launch of an SEO campaign so that you will know what you are getting into, what you will need from your own team and your prospective search engine optimization company, and how to most effectively pursue this particular form of marketing.

Achieving Buy-in

Search engine optimization is unlike many traditional forms of marketing in that several departments must be involved in order for the SEO campaign to be successful. Apart from the obvious need to get buy-in from upper management (unless, of course, you are upper management), you will also need to get buy-in from your sal ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4258/Adding-Search-to-Your-Marketing-Mix.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4258/Adding-Search-to-Your-Marketing-Mix.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Things You Should Always Put In Table Tents</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many restaurant owners never really know what exact dishes they want to advertise when they print table tents. For most beginners in using table tents, they usually tend to just choose random dishes and house specialties. While of course this can be good enough for most circumstances, an effective table tent promotional campaign need a little focus on what specific dishes are suitable for the table tent design. As a guide for all you beginners in table tent printing out there, here are the best things that you should always put in your color table tents.

Popular appetizers – One of the first things that you should print in your table tents are your appetizers. This is a great start because most people want to start with an appetizer obviously. So as they sit down in your restaurant, they should already see something that they might be interested in through your table tents. Be sure of course to place in the popular appetizers so that people will see the best thing you have to offer in this category.

Your desserts – Another thing that should be mandatory in your table tent dishes are desserts. Usually most people do not think of dessert at first when they are ordering. It is usually just a minor decision reserved until later. A table tent with a delicious dessert image changes this trend and makes people crave for a dessert early on. That is why table tents are quite effective at getting you extra sales by displaying desserts that usually are not decided upon initially by customers.

New dishes or drinks – Also, you should always print new table tents for new dishes and drinks that you are introducing. For regular customers and new ones a like, a table tent that advertises a “new dish” usually gets attention. New things are usually what people want to try so it is best to cater to this human tradition by giving people the opportunity to do so with your new dishes.

Value dishes or meal packages – Meal packages or value dishes are also an importa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4257/Things-You-Should-Always-Put-In-Table-Tents.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4257/Things-You-Should-Always-Put-In-Table-Tents.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Addicted To Letterheads: Why I Like To Print Letterheads</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It is really great to print letterheads. Moreover, it is awesome to print your OWN letterheads professionally. There are many aspects of it that can really help you in your personal correspondence, or more importantly it can also help you at work. It has really helped me in my career and I want to share its benefits with you. So here are four facts why I like to print letterheads.

It enforces my Authority:
The main thing that I like about professionally printed letterheads is their ability to exude their authority. Anyone who has received an official letter should know what I am talking about. The first time you see a letterhead, you immediately know this letter is not your common letter. It is from someone or something important so you better pay attention.

The same rules apply to personal letterheads. When I print my own color letterheads and send a letter with it to people, they already know that that letter needs to be respected. Your authority is communicated with the letterhead giving everything you written there credibility and power.

It projects my Personality:
Besides the seriousness of authority though, one great thing about printing letterheads is that you get to project your personality. You can have a nice ultra modern style letterhead to show you are with the times and dynamic. You can also adopt a more classic approach to the design telling people that you are more of a stable and classic person that can be safe to do business with. Whatever type of design you choose, it is easy to establish a business personality with color letterheads. This is great especially if you want to establish a certain kind of reputation in your field.

It promotes my Business:
Also of course, letterheads have the ability to promote your company or your own businesses. Since I use it all the time in sending letters to potential clients and investors there is an added incentive of company awareness when using the letterheads. People reading it will discover the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4253/Addicted-To-Letterheads-Why-I-Like-To-Print-Letterheads.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4253/Addicted-To-Letterheads-Why-I-Like-To-Print-Letterheads.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Market Like You Mean It</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are your marketing efforts methodical and driven by real data, with a focus on measurable results? Or do you have a tendency to run promotions on a whim — maybe because business is slow or you got a great rate on some unused media inventory?

It's unfortunate that we often run across the latter when talking to new and prospective clients. We find many new businesses — and even established companies who have just gone a bit stale — are often not focused on putting meaning into their marketing efforts. They tend to be focused on the transaction rather than the relationship. They think the latest social media trend will answer their prayers. Or perhaps they just rely on gimmicks or fluff to draw attention rather than capitalizing on the actual merits of their products to build brand value.

So, how do we turn the tables and start making our marketing efforts more meaningful? For starters, your efforts should be focused with a clearly defined target audience and appropriate message. You should strive for customer acquisition and business growth, rather than simply making a sale. And possibly most important, yet most overlooked, your marketing should help consumers make a wise purchasing decision.

Eliminate Contradictions

Of course, your marketing efforts do not stop at the advertisement. You must really pay attention to details and think things through to the very end. If you promise a quality product, don't kill the experience with poor in-store display and sloppy handwritten signs. Don't let your staff kill the experience either. I have one client in particular with an employee who refuses to state the store name properly when answering the phone. She believes it sounds better her way. She may be a great employee in all other respects, but she should have absolutely zero customer interaction. Don't let this happen to you.

From the advertisement that brings them in the door, all the way through the purchasing experience, and right down to putting the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4252/Market-Like-You-Mean-It.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4252/Market-Like-You-Mean-It.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Don’t Forget Your Message</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Sometimes when I look at the various posters companies have made up I feel as if I’m looking at some kind of experimental art that I just don’t get.
        
I’m not sure what their message is supposed to be, I’m not sure why they chose the images they did, if it’s supposed to be some deep metaphor that’s just going right over my head. Maybe this poster is simply too smart for me to understand, or maybe the company who decided poster printing was the advertising path of choice for them didn’t bother to figure out what would best appeal to their customers.
        
I don’t like it when I can’t figure out what a company does when I look at their poster. I don’t like images that are so obscure or so hard to connect with any service that I walk away scratching my head as to why this poster was even made.
        
I really don’t like having to search all over a poster to even find what the companies name is because they buried it so far into the corner of the paper, and they made the print so small I practically need a magnifying glass to read it.
        
If a message is so hard to figure out I’m not going to go out of my way to decipher it. For any kind of advertising to work it needs to be open and easy to understand. You need to ensure people don’t have to go to any work to get what you’re trying to say, or guess what, people won’t go to the effort.
        
I’m giving my business to companies, meaning they’re trying to appeal to me. I shouldn’t have to work so that they can tell me about their company. It’s there job to work to win me over, not mine to work to figure out their message.
        
I know what causes this: companies spend so much time figuring out how to make a poster that stands out, that they let their message get thrown under the rug. And I do look at those posters. I stop to take them in while trying to understand what they’re trying to understand.
        
But the reason why a company pays for   ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4236/Dont-Forget-Your-Message.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4236/Dont-Forget-Your-Message.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Quick ways to build a profitable opt in list</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
There are several ways to build an opt-in list, 
but you must know quick  ways to build a profitable
opt in list


Here I will offer more advice, for those who have started an 
opt-in list and have failed,you can rejuvenate your failed venture. 
For those who are starting, here are three quickand easy ways to 
build a profitable opt-in list:

1) Get your customers to trust you and your products first.

Just launching your opt-in list would not make you an expert 
and a believable seller. Put many articles first before you start 
an opt-in list. Write about the topic you know and have started 
and used for your site. Try to put forums first to gain knowledge 
about your customers about their wants and needs and target 
those wants and needs.

Join forums from other sites as well. Provide expert advices and
recommendations. When you feel that people trust you already, 
you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build 
a base as well with other forum users.You can ask them to join 
your list. Friends are always good customers. Put up a link to 
your site so that they may be able to see what you're business 
is all about.The certain truth is, the money will only come in 
when the consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. 
They want a product or service that could be a good exchange 
for their money. People are not going to buy something out of 
your recommendation if they don’t know you.

2) Find a product or service that people want and need.

Although it may not be your forte, if you provide a service 
and product that you have researched and learned about well, 
you can carry it on forward. Invest your time, effort and money 
that you could sell as well as the buyers or subscribers 
of your opt-in list can use.

While it is true that it is best to sell something that you have 
interest in, there are not many people who have the same 
interest as you if you decide to sell something that is not 
entir ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4222/Quick-ways-to-build-a-profitable-opt-in-list.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4222/Quick-ways-to-build-a-profitable-opt-in-list.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Utilizing the Secrets Of Opt-in Mailing Lists</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Current info about opt in list is not always the easiest thing to locate. 
Fortunately, this report includes the latest opt in list info available. 


Emails are replacing regular mails from the post office. Not only because it is cheaper,
since you do not need to buy a stamp, it’s also definitely faster. Emails can be sent in as
fast as five seconds, depending on the server, anywhere in the world.

No doubt emails are being used to distribute newsletters, promotional mails, and other
stuff. How then would you be able to round up email addresses to send those marketing
mails you have? Here is where an opt-in list comes in.

An opt-in list is a directory of email address you can send to those mails to. Though it
seems to be easy to find email addresses, if you are talking thousands in numbers, it is
going to be hard. Besides, you have to determine the recipient of the email. You wouldn’t
want your readers mostly male if you are selling lipsticks, right?

A good opt-in list should include the profile of the email address owner. Here are tips on
how to create a comprehensive opt-in list for target market.

Create your website.

Creating a website is made simple nowadays. A lot of programs are milling about
assisting regular computer users in making and maintaining websites in a real
simple way. Some website creator just needs you to cut and paste, like that of a
regular paint program. Several web hosting sites are available too. Some are

STOP Paying Google For Clicks and Discover The FREE Click Formula
even free. If you have a site of your own, you can ask visitors to register with you
or sign your guest book as they leave.

Set up a promotion or a freebie.

Not all the best things in life are free, as they say. But you can definitely try to
give something out for sure. You can see this done all over the web. Free
screensavers, free games, free download of programs. And what do they need
from you? They just ask for an email ad ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4215/Utilizing-the-Secrets-Of-Optin-Mailing-Lists.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4215/Utilizing-the-Secrets-Of-Optin-Mailing-Lists.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Cut Costs on Letterhead Printing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you feel the crunch then the more reason why you should find ways to cut your expenses. However, a tight budget does not mean that you can’t have letterheads for your business. There are several things you can do to reduce your expenses in letterhead printing.

Read the following tips on how you can cut costs on your letterhead printing:

Get rid of your graphic designer. More often than not, the fee for your graphic designer eats a big chunk out of your budget so the best way to cut down on costs is to sack your designer. So how would you be able to do your project then? Do it yourself.

Yes, graphic designers are trained to create visually appealing letterheads than can communicate your company’s image. They do this by getting to know your company, its products or services or its public image. But why do you have to engage them when you yourself know what image you want to project? Hence, there is no better person to design your letterhead printing than you.

Sure, you know what image you want to establish but you do not have any artistic ability, read on and learn the next tip.

Consider templates. Many websites offer letterhead templates with fixed layouts. There are many sites that offer tutorials on how you can design a letterhead for your company. Templates are provided and all you have to do is to customize these templates to suit your company. If you do not want to use the templates, you can get ideas from them. Play around and try your own creativity. Explore the different fonts, colors and layout.

Settle for less quality paper.  Low end papers are likely to tear, wrinkle or smear but it doesn’t mean that you have to settle with this. Instead, choose linen or fiber-stone stock. They're of higher quality and tend to be more affordable. Remember to compare a variety of stocks, and don't settle for anything less.

Use standard colors. Select standard colors for your letterhead printing. Customizing the color of the ink can drive up the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4201/How-to-Cut-Costs-on-Letterhead-Printing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4201/How-to-Cut-Costs-on-Letterhead-Printing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>12 steps guide to creating your very own mailing list</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

The more you understand about list building, the more interesting it becomes. 
As you read this article you'll find that the subject of list building is 
certainly no exception.


Many people have tried to start lists and failed. 
However, even if you have failed in the past you can 
rejuvenate your list and start anew.Whether you have had 
little success in the past or if you are just starting,you 
can follow these simple tips to get your list up and going. 

One of the most important things to remember is that your list will be 
useless if the people on it are not responsive. At the same time, you 
are going to need to lure them into buying your products as well. 
You can do this through a variety of ways.
 
You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. 
After reading countless articles and sought expert advices 
and have read many success stories of people creating 
a small fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to 
have one of your own. Then it happens, you think you 
have known everything there is to know about opt-in 
lists and have followed their advices to the T and 
you still weren’t able to make a profit. 

Here are 12 quick and easy steps to build a profitable 
opt-in list:

 1 Get a Domain Name
 2 Get Hosting for your Domain Name
 3 Get an Autoresponder Account
 4 Get a Free Product to Promote at Giveaway Sites
 5 Set up a Squeeze Page to Promote
 6 Upload Your Squeeze Page to the Internet
 7 Create First Message on your Autoresponder Account,
Highlighting Where to Download Product.
 8 Check Squeeze Page Works
 9 Create a Quick Folder and Dedicated Giveaway Email Address, So
You Have Details to Hand When Signing up and Contributing Gifts to
Giveaways
 10 Sign up to as Many Giveaways as you can (Ongoing)
 11 Promote Giveaways (Ongoing)
 12 Create Emails to go in Your Autoresponder and Check your Click
Through Rates (Ongoing)

There are several additional ways to build an opt-in list, but you ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4191/12-steps-guide-to-creating-your-very-own-mailing-list.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4191/12-steps-guide-to-creating-your-very-own-mailing-list.php</link>
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      <title><strong>In Brands We Trust</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[At it's essence, your brand is meant to do two things…

   1. Establish a personal connection with consumers, and
   2. Maintain that connection.

What this means is that branding is not a replacement for advertising, and advertising alone will not create a sustainable brand. Advertising should, of course, support your brand by building recognition and supporting your brand personality, but it will never replace that personal connection which successful brands rely so heavily on.

I'm sure you've heard this spiel time and time again, but in this difficult economic climate it's more important than ever to understand the value of your brand — your connection with consumers. People are more critical than usual about where and how they spend their money. Maintaining a personal connection builds trust. And trust always outweighs high dollar advertising. Always.

The thing about brands is that every business has one, whether they realize it or not. Starbucks has a very purposeful brand that tells me no matter what city I'm in, I can feel confident about getting a good cappuccino. On the other hand, my local coffee shop does just as good a job at getting me caffeinated, but has an atmosphere like no other — and it achieves this without purposeful corporate intervention. Starbucks relies on meticulous rules to build and maintain it's brand. My local dive benefits from consumer advocates who simply love them for what they are. The end result is that both of these brands have earned the trust of their patrons, albeit by totally different means.

I recall back in the late 1990s the word &amp;quot;brand&amp;quot; became a ridiculously overused buzzword and most of the people buzzing had little understanding of what a brand actually was. The big thing for small businesses to do back then was to pay a brand consultant to develop a new brand for them. As a full-service ad agency, brand development is certainly part of what we do for our clients, but there was something mi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4184/In-Brands-We-Trust.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4184/In-Brands-We-Trust.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The first step of list building – have a plan.</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
When you're learning about list building,it's easy to 
feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information 
available. This informative article should help you focus on 
the first step of list building - have a plan. 

List building success is planning. In order to succeed 
you need to see the whole picture first. After all, if you 
don’t know where you are going, how do you know how to get 
there?

Get these plans down on paper. Planning is one of the 
strategies that people fail to do. Yet when you write something 
down you are committing to paper what you plan to do and you 
can get it out of your head. Some of the most successful people 
write their plans down with pen and paper first.

List building planning helps you learn quicker, as you can 
see what you need to overcome,or the tasks that you need 
to do to get to the next stage.

For example yoy can plan out 90 days in advance, but to start 
to get into the practice of this, you can start with a month 
or week. Let’s say a week to start off with. For the next seven 
days, plan the tasks that you are going to complete on a daily 
basis.

Put them in a step by step list building plan, so you can tick 
each of these tasks off as you complete them.

Don’t open your email account, your favorite forum, or general 
internet surfing until you have completed your tasks, all 
they are, are distractions. Although if you know what your 
own personal distractions are, then that’s good as you can 
overcome them.

Plan your list building tomorrow today. If you have a plan 
you can stick to it. It maybe that something took longer 
than you thought, then plan to finish it the following day. 
If you stick with the plan, you will make money!

The real secret here is to always have the next 5 tasks 
planned, as this makes you ultra productive, so always have 
the next 5 to 10 tasks planned at all times. Remember, it 
doesn’t have to be perfect, just get going. You ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4182/The-first-step-of-list-building--have-a-plan.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4182/The-first-step-of-list-building--have-a-plan.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Do You Make Money With Marketing?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Basically, you’re in business because you would want to make money. Let’s face it. Business is about getting customers to buy your products and services, and then have the profits. More often than not, you are in business because you would want to earn more than anything else. So marketing can help you promote your business and your products.

On the other side of the coin however, is the need for you to also serve your target market. For how can you generate customers to your business if you can’t give your target clients what they need? Even if you keep on telling them what your company is all about, you can’t get them interested unless you give them what they want – the benefits. Promoting your business then is about serving your market. When you reach out to your market audience, you need to remember to intentionally look for that specific problem which you have a solution for. If you can give your target clients this, you can then attract more clients to your business and increase your profits at the same time.

Here then are simple ways you can market effectively so you can get customers and earn your profits as well:

1-      Use your marketing strategies to establish your niche. This way, you will be able to serve your target clients effectively that you can have all the clients you could ever need. This means then that you need to find the most appropriate marketing collateral for your marketing strategy. Be it brochure printing or letterhead printing and letterhead printing, the bottom line is to have your marketing tools to effectively reach out to your target clients so you can generate as many as you can to achieve success in your niche.

2-      Be open-minded. Don’t just stick to those people who are in need of your products and services. Try to branch out and attract also those that may seem to be impervious to your offering. You will never know who might just be in need of your services unless you also reach out to them.

3-    ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4173/How-Do-You-Make-Money-With-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4173/How-Do-You-Make-Money-With-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Creating Business Cards for Higher Results</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Before designing and printing your business card, you may want to know the reasons that clients retain them. Just because someone you have met seemed eager to receive your card does not necessarily mean that they will contact you. Often, prospects keep business cards without having any intention of contacting you in the near future. Some people just like to have them around because they may one day need your services. Others may already have your card but need a new one for updated information or you provide a product or service that they need. Sometimes your new acquaintance may be passing your card to their friend who has been looking for the products you provide. Often, people keep business cards because they contain useful or even simply interesting information.

Avoid assuming that everyone who willfully receives your business card printing i s a future customer. Instead, take action and design your card for reaching even those who may only receive your card from a friend, rather than from you personally. Make your card stand out from any other competitors' by making your company brand clear. Include a tag that tells why you are better than the rest. Use a unique feature such as plastic instead of paper or rounded edges instead of square. Utilize the entire space on your card by including more information on the back. You may want to list the benefits of your services or products or provide quotations from happy customers. Lead prospects to the next move with the offer of a free gift, free estimate, or a discount if they go to a website, call a number, or any other specific action. A list of emergency numbers or even a three-month calendar may encourage potential clients to keep your card around, which puts your logo in their sight and promotes your company to others who may see it. 

Creating custom business cards that appeal to a number of potential customers is important for expanding your client base. So keep in mind the various reasons that people keep ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4165/Creating-Business-Cards-for-Higher-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4165/Creating-Business-Cards-for-Higher-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Don’t Let Your Message Get Stale</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I can only hear the exact same thing said to me so many times in the exact same form before I just get tired of hearing it.

Yeah, a company might have a good deal, and they might send me a postcard every month telling me they have a good deal. I get the message, and I understand they have a good deal, but I don’t always care anymore once the message has been understood because there just isn’t enough variety in how it’s being said to me.

Good marketing is about getting people interested in your company. How many times can you watch a movie or show over again before you just kind of get sick of it? I might even really like the movie the first time I saw it. I’ll enjoy it the second, and the third, but by the four, fifth, six, and so on, I’m losing interest. Then the day comes when I’ve grown to dislike it.

What makes this sad is when the original message was good. A company came up with a knock out postcard or great looking brochure, but because they tried to ride on it for too long the message became stale and lost its impact.

The message here is to make things interesting. Custom printing should be your best friend and provide you with a long list of possibilities. If you aren’t looking at them than you aren’t likely to come up with anything new or unique.

And you don’t always have to find something completely new. While a never before seen style of marketing can do wonders to promote a company, it also carries risks. My point here isn’t to say you should avoid innovations in marketing, but instead to point out that custom printing doesn’t always have to be something never seen before.

You need to vary up what you do with your marketing, not necessarily what everyone else is doing as well. If you want to branch out into uncharted territory by all means, do so, but if you want to stick to the tested and proven successful marketing, you’ll still be improving your sales so long as you’re adding a new twist to what you’ve d ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4164/Dont-Let-Your-Message-Get-Stale.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4164/Dont-Let-Your-Message-Get-Stale.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Relation: building opt in list and affiliate marketing </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Relation: building opt in list and affiliate marketing 

This article explains a relations between opt in list, 
and affiliate marketing , then this is worth reading, 
because you can never tell what you don't know. 
 
Building opt in list and affiliate marketing have become synonymous 
to online success as an effective internet marketing strategy. 
For many online sites, building opt in list and affiliate 
marketing have proven quite profitable. 

Primarily because most online users are not  exposed to any 
unscrupulous internet marketing strategies prevalent on the World 
Wide Web. As an effective Internet marketing strategy, users 
are given the option to signup for information or service 
provided by a particular site. 

Building opt in list and affiliate marketing reduces the 
risk of spamming since the recipient voluntarily chooses to 
receive emails from a website. Plus, building opt in list 
and affiliate marketing provides a direct link to the subscriber 
that will help shape a formidable customer relationship that 
will keep on going.

The basics of building opt in list and affiliate marketing 
Different websites have different ways of building opt in list 
and affiliate marketing. However there are some tried 
and tested formulas to help new affiliate marketers develop 
their own opt in listing for their site. 

The first and most important factor to determine in building 
opt in list and affiliate marketing is to establish the site's 
target market. Once the target market is established, building 
opt in list and affiliate marketing can be customized to meet 
their demands.This can be done using a variety of methods 
to convince site visitors to sign up for the site's newsletter 
or e-zine. After signing up,the customer will begin to receive 
a variety of newsletters,e-zines and brochures that the 
customer had registered for. 
 
Strategies for building opt in list and affiliate marketing.

There are a number of  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4124/Relation-building-opt-in-list-and-affiliate-marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4124/Relation-building-opt-in-list-and-affiliate-marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing for the Short Term and the Long Term</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to have consistent sales throughout the year while growing your business, you need to do some short term and long term marketing. Short term marketing usually make sales increase, but the increase only lasts a little while. Long term marketing keeps your sales steady and gives you that constant customer presence that you need to keep your doors open.

To market your brand and product consistently you must use short term and long term marketing strategies to keep consumers thinking about your brand all the time.

If you’re not sure what constitutes short term and long term marketing, read on.

Short Term Marketing Strategies
Mentions: If you can get your product mentioned in a forum, newspaper article or on some kind of television news program, your Web site traffic and sales could soar for a week or so. These are the hardest type of marketing strategies to employ, because you don’t have much control over the occurrences. Having someone on board to write good press releases to get you news coverage is your best bet.

Discounts: Direct mail campaigns that offer coupons or discounts for a limited time can generate immediate product interest. It’s important to use these types of discounts in moderation because long-term sales can be affected by customers waiting for the next sale or coupon to come along. You can still use direct mail; just make the message more long-term, meaning you’re using postcards and brochures to remind consumers about your product, or to introduce your new product.

PPC: Pay-per-click advertising online is an easy and fast way to garner product interest. Of course, it can also be the most expensive. And, when your budget is used up, your ads end. The good thing about PPC is that you can drive targeted traffic to your Web site, which can result in new customers who return to your Web site to buy your product after your paid ads have expired.

Long Term Marketing Strategies
SEO: Search Engine Optimization is one of ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4119/Marketing-for-the-Short-Term-and-the-Long-Term.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4119/Marketing-for-the-Short-Term-and-the-Long-Term.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Necessary 12 Ways to Build Your Opt-in List </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Current info about Your Opt-in List is not always the 
easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes 
the latest Your Opt-in List info available. 
Building your opt-in list starts with having a website 
that will persuade visitors to spend some time there. 


Here are 7 steps that will help accomplish this.

1. Use original material. If they see that you are displaying 
the same content as similar sites. they aren't going to stay 
around for very long.

2. Start out with an attention-getting headline and 
and introduction that captures their attention. Let 
them know what is going to be found on your
website. It doesn't take long for today's surfers 
to decide if this page is going to be worth further 
attention.

3. Make sure your visitors know just what they will 
find on your website. They are looking for information 
on a certain subject and they need to know that you have 
their possible answers. Therefore be sure to use the 
keywords that best fit your web page because when your 
visitor clicks on a keyword with his browser he wants 
to find the corresponding content.

4. Be sure you have numerous cross links to various 
pages on your site so the visitor can browse through it. 
If he finds it helpful and pertinent he will be more 
inclined to bookmark your site and come back again. 
Be sure your links are well designed to catch the 
reader's eye.

5. Design your site so your pages can load quickly.Don't 
load it up with too many pictures and long blocks of text. 
Leave enough &amp;quot;white space&amp;quot; so one's eyes can be drawn 
down the page. Articles should be broken up into short 
paragraphs and adjust your text so it is easy to 
read--not too small nor too light. Difficult in reading 
the content will discourage a visitor from continuing.

6. Proofread your pages so you don't make grammatical and 
spelling mistakes. You need to appear a professional. If 
you are not sure of the effect the page is pres ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4115/Necessary-12-Ways-to-Build-Your-Optin-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4115/Necessary-12-Ways-to-Build-Your-Optin-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>7 Majors Things That You Need In Creating Custom Calendars</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Creating custom calendars is easy as long as you have all that you need for calendar printing prepared. By preparing everything that you need early on, you can expedite the calendar printing process. You can minimize the appearance of problems, and basically have a better and even fun experience in creating your custom calendars.

However, if you do not know what exactly you need to prepare in creating custom calendars then you are at a loss. Luckily for you, this guide will teach you about the seven major things that you need in creating custom calendars. So read on below and learn.

1. Properly defined goals – The first and probably most crucial thing that you need in the creating of custom calendars is to properly define your goals. This might not be a tangible thing per se, but it will define everything that you will do for calendar printing. You have to clearly spell out what your calendars should accomplish. Should they be commemorative calendars that remind people of something? Are they advertising calendars that promote a business or event? Are they direct sales calendars made just to make money? Or are they personal custom calendars made as gifts? Once you define these goals perfectly, you should know how to go about doing the other steps in calendar printing already.

2. Calendar theme and concept – The second thing that you must have in creating custom calendars is a specific calendar theme and concept. You cannot start a calendar layout without deciding for yourself what theme you calendar has. Will it be a landscape theme with landscape pictures? Will it have models dressed in certain costumes? Will you show only events? Animals? Men? Women? By deciding on your specific theme early on, you can direct your efforts accordingly to the right production of material. So pick the one you most like and get ready for the design.

3. Calendar template – The third thing that you will need is a calendar template. As you may undoubtedly know, not all y ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4108/7-Majors-Things-That-You-Need-In-Creating-Custom-Calendars.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4108/7-Majors-Things-That-You-Need-In-Creating-Custom-Calendars.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Three Key Areas In Proper Menu Printing For Restaurants</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The success of your menu printing all comes down to three key areas. It is these three major aspects that you must always center your attention on to ensure that all the elements of your menu printing translates into a better and more effective menu for business. In this article, I will share with you important information about each of these elements and how to effectively aim them for success.

The design of your menu
The first key area in menu printing, and perhaps the most noticeable that you must focus your attention on is your design. This may sound really simple, but it is in fact the important aspect that can attract or turn off your potential customers. People can judge a whole restaurant by the menu design alone. If your menus look cheap, or look unauthentic, that is how they will view your whole restaurant as well. There are a lot of times when people just leave and try another restaurant just because they think the menu isn't really what they expect.

So, it is vitally important that you design your menus as expertly as you can. If there is money available, have a professional layout artist create your menu designs for you. Have him or her take pictures and present all your dishes in the most delicious way possible. Always aim for that professional and authentic effect, really emphasizing that you are an expert in preparing the type of cuisine that your restaurant services. Aim to impress and overwhelm with your design and your menu printing will pass the hurdle of first impressions.

The descriptions of your menu items
The second key area in menu printing is the actual text in your menu. This basically refers to the descriptions of your menu items. In this aspect, you cannot just list down your menu items. Customers always appreciate it when you also list down the ingredients for each menu items, and at times it is also good to discuss how each of the items are cooked. This makes them visualize how the food is cooked, and more or less imagine ho ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4105/Three-Key-Areas-In-Proper-Menu-Printing-For-Restaurants.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4105/Three-Key-Areas-In-Proper-Menu-Printing-For-Restaurants.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Chasing Bing: The Truth behind the Hype</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In recent weeks, we've noticed a surge in clients calling us to ask questions like &amp;quot;what's up with Bing?&amp;quot; Or, &amp;quot;are you optimizing for Bing?&amp;quot; Even &amp;quot;are you taking advantage of Bing?&amp;quot;

In other words, people want to know that their search engine optimization company is taking special steps to ensure adequate representation on the newly created, much hyped search engine. And to answer the first question, what's up is MSN's umpteenth attempt to create a search engine that garners a significant amount of market share from its more formidable rivals - namely Google and Yahoo!. Microsoft has not been shy to promote the new engine; the current advertising campaign is estimated to cost around $100 million. 

How is it going so far?  It depends on who you listen to.  The metrics vary wildly, depending on the source you consult. In a recent analysis of statistics, Hitwise ranked Bing as the seventeenth most popular website out of 450,000 (citation: Crum, Chris. &amp;quot;More Bing Numbers Than You Can Shake a Stick at,&amp;quot; WebProNews, June 13, 2009.),  while StatCounter noted that the engine was in third place behind Google and Yahoo!. ComScore's ratings showed that Bing increased MSN's average daily searcher penetration by 1.7% (from 13.8% to 15.5%). These numbers and ranking criteria are enough to make anyone's head spin. But, when you get down to it, the event everyone is looking forward to is what will happen when the budget runs out, and the promotional period ends. Will searchers remain loyal or return to Google and Yahoo! and never look back? Nobody can really tell if any positive results are sustainable over a long term period.

Most reviewers put Bing in a good light, noting its ease of use and searching options, and some are even scrutinizing the accuracy and relevancy of Google and Yahoo! results against Bing. In the June 08, 2009 edition of B to B magazine, for instance, one reviewer appreciated the shopping comparison tool while a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4104/Chasing-Bing-The-Truth-behind-the-Hype.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4104/Chasing-Bing-The-Truth-behind-the-Hype.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Email Marketing How-to - 6 ways </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ 
You may not consider everything you just read to be 
crucial information about email marketing. 
Of all the ways to get website traffic and make money 
online, nothing tops email marketing. Of course, email 
marketing in itself means many things to many marketers. 
After all, it can take on quite a wide variety of 
formats.

Today I'll cover the various forms of email marketing 
available to online businesses and reveal what works and 
what doesn't. Here's what we'll discuss... 

1. Unsolicited bulk email marketing
2. Opt-in email list rental
3. Email newsletter classified and sponsorship advertising
4. Email newsletter solo mailings (text and html)
5. Email newsletter network advertising
6. Opt-in &amp;quot;series&amp;quot; email marketing

1. Unsolicited bulk email marketing

Let's jump right into that dangerous endeavor referred to 
as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or spam. Most of 
you know my take on this. Sure, you can get some website 
traffic using bulk email. (Though a response rate close 
to the 10% rate some companies promise is not likely - 
.01% is more likely.) You can tackle the rigors of 
unsolicited bulk email marketing yourself (you'll need 
lots of ISP connections because they'll be canceled 
quickly!) or hire a company to do the dirty work for you.

But the fact is, since unsolicited bulk email angers a huge 
percentage of recipients, your risks can be rather high. 
Your domain will end up being blocked by many ISPs and you 
could even face some legal battles. In my humble opinion, 
unsolicited bulk email is not worth the trouble. Read on and 
you'll find that bulk email marketing isn't really necessary 
either.

2. Opt-in email list rental

A much &amp;quot;cleaner&amp;quot; version of bulk email marketing is &amp;quot;opt-in 
email list rental.&amp;quot; There are plenty of companies on the web 
that will rent you email addresses that have opted in to 
receive commercial email. Actually, in most cases they are 
not  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4042/Email-Marketing-Howto--6-ways.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4042/Email-Marketing-Howto--6-ways.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Constitutes Custom?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Variety in marketing always leads to the best results, but sometimes you just don’t want to change from the type of advertising that you’re using. If direct mailing has gotten you the best results than why drift away from it? But combined with this is the need to give people something new and interesting, which is where the idea of customizing your marketing comes in.


But what really makes for custom postcards? What can you change about them to get away from the basic structure while still benefiting from the direct mailing and the other qualities that make postcard printing work? 


I don’t intend to list every way you can customize your color postcards, because the list is limited by your imagination, but I will throw out a few possibilities to hopefully get you started.


Ever considered having a postcard newsletter? To pull this off you start sending out postcards with one to two articles written on them. The articles will deal with various subject matters about your company or products. Take all the things you would normally put in a newsletter, but now you’re dividing them up and releasing them over a longer period of time on your postcards.


One you get people interested in your postcard newsletter they’ll start to pay closer attention to all of the postcards you send them, increasing your rate of success on your other postcard printing orders as well. 


The next way is by finding some kind of visual flare you’ve never used before. I’m afraid I’m a little limited in the specifics here because each industry gives people a different possibility, and the best kinds of visuals will be directly linked in some way to your industry. I would suggest trying to find some kind of stylized images that can connect to your company, and send them as custom postcards meant to increase awareness of your brand name.


Lastly, you can alter the size of your postcard. Doing so will certain impact the cost of mailing them, but this cost won ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4038/What-Constitutes-Custom.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4038/What-Constitutes-Custom.php</link>
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      <title><strong>3 Necessary Tools and 5 Things You Must Have to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will 
help you have a better experience with affiliate marketing. 
What does it take to become a successful Affiliate Marketer? 
What are the ingredients of an affiliate marketing success story? 
Is there a shortcut to Affiliate Marketing glory? All these questions 
play around in the minds of affiliate marketers who want to make 
it big in this business. 

Although affiliate marketing is touted as one of the easiest and 
most effective ways to earn money online, it is not as easy as it 
sounds. The wise affiliate marketer plans every action and executes 
it the best way he can. He should also maximize the potential to 
earn by utilizing the right tools necessary for a successful 
Affiliate Marketing business. We have consulted some of the most 
successful affiliate marketers in the business and below are the 
top three necessary tools for a successful affiliate marketing 
business.

Important Tool #1: Your Own Website

The most important and indispensable tool in Affiliate Marketing 
is your own website. The first step in any successful affiliate 
marketing business is building a good, credible and professional 
looking website. Your website is the jump off point of all your 
marketing efforts. Thus, you must first build a user-friendly 
website, which will appeal to your prospects and encourage them 
to click on the links to the products and service you are 
promoting and make a purchase. Therefore, you must first 
concentrate your efforts in building a website that will cater 
to what your prospects need. 

The most important thing you should consider is that almost 
all web users go online to look for information, not necessarily 
to go and buy something. Above all else, make your website 
full of original, relevant and useful content. People will 
love articles that are appealing and helpful. Keep in mind 
that, in the internet, content is still king and good qual ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4034/3-Necessary-Tools-and-5-Things-You-Must-Have-to-Succeed-in-Affiliate-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4034/3-Necessary-Tools-and-5-Things-You-Must-Have-to-Succeed-in-Affiliate-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top 5 Ways for the Effective Backlinks Building. </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Backlinks building is one of the most important ways to increase the page rank of your site. The higher your page rank, the more often your site will appear on the top searches results. Linkbuilding means linking to the other sites by inbound links. The higher the page rank of the sites that you are linked to, the higher Google or any other SEO will rank your site. It is also important that the content where you are linked to is similar to the subject of your site. If, for example your site is about the sport cars it is senseless to be linked to the site about the gardening. Also try to link to the sites with the high page rank, such links will influence more on the page rank of your own site.

1.	Article submission.

Article writing is the most important step for the development of your online business. Write articles on the topic of your site or your business and regularly submit them to the article submission sites. Usually these sites don't allow links in the body of the articles, that's why you need to write few words about you and your site/business including one or two links to your site. The best way is to add a link with the anchor text if the article directory allows HTML. The anchor text may be a keyword for your site that will appear in the resource box. You can change the keyword in the anchor text each time you submit a new article. When your article submission is approved by the directory, you will have one more link to your site and a potential for the targeted traffic coming from the readers of the article.

2.	Link directories.

In order to get many backinks you can start by submitting your site URL to the multiple link directories. You can type in Google 'submit link' or 'submit URL' and the search engine will show you thousands of the sites where you can add a link to your site for free or a small payment for the featured submission. You can do it manually or use the service for the automatic submission to the hundreds of directories. Wha ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4031/Top-5-Ways-for-the-Effective-Backlinks-Building.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4031/Top-5-Ways-for-the-Effective-Backlinks-Building.php</link>
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      <title><strong>4 Main Tips for the Successful SEO</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Internet is all about the information. People go online to know something new, to find the answers on their questions, to find the solutions on their problems. Did you ever asked yourself why you have found the answer on your question on that site, though there are millions of other similar sites online that you never see? It is the Search Engine Optimization that offers you a specific site and not the other one. In this article you will know why the SEOs are choosing the sites that they show in the search results and how to be chosen by them. Search Engine Optimization is a huge and a very important machine that can generate enormous streams of traffic to your site and make your online business flourish.  Never ignore the Search Engines if you want your business to succeed. SEO can live without your site, you will have a very hard time, trying to achieve your goals without it. 

TIP 1. List your site in SEOs.

The most popular Search Engine is Google that has about 80% of all searches, after it go Yahoo and MSN. In order to check if you are listed by SEOs type your site name in the search box on their websites. If your site doesn't appear, so you need to submit it to each of the Search Engines. Also you can use the service of the SEO submission directories, which will submit your site to tens of different SEOs automatically.

TIP 2. Fill your site with the relevant content.

After being listed in SEOs, now you need to take actions to stuff your site with a good content. The content must be on the subject of your site that would be found by SEOs when the internet surfers are looking for the information that your site is about. This step takes time and efforts and never ends, as you need to add the content to your site on a regular basis. 

In order to be noticed by SEOs, your site must provide much valuable and original information. The most popular and best working way to fill your web with the good content is to write articles and reviews and publish the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4030/4-Main-Tips-for-the-Successful-SEO.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4030/4-Main-Tips-for-the-Successful-SEO.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Straightforward Tips In Writing For Invitation Printing Effectively</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Have you been tasked to write the message for invitation printing? If you are then there are probably two things you are feeling right now as you research on how to do it. Either you do not want to write invitation messages and want to get through it quickly, or you actually love writing messages for invitation printing but do not know how to start. Well, whatever the case, you have come to the right page. In this article I will give you a few straightforward tips on how to write your invitation messages effectively without sounding like it was taken out of a greeting card. In this regard, there are four things that you need to remember.

1. Establish an appropriate tone in writing – To start off your invitation writing, you might probably want to establish the tone you want. Do you want to be formal in your invitation or maybe you want it more casual. Is it a friendly invitation for family and friends? Or is it a formal summons or official notice to attend? This tone will really set your direction in writing so make sure you decide on the right tone that you want. Once you do have a tone in mind however, you must stick with it from start to finish to be consistent. So pick your tone well.

2. Make it unique and avoid the cliché – With that writing tone in mind you should more or less have a good guideline for writing. As an extra advice in writing the content, you may want to avoid writing in clichés. Using lame old sayings and maxims only makes invitations sound corny and boring. You will never really encourage people to go to your event, or at least they will not be excited about it if you use the same old messages that invitations use.

Instead of doing it like that, why not write a new and unique message from the ground up? Write a message that is straight from the heart, encouraging people to share with you that blessed or important event. You don't have to quote other people or things. Just write in plain English what you want to say. Sometimes be ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4028/Straightforward-Tips-In-Writing-For-Invitation-Printing-Effectively.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4028/Straightforward-Tips-In-Writing-For-Invitation-Printing-Effectively.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is There A Need For You To Have Unusual Business Cards?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Business card printing, whether it’s expensive or cheap business cards, can help you get instant attention for your business. More so if you have unusual business cards that can provide you the capability to turn your otherwise dull cards into client magnets so you can generate more leads to increase your profits. Having an unusual business card can provide you the potential to show your clients and prospects that you’re a cut above the rest.

But do you think unusual business card printing is the right strategy for you? Do you think a magnetic business card is your best choice or a glossy brass card can get you more attention? What can work well with your message? Can your unusual business card help you achieve your goals for your business?

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having an unusual business card to help you decide the kind of business card printing that would be appropriate for your needs:

Definitely, an unusual design for your business card can help you attract attention. You’ll surely stand out among the sea of blacks-and-whites. In addition, an unusual business card, especially with a picture in it, can make an instant impact – a positive one at that. As they say, if you can’t get them with your smile and appearance, you might as well rely on your business cards to do the job for you.

The downside to getting an unusual card is that most if not all are very hard to keep. You can’t put a star-shaped wooden card in your pocket, can you? Not only is it uncomfortable, but it’s too much for your pocket to hold. Imagine getting yourself pierced every time you take a seat. Also, most business card holders can only fit a standard rectangular shaped card inside their slots. This will cause a problem later on when you’re looking for the card and you can’t remember where you put it.

Next, a card with an unusual design often is printed on durable materials that last longer even if you accidentally spilt your water  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4017/Is-There-A-Need-For-You-To-Have-Unusual-Business-Cards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4017/Is-There-A-Need-For-You-To-Have-Unusual-Business-Cards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to monetize your traffic - general knowledge</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Are you looking for some inside information on  traffic? 
Here's an up-to-date report from  traffic experts who 
should know. 
 

Establishing your own E-commerce site is not like what it used to be. 
There are thousands of competition that is all too willing to get a 
bigger share of the pie. Every scheme and method you can find to 
augment your sales would be very beneficial.

We have got to admit to ourselves. Most of us are into it for the 
money. We are not going to waste our time and effort just for the 
fun of it. Many sites would not wait until hell freezes over just 
to see their profits. While there are some who takes things lightly 
there are always those who would rather see profit any given day.

It is common knowledge that without traffic we have no business. 
Like any business, without any customers you don’t get sales. 
Traffic represents all the people that gets a chance to see what 
you have to offer. The more people who see your products the more 
people there would be to buy them.

Nobody puts up an E-commerce site that doesn’t expect profit. 
We have a startup capital that needs to be regained. With a 
consistent traffic, we at least have a fighting chance to achieve 
that probability. Monetizing your traffic would optimize your 
chances of making the best out of it.

Making Money out of your Traffic

The best and most proven method of making a profit out of your 
traffic is using advertising. The internet generates hundreds 
of thousands upon hundred of thousands of traffic everyday. 
Most of them are searching for something. While some are just 
looking for information there is also a good percentage that 
is looking for something that they need.

The internet has proven to be a very reliable source in finding 
what was deemed to be a very unsearchable product. The internet 
has made the world a smaller place; you can advertise a product 
from the depths of Istanbul and still find a buyer from the  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4014/How-to-monetize-your-traffic--general-knowledge.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4014/How-to-monetize-your-traffic--general-knowledge.php</link>
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      <title><strong> Generate Low Cost Website Traffic-Top 5 Ways</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ Generate Low Cost Website Traffic-Top 5 Ways

When you think about  traffic, what do you think of first? 
Which aspects of  traffic are important, which are essential, 
and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge. If 
you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that 
much nearer to 


There is one hard and fast rule in generating income for your 
website: A steady flow of website traffic. If no one goes to 
your site, it hardly bares a chance of generating an income. 
Many sites have tried and failed in doing so, and these 
results to the sites demise. It takes money to maintain an 
income generating site; it also takes money to make money.

BUT, it doesn’t take a whole caboodle of cash to generate 
website traffic for your site.

Ever wonder how does big hit sites drive traffic top their site? 
Most of them are spending tons of money to drive the traffic 
to their sites, investing in many advertising campaigns and 
different forms of marketing schemes and gimmickries. This 
is all worthwhile because, well, they are what they are now, 
high earning, big hitting websites. 

You don’t have to do this if you don’t really have their 
resources. There are many ways to generate low cost website 
traffic without having to spend what you don’t have or can’t 
afford. Many people have banked on high cost methods and 
have ended up losing their shirt over it. 

Here I present to you the Top five ways to generate low cost 
website traffic that could help your site a whole lot. Even 
if you only get a small percentage of successful visitors in 
to client ratio it still works especially if you get a high 
number of website traffic. 

Exchange Links

This is a sure and proven method. Rarely would you see a 
site where there is no link to another site. Many webmasters 
are willing to exchange links with one another so that they 
could produce more public awareness about their sites. You’ll 
soon see and  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4001/Generate-Low-Cost-Website-TrafficTop-5-Ways.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/4001/Generate-Low-Cost-Website-TrafficTop-5-Ways.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
The following paragraphs summarize the work of traffic experts 
who are completely familiar with all the aspects of free traffic  
methods. Heed their advice to avoid any traffic surprises. 


How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may 
contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything. 

Putting up a company would of course require a lot of things, 
to get straight to the point, you need a capital. To make money 
requires money as well. But of course, with the versatility 
the internet offers, there are many ways you could find that 
could help optimize the potential of your site or business 
in generating traffic.

While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many 
sites don’t have the resources that others have to generate 
more traffic for your site. Well, you don’t have to spend 
a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of 
eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance 
to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for 
your site.

How sweet it is to have more traffic for your site without 
spending a single cent.  Now it’s a sure thing that many sites 
have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to 
generate traffic using only free methods. Because it is 
possible, you don’t need to speed a single cent, it may take 
time, to say honestly, I’m not going to beat around the bush 
with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, 
but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these 
free methods I’m about to tell you.

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. 
The great thing about forums and online communities is that 
you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic 
that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things 
about the niche that you represent or offer.  Another great 
advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you 
will be prepared.

With o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3996/Generate-Traffic-Using-Only-Free-Methods.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3996/Generate-Traffic-Using-Only-Free-Methods.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to increase your traffic-7 surefire ways</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The following article lists some simple, informative tips 
that will help you have a better experience with traffic. 

Internet. Business. Profit. To fully integrate all of these 
words into a successful merging you will need another word. 
Traffic. Every article you will find about making your site 
or company successful would always include the importance 
of generating traffic.

So, we all know that in the core of it all, traffic is the 
most essential thing to a successful internet based 
business company. Aside from ensuring that you have a great 
product to sell, and you have your company’s internal 
organization well taken core of, it would be time to get 
to the nitty gritty of things, generating traffic. 

If you already have a site and you want think that you're 
not getting the traffic that you're supposed to be getting, 
then its time to reconsider. If you are contending in 
these very competitive business, you should always be a 
step ahead of your competition, increasing your traffic 
flow should have been done starting yesterday. 

Timing is essential, that’s an old adage known to everyone. 
But with generating traffic, you should always be on your 
toes and be a day ahead of everyone. Never think of today 
and tomorrow as a starting point for making your site 
traffic laden, it should always have been yesterday.

To help you out in generating more traffic for your site, 
here are some seven surefire ways to increase your 
traffic starting from yesterday.

1) Invest in good advertising with search engines

Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great 
advertising schemes that are very truly popular and assures 
great traffic. Although with this surefire way to increase 
your traffic would cost some money. While some would shy 
away from spending money to increase traffic, it is 
imperative in this case to do so because Adwords and 
Overture is the top surefire way to increase your traffic. 

Yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3993/How-to-increase-your-traffic7-surefire-ways.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3993/How-to-increase-your-traffic7-surefire-ways.php</link>
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      <title><strong> How to Convert Every Web Page or visitors into Subscriber </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The following paragraphs summarize the work of email marketing 
experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of 
converting every web page or visitors into subscriber. Heed 
their advice to avoid any email marketing surprises. 


If you own one-page sales letter business models or content-based 
websites, you should turn every webpage possible into subscriber 
snatching devices for you. The good news is that not only is 
this method extra effective, it is just as extra effortless 
when it comes to applying the concept.

Since visitors can come and leave without remembering your 
website in the future (which is very likely to happen), you 
can still follow up with your visitors easily by seeking their 
permission to opt into your mailing list through your web 
pages – on autopilot!

You can create a pop up window to appear after your visitor 
attempts to close the window or leaves your website, asking 
for your visitor’s name and email address so that you can follow 
up with him or her in the near future via subscribing to 
your mailing list for free.

This way, you can convert a big portion of your visitors into 
subscribers, giving you a chance to follow up with them on 
other offers you may have in the future.

Alternatively, you can insert an opt-in form within the spaces 
of your web pages. This method is effective, especially if 
you are afraid of Internet users who have pop up killers 
installed in their web browsers, set to block any pop up 
windows.

In conclusion, turning every webpage you own into subscriber 
snatching devices with little effort can be responsible for 
huge subscriber-pulling results.

Converting Every Visitor into Subscriber

If a person visits your website and leaves, chances are 
that he or she will not come back, especially if there are 
no compelling reasons to do so. After all, we all behave 
rather impulsively on the Internet, so much so that we 
can easily forget where we  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3989/How-to-Convert-Every-Web-Page-or-visitors-into-Subscriber.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3989/How-to-Convert-Every-Web-Page-or-visitors-into-Subscriber.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Save Your Money In Color Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Make no mistake. Color brochures are expensive. Even more so, high quality full color brochures with full color photographs top always the list of expensive brochure printing. So when you see that you will need to print color brochures for your business or project it is to be expected that you will want to do everything in your power to minimize that cost. In this special guide for color brochures, we will show you how to do just that in four simple ways.

1. Selective color printing - One good way to cut the cost of printing your color brochures is to print them using only a few select colors. The standard four color printing process these days is very expensive and printing colors selectively becomes very economical in the process. For example, if your brochure really only needs two colors for its logo and graphics while the rest is just text, then you can print your brochures using only those two colors. Most color printers do give discounts or reduced printing quotations when you say that you want to print colors selectively. So take that money saving opportunity when you can.

2. Using standard processes - Next, you can gain more savings in brochure printing by only using standard processes. This means you can save money by not deviating too much on the design and just following the standard templates and procedures for printing. This will give you the base cost which should usually be the cheapest for color brochure printing. However, when you use very deviant designs, you should expect a very high quotation for printing since customization means printers need to do extra work. So is it worth it? When you compare standard and custom jobs, using standard designs and processes can net you a 10-20% savings just because they are easier to produce while custom jobs significantly cost more. So use the standard process if you can.

3. Minimizing full color photographs - Also you can try to save money by using your full color photographs minimally. Full color pi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3988/Save-Your-Money-In-Color-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3988/Save-Your-Money-In-Color-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong> How to build email list using landing  and “thank-you” pages  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The following article presents the very latest information on building 
email list using landing pages for higher return. If you have a 
particular interest in building email lis using landing pages, 
then this informative article is required reading. 

 
Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you're 
fully informed about list, keep reading. 

Also known as the “name squeeze page” or “lead capture page”, 
you can build your mailing list by funneling all of your 
would-be subscribers through the creation of a landing page. 
Not only do you do the work just once, your traffic driving 
efforts can be focused onto just one effective method.
 
The following are tips in creating a successful landing page 
that converts visitors into subscribers on a very huge 
percentage.

Success Tip 1: Offer a freebie in exchange for your visitor’s 
email address. I very much endorse this method of building your 
mailing list. You can offer a special report or a sample of 
your paid product to your visitor in exchange for their 
details such as name and email address. 

Success Tip 2: The landing page must be written professionally. 
When writing your page, treat it as if you are writing a sales 
letter. While you are not necessarily making a hard sale or 
try to get someone to buy your product upfront, being able 
to entice your visitors to give their details to you is just 
as important as selling.

Success Tip 3: Other than your opt-in form and perhaps important 
disclaimers and terms, there shouldn’t be any other links on 
your landing page.

Success Tip 4: Rub in the benefits of the freebie you are 
offering more than a mere subscription to your newsletter. You 
should focus most of the attention of the letter on encouraging 
your prospective visitor to download your free offer. Later, 
you gently remind your prospect that he or she has nothing to 
pay but just merely subscribe to your newsletter in exchange 
for  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3986/How-to-build-email-list-using-landing--and-thankyou-pages.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3986/How-to-build-email-list-using-landing--and-thankyou-pages.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building Your List with Give Away Ventures-Ad Swap Magic </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Current info about building list is not always the easiest 
thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest 
building list info available. 

 
You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial 
information about list building. But don't be surprised if 
you find yourself recalling and using this very information 
in the next few days.

1 Ad Swap Magic

Here is a little used technique you can implement to build 
your mailing list for no additional cost. 
I call it “using subscribers to make subscribers” like much 
in the context of “using money to make money”.

This simple list building formula can be summed up in 
two words: ad swap.

Generally, you trade advertisements with other eZine publishers, 
preferably of the same mailing list size or bigger. You 
broadcast the eZine publisher’s advertisement to your mailing 
list while the eZine publisher endorses your ad to his list. 
Yes, you are actually cross endorsing or cross promoting 
each others offer to each of your mailing list.

Your advertisement’s goal should be to get as many subscribers 
possible from the other eZine publisher’s mailing list to sign 
up for yours.

The result: you grow your mailing list. This method does not 
require money, which means it can be done for free. And the 
return of subscribers? Infinite!

You only have to do this with one eZine publisher at least once, 
because his subscribers who are also your subscribers can 
now be followed up within the boundaries of your mailing list.

Perform ad swaps with as many eZine publishers as possible and 
soon, you will have a huge mailing list of your own – built 
free.

2 Building Your List with Give Away Ventures

With the awareness of the importance of list building, comes 
a recent Internet Marketing trend which was started just a 
couple of years ago for the mutual benefits of all Internet 
Marketers and mailing list owners.

This method is more recogn ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3984/Building-Your-List-with-Give-Away-VenturesAd-Swap-Magic.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3984/Building-Your-List-with-Give-Away-VenturesAd-Swap-Magic.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Brochure Design Principles To Apply</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When choosing what design principles to apply in your custom brochures, it is better to consider how you will display them in your shop or mail them to your clients and prospects. The way you present your printing brochures determines the design that would give the most advantage to your marketing collaterals.

For pages, whether you decide to use multiple pages stapled in the corner, or pages folded in half and saddle stitched or even custom brochures with a single sheet with one or more folds, you have to choose depending on the size and format of your collaterals. Your decision will also determine the amount and the areas in your printing brochures that will contain information about your business. Your pages will also provide you with options whether to go for a heavy and glossy cover. It would be a lot more expensive to select this option but it can attract more attention, as well as make your custom brochures more durable.

A single page with many folds on the other hand, allows you to be more economical and still have the look and feel of a professional. While a tri-fold paper the size of a regular bond paper will surely fit right inside an ordinary mail envelope but will have less information to hold within its limited space.

Quality of paper and color also has a definite role in the overall impression when printing brochures. One with glossy paper and printed with bold and brilliant colors reflects a more upscale and expensive image. Bear in mind that when you give your target clients with something that looks like junk, your collateral will be treated just like one. So remember to always put your best foot forward with custom brochures that exude class and elegance.

And if you are on a very limited budget, you can go for black and white color scheme. This would likely get you attention as it is not always that target clients see a black-and-white ad nowadays. You will definitely stand out like a sore thumb among the many colors that every markete ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3983/Brochure-Design-Principles-To-Apply.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3983/Brochure-Design-Principles-To-Apply.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Through The Eyes Of The Children</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you having a hard time convincing our target clients to try out your offer? Is your marketing message in your booklet printing getting passed on by your target audience just because it does not confer with the preset ways they are comfortable with? Are your print booklets getting cobwebs and dust because your target clients relegate them in the storage room the instant they read your message? Have you answered ‘yes’ to all of these questions?

If you want to reach out to your target audience, why not market through their children. That is right. Parents have often gone to great lengths to satisfy their children’s wants even to the extent that they go beyond their preset standards. They often give way to their kids’ desires even if it is outside their predetermined ways. How do you think the cartoon characters, Walt Disney and McDonald’s got their millions? By getting to the children first.

The young actors and actresses in High School Musical went to worldwide stardom just because they got to the youngsters’ psyche. From an original movie at Disney, the third sequel to their story has even become a blockbuster movie. And let us not forget Hannah Montana.

Have you forgotten how the New Kids’ On the Block got you gooey eyed and staring gaga for so many hours at their posters? Did your parents also got you their t-shirts and print posters even if they themselves do not understand the phenomena of this boy band?

Your marketing collaterals such as your booklet printing can benefit much if you market to the children instead. When you captivate their young and very active imagination, you can be sure to get their parents to consider your business.

So how do you do it? You can get the young people to consider you by becoming part of their lives. Provide them with items and stuff that tickle their imagination. Give them free stuff. Provide promotional items that not only speak of your business’ offer, but also reflect what these young people ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3980/Through-The-Eyes-Of-The-Children.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3980/Through-The-Eyes-Of-The-Children.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Auto Responder Improvements-Auto Responder Marketing Guide             </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you're seriously interested in knowing about Autoresponder, 
you need to think beyond the basics. This informative article 
takes a closer look at things you need to know about Autoresponder.
 
Marketing through auto responder series is a popular strategy 
to increase repeat website visits and sales. Here is a popular 
strategy.  

EZINE EBOOK 

Instead of trying to publish a small daily or weekly eZines, 
try publishing one large monthly eZine (similar to a monthly 
magazine) as an e-book format delivered via auto responder, 
preferably an Adobe .pdf file. You could have it made up of 
a large number of articles per issue and insert regularly 
featured areas throughout like inspirational quotes, industry 
tips, favorite sites and advice from the pros. You could 
also insert full-color graphics, multimedia components like 
audio / video file links and ads. Then you can charge a monthly 
rate, with an annual discounted package purchase, and sell 
advertising spots to sprinkle in your auto responder 
announcements for each issue and with an informational 
series to announce your monthly eZine to new prospects. 

In summary, by using customized marketing techniques like an 
eZine eBook, tailored to fit your own products and services, 
you can reach out and increase your website traffic and sales 
opportunities. Internet marketing can mean more ways to grow 
your business.

Stuck in an auto responder rut with only your eZine going 
out regularly? Get out of the rut with some of these ideas 
for improvements.

1. Provide back issues of your eZine archives via your 
auto responder instead of hosting all your archives online. 
This will give your subscribers and web site visitors easy 
access to them and offers a chance to include graphics, 
audio and video and other components all rolled up in 
pdf files for quick, easy download.

2. Help with tech issues and publish your entire web site, 
save it in a pdf file, and load it int ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3979/Auto-Responder-ImprovementsAuto-Responder-Marketing-Guide.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3979/Auto-Responder-ImprovementsAuto-Responder-Marketing-Guide.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Write If You Want to Market Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You are probably saying right now that you can stop marketing this time since we are in recession. And probably you are also saying to yourself that you are doing well anyway that you can have a break from marketing. People know about you and your business so there is no point marketing your products and services anymore.

But guess what? That is where you are wrong. If you think this way then you have another think coming.

Mistakes are often made just because business owners and marketers believe that they can put marketing in the back burner and still enjoy the leverage they have in their industry. Sure, people are looking for your products and services, and they have your name at their fingertips. So why market still? It is simple. If you are not out there and you make yourself invisible to consumers, they would just go to someone who is available. Your competition will be able to steal your clients and prospects and you cannot do anything about it.

Never, never ignore the importance of marketing. Be sure to promote your business even on a shoestring budget because you just cannot let your competition get the best of you.

So how can you market if you do not have the money for printing brochures or designing custom brochures for example? You can always write.

Yes, writing articles and press releases can go a long way in marketing your business effectively. People are constantly in search of information, and if you can share your knowledge and expertise to your target audience, you can very well build a strong position for yourself in your industry.

This is also the reason why printing brochures is so popular. Not only are you allowed to print as many pages to hold all your products and services, but custom brochures also let you provide your target clients with valuable information that they can use for their needs. The basic idea is to get the interest of your target clients with upbeat and relevant information, enough to make them want to know m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3978/Write-If-You-Want-to-Market-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3978/Write-If-You-Want-to-Market-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways To Effectively Drive Prospects To Your Door</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing is looking for, finding, and generating prospects to your business so you can generate in turn your cash flow. Having a steady flow of customers and clients to your business means a great deal in increasing your chances of getting the returns you want from your investments.

So how do you ensure that customers will line up every time outside your door and clients would have your phones ringing regularly? By attracting them to get to know more about your products and services with these five effective strategies:

Direct Mailing.
From cheap booklets or custom booklet printing, to flyers printing and print brochures, direct mail marketing is one of the best ways to get people to be interested in you. Write articles or an open letter to your target clients, telling them of the benefits and the advantages of your business over your competition. Give them the qualities that make you different. And then add a personal touch to your mail with your own signature, and you can always have clients wanting to know more of what you have to offer.

Online Traffic.
Build online traffic with your website. Attract browsers and searchers to your online custom booklet printing or e-newsletters and provide them with an impression that you are an expert in your field. Drive hundreds and thousands of people to your website with valuable information using SEO and link building techniques. Include blogs and forum posting to help you read through the minds of your target clients. The more they are able to vent their impression on you, the better it is for you to improve and make better your service.

Networking.
Tie up with other businesses that offer the same benefits as you do. You can either do it online or offline. Bring your marketing paraphernalia such as your trifold brochures or even your cheap booklets. The good thing about this avenue of marketing is that you do not have to invest much on your advertising costs. What you need is to provide time and energy to t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3975/5-Ways-To-Effectively-Drive-Prospects-To-Your-Door.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3975/5-Ways-To-Effectively-Drive-Prospects-To-Your-Door.php</link>
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      <title><strong>E-zine -  The  Methods Of List Maintenance        </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The e-zine, or newsletter, is a list of people that
you gather, and send information related to your target market on a
weekly, bi-weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. The idea is the useful
content that you send them will have them want to keep reading and
open your mail each time, keeping your response rates and read rates
high.

Expect to have to present an issue of your e-zine every week or two
weeks and avoid leaving long, long gaps in between mailings,
otherwise, quite simply people will forget you. This is a great place to
start if you're starting out, for the simple reason people like free info,
and it's so much easier to get people to subscribe to this type of list
compared to others, even when there's freebies involved. Of course,
you will have to know a lot about your field of expertise to present
regular useful issues, or even pull in outside articles from publishers to
use as content.


The catch is you'll have to be on top of things, and it does take some
time to come up with good content for issues. The up side to this is
people will be waiting for your e-zine. If it's good and keeps people
reading content wise, it's a surefire way to keep response rates up and
to make a connection with your subscribers, the personal touch, which
in turn will add up to trust and a higher purchase rate for your own
products.

Another great thing about the newsletter and e-zine is it can be quite
personal. As the readers and subscribers get used to you as a
publisher, and you become white listed (In their spam filers and in their
minds) you'll see a greater interest in your products, because after all,
you're not just another marketer out there spouting rubbish to everyone
to make a quick buck. You're a trusted publisher in an authorititative
role, and people will listen to you, and buy your stuff. This takes time
though. Don't expect to become well know to all your subscribers
overnight.

Unsubscription Rate: Many e-zines have becom ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3974/Ezine---The--Methods-Of-List-Maintenance.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3974/Ezine---The--Methods-Of-List-Maintenance.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Understanding Color Trifold Brochures</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Brochure printing and design can be done in many color modes. If you are new to printing or graphic design this might confuse you a bit. However with a little time and a healthy curiosity, it is easy to learn the color jargon for brochure printing. In this guide, I will share with you the three major color modes that you may encounter when printing trifold brochures.

Standard Red Green Blue
The standard Red, Green and Blue color mode usually refers to how we see graphic prints on a screen. RGB colors produce large amounts of other colors as the software or you yourself adjust the red, green and blue values to get the desired color hue. In most cases people use the RGB color for web graphic design. Also most image editing software use this as their standard or default color mode when manipulating design elements.

Printing in Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black
CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black pertain to a color mode for printing itself. It refers to the amounts of intensity of those four colors as they are combined. As color values are reduced in different levels, that is when you get the different hues. It is important to note that this technique can only produce smaller amounts of colors when compared to the standard RGB. However, this is the perfect color mode when you are ready to print your trifold brochures or any other prints for that matter. CYMK gives you the best image possible from the printing machines.

That is why it is important to convert your trifold brochure designs from RGB to CMYK mode once you are ready to hand them over to the printers. Once the conversion is done, you must also adjust the color hues once again, since there will be some significant changes in hue when the conversion occurs. After those minor adjustments however your trifold brochures should be ready for color printing in CMYK.

Selective Pantone PMS colors
Lastly we have the so called Pantone PMS colors. These are basically color inks that you or your printer can d ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3973/Understanding-Color-Trifold-Brochures.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3973/Understanding-Color-Trifold-Brochures.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Enhancing Email Response        </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[     

The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting 
it becomes. As you read this article you'll find that the subject 
of email marketing is certainly no exception. 

 
How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain 
that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything. 

The process of email marketing may not always bear the kind of
results that you expect.

The process of email marketing may not always bear the kind of
results that you expect. In fact, even after doing all the basics right
the response rates may fall way short of expectations. The good news
is that email responses can be enhanced with a little bit of analysis
and research.

We’ve discussed the importance of gathering statistical data
during email campaigns. With this information now available and a few
creative segmentation strategies, email response can be improved a
great deal. Your emails may reach three sets of readers:

- Those who deleted the email without even opening it
- Those who opened the email but did not read it or click on
the offer made
- Those who read the email, clicked on the link provided but
did not accept your offer

The set which represents readers who never opened your email is
probably the biggest. In fact, it’s possible that at least 50% of readers
discarded your email as junk. To boost response rates of such readers,
you should segment these as a group and change the subject line of
the email or the sender’s name and address. Chances are good that
you’ll find some of the changes work better than others, and that
some of the non-openers to the first message have opened up the new
message based on a single and possibly simple change.

Perhaps this change lies in a new appeal in the subject line, or
perhaps it's due to the message coming from a living person instead of
an impersonal company. Record and save those variables and continue
to test and fine-tune them with each subseque ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3972/Enhancing-Email-Response.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3972/Enhancing-Email-Response.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Lessons Learned From A Chiropractor (Part 2)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How do you collect happy and satisfied clients to your business? By doing it the chiropractor’s way:

A comfortable patient brings new prospects to the fold.

Like patients, your customers should be treated carefully that they feel comfortable every time they go to your shop or visit your website. Customers should be valued and taken cared of as they are important people that brings in the money. The minute they walk in your door, greet them with warmth and offer a comfortable experience that they would look forward to every time they come in your shop. And do away with a lot of red tape in terms of filling up forms for their orders and purchases. The bottom line is to make their visit and purchasing activity less painful. Every single step in your procedure should have the customer’s comfort in mind. Create a satisfactory experience for your customers and they would surely go back next time with a friend in tow.

Communicate with your patients.

Do not forget that good communication makes for a satisfied and happy customer. Do not assume that your clients would know the process of purchasing your products and services just because you have written it in your color poster printing. Always be ready to explain and communicate what is going on to make them feel comfortable. The more they know of what will happen, the less painful it would be for them to accept the inevitable.

Ask your patients.

The only way you can learn if you are providing good customer service is to ask your customers directly. Consider getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. Ask your customers what they want and how they want it. They certainly know their own needs and wants that who better to tell you how you can provide good service but them. If you are not comfortable asking them directly, you can always have survey forms and suggestion boxes where your customers can put in their feedback. And when printing posters for example, you can always include your website or email ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3971/Marketing-Lessons-Learned-From-A-Chiropractor-Part-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3971/Marketing-Lessons-Learned-From-A-Chiropractor-Part-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tracking Performance - Measuring Useful Metrics    </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Tracking and analyzing the actions of your customers and
prospects is critical to your success.

Would you like to find out what those-in-the-know have to 
say about tracking? The information in the article below 
comes straight from well-informed experts with special 
knowledge about tracking.
 
Most of this information comes straight from the list building 
pros. Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that 
you'll know what they know. 

After deploying several campaigns, you will have generated 
a mountain of response information that reveals invaluable 
data enabling you to create new and more effective 
approaches and offers. There are many software tools easily 
available that track, record and analyze all data pertaining 
to your email marketing campaign. 

Once you have the capability to track the vital statistics of your
email marketing campaigns, the inevitable question becomes: how
well are my mailings doing? Here are some guidelines on what
information to gather and how to measure the performance of your
campaign from the gathered information.

There are a number of different pieces of information that can be
gathered when using any reasonably good email broadcasting service.
The five primary measurements are: the totals each of messages sent,
message opens, click-throughs, bounces, and opt-out requests.
Total number of items sent must be accurately counted, based on
reaching each individual email address only once. Opens measure the
number of people who actually view the message using their email
program.

 “Unique” opens, so that if a recipient views a message in
their preview window, then opens it into a full size window,
that this only counts as a single open instead of two opens. 

Clickthroughs are recipients that respond to your offer by 
clicking on a link in the email. Bounces are messages that 
are undeliverable to the recipient. They could be “soft bounces” 
due to temporary issues suc ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3961/Tracking-Performance--Measuring-Useful-Metrics.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3961/Tracking-Performance--Measuring-Useful-Metrics.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Turning Old Photographs Into Great Postcards</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to use your old photographs for postcard printing then you are in the right place. In this simple guide, we will show you how to create cheap postcards using your old photographs or images. Just follow the seven steps below precisely and you should have those nice custom made photograph designs ready for postcard printing.

1. Scan in high resolution. 
Of course the first step in using your photographs for postcard printing is to digitize it as an image. You will need a scanner for this step. Just scan your images as usual using the software provided by your scanner. Try to adjust the settings so that you are scanning in the best possible resolution so that the picture won't get blurry once your reprint it for the postcard. If you do not have a scanner though, you can just go to your local cyber cafe or technology boutique and have your images scanned for a fee.

2. Correct and Enhance.
Once you get your digital images from the photographs it would be best to correct and enhance it. Using an image editing software like Adobe Photoshop, you can try erasing or replacing any kind of specs, errors and holes in the image of your photograph. You can also enhance the images by improving the colors, brightness and contrast of the pictures to make the image look new and more vibrant. You can also try removing any kind of undesirable element to the picture such as a border, a misplaced person or thing, or even pimples and other issues on people’s faces. By the end of this process you should get a picture that is pretty good and well worth printing on postcards.

3. Place postcard messages to a blank template. 
Next once you are finished with your image enhancements you can now place the postcard image in a postcard template. Blank postcard templates are basically files that are already set with the layout of a typical postcard. It uses standard dimensions of a postcard and it has some guidelines on where most postcard elements are regularly placed. You  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3960/Turning-Old-Photographs-Into-Great-Postcards.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3960/Turning-Old-Photographs-Into-Great-Postcards.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Often And When to Mail?     </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[               

In today's world, it seems that almost any topic is open for 
debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was 
quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were 
settled are actually still being openly discussed. 
 

You can see that there's practical value in learning more about list. 
Can you think of ways to apply what's been covered so far? 

Email marketing is a powerful yet inexpensive way to make
contact with customers and prospects.

Depending on whom you are trying to touch, there may be certain 
times of day, or days of the week, when the recipient may be 
more responsive to your message. In addition to specific 
timing for your email marketing campaigns, the frequency 
and the number of times to send can all play a big role in 
helping to improve your results.

When to Email?
For a mailing to business recipients, sending midday from 11 AM
through 3 PM is generally the best time. Sending a message earlier in
the day can result in a higher risk of the message getting lost in the
rush to prepare for morning meetings. Send it too late in the day and
it may end up quickly deleted before the recipient leaves for their
commute home.

On the other hand, when mailing to consumers, 5 PM through 8
PM is the best time. People tend to check their personal email when
they get home from work or after dinner. Most consumers are too
busy getting ready for work in the morning to read their email.
Like the time of the day, different days of the week can affect
your results as well. The best days to contact businesses are weekdays
except for Monday and Friday. Monday has proven to have too many
meetings to reach decision makers, and on Friday, most people would
prefer to leave early before the rush hour than receive your email, no
matter how exciting the email and offer may be.

Consumers are more likely to spend more time on the Internet on
weekends, and hence have more time to consider your offer ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3956/How-Often-And-When-to-Mail.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3956/How-Often-And-When-to-Mail.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Personalization in Email Marketing         </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
If you're seriously interested in knowing about list, you need 
to think beyond the basics. This informative article takes a 
closer look at things you need to know about list. 

People respond more favorably to marketing when they feel
special and unique.                                                    

 People respond differently to things when they
perceive themselves as part of a group. These are only some of the
psychological factors that come into play when using individual
message personalization as a part of your email marketing campaigns.
When done correctly, personalization can be a powerful way to
reinforce the bond between your company and your customer.
However, poorly personalized messages can just as quickly sever that
connection that you have worked so hard to establish.

The Initial Greeting

The initial greeting has a tremendous impact on whether a
recipient will read the rest of a communication. The tone must match
the type of communication and the type of relationship that exists
between the sender and recipient. For example, &amp;quot;Hi John&amp;quot; is good for
an email from a business to consumer, but too casual for a message to
a business recipient. A &amp;quot;Dear Mr. Smith&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Dear John Smith&amp;quot; is more
appropriate for a business to business communication in email just as
in a business letter.

Providing References

A very strong technique is including a reference to a specific
product or service that the recipient has either already purchased, or
that they have requested information about. Don't forget to link
directly to the page on the site that corresponds to the product or
service you are trying to sell.

Affiliation

When recipients are members of a known group or organization,
you can create a positive tie-in. When using this kind of
personalization, you must make sure that the relevancy will be obvious
for the recipient. This works particularly well for sending partner
offers, but  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3955/Personalization-in-Email-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3955/Personalization-in-Email-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Buy a Media List That Gets You in Front of the Right People</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Reporters are dying to quote entrepreneurs, small business owners and consultants just like you. The trouble is, they don't know you exist!
 
If only you can get your hands on a great media contact list, then you can get your name and credentials in front of reporters. This way they will contact you when they are writing a story that would be perfect for you.
 
So how can you get your hands on a great media list that's filled with information about reporter's who want to quote you in their articles?
 
Many companies sell names of reporters. Like everything else on the Internet, they vary by quality, features and services.
 
Before you buy a media list, be sure to ask questions like the ones below.
 
10 Questions You Must Ask When Buying a Media List So You Get the Most Bang (Publicity) for Your Buck
 
1. When was the list updated? Reporters change jobs quite frequently. And many newspapers and magazines are laying off people. So you want to make sure the list is updated on a daily or weekly basis. Otherwise, you'll waste time, money and energy sending messages to people who don't work there!
 
2. What contact information is included in the list? You'll want a list that has name, title, email, phone and snail mail address. Yes, snail mail. This way you can send books or product samples. You'll want email for sending pitches, press releases and press kits. You'll want the phone number to pitch by phone. Of course, you will have much of this information on your website, but you'll want to have every means available to contact reporters in the format they most desire. Reporters can be very, very picky!
 
3. What information is included about the reporter? Most basic lists you'll find on the Internet will have contact info, but not much else. That's not enough to do target marketing. You want to know what topic (referred to as a &amp;quot;beat&amp;quot;) the reporter is covering as well. Some of the best companies offer additional insights into the beat. For exam ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3954/How-to-Buy-a-Media-List-That-Gets-You-in-Front-of-the-Right-People.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3954/How-to-Buy-a-Media-List-That-Gets-You-in-Front-of-the-Right-People.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Are Effective Brochures Made</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Is there more to a brochure printing than a folded paper with several texts? Definitely. So why do some brochures work and others end up in the trash can? There are many reasons but the most obvious one is simply because some businesses lack the foresight and planning. Read on and learn the process of creating a brochure that works.

A good brochure printing has to have an impact among its readers. A brochure will be judged on how it was able to connect with its readers. Among the factors that will make a brochure a success is its key message, content, and basic design guidelines. The paper, colors, and fonts will also help in making a successful brochure printing.

Before diving into any brochure project, there are several decisions that need to be made concerning its content and direction. To determine the courses of action, ask yourself this question: Why should customers read your brochure? Well, the only answer you should have is because it is visually delightful and it contains useful information to the customers. If you do not have that answer, better think again.

Next, think about how you would like to display or distribute your brochures. Will it be in the stores? Will it be in an event? Will you mail it? Your answer to these questions will determine the type, size and fold of your brochures. There are a variety of custom brochure sizes that you could choose from that would fit your requirements. All you have to do is to determine your distribution or display scheme.

Another consideration as to the size and number of folds would be its content. Multi-page brochures give you the space you need for important information. A single page with multiple folds, on the other hand, will allow an economical approach with a nice look and feel.

Now for the information that it will contain, be sure to use everyday language or the language of your readers. That is, do not be complicated or technical but do not be too informal also. Always be direct and simple ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3953/How-Are-Effective-Brochures-Made.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3953/How-Are-Effective-Brochures-Made.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Strategies To Keep You Going And Growing (Part 2)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[We have talked in a previous article about how as a business owner you can develop your strategies in your marketing campaigns such as printing brochures and newsletter printing. We mentioned that for your business to last for a very long time, you need to constantly update yourself and improve on your offer. The only way that your clients will continue to purchase from you is if you make your products and services adaptable according to their changing needs and wants.

It is therefore important that you do not just stop at the point when you launch your marketing campaign with printing brochures and newsletter printing. You need to constantly update yourself and your strategy so you can give more value to your offer in your clients’ eyes.

Here are some more of the effective marketing strategies you can apply to your newsletter printing for example, so you keep on going and growing your business:

3. Provide your clients with a promotional campaign that is appropriate not only during the launching of your product or service, but to the rest of its life cycle. This means that you make printing brochures and your newsletter printing dynamic that they can evolve every time you use them to promote your product and service. Whether you use them for personal selling or even for direct mailing campaigns, the key is to have them provide your clients with the right offer that will still be irresistible even if you’re using it for a very long time.

4. Have an effective distribution strategy. Not only should you concern yourself with the right offer, you should also make sure that you distribute your goods and services with the right channel. Meaning, you need to know where you sell your products and services, who helps you sell them, how are they being sold, and everything that you need to know about how your products and services get to your clients. If you can find out where your sales are growing and where you are short, you can build a stronger program that  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3952/Strategies-To-Keep-You-Going-And-Growing-Part-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3952/Strategies-To-Keep-You-Going-And-Growing-Part-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Battle Plan Objectives In Large Poster Promotions</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Custom poster printing for advertising campaigns is not just a simple and mundane task. Advertising campaigns are not designated as “campaigns” just for no apparent reason. They are campaigns because advertising is a battle unto itself. There are objectives that must be completed and rivals that must be thwarted. 

In using large posters for promotions, there are five major objectives that you must achieve to ensure success. Each objective gives a decisive advantage to your custom poster printing that can be the keys to victory in an advertising campaign.

1. Catch the eye. 
The first and major objective to any advertising poster whether small or large is to catch people’s eyes. This means that you have to be unique and original so that people take notice of your poster design. Since there are a lot of concepts and design avenues out there for posters, this can actually be a tough objective to complete. It needs the right mix of creative and innovative people to come up with a truly original design that makes people say “what's that?” So make sure you recruit the best artists that you can and work towards an eye catching design with as much enthusiasm as you can produce.

2. Distinguish yourself. 
Also, your posters should be distinct and distinguishable from other posters of its kind. This sets your message apart from the others. Having your own individual identity is crucial in this case since people respond to messages and designs that do not look like the rest. For example, if you are flooded with posters with vibrant, sometimes garish colors and then you see a classic black and white poster with a nice contrasting image, what would you look at first? The black and white poster right? Being different from the rest and being identified as different is a good strategy to get audiences to look at your posters first. This first look can in fact be the key to success or failure so make sure you take this into consideration in your poster design.

 ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3950/Battle-Plan-Objectives-In-Large-Poster-Promotions.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3950/Battle-Plan-Objectives-In-Large-Poster-Promotions.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Method Controls The Madness</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The Plan. The first step in developing a successful marketing plan is to determine who you are and what makes you special. You must fill a need or people will have no use for your offerings, right? Consider where you want to be and how best to get there. Decide what it is that sets you apart and how this will benefit the consumer. A thorough understanding of yourself, your prospects, and your competition will help you determine — and achieve — your goals.

Focus. Although you may offer a variety of benefits that would appeal to many consumers, there is usually one single selling point which will win or lose your best market. Determine that one very special selling point and you will have established a focus which will set the standards for your competition to aspire to. When planning your communications, your message must be clear and specific to your objectives. If the message cannot be distilled down to one or two sentences, you are saying too much.

Your Role. As the client working with a marketing firm such as Catch Light Productions, you are the decision maker. You must make solid business decisions and then step back. Tough to swallow? Just consider that micro-managing projects can create a negative and counterproductive work environment and will often compromise the integrity of the finished marketing piece.

Success. How do we measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts? An immediate increase in sales? Improved image? Breaking into a new market? Ideally each piece would generate more sales, improve your overall image and get you a big chunk of new customers. Yes, on occasion, a single marketing project can produce remarkable success. But marketing should be viewed as a cumulative effort — growing stronger with each project. Set your sights on building long-term success one project at a time.

Keeping It Intact. You’ve mapped out a solid plan. You’ve developed a great concept. You’ve created outstanding visuals. You’re brave new  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3949/Method-Controls-The-Madness.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3949/Method-Controls-The-Madness.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Email Content – Text vs. HTML       </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Building your mailing list of hungry prospects can be 
one of the best investments you will ever make, as it 
is time and effort worth spending on.

Once you begin building your list, you will begin making sales 
if they are responsive and that will begin to earn you money on 
a weekly basis. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to 
get these responsive people

This is every email marketer’s dilemma. More so, due to the 
fact that there is no clear majority of people preferring 
one format over the other. Some people will always prefer 
text to graphics, and some email readers only support basic 
text. A prominent Internet marketing website recently carried 
out a survey asking not only which format was preferred but 
why one format was preferred over another. Over 600 people, 
mostly marketers and small business operators, responded.55% 
favored HTML and 45% preferred text. Given that well over 
90% of email readers can view HTML, it is surprising that 
almost half the people would prefer to receive text. To 
investigate this point further, the survey gave those who 
chose text a list of possible reasons to explain why. On 
average, people listed about two and a half reasons each. 
They said:

- Can't read HTML 6%
- Just want the meat without the distractions 32%
- Like to read offline 15%
- Ads are more intrusive in HTML 22%
- Slow to download 14%
- Other 11%

The most popular reason for choosing plain text over HTML 
was an interesting one. People were clearly expressing a 
desire for email layouts that focused on the message, and 
they often saw HTML emails as containing elements that 
distract from the content — the content being the reason 
they signed up for the email in the first place. 11% of 
the people who selected “Other” as their reason gave their 
own reasons as:

- Text takes up less storage space 28%
- Security — fear of viruses 22%
- Easier/faster to read/scan 13%
- Text is easier to re ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3948/Email-Content--Text-vs-HTML.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3948/Email-Content--Text-vs-HTML.php</link>
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      <title><strong>8 Tips for Building Your Email Lists      </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A popular Internet battle cry states that “the money is in your
list”. It’s true that you can make a lot of money by building a 
list of opt-in subscribers.

 Establishing trust with those subscribers and sending those 
subscribers special offers promoting your products.
But you must do it correctly. Here’s a few tips that will help you
get the most bang for your buck out of your list-building activities:

1.Collect Only Relevant Information

While requesting a visitor to sign up, collect information that is
relevant to your business. A recent study lamented that most of the
corporate probing was unnecessary, given that most companies never
act on the information they extract from their customers. It is crucial
that you know exactly what you intend to do with the information
you’re going to collect. Moreover, you should also be able to prove to
your visitors that information you would be collecting from them is
actually vital for your business.

2.Don’t Make Your Customers Repeat Information

Most customers don’t mind telling their banks the ages of their
children if they think the bank will use the information to help them
sort through the myriad of college savings plans or make them aware
of estate planning issues. But nothing irritates customers more than
having to repeat the same information to each channel as if it’s the
first time they've ever heard the information. This is especially true 
in the case of email lists on websites.

3.Focus Your List

We’ve discussed the importance of focusing or targeting
customers earlier as well. Current customers are the most important
email addresses to collect, much more so than prospects. They’ll be
more receptive to your communications and likely to respond, since
they’re familiar with your company and its products. Don’t waste your
time running campaigns that attract a high number of visitors who
have no interest in your products or services.

4.Special Off ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3947/8-Tips-for-Building-Your-Email-Lists.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3947/8-Tips-for-Building-Your-Email-Lists.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Major Brochure Sizes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Did you know that you can adjust the size of your brochure printing process? Many people who print brochures are now resorting to different custom brochure sizes to make their brochures appear different and more distinct. In fact each distinct size range of brochures can be aimed for specific kinds of roles. Here are four of the major different brochure sizes.

Large scale brochures: First, we have the big large scale brochures. These kinds of brochures can measure up to 12 by 12 inches or even more if it is custom made. Typically, this kind of sheer size is used by businesses or projects that need to display a large sized and amounts of information. For example, it can be something like a brochure map of a compound or a theme park. Also it can be something that is made for a big advertising campaign that needs large scale impact. People can get the brochure in the mail and be amazed at the largeness of the brochures when unfolded. So basically if you need to add in a large type of content for a brochure, or you need a big impact large sized brochures are the best thing to use.

Standard rack brochures: A lower notch from large scale brochures is your standard rack brochures. This is your standard brochure size. Standard brochures can measure up to 8.5 by 11 inches (letter sized) when fully unfolded to anything a few inches above or below this kind of dimension. These are of course the normal brochures that we see in racks, counters and other common or public places. It can be adapted for many kinds of uses like product catalog brochures, service pamphlets, information brochures, training manuals, tutorials and form brochures. They can even be used for public relations as a way to communicate a company’s corporate philosophy. So for your usual business and project brochures, standard brochure sizes are the way to go.

Small mini-mobile brochures: Below standard brochures are the smaller mobile brochures. This can measure somewhere around 4 by 6 inches or eve ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3946/Major-Brochure-Sizes.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3946/Major-Brochure-Sizes.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Renting or Buying Lists      </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Once you begin building your list, you will begin making sales 
if they are responsive and that will begin to earn you money on 
a weekly basis. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to 
get these responsive people


Many marketers peg acquisition-based email response rates at
historically low levels, primarily due to the high volume of messages in
everyone's inboxes these days. Some believe that allocating any
percentage of a marketing budget to acquisition-based email is waste.
However, this is not true. Although the true response rates for
acquisition are typically lower than those for retention-based email,
renting lists to win over prospects and grow a customer base can work
wonders, if you do your homework.

Here are some guidelines that can help in buying or renting lists
for achieving high ROI.

 - With email, just like direct mail, how precisely the list is
targeted to the marketer’s offer is critical to the success of
the email campaign. The marketer will need to test a variety
of email lists in order to find the most responsive names for
their offer. Recency, Frequency, and Monetary Value are
important within email lists. Thus, where applicable, focus
on lists of recent online buyers or registered users.

 - More importantly, when researching email lists, focus on the
origin of the list to ensure compatibility with your offer.
Make sure you obtain names from branded, well-recognized
sites or sources. Since an outbound email announces to the
recipient, in the form of a header, exactly where they gave
permission, a well-recognized source would lend more
credibility to the message.

A frequency cap can ensure lists aren't over mailed. If a list
manager can't provide the details on mailing frequency, look
elsewhere. That organization probably lacks the control, technical
expertise, and reporting basics. Also ask about recency selections.
Newer names offer access to new subscribers.

Frequent uploads of new na ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3943/Renting-or-Buying-Lists.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3943/Renting-or-Buying-Lists.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Stocks For Poster Printing: The Paper Master's Guide</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In poster printing, the paper stock is an important thing to decide on. It determines the durability, cost and impact of all prints, small or large posters alike. However, for most people, it might be a bit confusing as to what kind of paper you really need for specific types of kinds of poster printing. In this guide we will share with you a few secrets in choosing the right kind of paper for the right kind of poster.

Mass production posters: If you need to print posters “en masse” the name of the game is “cheap.” You want the cheapest but still workable poster paper so that you can print the maximum amount that you can. In this situation your best option is to use uncoated standard paper with a thickness indicated as 20#. This is the cheapest and still decently workable paper stock for mass production posters. They are very cheap to print on and you should have an easy time working with them and posting them. Do not expect them to last long however since without special coatings and finishes, these kinds of posters will fall pray to a lot of environmental effects easily. So place them in protected places if you can to increase their longevity.

Special Promotions: For more high class promotions, it is best to go all out with your paper and find the best stocks. High gloss paper is the best job for this situation. These high gloss stocks usually have special coatings that make them sheen as you look at them. This also has an added effect of being dirt and smudge resistant, and sometimes it can even be resistant to scratches and other simple physical damage. With these special paper stocks, you can lock in your elegant design in a good medium and it will take a harder time for weather effects to damage and fade the design itself. Of course make no mistake, these kinds of paper stocks can be much more expensive than the normal kind.

Large Posters: Now, for large posters, durability is the name of the game. Large posters are harder to set up, and they  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3940/Stocks-For-Poster-Printing-The-Paper-Masters-Guide.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3940/Stocks-For-Poster-Printing-The-Paper-Masters-Guide.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Collecting Opt-In Email Addresses-Double Opt-in        </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Once you begin building your list, you will begin making sales 
if they are responsive and that will begin to earn you money on 
a weekly basis. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to 
get these responsive people


Email is still the most popular and most used communication
medium on the Internet. It’s also an efficient way to distribute your
message to large numbers of people who have requested that
information. As a form of marketing, it generates high response rates
and gives you measurable results with instant feedback.

Just keep in mind, it is never acceptable to send commercial email
to people who haven’t requested to receive email from you. Bust that
rule, and there’s a good chance you’ll be out of business. That gives
you the challenge of building up a list of willing subscribers.

When you’re first starting out, there’s often a temptation to
simply purchase an opt-in email list. Lots of people sell them and you
can easily pick up a million or so addresses for just a few bucks. But
while that may appear to be a fast, easy way to build up customers,
the names on the list may not be up to date and they are not even
opt-in contacts at all. To say it bluntly, emailing people from a list like
that is called spamming.

Similarly, there are also programs that automatically crawl the
web, recording every email address they find. These will let you
quickly build up a huge list of email addresses. But, nobody will thank
you when you stuff their inboxes with marketing material. Forget
about them; they’re not worth the effort. It’s much safer, and much
more effective, to take the time to build your own real opt-in list.

Marketing by email can attract new customers, keep existing
ones, up-sell, cross-sell, and cut costs. E-merchant Wine.com, for
example, found email campaigns drove twice as many &amp;quot;best prospects&amp;quot;
to their site compared to banner ads or other Internet marketing
activities.

If exe ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3938/Collecting-OptIn-Email-AddressesDouble-Optin.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3938/Collecting-OptIn-Email-AddressesDouble-Optin.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Identifying Brochure Problems</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you having trouble with your color brochures? Did you spend all that time, money and effort in brochure printing only to discover that they are not giving you the results that you want? Well there are several key factors why brochure printing can fail. In this guide, we will share with you some tips on how to identify these possible problems and correct them.

Do an opinion survey: The first thing that you need to do to identify any problems with your brochures is to do a survey. Look for the people that you gave your brochures to, and ask them a few questions about their reactions to it. Also, try to find other groups of people to give your brochures to, and then ask them immediately afterwards of their opinion about it. If you gather data that is large enough, chances are good that you should see a growing trend where your brochures fail to impress your readers. This should be a key factor on how to improve your brochure designs on the next printing run.

Re-analyze your target readers: Next, you may want to study once again your target readers or target market for your brochures. You may discover suddenly that your target market is inappropriate for your brochure, or that your brochure content is not ideal for your particular target market. This can be a common mistake for brochure printing, since some people just assume immediately what their target readers like while actually not researching what those are. So try to reanalyze your target reader’s wants and needs by looking at market research data about them.

Revise distribution techniques: You may want to check your distribution technique as well if it is indeed effective. Did you just hand out your brochures to people on the street? Did you mail them to several addresses in a mailing list? Or maybe you just left them behind in public places. Try to review these techniques if they are indeed effective and people are picking them up and reading. If you look closely enough you should identify key pr ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3937/Identifying-Brochure-Problems.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3937/Identifying-Brochure-Problems.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Proper Catalog Protection</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want your catalogs to last in the hands of your potential customers, you have to choose the proper catalog printing choices early on in your project. There are a lot of factors involved in protecting printed catalogs to make them last longer. This can be things like using resistant coatings and other materials that increases the durability and strength of the catalogs material. If you are concerned with proper protection for your own catalog printing plans, there are a few ways that you can do to achieve this goal.

Resistant coatings: The most commonly used way to protect your catalogs is to use paper stocks that have been coated with special substances or “coats”. These coats can offer several interesting properties that help the paper resist certain types of substances and sources of damage. For example, Aqueous coating techniques in printing gives catalog paper the ability to resist dirt, smudges, fingerprints and scratches. Other high gloss versions also give that professional sheen effect making the catalogs more aesthetically pleasing. UV protection coating can also be sometimes used protecting the paper and the inks from harsh light and other environmental effects that can make inks fade and deteriorate faster. Most of these coating options can readily be used by most printing companies, so there should be no trouble in availing this kind of service when creating your catalogs.

Covering in plastic: A cheaper alternative, though perhaps more labor intensive is to wrap your catalogs in some plastic covers. Plastic covers like the coatings above protect your catalogs from damage. In fact using plastic covers can make your catalogs totally immune to water and dirt effects. However, it can also be made more vulnerable to scratches this way. You can wrap your own catalogs with your own plastic covers if you want, but some printing services can also offer this feature if possible. If you have a limited budget, this is probably the cheapest way to pr ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3936/Proper-Catalog-Protection.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3936/Proper-Catalog-Protection.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Add Characters To Your Posters</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Here is a great tip for poster printing: create a character! Characters in posters add interest. They add value and recognition to your campaign.

Take the example of the poster of Uncle Sam with the words: &amp;quot;The Army wants YOU!' It shows the popular image of Uncle Sam with a stern look and pointing a finger. The image alone says a lot about what the poster wants to do. You have guessed that right. It is a recruitment poster for the US Army. The message and the character combined make a strong case. Now picture this campaign ad without the picture of Uncle Sam. Would you still get the same effect?

Characters, be it an actor playing a role or a cartoon character, adds a new dimension to any poster printing. They add depth, as in the case of the US Army ad campaign, or humor as in the Simpsons advertising Duff beer. Whatever the role is in the poster, these characters make any advertising campaign more appealing.

If you do not want to use actors, cartoon characters or famous personalities, you can try your hand in creating a brand character. If you do not get the picture, just look at Ronald McDonald and his friends and you will get the idea. Brand characters represent the characteristics or the personality of the brand. Brand characters help in brand recognition. They are particularly advantageous if you are engaged in a business involving kids.

Some of the world’s best advertising campaigns have been built on brand characters. These characters are so ubiquitous that consumers will never fail to associate them with your brand of service or product. More importantly, these brand characters do not get involved with fights or accidents that are potentially damaging to reputations. This is the risk you have to face when you get the services of famous personalities. Along with your star’s damaged reputation is your products damaged image. This is another good reason why brand characters are better than real life endorsers.

Like a good movie or book,  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3931/Add-Characters-To-Your-Posters.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3931/Add-Characters-To-Your-Posters.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Mailing List for Affiliate Marketers-How To Grab Your Readers Attention </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Building your mailing list of hungry prospects can be 
one of the best investments you will ever make, as it 
is time and effort worth spending on.

If you are an affiliate marketer who wants to make a 
comfortable living from referring your prospects to other 
people’s product or service for decent commissions, 
then you must consider building your own mailing list.

Granted, that most affiliates, as in more than 90 percent 
of them, are not making money from affiliate programs, 
but this often results from the same amount of effort 
focused on least effective methods.

While having your own mailing list is, by a long mile, 
not the only effective affiliate marketing method, you 
can make affiliate sales very quickly even in the next 
few hours after sending a sales message, provided that 
your mailing list is huge and responsive.

This is often true, because owning your own mailing list 
for you to endorse products and services to is one of 
the fastest-producing results, beating other affiliate 
marketing methods imaginable.

In a nutshell, the affiliate marketer who gets ahead of 
the pack is the one who owns a huge and responsive mailing 
list of prospects.

The race for supremacy in the internet based businesses 
has been really heating up and many sites have been put 
up to help others to get ahead for a small fee. But there 
are also ways in which you don’t have to pay so much to 
make yourself a good list of loyal followers. Having a 
satisfied web traffic and visitors allows you to put up 
a foundation wherein you can build an opt-in list and 
make it grow from there. An opt-in list allows you to 
provide newsletters to your subscribers with their consent. 
When people sign up, they know that they will be receiving 
updates and news from your site and the industry your 
represent via an e-mail.

But that doesn’t mean that all of those who subscribe 
read them at all.  Many lists have been built due to an 
a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3930/Mailing-List-for-Affiliate-MarketersHow-To-Grab-Your-Readers-Attention.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3930/Mailing-List-for-Affiliate-MarketersHow-To-Grab-Your-Readers-Attention.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why It's Important to Trust Your Search Engine Marketing Company Today</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It's a fact of life in business that when there's an economic downturn, the first thing that's usually cut is available marketing spend, typically an unfortunate byproduct of accounting's inability to justify costs without hard data in place. While the argument has been made numerous times over the years in books and articles that cutting budgets in a down economy is one of the worst moves you can make, I won't rehash this old (but still valid) argument. Instead, I'd specifically like to address why cutting your search engine marketing budget in a down economy is a bad move, and why it's equally important to place your trust in your search engine marketing company during a down turn.

It's probably true for most businesses that there are fewer people actively searching for their products and services due to the economic climate. Companies reasonably approach this situation thinking, &amp;quot;Why should we pay the same amount in marketing that we've traditionally been paying when our current target market has shrunk?&amp;quot; This is a rational concern, but it doesn't always lead to rational decisions - and it's at this point when it becomes appropriate to break down the differences between push and pull marketing.

&amp;quot;Pushing&amp;quot; Your Message Out: The Traditional Method

With push marketing (by modern definition), you are essentially &amp;quot;pushing&amp;quot; your message out to various venues, such as billboards, magazine ads, direct mail, and radio and TV spots, trying to target your ideal customer. You're spending money to reach mass audiences in the hopes that some percentage of them are looking for your products or services at just the time your message reaches them. Of course, if sales in your particular market have dropped by, say, 25%, you can expect that your push marketing results will probably correlate to the industry decline.

&amp;quot;Pulling&amp;quot; Your Market In: The Value of Search Engine Marketing

Enter the modern definition of pull marketing, such ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3929/Why-Its-Important-to-Trust-Your-Search-Engine-Marketing-Company-Today.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3929/Why-Its-Important-to-Trust-Your-Search-Engine-Marketing-Company-Today.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Popular Auto Responder Marketing Technique-Auto Responder Improvements</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Marketing through auto responder series is a popular 
strategy to increase repeat website visits and sales. 
Here is a popular strategy.  

EZINE EBOOK 

Instead of trying to publish a small daily or 
weekly eZines, try publishing one large monthly 
eZine (similar to a monthly magazine) as an e-book 
format delivered via auto responder, preferably an 
Adobe .pdf file. You could have it made up of a large 
number of articles per issue and insert regularly 
featured areas throughout like inspirational quotes, 
industry tips, favorite sites and advice from the pros. 
You could also insert full-color graphics, multimedia 
components like audio / video file links and ads. Then 
you can charge a monthly rate, with an annual 
discounted package purchase, and sell advertising 
spots to sprinkle in your auto responder announcements 
for each issue and with an informational series to 
announce your monthly eZine to new prospects. 

In summary, by using customized marketing techniques 
like an eZine eBook, tailored to fit your own products 
and services, you can reach out and increase your 
website traffic and sales opportunities. Internet 
marketing can mean more ways to grow your business.

Improve your marketing and sales with some auto 
responder Improvements. Try some of these:

1. Publish free reports to send via your auto responder. 
The reports should be related to your business or 
web site &amp;amp; contain info, ads and links to your sites. 
People love getting freebies.

2. Collect vital customer satisfaction information by 
publishing a survey to send via auto responder to those 
who sign up on your site in exchange for a free eBook, 
software or trial period at your membership site.  
This type of information will help you understand 
their needs, likes &amp;amp; dislikes better.

3. Instead of answering each customer question that 
is e-mailed to you, publish &amp;quot;Frequently Ask Questions&amp;quot; 
and make them available via ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3920/A-Popular-Auto-Responder-Marketing-TechniqueAuto-Responder-Improvements.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3920/A-Popular-Auto-Responder-Marketing-TechniqueAuto-Responder-Improvements.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Choose Your Printing Provider</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Promotional collaterals such as your print business cards are very important tools to have in any business. Remember that in your place, your business cards printing for one represents you to your target clients. Your print collaterals tell your target audience of whom you are and what you can do for them.

Hence, there is a constant need for any business to establish relationships with their clients through the help of collaterals. And for you to have one that is appropriate for your business, especially when it comes to business cards printing, there is an abundance of suppliers and providers found online and off. Any of these suppliers can give you good quotes and quality results if you choose the most appropriate partner for you.

To help you select your supplier, here are some of the things you should look for:

1. Look for someone who can provide you with customized services. A provider that knows how to design a custom format and layout can help you convey a unique and distinct message that can make you stand out. An expert can provide you with collaterals that can reflect your unique selling proposition (USP) so you can present a unique offer to your target audience. Not only will it improve your product awareness, unique collateral in your business cards printing can improve your brand and identity.

2. Choose a provider that can help you come up with premium quality tools in your print business cards. Do not just choose someone who can do a good job; rather, choose someone who can provide you with excellent results that can attract the attention of your target market. And you can only do that if you have unique collateral that conveys your offer in quality materials that do not disintegrate from handling. If you want your print business cards to change hands, then you better make your collaterals durable.

3. Select a provider that can give you a wider range of services. If they are really experts in what they do, your provider should be able to  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3919/How-To-Choose-Your-Printing-Provider.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3919/How-To-Choose-Your-Printing-Provider.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Techniques-Auto Responder Improvements</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The Internet offers many means of affordable marketing with 
auto responders. Here are a couple of popular ways of using them.

DIRECTORY 

Some webmasters set up link or article directories on their 
sites. They create a directory on a specific industry topic, 
placing their own ad or banner along the top. Then they invite 
others to add their website links via a link exchange program, 
listing themselves in your directory. Or they invite articles 
to be submitted that include a resource box at the bottom of 
each with a link to the author’s website. This results on 
increased traffic as sites link up across the World Wide Web. 
Enter “link exchange software” or “article directory software” 
into a favorite search engine for help with each. 

TEACH A COURSE 

Some marketers write up a simple step-by-step instructional 
class in their area of expertise. Then they break it up into 
smaller portions or messages and set them up in an auto 
responder as email messages, including short ads within each 
message to invite sales &amp;amp; website visits. Then they invite 
website visitors to sign up through on online form or email 
subscription address offered through the auto responder 
service. As people sign up, they will learn more about the 
products and services through the teaching series.

Stuck in an auto responder rut with only your eZine going 
out regularly? Get out of the rut with some of these ideas 
for improvements.

1. Provide back issues of your eZine archives via your auto 
responder instead of hosting all your archives online. 
This will give your subscribers and web site visitors easy 
access to them and offers a chance to include graphics, 
audio and video and other components all rolled up in .pdf 
files for quick, easy download.

2. Help with tech issues and publish your entire web site, 
save it in a pdf file, and load it into an auto responder. 
Sometimes visitors don't have enough time read your entir ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3918/Marketing-TechniquesAuto-Responder-Improvements.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3918/Marketing-TechniquesAuto-Responder-Improvements.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing For An Effective Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing is not as easy as you think. Even when you have been doing it for like a million times, you know for a fact that every marketing campaign is like starting at the very beginning. That is why you always need to have fresh and new ideas every time. You know very well that some bold and daring moves can change the future of your business. And one false campaign can be your downfall.

Regardless of the competition and the economy, every business owner and marketer know that an effective marketing campaign can help reinvent any business. So here are some ideas for you to tinker on to make your marketing collaterals such as your brochure printing more effective to your target clients.

1. Beef up your database. 
The only way you can reach out to as many people in your target market is to beef up on your client database. This means getting as much information as you can about your target clients. One practical way to do this is to co-promote with another business that complement yours. With three or more of you working together, you can help each other expand your business reach.

2. Find out why target clients are not purchasing. 
If you will know what your target clients are looking for, it can go a long way in getting you the edge you need over your competition. When you do find the answer, provide a solution to the problem, invest on it, and give your target clients what they want no matter how and what you do to get it.

3. Go out of your box. 
If you are comfortable with print advertising such as flyers or print brochures, maybe it is time for you to go out of your comfort zone and try out something new. Do not be afraid to experiment with other marketing campaigns. If you can complement your brochure printing with another media channel such as online marketing, then you can increase your convincing power to sell.

4. Be visible. 
Create a ruckus that would make people talk about you. If you think you have been invisible from your brochure prin ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3917/Marketing-For-An-Effective-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3917/Marketing-For-An-Effective-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Staying open to love and support from others</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many people often fall into the trap of looking for someone to love rather than realizing that as individuals we should first become worthy of being loved. The only way of staying safe is by learning to love ourselves.

Yes, it is tough to actually love one’s self because there is always room for improvement; but that the whole point of being human! The challenge in learning to love is to love ourselves, good and bad. By loving yourself, you can easily open yourself and be ready to love others. This applies to all relationships.

Often people, especially couples, tend to actually put the cart before the horse. Have you often heard yourself saying that you will start to love yourself and take care of yourself and enjoy your life when you find the right person to love you? Or maybe you always tell yourself that you want to be with someone who has a lot of self-confidence, is good looking, smart and of course fun to be around with. Doesn’t this picture look realistic but far from perfect?

Many people have long lists of characteristics which they want to see in their “to-be-better-half.” However, many fail to realize that they are missing all the characteristics which they should have to pair up with such “dream spouses.” If you want someone to be kind, generous, fit and loving, it has to start from you: you have to be kind, generous, fit and loving too! Do not try to change your expectations, instead change yourself. 

Tell yourself all the wonderful things that you want in a good relationship with your parents, kids or even spouse. Mentally put a “tick” next to all the things that you are reciprocating already. Do you want someone who is loving; how loving are you? Do you want someone who is fun; how fun are you? Start working on all those areas where you are falling behind. Change does not happen overnight.

Remember that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step; make that one step now by learning to love.

Founded in 1997, Bizy ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3915/Staying-open-to-love-and-support-from-others.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3915/Staying-open-to-love-and-support-from-others.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Effective Marketing With Efficient Communication</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You know how you can create a more effective marketing collateral out of your usual ordinary poster printing? With effective communication, that is how. If you can have challenging as well as compelling messages in your posters printing, more than likely that you will have more leads to your business than you can ever imagine.

Marketing communications is commonly used in direct marketing, public relations, advertising, and even online promotions. The purpose of this method is to effectively influence your target clients to make a decision that would eventually lead to the purchase of your products and services.

Effective marketing communications mean the creation of messages that communicate with your target market. What is great about it is that the process allows you to be more clear and precise with your message because you focus on a particular target market for your business. Let us say your target market are the kids, then your poster printing for example should have brilliant and cheerful design that conveys a bright message that your clients would be attracted to.

So how can you market more effectively with your messages?

1. Communicate with the benefits. What is the benefit to them? What would it mean to your clients and prospects if they read and see your offer in your posters printing for example? Rather than advertise with the features of your products and services, make your marketing communications benefit-driven. Create interest with your target clients by giving them what they want – the benefits. How exactly can you help them? What can they gain from your poster printing? Give them what they want and they will reciprocate with what you need to increase your sales.

2. Keep it short and simple. The KISS is the most basic principle in marketing. Your marketing communications will benefit greatly if you apply this formula. Always remember that the bottom line to any communication is to make it easy for your target audience to understand ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3914/Effective-Marketing-With-Efficient-Communication.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3914/Effective-Marketing-With-Efficient-Communication.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Case for Face to Face Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A Case for Face-to-face Marketing

The most important single ingredient

in the formula of success is knowing

how to get along with people”

                                                                        —Theodore Roosevelt

      Think back to the people you feel comfortable with. It could be your spouse, other members of your family, colleagues, business associates, customers, and even the mail carrier. What is it about these people that make you feel comfortable?  Where does this comfort come from?

      It may have been a common experience you had with a particular person—a movie you both appreciated, mutual friends and acquaintances, or a similar outlook on life. If you have the same experience with the people you do business with, the results can be the same. The people we like to do business with are people we like, respect, and trust – people we feel comfortable with. But where does this comfort come from?

      In the 1960s, psychologist Albert Mehrabrian conducted a groundbreaking experiment. He found that people judge other people based on three observable clues: words, the para-verbal, and the nonverbal. 

Words

Think about someone you met for the first time. You may have thought to your self, “What an interesting person. I really liked the way he or she answered that question. That is exactly what I would have said.” Or you may have thought, “This person is a real jerk. I never would have said that.” Either reaction would have been based on what the person said—the words—but words are only one part of the equation. 

Para-verbal

Para-verbal is not what you say but how you say it. It is the tone, pace, tempo, speed, or volume of your voice. We all listen to people and create impressions of them based on how they use their voices. This is the second part of the equation. But there is one more element.

Nonverbal

Yes, we do judge a book by its cover. We are all guilty of judging people by how the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3911/A-Case-for-Face-to-Face-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3911/A-Case-for-Face-to-Face-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Optics can Cloak Reality</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing optics can cloak reality
By
Barry Siskind

When I was young my parents told me to study hard, I would sit at my desk with a pile of books on one side, an open workbook book in front of me. When my parents would peak into my room they would say ”It’s nice to see you so busy.” That’s optics. 

Making decisions based on optics alone can catch up with you sooner or later resulting in bad grades, foiled campaigns and lost opportunities.

One of the concerns that many marketers face in these troubled times is a reduction in marketing budgets. The knee jerk reaction is to chop the number of   shows and events. Other marketers are reluctant to reduce their face-to-face marketing exposure, continue their program, albeit with a reduced budget, for fear of creating a negative impression on potential buyers.  

During the past few years there has been much talk about the value of face-to-face marketing. Industry experts, including myself, have detailed the process that will help exhibitors calculate a return on investment and return on objectives. Yet, surprisingly few have adopted this basic business tenant and integrated the practice into their exhibit plans.  Some opt out when they learn that their efforts have not been as good as they would have imagined, other stay because they are led by the mistaken idea that the calculation of results are only for those who sell products. 

If more marketers would take the time to calculate their results, they would have the crucial answer on their return of their exhibiting investment. But the issue of optics involves one more criteria. You also have to look at the cost of not exhibiting. This may seem a more difficult number to calculate, but there is enough industry data around to help. For example the CEIR recently (Spring 2009) found that the cost of obtaining a high value lead at an exhibit was about half the cost of obtaining a similar lead without a trade show. The cost of an initial visit with a hi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Build your list- 4 + 3 crucial things to avoid when emailing your list  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge 
these past few years, but many in the know how have 
felt its rise even from way then. As more 
internet based businesses are put up, the need to 
develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on 
this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing 
strategies are being discovered and developed to cope 
with the changing face of business the business world. 

The demand for online marketing tips and strategies have 
drastically grown and a new form of business has been born, 
internet marketing strategies. While there are companies that 
are all too eager to help your site and business build a 
clientele for a fee, there also many ways that can spread 
the word about your sites subsistence in a more cost free 
way. One of this is Opt-in email marketing, also known 
as permission marketing. 

From your list, you will get your targeted customer, this 
is a good list since they already have shown interest in what 
you have to show and sell since they have willingly signed in for your 
list. These are the people who have liked what they have seen 
in your site and have decided they want to see more and maybe 
even purchase what ever product or service your company and 
site has to offer.


Many people would think that building their lists would take 
hard work and a lot of time to build and collect names and addresses. 
This is not so, it takes a bit of patience and some strategies but 
in doing this list, you open your site and your business to a whole 
new world of target market. Take the effort to take your business 
to a new level, if traffic increase and good profits are what you want, 
an opt-in list will do wonders for your business venture.

There are many sources and articles in the internet available for 
everyone to read and follow in building a list. Sometimes they may be 
confusing because there are so many and there different ways. Different 
groups of people woul ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Super Size Your Door Hangers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you looking for a new and fresh idea for your door hangers? Well look no further. One simple but very powerful idea for door hanger printing is to super size them. Yes! The great American tradition of super sizing can also apply to promotional materials like door hangers. Super sizing offers distinct advantages that improve the efficiency, look and impact of your door hangers.

The “Wow Big!” impact – The initial advantage of super sized door hangers is that “Wow Big!” impact. If you can imagine seeing a 14-inch long door hanger in your door you should understand this. Large things demand attention, whether the message is good or bad, small or long people, will always notice the large door hanger by itself. This is pretty important since this makes the experience of the large door hanger very memorable. 

People will always remember that night they got home and saw that big door hanger promotion at their entrance. This makes the door hanger a very effective medium with almost a 100% success rate in people noticing the advertising message.

Immediate message delivery – Of course besides the impact, large super sized door hangers offer you immediate message delivery. Since your large door hangers are very noticeable, almost everyone who discovers it will wonder what is the “big” deal anyway in hanging on in their door. No one will mistake it for junk mail or a prank. With the enormity of it, and the probable cost it entails to print such a work, everyone will really want to see what the message is. This means that besides a 100% positive impact, door hangers also have an almost 100% chance of delivering its message to the people that you want. This makes large door hangers a very efficient and useful material in promotions.

Return of investment – Lastly, you door hangers should be able to pay for themselves even though they cost more. It is true that larger door hangers will cost you a lot more than your usual normal sized door hangers.  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How To Get Your Subscribers.7 Ways To Make Money Using Nothing More Than Your List </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet 
based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit 
site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also 
add some extra income for your pocket. 


Just as an experiment, a friend of mine subscribe to ten 
different opt-in e-mail marketing lists to see which ones 
are effective. Many websites and online businesses have resorted 
to sending promotional materials to people who have subscribed 
to them in an effort to boost their sales or traffic. Opt-in 
email marketing sends newsletters, catalogs updates and many 
more promotional materials to website visitors who have agreed 
to be updated whether monthly, weekly or semiannually. 

Through e-mail, an internet user that is on the list will 
receive their updates through email. If a promotional material 
piques their interest they will go to the site to learn more 
or to purchase outright. For the website operators or owners, 
this is a chance to remind their list of their existence and 
parlor their wares.  With the numerous sites in the internet 
that offers the same products or services in one way or the 
other, the competition can get pretty tight and it is easy 
to be forgotten. 

Back to my experimenting friend, he tried to find out which 
opt-in marketing strategies grabbed a person into begging 
for more. Some would send in very simple fashion, some would 
very outlandish while there are some that would just lie in 
between. The differences could easily be noticed and some 
have gotten the idea of an effective opt-in marketing strategy. 
He dubbed them effective because he felt like he just 
couldn’t wait to go their site and learn more, the more 
persuasive ones even got him halfway to reaching for his wallet 
and to his credit card before he realized this was only 
for an experiment. 

Many companies and site present their promotional materials 
in a wide variety of concepts. Each has t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Using Free Reports and Landing Page to Build Your List  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
One of the few success factors in list building is 
using free reports and landing page.

Aside from pre-selling your products and affiliated 
offers, the other purpose of your free viral report 
should be to build your mailing list.

This is because if you are unable to pre-sell, 
let alone sell, the products and services featured 
in your free report, the last ditch effort should 
be to collect leads. In short, if you cannot convert 
the reader into a ready buyer, you should then 
attempt to convert him or her into your subscriber.

In that manner, you can still follow up with your 
reader on future offers and have a chance at 
converting him or her into your customer, preferably 
lifetime.

You can do so by offering a lifetime update to your 
report or a unique notification list your reader will 
be interested in subscribing to, which leads to having 
him or her subscribed to your mailing list.

One of the few success factors in viral marketing 
of your free report is quality. If your readers find 
your information worth sharing, and you encourage 
them to do so by giving them the right to give your 
report away for free, you will be able to have your 
name, status and links within the report passed 
around without any effort on your part – simply 
because others are willing to do so for you!

Also known as the “name squeeze page” or “lead capture page”, 
you can build your mailing list by funneling all 
of your would-be subscribers through the creation of 
a landing page. Not only do you do the work just once, 
your traffic driving efforts can be focused onto just 
one effective method.

The following are tips in creating a successful 
landing page that converts visitors into subscribers 
on a very huge percentage.

Success Tip 1: Offer a freebie in exchange for your 
visitor’s email address. I very much endorse this method 
of building your mailing list. You can offer a special 
report or a sample of  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3904/Using-Free-Reports-and-Landing-Page-to-Build-Your-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3904/Using-Free-Reports-and-Landing-Page-to-Build-Your-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Mailing List for Affiliate Marketers– Product or Mailing List?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
If you are an affiliate marketer who wants to make 
a comfortable living from referring your prospects to 
other people’s product or service for decent commissions, 
then you must consider building your own mailing list.

Building your mailing list of hungry prospects can 
be one of the best investments you will ever make, 
as it is time and effort worth spending on. When you 
strike on a Joint Venture and have a new product or 
service to endorse, you can look no further than your 
own mailing list.

Granted, that most affiliates, as in more than 90 
percent of them, are not making money from affiliate 
programs, but this often results from the same amount 
of effort focused on least effective methods.

While having your own mailing list is, by a long mile, 
not the only effective affiliate marketing method, you 
can make affiliate sales very quickly even in the next 
few hours after sending a sales message, provided that 
your mailing list is huge and responsive.

This is often true, because owning your own mailing 
list for you to endorse products and services to is 
one of the fastest-producing results, beating other 
affiliate marketing methods imaginable.

In a nutshell, the affiliate marketer who gets ahead 
of the pack is the one who owns a huge and responsive 
mailing list of prospects.

If you would ask this question, “Which one is more 
important – the mailing list or the product?” any 
savvy marketer would answer you, “The mailing list”.

Principally, any wise business person puts the importance 
of hungry demand (and not just any demand) in front 
of the product. In other words, there is no product 
if there is no demand! And a mailing list represents 
the demand or your business if you would like to 
call it.

If you frequent the Joint Venture forums and membership 
sites of any kind, you will find that product and 
service owners need mailing list owners more than 
the other way round. This i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3901/Mailing-List-for-Affiliate-Marketers-Product-or-Mailing-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3901/Mailing-List-for-Affiliate-Marketers-Product-or-Mailing-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ezine - step-by-step how to start.</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

Here is to find a step-by-step guide to getting your 
newsletter or ezine set-up.

 1 Create Your Free Report

You’re going to need a digital product of some form. 
It can be an eBook, which is the best by far, or it 
can be another type of free report. Either way, they need 
to be full of real, useful information. You don’t want to 
just send something to your people that is really vague and not
helpful. It’s all about providing them with a good, free 
gift that is helpful to them. This will keep them coming 
back for more. You will also be using this as something 
to get people to sign up on your list for, so it needs 
to be good. The more people you are getting to sign up, 
the more money you will be able to make.
  
A free report can either be sent as a Word document or 
a PDF document. These are two file types that most 
people are easily able to open. If you are giving away 
some sort of software trial, then it will be a program 
in an .exe format. 

Creating a free report is simple. All you have to do 
is begin typing. You will want an eBook to be laid out 
in a similar form as a traditional book. You will 
also want to have a cover page,preferably with a graphic.  

 2 Get an Autoresponder

An autoresponder is a program that sends out pre-written 
Email messages to your subscribers.You write out your 
ezine issues in advance and store them in your 
autoresponder system. You can then set them up to 
send out at certain time intervals.For example, you 
subscriber will receive the first email, which is 
normally a confirmation email that they signed up. 
The second and third emails are sent out by the system 
based on your schedule. You can also set the 
system up to do the following:

· Thank your subscribers
· Send out ezine issues
· Send out endorsement letters
· Send out free reports, etc.

Once the autoresponder is set-up it does all of the work 
for you around the clock.

 3 Create Your Sales  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Steps To FAST Poster Printing Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Poster printing online is the fastest way of printing posters. It has superseded traditional poster printing as the partner of choice for most businesses with poster printing needs. This guide will show you how to use poster printing online and how to do it fast. There are four things that you need to know to do this.

F - Free yourself from the traditional process – First, you need to shed any kind of habits that you had with traditional printers. You do not need to go to their printing house, and you do not need to waste time talking, negotiating and scheduling your printing schedules. With online poster printing, you can set all your parameters in poster printing yourself and it will be done. You can dictate the arrival time of your posters, and you can even have them delivered to your home or office. Basically in online printing, everything revolves around the service for you as the customer. You do not have to dance around paperwork, transactions and consultations any more.

A - Acquire the proper text and images – Second, once you have your mind set, it is time to prepare. A good way to speed up the process of online poster printing is to acquire the proper text and images early on. As early as the conceptualization stage, try to find the key images that you want to use. Couple this with composing your poster content already, with tag lines, general information and contact numbers. Make sure that the images are in high resolution for the poster printing to work, and of course have the text screened for grammatical errors. Acquiring these things early on should let you quickly design your posters since all you have to do is enter your data unto the working design.

S - Setup up everything before sending – Thirdly, once you have all the information that you need with a poster design to boot, you have to setup everything in your design before sending it to the online poster printer. This allows you to minimize the possible problems that may arise when ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to finding targeted subscribers.</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
After you have set up a list, you need to begin narrowing 
it down to targeted visitors.

It is best if you can get these targeted subscribers 
right off the bat, that way you don’t have a list of 
20,000 and only about 1,500 who are really interested. 
In order to do this you need to drive those targeted 
people to your sales page and talk them into signing up. 
There are several ways that you can attract your 
target market, including:
  
 1 Advertisement Swapping

This involves finding other ezines that are in your 
niche and then offer to swap advertising space with 
them. This is a win-win situation and its great if 
you already have some subscribers.

 2 Barter with Other Ezines

If you are just starting out and you don’t have any 
subscribers yet, then you can always barter for 
advertising space. Offer the other ezine owner a free 
product in exchange for advertisement space. You can also 
make them an affiliate and give them a commission on 
sales of your product in exchange for advertising space.

 3 Give Away Ventures

Here you will sign up for a Joint Venture account with a 
Give Away website. After registering, you upload a free gift, 
such as a free report or eBook, to the website and provide 
a description as well as how subscribers can receive the 
free gift.
   
With a Give Away venture a bunch of Internet marketers 
have free gifts available on the website. Each marketer 
also endorses the Give Away campaign to their subscribers.
These are usually free to join and can easily send you 
thousands of leads.

 4 Blogging

Blogs are great because the search engines absolutely 
love them! They index blogs constantly and this provides 
you with a great chance at getting a great spot on the 
search engines for a variety of keywords. They are also 
free through WordPress.com or Blogger.com. They allow you 
to set up a small website and keep it updated continuously. 
They are also great because you can s ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Cheap Magazine Printing Decisions</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you hunting for cheap magazine printing? Whether you want to make a catalog printing magazine for your products, or you want to feature your services in a company booklet or newsletter magazine, the budget is always an issue. Do not worry though. Budget problems for printing can be solved with the right decisions and information. Below are a few examples of these decisions and information for cheap magazine printing.

Choosing the correct printing type. First, you must choose the correct printing type. Magazines can actually be printed in different forms. They can be magazine catalogs, booklets, newsletters or of course a true magazine in the true magazine format. Each of these forms can be more appropriate than others depending on your content. For people with little content to work with in their magazines, newsletter magazines and booklet formats should do well. If you have lots of products to advertise then the catalog printing type should be fine. Of course if you really need the magazine format with pictures, feature articles and the like, then true magazine printing is the one you want. If you choose the right type you can avoid the extra cost of printing your magazine especially if you wrongly choose the wrong and bigger type.

Getting the best deals. Secondly, to make cheap magazine printing a possibility, you have to get the best deals in printing. This means looking for printing services that offer the best packages and wholesale printing quotations for printing magazines. The name of the game here is to search exhaustively. Look at the Internet, the yellow pages and even try to ask your colleagues and friends. By making your search exhaustive you will find the best deals with the cheapest possible rate.

Emphasizing the cover. Thirdly, you can make your magazine printing cost less by just emphasizing all the quality on the cover and then leaving the inner pages with simpler colors and paper stocks. Since magazines are usually about the cover, al ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Advertising Strategies That Still Work</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The purpose of advertisements is to influence decision-making processes. Advertisements should be able to convince clients or customers to give a particular product or service a shot. That is essentially the core of advertising. So how then do you persuade people to change brands or try a new product?

There are many ways to advertise. Different media can be used to advertise a particular product or service. There is the TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, print posters, giveaways, inserts, etc. There are just so many ways to influence decisions. You just have to be creative and innovative to achieve desired outcomes.

Advertisements, however, entail costs. This is a fact that all business owners should contend with. Businesses have to invest in advertising campaigns to promote their products or services. They have to realize though, that these expenditures can actually be recovered. For instance, if a company invests $500 on poster printing, they should expect two to three times the return on their investments. If you do not achieve this result then something is probably wrong with your advertisement or your product itself.

It is easier to correct advertising flaws than to correct defects in products or services because it is easier to manipulate advertising strategies. You just have to sit down again and discuss with your marketing team the strengths and weaknesses of your print posters and design something with the lessons learned from the previous campaign.

Usually, advertisement strategies come in different styles. We all know that there is the informative kind. This style is straightforward, no nonsense, direct-to-the-point advertisement. The ultimate purpose of this style is to create awareness. This is usually used to introduce a new product or service or for technical products like medical equipment, precision tools, etc.

Persuasive advertising on the other hand, aims to create a following, a preference, if you like, This is the most difficult of ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Where your leads come from?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
When you are building a list it is all about quality and not quantity.

Once you begin building your list, you will begin making sales 
if they are responsive and that will begin to earn you money on 
a weekly basis. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to 
get these responsive people

Why Do You Need Leads?
You need leads to make money! You need people on your list to 
buy your products! Now,there are several different types of leads 
and we will explore those here.


1.Low Grade Leads
These are leads that you purchase through a company.

2.Good Leads
These are leads those that you can get through Free Ad Programs, 
Co-Opt Programs and Giveaway sites. These are better than those 
that you get from companies because they have signed up 
through your squeeze page.

3.The Best Leads
These leads are those that you receive through paid advertising 
websites. You can use sites such as Google AdWords or Overture 
to obtain these leads.


4.Landing Pages and Squeeze Pages
These are perhaps some of the most important pages you can 
have on your website. These are the pages that help to generate 
your good leads. This where you get the contact information of 
interested parties and add them to your autoresponder.

These are sales pages, so you have to sell yourself. This is very 
important and there are two different categories that these fall 
under.


5.Gift Pages
These are pages where you offer a gift to sign up on your newsletter 
or mailing list. You will provide some sort of free item.


6.The Benefits Page
With this type of sales page you will sell the benefits of being a 
subscriber to your newsletter.


One of the most important things to remember is that your list will be 
useless if the people on it are not responsive. At the same time, you 
are going to need to lure them into buying your products as well. 
You can do this through a variety of ways.

· Use advertisements on your newsletters and pro ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways To Be Effective In Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[An effective strategy is one very important element that any business should not be without. An effective strategy is what any business needs to continuously improve its products and services. It has to be up there in the priority list if a business would ever want to be successful in its industry.

An effective and dynamic strategy is what you need for your business in order for it to succeed. Whether you are looking at hiring a poster printing company or doing your custom poster printing yourself, the bottom line is to have a marketing strategy that is continuously improving so as to keep up with the ever changing times.

Developing your strategy is no ordinary task. In fact, it is not easy at all. It takes time, energy and almost all your resources if you want to have an intense marketing strategy that produces high results. It is indeed complicated, yet not impossible. All it takes for any business – be it a small poster printing company or a Fortune 500 mogul, is to invest on effective strategies that are surefire winners in every way.

Here are five (5) of these strategies:

1. Continuously enhance and adapt your strategies to the current market conditions. As times change, so should your marketing campaigns such as your custom poster printing. It does not do you any good to rest on your laurels. What can be a success today may not be the same winners tomorrow. Hence, marketing is a continuous process that you need to update and provide your target clients with fresh new strategies every time.

There is such a thing as a product life cycle. There is the launching, growth, maturity and decline of any product or service. You need to consider this life cycle in order for you to have a marketing strategy that have more chances of succeeding. Knowing the life cycle of your product, you can provide a more effective campaign that can help you position yourself in your industry.

2. Consider strategies that differentiate you from your competition. If you ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Frustrated Air Conditioning Guy Who Birthed My Press Release Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was working for an organization in the D.C. area, performing PR back in 1997. Someone telephoned who currently wasn't a client of ours but who was hoping to enlist a PR concern. He had recently been honored with a country wide award in his business, heating and air conditioning. 

He was very stirred up. It symbolized a lot for his firm, and this was a leading accolade in his business. He was seeking a PR company to basically create and arrange a [URL=http://ereleases.com]press release[/URL] for him. 

As I spoke with him, it looked really plain that he wasn't matching our criteria for a good prospect. At that moment, we were looking for a customer who was glad to contract to a minimum of two quarters, actually preferring a full year or more. I think our minimum  booking was $35,000 at the time.

So I explained this and he was simply sort of downhearted. He said, &amp;quot;You know, I guess I've phoned every public relations company in the Yellow Pages, and no one will take my money. I have a real simple requirement. I want someone to make and develop a press announcement and then  to the media.&amp;quot;  

Back then, there weren't many choices. There was just one press release firm online, and it was only specializing in technology.  He still had the big firms like PR Newswire and Business Wire, but that was essentially it at the time. 

I stated to the caller that he could have better luck calling around and inquiring some small and medium sized concerns if they could recommend someone who was hunting for work in the public relations industry. 

I could feel he was truly disappointed because he had a demand and he knew my company was in the business of providing media release development and distributing press  releases, and it simply didn't make sense to him that we wouldn't take his money. 

He didn't see that for propsect recruitment, our company was outlaying probably $5,000 just in developing reports, research, brochures, and even more background mat ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3890/The-Frustrated-Air-Conditioning-Guy-Who-Birthed-My-Press-Release-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3890/The-Frustrated-Air-Conditioning-Guy-Who-Birthed-My-Press-Release-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Easy Ways to Ensure Your List is Profitable</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Many people have tried to start lists and failed. However, even if 
you have failed in the past you can rejuvenate your list and start anew. 
Whether you have had little success in the past or if you are just starting, 
you can follow these simple tips to get your list up and going.

1. It’s All About Trust

It really is all about trust.Provide them with good and useful information 
on your website to start with. It’s always best if your business is over 
something that you know well and that you can write about easily. Be sure 
that you look like a credible and professional business, and people are
likely to purchase your products and sign up on your lists.

The money will come when people know you and you show you are trustworthy. You
need to hold up your end of the deal as well by providing your customers with products
that are useful and worth their money.

2. Offer a Service that People Need or Desire

If you are able to meet the people who are interested in your website and what you 

have to offer, then you will be able to provide a service or product that people need 

or 
want. It is said that people come to the Internet for one of two things – information 

and to shop. If you can provide both, then you are going to have a very useful site. 

3. Become Friends with Others Who Have Been Successful

If you are in the process of building a successful list, it never hurts to learn from 

otherswho have been successful. Do some social networking and become friends with 

those who have become successful and remain successful. There is nothing better than 

first hand information.



Eugenijus Sakalauskas publisher &amp;quot;List Building Newsletter&amp;quot; 
 Subscribe to my exclusive 12 lessons e-Course
&amp;quot; Every Business Needs Opt-In Email Marketing &amp;quot;
and learn  how to start building your own optin list.

http://ezine.pluginnetproefit.com/]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3889/Easy-Ways-to-Ensure-Your-List-is-Profitable.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3889/Easy-Ways-to-Ensure-Your-List-is-Profitable.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Managing My Booklet Size</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Custom booklet printing for your own purposes comes in many sizes. What size or dimension that you decide on for your own booklet printing plays a vital role in the impact, use and cost of your booklets. You should always take a note of the properties of each common size prints in booklet printing so that you know how to manage your custom booklet’s size. Here is a minor guide in choosing what kind of booklet that you need for a specific purpose.

Mini-booklet sizes: The mini booklet size comes in really small dimensions. It is basically the size of a booklet that can fit into a well sized pocket. The common dimension for this is a 6 x 4 inch booklet, but some even print smaller booklets of custom sizes for custom booklet printing. These kinds of booklets are usually used for quick reference content or small content for mass distribution. For example they can be small novenas, or prayer books, instructional guides for small gadgets like watches or they can even be used as primers for gatherings and conferences. If your booklet needs to be given to a mass audience and it has a short and concise content, then the small mini booklet sizes should be your best choice.

Standard sizes: Now for the mainstream booklet printing jobs you use the standard sizes. This can come in various sizes from the big letter-sized booklet measuring 11 by 8.5 inches, to the smaller half sized 8.5 by 5.5 inches. Some others even use a long type 6 by 9 inch booklet size which looks almost like a brochure.

These standard sizes are basically used for all your run of the mill booklet printing. They can be your instruction manuals, tutorial guides, event programs, story booklets and all the other uses for booklets. The basic rule of use here is that if you have a decent amount of information to give that also includes images and objects then the standard booklet size should apply. Of course there are several variations of the booklet dimensions, and you may probably want to use the long  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3888/Managing-My-Booklet-Size.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3888/Managing-My-Booklet-Size.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Being Successful In A Highly Competitive Setting</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Being in business is one heck of a competition. Whether you are just starting or have been in the industry for many years, competing in the market is one common fact. Many business owners are always on the chase for that seemingly elusive dream of being on the top. But the pursuit may not be easy, yet it is not entirely unreachable. Having the right business and being successful is not an impossible dream at all.

The key is to strategize in order for you to win. There would be more than enough competition and a dozen more trying very hard to be on top of you. But the thing that would help you survive is to have a strategy to woo your target market to your business. It is like going through the dating game again. With so many other guys competing for your lady love’s attention, you need to have a strategy to stand out from your competition. Similarly, when your client is being wooed aggressively by your competitor, you definitely need to increase your commitment and provide better services to become more appealing than ever.

This is definitely true with your marketing campaign, be it newsletter printing, flyers printing, print brochures or print newsletters. With so many information bombarding your target clients everyday and every minute, it is no wonder that you have less than a few seconds to actually get the attention of your readers. It actually takes less than 11 seconds for you to grab their interest ad keep it. Within those seconds, you have to convince them of your value and benefits over those of your competition. Within those few seconds, you have to wow them through your newsletter printing or print newsletters for example. So you need to focus your efforts on getting those few seconds to work for you.

So how do you do it? You can start with the benefits. What is in it for them? What benefits can be derived from your business? Consider putting forward your key points. And as always, make sure that your target audience is at the center of your m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3883/Being-Successful-In-A-Highly-Competitive-Setting.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3883/Being-Successful-In-A-Highly-Competitive-Setting.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building Your Lists – 5 Must Do’s</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

By Eugenijus Sakalauskas

Online marketing is huge and most people are on the Internet, so it is safe 
to say that the Internet is one of the best places to market your business. 
There are several ways to build an opt-in list, but you want to ensure that 
people are interested in your products. This means that there are several things 
that you need to do on your website to ensure that you are setting yourself 
up for success.


 1. Set Up a Web Form on Your Site

Place this form on the side of your site or directly at the end of your homepage’s
content. A good form is simple.It should provide a short statement about 
your newsletter and have a call to action. The form will automatically save 
and the send you the information. This is by far the most popular way to 
build a website opt-in list.

 2. Ensure that Your Website is Impressive

Your website, especially the homepage, needs to be impressive. You will want
to have content that is well-written and useful. You also want to let people know
what your site or business is all about. Your website should also be simple and
not overwhelming. You also don’t want to overdo it with Flash graphics or photos
that take a long time to load. The longer they take to load, the faster your visitor
will leave.

 3. Provide a Useful Service or Product

If your service or product is useful, then you are more than likely going to make a
sale. You are also likely going to get return customers as well. Your customers
are also more than likely going to recommend your website to someone else if
they are happy with your service as well. As your clientele grows, so will your
list. The more members you have on your list, the more likely you are going to
have people take advantage of your offers in your newsletters and promotions.

 4. Keep Your List Clean

Your list should be free of profanity, nudity and anything else that a child should
not see. 

 5. Keep Your List Private

People hat ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3880/Building-Your-Lists--5-Must-Dos.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3880/Building-Your-Lists--5-Must-Dos.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Give Content Your Priority In Your Design Process</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are like many marketers and designers who often relegate content writing at the last minute, then it is time for you to refocus your priorities and look at your content as the most essential element in your design.

Too often that the focus is on the visual and what will instantly attract the target clients to your marketing collaterals such as your catalog printing. Content writing always comes last, when it should be the other way around. Content writing should be given top priority or your readers will not return to your printed catalogs without valuable, relevant and up-to-date content for them to use.

The key to having a great redesign of your marketing collaterals such as your printed catalogs is to combine it with content and functionality. When you do, you are more than likely to achieve your goals in your marketing campaign.

And contrary to what we think, content do not just come in neat packages where you will be able to assemble them easily for your catalog printing. Content writing needs planning and careful designing in itself. It does not come easy. And fresh and up-to-date content surely does not exist just anywhere or anytime you feel like it.

Considering your content as an asset instead of just another element to contend with in your printed catalogs can help you re-prioritize your strategy. Content done at the last minute is often the biggest factor for project delays. Because the process of content writing is not considered essential, many marketers and business owners underestimate the task of completing the exercise. Only at the last minute do they realize the amount of resources, effort and energy it takes for a marketing campaign such as catalog printing to have quality and excellent content to convey the right message. And they often resort to getting people who are experts in content writing to come up with their copy. And these people do charge a lot.

Still, there is a way around this. As there is always room for improv ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3879/Give-Content-Your-Priority-In-Your-Design-Process.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3879/Give-Content-Your-Priority-In-Your-Design-Process.php</link>
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      <title><strong>When is it time to ask for Debt Management Help?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If your life is running on debt, you better watch out for the following signs just so that you know the last drop of debt, after which you will seriously have to consider debt management help…

1. Every time you pick up the phone, it’s a call from your creditor badgering you about overdue bill payments.

2. You now pay all your bills from your savings, your retirement funds or your kids’ college funds.

3. You are cutting down on family time and working overtime just so that you can pay your bills.

4. Approximately 20% of your monthly income is drained away settling your debts (excluding mortgage).

5. Credit cards, not cash, are found mostly in your handbag!

6. Banks are not too interested in lending you money and credit card companies reject any applications you make to them for credit cards.

7. You always have a new credit card to pay off your existing credit card bill.

8. You never pay more than the minimum amount due on all your bills and you are just a few dollars away from your credit limit on all your cards.

9. Bills are put aside at least for a few days or few weeks before being paid.

10. Every time you look at the amount you owe on your credit card, you are shocked because until then you had no idea how much you owed on your cards.

11. You applied for a debt consolidation loan and it has been rejected, most probably because your debt-income ratio is too high.

12. You have more than 2 cards since at least ONE card can be used whenever you go shopping.

13. You don’t let any of your family touch your credit card statements.

14. You take the cheapest insurance policy on you so that you have to make small insurance payments.

15. You are unemployed and feeling suicidal because you have no idea how you are going to pay off your credit card bills and loans!

If any of the above signs apply to you, you better start thinking of some means of debt relief or debt management! Start looking NOW…Remember, even the larg ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3875/When-is-it-time-to-ask-for-Debt-Management-Help.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3875/When-is-it-time-to-ask-for-Debt-Management-Help.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Diamonds Are A Cereal Marketer's Best Friend</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When C.W. Post started a small business in 1895 with his first batch of &amp;quot;Postum&amp;quot; (breakfast cereal) he probably did not foresee his company getting into the diamond business. The cereal company has &amp;quot;followed a path of delicious innovation, creating cereals that have defined the breakfast experience for generations of families&amp;quot; and now it has literally put a twist on its &amp;quot;Shreddies&amp;quot; product by offering the cereal in the shape of diamonds rather than squares.

Something New from Something Old

It's a playful, yet brilliant marketing scheme that is reaping the cereal a lot of consumer attention.  The breakfast cereal, produced by Post Cereals and General Mills has been a favorite for years in the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Canada. It looks like small squares made of malted, interwoven whole grain wheat. Believe it or not the name of the cereal is the slang term used to describe men's undershorts. (This is a not a piece of trivia used in marketing campaigns for the cereal.) The last time it got this much attention was during the &amp;quot;Wayne Gretzky&amp;quot; Shreddies cereal box era. 

If you were thinking Post didn't actually do anything different to the humble square other than tip it on its corner to produce the diamond shape you are absolutely correct. The point is that the company has offered a new perspective on a product that has been around for years and it's making an impact on the public awareness of the food. It's all about putting a new spin on an old thing. 

Post has come up with a promotional campaign that is getting consumers involved by voting on either the square or the diamond version of the Shreddie. A cereal box design is offered for each version while the official Diamond Shreddies website allows you to vote for your pick and download printable posters to put up around the office promoting the options. A ticker tape constantly scrolls across the face of the website revealing the latest voter news such as &amp;quot; ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3874/Diamonds-Are-A-Cereal-Marketers-Best-Friend.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3874/Diamonds-Are-A-Cereal-Marketers-Best-Friend.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Encourage your kids’ cooking their own way in the kitchen</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Teaching your kids to be independent and responsible is important in order to make them good citizens.  But how do you do it and where do you start?  The best place to start teaching your child is at home.  Moms make use of this opportunity and encourage them to help you in the kitchen.  Kids cooking their own dish will be a thrilling experience and give them the freedom to decide on the recipe.  Take them out with you when you go grocery shopping, and let them select the ingredients they need for their dish.  You can help them with the quantities, and at the same time show them that is important that they purchase only the amount required for the dish, and that waste of food means waste of money.  
 
Once you have got the stuff into the house, teach your kids the importance of good hygiene and cleanliness.  Leave it to your kids to have the required ingredients washed and ready.  Having a cook book with picture illustrations will be advisable, and let your kids follow step by step and guide them only when it is necessary and if help is needed.  It is important that you teach your kids first what they can do and cannot do in the kitchen.  Take them around and explain the importance of keeping away from stoves, cookers and take precautions to move out very sharp objects, and appliances and tools that can harm them.  
 
Have a separate set of kitchen utensils and tools for your kids, and let them take over the kitchen.  Expect a mess, but it is all worth when you see the happiness on the little faces.  At the end of the day teaching your child to clean up the mess is equally important.
 
Kids Cooking is enjoyable and rewarding.  Let your kids do their own thing in the kitchen.  Even if the dish is not turning out the way it should, do not try to correct them.  It is important that at no time that you move out of the kitchen.  Keep an eye on your kids at all times.  
 
The Kids will no doubt look to you for your approval at the end of the day.  When the dish is ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3871/Encourage-your-kids-cooking-their-own-way-in-the-kitchen.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3871/Encourage-your-kids-cooking-their-own-way-in-the-kitchen.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building strong Community Friendships</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Establishing relationships with other members from a variety of communities is extremely vital for your community and your personal growth. This can largely determine how much your community can enjoy your life today and tomorrow. Unless your community actually has giving and caring relationships with other communities, your kind, as a whole, could probably miss out on the joys of interaction and socializing. At least take time to listen for others and watch out for them; it’s amazing how many wonders these simple gestures can do.

It is truly difficult to build up a healthy friendship with another community without having relationships of “convenience.” Remember that the essence of a true and righteous friendship is the sacrifices that you will make for one another with no expectation of gratitude or a return compliment. The sacrificing act is truly out of the feeling for the people and that feeling is unconditional in nature.

To establish strong friendships, have listening ears and open hearts so that you can partake in the emotions of the other. Being open to other’s emotions will mean that you will also end up having plenty of people with whom you can multiply your joy and divide your sorrows. This true form of friendship can eventually transform into love between members of different sections. 

To continue a healthy relationship, stay away from conditions and make sure that there are no strings attached among both parties. Always be willing to help out with a mind which is totally free of any preconceived conclusions that you will receive something in return; this is probably the only actual way by which you can build strong community friendships. 

Nothing can substitute or be as valuable as a caring attitude. Individual actions by a few members of your community could greatly affect members of other communities! Make time to reach out and connect with other people. While it can be easy to confine your love and care within the home and among  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3870/Building-strong-Community-Friendships.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3870/Building-strong-Community-Friendships.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why Skin Care is Important to Prevent Lines and Wrinkles</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Lines and wrinkles are positively things that are not on your skin’s “wish list,” now or ever! So how can you keep it all away?? Excellent skin care can help keep both lines and wrinkles at bay for quite some time.

A key contributor to wrinkles is dry skin! To make sure that wrinkles don’t adorn your skin, it’s absolutely important to keep your skin moisturized at all times and at any cost. Pick an effective anti-aging moisturizer to fight away wrinkles. But how do you know which skin care products are effective ones?

Your skin loses its luster with age as a result of lack of collagen production. So to get back the glow, look for ingredients which stimulate collagen production. This will make sure your skin is soft and smooth at all times. Ingredients which can help with collagen production are keratin. This helps to speed up both collagen and elastin production and on the whole, prevent lines and wrinkles too. Also look for products which contain Natural Vitamin E, Phytessence Wakame, active Manuka honey (a rare type of honey found in New Zealand) as these stimulate collagen production. Other ingredients you might want to look for are natural oils live olive oil, grape seed oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil and other herbal and fruit extracts. On the whole, if you find a 100% natural and organic product, GRAB IT! It’s just what you are looking for.

On the other hand, there are plenty of products which “claim” to contain ready made collagen. Don’t get misled by such products because it’s important that the skin makes its own collagen. Only the collagen the skin produces on its own will actually be of any benefit to the skin.

Although you may not be able to find all of the above mentioned ingredients in products, you are sure to find at least some of the ingredients in a product. Also, keep in mind that some of the more popular or renowned products may contain only a few or may contain NONE of these key ingredients. Even if you find a lo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3869/Why-Skin-Care-is-Important-to-Prevent-Lines-and-Wrinkles.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3869/Why-Skin-Care-is-Important-to-Prevent-Lines-and-Wrinkles.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Universities with a Richer History Promise a Quality Education</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Experience matters in the field of education. The longer an educational institute has been in existence more challenges would have been faced by the institute. The rich experience gained will help the institute to improve the quality of education provided by the institute. This applies to universities as well. Students of diverse religions and races with different ideas and views pass through the universities. The university management can make use of this experience to formulate the courses to benefit the society and the students. So a university with a richer history promises a quality education.

There are prominent universities with proud and rich histories which have been serving mankind for over 75 years. Some of these universities are providing an education par excellence with facilities in a large number of locations geographically. These institutions are certainly moving forward with a steadfast commitment and dedication to education. These universities have been instrumental in leading thousands of graduates to launch into lucrative careers.

Prospective students should take note of the above too, in addition to all the other criteria when selecting a course of study and a university. The track record of the university and its acceptance in society also matters.

Another criterion on which a university can be judged is the position achieved by its past students. The achievements of the products of a university give a clear indication of the quality of education provided by the institution.

Many universities with long and rich histories understand the need to make their courses available to intelligent students who are unable to pursue studies as they are unable to pay the high course fees. So they have come to the rescue of these students by offering grants, awards and loans which are helping these students to come to the limelight. These universities have a great commitment towards education which should be appreciated by all. Another factor is t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3858/Universities-with-a-Richer-History-Promise-a-Quality-Education.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3858/Universities-with-a-Richer-History-Promise-a-Quality-Education.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of Choosing an Accredited University</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The acquisition of a degree from an accredited university is important to your career. What is an accredited university? It is where the educational system is recognized by the accreditation bodies, where these agencies oversee that certain educational standards are maintained. These accredited universities are recognized by other institutions and universities and also by employers when seeking employment. As such careful study of the university you intend to pursue your education is very important.
 
Many students have been misled, by attending universities that are not accredited, whereby the money spent on obtaining a degree from that institute has been a waste. Some universities even go the extent to make the student believe that they have received accreditation, in the way they promote their institution. As such, before investing on your degree, adequate research should be done, to verify the facts stated, and with the modern technology, and living in the computer era, this is not a difficult task. There are many articles in the internet where accredited schools are listed. Hence, research and ground work is important, so that you will be able to comfortably make a decision, as to where you wish to study. Students should make note that the only way of knowing the educational standard of the institution is by checking if such schools had received accreditation. This is even more important if the course of study you wish to take is on-line.  As you do not have firsthand experience about the school and you will not be studying in a classroom environment, when selecting on-line studying, pay attention to the above details, so that you are certain that you are obtaining a degree from a university that is recognized, reputed and accredited. 
 
With a degree from an accredited university you are certain that it is recognized internationally. Even when seeking employment, you will have the assurance and comfort of knowing that you have graduated from a recognized u ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3850/The-Importance-of-Choosing-an-Accredited-University.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3850/The-Importance-of-Choosing-an-Accredited-University.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building and Promoting a Business The 50/25/25 Rule</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Recently, I was reminded of the 50/25/25 Rule in building and promoting a business. The rule, as outlined by copywriting expert, Bob Bly, states that as a business owner, time should be divided in this way: 25% on administrative duties, 25% on marketing and self promotion and 50% on billable client work. By dividing time in this way, it avoids the plague of business owners: never marketing themselves. 

How does marketing get squeezed out of a business strategy? As the result of some successful marketing strategy or technique, a business owner gets exciting new business in the form of a new client, project or customer. The business owner, eager to impress the client (and to be able to bill the client) snaps to with all attention on pleasing that client. And as a result, marketing for new clients essentially comes to a standstill. 

Worse, is something called service creep. Service creep occurs when you allow a client to put just a little more responsibility onto you, just a little something outside of your original contract, and then just a little more, and so on.  

Many times, acceptance of service creep comes because you actually volunteer for the bucket brigade. You volunteer because you know you are good at that particular task, and you see your beloved client struggling, and so, service creep. It pinches your time and what gives can be the time you would have allocated to marketing.

Recently, a close associate complained to me about service creep, and how it was not only hindering his efforts to market his company and services, it was actually hampering his ability to do what the client had hired him to do in the first place. 

We agreed that he should speak gently but candidly to his client, offering to complete this task as a team building exercise, but reminding him of the number of dedicated hours in his contract, and asking for the client to establish future priorities that would be within the hourly contractual guidelines.
 
Using the 50/2 ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3848/Building-and-Promoting-a-Business-The-502525-Rule.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3848/Building-and-Promoting-a-Business-The-502525-Rule.php</link>
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      <title><strong>On -Line Degrees and the Guarantee of a Good Job</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With the day and age where education is a must, and where higher the qualification you have received, the more chances that a person has in securing lucrative jobs with higher salaries and perks, more and more are thirsting for education. Gone is the era where men held all the top positions. Now more and more women who are highly qualified are taking up high positions diligently performing their duties with professionalism. 
 
With the new technology of e-learning or on-line learning, more people have the easy access to study, at a time of their choice.  For all those, stay-at-home and working moms, this is an ideal opportunity to pursue your career by enhancing your education. There is never a start and end to education. It is a lifelong process. Balancing the usual household chores and not finding time to attend the regular, traditional school indeed is a blessing in disguise. With on-line learning, all those who desire to start off where they left by continuing their studies, or starting a higher level of educational program, can look at doing so, via on-line learning. The advantages of on-line learning being that you are able to do your studies at the comfort of your home, schedule classes at the time that is convenient to you and also obtain a degree from a reputed, accredited university. 
 
The best universities have dedicated teams of professionals to guide students in their studies, and to help them out in the best way possible for them to acquire their degree to suit their skills and interests. Individual attention is given, and each student is entrusted to a tutor, who takes every aspect of the student into consideration when counsel or guidance is given. Graduates passing out of these universities are able to secure employment within a short period after graduating. This is noteworthy for all those whose prime intention in studying is to better their prospects. 
 
These universities have dedicated and committed teams of counselors, to guide the stud ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3838/On-Line-Degrees-and-the-Guarantee-of-a-Good-Job.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3838/On-Line-Degrees-and-the-Guarantee-of-a-Good-Job.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Creative Thinkers and Problem Solvers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[KidzArt aims to make parents and kids aware of the fact that knowing to draw can help bring out an entirely new perspective to the world around them. Feeling uncomfortable and “unwelcome” about art can make kids feel like a fish out of the sea. From experience, KidzArt strongly believes and knows that

Drawing skills, abilities and the “talent” is not inborn; it comes with time and understanding and proper knowledge of the fundamentals and plenty of practice too! Remember that Art needs the same individual elements as music, dance, poetry or any other aesthetic subject; Art is not as “alien” a subject as people may think. Once your child has a strong foundation, there is no place that your child can’t go or can’t venture into. KidzArt will provide your child with plenty of support, guidance and encouragement which will give them the ability to do anything on or off-paper.

By learning to draw children learn how to render images and to interpret them. They are able to think of things that they see from different perspectives and angles and figure out which is the best to bring out on paper. With Art, children learn to evaluate and weight out different options and make choices. However, Art gives children the best chance to learn how to make choices without worrying too much about whether it’s right or wrong; after all it is Art, there are no rights or wrongs. 

KidzArt has also seen many of its students bring out a variety of inner talents and abilities after having gone through the dynamic and diverse KidzArt curriculum. This is because art helps to reach into the depths of a child’s mind and tap into the intelligences hidden away deep inside. KidzArt provides children with the chance to create and shape their thoughts and feelings onto paper and even onto clay rather than having to give shape to all their thoughts within their mind. This gives children plenty of opportunities to feel good about themselves and their talents. 

Art is very ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Fighting The Fear</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Exhibiting in economically turbulent times is problematic.  Yet the challenge may not lie exactly where you think it does.

It's not the falling Dow Jones that's the problem.  It's not the S&amp;amp;P, nor the price of oil.  It's not even the constant reiteration that we're headed into the Great Depression II.

No.  The problem instead lies in the resultant consumer confidence crisis.  People -- both on an organizational and individual level -- are afraid to buy.  The constant bad news has created a perfect storm of economic turmoil, leaving people frozen in place, uncertain what to do.

How do we, as exhibitors, address that fear?

The first thing to do is to assess and understand what the changing marketplace actually means to your industry.  Not all sectors are hit equally by an economic downturn, and it is never safe to assume that what is happening to your organization is representative of what is happening in the market as a whole.

Before determining an exhibiting strategy, it is a wise step to take an objective look at your industry, as well as the markets for organizations that purchase your products and services.  A consumer confidence crisis means one thing in the high end apparel market, for example, that it may not mean in a health care or financial services market.

Throughout this assessment, consider the following:

What are the biggest challenges and concerns my target market is facing?

What are the biggest challenges and concerns the customers of my target market face?

If you want to be an effective exhibitor, one route to success is to articulate your understanding of both sets of challenges and present concrete examples of how your products and services can help attendees address them.  

There is a time for soft, suggestive selling: that time is NOT in the middle of a consumer confidence crisis.  This is instead the point where savvy exhibitors adopt a leadership role, positioning themselves as the expert within a marketplace,  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3835/Fighting-The-Fear.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3835/Fighting-The-Fear.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Settlement help - where to find it</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As the country goes through a recession with the rising costs of gas, food and so many other essentials, more and more people are getting into debt since the income has not risen in proportion. 

Due to the inability by many people to pay off their unsecured debts, they are now turning to ‘debt settlement’. In a nutshell, you go to a ‘debt settlement’ company and explain your debt problems. The company will then speak with your creditors, and make them agree to an amount which is less than the full value of your debts. The consumer will have to make a monthly payment which will be agreed between the creditor and the debt settlement company, till the reduced debt amount has been fully paid. 

You may wonder why the creditor will agree to such an arrangement. The whole thinking behind this is that the creditor will be more than happy to at least get something from you rather than nothing. 

Using the services of a debt settlement company is a much better idea than you going to the creditor direct, because settlement companies have a proven set of tactics which will be successful in reducing your debt, and you can also avoid any potential harassment by the creditor by allowing the settlement company to do the work for you. 

Generally, debt settlement takes somewhere between 1 and 3 years, and charge a certain percentage of the amount by which they have reduced the debt by. Freedom Financial Network has a fascinating record of debt settlement that I find to be quite phenomenal. In July 2008, they managed to reduce a credit card debt of $23,287 to a final settlement of $2500, which is about 10% of the original due amount, which is simply incredible. Therefore, if you want my opinion on the best of the debt settlement companies out there.

Bizymoms has been helping provide moms with information on everyday matters and important issues. Now they have partnered with [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com/debt]Freedom Financial Network[/URL] to better inform moms ab ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3832/Settlement-help--where-to-find-it.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3832/Settlement-help--where-to-find-it.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Common Causes and Prevention of Problem Skin</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Simply speaking, acne can be found to be synonymous with problem skin. Acne is typically a skin disease which pops up as changes take place in the sebaceous gland. Acne can appear on your skin as blackheads, whiteheads and even pimples. Although adolescents are the biggest sufferers of acne, there are (surprisingly) plenty of adults who suffer from acne too! So where does this acne come from…?

Hormones
Most acne sufferers break out from puberty when the body produces hormones which cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge. However this may sometimes continue into adulthood where it pops up during the menstrual cycle or during pregnancy.

Extra Sebum
Hormones can cause the sebaceous glands to produce extra sebum. This extra sebum may cause clogging and cause acne.

Follicle fallout
Usually around puberty, dead cells within the follicle are shed very rapidly. These may then mix with extra sebum forming a plug in the follicle and not allowing the skin to renew itself.

Bacteria
The bacterium P. acnes normally lives on all skin types and is part of the skin’s natural sebum maintenance system. However if a follicle is clogged, these bacteria multiply quickly causing an inflammation in the follicle and skin around it.

How to prevent all this…??

Use an astringent to get the rid of any excess oil. Keep away from daily moisturizing. You can use an oil-free moisturizer if your skin is extremely rough.
Go for water-based products rather than oil-based products. This will control the oiliness of your skin. Also look for a sulfur-based soap and wash your face twice a day with it. This can be ideally done before you go to bed and just after you wake up. Don’t scrub or irritate your skin though.

Use a honey mask at least once a week. Honey is a great disinfectant which can heal small discolorations on your skin whilst destroying any bacteria present on your skin.
If you are bombarded my pimples, you might want to consider taking a chromimum supplement  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Individual Attention Is Crucial For On-Line Learning</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With modern technology in the ever evolving world, new methods are found to move away from classrooms, and traditional way of learning to virtual studies. Distance is no barrier now. With this new concept of studies, students all over the world can reach for their goal, in the universities of their choice, without much ado.

Sometimes in the classroom individual attention by lecturers to students is very helpful. Is it possible to give individual attention to online students? This is a matter which is often not fully understood. Actually, individual attention is not only possible, but it is also crucial for online learning. In fact good online universities provide a panel of highly qualified lecturers who guide the students in their lectures and course assignments. Each student is allocated to a specific professor. The professor in turn will guide the student. This is of course done on line. Individual attention is provided with easy accessibility.    
 
With time a constant issue with the day to day work and commitments, and also constantly keeping up with the ever challenging targets, it is important to keep up with the rest of the world. And for those who find it difficult to fit into the traditional classroom, this is an ideal opportunity to pursue your studies, in the comfort of your own sitting area or lobby in your new virtual environment. This is an ideal setting for those moms who juggle with studies and work. With work out of the way, you are able to prepare your own time-table. On-line learning has become an incentive for moms who long to study in order to better their careers. 
 
It is important however, that the on-line degree program you choose is from a reputed school or university. With more and more listing on the web sites, trying to allure students to get a degree fast and for a very nominal amount, research should be done before you register to do such courses. Do not fall prey to these tactics. Living in the world of new technology with co ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3825/Individual-Attention-Is-Crucial-For-OnLine-Learning.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3825/Individual-Attention-Is-Crucial-For-OnLine-Learning.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Metabolism and Weight Loss</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Metabolism is the rate which the body burns calories and uses up energy.  Whilst metabolism works the same way for each and every person, the rate in which it metabolizes nutrients may vary from person to person.  As such knowing your basal metabolic rate is important to know the amount of calories that get burnt when your body is resting.
 
The following formula will help you get a general idea as to what your Basal Metabolic Rate should be. = Multiply your weight x 10 = BMR.  For example, if your weight is 100 pounds, your BMR will be 1000 kcals.  (BMR = 100 x 10 kcal/lb = 1000 kcals)  This formula permits 10 kcals to every pound of body weight.  As such, your body can burn up to 1000 calories a day.  In excess will make you gain weight, and less will result in weight loss.  It is important that one keeps in mind that this is only on estimation and will depend and vary according to other factors such as exercise and diet.  For an accurate estimation it is advised that one consult his/her dietician or physician.
 
Metabolism is largely based on your body composition, and the body composition will consist of a percentage of muscle and percentage of fat.  Your body determines the metabolism rate, thus making it easier for some people to burn up calories faster.  
 
Metabolic slowdown will take place on a calorie reduced diet and a low-carb diet. These results in reduce intake of calories and will result in weight loss.  Therefore, it is important to keep in mind, when on a diet that the calorie intake is reduced gradually. And, insufficient calorie in your body can lead to loss of fat from the body stores.  This leads to a metabolic slow-down as the body fights to retain and conserve energy.  This results in glycogen depletion and the body in return oxidizes more protein regularly to cover the severe reduction of calories.  This process reduces water in the body and weight loss occurs dramatically, and unfortunately the weight loss is acquired from the body tis ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3822/Metabolism-and-Weight-Loss.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3822/Metabolism-and-Weight-Loss.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 healthy snack choices you should reach for every week</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Quite often, people have incorrect views when it comes to healthy snacks or being on a healthy diet.  Eating healthy does not mean that you are depriving yourself of food, it is being aware of what is good and bad for you, and taking precautions to avoid diseases and other health hazards, and living healthy and eating healthy.
 
In the past, snack foods has come under rap as it is associated with food that people go on a ‘binge’, as it is commonly termed.  But research has revealed that eating four to five healthy snacks a day to the usual diet of three main meals per day, cuts cholesterol level by 8% and reduces the risk of heart disease by 16%.   Healthy snacking also helps prevent over-eating and also keeps the metabolism at work and thereby burning unwanted calories.  It helps fight fatigue and keeps the blood sugar at a normal level.  
 
The following healthy snack choices have been gathered for your benefit.  It is important in selecting foods that contain the adequate nutrients and energy required for the body.
 
·	Whole grain snacks are rich in fiber, and selecting low fat whole-grain crackers and whole grain crisp breads will give the required energy. A 200 calorie Bagel contains the 11% of the recommended iron.  A Bran Muffin has three grams of fiber and 1.8 mg of iron, which is 10% of your daily intake.
·	Fruits – Banana rich in potassium (11%) also contains 35% of daily intake of Vitamin B6.  Cantaloupe rich in vitamin C, gives you the required amounts of vitamin C required for the body.  Fruits and vegetables will provide vitamins, minerals and other nutrients which are essentials for healthy living.
·	Nuts and seeds are high in protein and calories.  Eating in small quantities is advised.  Nuts are rich in fiber, phyto-nutrients and anti-toxidants.
·	Raw vegetables, such as celery, carrots, green beans and cucumbers with a low fat dip are excellent healthy snacks.
·	Fresh fruit juices and smoothies, unsweetened are a must with your ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Benefits of Choosing a Career Focused University</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are many who have graduated but who are still unemployed. Careful studies have shown, obtaining a qualification is not the only criterion to secure employment. The university you have graduated from, your achievements, your capabilities and confidence play a huge role at the time you look for employment. 

A good accredited University plays a dual role in the student’s life, during your period of study. With education the priority, it guides the student in every area of their lives, taking every minute detail into consideration. Whilst making the student feel safe and secure in an environment that is comfortable they cater to the needs and wants of the student individually. This is very important as adult learners, who move out from their comfort zone at home initially look for an environment where they would be recognized. Adults pursue education in a late stage in life mainly for personal development, to continue a career from where they have started or to start off with better prospects in life. As such, a number of universities have recognized the wants and the needs of this category of people and have taken every move possible to see that there needs are met.

With prominent universities also being career focused, it is indeed an incentive to all moms, to start off a new chapter in their lives. With time in hand, and with classes that are convenient for the student, also with institutions nationwide, whatever locality you are placed at, you will be able to find an institution.

With securing employment being an important task, top universities guide the student in this area as well, according to the qualification you have achieved. The committed career guidance team gives each student individual advice and guides them step by step in the best way possible to help secure employment. It is very important therefore, that you have a clear picture of the university you wish to study. You can easily select the University of your Choice by browsing the i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3818/The-Benefits-of-Choosing-a-Career-Focused-University.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3818/The-Benefits-of-Choosing-a-Career-Focused-University.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The causes of High Cholesterol</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance that is an essential body fat (lipid) in the blood.  This is found in the body cells.  The cholesterol is produced in the body by the liver and also from the food that is consumed.  The body requires a certain amount of cholesterol, but excess of it can cause coronary heart disease and stroke.   As cholesterol does not mix with the blood, it binds with other proteins in order to be moved around in the bloodstream.  This is known as lipoproteins.  There are two types of lipoproteins,    Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) also known as the ‘bad cholesterol’, and High-density lipoprotein (HDL) known as ‘good cholesterol’.  The major cholesterol carrier is LDL, and excess of this substance can build up on the artery walls.
 
What causes High Cholesterol?
 
There are causes that you can and cannot control.  The primary causes that you cannot control are:

Genetics or family history – (family hypercholesterolemia)
Sex – Women have a lower level of cholesterol before menopause.
Age – With age the cholesterol level also rise.
 
Causes that can control High Cholesterol:
 
Being over-weight or excess weight increases the cholesterol level. This can cause heart disease.
Regular exercise reduces LDL cholesterol and raises the HDL cholesterol.
Diet is an important contributory factor for high cholesterol, and this is found in   food items such as egg yolk, dairy products, shell fish and meat.  According to American Heart Association, the average daily cholesterol intake should be less than 300 milligrams.  Since cholesterol is found in many foods taken from animals, it is advised that not more than six ounces lean meat be consumed.  It is important to note that the liver provides the cholesterol needed by the body.  An egg contains 300 milligrams of cholesterol, as such if you consume an egg daily you have reached your requirement for a day.
Fruits, vegetable, grain and nuts will help prevent cholesterol forming and  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Don’t Forget To Consider Career Services When Considering a School</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Career is a lifelong process. Your choice of study depends on your skills, interests, aptitudes and qualifications. Once the qualification is achieved, the next task would be to find suitable employment. A good university not only helps you in guiding you in achieving your academics, but goes a step further to make your dreams a reality. An efficient professional career service team will guide you to secure suitable employment. The career services provided by the university must be taken into consideration when a decision is taken with regard to the university with which you are going to pursue your studies. This is a very important aspect. After all, the main reason to pursue studies is to improve your position in life. To achieve this objective it is very important to ensure that there will be an advancement in your career. The career services provided by the university can help you immensely in this matter.

Learning doesn’t end at the time you leave college with your primary education. Due to various reasons or financial difficulties, you may have had to make alternative decisions, where your education in concerned. It is never too late, to start off where you have stopped. Do not under-estimate your capabilities. We sometimes feel that we would never be able to fit into society now, where age is a barrier and in an age where more and more of the young are highly qualified and far thinking. Older folk try to take the easy way out by thinking ‘this is not for me’. Gone are those days; such thinking should be trodden. Pursue your dreams of achieving your goal. In the pursuit of excellence, the only obstacle that stands between you and your goal is “YOU”. Be positive and think positive. It is all in the mind-set. Once you overcome this initial hurdle, it’s a clear run.

Careful research has to be done in the selection of a school, where you intend doing further studies. As adults, it is important, that the choice you make will be at a convenient loc ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3814/Dont-Forget-To-Consider-Career-Services-When-Considering-a-School.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3814/Dont-Forget-To-Consider-Career-Services-When-Considering-a-School.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ways to Stop Attracting New Clients &amp; Kill Your Small Business in Recession</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the most reasonable approaches to surviving an economic downturn is to slash all unnecessary business expenses.
	
In their panic to save money, wild-eyed and frothy-mouthed entrepreneurs begin looking suspiciously at their marketing plans.  On the surface, advertising cutbacks would seem to be a logical choice.

Why Entrepreneurs Make the Mistake of Cutting Their Marketing Budgets

If you have taken a close look at the magazines that arrive in your mailbox every month, you may have noticed they've been down-sized... and it wasn't the publisher's idea.

Advertisers are running for hills in droves as they pull back and slash their marketing budgets - in many cases by half. The result is formerly burgeoning magazines that are now a shadow of their former selves.

It's a tempting… but very dangerous strategy.  Especially when you consider that your company thrives on both client retention and new growth to survive.  

To stay out of economic harms way, you need to keep your marketing momentum at full throttle even during a recession. And now is the BEST time since your competitors are hiding from potential customers. Your marketing will really stand out even more!

But, if you think that &amp;quot;hunkering down&amp;quot; through an economic storm is the way for your business to survive a recession...

Here Are the Top 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Kill Your Small Business

1.   STOP MARKETING and pretend everybody knows who you are and what you have to sell.
2.   STOP MARKETING and fantasize that you have more important worries than promoting your business.
3.   STOP MARKETING and make believe your customers won't notice that you discontinued your monthly client newsletter. 
4.   STOP MARKETING and keep telling yourself that your customers would never abandon you. 
5.   STOP MARKETING and ignore the potential new clients that would buy your products or services if they were contacted by you.
6.   STOP MARKETING and stop thinking about your competitors an ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3810/Ways-to-Stop-Attracting-New-Clients--Kill-Your-Small-Business-in-Recession.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3810/Ways-to-Stop-Attracting-New-Clients--Kill-Your-Small-Business-in-Recession.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ten words that sell- make the most of them in your text ads</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the most powerful tools in marketing is the prudent use of words in advertising. Judiciously used words have the power to entice and hold the attention of potential customers. This leads to either immediate sale or sales in the future, but most importantly it can establish the all important relationship between customer and brand. On the flip side words can result in the loss of potential customers and create distaste towards your product.
 
Using the right words in the right place under the right circumstances is key to any advertising effort, but it is especially important when ads are purely based on terminology like in the case of text ads. Text ads are common in e-mails and on the web but many marketers are only beginning to realize it’s potential. Statistics claim that text ads gain better results on search engine sites than on other websites, the explanation being that web users enter search engines looking for these ads while they fail to notice them in other websites because they simply aren’t looking for it. Using the right words can make all the difference in attracting customers to your text ad and holding their attention long enough to make a sale.
 
Here are ten words that will help you hone your sales vocabulary and lead to productive advertising home business.
 
1.	FREE- this is a timeless motivator. It may sound cliché but it still works and probably will continue to work for many years to come. Sub consciously human beings just can’t seem to resist something that’s free.
2.	GUARANTEE- makes a customer feel secure.
3.	SAVE- this suggests that you are offering the customer an opportunity to save his money. Although in reality this may not be true, customers still react favorably to the “save whatever%” offer.
4.	LIMITED- the word creates a sense of urgency that is appealing to many potential customers.
5.	NEW- everyone wants to get in on what’s new. This word arouses our curiosity and never fails to deliver resulting i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3808/Ten-words-that-sell-make-the-most-of-them-in-your-text-ads.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3808/Ten-words-that-sell-make-the-most-of-them-in-your-text-ads.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Improve Your Rejection Rate with Promotional Gift Baskets</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Promotional gift baskets are great if you own your own company or small business.  If you are a small business owner and understand the term &amp;quot;brand marketing&amp;quot;, then you know that using incentives in your business can help increase repeat customers and brand awareness.

Naturally, any small business owner wants to generate more leads and increase profits.  The problem is, many don't know exactly how to achieve this.  Using incentives in your business is a great way to get customers and keep them.  Making your business unique so that it stands out from the rest will increase customer loyalty.

Promotional gift baskets are the perfect gift for all occasions.  Whether a client is having a birthday or new baby, or you just want to thank them for their patronage, this is the perfect way to do it.  If you want to subtly advertise new services and products, this is an ingenious way to accomplish that as well!

More than likely your clients come from many different backgrounds, and have varied interests.  Why not give them a gift that can be customized to their profession or hobbies?  Your customers will be very impressed that you thought of them, and they will remain a valued client.

Promotional gift baskets are a clever way to attract new clients as well.  Many businesses offer free consultations with potential clients.  This is the perfect time to present your prospect with a special gift.  They will be surprised, and the gift will make them feel special.  They will also recognize the fact that your business and clients are important to you, which will build an element of trust.

Many businesses give out promotional items to their customers.  Some of the most common are ink pens and calendars. What does this imply?  That their business is just average, like any other business.  Promotional gift baskets give the impression that your business is anything but ordinary.

This is one important element of &amp;quot;brand marketing&amp;quot;.  You offer a thoughtf ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3806/Improve-Your-Rejection-Rate-with-Promotional-Gift-Baskets.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3806/Improve-Your-Rejection-Rate-with-Promotional-Gift-Baskets.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways to Market your Business with a Free Sample</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you interested in growing your business? Would you like to have more clients interested in working with you? One of the best ways to attract prospective clients and grow your business is to create a free sample which communicates your expertise.

One of the most common complaints from business owners is not having enough prospects. Your website should attract new prospects and generate leads. If you’re not getting new leads each week from your website, something’s not working correctly.

If you want more clients, you need to build trust and rapport. One of the best ways to leverage your time and communicate with prospective clients is by marketing to an email list. So, what can you do to grow your email list?

One of the most effective ways to generate leads and grow your email list is through offering a free sample that can be downloaded or delivered electronically. This will allow you to automate your marketing and create an endless stream of new leads.

Andrea Lee, Author of Pink Spoon Marketing, uses an analogy to describe how Baskin Robbins sells their ice cream by offering a sample on a pink spoon. A free sample helps to communicate the value and the benefits of what you have to offer. What can you offer as a free sample?

Here are 5 ways to market your business with a free sample. Each approach offers a simple and easy method to build your list and grow your client base:

1) Article: You can create a short article to offer as a sample. Offer it exclusively through an opt-in offer. This can be completed quickly and easily.

2) Special Report: Develop a Special Report with about 7-10 pages of content. Include a cover page, table of contents, 4-5 pages of content, an offer and a bio page. This is a simple technique which creates value for prospects. A Special Report is also a great lead generation tool when you’re giving a speech.

3) ebook: An ebook is typically 30-60 pages and contains a lot of content. An ebook can also become the ba ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3800/5-Ways-to-Market-your-Business-with-a-Free-Sample.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3800/5-Ways-to-Market-your-Business-with-a-Free-Sample.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Leverage your Social Network</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to build a successful business, you have to build a network of people and learn how to leverage your network. Building a successful business used to be easy. You just had to advertise your business and people would contact you. The problem is that people no longer pay much attention to advertising.

People rely on their friends and associates to refer businesses and especially professionals. So, you make to make an effort to communicate with your network and educate them about what you do and who you serve. And you need to support your network by finding out what they need and offering advice, making connections and serving them.

The benefits to building your social network are tremendous. Here are 6 keys on how to leverage your social network.

6 Keys to Leverage Your Social Network:

1. Get Out and Meet People

You need to get out and meet people, in person. It’s much easier to develop relationships in person than over the phone or online. So, every good networking strategy starts with attending events and meeting people.
 
Service professionals have to work two to three times as hard as someone with a brick and mortar presence to gain people's trust. Potential clients cannot simply &amp;quot;drop by&amp;quot; and check you out. This is where local networking becomes vital. 
 
Go to local networking events, meet people, and, most importantly, let them meet you. This is where prospects and referrers can size you up and get to know, like, and trust you. 

2. Build Relationships

It’s not enough to meet people, you need to build relationships. And it takes time to build trust and rapport so a relationship grows and bears fruit. Talk about what you do in a casual, professional way. And follow up with everyone you meet. 

There’s no better tool to build and maintain relationships then the telephone. You can reach far more people by phone than in person. Schedule time every day to make calls and touch base with your network. You’ll benef ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3799/Leverage-your-Social-Network.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3799/Leverage-your-Social-Network.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Advertising a Home Business isn’t a “one shot deal” -it takes time</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let’s consider a typical morning. The sound of an alarm wakes you up; you get up and tuck in your bed that INSTANTLY turns into a couch. You walk to the bathroom and brush you teeth with a tooth brush that promises INSTANT relief to sensitive gums, and tooth paste that will INSTANTLY whiten your teeth. Back in the room that INSTANTLY transformed from bedroom to living room, you watch the local station that swears by its INSTANT news and enjoy a cup of INSTANT coffee. The fast paced lifestyle in today’s competitive society has compelled us to rely on instant solutions, so much so that we have learned to expect immediate results for all our endeavors. But a good wine can’t be rushed, neither can advertising home business.
 
Time is one of the most important ingredients that go into a solid advertising campaign. Unsuccessful advertising occurs when businesses don’t spent enough time doing quality checks, research and testing to ensure the strategy matched the collateral.  
 
Advertising home business is a long term process. One shot ads may result in a sales spike but this is only temporary and it will not help your business in the long run. In fact even short term results may only be measured after a period of six months of starting a campaign.
 
The goal of advertising home business campaigns should be to build recognition and loyalty within the target market for your product. This is the only way you can ensure long term success and value for your advertising dollars. To build a clientele, businesses have to invest in a consistent yet evolving, long-term advertising strategy. Once the plan is in motion you have to be patient and give it time to bring in the results. Advertising should be considered an investment not an expense.
 
Successful advertising campaigns should be based around your business, the type of product you’re selling, your target market and your competitive position in the market. Think about the special benefits your product can o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3797/Advertising-a-Home-Business-isnt-a-one-shot-deal-it-takes-time.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3797/Advertising-a-Home-Business-isnt-a-one-shot-deal-it-takes-time.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What is Debt Negotiation?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you have credit card debt or maybe hospital bill debt? What about personal loans or utility bills? Well, whichever debt you have, you can gain some credit debt relief for it through debt negotiation! But beware debt negotiation is applicable only for unsecured debt.

Before you approach a debt settlement company ensure that they have been in business for at least 5 years; remember that you are handing over your entire financial future to them. Check up on their fees and penalties (if any).

Once you have decided on your debt settlement company and contacted them, your negotiator will work with you and evaluate your debts and creditor list. After this they will estimate how much you will be able to save through this means. Ideally, they may negotiate so much leaving you with only about 30% - 75% of your pending debts to be repaid.

Your settlement company will update you on their progress and how the negotiations are going. They will surely inform you when they think that they have gotten a good settlement offer. Once you have enough cash on hand and have agreed to the settlement, the settlement will be made on behalf of you, with your creditor. Now you are free from that debt! Remember that this means of debt repayment will allow you to pay much less than what you ought to have paid!

On the other hand, your credit score may suffer by this method of debt management. However, it is very likely that your credit rating is already in pretty much bad shape. Since your credit score is already in bad shape, settling your debts will improve your debt-income ratio in the long term. This will eventually help increase your credit score within no time. So don’t worry too much about how your credit score will go down.

Credit Debt Relief: your easiest means of gaining debt relief instantaneously!

Bizymoms has been helping provide moms with information on everyday matters and important issues. Now they have partnered with [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com/debt]Freedo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Know Your University! Review Their Requirements Before You Start a Degree</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Making the right choice, when selecting the university in which you wish to study is an important task. With many universities and institutions offering programs and degrees, careful study has to be done before deciding to follow your chosen path of study. In depth research and visiting the web site of the institution will give you some idea of the school you have in mind. Make sure that the degree you choose will provide the right credentials for the career you have in mind. 

The most important aspect when selecting the university is to find out whether it has received accreditation. Find an accredited school or university that will help you achieve the goal. With numerous universities many have been duped, as they have not gone that extra mile to check its back-ground and reliability of the university. Select a university where your academic and professional ambitions are met. With more and more adults wanting to continue their education at a late stage in their lives, opportunities for such learners continue to grow; as such find the university that fits your needs best. Once this is established, plan out step by step, the way to get about in entering the university. 

A sure way to find out, whether you have the requirements needed to follow a degree program, is by filling out on-line applications, where they are assessed free, and you will know whether the qualifications you have is enough to follow the degree program. Each university has its set of entrance requirements, depending on the degree you wish to follow.   Carefully analyze the requirements, and see the best way to get about it. Where the degree you wish to follow needs higher entry requirements, find out if a bridging course or diploma could help you, so that the degree could be done once the bridging course is completed. When in doubt, call the relevant university authorities or student counselors, who will be able to give you clear insight and answer your queries.  Do not let requirements nee ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3787/Know-Your-University-Review-Their-Requirements-Before-You-Start-a-Degree.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3787/Know-Your-University-Review-Their-Requirements-Before-You-Start-a-Degree.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Attract More Legal Clients for Your Small Law Firm &amp; Thrive in a Recession</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The economy is the one subject that seems to have an impact on every business that wants to attract more clients. A recession can even have an effect on solo attorneys and small law firms.
 
How can this be? 
 
People still need legal assistance even in a difficult economy, right? Contracts still need to be written. Businesses still have problems. Why would things ever slow down for a small law firm?
 
Yes, it is true that the law moves forward in good times and in bad times. But, getting high-quality referral clients becomes a challenge for solo attorneys and small law firms during a recession. Referrals dry up in an economic downturn because many small business owners are not seeing as many clients as they have in the past. Since they don't see as many people, they may not hear of as many issues that could be relevant matters for your firm. Indirectly, the downturn in business for your referral partners may result in a lack of referrals to your firm.
 
Here Are 5 Low Cost Ways to Combat the Recession and Attract More Legal Clients for Your Small Law Firm
 
1. Differentiate Yourself
 
As times get tougher, many people will &amp;quot;dabble&amp;quot; in your area of expertise. Make your prospective clients aware that this is happening. Remind your clients that you do not handle issues in your specialty on a part-time basis. If you are a criminal defense attorney, explain to them that you are not a real estate attorney who takes a few criminal defense cases each year to &amp;quot;fill out his calendar.&amp;quot;
 
The reason people chose you in a good economy is more important in a down economy. There is more competition out there. Focus on your unique value proposition and hammer it home. 
 
You must be able to articulate clearly why you are the best choice for this client in this situation. Now, more than ever, your unique value proposition is critically important. Make sure you highlight it as often as possible.
 
2. Help Clients Understand the Consequences of B ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of Art in a Child’s Life</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Children love to experiment with whatever media is available to them. Art, being a natural expression, gives children an easy and smooth outlet for them to express their emotions, ideas and thoughts. Often, as a parent, you might be surprised to see what your children have drawn at school or at home when you weren’t around. They reflect a variety of feelings and ideas which are hidden within your child. It is essential to provide plenty of encouragement to children to draw, paint, color, or even sculpt, in whatever form they are interested in.

Plenty of therapists recommend art as a form of therapy to help children open up and to build self-confidence. This applies especially in the case of children who have undergone abuse. They tend to produce the most talented artwork. 

Art provides children with many opportunities to express themselves. It helps them to use it as a language especially when words are not enough or when it is too complex or painful to talk about a subject. Children’s drawings are not as meaningless as they seem. Often, they will provide extremely valuable insight regarding the strengths, weaknesses, interests, and even the emotional status of the child.

If children are not provided with an opportunity to draw, it may be nearly impossible to connect at all with children who are disabled or even challenged. Art can be a key to a child’s mind. While children often find themselves incapable of smooth expression, art helps them to express themselves in a safe environment.

It is time that people realized the importance of art in a child’s life. It is absolutely important that children are exposed to this wonderful media of which is also a form of self-expression. While it might just be an “extra” school subject, encourage your child to make it a mandatory part of their own curriculum. 

Let your child unleash herself or himself and sit back and watch your child evolve into an expressive personality…

Bizymoms has been helpi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3785/The-Importance-of-Art-in-a-Childs-Life.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3785/The-Importance-of-Art-in-a-Childs-Life.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Natural Skin Care for Infants- Which Products are Best</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are plenty of products filling up the market these days, advertising themselves as the best baby natural skin care for your little one(s). But there are lots of shortcomings in these ads especially since many of what these products claim to do just never happen or they fall short of what they are supposed to do. Eventually this leads to your baby suffering from skin irritations, rashes and allergies because of the chemicals and other irritating ingredients found in these baby products. If you are really looking for the top-of-the-line products for your baby, make sure that the products you buy don’t contain anything which would irritate your baby’s skin. The first step for you would be to go for products with natural ingredients rather than those with chemicals.

As you turn towards natural ingredients, remember to avoid ANYTHING (no matter how good it is) which has petrochemicals. Take care when buying lotions and moisturizers because these are the ones which usually contain petrochemicals. This means that you have to take off petroleum jelly from your baby skin care products’ list too.

To keep your baby’s skin as smooth as petals, go for baby lotions made from natural oils. Many of the best baby natural skin care products contain aloe which is an important ingredient in moisturizers and looks after irritations too. Another natural ingredient that you want to be looking for is chamomile. Chamomile is known for its soothing effect on the skin. Watch out what essential oils you buy and if in doubt, consult your pediatrician about prospective products.

Just because you want the best doesn’t mean it has to go out of your budget. There’s absolutely no necessity for you to buy expensive products just because you want good quality products. There are plenty of products out there which can fit snugly within you budget AND look after your baby’s skin too. Start looking from your local health food store!

Smaller companies might actually be the  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3780/Natural-Skin-Care-for-Infants-Which-Products-are-Best.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3780/Natural-Skin-Care-for-Infants-Which-Products-are-Best.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Best Universities Offer Quality Education and Expert Career Counseling </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The initial step or the decision to advance your career, by pursuing your education is rather a challenging decision for those who desire to study at a latter stage in life. Time lost is lost forever. All you working moms, and stay at-home moms can make your dreams a reality. Prominent universities have opened doors for all those who feel that you will not fit into an environment where you will feel comfortable to study and for those who do not know where to start and how to start. It is important that the university you choose be a reputed and recognized university and also to make sure that it has received accreditation. Education makes you a better person, giving you more confidence about yourself, and the personal development you receive by graduating from a recognized institution, opens more and more opportunities to secure better employment, thus taking you to a different level in your career. As such, a career oriented education will put you in a great place. 

By enrolling with a reputed university, you have already marketed yourself to better your prospects in your career. In a world where education and professionalism is a must and with more and more looking for employment, you already have a head start, when looking for a career in your respective field. Most of the top organizations emphasize in their job requirement category, the need of a degree or a qualification from a recognized university.  . 

Are finances your problem? Do not let it prevent you from making a better career and better lifestyle, by attending a globally recognized university, With top universities offering scholarships and awards, the burden of wondering how to pay your fees is minimized.   Seek the help of the Student Counselors who make every effort to guide you in the best way to finance your education. They will help you to look at every avenue possible, to make your education more affordable. 

Prominent universities not only offer quality education and a highly respected ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3769/The-Best-Universities-Offer-Quality-Education-and-Expert-Career-Counseling.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3769/The-Best-Universities-Offer-Quality-Education-and-Expert-Career-Counseling.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Selecting a University That Employers Respect</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If a successful career is what is on your mind, it is very important that money is invested wisely on your education.  In this day and age, where educational institutions offer students the incentives and grants to follow a degree of your choice, careful research and cross reference should be done before entering and investing on such universities.  With the advancement of technology, this is not a difficult task.  The most important factor is selecting a university that is reputed, recognized and accredited.  Selecting a college without an accreditation is like investing your money in a bank that gives you no return.  A college or institution that has received accreditation is internationally recognized. There are many universities which offer an education par excellence and continue to be instrumental in educating thousands of students.  
 
Some universities which are well known educational institutions have also earned recognition as leading global providers of career oriented degree programs. The students of these universities not only receive quality career education, and earn a highly respected degree; the Career Service Teams of these institutions will also guide the students personally to help them find employment in a suitable establishment. Top establishments and organizations have a high respect for these universities and are eager to provide employment to students graduating from these universities as they are confident that they will be good employees. These organizations find the best from a pool of talented and qualified candidates.  
 
With more and more candidates looking for suitable employment, competition is very high, and every student thus has to make sure that the qualification at hand is acceptable to the employer.  When selecting suitable candidates for a job, one important criteria of elimination of applicants by the employer, is by checking the school in which the applicant had received the education.  Study has shown that more and mor ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3763/Selecting-a-University-That-Employers-Respect.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3763/Selecting-a-University-That-Employers-Respect.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Reverse Aging Naturally</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Aging is an inevitable process; no matter what you do it’s going to take place naturally and so silently that you won’t even realize it’s happening until the symptoms start to show on your face. Although it’s IMPOSSIBLE not to age, what many people don’t realize is that they can slow down natural aging by doing some very simple things which will help you look a few decades younger for longer than you thought… 

Stay away from harmful elements
Keep your skin away from these as much as you can. Many of the things that you use daily contain plenty of harsh substances which will damage your skin. These substances can be UV radiation (from the sun), alkaline hair care, chlorine, harmful makeup, harmful artificial ingredients in your skin care products are just a few of many substances which speed up the process of aging. Protecting your skin from such harmful substances will make it more responsive to treatment. Use natural skin care products.

Periodic treatments
Just as is the case with a machine needing to undergo some routine repair and care, your skin needs to be looked after on a routine basis. Some very basic skin care treatment will make sure your skin is nourished, moisturized and fresh. This will help delay aging of your skin. Cleansing, toning, moisturizing and anti-scaling treatments are some of the most basic techniques which you may have to do regularly on your skin. You can do this daily or at least 4-5 times a week. Better yet, consult a dermatologist to figure out what sort of routine treatment would help your skin. 

Customized treatment for YOUR skin type
Different people own different types of skin meaning that it’s important for you to identify what category your skin falls in. Your skin may need some special treatments to stay healthy. This means that your routine skin care should be according to the type of your skin too. Once you figure your skin type, you can treat your skin in the right way. 

Your age
Your skin care tr ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3754/Reverse-Aging-Naturally.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3754/Reverse-Aging-Naturally.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Selecting a Degree that Achieves Your Goals</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are at cross-roads, finding it difficult to make a decision, not having adequate funds to pursue your goal, you have visited the right web-site. There are universities with a reputation for providing quality education and focusing on career service.  For working moms, and stay-at-home moms who do not know from where to start, and for those who want to continue their education from where they have stopped, these universities will cater to your need, be it from the comfort of your home or in the traditional classroom environment.

With a wide range of associate degrees, bachelor and master degrees to choose from, whatever your interest and skills may be, you will be able to find the degree of your choice. When you enroll with a top university with accreditation, the money invested on your education, will reap its harvest, within a short period of time. 
 
For those who are working and finding it difficult to fit in to the traditional school time-table, but yet want to pursue your dreams it will be an ideal opportunity to join a recognized online university. With classes scheduled at a time convenient to you, many opt for e-learning, so that their normal routine of work is not disrupted. When selecting the degree, make certain that it will enhance your career and take you to a new level in your profession.  Take into consideration the line of work you are involved in.  And if you have been out of the office environment for a certain period of time, due to responsibilities at home or baby-sitting, and wish to start off a new career, select a degree that will interest you, and make your studies more enjoyable.  Recent survey has shown that the earning potential for a candidate with the recognized degree to be around $40,000.    
 
College can be expensive.  Do not let finances and funding for your degree, prevent you from achieving your goal. Universities offer millions of dollars in scholarships to subsidize the education, and in addition, scholarships are  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3748/Selecting-a-Degree-that-Achieves-Your-Goals.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3748/Selecting-a-Degree-that-Achieves-Your-Goals.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Getting to know your University before enrolling to start your Education</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In life, selecting the right institution for your future education is considered as one of the toughest decisions.  Therefore careful research should be done before you enroll, as education is a huge investment for any aspirant.  Keep in mind that your entire career and life thereafter will depend on the education you receive.  

It is important that the university you wish to study is of repute, and has received accreditation. Universities that are accredited have been recognized by the accrediting organizations and bodies, as institutions that meet the required level of standard and also continues to maintain same as an educational institution. With numerous fake and fraudulent universities trying to allure students and offering them quick diplomas and degrees, home-work should be done before enrolling.  How does one know whether a university has received accreditation or not?  The word ‘fully accredited’ alone is not sufficient. 

Check the website for verification and information about the university. These fake universities or now commonly known as ‘Diploma mills’, take advantage of lack of knowledge, by using the term ‘accredited’. And the accreditation they have received will be from a non-existing organization.  With the new technology, and resources available in the internet, take time to check and cross-check the authenticity of the institution. These universities offer degrees within a very short period of time for a very nominal fee.  Official government bodies and websites could enlighten you more on this subject and give clear guidance in choosing an accredited university.
 
There are accredited universities focused on education which have been educating the nation for long periods. They offer the students a wide range of associate degrees, bachelor degrees and major’s. Prospective students could contact student services of the universities, who are committed in guiding the students and helping in providing all necessary information ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3735/Getting-to-know-your-University-before-enrolling-to-start-your-Education.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3735/Getting-to-know-your-University-before-enrolling-to-start-your-Education.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Public Speaking - How to Present an Effective Speech</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Public speaking is a challenge in itself, let alone being effective at it. However, if you are going to make a speech you should strive to make it an effective one. 

In London's Hyde Park you can just get up
and speak about any subject you wish!

Public speaking is both an art and a science. There are specific steps that can be taken to command attention and results. A scientific means of presenting your speech will have a lasting effect on your audience. 

The following is a precise procedure that will enable you to make an impact in the lives of those listening to your speech. 

First and foremost be properly prepared.

Do your home work!

Make sure that you have content and that your content is worth knowing. Once you have completed ample research for your topic familiarise yourself with the material. 

An absolute must is that your topic is presenting only one main idea.

Your whole speech will be arguing for this one specific topic. If you have more than one idea you take the chance that your listeners will not remember what you said. 

One way to know whether or not you have a proper grasp on your subject is, &amp;quot;Could you have a Q&amp;amp;A session after your speech and adequately answer their questions&amp;quot;? 

Next, you will want to organise your findings in a logical sequence.

It must flow for your audience to be interested, understand, and retain it. Your organisation of your points should continuously support the big idea. Providing evidence and reasoning are a strong part of the persuasive process! 

Once you have completed the previous tasks you are well on your way to an effective speech. 

Now, it is time to consider going to the podium to present your message. 

Write out your opening and closing remarks.

You want to be sure that you know how you are going to get started and how you will end. I don't suggest that you write out your whole speech, but do write out these two areas. 

At this time you should have the op ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3733/Public-Speaking--How-to-Present-an-Effective-Speech.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3733/Public-Speaking--How-to-Present-an-Effective-Speech.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What you need to know before working with a debt consolidation company</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you feel brain-dead on ideas of how to pay back your tower of debts? Tried everything you know and still not successful? Have you been pushed to the point of desperation where you just want to finance or even charge everything on your credit card? Fear not! A debt consolidator is all you need…

First and foremost, you have to realize that on each of your credit cards you have different and increasing interest rates, which further worsens your debt situation. What more, any late payment fees or any other kind of fees will push you further into debt. So decide that the only way you can get out of debt is through a debt consolidation company.

A debt consolidation company wants to merely work with you and try to lessen your debt. Initially the debt consolidation company will try to take over your debt by buying it from companies you owe right now. This will mean that you don’t have any debt with those companies; instead you have a debt with only your debt consolidator.

The wonderful thing about this is that you will become somewhat debt free once you have consolidated your debt! This is because you just have to worry about one loan to one company instead of brainstorming about when to pay which company and what amount. Simultaneously, you will have a smaller rate of interest too, meaning that you will probably pay less to the debt consolidator compared to what you would have paid to all your debtors.

But remember to keep tabs of what you owe your debt consolidator, and make it a point to pay them on time, promptly. As it is a one time payment, the chances of you failing to keep track of it are less; thereby you will hardly ever fall back on your payments. 

There are plenty of means by which debt consolidation can apply to you. The greatest thing it can do for you is to help you live debt free and recover from all that overpowering debts you owed all over. This helps you to get the most out of a debt-free life and will relieve a great load off your m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3726/What-you-need-to-know-before-working-with-a-debt-consolidation-company.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3726/What-you-need-to-know-before-working-with-a-debt-consolidation-company.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Newsletter Marketing Creates a Constant Stream of Referrals</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What would happen if you increased referrals by 20%, 40% or even 100% or more?
 
What would your business be like?
 
Could you expand your company?
 
Could you increase your rates?
 
Could you retire earlier and perhaps enjoy more of the good life?
 
Absolutely!
 
But, most businesses (both online or offline) will never experience any of these benefits of increasing their referrals. 
 
Why Referrals Dry Up After a Month
 
Most businesses are simply out of sight and out of mind. They allow their customers to forget about them. 
 
I know, it's so unfair, especially after doing such a great job for them. But it's a universal truth.
 
Life today moves at the speed of light. If you don't consistently work to remain in the awareness path of your clients, you can be certain they will never remember you or your company.
 
The GOOD NEWS is this problem can be easily fixed by a customer newsletter.
 
The REALLY GOOD NEWS is that a monthly customer newsletter will also create massive referral action by your clients. 
 
4 Ways to Get More Referrals with Newsletters
 
1. Educate clients and prospects. Most people who engage in newsletter marketing make the mistake of trying to pitch on every page. That's fastest way to get your newsletter in the trash can. If you want more referrals, build a trusting relationship by offering real content with high informational value.
 
2. Write newsletters that get passed around. Boring content doesn't get read, much less passed on to anyone. That means your content must be interesting and engaging… that means it shouldn't be all about you. You may love your business, but don't expect your customers to feel the same way. Your newsletter should include articles that inspire, inform and are fun to read. This is the ONLY WAY your newsletters will get passed around bringing you more referrals.
 
3. Get your newsletter out to as many as possible. If you follow my newsletter marketing system, people will read your ne ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3718/How-Newsletter-Marketing-Creates-a-Constant-Stream-of-Referrals.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3718/How-Newsletter-Marketing-Creates-a-Constant-Stream-of-Referrals.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Good Time Management skills Create Study Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It is important that the required work is done to a work schedule within the required time. Many are aware of this fact but sadly, find it difficult to manage their time, thereby losing on time and resulting in losses. It is not unusual. This is where good time management is required.  Have a goal oriented strategy and aim for success.  Plan out your work schedule as we cannot turn back the clock, but if we are result oriented and disciplined we will be more focused in achieving the target required.

Time management is important for our personal life and career achievements.  Time lost cannot be retrieved.  People with the thinking ‘too much to do and with so little time’, blame time for their unachieved goals, lack of finance and poor relationships. At the same time precious time is wasted due to lack of proper time management skills. 

Through time management you can create the time you need to achieve your motive.  You will be amazed how you would be able to find time if you set your mind to it.  Prioritize your work for the day, and set a target and work within that frame.

With so many distractions and peer pressure, people are easily drawn away from the goals and targets they have in mind.  With TV, internet and movies taking so much of your time, good time is wasted and not spent.  Many students are finding it difficult to pursue their studies due to these activities, and not knowing how to find time for their studies.  Do not let external distractions keep you away from your dream.  To achieve your goal set a target and work towards it. 

What people fail to realize is that they are able to find time for most of the things they want in life, but finding time for studies and career has been a difficult task.  Identify the best time of the day for your studies.  Whether it being 2 or 3 hours, learn to stick to the schedule and maintain a good study habit.  This is the key to success.

Be disciplined and loyal to yourself.  Without education you c ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3713/Good-Time-Management-skills-Create-Study-Success.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3713/Good-Time-Management-skills-Create-Study-Success.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Origin of Science Fiction</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The question of the origin of science fiction has fascinated the ardent followers of science fiction and the scholars and specialists in the field alike. The question has no single best answer available because science fiction itself is a very broad and diverse field.
 
One school of thought believes that science fiction is as old as civilization itself. When man began to imagine and tell fictional stories and tales, thus originated science fiction. The ancient Epic of Gilgamesh that belongs to the Sumerian civilization, or the ancient Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata that are both thousands of years old, carry several references to imaginary inventions that could not have been possible in that day and age.
 
There is a description of a devastating flood in Gilgamesh that bears resemblance to apocalyptic science fiction. In the Hindu texts of Ramayana and Mahabharata there are references to Vimanas (airplanes) and aerial weapons and missiles, and such ammunition that could cause mass destruction in a battle. At the same time, there are several ancient texts from different cultures and civilizations that include such fictional inventions and events that could be interpreted as examples of science fiction.
 
But there is another school of thought that points out to the difference between science fantasies and science fiction. They put forward the claims that science fiction began only in the late Middle Ages. A logical thought is that as the revolution in scientific inventions began with Galileo and Newton’s discoveries, so the science fiction also originated, in the same era itself. A few scholars claim that Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein might be regarded as the first authentic work in science fiction.
 
Some researchers claim that Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” contain hints of science fiction in some parts. “The Tempest” describes one Renaissance model that later inspired the sci-fi movie “Forbidden ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3706/The-Origin-of-Science-Fiction.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3706/The-Origin-of-Science-Fiction.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Learn from Successful Entrepreneurs </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Entrepreneurs are those people who take risks. In other words, an entrepreneur is a risk-taker. In order for an entrepreneur to be successful in today’s dynamic and volatile and business environment, there are plenty of attributes and traits that they need to display and possess. 

So, for a new entrepreneur (beginner), there are plenty of things that they could observe and learn from by looking back at and into the lives of those successful entrepreneurs. This article is aimed at providing such a guide, as to what attributes and traits that newcomers could learn and develop by looking into those of successful entrepreneurs.

Explained below are some attributes and attitudes of successful entrepreneurs that both new and matured entrepreneurs could practice and develop in order to succeed in their field of business.

Successful entrepreneurs trust and believe in themselves
Entrepreneurs who have become highly successful have been found out to be those who highly trust and believe in themselves. Determination and perseverance is all what a new entrepreneur needs at the beginning, but more and more of it is required as he/she becomes more established and successful. Hence, being ambiguous and doubtful is not what is expected from a successful entrepreneur. It should always be kept in mind that a belief and trust in something (especially on one’s self) is all what is needed in order to obtain a positive outcome/ result.       

They are goal-oriented and hence follow a plan
Successful entrepreneurs are visionary. In other words, they have a vision and would strive to reach there. What is significant in them is that they think long term and act accordingly. Hence, before putting their thoughts into practice, they will plan every single move, so as to ensure that they never go wrong in the future. Their futuristic and focused behavior is all what makes them successful over other entrepreneurs.    

They believe in equity and hence gain respect by everybody ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3705/Learn-from-Successful-Entrepreneurs.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3705/Learn-from-Successful-Entrepreneurs.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Using Keywords to Identify your Target Market</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A Target Market consists of groups of people with similar characteristics who are potential buyers for a product or service. Every business needs to identify their target market so they can customize their marketing efforts to these groups for optimized results.
 
Websites are one of the most valuable marketing tools for most businesses; therefore websites should focus their web visibility on attracting and keeping target audience. The most effective way to do this is to focus on keywords and search terms used by potential customers and establish effective search engine rankings. Your aim is to be ranked on the first page of results for your keywords, because research shows that search engine users don’t generally look beyond the first few pages of results.
 
Special attention should be given when choosing the right keywords. Incorrect keywords will result in you missing your target audience. Therefore to ensure you are making the right choices you need to dedicate significant amount of research to find the keywords that will bring you the best results.   
 
So how do you go about researching for keywords? A good place to start is your own website; consult server logs to find out what terms customers are using to find your website. You can then research competitors and find out what keywords are being used on their websites. Be attentive to your area of business and find out the popular Buzz words that are being used to describe your product. Finally your can use a tool like Word tracker or Keyword Discovery to find keywords people are using to find products and services.
 
Before choosing keywords for your website consider the following points
 
·        When you analyze potential keywords you will find that some keywords are highly competitive. It is better to avoid these and look for some that will offer you a niche opportunity. Find a relevant and suitable keyword with low competition. You can find out where competitors rank on major search engines  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3704/Using-Keywords-to-Identify-your-Target-Market.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3704/Using-Keywords-to-Identify-your-Target-Market.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Starting a Cleaning Service</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you like the spruced up “spic and span” look? Do you like keeping things clean and in order always? Never mind if your friends consider you a clean freak, if the answer to the above questions is a yes, then you might have just stumbled across a great home business opportunity. 
 
Most people at some point or the other have utilized the services of a cleaning business. So long as there is mess, the need for a cleaning service business will always be there. This is also another way of saying that if you decide to go ahead with setting up a cleaning service and are good at what you offer, then this can be your one way ticket to business success.
 
Mounting work pressure and the evil of rush hour leaves the ordinary man with barely enough time to eat dinner before hitting the sack. Where is the time for cleaning and maintaining a house? 
 
Working moms are even more hard pressed for time as work and kids and family hardly leaves them any personal time. Most people who find themselves in this situation are only too happy to engage a cleaning service professional to keep their homes clean. 
 
Businesses and corporations are also increasingly turning towards cleaning services to take care of general cleaning and janitorial tasks. Instead of employing in house cleaners, today most businesses prefer outsourcing to a cleaning service. 
 
The reason primarily has to do with the fact that outsourcing works out a lot cheaper and does not laden the management with work that goes into maintaining accounts of salaried employees. Thus both parties involved are in a “win win” situation. 
 
Starting a cleaning service comes with rather attractive advantages. One of the most attractive aspects of this business is that it requires low start-up costs. All you need to start is a vehicle and some basic cleaning equipment.  Another advantage is that you have the option of working part time if you want to. If you have a family or other obligations and cannot go into do ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3701/Starting-a-Cleaning-Service.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3701/Starting-a-Cleaning-Service.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Nonprofits Raise More Funds Online in a Global Recession</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Fundraising for your nonprofit or charitable organization should be a positive happy experience, right?  
 
It's about helping a great cause - sending kids to a national competition, improving a community, finding medical cures, saving animals, and more. These are important issues in our lives, to the tune of over $1 trillion dollars a year in donations! 
 
But times have become more and more challenging for fundraisers.  
 
Here Are Two Challenges Fundraisers Now Face When Planning Fundraising Events &amp;amp; Activities to Raise More Funds: 
 
1. We deal with uncertain revenue streams, escalating overhead, and generating new interest from patrons and donors. Now as we're experiencing one of the worst recessions in decades, you may not be sure how to plan your fundraising. What can you expect from donors? Will they be there for you? Even if they want to give, do they want what you're offering? 
 
2. Another big challenge is the way we've approached the job in the past. Usually the process is shared by parents, kids, and small business professionals. We &amp;quot;fan out&amp;quot; with our products and ask for the sale or set up sites for donations. Then, since most of us don't like to actually &amp;quot;sell stuff,&amp;quot; we put it off. Ultimately, many people on the team end up buying &amp;quot;the stuff,&amp;quot; only to give it away or store it in the garage - again. 
 
So How Can Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations Raise More Funds Now 
 
 
One innovative alternative has evolved and is getting lots of attention. The concept is based on the rise and undeniable appeal of global e-commerce. According to independent business researchers at Forrester Research, online retail sales reached $175 billion in 2007 and are projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012 in the United States. E-commerce has consistently grown by double digits each year for many reasons like convenience, variety and savings. And, most importantly, online shoppers seem to be less sensitive to adverse eco ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3698/How-Nonprofits-Raise-More-Funds-Online-in-a-Global-Recession.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3698/How-Nonprofits-Raise-More-Funds-Online-in-a-Global-Recession.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Make Business Email List Visible to the Top Honchos</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A good executive Business Email List is your conduit to the top echelon of an organization. It is at this foothold that all defining decisions are made. Thus to market your product or services to other businesses, it is crucial to reach the executives of the organization. The people at this level are always piled up with responsibilities and have very less time to go through your lucrative offerings. Hence while sending mails to the executive records of your mailing list, you need to focus on the usefulness of your product rather than its features. 

How Best to Utilize Your Executive Business Email List?

In case you are offering IT product and services you have to be especially conscious while shooting your mails to the top executives of the organization. They neither have time nor interest to know that the software you are offering runs at a precise speed and mode. Neither they are interested to know the features that your software has. They just want to know whether your product is suitable for their business or not. That is, whether it is reliable, quick in fixing up your problems, and will stem cyberthiefs and viruses from making in routes into the system.

Never assume that the executives know too much of the technical argots as they belong to the top level of the organization. So always take an overall view before scripting your sales message. Executive mailing lists can help you get square deals.

Check a Few Things before Buying Executive  List 

Before you purchase the executive email list, check out a few basic things about your list vendor. See, if your list vendor has long years of experience in this field. Interact with their other clients and find out whether working with them has really resulted in better ROI. 

In case you need an executive mailing list segmented on the basis of location, ask your list vendor if they can segment the list by:

State name
City name
Zip code
Goods route

Ask them if they can cater executives mailing ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3694/Make-Business-Email-List-Visible-to-the-Top-Honchos.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3694/Make-Business-Email-List-Visible-to-the-Top-Honchos.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Using Classified Ads to Market your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Classified ads have been in existence almost as long as the existence of the newspaper itself. Classified advertising has remained one of the most traditional and successful forms of advertising within a low budget for home based, small, and medium sized businesses.
 
LOW COST
 
The best benefit of a classified advertisement is that it is affordable within a low budget, and it allows your business to get publicity through a widely circulated newspaper or magazine. The ad rates of the classified advertisements are the lowest in any print media, and they are suited ideally for the small businesses that have very low budgets for advertising.
 
LOCALIZED FOCUS
 
Many newspapers have different editions for different cities and states. Also, certain supplementary newspapers and magazines are even more area specific, catering to a specific area or zone within a city itself. In such cases, the target market becomes well defined, and the advertiser can concentrate only on the specific market as per the requirement of his business. This way, maximum response can be achieved at a low cost because the target is focused and wastage is reduced drastically.
 
OPPORTUNITY OF REPEATED ADVERTISING
 
The business can afford to advertise a number of times in a classified ad section. This helps to increase the brand recall in the mind of the customer, and enhances visibility of the business. Sometimes, it may be better to have a small advertisement repeatedly, instead of just one big advertisement that consumes a lot of the budget. Repeated advertising has a better potential to influence the customer’s buying decision. It also improves brand recognition and familiarity with the company.
 
WIDE AND EFFECTIVE MARKET REACH
 
Newspapers or magazines that have a high circulation are the best vehicles for your classified advertisement. These publications reach maximum households, and provide a high visibility and reach to your business. All segments of customers, including m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3693/Using-Classified-Ads-to-Market-your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3693/Using-Classified-Ads-to-Market-your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Opportunity knocks for People who have Technical Training</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With development and advancement, many organizations are opening doors of opportunity for those who have skills and knowledge.  And, students who wish to pursue a career in their fields of interest opt to join the technical colleges, to follow a course of study.  Many of the reputed institutions offer specific technical programs and degrees to suit the candidate.
 
Technical studies are different to the regular classroom studies. With advanced laboratories, equipment and high-tech environment, students have found technical training enjoyable and interesting. With diplomas and associate degrees, which approximately take 1 to 2 years of study, students have found these programs a foundation or a training ground for other courses of study or a degree program.  This provides one-on-one instruction to develop their individual talents and skills.  With hands-on experience, internships are offered during training or on completion of the education.  
 
With many associate degree programs and bachelor degrees on offer in the fields of Engineering Technology, Health Services Management and Criminal Justice and Hospitality, students are able to choose a discipline that interest them best.  
 
There are leading accredited universities in technical based business education which have been in existence for over 75 years offering degrees in technical management. They are recognized internationally and have earned accreditation for Engineering and Technology over 50 years ago.  This speaks volumes to their commitment to education. These universities have expanded and grown as elite and reputed institutions in the field of education. For those who are career focused these are ideal institutions to launch off your career. Being career oriented institutions their career services teams are committed to serve the students in the best way possible and to guide the students step by step in finding suitable employment.  Technical Management degrees take less time and is less expensiv ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3691/Opportunity-knocks-for-People-who-have-Technical-Training.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3691/Opportunity-knocks-for-People-who-have-Technical-Training.php</link>
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      <title><strong>To be a good Basketball Shooter you must learn the Techniques</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Basketball is a popular sport, and the most exciting part of the game is shooting of the ball that makes all the spectators, fans and players go into a tizzy of excitement. Every basketball player dreams of becoming a great shooter and especially kids want to practice basketball shooting more than anything else.

Like in every sport, even in basketball shooting, technique is everything. If you learn the good techniques and practice them consistently, your shooting aims are bound to improve and you can become a recognized shooter of your basketball team.
 
PERIMETER BASKETBALL SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
 
ONE-HANDED SET SHOT: The fundamental rule of shooting is that before going ahead with the shoot, ensure that your basic body set-up is correct. Place your feet apart up to your shoulder width, and let your body mass be divided evenly between them. Bend your knees a little, and relax your back and hips. Place your right foot marginally ahead of the left (do the opposite if you are left-handed shooter). Now hold the ball near your chest and beneath your chin. Spread your fingers of the shooting hand so that the ball should be held in your fingers without touching the palm. Now you are set for your best shot.
 
JUMP SHOT: The technique is very similar to the set shot, so follow the same instructions here. But the only difference is in the jump shot; your objective is to gain an extra advantage of height through your jump before letting off the shot. Maintain the balance so that you do not overshoot yourself in your attempt to gain extra jump. The secret of this shot lies in your swiftness, and not in making an attempt to out-jump your opponent. The key is to make your shoot without giving sufficient time to the opponent to react.
 
FREE THROW: This is a special opportunity that comes in almost every basketball game. So if you try to master this shot, you are always going to get your big chance to show your skills while the entire team looks up to you with hope. The  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3687/To-be-a-good-Basketball-Shooter-you-must-learn-the-Techniques.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3687/To-be-a-good-Basketball-Shooter-you-must-learn-the-Techniques.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Your Child and Positive Discipline</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Discipline is an important part of a child’s upbringing, both at home and at school. But discipline must be like a helping hand that assists the child to learn the ways of living in a society. It inculcates in him a respect for the rules and regulations of living among other people in a civilized world.

But the big question is the methodology adopted to inculcate discipline in a child’s life. If a parent or a teacher or a caretaker is impatient or anxious or stressed out by nature, he runs the risk of taking out of his own frustrations on the child in the name of disciplining. Such a person will tend to impose too many restrictions on the child, and be dictatorial in his attitude. That is negative disciplining that will only harm the child’s psyche in the long run, and probably turn him into a rebel against discipline some day.
 
Against that, positive discipline focuses on “doing the right things” rather than “not doing the wrong things.” A child will always respond to a positive reinforcement that respects his innate qualities and abilities, and encourages him to perform at his best behavior. Positive approach will enhance the child’s self-esteem that is so delicate at a tender age and must be handled with utmost sensitivity.
 
A critical component of positive discipline is to first of all find time for the child, listen to his points carefully, pay attention to his needs, and try to understand things from his perspective. By giving sufficient time and attention to the child you are giving him great respect, and he is bound to respond back in equal measure to you.
 
Secondly, it is an important part of positive disciplining to be creative and engage the child in constructive activities. Since an empty mind is a devil’s workshop, it is much better to encourage the child to develop some good hobbies like reading, writing, sports or music. This will channel the boundless energy of the child in the positive direction, and he will begin to ga ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3686/Your-Child-and-Positive-Discipline.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3686/Your-Child-and-Positive-Discipline.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Using Online Coupons to Market your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Discount Coupons serve as a great marketing tool and help to promote any product, service or business. Particularly, with the rising popularity of the Internet, Online Coupons are fast taking over from the traditional printed coupons.

Online Coupons cost much cheaper than the traditional physical paper coupons. They have a wider reach, greater flexibility and can be managed more efficiently than the paper coupons.
 
In a highly competitive business environment, all competitors struggle with each other to win the customer’s attention span, and achieve the sales. Due to stiff competition, many players in the market offer the same quality and the same price as you. Therefore, it becomes difficult to differentiate your business on these parameters.
 
In such competition, the business with more innovative marketing techniques and more creative offerings has a better chance to achieve a larger share of the customer’s dollar.
 
HIGHER VISIBILITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS
 
Online Coupons help the business to attain a higher visibility for business by rising above the clutter, and offering something special and attractive. The business achieves quick word of mouth publicity that spreads around and fetches substantial results in terms of sales. Customer recall for your product will be better if the customer has seen a Discount Coupon of it. So while making a purchase decision, he may try to obtain the coupon and make his decision in your favor.
 
INFLUENCING THE CUSTOMER’S PURCHASE DECISION
 
Sometimes two rival products or services may be offering almost identical value for money to the customer. In such a case, a business that is offering an online Discount Coupon may succeed in attracting the customer and influencing his buying decision in its favor by adding something additional.
 
EXPANDING THE MARKET REACH OF THE BUSINESS
 
Online Coupons have the power to widen the reach of your business at a very low cost. In case of paper coupons it may be unafforda ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3681/Using-Online-Coupons-to-Market-your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3681/Using-Online-Coupons-to-Market-your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Starting a Craft Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A craft business is one of those unique ventures that let’s you combine both creativity and an optimal earning source. If you are reading this article then you probably already are artistically inclined, which means you already have the first aspect of getting into this business in place. The second aspect, and in a lot of ways the more important of the two is learning to harness your creativity in a manner that will let you make a living doing what you love doing. 

All businesses have a few ground rules as does the craft business. And knowing how and where to tread can have a huge impact on your success in this business venture. A careful consideration and thought should be given to a few things before you go ahead. 
 
Passion vs. money
 
I know this may sound an unfair comparison, however at the end of the day it all bottles down to this aspect. Think carefully if you are getting into this solely for money or because your passion and love of crafts is greater. 
 
Although money is an underlying reason behind a lot of thing we do, if you want to succeed in the craft industry you have to have a higher motivation than money to keep you going in lean times. It helps to know that every business cycle goes through periods of highs and lows and while tiding the highs is easy and fun, the true test of your passion comes out when your business is not doing well. 
 
Be honest with yourself; if money is your only consideration then getting into this business is not a good idea. 
 
Is there a Market for your Craft? 
 
Once you are sure that you are getting into the craft business because you absolutely love it, your next consideration is to determine whether or not you have a sound and valid market for your crafts. 
 
No point in jumping into the pool only to discover half way that you forgot to fill it with water!
 
Start slow and small
 
In all likelihood you will be catering to a niche crowd. Now that kind of an audience does not sprout up over night ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3680/Starting-a-Craft-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3680/Starting-a-Craft-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Effects of Divorce on Teenagers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Divorce, it has become the norm in the modern society.  In the years gone by, parents whatever the circumstance may be, tried their best to keep the marriage and live as husband as wife for the sake of their children.  Even in difficult situations, they thought of divorce as the very last option, and most couples preferred to live together though there may not have been any love between them.  But with time this has changed.  In a society where people have equal rights, even in marriage couples expect equal rights in the way they live, compromising, patience, and giving more than receiving is so limited and hardly spoken of.  In that mind-set, when their expectations are not met, they opt to divorce or separate.
 
What every couple should keep in mind when such decision is taken is the negative impact it has on your children.  The harm and the psychological affect on a child due to parents deciding to divorce are immense.  Though to a certain extent you may think if the children are of a very young age that they may not realize the gravity of it, according to study whatever age they may be this tends to have an affect on their little lives.  But worst hit by this outcome are the teenagers.  Being of an age that they are able to understand, and walking into adulthood of their lives, they are at cross-roads as to their future and try to analyze on their own as to why they are in such a situation and the cause of their parents divorce.  As such parents must discuss with their teenagers as to why they are divorcing and also assure them of their love and minimize the effect that would fall upon them.  By continuing the usual family outings and gatherings, they could be strengthened and made to realize that though divorced that they still have their mom and dad.  The hardest fact that the teenagers do not want to accept is, if one parent or both have another partner in their lives.  This is very detrimental and has caused teenagers to retaliate and rebel, and as a resul ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3669/The-Effects-of-Divorce-on-Teenagers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3669/The-Effects-of-Divorce-on-Teenagers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Starting your own Online Store</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With all the online transactions happening, it’s easy to get confused about what exactly you should do on the web. Opening an online store is a good decision and a good start. We’re here to help you get started.

Step 1- What do you care about? 
This is a good question as any in business. If you are passionate about an area or a product type, it goes without saying that you’d be good at promoting it. Interest also creates knowledge, the kind that others will pay for. Plus, you don’t want to branch out too much at the start of your online store. It’s best to first concentrate on one line of products or services so that you can devote your time and energy towards that. Another important reason to sell something you are passionate about is that it gains you competitive advantage, especially over large companies that have a variety of products/services. Finally, when you do something you enjoy, you’ll be that much more committed and, as they say, ‘you’ll never work another day in your life!’

Step 2- Choose a service provider
To set up the store, you need to get in touch with a company such as Zilo. You can open your online store through them. They will provide the necessary infrastructure so that you won’t have to worry too much over the store front, the format of the store or legal considerations. In short, the process of opening a store will be made very convenient by a service provider. Remember that Zilo does not allow store owners to keep their own physical catalog. Amazon.com is another service that you can try but the catch here is that you’ll be selling their products and getting a commission. On the other hand, a Yahoo store front gives you the chance to create and sell your own physical inventory. 

Step 3-   Expand your inventory 
Add selected products/services to your web store. Don’t delay this process trying to be very careful in your selection. You need to catch the interest of customers quickly. People will grow tired of ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3668/Starting-your-own-Online-Store.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3668/Starting-your-own-Online-Store.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Increased Learning means Increased Earning Potential</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[“The root of education is bitter, but the fruit is sweet”.

Living in a society where education is a must for career success, and better living, every person should take note to make the best of the time available, and put it to good use. Education is an integral part of your life.  It is a life long process.  

With education not only do you gain a qualification, it builds confidence.  Thus, many are looking at continuing their education from where they stopped, or starting off again, knowing that without education, the chances of promotions, and pay raises are minimal.  It is important that from time to time, people look at ways and opportunities to grab every possible means of gaining higher education.  For those, who have found less time in hand, due to work, or other commitments, with the new technology, on-line studies, or e-learning has opened up doors of opportunity for the aspirants.  It is really an incentive for all those who are interested in pursuing their studies.  With e-learning, you are able to do your studies in the comfort of your living room, at a time that is suitable and convenient to you.  These classes are scheduled according to your needs, thus bringing education to your door step.

Reputed and accredited universities are recognized for their contribution to the nation as leading educational institutions.  Graduates from these universities have been successful in securing employment within six months of completion.  This is adequate evidence with regard to the importance of attending such institutions and also the fact that, those who are qualified are recruited by the top organizations and companies.  It is also important that every student choose an institution that is accredited by the accreditation organizations and bodies.  Research has shown that all leading organizations give preference to candidates with qualifications from accredited institutions. But many have not even looked at the possibility of applying to these univer ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3665/Increased-Learning-means-Increased-Earning-Potential.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3665/Increased-Learning-means-Increased-Earning-Potential.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Can you trust your skin care products? Reading labels will tell</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a consumer, you should have natural skin care education. Without it, it would be difficult for many consumers (like yourself) to make the best choices about natural skin care. It’s extremely import to know what ingredients you should NOT be putting on your face and body. With so many products out there in the market, it’s important that you have an idea of what ingredients you should look out for on labels. All the ingredients mentioned below are those which you should avoid at ANY and ALL cost…

Imidazolidinyl Urea and Diazolidinyl Urea
These are very commonly used preservatives and known to cause contact dermatitis. 

Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, and Ethyl Paraben
Again these are preservatives which increase the shelf life of products. These “parabens” are commonly used and their toxicity cause allergic reactions and skin rashes in many.

Petrolatum 
This is a mineral oil jelly which can cause sun damage since it promotes photosensitivity (sensitivity to light). It also tends to interfere with the body’s own mechanism to moisturize itself. This can cause dry skin and chapping too. 

PVP/VA Copolymer 
This chemical (obtained from petroleum) is used in hairsprays, wave sets and plenty of other cosmetics. Its particles may affect the lungs making it toxic in nature.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate 
This artificial ingredient is used in shampoos to increase the “foaming” capacity of shampoos. It can cause eye irritations, skin rashes, hair loss, dandruff and other allergic reactions. SLS can pose some serious health threats like eye damage, depression, diarrhea and even death so watch out. 

Stearalkonium Chloride 
This highly toxic chemical, usually found in hair conditioners and creams, can cause allergic reactions. This chemical mostly used in fabric softeners is being used as a cheap substitute to proteins or herbals in hair conditioners.  

Synthetic Colors 
These colors which make cosmetics “pretty looking” are a big NO-NO. They are  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3662/Can-you-trust-your-skin-care-products-Reading-labels-will-tell.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3662/Can-you-trust-your-skin-care-products-Reading-labels-will-tell.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How does Debt Settlement affect your Credit Rating?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Debt settlement is not only an aggressive means of gaining debt relief but it has an instantaneous positive effect on your debt management too. This is because it will reduce or even eliminate your debt very quickly. People who resort to debt settlement are usually in desperate need of debt help.
During the process, the creditor agrees to be paid an amount lower than what is actually owing to him. Creditors agree to this arrangement since they know that if you go bankrupt, they would get nothing; something is better than nothing!
In the usual situation, if you have been pushed to the point of opting for debt settlement, your credit score has probably already taken a plunge! Your debt to income ratio, debt to credit ratio are probably already high and you may have defaulted some payments too.
On the other hand, the good news is that debt settlement will probably NOT have such a dramatic and worsening effect on your credit rating! The important reason for your credit score to be going down is the defaulted payments. So settle those first and soon you will realize that your credit score is slowly starting to soar again.
The effect on your credit score would only be very short standing and temporary when compared to how badly your credit score may suffer when it comes to paying off your debts over a long period of time. So what you have to realize is that NOT settling your debt immediately will set your credit score soaring downwards for a much longer time than debt settlement. By going for debt settlement, you will not only settle all your debt but all your accounts will go to “zero” balances too!
Now that you know that your credit score is not going to suffer anymore than it has already suffered, start looking for a reliable and reputed debt settlement company…catch up on all the sleep you have missed because of all these debts!

Bizymoms.com has been helping provide moms with [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com]information[/URL] on everyday matters and importan ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of Maintaining your Books and Finances</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The success of your business depends partly on the management of your finances. You need to know how to effectively collect money, keep a record of it, save it, spend it, and invest it in the proper manner. This is where a good bookkeeping system comes in to your business. While it does not need to be a complicated system, the basics of accounts received and accounts payable need to be recorded.
 
It is important to study and analyze your finances based on your records. Accurate bookkeeping will allow you to see how your business is doing; whether it’s going forward and making money, or whether there is trouble ahead. Your bookkeeping system is a vital part of your financial information for your business. It is important to record the dates of each transaction, their purpose, the amounts involved, and the methods used for the transactions (cash or credit). Further documents such as receipts, bank statements, paid bills and cancelled checks should be filed properly.
 
The first step in creating and maintaining a good bookkeeping system is keeping good records. Someone in your business has to take on the responsibility of putting in the relevant data on a daily or weekly basis. The key is to consistently update your books. If your books are not kept up to date, you will not know where your business stands with finances. You should know how much you have spent and how much you have earned. 
 
This information will help you answer the questions needed to know where your business is heading. You will know exactly how the money is being used and whether you are making a profit or a loss. This vital information will allow you to make correct decisions to plan your budget and what you need to do to avoid problems that may arise in the future. By keeping good records, you will be able to anticipate problems before they arise, and then take steps to avoid them. 
 
Your accounting books will show how much money is in the business, what is owed to others, as well as w ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3647/The-Importance-of-Maintaining-your-Books-and-Finances.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3647/The-Importance-of-Maintaining-your-Books-and-Finances.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Lead Generation Tips</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The year has gotten off to a fast start and many sales managers and sales representatives are trying to get a jump on the year to offset losses from recessionary woes. Since the beginning of the year, my email has become inundated with questions about lead generation and cold calling techniques. Selling professionals are hitting stonewalls and getting nowhere. 

The art of cold calling is serious business. Cold Calling requires patience, persistence and professionalism. The trick is to remain constantly positive and vigilant. More important, you must remember that cold calling is meant to generate leads… not business! Too many of you reading this believe that when you cold call you are to sell something, this is far from the truth. Whether stocks, insurance or any other product the concept behind cold calling is to generate a prospective lead that results in another appointment.

I want to give you some tips on generating leads and cold calling in this article. However, I want to get you in the proper framework so that before you pick up the telephone you remember the proper cold calling techniques. The comedian Jeff Foxworthy uses a moniker with every joke that states, “You might be a redneck if”. Before you read each of the ten tips say to yourself, “You might be a cold calling nuisance if…”

1.	You pick up the telephone and have no idea who you are calling. Someone called me recently and asked for the proprietor. Know whom you are calling.
2.	After hello you begin with chitchat. Speak with conviction and have a purpose for every call.
3.	You call and have conversations with gatekeepers. Call only decision makers. Stop wasting time with gatekeepers that are paid to detain you. Research the person you want to reach before you pick up the phone.
4.	You do not know anything about the business or industry you call. I had a gentleman call me this morning to sell me a copier without an iota of knowledge of my business. Imagine the shock when he disc ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3644/Lead-Generation-Tips.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3644/Lead-Generation-Tips.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Boost Your Business Visibility with Search Engine Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Consider the situation - You have a website. You have run from pillar to post to get the right design for your site, ensure your navigation works, and add all the content. Now its time to get some business out of it...

What will you do? Well, You have to market your site over the web. Search Engine Optimization is an effective way to do this. 


What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization or marketing, is a type of Online Marketing that seeks to promote websites by enhancing their visibility in search engine result pages

Benefits of Search Engine Optimization to your Business

Timely

Search engines play a crucial role in online marketing. They enable the prospects to reach the service providers at the very moment of want and also avail them exactly what we want, when we want it. They are very efficient and exist as long as the Web is around.

Targeted 

The traffic driven by Search Engine is very targeted. The visitors who visit your site to find your product and services through search engines are seeking relevant products and are predisposed to hear your marketing message. Rarely, you will find a more qualified prospect than these.

Non-Intrusive

Search marketing is a non-intrusive marketing tool. All other advertising means intrudes upon customer behavior. Whether newspapers, radio, television... advertisements are forced upon you. In search engine marketing, the user is actively looking for your products, services, and information. They are glad to have reached your site. Thus it is non-intrusive. 

Cost-effective

Surveys show that online purchases made through traffic delivered by search engines are 6 times more compared to banner advertising. The expenditure incurred due to online marketing campaigns using search engines is quite less than that for banner advertising. Thus they are cost efficient. 

Wide Usage

Most of the Web users browse the web on a daily basis. Only thing that is done online more often  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3641/Boost-Your-Business-Visibility-with-Search-Engine-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3641/Boost-Your-Business-Visibility-with-Search-Engine-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Baby Sign Language: Helping your Baby to Communicate</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Nothing can be more disheartening than the sight of a crying baby; compounded by the fact that you probably have no idea why the baby is crying. Every mother goes through this phase which is accompanied by a feeling of acute helplessness. If however you want to do something constructive and effective to get past this stage, then learning baby sign language is something that you should seriously consider. 

If you haven’t heard about baby sign language already then this may come as a surprise to you, but by using simple hand shapes and motions or associative gestures, you and your little one can learn to communicate with each other. Anyone new to baby sign language may question the validity of using or teaching a baby sign language which on most parts is based on ASL, the language that the hearing impaired use to communicate.  

Consider this – your baby finds if easier to communicate through signs and gestures than through actual words. This is because a baby can hear; comprehend and respond to sights and sounds even before he completes a year. However till the age of 3 years and above, the motor skills and abilities that are required to master language are not fully developed in a child. And since speech requires the use of trained vocal chords, most babies and toddlers have a limited vocabulary.  

Baby sign language and words 
Some of the most common actions and signs that are used in baby sign language are &amp;quot;hungry&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;milk&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;wet&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;hurt&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;sleepy&amp;quot; and “hug”. However, over a period of time this limited language can grow and expand. Of course, you have to make provisions for the fact that all babies are not the same. So while some babies may respond much quicker, others might take a little extra time. 

Does baby signing help or hinder? 
The answer to the question whether baby signing hinders is simply a big no. Innumerable studies and research conducted over a period of time have proved that baby ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3640/Baby-Sign-Language-Helping-your-Baby-to-Communicate.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3640/Baby-Sign-Language-Helping-your-Baby-to-Communicate.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Five Benefits of Online Education</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[1. Improve your career
Following the correct path of education is the key to success in a professional career. Many people find it useful to have some extra educational qualifications to meet the demands in a rapidly changing business world. Professionals already qualified and experienced in certain fields are included in this batch. Full time conventional education schemes are not options for you unless you have lot of free time. Most of us lack time as a resource, considerably in our lives. For that reason, online education is a fine technique to pursuit advanced knowledge in the area you are currently employed on. Many employers want their staff to improve in the job-relevant functions by gathering further knowledge. 

2. Avoid traveling
The process of education is based upon the acquisition of knowledge. If you can have the facts in detail, it does not matter the way you get it. So why travel just to get the facts when you have an alternate, efficient and low cost method? Have you ever thought about the environmental effect you can make by avoiding travel to your college? You can help the planet to stay greener by not engaging yourself in fossil fuel burning. Besides, online education is the only hope for many people who are generally less-movable, such as differently able persons.

3. Do not miss out your normal life
Gaining education needs sacrifice and commitment. However, can you do it effectively while you are working full time? Especially if you are a parent, you are well aware about the duties you have. Can you manage your household tasks with your education? Absolutely, there is no better way to do it than learning online. Most of the traditional education limits are not valid in online education. You may be young or old, employed or unemployed, married or single; you can still participate in online education.

4. Gain experience while learning
Another aspect of online education is that you can both earn a degree, and obtain experience in a rel ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Divorce- How you can minimize the Effects on Children</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Divorce, it is a sad, end result.  When parents decide to separate or divorce, at the time that this decision is made it is only the couple that is affected.  Again, it is a decision that they make as mature adults due to various reasons, such as extra-marital relationships, incompatibility, finances or even personal or selfish reasons they might have.  At this point they divorce for their personal reason or gain.  The ones who suffer most in this equation are the children.  Thus, it is important that every parent who decides to divorce make all endeavors to see that their children do not suffer in the process, and that these children are brought up in a manner so that their lives too are not ruined in the process.
 
Children are able to feel and know when their parents are going through issues in their lives.  According to research a baby within a few week of birth is able to recognize the voice and tone of his/her parent.  As such, when there is constant disharmony and disagreement in the home, it affects the child psychologically.  This is the beginning of the behavioral changes in a child’s life.  Therefore it is important, that parents discuss matters of great issue in privacy, so that your children are safe from undue pressure as a result of this.
 
It is advised that when parents decide on divorce, that they discuss this matter with the children, if the children are of an age they could understand.  As children rebel and feel that they are not wanted when such things occur, and could find solace in ways that are not acceptable and could be detrimental to them.  Once divorce is formalized, whether they are in sole custody of one parent or joint custody, always remember that your child needs both father and mother.  Whatever difference of opinion you may have of each other, make sure that you do not talk negatively about your spouse with the children.  You may not love each other, but the role of a parent or the love that a parent has for the child should ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3636/Divorce-How-you-can-minimize-the-Effects-on-Children.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3636/Divorce-How-you-can-minimize-the-Effects-on-Children.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Why every Couple should have a Will</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marriage is a joint union.  As they start a new life together as husband and wife, each spouse must give first place to their partner in their lives.  It is important that the new couple share responsibility and be open to each other’s views and opinion to matters that are of importance.  Every major decision they make should be after discussion and with consent or agreement by each spouse. This is indeed helpful and will avoid so much unpleasantness in their lives.
 
One important aspect every couple should make note of, is planning their future lives and the best way to do so.  It is helpful that all bank accounts or saving one may have is made as a joint account in case there is a need for one spouse to withdraw money.  Also, on the long run, this is helpful in the case of ones untimely demise.  Though it is not very heartening to discuss such matters, this is reality.  And if one could face such situation with minimum of difficulty or worry, the best it is.  It is the same outlook one should have in the case of their wealth too.  Many have gone through undue hardship to obtain their dues, due to lack of planning well beforehand, and not having a ‘Will’(a legal document stating the beneficiaries of his/her wealth drafted and legalized by a certified lawyer) in place stating how their wealth should be distributed or handed over to.  Thus it is important that if the sole beneficiary of your wealth, whether it is your Husband or wife, or if the couple intends to hand over their wealth, property, and whatever assets they may have to their children, such document is legalized so that one may not have to go through any hardship to receive your own.
 
By having a ‘Will’ in place, you can also avoid unpleasantness amongst your children.  Many families have fallen out due to this reason.  When there is no proper legal document in place, the distribution of wealth and assets are done legally, and each child will have to prove and state as to why she/he should ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3635/Why-every-Couple-should-have-a-Will.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3635/Why-every-Couple-should-have-a-Will.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Care and Cleaning of your Gemstone Jewelry</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The jewelry we buy is precious to us and may hold certain sentimental value. Therefore, it is important to take care of them so that not only their outer look is kept intact but also that its value is not diminished by wearing, using or storing them incorrectly.

Your jewelry must be cleaned at least once a year. It is advisable to get them cleaned by a professional; however you can also maintain them on your own by following some basic guidelines.

Jewelry containing gem stones are easily damaged if worn when washing, cleaning or in other activities where chemicals maybe used. Soap, detergent, perfume, powder, oils even make up can cause for them to lose their luster. It is advisable to remove any such jewelry when doing household chores, bathing or even before you put on your daily make up. If you engage in activities that may cause for the jewelry to get damaged like in physical sports, it is good practice to remove any jewelry as it may not only harm the item but may also injure the wearer.

There are two types of gemstones; transparent and opaque. Gemstones can easily get damaged if one doesn’t clean them in the proper manner. To best clean transparent gemstones wash them with warm water with a mild detergent. A toothbrush or any soft brush can be used to clean the item. Once cleaned, rinse with lukewarm water and dry with a soft cloth.  Opaque gemstones need to be cleaned with a damp, soapy soft cloth.
High temperature or extreme cold weather can be harmful to some gems; hence jewelry needs to be protected when wearing outside. Once the gem is cleaned, it needs to be stored in a place where they won’t tangle with other items or in a soft lined box where the gem will not get scratched.

Careful handling, cleaning and storage of your jewelry and gemstones will ensure a long lifetime for them to be enjoyed.

BizyMoms is bringing quality expert information on many topics of high interest to the mom community. Visit BizyMoms' [URL=http://www.bizymoms ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Starting a Bake Shop Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If baking is your forte, then starting a bake shop business can prove to be a good business proposition. 
 
Making a living doing what you want requires both passion and commitment in equal amounts. Anyone who bakes will know the kind of effort and attention that goes into coming up with all those delectable cakes and pastries, pies and scones and all those other bake “what not’s” that can get your mouth watering. However if you are passionate about baking, are creative and experimental and like the idea of being your own boss then opening a bake shop business is where you should think of channelizing your efforts and energy.
  
Home or Retail Outlet?

The best part about this business is that it can prove to be just as profitable even if you decide to run it from home! Your kitchen probably has all the necessary equipment already. Things such as an oven and baking pans are commonly used in almost all homes. This means you don’t have to worry about a huge investment. But before you do anything first make up your mind, from where you plan to run your bake shop business. Are you going to make it a “home business” venture or plan on taking up a retail outlet?
 
Running a business from your home is a simpler and cheaper option obviously. And with the internet, you don’t really need to have a physical location to do any kind of business. A lot of small and medium business owners create a website for their business and use it to successfully invite clients and customers and to advertise their products. A retail unit is an option if you have the monetary funds and resources required. Again as mentioned earlier, where you plan to do business from is for you to decide.
 
How do the others do it?
 
Although there is a good market for all kinds of cakes and bakes, it is advisable to check out competition as well as what sells, what is in demand and most importantly how people advertise and sell their products. In order to do this, make a list of all t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3627/Starting-a-Bake-Shop-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3627/Starting-a-Bake-Shop-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Music and its Soothing Properties</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[“I have my own particular sorrows, loves delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love, belong to all of us, in all time and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality.”
~H. A. Overstreet (writer)
 
Music has been a part of human life for centuries. References to music were found in the Vedas, the ancient scripture of the Hindu tradition. India is home to one of the oldest music traditions ever. 4000 year old cuneiform from Ur indicates the earliest written records of musical expression. The history of the traditional court music of China stretches for more than 3000 years. Music had a prominent role in Ancient Greek theatre. In the 9th century, Arab scholar al-Farabi invented several musical instruments and also came up with the Arab tone system of pitch organization.
 
These historical findings are supportive of the statement made by American educator and poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that;
 
“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
 
For many, music is a need as basic as the need for food, drink, love and sex. This is closely linked to the soothing properties of music. It’s only natural that we seek, and even yearn for that which soothes and comforts us. This is especially so today, with the high stress levels that plague most people.
 
“Music is the friend of labor for it lightens the task by refreshing the nerves and spirit of the worker.”
~William Green
 
Music therapy, specially that involving classical music, is fast gaining popularity. The School of Nursing in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, conducted a pilot study based on music. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of music on the anxiety of patients on mechanical ventilation. This study proved that such patients, who were exposed to music, showed greater levels of relaxation than those who weren’t. The experts conducting the study then concluded that music therapy can act as  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Top 10 Online Degrees for Women</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many single mothers are now thinking that if they could go back to school, they could finally make ends meet. But how can you select the correct degree to follow? Following are a glance on some of the popular online degrees, especially suitable for women.

1. Accounting
Not only men are genius in number processing, women are quite capable of handling complex mathematical formations – especially in watchful and detailed analysis. Accounting degrees can be completed fully over the Internet and it is one of the easiest of all to do online.

2. Marketing
The world economy depends much upon the marketing community. When humans discovered marketing for the first time, they realized the importance of marketing in business. Marketing is never going to stop as long as there is business. Marketing degrees may require some fieldwork, such as market study and research.

3. Finance
In the current financial world, many women are working as Financial Advisors, and this is one area they are very talented in. Finance related degrees may require lot of work to be completed, but this is one of the fields where you have many career opportunities to explore.

4. Computer science
Women are involved in computing related opportunities now, more than ever before. Women can lead in many areas of major computing correlated businesses such as software developing, especially on subjects such as splendor of user interfaces. If you are a computer enthusiast, this stream is for you.

5. Information Sciences
Most people think Computing and Information Sciences are the same but they are not. Information content transfer is a rapidly growing business theme with the increasing use of mobile communication equipment. The world has a growing demand for employees who are experts in Information and Communication Sciences.

6. Healthcare
Health and fitness studies are another major branch of learning among females. In the busy society, many people forget to take care about their own heal ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>8 Ways to Market your Candy Wrappers Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Candy Wrappers business holds great potential due to its uniqueness as a multi-purpose gift item and its ability to serve as an advertisement at a low cost.
 
The following are some innovative ways to market your candy wrappers business:
 
WORD OF MOUTH PUBLICITY: One of the cheapest and the most effective ways to promote your candy wrappers business is to spread the word that you are providing this unique product. Word of mouth can spread fast in your friends circle and through social gatherings and events.
 
OFFERING FREE SAMPLES: One of the best ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of your product is to create free samples to give away. Since it is a low-cost item, you can create attractive candy wrappers providing your corporate contact details, and include a delicious chocolate candy with it. Everyone welcomes candy, and it can bring you a lot of potential customers.
 
FLYERS OR DIRECT MAILERS: In your local area, it is always beneficial to spread the word with the help of creative flyers or direct mailers that ensure awareness for your product. With your creative designing, you may even be able to print the flyers or mailers yourself, at a low cost, and distribute them at the most potential places.
 
ONLINE MARKETING: This technique of selling your product is becoming increasingly popular due to its low cost, wide reach and effectiveness. Due care must be taken to create a strong sales pitch and outline the multiple uses of this product for a variety of prospective customers.
 
PARTICIPATION IN EXHIBITIONS: Due to the uniqueness of the product and its gifting potential, it may be a highly productive effort to promote it through exhibitions, particularly gift exhibitions. Such exhibitions and fairs draw the specific target customers who may be actually looking for unique gift items for various purposes, whether corporate or personal. Therefore, the chances of you gaining new customers is quite high at such events.
 
PLACING ADVERTISEMENTS IN LOCA ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Compare Online Investment Brokerages</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Interested in investing in the stock market? You will need an investment broker to help you decide on a stock market investment. An investment broker will also help you make the transaction once you’ve made your decision on an investment.

How will you decide on your online investment broker? Ironically, the best place to compare online investment brokerages- is online.
 
Try visiting a few selected websites and then making your decision based on your findings from those sites.
 
·Try www.consumersearch.com, this site even gives links to other “expert and user review sources.”
·You can also try www.smartmoney.com. Their “annual broker survey” gives great reviews on features ranging from commissions to customer services.
 
You can also search based on the feature you’re looking for. For instance, if what you’re looking for is a firm that has great banking services; most sites list the firm Fidelity’s banking services as among the best.
 
Some of the features you should look into before you decide on your broker are commissions and fees, research, trading tools, banking services, mutual funds and investment products and customer services.
 
Commissions and fees
 
·Even in some discount firms, the commissions vary by the frequency of trades.
·Commissions may also vary according to number of shares and prices of shares.
 
Research
 
·Look for firms that have the most in-depth research, Fidelity is a good choice in this respect.
·Look for special research features, like TD Ameritrade’s “portfolio planner.” This feature lets you manage the allocation of your investments.
·E-Trade’s “quotes and research” section has links to outside experts’ commentary on stocks.
·E trade’s “bond and mutual fund” centers have been revamped to enable quicker links to advanced charts and screeners.
 
Trading tools
 
·Look for firms that have faster “trade-execution” options
·TD Ameritrade and E-Trade allow customer ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What makes great Skincare Products Great?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Plenty of skin care products that you use today are probably brimming with chemicals which can worsen your skin’s state and its health. So why not stay safe and go for the BEST OF THE BEST: Herbal skin care!  And so you ask, what makes these great herbal products so great after all….

It’s a good idea to use herbal skin care products because they are after all, 100% NATURAL with little or even NO side effects at all! How much better can things get? It’s also important that you remember that your skin, literally, EATS whatever you put on it. This means that whatever you rub into your skin will eventually end up in your bloodstream; so it’s of utmost importance that the ingredients of what you use on your skin are actually things which you would eat.  So great skin care products can actually (literally) be eaten!

Herbal products also contain a great variety of natural ingredients ranging from coconut oil to honey. Such ingredients can be easily absorbed by the skin and will in turn promote healthy glowing skin! Go for a natural herbal exfoliator made up of ground almonds or walnuts; such a product will help remove dead skin cells and will therefore allow your skin to absorb more nutrition.

Most great skin care products are packed with natural ingredients like almond oil. Almond oil is a great skin nourisher since it’s loaded with nutrients which your skin will die to have. Furthermore, sesame oil is another vital ingredient in many products.

Other infamous ingredients include tea tree oil which is a proven, 100% effective antiseptic. Aloe Vera is known for its cooling effect and its ability to take years off your skin. It also has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and immune-stimulating actions as well as large quantities of vitamins E and C, zinc, and amino acids giving it plenty of healing properties. For those with acne prone skin, the best skin care product for you will have basil and turmeric as ingredients. These have anti-bacterial propert ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Writing Ads to sell your Product or service</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Effective ads are those that attract attention and lead to new customers. So what does it take to write an effective ad and why is it so important? Research shows that you have approximately 0.5 seconds to grab a reader’s attention. It doesn’t seem like much time but that is all you’re going to get therefore it is vital to make the most of it.    

Highlight a principle selling position. Decide what makes your product or service different or better than others available in the market. It could be the quality, price, safety, convenience etc…. Choose your selling position and highlight it in your ad.
 
Reach your target demographic. Think about who you want to target with your ad. This will be important in helping you decide when and where to place your advertisement.
 
The Headline is the most important part of your ad. Information clutter has forced people to skim read, therefore writing an attention grabbing headline is crucial. The headline should be based on your principle selling position and should ideally contain no more that 7 words. Compose the sentence with some action words to make it more effective. Headlines should be typed in all caps or cap the first letter of every word for maximum effect. Study advertisements from similar industries to get an idea, and then write down several headlines before choosing the one you decide to go with.      
 
Keep it short. People pick up a magazine to read articles not advertisements; they switch on the TV to watch their favorite show not listen to advertisements; so keep the ads short and sweet but also informative and effective.    
 
Create an emotional connection. Develop a list of features for your product and translate them into corresponding benefits for the consumer. This benefit should be emphasized to create an emotional connection to the product. For example, you’re selling a car and its feature is that it’s safe and reliable. The benefit of this feature is that incase you meet with an  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Avoiding Online Education Scams </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you know that back in 2003 they found the deputy chief information officer of Homeland Security Department had a fake Ph.D.? That is the bare truth about online education. It is a huge selling where anyone can buy an online degree for just $100! The shocking part is, there is absolutely nothing to be completed to get the degree, because it is offered for the individuals so called “life experience!”

Education swindles are also known as “Diploma Mills”. Diploma mills offer various kinds of degrees ranging from pre-diplomas to postgraduate levels including medicine, engineering, psychology, rocket-science and even ethics as majors! Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish between genuine degrees and fake degrees since diploma mills provide professional looking certificates, transcripts and even toll-free numbers for the employers to verify bogus qualifications! These forged universities also name themselves resembling some legitimate organizations. For instance, “The Columbia State University in Louisiana” is a false university, which was closed by a court order, as it was an imitation of a bona fide university.

The Internet is an easy way to search and catch or to be caught by online fraud educational organizations. More people now tend to turn in to these diploma mills to have a few qualifications to show their potential employers rather than just including phony lines in their resumes. To get an online degree, one should have only two things - An Internet connection and a credit card! The transcript will be posted to the person in the next morning!

Students searching for genuine education are being misguided by tricking websites too. Many diploma-mills charge a fee varying from $50 to $5000. Other diploma-mills want the purchaser to complete odd jobs such as making a short paper, prior to throwing out the degree.

Some individuals qualified from these online education frauds have served as sex-abuse counselors, college vice presidents, ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 Marketplace Implementation Lessons</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The best-laid strategic plans often go awry once exposed to the light of day and the rudeness and ruthlessness of reality.
 
Former President Lyndon Johnson understood that. He often told a story of a man who had applied for a job as a flagman at a railroad crossing. The man was told he'd be handed the job if he could pass a test consisting of just a single question
 
The applicant was told to imagine that he was a flagman at a crossing consisting of a single track when he suddenly observed the Continental Express bearing down from the east at 95 miles per hour. Coming from the other direction was the Century Limited at 100 miles per hour. With the trains only 500 yards apart, the man was asked, what would he do under these circumstances? Without hesitation, the would-be flagman responded that he would go and get his brother-in-law. 
 
Puzzled, the railroad examiner inquired, &amp;quot;What good would that do?&amp;quot;
 
The job applicant promptly replied, &amp;quot;He ain't never seen a train wreck.&amp;quot;
 
Clearly the would-be flagman didn't understand the overarching strategy of his potential employer (prevent accidents) nor his potential role in executing that strategy. Unfortunately, this is not unlike the current state of corporate strategic execution as evidenced by the train wrecks (AIG, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, and the automotive industry) we see everyday in the marketplace. 
 
How would I know? Well, my name is Scott Glatstein and I help companies execute their strategies in the marketplace for a living. In fact, I've been doing so as a corporate executive and a consultant for over 25 years. 
 
I even wrote about strategy execution in my book, &amp;quot;Strategy Activation: How to Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success.&amp;quot; In this book I present a breakthrough, holistic planning discipline that links strategic vision to marketplace reality.
 
Here's What I Learned During My 25+ Years Executing Corporate Strategy:
 
1. Organizations who have mas ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Write what you Love </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[“Writing isn’t generally a lucrative source of income; only a few exceptional writers reach the income levels associated with the best-sellers. Rather, most of us write because we can make a modest living or even supplement our day jobs doing something about which we feel passionately. Even at the worst of times, when nothing goes right, when the prose is clumsy and the ideas feel stale, at least we’re doing something that we genuinely love. There’s no other reason to work this hard except that love”
~Melissa Scott (science fiction and fantasy author)
 
As Melissa Scott once said, most writers choose to write because they love to do so; despite the fact that writing is not a “lucrative source of income.” Writers are indeed artists who take great interest in their craft. Many argue that writing is at its best when it comes from the heart, that a writer performs best when he writes what he loves. Others argue that this won’t help a writer to make money. That one should write instead, on subjects that will get people’s attention.
 
The wonderful thing about writing is that there is no one way to do it. There is no one subject that you need to focus on, no one style. But for someone to read what you’ve written, it has to be good. As famous author of science fiction Ray Bradbury once said, a writer really does write best when he does what he does with enthusiasm. This is the case with any profession. We tend to perform best in areas that interest us.
 
“Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, the things that shape him and rush him along the road to where he wants to go; I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto.”
~Ray Bradbury (writer of science fiction)
 
For some people the greatest motivation is money, as in the case of those who write blog posts. Bloggers, ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Talking to your Daughter about Breast Cancer</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[According to research one in every eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer.  This is disheartening news for all women, but as a mother how can you talk to your daughter about this sad reality?  However difficult it may be, it is important that every mother educate her daughter, the pros, cons, myths and facts about breast cancer.  It is very important that you do not put fear in the mind of your child in the process.
 
It is vital that all women should take note of that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.  Age is no barrier, whether you are in your teens or a mature woman, cancer can creep into your life without your knowledge.  Negligence could result in diagnosis of breast cancer in later stage whereby the risk factor could be great.  With the focus of breast cancer in older women and the myth that only mature women are likely to get breast cancer the literature and informative material are mainly catering to the older and not the younger population.  As such every mom should take it upon her self to educate her daughter the importance of awareness and prevention on breast cancer.  The chances of a young woman developing breast cancer is as small as 5%, but with new trends, and lifestyles in the younger population, there are ever increasing changes to the findings.  Every mom’s prayer is that her daughter would not fall into this category of 5%. As such, talking to your daughter early could prevent disaster. Do not leave room for your child to gather the wrong information as it could lead to wrong misconceptions about breast cancer. 
 
When dealing with the young, a mom should always keep in mind, in a world where peer-pressure plays a strong impact on your child’s life and living in a technology and computer era, the chances of picking up good and bad and wrong information is very high.  Hence, make sure that you as a mom, has fulfilled your responsibility to educate your child with the correct information. You owe it to her ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Steps to Writing a Marketing Plan</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Developing a Marketing Plan is a key factor to the success of your business.  The Marketing Plan maps out where the business is heading. It is one of the most important written documents for your business, telling you, your company associates and employees where the business will be heading and how you hope to market your products, at least for the year ahead. It’s important to remember that as time goes on, markets will change, and employees and customers will come and go. 
 
When it comes to writing a Marketing Plan, it may even take a few months to complete. Take the time to make sure you really understand your business and where you want to go with it. While plans don’t always go according to expectation, it is important to have guidelines to follow and chart what you hope will happen.
 
Gather information about your company and your business environment (target market, competitors, trends, location, strategies, budget etc.). The main purpose of your Marketing Plan is to find your market, customers and competitors, and to expect and prepare for change. Consider the following questions when planning your Marketing Plan:
 
What is your product?
How is it different to the competitor’s product?
What will customers gain from the product?
Who is your target market?
What do the customers want? 
What do your customers like and dislike?
How will you gather customer feedback?
Where is your product needed?
Where does your company fit in with the competition? 
Who are your competitors? 
How are your competitors performing in the market?
What are your competitors doing to attract customers?
Determine a price for your product.
Is your price competitive in the market?
How will you project your business? 
How will you attract new customers?
How will you encourage customers to come back to your business?
Where will you market your product?
Is your location convenient for customers?
What is your marketing budget?
What items will be included in your ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Market Your Information Marketing Business - Get More Sales No Matter What!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Direct response marketing expert Diane Conklin likes to remind business owners of the difference between sales and marketing using this analogy: 
 
It's always easier to sell if you offer the fish instead of the fishing pole.
 
Marketing is the ability to create an opportunity and a desire within a prospect to buy your products or services. The big picture is, nobody wants to put forth the effort to catch the fish. 
 
That is what makes information marketing the big business that it is today. The industry is fuelled by the lack of time available to people and a growing desire for work-life balance. As an information marketer, you can meet this great demand by gathering information and selling it in convenient forms to people who don't have the time to do things themselves.
 
3 Reasons Why Diane Conklin Loves The Information Marketing Business
 
1. No other business provides the revenue, flexibility and lifestyle that information marketing provides. Much of the work is home-based, part-time and requires very little start-up costs.
 
2. Because there is such a demand for information products, anyone can use their own expertise to create a million dollar business within 12 months or less. Information marketing is an emerging and ever-growing field made up of knowledgeable and marketing savvy entrepreneurs who package their expertise into convenient forms such as DVDs, books, e-books, CDs, magazines, websites, teleseminars, webinars, coaching programs, seminars and conferences. 
 
3. There is a market for creating an information marketing business for just about every topic you can think of. 
 
Using information marketing, Diane offers her proven business building secrets including marketing systems that help you effectively market your new business. She teaches all there is to know about using direct response marketing methods which concentrate on getting clients and making sales. And, she helps you measure results so you know which methods are getting  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3582/Market-Your-Information-Marketing-Business--Get-More-Sales-No-Matter-What.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3582/Market-Your-Information-Marketing-Business--Get-More-Sales-No-Matter-What.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Starting an Event Planning Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Celebrations and events are a major part of our lives; be it a wedding or a Bat Mitzvah, a graduation party or a product launch or even a fashion show, all of us at some point of time have either attended or planned for an event or celebration. 
Gone are the days when events were mostly dinning room and backyard affairs; today a lot of planning goes into organizing and putting up of an event or celebration. 
 
Most people would rather just hire an event planner to do this for them instead of taking on the responsibilities themselves. For an event to be a success three important criteria’s need to be fulfilled – detailed planning, co-ordination of events and tasks and execution of a plan. Of course a lot of people may be capable of handling these aspects very well on their own; however there is an equally important consideration to bear in mind – how many people, working regular 9-5 jobs, with families can afford to dish out the kind of time and attention that goes into planning an event?
 
This is why event planners are in big demand and if you are interested, there is good money to be made if you decide to start your own event planning business. 
 
This brings us to an important question; what does an event planner do?
 
Look at some of the tasks that an event planner typically takes care off –
 
•        Conducting research for any upcoming event
 
•        Coming up with an event plan or design
 
•        Finding the ideal site or location to hold an event
 
•        Taking care of decorations, planning a menu and ordering food, planning and  
         organizing suitable entertainment.  
 
•        Planning and arranging for transportation 
 
•        Taking care of invitations 
 
•        Arranging accommodations for attendees if required
 
•        Coordinating activities, tasks and responsibilities of every one involved
 
•        Supervising and managing on-site tasks
 
•        Evaluation of the even ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3566/Starting-an-Event-Planning-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3566/Starting-an-Event-Planning-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Using Baby Sign Language to Understand what your Baby Wants</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The one thing that can eclipse the joys of motherhood is not knowing what your baby wants or needs. A crying baby does not always translate into “feeding time” or a “diaper change” every time they cry. As your baby grows, so do his needs and wants, and yes eventually he does manage to learn how to voice those needs. 
 
However, this may take time for typically a baby starts communicating vocally around the ages of 12 to 15 months. And in the mean time, both the parent and the baby have to contend with not being able to communicate. Sometimes, this inability to communicate in a baby can lead to him throwing tantrums as well. It can be extremely frustrating for a child if he is unable to express himself. 
 
In the earlier days, most parents resigned themselves to the fact that any kind of verbal or vocal communication with their baby would occur only after a year or so. 
 
Today however things have changed. Using ASL (American Sign Language is the official name of the official sign language for the deaf) in conjunction with invented hand gestures, you can learn to communicate with your baby.
 
What you need to understand is that motor skills that are essential for speech and language are not non-existent in a baby, they are simply not developed. However a baby can comprehend and master the use of signs and gestures (active vocabulary) much earlier and much more easily than speech. 
 
Therefore a baby can be taught to communicate and express his needs much before he even turns one year old!
 
Most babies respond to sign language when they are around 6 – 7 months. Gestures and signs that convey when your baby needs something can literally revolutionize the parent/caregiver and baby relationship. 
 
Knowing what your child wants can be one of the most important aspects of ASL or baby sign language; however it is not the only aspect. There are other equally important benefits of using baby sign language. Consider the following –
 
•        Ba ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3565/Using-Baby-Sign-Language-to-Understand-what-your-Baby-Wants.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3565/Using-Baby-Sign-Language-to-Understand-what-your-Baby-Wants.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Best of Both of Worlds - On Campus And Online Education</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Online learning is much regarded as a way of improving career objectives. Individuals already qualified with a university degree wants to pursuit more education online to enhance their professional qualities.

In the modern demanding world, time is the most difficult and most important resource to manage. Don’t they say, “Time is life and life is time”? Then why waste time traveling to your college every day? In the knowledge delivery process, what you need is data in detail. It does not matter the way you get it, until you are willing to read and observe the topic under discussion. But in traditional education, the time counter will tick faster due to the other non-education relevant activities, such as traveling. To concentrate on a subject, you need to settle down, focus with awareness and have periodic breaks. You need a fair amount of time to do all these and for that reason, it is critical for you to save some time from the available 24 hours!

Despite many difficulties, most students successfully carry out online education. Apart from your student status, you may be young or old, employed or unemployed, married or single, technologically sound or not-very sound. Compared to conventional education and employment, with online education you can continue towards achieving your dream, without failing in your everyday responsibilities. Besides, online education is the only hope for many people who are generally less-movable, such as differently able persons.

Furthermore, many universities allow participating in a variety of educational programs online. The levels available are certificate, associate, diploma, bachelors, masters or even doctorates. Your local university may have some constrain set on these programs keeping you away from applying to them. Fortunately, you can find many other recognized universities providing the same curriculum online with a different set of entry requirements.

Many employers prefer some experience with potential cand ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>3 Sure Fire Ways to know your Online Ads are Working</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are many different online advertising methods; site links, articles, ezine advertisement, banner ads, forum postings and email marketing promotions are just to name a few. Many seasoned marketers spend significant dollars advertising in a variety of online media but do not know which methods have brought them success.
 
Advertising does not always portray a clear picture because it is not an exact science. There is no accurate way to measure the success or failure of an add campaign. A great deal of money and effort can be wasted on advertising that doesn’t even reach your target demographic. However there are techniques companies can adopt to gauge the power of online advertising efforts. Some are old remedies that still work and others rely on modern technology.
 
(1)   Talk to your Customer- Don’t neglect this tried and tested approach; ask your customer how they heard about you. Motivate customers to tell you they are responding to one of your advertising efforts. For example offer a percentage discount on their first order for mentioning the ad they are responding to. Include a coded coupon with your ad that can be redeemed for a discount with a purchase. The code can help you determine where the ad was seen by your customer. 
 
(2)   Use Tracking Methods- Track traffic to your website before and after you begin each add campaign. By comparison of these numbers you can get an idea of whether or not your campaign is hitting the target. Comparing traffic is not by it self a reliable source, you also need to compare sales before and after the advertising campaign. While you’re doing this it is important to keep in mind that advertising campaigns often have a delayed effect resulting in ad-driven sale materializing after a lapse of time.

You can also track the click through rates. Click through rates are the percentage of viewers who click on your banner ad. Websites that provide ad spaces can track click through rates and provide you with a re ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3563/3-Sure-Fire-Ways-to-know-your-Online-Ads-are-Working.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3563/3-Sure-Fire-Ways-to-know-your-Online-Ads-are-Working.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Virtual Assistants: The New Generation Office Assistants</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Virtual Assistance today occupies one of the top berths in the home based businesses arena. Providing much needed support and structure to a business owner, Virtual Assistants (VAs) are a new breed of office assistants operating out of the virtual world. 

Once again it all bottles down to the amazing miracle called the “internet.” Indeed, today the internet provides opportunities and a platform for all kinds of businesses and services to operate virtually (pun not intended). Now if you can have and run a business over the internet why not provide the required services to run that business over the internet as well?

Before going any further, let me just outline a comprehensive list of the tasks that VA’s handle –
 
•	Routine secretarial/office assistant tasks such as take care of emails and regular mail, making appointments, maintaining schedules, making/answering phone calls/inquiries, faxing, all kinds of research, planning meetings and events, handling travel arrangements (business and personal), handling reservations for seminars etc., buying of gifts/cards for customers of a client
•	Writing 
•	Proof reading/ Transcription and Dictation 
•	Copy editing 
•	Desktop publishing - Newsletter publishing (print and internet) 
•	web design/hosting 
•	Reminder service 
•	Paying of bills/maintaining of receipts etc.
•	Bookkeeping — business and personal 
•	Manage vendor relations 
•	Create/maintain databases
 
Most home based and small business owners operate and run their businesses on relatively low and tight budgets. Thus most of them are forced to take care of mundane business tasks that eat into precious time that they could have spent on furthering their business. This is where you as a VA can offer your services. You might ask if a business owner is going to hire someone to do a job, why not hire someone to work for him in real time. 
 
Is the VA business for me?
 
Contend with the fact that running a business ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3556/Virtual-Assistants-The-New-Generation-Office-Assistants.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3556/Virtual-Assistants-The-New-Generation-Office-Assistants.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Importance of an Annual Mammogram</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Mammogram is probably the most important tool used to diagnose or detect breast cancer.  Mammogram is an x-ray of the breast, which detects changes, irregularities, lumps and tumors.  It can also find micro calcifications (very small deposits of calcium) in the breast, which sometimes can lead to breast cancer. Mammogram is a safe procedure, and has been successfully used for the past 30 years or more.
 
Studies suggest that over 25-35% of women between 40-50 years of age have been able to lower the risk of dying from breast cancer as a result of taking adequate precautionary measures by going through the mammogram procedure and diagnosing early. Detecting breast cancer early with a mammogram also means women being treated early and thereby been able to avoid resorting to breast removal (Mastectomy – surgery to remove the breast).
 
Women quite often avoid getting a mammogram done due to the discomfort during procedure.  Generally this procedure takes about 5-10 minutes and pain is minimum and with a small amount of radiation.  As lumps and tumors at an early stage is painless, and the patient does not feel any discomfort, the doctors recommend that a mammogram be done annually.  This is very important, so that, if and when there is an abnormality in the breast, it could be detected early and proper medication and treatment could be done to avoid disaster.  For this reason, women are advised to take this matter seriously so that the mammogram is done regularly. 
 
According to research one in every seven women are detected with breast cancer if they live to the age of 80, at some stage in their lives.  Thus every woman should make it a priority in their lives to make every endeavor to see that they look after their health, so that this dreaded disease could be minimized.  After all, it is every woman’s duty towards their family as a woman, wife and mom.
 
Over the past 25 years, with advancement in mammography, it has been made possible to detect tissue  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Starting your new Surfing Hobby </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you love the beach and the whole “hanging out at the beach” thing, surfing may be just the hobby for you. Imagine soaring through the air, riding a beautiful curling wave! It’s one of the most exhilarating feelings in the world. Some people actually center their entire lives around surfing. This sport, which originated from an ancient Polynesian custom, is now so popular that it has spawned an entire culture. This “surfer” culture is most rampant in California, Hawaii and North Carolina. In fact, today surfing represents a multi-billion dollar industry.
 
This is what James Cook, who observed a Polynesian native surf, had to say about what he saw. “I could not help concluding that this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so smoothly by the sea.”
 
Unfortunately, surfers are usually portrayed as laid-back, slightly stupid individuals with bleached blonde hair and funny accents. This however, is an unfair stereotype. Surfing is a sport that requires a lot of skill and endurance. Surfers don’t just get on a board and start riding the waves. They have to spend a lot of time training before they are able to do what they do.
 
Train with an expert. It’s better if you take someone along, for as long as you are in that training period. Some of the best surfing spots are found in the beaches of Hawaii and Baja California in Mexico. If you’re just starting out though, it’s better to go for the small waves first. Any good beach on a calm day will be fine for a beginner.
 
It’s better to start with a soft-Doyle, beginner’s surfboard. The ideal surf-board for a beginner is one that has as much surface area as possible; and one that is rounded, thick, wide and soft. A board of this type will easily enable you to get a hang of your balancing skills. You can also get a leash for your surf board so that you don’t lose it.  Make sure you’re appropriately attired. It’s important to wear something that will keep you warm, bec ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Why work towards your Degree Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Managing education with employment is no painless task. It is nearly impossible for some people to do this due to the amount of time and dedication required by traditional education. Nevertheless, what if you really want to pursuit further education, without losing your current job? The answer is online education methods. Online education allows you to achieve your education goals while working fulltime as an employee. Individuals already qualified with a university degree, are now going for education online to enhance their professional qualities. You also get the chance of practicing the new knowledge you are gaining, straight away in your working environment!

Push your limits

What are the other factors that limit your higher education? Not the time aspect? Then maybe it is about the strict policies of your local university. Various universities maintain their own set of rules and regulations when in-taking students. This involves assessing the educational background of the candidate. Sadly, some constrains are quite high to reach; you may not have the standard/qualifications required by some universities. However, you can find many other universities that provide the same academic path online, with different set of entry requirements. What you have to do is do some research, find the program that fits in to your requirement, and proceed with submitting the application. What’s more, there are plans available that allows you to accomplish qualification levels ranging from certificate to even doctorates, completely over the Internet!

Get the same recognition

Some people think that an online education programs is a less respectable way to earn a highly praised degree. This is a proven myth and any accredited online degree should have the same recognition just like a brick-and-mortar degree offered by the same university. You have to be aware that online degrees are not very different in the difficulty point of view, and sometimes the curriculum can be m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3552/Why-work-towards-your-Degree-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3552/Why-work-towards-your-Degree-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Choose the Right Make Up Colors for your Complexion</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How to pick the right make up color for your complexion? This maybe one of the questions all women ask but sometimes fail to get the correct answer to or it may be that we have got the correct answer, but when it comes to applying it somehow the results don’t appear as we would like it to be. If this sounds familiar, then the answer you’re looking for might be found in the next few minutes of your reading.

The secret of picking the best make up color for you according to experts begins by simply understanding your skin.  Before any colors or products are applied to your outer layers of skin, you need to understand and identify your skin, its color, tone and texture. This will help you better determine the correct products that will not only give you the appearance you’re looking for but also help you take better care of your skin.

To do this, first take a mirror and have a good look at your facial skin. Do you have spots on your face? Is your skin dry? Do you have wrinkles or ageing spots? These are some of the observations you must make before anything else. If you feel that you can’t decide your skin type, you can always seek advice of an expert.

Depending on the answers you get for these simple questions, you can decide to choose the colors that will not only suit your skin but also compliment your natural look.
For ladies with skin that may have spots or uneven tone, a more natural and liquid foundation is suitable that blends to even the skin.  If your skin is dull, dry or looks lifeless a foundation that boosts your look is needed. For this a foundation with moisturizing is more suited.

If you’re skin tone is more of a cool color, then go for colors such as blue or pink undertones. But if you’re more of a warm skin tone person, try a slight yellow hue. To test if the color you’ve chosen compliments you, examine yourself in the mirror under good sunlight or in a well lighted room. If the color has blended well with your natural skin c ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3549/How-to-Choose-the-Right-Make-Up-Colors-for-your-Complexion.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3549/How-to-Choose-the-Right-Make-Up-Colors-for-your-Complexion.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Print Newsletters vs. Email Newsletters-Why You Should NOT Just Do an Ezine</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With everyone bombarded by email overload, do you really think your ezine is being read? 
 
A Nielsen Norman Group Report revealed that the typical email newsletter gets 51 seconds of your reader's time. 
 
That was three years ago. Today, many say its closer to 26 seconds. And, that's if your email newsletter is even opened. 
 
You're Not as Popular as You Think
 
While you believe YOUR ezines are special and opened like gifts on Christmas morning, remember this: Dozens of emails are routinely wiped out daily in one swoop with the push of the delete key. 
 
Even if the reader recognizes your name, you can be expunged just because they're having a busy day or your email got caught in a large block of spam.
 
Now, I'm not suggesting that you stop doing email newsletters. In fact, I advise you to do an email newsletter on a weekly basis. But, I also suggest doing a monthly print newsletter. 
 
Here's why...
 
6 Ways Print Newsletters Beat Email Newsletters – And Why They Need to Be Part of Your Marketing Mix 
 
1. Printed mail gets delivered – It's never blocked or caught in spam filters.  Faulty connections, email authentication and webmail service idiosyncrasies are not issues. And, you have no worries about connection speeds.
 
2. Print newsletters have more perceived value – Think about it: How many companies are willing to do this? Your clients aren't stupid. They understand the energy, cost and time required to send them a great newsletter every month. It will get their immediate attention.
 
3. Print newsletters let you use unlimited amount of images – A picture really is worth a thousand words. Print newsletters are not shackled by bandwidth. That means you can use a variety of text, graphics and formatting styles to capture the interest of your clients.
 
4. Print newsletter are sticky - Print newsletters have great 'hang-time'. Not only are they likely to be read from start to finish, they usually get passed around. Hand-along ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Debt Relief through Credit Counseling</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[With more and more of the working population drowning in the deathly sea of debt, credit counselors seem to be the Gods of the modern age… The services that credit counselors provide may be the exact ones that you need to solve your credit problems.

Firstly, you have to find a credit counselor or credit counseling company and talk to them about your credit problems. Not only will they advise you on how to improve your debt situation, but they will also tell you how to get rid of existing debts.

Credit counselors will then negotiate and discuss your debt situation with your creditors. As a result, a debt management plan will be drawn up by your creditors and credit counselor, taking into consideration both your debts and incomes. Following this, the counselor will try to get a reduced interest rate under the assumption that there are better chances for you to pay back if you have a lower and more feasible monthly repayment amount. Thereby your monthly payments will fall and you will eventually settle your debt too, with minimum damage done to your credit rating!

The greatest advantage of a credit counselor’s services is that all your monthly payments are pooled into one single payment, reducing the headache of managing payments which may queue up one after another. Also the amount you pay every month will be much smaller than the total payments you may have made before. However, remember that although a counselor may claim to give a 50% reduction, a 10%-20% reduction is more feasible and probable.

Also credit counseling may help you to settle your debts faster. A debt which may have taken 10 years for you to settle on your own, maybe easily settled within half the time, with the assistance of a counselor who negotiates a lower rate of interest for you.

On the other hand, beware of scams where credit counselors claim to give you debt relief within a year and then run off with your cash!

Once you have obtained some sort of debt relief, remember to ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Think Skin Care</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Your skin is one of the most valuable assets of your body. Not only does it help act as a protective layer for all the organs packed inside your body, but it also contributes to your appearance. People judge your appearance, age and even mood from your skin. Skin which is looked after properly can make you a healthier and a better looking person too…so start looking after it!

It’s important to keep your skin clean at all times. Wash your skin gently but thoroughly and use an appropriate cleanser. Once it’s clean, exfoliate to remove the layers of dead cells which are dulling your skin. By exfoliating your skin, your skin will start to breathe now that its pores have been opened up. This should be followed by the use of a toner to tighten up the pores and re-vitalize the skin. Finish this off with a moisturizer which will help nourish your skin and maintain the moisture balance of your skin. It will also supply your skin with the oils necessary for a glowing complexion.

Always remember that it’s extremely important to exfoliate your skin on a weekly basis so as to remove any dirt, grime and dust which may have gathered on your skin’s surface. By exfoliating, not only will the dead skin cells be removed but you will be ridden of other impurities too. This will help unblock your skin pores and make sure that your skin won’t be attacked by blackheads or pimples!

When you start thinking skin care, it’s important that you start thinking about WHAT skin care you are going to use too. Don’t use products made up of harsh and strong chemicals. Products made up of natural ingredients and herbs are better for the skin and will probably contain plenty of vitamins and minerals which your body is thirsty for.

If you are planning to leave the shelter of your house during broad daylight, don’t forget your SUNSCREEN! That’s right! Before you leave the house make sure you get some sunscreen on at least half an hour before you leave the house. If you are ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Choose a Major</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The human kind has gathered a tremendous amount of knowledge since their appearance on this world. This magnificent wisdom is subdivided in to many categories for the purpose of education. To reach the summit of a knowledge area, your university major is a crucial fact. But how to select a major from the hundreds and thousands of degree titles offered by universities? 

Following is a glance on the aspects you can consider when you are going for a major.
The most important of all is your interest on the subject. You have to select an area of study not only based upon the career objectives. Select a field that you love to investigate and that triggers your enthusiasm on it. Do you know that some Nobel Prize winners even did pursuit their fancy learning objectives that seemed silly at first?

The time and commitment you can spend on your learning is another aspect. Learning is not a simple walkover and needs sacrifice. A number of specialties need lot of effort, practice and experience while others can be done in a much-relaxed environment. You also have to think about the real-world situations you have to face, if you are employed in a relevant occupation. The sum of pay you are expecting, the endeavor it takes to succeed in the duty you are going to perform and the way you are going to live your life are matters to be considered in deciding a major. 

As a starting point, you can set goals in your life with appropriate periods. What I am expecting in five years from now? How can I achieve my life ambition? Answering these questions will give you an insight of your own aspirations and dreams you are hoping to realize in your life. Your education should be a robust foundation to build your life on it and you have to be aware that decision of the major will affect the rest of your life!

There are many ways to gather information on the majors. The first thing you can do is to collect a list of major titles that you think you are interested in. To collect furth ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Baby Sign Language Builds Happy Families</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[“… Signing enables babies to tell the family what they're interested in. That means they can initiate conversations and feel like an active member in the family instead of just a family-member-in-waiting…&amp;quot;
 
There are no words to express your happiness when you know that your child has the skill to communicate with you. It’s practical, natural and beautiful when we are able to communicate with our child.

Sometimes your child may come up with a sign of his/her own, don’t try to ignore or discourage the child; try to accept and recognize the sign. The creative use of hands should be encouraged; it’s worth remembering that the basic reason for using sign language is to communicate. It has been confirmed that understanding and communication can easily be built with sign language.They are using signs because it makes easier for them to communicate and express their feelings with you.

Apart from benefits of learning communication skills by using sign language early there are many other benefits, such as the child and parents been kept happy and occupied when a baby uses sign language.  

Your baby might feel discouraged and bothered by not being understood. Baby sign language will help your child when trying to express his/her needs like food and, toys. With the use of signs your baby will have a way to tell you his/ her needs. When you give a baby a way to express his feelings, he/she soon discovers that signing is more helpful than crying or whining.

In early developments the feelings and emotions are built in a structured way, with feelings increasing as the baby grows bigger. The other benefit of sign language is the feeling of achievement your child will experience when he/she is rewarded with what the child wanted or needed after those close to him/her had understood the sign language. The baby will be satisfied that his/her needs are supplied early.

Parents who teach their babies sign language also get their reward with happier babi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Lessons your child can learn from playing Basketball</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Taking part in sports, especially a team sport like basketball, can teach your children a lot of things.
 
“........There is no ‘I’ in team........”
Popular TV series “One Tree Hill”
 
“My responsibility is getting all my players playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back.”
Anonymous
 
Basketball is about teamwork. You simply cannot play a basketball game, alone. You cannot be selfish either, not if you want your team to score. This teaches your child that he does not have to do everything all by himself. There will certainly be instances in life where he will have to seek the help of others, and wherever possible, he will have to return the favor too.
 
By working with his teammates your child learns to interact with others. He learns that there are instances where he will have to sacrifice in order to benefit the team as a whole; because not all the winning baskets are going to be his. At the same time he will also learn to handle healthy competition; which will eventually bring out the best in him.
 
When it comes to achieving goals, you child will have to face obstacles in the real world. This is almost inevitable in today’s dog-eat-dog world. On a basketball court your child has the opportunity to learn a very practical lesson on facing obstacles. In a basketball game he will have to fight his way to making that basket. He’s not going to have it easy from his opponents who will be trying their best to stop him from making his “slam dunk.”
 
When a player from the other team rushes at your child there is no time for slacking, he has to think fast and act fast. This way your child is forced to use all his strength and intelligence to combat the problem. Overcoming obstacles in this way lets your child identify his strengths and weaknesses. This way he can work on building up his strengths and eliminating his weaknesses.
 
Basketball is a sport that requires your child to be in good shape, in or ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Five great Scuba Diving Locations</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Scuba diving is a truly unique way to get close to nature. Today, there are several locations throughout the globe that will allow you to have this experience of a lifetime.

The Caribbean
 
The Caribbean’s mix of exotic islands, offer a large number of diving destinations. Clear warm waters surround you as you survey the fascinating underwater creatures and beautiful coral formations. Adding to the beauty of this underwater realm are schools of colorful tropical fish.  
 
Try the Cayman Islands which have more than 175 dive sites for you to choose from. Here the deep underwater walls are surrounded by colorful corals and sponges. One great specialty here is “stingray city” in the North Sound; deemed to be the “world’s best 12 foot dive.” The marine life here is quite non-threatening, as long as divers are careful to be just as peaceful.   
 
For more information visit:  www.caribdiveguide.com.
 
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
 
This world heritage site in Australia is the largest system of coral reefs in the world. It is also one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  This makes it a very popular tourist destination, especially for scuba divers. The natural beauty of this coral reef is almost ethereal. The fascinating underwater life here includes; giant clams, green turtles, dugongs, 1500 species of fish and 4000 types of mollusc. Being able to photograph this uniquely beautiful underwater kingdom is a truly great experience in itself.
 
For more information visit: www.divethereef.com.
 
Belize
 
If you’re interested in an exotic adventure in a truly exotic location, Belize is just the place for you. Scuba diving is one of the most popular activities in Belize. It’s also where the famous “Belize blue hole” is found. Blue holes are huge underwater sinkholes found in the ocean and this one, in Belize, gives the scuba diver a truly astounding experience.  
 
You can also try Ambergris Caye which is the most popular scuba di ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Achieving Life Balance- Mother, Employee and Student</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a mother you are a provider of many things at the same time. A good home, proper nourishment and support for physical and mental development for your children, a supportive and loving wife for your husband, These are areas that a mother’s involvement matters the most with roles of being a teacher, cook, partner, counselor, playmate, taxi driver and advisor among other things.

While juggling all of these responsibilities a mother will also be concentrating on her career. Your work may be outside the home or it may be a work at home job. Whichever the case, it requires you to manage the time you have to a high level of efficiency in order to fulfill requirements of both family and profession.

Being a mother while working, is one of the greatest balancing acts of all time. It puts all your organizational and time management skills to test and requires you to master patience and understanding to the maximum. As a successful working mother you are the best example of good manager.

While family and work can be balanced by mothers with amazing efficiency, it may not be as easy to continue with their education. Traditional learning requires you to put in many hours of your time into traveling to a university and attending classes which are normally scheduled at times that do not tally with your busy lifestyle. This means many mothers had to leave out the prospects of following their educational goals. But the developments in recent times in the field of education offer working mothers an answer.

Universities now offer flexible time tables for many of their courses to students. The conventional class room teaching methods have been replaced by online degrees that can be done from home at a pace that is suitable for the learner. The degrees offered through these new learning methods are recognized at the same level as any other degree offered the traditional way. The choice of courses available on flexible schedules and through online learning is becoming wid ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Expert Advice for Personal Matters</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Everything in this world is getting complicated day by day and people find themselves getting involved in a lot of work and getting busy. Most people, irrespective of their gender and age, are now getting themselves employed and hence are filled with busy schedules leaving them less room and time to deal with their personal lives.
 
Due to this matter, which is the clash in business / office life and one’s personal life, people undergo a lot of problems and hence suffer from stresses and strain. This is where one needs the advice of an expert, specializing in the area of handling and resolving personal problems and matters. This article therefore aims to give some expert advice for personal matters and to explain to whom one could go to, to seek such advice.
 
Personal problems are a serious issue when it comes to anything, be it at work or at leisure (while he/she is at home). These personal problems may be due to problems of and issues with one’s parents, spouse, children, or friends. Problems with them and problems caused because of them could influence a person’s life, his/her behavior and attitudes and this could pose problems to those around the person who is affected by such personal issues.
 
Some common issues and advices by experts who specialize in dealing with personal matters are explained below:
 
Your parents, spouse and children might always keep complaining because they do not see you and have relatively less time to stay with you. In other words, if you have devoted less time for them, they will keep blaming you and this would cause stress. For this, you should not mix up your personal and office lives. Spend some quality time with your parents, spouse and kids either by staying at home or going for an outing or vacation.
  
      Troubles in the past, haunting you and killing your spirit. For Eg:- Mental or Physical harassment experienced by your ex-lover, building ambiguity and skepticism in your new relationship.
 
•	Spend mo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Event Related Balloon and Flower Bouquets</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are on the look out for a creative and fun home based business, then this may be the perfect option for you. Creating balloon and flower bouquets for special events such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other such occasions does not only bring immense satisfaction and joy to yourself, but also to all those who receive these lovely arrangements.

To establish your own business in this area of work, it is essential that you posses a creative flair. You should be able to mix and match different types of flowers and balloons in order to obtain an arrangement which is able to bring out the smiles of all the recipients. In addition to the above you should also have good communication skills and organizational skills to get your business moving. For example if you are catering your services for weddings and/or corporate events you will be required to work with lots of different people. Good communication skills will be vital in such a situation.

As mentioned earlier balloon and flower bouquets are sought after for many special types of events. Since this is your own business, you can freely select the area to which you would be catering your services to. You could either focus all your attention to one special segment or else service a combination of segments through your business. Some of the available segments in this type of profession are decorations for birthday parties, bouquets for weddings, balloon décor for business events, school fundraisers, corporate events and wedding reception decorations.    

In order to obtain success in your venture it is highly important that you advertise and promote your services well to your selected market segment. You can start off with your family and friends. Tell everyone you know about the type of service you provide. Servicing special events of your family members and friends, even at a special rate will not only build up your confidence in your new found business but also help in spreading the word rega ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Empower your Baby to Communicate by Using Baby Sign Language</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Till a decade or so ago, sign language was mostly associated with the hearing impaired. Today however, a growing number of parents and caregivers are discovering how sign language can be extremely effective in breaking down the barriers of communicating with a baby. 

The average age when babies begin talking is placed at somewhere between 12 to 15 months. While comprehension of the spoken word or language does take time, however by using baby sign language your baby will be able to pick up associative sounds and actions or signs as early as 6 – 7 months!  

Soon he will be able to tell you if he needs a diaper change or if he is hungry or thirsty. And knowing what your baby wants can go a long way in cutting down the frustration that babies and parents alike undergo during those formative years.
 
Of course you might wonder why a hearing baby who incidentally is going to learn to talk eventually, require sign language. After all you grew up fine without it, right?
 
Associative sign and sound comprehension is vital to a baby’s speech development as numerous research and studies have shown. Baby sign language can help accelerate communication resulting in earlier verbal language development, increased creativity and a higher IQ.
 
Communication among humans is a combination of sound, sight, thought and emotions. The older we get, our ability to communicate improves as our comprehensive powers of speech and language increase. 
 
In a baby, the level of passive vocabulary (the words he can understand) is far more advanced than his/her active vocabulary (the words he can use). This is the reason why a baby can pick up gestures faster as opposed to the corresponding words. 
 
When you use baby sign language, you are effectively empowering your baby by opening up and creating a channel of communication that is easy to comprehend and use not just for your baby but also for you as a parent or caregiver. 

Kindersigns is one of the largest [URL=http://ww ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Top Concerns of Today’s Adult Learner</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Chasing online education has its own profits. It allows you to stay at home, simultaneously allowing you to achieve your educational and livelihood goals. You can complete your education entirely as a distant learner, stay offshore, and fully recognize as an internal degree holder of the university.
 
United States is far behind in adult learning enthusiasm compared to other developed countries like Japan, Canada and some of the European countries. According to scholars, the quality of life in a country is always proportional to the adult education level of the country. We all know that in the future, the most important asset of the economy will be knowledge workers and intellectual properties, where proper adult education plays a highly important role.
 
Completing a degree requires lot of time and hard work. For some individuals these are the most difficult factors to find in their life. Especially if you are a parent, you are well aware about the duties you have. But with online education, you can save your time and money by avoiding travel to your learning place. You can also control your learning environment and you can learn in your own pace!
 
Many employers prefer some experience with potential candidates in recruiting procedure. However, not many people find opportunities to apply and experiment the knowledge their acquiring, in a real world scenario. Students who do their studies online can practice these theories directly in their working environment.
 
In online education, you have to do most of your studying over the Internet. Because of this, there are number of requirements you need to have at your home. You need a good Internet connection to download and view educational content. You may also need some electronic appliances such as a VCR or a VCD player for recording and playback purposes of various audio-visual files.
 
There are certain matters you have to evaluate before you start learning. The most important of all is your interest on t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Trends and Predictability in Online Shopping</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2002, a survey disclosed that over half of the American population was connected to the internet and nearly 40% of those users were making online purchases. If you want the hard numbers, about 55.8 million people were comfortable buying goods and services online. The results led to the conclusion that online shopping will become more popular very fast. The predictions have more than come true as we enter the second half of 2008. 

Those days, it generally took an internet user almost 2 years to get comfortable with buying online. Nowadays people are bolder. Even teens find it a breeze to shop online. Online shopping is actually more popular among internet users between the ages of 18 and 45. It’s not surprising that the rich tend to splurge more and to make extravagant purchases. What’s interesting is that lower income consumers are getting used to this new way of shopping than the rich ones. We don’t know for sure whether the increasing fuel prices have anything to do with it. Coupled to online shopping, web banking is on the rise too, with men resorting to it more than the ladies.  

Just how much the online shopping craze is catching on was witnessed in 2007. People abandoned their shopping carts preferring instead to sit at home in front of their computer. Big retail businesses were well prepared to handle the crowds and the congestion. Promotional activities, including cool online ads, were in full swing. 

It’s no wonder that the public is gravitating towards online shopping. These days convenience is of utmost importance. The novelty of bumping shoulder to shoulder in malls and markets is wearing thin. With the rising costs of living, people are not happy to stand in long queues waiting their turn, nor are they in the mood to bargain. With the current economic situation, people are feeling cramped from every quarter so the idea of being able to sit at home and shop at peace really strikes a chord with consumers. Statistics tell us the same: t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Plastic Bag Industry </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Plastics are classified based on their polymer backbone. Just as there are many varieties of plastic, there are several different ways to process plastic. It depends on what the ultimate product needs to be. Most plastic bags consist of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, or chlorine.
 
Plastic bags are usually made up of the plastic type polyethylene. Basically it consists of units called ethylene, which are repeated in the plastic and joined together by strong bonds. Plastic bags came into the spotlight during World War II and have been popular ever since. This type was the first plastic in US to reach sales of more than billion pounds per annum. Shopping bags, garment bags, trash bags and packing material all use polyethylene. You’ll notice that even these shopping bags can vary in texture. Plastic bags in groceries are flimsy while at malls you get more sturdy types. If the polymer making up the plastic is highly branches, it gives a flimsy finish.
 
Petroleum and natural gas are the key ingredients that are used by the plastic bag industry. This usage of non renewable energy sources has sparked debates among environmentalists who claim that it’s such a waste to direct valuable energy towards what’s becoming an environmental hazard.

The plastic industry is now looking towards making degradable bags, like those use starch as a raw material. Another way to make plastic less durable is to add a UV light absorber so that it will break down when exposed to sunlight. These procedures are more environmentally friendly but more expensive at the same time.
 
Plastic bag industries have spoken out against any bans that may be implemented on the use of plastic bags. They say that the environmental concern is exaggerated and that there is no conclusive evidence that marine life is endangered by discarded plastic bags. They even assert that paper bags (an alternative for the plastic bag) do not degrade much faster than their plastic counterparts. Even some envir ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Five Exercise Programs you can do for Free</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The body is ingeniously designed to move, with its beautiful labyrinth of elaborate levers and pulleys known as bones and muscles, honed and perfected over millions of years.
 
Always exercise to your current ability and slightly beyond. If you are over weight try low-risk and inexpensive exercises programs. Here are some popular forms of exercise – walking, running, cycling, swimming and yoga. Include cross training into your sports routine, so that you are using different muscles in different ways. Exercise helps you sleep and eat better as your body doesn’t crave double cheese burgers instead of proper protein.  
 
Walking- Walking is the easiest and most convenient exercise. Don’t try to start walking long distances at the beginning. Start slowly. Increase the speed and distance as time goes on.
 
 Running- It’s good for aerobic exercise. Relatively inexpensive-essentially all you need is a great pair of trainers. It increases oxygen uptake to improve your heart’s health, lowers blood pressure and increases insulin sensitivity to a degree higher than when you are walking. Running increase your brain power. It also loads the lower joints with more than four times the body’s weight. Most likely, running has no influence on joint damage, obesity or heaviness. You need to be careful in these cases.  
 
Swimming- brings different movement patterns with resistance and assistance. Immersion in water helps to support the weight of the body. This explains why water is such a valuable recovery and rehabilitation aid and is perfect for pregnant women, people with arthritis, obesity and back pain 
 
Breathing is the key part of Yoga. It builds core strength, balance flexibility, as well as, helps the people to reach the ultimate goals of relaxation, weight loss, a toned body and improve posture. 
 
Like most sports, cycling helps you build stamina to enable you to carry out your day-to-day activities effectively. It is often used as training variatio ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Guiding Children to Healthy Snack Choices</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[We are born with an almost inborn natural liking towards the taste for sweet and salt. When we begin to grow we understand that fat makes food taste great as well. When we become too fond of all that junk food, what happens? Yes, too much of sweets and fats are bad for us.

If the body wants some sort of nutrient that it is lacking, it is called “Hunger”. This situation happens to all adults and growing children alike. One of the main reasons for an individual to experience food cravings is by not having one’s meals on time. “It is a message from your body to tell you that it is missing something.” Eating on time and eating proper healthy food is the best way to avoid it.

The healthiest foods are the foods which we prepare at home. By any chance if you are unable to take your food from home, it is very important to buy foods which are healthy. Foods that include healthy nutrients are the best snacks. It provides the energy to your body which you need to perform at optimal level throughout the day. It is your decision to make smart snack choices, but it is also important to choose the proper healthy food. Generally milk and dairy products are rich in potassium and calcium. Potassium is the sentry that keeps your blood pressure in check while an optimum level of calcium relieves your body of having to steal calcium from your bones, which depletes the bones.

If you are buying something on your way to school, try and buy a fish or vegetable bun instead of a Chinese roll or pastry. There are easy food items you can make at home for small children without much effort; vegetable with cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are great. Apart from that try butter or marmite in your sandwiches or ‘toasties’ with some chicken or egg paste. You can also try some biscuits as a snack. It will give “continuous energy” whereas; chocolates give you “quick energy”.

Children must have healthy food to get a balance of protein, fat and carbo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Protect your Surroundings</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How often do we take our environment for granted? Or at least, some of us just pay attention to our immediate surroundings and are not much concerned with what goes on outside the boundary. The problem is this, events that occur miles away can create an unpleasant situation where we live. For instance, the activities of industrialized nations are having a disastrous effect on Polar Regions. So isn’t it wise for all of us to take an interest in nature conservation? 

Beware of hazardous waste- Factories and laboratories are the main culprits here, but even individual homes can contribute to this problem. We need to think about the chemicals we use for household purposes (bleach, insecticides, pesticides, detergents) and take care about how we dispose them. If you are working in a factory or a laboratory, you have a responsibility towards the environment. Sometimes, there is no easy way to dispose of these harmful agents, but a little inconvenience is nothing compared to the risks involved. 

Protect the air you breathe- Sounds quite complicated but it’s not really. Burning fuel pollutes the air as we all know so what you have to do is keep this to a minimum. Don’t use a car when you can walk or cycle. Taking public transportation also brings down emission levels. Chicago has set a standard by becoming a bicycle friendly state. Its infrastructure supports cyclists. If you do use your car, make sure it’s fuel efficient and that it doesn’t emit a trail of carbon monoxide when you drive. Not everyone can afford expensive hybrid cars after all. 

Trade in old machines- Ever heard of those offers where you can trade in your TV or the television for a brand new one? Maybe it’s a gimmick or maybe it will actually make a difference to the environment. Old equipment tend to take up more energy. So next time you hear of buy-back events, don’t dismiss it as a foolish notion. 

Recycle- This is the guiding light of nature conservation. Not all of what we con ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Getting the Best Deals Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Remember all those tips we get on how to make the best of holiday shopping or how to get the best bargains? Well some of them may come in handy when it comes to online shopping while others are totally irrelevant.  Online commerce became a trend in the 1990’s. Since then, retailers have developed databases that store important consumer information, like consumer behavior. Such data helps them to develop good sales strategies and to catch customers off guard. But don’t worry, you can avoid being a loser and even win by staying on top of the online shopping game. Here are some tips to help you along:
Say yes to newsletters: Although they may sound like a nuisance and can remind you of spam at times, newsletters issued by retailers can actually help you. Remember, these don’t reach everyone. The newsletters are banking on impulsive shoppers but at the same time, maybe they’ll throw a much needed shopping solution to you.
 According to Harpointner, one of the best ways to score early deals is by signing up for e-mail newsletters from retailers. &amp;quot;Online merchants understand that people are spontaneous,&amp;quot; Harpointner explains. &amp;quot;So if customers receive an e-mail with an offer or coupon that matches their shopping list, there's a good chance they'll make the purchase early.”
Shop early in the holidays: How is it that some people leave their holiday shopping till the last minute? Maybe it’s the fun of the rush or the chance for surprise. But if you really want to get good deals, there is nothing like shopping early during New Year season or any other holiday. 
Believe in coupon codes- If you are on the lookout for discounts, now is the time to collect those coupons, if you haven’t started already. The coupon codes are entered during the checkout. Some coupons offer free shopping, others offer free accessories to a product you have bought. You can type the words ‘coupon code’ together with a product you want in a search engine.  Alternative ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Power of a Big Hug</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Hugs are shared between friends, lovers and families. They are never out of place and they will always make one feel good. Hugs come in different types; there’s the ‘rushing out the door’ hug and the long, comforting hug. There’s the welcome hug and the goodbye hug. Kids in particular love the bear hug. 

No doubt, a hug is a wonderful way to show someone that you care. Sometimes, there is no need for words to be spoken between two people. A hug can convey how you feel to the other. Parents often hug their kids to show affection and to make them feel secure. 

A hug can also help when a kid is feeling emotional, depressed or out of control. It works wonders rather than trying to pacify with words. You need to give your child a good hard hug with a lot of squeezing around the trunk and shoulders to provide some calm. Let’s say a child is crying. By holding on to her rightly, with your arms around her, you can slowly rock her back and forth until the crying stops. It does work! For kids who shy away from frontal hugs, try one from behind. 

No wonder parents use a hug as their secret weapon. Parents themselves calm down too, when they are holding their kids close. Suddenly, all the worries seem to slowly dissipate and it’s just you and your precious one. 

If you ever doubt the power of a hug, remember a family funeral you’ve been to. Think of how a hug had helped to console a family member. It helps to get great sorrow out, letting it spill over as tears. It’s balm to the soul. 

Research has shown that demonstrating love and affection is important to our mental and physical health. This is not limited to a certain age. Kids and adults benefit by a hug. Scientists point out that our body chemistry changes when we are physically close to another person. If you want to know more, then let us tell you that a loving touch, such as the hug, can boost the performance of the immune system. It’s the opposite of what stress does to immune cells. A  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Debt Management- Making Your Life Stress Free</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you wake up every morning to a “debt rise” rather than a sunrise? Are you leading a stress filled life with no peace? Read on and put a full stop to all that debt which is overpowering you...

Have you considered debt settlement? Well if you are desperate, you better start thinking about it. There are plenty of debt settlement companies who would be more than happy to offer you a quick fix method for you to halve your debt overnight! Debt settlement companies usually try to persuade your creditors to accept either a lesser payment or maybe even no payment at all. But a major con of this method is that, your credit rating will fall into the pits. So it’s advisable not to go for this method unless you are extremely desperate. 

On the other hand, credit counseling might be a better option for you. Go to your nearest credit counselor and give him/her a brief idea about your debt situation and about how you find it difficult to settle your debts. Your counselor will then meet your creditors and lay out a debt management plan. This will help you get lower interest rates on due amounts or maybe even lower payments. Creditors want SOMETHING from you rather than NOTHING at all. 

If there’s a large gaping hole in your credit file, go for debt consolidation. The essence of debt consolidation lies in taking a bank loan and using it to pay off all your other debts. This way you make one small monthly payment to the bank and they will apply that money to your creditor (who most probably will accept lower monthly repayments). The drawback lies in the fact that you may have to secure this loan against a major assent, such as your house. The pro is that you’ll therefore get a lower interest! What more, you just have to make ONE MONTHLY payment which will make you feel less psychologically pressurized, compared to 10-20 monthly payments. On the other hand, you may have to pay much more in the long run compared to what you may have paid, if you had settled the deb ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Radiant Skin can Boost your Confidence</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you often wonder why you should look good in the first place? Does it seem like a pointless exercise to look after your skin and make it glow like that of an angel? Well looking good is not all about grabbing eligible bachelors or about having a social life like that of J-Lo or Angelina Jolie. It’s about you and your confidence level.

There’s absolutely no reason for you to believe in the stuff they say on television or on your local radio station or what you trendy friends say, it’s all about you and your confidence! By looking good you are going to feel good about yourself and your life is going to take a whole new angle. When you have glowing skin and thereby a glowing appearance, it’s not only you who feels the radiance and the glow…your kids, your spouse, your parents, your neighbors…EVERYONE will feel it and EVERYONE is going to love you.

Good looking women not only look good but they feel good. They seem to give out this “positive” energy which seems to lure everyone towards them. They have dazzling eyes, they walk gracefully and they talk so smoothly and easily…it’s all about SKY HIGH CONFIDENCE! And where did they get all this from? It’s from the good looks they have because of their perfect skin! On the other hand, always note how (even in cartoons) the nasty looking people are the ones who seem to emanate a lot of negativity; they are displeased, jealous and have absolutely nothing good to say about anyone! Quite true isn’t it? Well life is not all about looks but well looks play a key role in a woman’s life and her confidence.

Eat well and make sure you have healthy eating habits. Eat food which will give you energy for quite some while rather than those which just give you a temporary spurt of energy. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and Nuts! (Yum! Yum!)

Get yourself into a good exercise workout. There’s no need for you to be pumping your biceps and triceps for hours; just go for hal ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>7 Newsletter Writing Secrets That Will Retain More Clients for Life </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[According to the Harvard Business Review, 91% of small businesses do absolutely nothing to retain their existing clients. That means only 9% of small business owners 'get' these facts:
 
- The average American business loses 50% of its customer base every 5 years. 
- An existing customer spends an average of 67% more than new customers. 
- It costs 7 to 9 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an old one.
 
Mailing a monthly newsletter can eliminate all of these problems -- if you do it correctly.
 
A successful newsletter doesn't just 'happen'. It's composed of very specific elements. Without them, you might as well be sending your clients a comic book. 
 
7 Elements Your Newsletter Must Have If You Want to Retain More Clients
 
1.   Content that IS NOT all about you. Many businesses feel compelled to tell everyone how wonderful they are. Forget it. People don't like braggers. Instead, feature content that is interesting and useful. When you've engaged your reader with articles they actually want to read, you'll have earned their trust and respect. This will lead to more sales. 
 
2.   Exciting, new and original content. Your readers should look forward to your newsletters each month. If your articles are boring, people will stop reading -- and you won't get any of the benefits that sending a regular newsletter can bring. 
 
3.   Sense of professionalism.  Your newsletter is an extension of your businesses. You pride yourself on providing personal, professional service or selling quality products. Your newsletters must match your reputation. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes. Write appealing articles. Have an attractive layout design. Print your newsletter on high-quality paper. If it looks like it was published by your 7th grader, you've wasted your time and money. 
 
4.   Personal touch. Continue the initial connection you made with your client by revealing a little about yourself in your newsletter. A personal touch  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3416/7-Newsletter-Writing-Secrets-That-Will-Retain-More-Clients-for-Life.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3416/7-Newsletter-Writing-Secrets-That-Will-Retain-More-Clients-for-Life.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Wonders of Baby Sign Language</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Before babies can begin to vocalize their needs, they must master very complex motor skills. These skills include placement of the tongue, formation of lips, shaping of the nasal passage and controlling the vocal chords. Not being able to communicate needs in a way that others can understand is frustrating for babies and causes loud crying and tantrums. Baby sign language works wonders for babies and parents by developing a way to express feelings, needs and wants. Happy babies turn into happier toddlers being able to express themselves in a successful way.

The wonders of signing with your baby are truly fantastic. Singing babies are able to understand language long before they are able to communicate via speech. The gap between understanding and communication can easily be bridged with sign language. Also contrary to what some believe it is proven that signing babies are able to speak earlier than non signers. 

Babies who have the means to express their needs feel less frustration resulting in fewer tantrums and crying. When babies realize that signing is more productive than whining the crying reduces relieving parental frustration.

Signing babies develop larger vocabularies and score 10 to12 points higher on IQ tests than non signers. On average signers develop 50 more spoken words. Signing babies also show greater interest in books and learning. Signing with babies teaches language through concept and promotes early literacy and encourages early use of complex sentences.

Research shows that being understood by grownups is very important to babies. Sign language gives a baby the tools to communicate therefore babies grow with better self esteem and confidence. For an infant confidence is developed through successful interaction with the people in their environment.

Baby Sign Language increases a baby’s imagination. Signing improves brain function improving creative thinking skills.  Sign language also increases the creative use of language. Signi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Evolution of Online Advertising Technology - Part Two</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Even with the cookie-type behavioral advertising technology, there was a way for users to prevent these ads from targeting them. They could set their machines not to accept any cookies at all by setting their browser security setting to high. This solved the privacy issue, although many websites would (intentionally or not) render improperly with this setting on.

In recent news on the behavioral advertising technology front, Microsoft announced that its newest Internet Explorer, version 8, would have a mode called &amp;quot;InPrivate Blocking&amp;quot; that would prevent cookies from being placed on any machine. At first glance, it would seem that either: 

A. Microsoft is genuinely concerned about online privacy, to the point that the company would allow users to block ads that come from the Microsoft network as well, or
 
B. Microsoft realized that the paltry share of the ad serving market that it currently controls is not as important as inflicting serious damage to Google, which owns a much more significant slice of the online advertising pie (in actuality, at this point, Google's &amp;quot;slice&amp;quot; looks more like Pac-Man, but I digress).

Whatever happens with this flavor of behavioral advertising, there was recently a new type of advertising technology that raised some serious eyebrows, and this one could have been the most nefarious of all.

This latest behavioral advertising technology, brought to the surface by a company called NebuAd, is aimed at tracking user behavior at the ISP level. In other words, there ain't really a whole lot you can do about it. You need your ISP to get online, so your ISP has access to the information that you are accessing when you are online. They don't need no stinkin' cookies, so you can erase them to your heart's content and they'll happily keep tracking along.

For the unscrupulous ISP, this is a no-brainer. You allow NebuAd to install its platform at your service hub and then you split the profits. And this is exactly  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3398/The-Evolution-of-Online-Advertising-Technology--Part-Two.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3398/The-Evolution-of-Online-Advertising-Technology--Part-Two.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Environmental/Conservation Techniques</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Wildlife- To preserve wildlife, there have been many programs based on wildlife management strategies. Such attempts include handling animals in artificial environments to induce breeding, establishing nature reserves and parks and using technology to increase the number of a species population. The nature conservancy has been a popular concept because it is an area that is designated for protection of both land and wildlife. 

Conservationists and scientists have together tried to understand the reasons for loss of species and reduction in populations, in the hope that by identifying causative factors, they can put things right. There have also been various studies to compare the nature of the environment at present, with what it used to be several years back. This is important because ecosystems have changed over the years that they may never retain their original components and links. So, instead of trying to return to the past, which is a time wasting and impractical exercise, conservation strategies should focus on maintaining the current situation, so as to avoid any further dramatic changes. In other words, instead of frowning and doubting new combinations of animals, plants and habitats, we should encourage them as long as they follow the rules of nature. 

Water – New conservation efforts take a much broader view than before. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to the environment too. So the best ways to conserve water is to make sure that we don’t contaminate or deplete our supplies. With water, a good conservation strategy has to be the changing of our mindset. 

Countries such as Japan recycle about 80% of its water. There should be no idea that ‘water is free’. Then only will we be more conscious of how we use water and reduce wastage. Moreover, any conservation effort has to be consistent and continuous. 

Oil – This resource is of course not free, as current fluctuating prices will have us remember. Conservation issues shoul ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Postpartum Expectations- Set your Family up for a Stress free Homecoming</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The biggest ordeal seems to be over. Once the baby is delivered to your eager hands and you see how perfect it is, you will heave a sigh of relief. Finally, time to relax! But wait, there are still more challenges ahead- the homecoming and all it implies.
 
Up to this point, everyone has bestowed their undivided attention on you. There are people to help you with the housework, even your grown kids will generously pitch in. When you leave the comforting care of the hospital, although family members still feel obliged to help you out, they will definitely be distracted by the new arrival. Suddenly the baby is the focus of attention and the life of the party. Housework and even you will be temporarily forgotten as everyone tries to introduce themselves to the little one.
 
It’s not only family members that will flock around the baby. No doubt you will receive many phone calls and text messages from well wishers, who want to come and see your newborn as soon as they can. Add visitors to the already chaotic situation at home, and it’s no wonder that new mothers struggle to cope on a daily basis.
 
So what can you do to avoid becoming a nervous wreck and actually enjoy the first couple of weeks of motherhood? Number one, the planning for the homecoming has to start early. When the baby is born, nobody will in the right frame of mind to organize a nursery. Because you never know when your baby decides to see the world, it’s best to have the nursery arranged at least 2 months in advance of the due date.
 
You would have had to finish the baby shopping well ahead too. It is difficult for a husband to know exactly what is required when it comes to baby items. The nappies, baby dresses, clean towels, baby mats, baby bath and bottles should all be ready for use when you come home.
 
Your husband can be your best ally after the baby is born or he can add to your problems unwittingly. Modern father expect to be actively involved in their baby’s development so d ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How Plastic Bags Kill in the Marine Environment</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In the article on how plastic bags affect the environment, we talked about how these bags can be a menace to innocent animals and even babies. In this article we have illustrated just how this happens. 

First let’s take the marine environment which seems to be at the greatest risk from these bags. Some of the animals that are killed by ingesting this plastic are whales, seals and turtles. These bags when in the water seem to take a life of their own and appear like moving food to hungry marine life. Turtles commonly mistake them for jellyfish. 

Once a plastic bag is swallowed, it is not digested like other food. It gets trapped within the gastric tube, not allowing any other food to go down. This results in starvation. In the case of turtles, the threat is higher because turtles don’t have the mechanism to regurgitate what they have swallowed. The downward facing spines in their throats prevent the bag from coming out, instead tangling it even more. Food trapped in the gut causes gases to accumulate in the body cavity of the animal, making them float and unable to search for food in deep waters. It even makes them easy prey for secondary predators. 

Plastic bags are so persistent even in the gut of an animal. For instance, if the animal that has swallowed the bag is eaten by another animal, the second animal too will be at risk of choking on the plastic. If the animal that swallowed the plastic bag dies in the water, its body decomposes but the plastic is released back into the water where it can kill again. 

There are many examples of such sad stories. In 2002, a minke whale was beached in France having eaten almost a kilogram of plastic bags. The plastic can act like a chemical sponge-it absorbs pollutants in the sea and becomes quite toxic if swallowed. This leads to prolonged suffering and ultimately death. 

According to Environment California, about 1 million marine animals are killed every year due to plastic bags. A UN study in 2006 reveale ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3341/How-Plastic-Bags-Kill-in-the-Marine-Environment.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3341/How-Plastic-Bags-Kill-in-the-Marine-Environment.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How much Make-Up is the Right Amount?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As women, we all love to use makeup to enhance our features and improve our appearance. Based on our mood, the occasion and time of day, we change our makeup to bring out the best effects. But most often women wonder, ‘am I wearing enough makeup’ or ‘is my makeup a bit too much’. I am sure you too have been in doubt about the amount of makeup you should apply and would suit you best. 

How do you determine the right amount of makeup for your face? The following pointers would help you in coming to a decision on your makeup usage and guide you towards achieving the right amount of makeup for yourself. 

·	Foundation – If the color of your neck and hands stand out from your face, then you are obviously using the wrong shade of foundation. Where as caked up foundation is definitely ‘too much’ makeup, the wrong color also brings out the same disastrous effects. So when you choose a foundation, match it against the darkest shade on your cheek, thus enabling it to blend with your overall skin tones
·	Mascara – Do not over do your mascara, you may lose the feel of your eyelashes and your eyes may seem heavy and brooding. Two layers should do the trick to add volume to even the most scanty eye lashes, enhancing them in a most natural and attractive manner. Take short breaks between applications, allowing for the mascara to dry on your lashes and prevent clumping
·	Eye shadow – If your eyes appear overly highlighted, making them look like two blotches on your face, then you have too much eye shadow on. Apply your shadow to blend with your skin tones, with lighter tones at the periphery. Never use excess eye shadow during the day, as this can make you appear presumptuous 
·	Lipstick – It is very important to choose the right lipsticks shades to suit your face and skin tones. Where as excess lipstick may not bring out dramatic effects, unsuitable shades will definitely make you appear to be wearing too much makeup 

Always strive to achieve tha ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>If you don’t use it get rid of it</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
”If you've been feeling lethargic or depressed, your stuff may be to blame”
 
As you start clearing your unwanted stuff, you’ve probably already covered this step, which is called sorting and gathering. Go through each item and try to remember the last time you used it. And ask yourself whether it is important. If it is not important get rid of it. By sorting and gathering you will easily recognize the unwanted stuff. Don't keep things around just because they might be used someday and just because it has little importance to you. It doesn't mean that someone else won't treasure it. Even if you only have one item left from a set, such as one glass, one lamp or one chair, make sure you put it out for sale. There are people who are always on the hunt for odd items to add to their own collection. 
 
Some popular items are:
1.	Clothes
2.	CDs/ tapes
3.	Toys
4.	Books/ Magazines/ Newspapers
5.	Sports equipment
Preparing - Pick a day for your sale. At least prepare and advertise to sell within 3 weeks. Check with your neighbors whether they have something to sell. So that you both can host one sale together. Choose a time and decide how many hours you’ll need to sell your stuff. Get some extra tables. If you display your items methodically, it will increase your sales and help you to be more organized. 
Advertising - The key to any successful event is getting the word out. When you are advertising your sale, place an Ad in the local newspaper. It should also include information on where the sale is located with directions. It is important to place your Ad at least two days before the sale, and then have it run until the day of your event. 
Pricing - Before you start to give a value to your stuff, make sure you give them a reasonable price. If there is an item that you're not sure of its value, try to get it appraised before you place a price ticket on it. You could be giving away something valuable at a lesser price. 
 Display -Make sure everything yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3299/If-you-dont-use-it-get-rid-of-it.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3299/If-you-dont-use-it-get-rid-of-it.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Bonding through Baby Sign Language</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Babies love attention. They cry, laugh and whimper in an attempt to express their various needs and explore their bond with others. Many are in the mind set that it is good to allow a baby to cry, but with the advances in research it is proven that it is essential to respond to an infants cry, because this helps build a trusting relationship between a parent and baby.  Attending to a baby on demand gives him the confidence that his mommy and daddy will always be there to help him with the things he can’t do for himself. If he can trust you today with those diaper changes and bottle feedings, tomorrow he will have the confidence to trust you with more important issues we all wish our children will share with us. In order to be secure, healthy and happy wee ones need all the cuddling, love and attention parents can give.

Research also shows that bonding with babies is fundamental in helping them form their first model for intimate relationships developed later in their lives. If this early parent-baby bond is not established he may grow up insecure, anxious and with a lack of self- confidence.

Every parent wants’ a special bond with their baby and provide them with the best start in life, but in truth, babies can be inscrutable at times; infants lack the ability to speak words so parents don’t understand the message. This causes frustration on both sided. Baby sign language can correct that problem and thus strengthen the parent-baby relationship through communication. 

Babies lack the type of motor skills that enable speech, but they do have the ability to understand and use language well before they are able to do so verbally. Think about it, teaching a baby to sign is a very natural process; you capitalize on a baby’s natural tendency to use his hands to get what he wants. By six months most babies use there hands to communicate, for example, stretching their arms to be picked up. The idea of using baby sign language is to increase their signing vo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Tips to keep you out of Debt</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Just like food and water, debt seems to be an inevitable part of everyone’s life in the times of today. Increasing needs and limited salary are the top two reasons for you to land in debt. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to wake up in the morning and not have to worry about paying your credit card bills or your telephone bills? It’s all not that difficult; just that it requires a lot of discipline! Soon you will realize that you can stay out of debt not only for days or months but for your entire lifetime…

1. Think “NO” to credit cards!
Next time you go shopping and move towards the paying counter, don’t dive into your handbag looking for a credit card. Leave them behind at home! Say to yourself that “credit card purchases” are taboo. At the end of the month you’ll realize how much money you would have saved in terms of unnecessary purchases AND interest.

2. Let a budget rule you!
Set out a budget for the month ahead of you. More importantly, try your best to stick to your budget. Also, at the end of the month, just because you have some extra cash left over, don’t let yourself spend it, rather try to save it for an emergency fund which you may need later.

3. Cut down on small temptations
Just because you are trying to cut down on expenditure doesn’t mean you have to cut down on meals and save money. Just keep yourself away from small temptations. Small temptations can drain your money easily because you have little or no track of the $10 that you spent every day, for a whole month. The month end will see you looking in every nook and corner for that $300.

4. Learn the art of bargaining
Don’t grab something and pay right away. Sellers (especially street hawkers) always add a very lash margin to their price so that they can get the expected profit even after bargaining. So don’t lose out on that opportunity! Keep harping on the seller to reduce the price.

5. Self – control is essential
Don’t walk into a store and pick ever ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Reviews from past Customers are a great way to evaluate a Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Consumers encompass all types of people. There is no size or style that fits all. That’s why successful marketing requires understanding the dynamics of the client base. And that’s why, although ads make consumers aware of a product or service, they are not always enough to influence buying decisions.

Among the different types of consumers, it’s the humanistic ones (those concerned about relationships) that really look to past reviews for help. A review is personal. It tells readers something about the writer too, not only about the product or service being reviewed. For instance, young consumers, say teens, will identify reviews written by like minded individuals and read them before making a purchase. Adults will be drawn to more mature, fact-based reviews. So, it’s important for customer reviews of a business to reflect the different segments of the population, unless the business is targeted to a specific age category.

Consumers can use a review to know whether a product is reliable and lives up to its name. Or they can use a review to evaluate a service-based business, like catering. Local reviews are especially important because of the higher degree of trust and ‘community feeling’ among consumers. Plus, the same stock will be evaluated. In other words, if you live in Kentucky, you’d be happier to read a local review on a lawnmower you’ve been eyeing, rather than read about a similar review from New York.

When it comes to restaurants and hotels, reviews are very much in demand. With a product, you can go to a nearby showroom and try it out before you make the purchase but with hotels and eateries, you’ll reach the destination and then experience the facilities available. So if the place is not to your liking, it’s a waste of the whole trip. It’s even worse if you pay for the booking beforehand and then realize it’s not what you expected. Hotel websites are sometimes misleading. The rooms in the image gallery are not always what ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3254/Reviews-from-past-Customers-are-a-great-way-to-evaluate-a-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3254/Reviews-from-past-Customers-are-a-great-way-to-evaluate-a-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Getting through a Break-up</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When two people are together, who’s to know if it will work out or not? If you’ve just broken up with your partner and are now relegated to being an ‘ex’, don’t take it too personally. It does not mean you are a failure or that you can’t have a successful relationship in the future. All it means is that you and Mr. X were just not meant to be. Here are a few ways to get over your break up and get back on your feet:

1) Deal with what went wrong - We all need closure when life doesn’t turn out the way we planned. If your boss fires you, you’d want to know what led to it. In the same way, when a relationship ends without you knowing that it was headed for the rocks, you’d be left wondering. Maybe you didn’t see it coming, maybe you missed the signs. Accept that you may be at fault too and that the problem was not one-sided. If it was you who ended the relationship, you still may not know exactly why you wanted to stop. The first step in getting over a break up is to understand what went wrong. It will make you better prepared for another relationship. 

2) Let it go - In your efforts to figure out why you two grew apart, don’t try to put things right. That’s one big mistake some women make. We don’t like the idea of not succeeding, so we want to try again. It might work for a job application but it doesn’t always work for a relationship. It’ll just make you hope for something which might not be there and make you more miserable in the end. Letting go is hard but believe me, that’s the best relationship advice we can give to you right now. 

3) Focus on other aspects of your life - The end of a relationship doesn’t mean your world fell apart, although it may seem that way at first. Life still goes on, your friends and family still cares about you and (if you are working) your job demands performance. By turning your attention and your energy to other things, even if you have to force it, you are rebuilding your self esteem. That  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3253/Getting-through-a-Breakup.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3253/Getting-through-a-Breakup.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Spirit of Halloween</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Halloween is just around the corner, and the sprit of Halloween can be seen by the decorations in stores and the excitement and preparations at homes, especially with children, to get their Halloween costume and go out with their friends and families to go trick or treating. What is the history behind this celebration? How did this custom and fun begin?

The origin behind Halloween dates way back to ancient festival of Samhain, called the Celtic festival of the Celts. On November 1st, the Celts celebrated their new year. This was recognized as the end of the harvest and summer and beginning of winter, which they associated with death of humans. The Celts carried a belief that on October 31st, the night before New Year the boundary weakens between the dead and living. It was on this day that they celebrated Samhain, the day they believed that ghosts of dead return to earth. 

The Celts, to commemorate this event, celebrated this day by means of building large sacred bonfires, and people gathered around it to burn animals and crops as sacrifices to Celtic deities. It was customary during this event to wear costumes consisting of skins and heads of animals. 

With the Romans conquering a major territory of the Celt, with time they combined two roman origin festivals with ‘Samhain’. But a greater change was brought upon after Christianity spread to the Celtic lands. This was the All Saints Day on the 1st of November and the All Souls Day on November 2nd. All Saints Day was also referred to as All-Hallows meaning All Saints and the night before it, October 31st, the night of Samhain, was referred to as the All-Hallows Eve. Gradually this became Halloween. This is how Halloween came to be.

Today, Halloween is a day of fun and enjoyment for all, especially children. Schools and offices organize events inline with Halloween. The stores in the streets are decorated to give the sense of Halloween.  Children and adults alike dress in costumes. They enjoy by lighti ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Online Advertising Technology - More Targeting, Less Privacy (Part One)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Please bear with me as I go through a brief history of basic online advertising. The evolution of targeted online advertising is interesting, because I believe the perceived harmlessness of early advertising technology and targeting tactics lulled many people into a sense of complacency or perhaps even false security.

In the beginning of targeted online advertising, there were banner ads. As many people recall, these were supposed to drive the Internet marketing industry in its infancy. Scads of publishers paid scads of money based on a CPI (cost per impression) model or simply paid huge dollars for banner ads and other targeted online advertising on well-trafficked sites.

Then something crazy happened - nothing. It turns out that the banner advertising technology on the Internet was not the magic bullet it was purported to be. The old way of making money based on providing content (the way magazines and newspapers ran advertising) just didn't seem to work in this context.

This new advertising technology was part of the reason for the collapse of the dot-bomb era. All the talk was about &amp;quot;eyeballs,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;stickiness,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;bleeding edge,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;cradle to grave,&amp;quot; and several other terms that, in retrospect, would have sounded more at home in a Wes Craven movie than in an emerging industry. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of business models depended on a traditional marketing strategy working more or less the same as it always had when introduced into a non-traditional setting.  

All the while, one company, originally called GoTo, then Overture, and finally bought by Yahoo!, actually formulated a targeted online advertising system that worked - keyword advertising. Companies could bid on a per-click basis for certain key terms, which sent valuable traffic to its website.

Obviously, the improvement in advertising technology had to do with the model itself, which was perpetuated on relevance. By only bidding on keyphrases that you wa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3246/Online-Advertising-Technology--More-Targeting-Less-Privacy-Part-One.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3246/Online-Advertising-Technology--More-Targeting-Less-Privacy-Part-One.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Best Advertising Methods on the Internet</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are various advertising methods one can use to promote their business website on the internet, but it can also be tough to get your site in front of all the other sites offering similar products or services. Using the internet can get your product out to millions of people but without proper marketing there is no sense. Your site will just site there in cyberspace with no visitors.

When a person wants to promote their website on the internet they may wonder how it is possible to get people to see their site when there are billions of other sites to look at. It may be a difficult task but it definitely is possible. It takes some work and some time to get the traffic you want  but it can happen.

When we have a business and we use the internet to promote it we should also promote ourselves. People will get to know you, the website owner/operator, as a person and not just another website trying to sell something.

Whenever possible, have a picture of yourself on you websites and blogs. This will give your potential customers a chance to put a face to the name.

Post in forums that are related to your industry and provide quality advice and information. This is also an excellent place to have a picture of yourself so everyone knows who they are talking to or reading advice from. Forums are a great place to learn for yourself also. 

Writing and submitting articles is always a great way to get your name out there and in good standing with potential customers. Provide unique valuable information and your readers will wait for more. In your profile with the article directory you can post a little biography and sometimes a picture so people will know you better. Make sure to include the link to your website in your resource at the end of each article.

Blogging is a more personal way to get the word out about your business. You can include personal stories or just write in your own way that is more personal and not as formal as an article should be. With  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3245/Best-Advertising-Methods-on-the-Internet.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3245/Best-Advertising-Methods-on-the-Internet.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Affiliate Marketing for Stay at Home Moms</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Mothers who stay at home to care for their children may feel guilty for not contributing to the family financially. There is no reason to feel guilty, but it may be an issue anyway. You may be conflicted inside because there would be guilt either way you turned. If you went out to get a job, you would have to leave the children and find trustworthy child care. If you stay home the guilt mentioned earlier may come into play.

There is a solution to this conflict and that is to start your own home business. It a win, win situation. You can be there for the children, knowing they are getting the care they need and you can earn money to contribute to the family finances. Some may wonder where to begin or what kind of business to start.

There is a very simple solution and that is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing for stay at home moms is probably the easiest way to start a work at home business. It does not require stocking and processing products, handling money or shipping goods. When doing affiliate marketing it usually requires you to advertise or market that company's products or services. Most companies will supply a website for you to use in your advertising efforts. 

In order to earn an income you would have to make sales using your website or recruit others to become affiliate marketers just as you are. There are a lot of companies that offer a free affiliate program and some that require a monthly fee, and there are also others that require a monthy purchase of products in order to earn commissions. 

Some people are put off by having to buy the products but if the company has products that are of high quality and is something that we would use anyway, it can be a good thing. If we use the products that we are promoting it is a lot easier to make a sale. If you believe in what you are selling, you will want to share it with others and only have good things to say about the company and products. 

When finding a company to become an affiliate  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3244/Affiliate-Marketing-for-Stay-at-Home-Moms.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3244/Affiliate-Marketing-for-Stay-at-Home-Moms.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Does the CAN-SPAM Act Mean to Email Marketers?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In 2003, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act  (the CAN-SPAM act) became law. It was a big step toward cleaning up the &amp;quot;Wild West&amp;quot; of email marketing. Continuing that clean-up earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) modified the act, with changes that include letting email marketers use their &amp;quot;accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox&amp;quot; instead of a &amp;quot;valid physical postal address&amp;quot; in their emails.

How Your Email Service Provider (ESP) Should Help

Reputable ESPs make it very easy to comply with key CAN-SPAM provisions. The law requires that your subscribers have a way to unsubscribe from your emails. Most ESPs help you comply by placing an unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email.

The law requires that you use a valid From email address. Some ESPs automatically send a validation email to the From email address or addresses you choose. This prevents email marketers from using an invalid email From address.

In addition, as noted earlier, the law requires that you include a postal box or physical mailing address in each commercial email you send.

What You Must Include in Every Email Marketing Message You Send
The CAN-SPAM act requires you to include a valid postal address in all of your emails. Most ESPs will take action if you attempt to send emails through their system without complying with this requirement. Although easy enough to do, many people seem to forget this rule. But it is just good marketing, as greater transparency leads to greater trust by your subscribers.

The law requires that your emails include a relevant subject line. This is not only good law but it is smart marketing. If your email does not contain a good, relevant subject line, you are not only going to be out of compliance, you won't entice your subscribers to consider your offer. Nobody wants to be bamboozled by deceptive or ambiguous a subject line.

In addition, studies hav ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3227/What-Does-the-CANSPAM-Act-Mean-to-Email-Marketers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3227/What-Does-the-CANSPAM-Act-Mean-to-Email-Marketers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The hunt for quality email lists - An expert's perspective</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In any company, the sales representatives have the toughest time finding quality business email lists. For some, it is just a matter of taking some smart moves and Bingo! - The most awaited mailing list is ready. However, for others it’s not that way. A sales representative has two choices- to hunt for prospects or reap the existing ones. Well, reaping is not a bad idea; this  fortifies the buyer–customer relationship for a better future. However, the real adventure is in hunting and bringing in the hot business prospects- a list of potential clients who will surely be long-term customers in days to come.

A sales representative should have the drive to hunt for hungry prospects. There are different ways by which a sales representative can compile hot email lists.

Getting Email Lists from authentic sellers

A company can buy authentic email lists from authentic sources can provide you lists of relevant, existing, double opt-in leads. Such email marketing lists act as the best tools for smart sales representatives to start business with.

Finding Email Lists through search engines

Some companies use search engines and prepare a list of company names and addresses from different sources like conferences, news articles, company's own websites, etc. All this will provide the name and contact details, but cannot assure its accuracy. Say “No” to such lists at once and go for the first option.

Creating Mailing Lists

This method has its boon and banes. The sales representatives understand the business requirements and compile the business mailing lists themselves after consulting various sources. After preparing this million dollar list, they execute the sales process. However, this is often a tedious process. 

Whether you create an email list or go for authentic email lists from trusted sources, email lists are something that you just can't ignore in today's scenario. Get a powerful email marketing list today to stay ahead of your business comp ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3216/The-hunt-for-quality-email-lists--An-experts-perspective.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3216/The-hunt-for-quality-email-lists--An-experts-perspective.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Bring in an income as a Supply Purchaser</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The latest innovations in internet technology have opened doors for individuals to easily work from the comfort of their own homes. Nowadays more and more people are opting to work from home as it eliminates the hassles of commuting and the costs involved in traveling, office attire and day care. Moreover it provides flexible working hours and additional time to spend with the family. Independent individuals, who work remotely, also known as Virtual Assistants, usually provide services which fall into categories such as administrative, technical or even creative, utilizing advanced technological means for communication and data delivery with clients located globally. 

Possessing previous experience in a given field along with good communication skills, time management skills, computer literacy and self motivation enables any individual to start out his/her own home based business venture. A great service area to undertake as a virtual assistant is the supply purchaser field. As a supply purchaser you would be buying goods for companies or organizations located worldwide taking into consideration the price, quality, availability, reliability and technical support offered by the suppliers. Your main task would be to obtain the best deals for your clients, meaning the highest quality goods at the lowest possible price. In order to maintain a steady stream of communication with your clients as well as with the suppliers you would generally rely on phone calls, faxes, emails, courier services and postal mail. The data exchange between you and your clients would also take place through online instant messaging services, file transfer protocols, intranets and special software programs. 

To start off your own business venture as a supply purchaser you would require a dependable computer, printer, fax machine, phone line and a high speed internet connection. A major step to undertake in order to get your venture established is the marketing aspect of the business. It i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3215/Bring-in-an-income-as-a-Supply-Purchaser.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3215/Bring-in-an-income-as-a-Supply-Purchaser.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Tips for Business Success from a Woman Entrepreneur</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Why would a woman making a six-figure salary in Silicon Valley choose to leave her high profile position with Cisco to create a product that used no 21st Century technology? 
 
Because almost thirty years of working with Silicon Valley's top technology companies can take a toll on a gal's ability to stop and see, much less smell the roses! During a trip to Italy, far away from friends and family and immersed in a culture that lives in the moment, I realized what I'd lost sight of. 
 
And that's where the idea for Adesso Albums was born. Six years later, Adesso Albums is an international company with more than a million dollars in annual revenue. 
 
So how did I do it?
 
10 tips for Success in Business – Based on My Personal Experience:
 
1. Embrace change. It's an inevitable part of running a business. Rather than fighting it, wasting valuable time and eventually losing, you're better off anticipating, planning for, and embracing change. As a small business owner you should be nimble and react quickly in a variety of ways. If you look at change as an opportunity to grow, you will!
 
2. Use technology. Do more with less by automating routine processes with web-based applications. These applications increase productivity and free you, your staff and your resources to focus on more important tasks. And, these applications can be accessed from anywhere
 
3. Keep your eye on the ball. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutia of running a business. Constantly ask yourself if your daily activities get you closer to your overall goals for the company. It will keep you on track and stop you from spending time on the wrong things.
 
4. Know your differentiators. Compare your products and services to the real, as well as the perceived competition. A competing concept can be even more threatening than an actual product. Unless you have thought about what differentiates your product or service from everything that's out there, your marketing efforts ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3213/10-Tips-for-Business-Success-from-a-Woman-Entrepreneur.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3213/10-Tips-for-Business-Success-from-a-Woman-Entrepreneur.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Affect of Plastic Bags on our Environment</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It’s hard to say when we began to turn into obsessive consumers but nobody can doubt that we are just that. At least most of us! A direct result of this is heavy dependence on plastic bags. From USA to Africa, from Asia to Australia, everybody is guilty of using them at some point in their lives. What does this mean for the environment?

First of all, a plastic bag can take up to 500 years to break down and decompose. The irony here is that we usually use a bag just once and then toss it in the garbage. So it’s no surprise that the number of plastic bags used around the world in a day is tremendously high. A recent study estimates that in a year, as much as a trillion bags are consumed worldwide. This translates into considerable landfill and pollution. Not all bags end up in a landfill, however. Some enter rivers, sewers and even seas. They block waterways and drainages and create more pollution issues.

In the oceans, plastic bags float and mislead turtles and other marine animals that swallow them as food. Some marine biologists think that plastic bags seem like jellyfish, an appetizer, to some marine life. These bags can even drift far away into the doldrums, where many of the floating junk accumulates and may create new water pollution problems in the near future.

Plastic bags are thin and light which means they are easily carried by the wind. They are easily blown around and get caught on trees, littering gardens and parks. Not only is this unsightly but it can kill small animals such as insects and birds. Plastic bags seem harmless enough to an adult human but they can suffocate unsuspecting animals and even babies. 
 
Can plastic bags be burnt and got rid of that way? It’s possible yes, but impractical because of the greenhouse gases that are emitted in the process. These gases play a direct role in global warming. In fact, even the production process of plastic bags releases such toxic gases that remain in the atmosphere for a considerable ti ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3212/The-Affect-of-Plastic-Bags-on-our-Environment.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3212/The-Affect-of-Plastic-Bags-on-our-Environment.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Free articles are a great way to advertise your business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Come on, think about it, how many of you love to visit websites that have free articles which you can read without having to pay a single cent? I’m sure most of you would be raising your hands! 

Free articles are, undoubtedly, a great way to get a lot of people to visit your website and retain their traffic. Therefore, make sure you stick to the following points when writing articles: 

1. Be familiar with your readers 

We write articles so that they will be of interest to other people. Therefore, make sure you give some thought to what your readers will be interested in, and make sure your articles are focused on such matters. Get to know about what they like and dislike. To do this, put up some surveys on your site inquiring about their areas of interest. 

2. It’s not going to be easy! 

A big misconception that people have regarding writing is that it’s very easy thing to do, but I highly doubt that journalists and writers around the world will agree with you. More-so, if you write to earn, it makes it all the more difficult. Most great literature writers have received recognition after their death, so it should give you a fair idea of what I’m trying to say here. 

3. Don’t flaunt your knowledge 

Often, many to-be-writers think that using all sorts of complex words will make their articles look very nice, but, in fact it only serves to alienate your readers. Therefore, make sure that you let someone read your article and see if he/she understands it. Just remember that the hallmark of a good writer is his/her ability to present the most complex matter in the easiest and simplest manner possible. 

4. Polish up your spelling 

Most word processors like MS Word or Open Office always do a great work when it comes to checking your spelling and grammatical mistakes. You can also get your spellings checked at www.dictionary.com. However, if you really want to see an improvement in your grammar, make sure you spend at least 30 minutes ev ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3211/Free-articles-are-a-great-way-to-advertise-your-business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3211/Free-articles-are-a-great-way-to-advertise-your-business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Museum visits provide an excellent day trip for families</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As parents we are always looking out for a chance to expose our kids to the wonders of the world. We hope to make each experience an educative one. Field trips are a popular way of achieving this goal. Visits to the museums are also becoming important family outings as museums are fast becoming accessible, fun venues instead of the lifeless, formal institutions they used to be. 

Some parents don’t even think of the museum option fearing that it will be too tedious and boring for their exuberant kids. Others fear that the young ones will misbehave and be an unwelcome attraction. Parents sometimes don’t realize that their kids may enjoy museums much more at that age rather than when grown up. 

You don’t need an Art degree or a sound knowledge of history to teach your kids about the exhibits in the museum. Everything on display will carry a description. At other times, there will be interactive sessions for your kids to take part in. These are valuable learning tools and will provide entertainment as well. 

Some museums even offer family programs. Parent workshops are held to make the adults aware of how best they can use the experience to enrich their kid’s minds. Basically, there are activities that will interest toddlers or teenagers, allowing them to explore and create art or understand and appreciate history.   

Don’t just decide on a whim that you’ll take a trip to the museum the next day. If you really want to benefit from your outing, plan well. Otherwise, both you and the kids will be tired and listless at the end of the day. That won’t lead to a memorable experience. No matter how small your local museum may be, keep a whole day free for the visit, although you won’t be there that long. 

Next, you can check online for local directories to plan the museum tour. Note down the most interesting sections of the building that will surely interest your kids. If you know that your child is learning about Red Indians at school, you know  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3210/Museum-visits-provide-an-excellent-day-trip-for-families.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3210/Museum-visits-provide-an-excellent-day-trip-for-families.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Heart of E-commerce - Targeted Email Marketing </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Rise in Spam issues and dwindling ROI from bulk email practices has lead  marketers  to adopt targeted email marketing. Change from generic email marketing to  targeted email campaigns have stepped-up lead generation and increased response rates.

Targeted email marketing allows businesses to practice precision marketing where only the intended recipients are targeted. In targeted email campaigns, emails are send only to specific recipients based on their requirement and need.

ROI from targeted email campaigns

Returns and response from targeted emails invoke increased attention and more positive response than randomly delivered email campaigns. Reasons are obvious, mails are send only to those who have expressed desire to receive your email communication.

Targeted email marketing services require quality and segmented database. Division of your entire customer data file into different customer group based on revenue, buying preference, behavior or demographic characters are essential to bring positive returns. 

Why targeted email campaigns works

Email marketing works for a variety of reasons

It works on quality data
It allows targeting 
It is effective and versatile 
It drives direct sales 
It builds one-to-one relationships and trust 
It supports marketing team 

Improve campaign through targeted email marketing services

The ROI of email by targeting interested customers with clear, relevant content can  drive relationship on a spiral gain. Studies have shown that targeted email campaign  has the ability to increase returns by nine-fold  than compared with broadcast campaigns.

The crucial element in targeted email marketing solutions is to understand  user behavior and deliver appropriate messages containing natural product or service affiliates. 

Conclusion 
Next time you send email promotions, include clear message strategy based on value and offering. Flavor your promotion by adding relevant personalization based on customer  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3193/Heart-of-Ecommerce--Targeted-Email-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3193/Heart-of-Ecommerce--Targeted-Email-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is Your Client Newsletter Boring Your Customers to Death?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you making this dreadful newsletter marketing mistake?
 
The typical client newsletter is one of the most mind-numbing, agonizingly boring pieces of mail ever sent to consumers. 
 
The main reason is that most companies think what they do is incredibly fascinating to their clients. So based on this false assumption, their newsletters cheerfully discuss the latest equipment purchase or the new back office operation and how Mary Sue has moved from Payroll to Marketing.  While this might be riveting stuff internally, I can assure you that your clients just don't care. 
 
If you're making this newsletter marketing mistake, don't worry. It's not your fault. No one ever taught you the system, until now…
 
4 'Set in Stone' Rules to Publishing a Winning Client Newsletter:
 
Rule #1:  Never make your business or company the focus of your client newsletter.  This concept is difficult for most business owners to wrap their minds around.  Read my words:  Our clients don't care about how our business operates!  The sooner we accept this fact, the sooner we will be sending them something that they actually want to read.
 
Rule #2: Focus on article content that people grab hold of and actually use in their lives.  That means you must provide appealing and interesting content that is relevant, useful and engaging.  The goal is to create involvement.  The more time they spend with your newsletter, the more likely they'll take action. 
 
Rule # 3:  Be consistent.  If you tell your customers to expect a newsletter from you every month, you better do it. And ask yourself: How often do I want my customers and prospects to think of me?  While daily would be wonderful, it's not going to happen.  Following a monthly newsletter schedule is perfect. They will expect to receive it just like they do their favorite magazines. 
 
Rule #4:  Never forget that a client newsletter is a marketing tool. Within your compelling content weave client testimonials and the names of peo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3189/Is-Your-Client-Newsletter-Boring-Your-Customers-to-Death.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3189/Is-Your-Client-Newsletter-Boring-Your-Customers-to-Death.php</link>
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      <title><strong> The Importance of Annual Mammograms</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Breast cancer is common among women and early detection will lower the risk of death. Detection in the past has been dependent on signs of lumps or other abnormalities, but that could be too late and fatal for many women. 

Mammograms are the best method for early diagnosis of breast cancer. It is a form of x-ray of the breast and it is found to be accurate and safe. A mammogram is not a preventive measure and neither is it a cure, but is only a detection method.  Breast cancer is rare among the young and therefore it is recommended that women over 40 years undergo an annual mammogram. If they are at high risk, even earlier is better. If detected early before the cancer can spread to other parts of the body, the treatment will not require removal of the breast. Those who undergo annual mammograms reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer. The radiation risk for those over 40 years is minimal.

Breast cancers if undetected can cause so much trauma and pain, both body and soul, to a person, as well as their families. The financial burden may cripple the families’ resources too. There will be a chain reaction to such a situation. Starting with surgery to radiation, there is no knowing what one will have to undergo and the tension one has to live with, wondering what would happen next, is very distressing indeed. Mothers with young children or little ones will find their situation even worse, as they may not have the strength (especially after radiation treatment) and nor the will power to take care of their children. In most cases they may not even be able to find others to help them take care of their children nor have the financial backup to find baby sitters to do so. The home environment for themselves and their families can become so depressing and these situations can even become the reason for breakups in marriages, though that should not be the case. 

In countries like the USA where health insurance is a must in the absence of welfare, it could turn  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3187/The-Importance-of-Annual-Mammograms.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3187/The-Importance-of-Annual-Mammograms.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Using Competitive Intelligence Gathering Techniques at Tradeshows</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[&amp;quot;This looks absolutely amazing!&amp;quot; The attendee was smiling, eyes bright, a wide grin.  &amp;quot;If this is what I think it is, I'm pretty sure this piece of equipment will solve all of our problems.&amp;quot; He turned to the booth staffer, a young woman at her very first show.  &amp;quot;Could you tell me how it works?&amp;quot;

The staffer, thrilled at the possibility of selling a piece of equipment that sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars, was more than accommodating.  She answered every question, even the most technical.  When the prospect wanted to take some pictures, she helped him get good shots -- from every conceivable angle.

When the prospect left, he had every relevant piece of sales literature.  He also had a dozen great digital pictures, the card of the booth staffer, and a promise that someone from the exhibitor's company would be following up directly after the show.

However, the attendee didn't let the grass grow under his feet.  His organization was in touch with the exhibitor's organization within days.

However, instead of a purchase order, the communication was coming from the attendee's legal department -- who had a pretty good case that the exhibitor's display model was based on their proprietary design!

Tradeshows offer the most overt intelligence gathering environment imaginable.  There is no other place where you can find all of the companies in one industry gathered in a convenient location, with all their offerings on display.  Helpful booth staffers will answer questions, often those questions that should raise red flags among an exhibiting team.

This can work against you, or, as illustrated in the story above, it can work for you.  The world is getting smaller every day.  Ideas are stolen. They're copied, reverse engineered, you name it.  However, as the owner and originator of these ideas, you may have no idea that this has happened -- until you stumble across the results at a tradeshow or industry event.

In an incr ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3185/Using-Competitive-Intelligence-Gathering-Techniques-at-Tradeshows.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3185/Using-Competitive-Intelligence-Gathering-Techniques-at-Tradeshows.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Learn to Consolidate your Bills</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Have you been unsuccessfully trying to break down that mountain of debt? Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Don’t worry; it is not as impossible as you think. The important thing is to remember you will only worsen things by taking a loan to settle another loan. So instead of trading one debt for another, why not try and consolidate your bills so that you can pay them off in one go and gain instant debt relief.

Pull yourself together, take an hour or two and make a list of all your payments. Go over what you owe, credit card balances, pending bills, other debts and also the amount of your disposable income every month.

If you think you should first figure out how to nullify your credit card balance and if you are planning to get a mortgage (on your house), remember that you have to not only pay a lesser interest on a mortgage loan but its tax deductible too!

The monthly debt repayment amount for a consolidated loan has to be less than the total amount that you are paying out now. One huge bill is much easier to look after than several small ones.

Most importantly, once you’ve decided to go into an agreement with either a mortgage company or a financial institution, read the contract! Make sure there’s no mention of a pre payment penalty in case you pay the loan off earlier than the terms stated in your contract. If the company offers free online payment, be happy about it! It’s the easiest way to pay your loan back!

Consider loan consolidation as a way to save money and gain debt relief through a means of debt management. If you enter into an agreement which allows you to pool many bills into one large bill, remember you will most probably be saving money each month. Apply that saving on your consolidated bill. Make sure your loan company doesn’t have any problems with you paying additional money on your account.

Furthermore you’ll be relieved when you have to do your taxes in the New Year. This is because if you consolidate your bills by  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3184/Learn-to-Consolidate-your-Bills.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3184/Learn-to-Consolidate-your-Bills.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Pros and Cons of Private Label Rights and Free Reprint Content</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[PLR and Free Reprint Content are both popular options that website owners use when trying to drive traffic to their site. While both content choices are excellent ones to use, it’s sometimes difficult to decide which one to use when. Each option has benefits and drawbacks that could either help you or harm you. In order to know which choice to use for your needs, you should explore the pros of cons of both. 

Free Reprint Content

Free reprint content are articles that are provided on article directories for others to use on their own websites as well as give readers informative material to read. The author of the article is usually deemed an expert in the field they’re writing about. 

Pros 

Free reprint articles are free to use on your website. They come already written for you and are easy to grab and publish on your own web pages. You don’t have to be an expert in the topic your website is about, because the author of your reprint takes care of that role for you.
 
Cons 

The downside to using reprint articles is the fact that you have to reprint the article with the author’s bio and links along with the content. This can be costly to you if the author of the reprint you chose created an article that proves to be useless. Some of those authors publish material on the directories just to have links back to their sites. They don’t put much thought and effort into the article itself. 

If your reprint falls under that category of useless material, your credibility for your online business is now in jeopardy; due to your site publishing it and giving the impression that you promote the author. When your credibility is down, your sales could come down.
 
Private Label Rights

Private label rights or PLR content comes in the form of articles and reports. This form of content is pre-written for you on a topic that relates to your site. These articles and reports are inexpensive to buy and they can be used in many different ways to suit your ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong> What is an Online Mall?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The ladies can never get enough of shopping malls. It’s where they dive into after a hard week‘s work looking for that fabulous dress or that great serving set. It’s where they forget their usual day to day blues and pamper themselves. The best thing about a mall is that you get everything in one place. And there are many choices. Not only do you find everything from electronic goods to winter mittens, you get several shops selling the same type of product. Such convenience is hard to beat. 

An online mall is pretty much similar in the range of choices offered. It’s much more convenient though because you can just sit at home and access everything. No need to get swept along with the crowd or stand in queues. That’s why online malls are popular with the guys as well as the girls. Online malls are also called cybermalls. 

One should not think that a physical shopping mall and an online mall are alike. In a typical shopping mall, you decide on your own what shops you’ll go to, without any prompting. Very likely that you’ll tend to buy from a shop because you walked in that direction. For instance, you pass a display that has a book you have been dying to read. If you didn’t walk that way at all, you won’t see the book and the sale won’t be made. But in the case of an online mall, you’ll search for a specific product. There will be many online ads to prompt you. So you can definitely find what you are looking for with ease but the traditional fun idea of walking around is gone. 

In a physical mall, the location is important. It has to have easy access to encourage shoppers. The term ‘prime location’ is well associated with malls. In the case of online malls, there is no such thing. The internet is an unlimited source. You can access an online mall from anywhere you are. 

Some online malls that have been advertised are nothing but scams. These malls target business owners who want web space to promote their products/ services. In re ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Enhance Your Email Marketing Response</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Things have changed since Henry Ford said, &amp;quot;Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.&amp;quot;  Customers are a lot more in control now. You cannot sell the same product with the same messaging to everyone.

If you are an email marketer who is doing traditional &amp;quot;batch and blast&amp;quot; email marketing, now’s a good time to start segmenting and sending triggered emails. Doing this allows you to send more relevant emails and get a better response from your subscribers.

Most Email Service Providers (ESPs) have tools that make it easy to segment your list and schedule triggered emails based on certain criteria. In addition, email reports generate specific subscribers who performed specific actions (e.g., clicked on a link) and other data very useful in targeting your emails.

Segmenting will help you target your emails and get you far better outcomes.  A lot of people hesitate to start because they are busy and think it will take a lot of time and effort. The reality is you can start with some basic segmenting and extend it from there.

Getting Started
Let's say you are in the wine business and you have a field in your database that delineates general palate preference: &amp;quot;dry,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;sweet,&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;both.&amp;quot; You have another field that delineates wine color preference: &amp;quot;red,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;white,&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;both.&amp;quot;

To target those likely to respond to your message, you would use the filtering feature provided by your ESP to choose those who have &amp;quot;dry&amp;quot; selected in the palate field and &amp;quot;red&amp;quot; selected in the color field. You could also expand your reach by selecting subscribers who have selected “both” in the palate and color fields.

Do not send to those who like only &amp;quot;sweet&amp;quot; or only &amp;quot;white&amp;quot; as they are unlikely to respond well to your message. They key to targeting is to include those likely to be interested and exclude those likely to ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>A Compatible E-Commerce Solution for Your SEO Campaign</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The most ambitious Internet retailers, hoping to emulate the style and online influence of Amazon.com and other recognized brands, tend to aim for sprawling electronic retail websites that may look pretty but accomplish little else. If all the push is towards what appears on the front end instead of a concerted effort in choosing a reliable e-commerce solution from the get go, these decisions can ultimately impact the long-term success of any SEO campaign.

Most Internet retailers opt to use an out of the box e-commerce solution, eliminating the need to build something more suitable from the ground up. Out of the box software, however, may lack some of the flexibility that is required to implement a robust SEO campaign. On the other hand, building a fully customized e-commerce platform can be outright expensive. In an ideal situation, you will want to look for something that is somewhere in between. To help you bridge the gap, we've identified four major requirements when shopping for a suitable e-commerce solution that's compatible with your SEO campaign. 

The Proof's in the Code

Ideally, we would always like to have the code available for us to modify if needed. This constant accessibility allows us to set up server behavior recommendations as well as change the way that things work or function in order to ensure that they are more effective for your SEO campaign. Many vendors will not give out their codes unless you pay them a premium, sometimes upwards of $10,000 per site using that code only, and many vendors may be reluctant to allow even that option.

Search engines only care about resulting code, meaning the HTML is sent to the browser post-parse. So, for an e-commerce website to have an effective SEO campaign, the SEO company you've enlisted may need the ability to modify how the software displays the code while the page is being dynamically built. This usually includes any category pages, product pages, or even some of the more &amp;quot;static&amp;quot; ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong> Increase your website traffic with fun free products</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are so many ways to increase traffic to your site. There isn’t any rocket science behind doing so, and all it takes is the ability to let your imagination run wild. Just to get you started, here are some ideas: 

1. Surveys

Surveys are a great way to get information from your visitors and to increase traffic to your website by increasing page views. For example, if you have a survey on your site which has 15 questions, then for every person who completes the survey, you get 15 page views. However, make sure that your surveys are interesting so that people are motivated to fill them out. 

2. Games &amp;amp; Quizzes

Games and quizzes are a great way to retain your regular visitors. I’d recommend that you choose a game which requires the person to load a new page every time they take their turn. Get some quizzes which are on subjects that your visitors will be interested in e.g. movies. 

3. Sticky Content

Things of common interest, information that undergoes change regularly, all fall under the category of ‘sticky content’. Having lots of sticky content on your site encourages people to visit your site regularly, bookmark it, or even get their friends and relatives to visit the site, which can be a great source of increasing traffic. 

4. Post cards, greeting cards and e-cards

You can have different types of cards for different occasions e.g. birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Since most people would like to put their own personal message on the card, make sure you provide such a facility. 

5. Discussion Board

Hosting a discussion board is an extremely great way to increase traffic, as it encourages people to visit your site, participate in discussions and meet new people. There are a whole load of board scripts available, some free and some not-free! 

6. E-Books

You can create an e-book, fill it up with a lot of useful and interesting information, and distribute it via your site. Make sure you put a link to your site on every pa ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Plan your next vacation using online resources</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You finally get the chance to take a break and get away from the daily call of life. A good vacation is preceded by careful planning and attention to detail. The Lonely Planet guide is not your only resource available to plan the much awaited holiday, there are many websites that will help you to decide your fun destination, pick a hotel and even choose your hotel room.

Today’s travelers are smart. They are aware of the hotels that offer discounts and the flights that provide the most comfort. They understand that the journey is almost as important as the destination. Whether transport takes place by air, sea or land, there are small ways to make your trip special. Kayak and Seatguru are two great sites for those who insist on traveling in comfort and getting a window seat! Booking is made easier by online facilities. No need to carry flight tickets with you wherever you go. You can easily print your ticket online whenever it’s needed.

If you are at sea when it comes to choosing a holiday destination, local directories can simplify matters. There are some sites dedicated to travel but if you prefer doing it your own way rather than go by others’ recommendations, you can easily check out the quiet city listings. This way, you get a more up close and personal view of a holiday resort. You can learn about the culture, the people and the activities relevant to almost any place on the map.  

Say you are a green-conscious traveler or one who enjoys a meaningful holiday. You can easily check online how to volunteer in community development projects in the holiday destination of your choice. For instance, if you choose to go to Africa, you can help to build a home with your own hands for those who need one or even plant a few trees.

If you want a unique holiday experience, how about trading homes? Sites like ‘Exchange holiday homes’ and ‘Holswap’ offer this intriguing experience where as a registered member you can offer your house to another user  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Keeping Track of Your Customers &amp; Prospects </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[=Choosing Between a Computer or Paper System= 
To serve your customers, you need to track their purchases and needs. There is no efficient way to do this with paper files that even comes close to the power and efficiency of the computer. To maximize your time and your sales, you'll have to move away from paper and use either contact management or database software. Some well-known brands are Act, Outlook, and Goldmine. 

=Contact Management Software= 
Contact management software is often used as a calendar and phone book. But it's also a powerful tool for maintaining customer relationships. You can maintain a history for every customer and prospect, create reminders to call again on a certain date, and note their preferences and requests, and more. 

=The Benefits of Tracking Customer Histories= 
Let's say you're trying to get an order from a prospect, Ms. Bigbucks, who requested you follow up with her today. You needn't rely on memory because a reminder pops up in your software. With a click, you open her record and review it. She asked about pricing on 1,000 of your new Ultra Widget. You click on the software's phone icon and the software automatically dials Bigbucks's number, logging the time of the call. You tell her the pricing information is available. With a few mouse clicks, you e-mail the spec and price list to her and the software records it. Bigbucks writes back that she'll make a decision Monday and mentions a big golf game coming up. On Monday an alarm pops up, reminding you to call for the order and inquire about her game. If you scheduled a meeting or mailed her a proposal, all of these could be recorded in her contact record. You can also log faxes, print mailing labels, and do simple reports -- such as a list of all customers in a particular zip code or in a certain industry. 

Contact management software brings big payoffs when used fully. You'll have comprehensive records in one place for each customer and prospect. You'll never forget to ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Should You Choose Private Label Rights Reports or Hire a Ghostwriter?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Every website is need of great content for marketing purposes or to help build rapport with your potential customers; by providing them with informative material. The decision as to where you get that content is always a tough one to tackle. If you have the time and the talent, writing the material yourself is always the best route to take; but, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. 

To find content for your site, you could choose to hire a ghostwriter to create it for you, or purchase private label rights reports. Both are excellent options for any site; but if you only need to choose one, which one is best for your needs? Let’s explore the advantages and the disadvantages that both of these options provides for you. 

Hiring a ghostwriter means you could receive high quality content that’s unique to others available on the net written on the same subject. You can also have the reports written to your specifications; personalizing the content to suit your needs.
 
The downsides to choosing this option are that you have a huge list of ghostwriters to select one from and the cost of getting a report written could be too much for your budget. Hiring a ghostwriter can be a risky task to take on as you don’t know if the one you end up with is going to give you content that’s worth the money you fork over for. In some cases, you may end up with less than average work that will need to be redone. 

Ghostwriters also don’t come cheap. Those who specialize in report writing will more than likely charge an exceptional amount for one that’s done the way you request. The high quality content is nice to see for your site, but it can stretch a budget too far for your business. 

Purchasing private label rights reports is another option to choose. These reports are ones that are already written for you on a particular topic. You can buy them as they are and change them around a bit to suit your needs. Private label rights reports are almost always ch ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Lead Generation = Dollar Creation</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[All businesses are built on two areas of competency - people skills and marketing skills. Many sales people who are more than adequate in their sales and people skills are struggling today. The reason is most sales people lack enough opportunities with customers. Lead generation = dollar creation

As a sales person you are in business for yourself. Having a mentality of being the CEO of your company is crucial to developing your business. The dealership signs your check, and you fill in the numbers.

You have a better opportunity than ever to be successful. The key to your long-term success as a sales person is the creation of a dynamite marketing strategy that dealers overlook and most sales people are too lazy to do.

Your first step is to create a marketing web. Take a sheet of paper and list every way that you receive customers. The first two ways you probably listed were from walk-ins and phone prospects. These are produced by the dealership and are therefore the ones over which you have no control. Begin to control your destiny and think of ways to produce customers from other resources.

What other sources of leads did you list? Here are some suggestions: referrals, service drive, service tickets, be-backs, affiliations, repeats, targeted phone calling, database marketing, targeted list mailings, orphan owners, lost customer marketing, coupon swaps, joint-venture advertising, community board flyer, door-to-door flyers, Web site and many more.

For each source at least one strategy of creating leads should be chosen. If you execute one strategy a day on 10 ways to create leads, your leads will grow exponentially over time. Your business will hit a period of critical mass and explode.

At that point, a sales person has the best job in the dealership. Your pay, hours, stress and job security will be better than the managers'. Your risk will be zero, your investment minimal and most everything is supplied for you.

Why don't more sales people take t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>7 Article Marketing Lessons I Learned from Being a Martial Arts Champion</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How does my martial arts training directly relate to my success as an article marketing expert? 
 
When I was seven, I was a scared, scrawny cry baby. Kids in the neighborhood stole my hat and I ran home crying! My younger brother, who was only four at the time, knocked on the bully's' door to get my hat back. 
 
My parents enrolled me into Chirico's School of Karate, where I learned steps that took me from NOTHING to a SELF-ASSURED 4th DEGREE BLACK BELT. 
 
I also learned secrets on how to become a champion in the martial arts. I discovered that these same secrets helped me become a champion in all areas of my life.
 
So do you want to know what these life-changing, business-evolving secrets are?
 
7 Black Belt Secrets for Article Marketing Success
 
Secret #1: Watch who you hang around with
 
One of our black belts drives all the way from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to practice. That's a 3-hour round trip.
 
Why? 
 
The furious energy at Chirico's School of Karate is undeniable as soon as you walk in the door. You're surrounded by a true grandmaster with more than 40 years of martial arts training and black belts who are determined to succeed. 
 
Who are YOU hanging around? Where are your articles being associated? Are you just blasting articles out there? Or are you carefully selecting websites and ezines which your targeted audiences and prospects read? Remember, who you associate with will determine the level of success  you can reach.
 
Secret #2: Consistency is the key for long-term success 
 
When I don't train consistently because of traveling or personal issues, I lose karate tournaments.  If you want to achieve your business goals online, you have to consistently write and submit articles. You have to be in front of your audience on a regular basis. Otherwise you will lose sales to your competitors.
 
Secret #3: Ups and downs are part of the process
 
During my martial arts training, I learned that there is NO possible way that  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Internet Sales Cycle Explained-Make It Work for You by Writing Articles </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most new online business owners think that Internet marketing is their magic pill to making more money.
 
I have news for you...It's not magic. It's a process. 
 
But once you WORK that process, it CAN work like magic!
 
Here's the Internet Sales Cycle Broken Down into 5 Simple Parts
 
1. Collect Leads
 
The absolute best way is to get leads online is to write unique, original articles that position you as the expert in your specific niche. And, it's not that hard. All you have to write is a simple 500-word &amp;quot;how-to&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;top tips&amp;quot; article that will solve your prospect's pain. Wonder what a &amp;quot;how-to article&amp;quot; is? You're reading one! 
 
Then, you want to submit your articles to the top websites, ezines and article directories that your targeted audience is reading. This way, you will be able to drive more website traffic and build your list.
 
2. Get Them into Your Sales Funnel – And Build Your List 
 
Once you've written your article, you need a way to get prospects into your &amp;quot;sales funnel.&amp;quot; The best way to make this easy is to offer a special report, e-Book, e-course, checklist, audio, video or anything else your heart desires. You will not charge for the product. Your goal is to get names now, and make sales later. You will put this information at the end of your article in what we call the bio box. 
 
In the bio box, you can promote your:
 
- Website 
- Products 
- Services
- Specific &amp;quot;call-to-action&amp;quot; that leads them to the special product you offer 
 
For an example just read my bio box at the end of this article. 
 
Most people make the mistake of trying to sell high-priced products and services in the bio box. Getting visitors on your list should be your number one objective! Why? Up to 99% of your first-time visitors will not buy from you. They'll take a quick look and then they'll click away. If you did not capture their names and email addresses, you will have lost them forever. 
  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Local Directories Make Moving a Breeze</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Moving is always an adventure but not necessarily one with a happy ending. If you have been looking to buy a new home for some time, you would have done some research and maybe even consulted professionals, so that you’d have a pretty good idea of the new neighbourhood. But if you have to move in a bit of a rush (for instance, if school or college demanded it), you won’t have the time or the freedom to choose the locality that best fits you. In times like these, local directories can save the day. 

Moving is not just about packing up your bags and taking them elsewhere. If you are going far away, you can’t take much with you. You may need to buy furniture or utensils. Gone is the familiarity you once knew. You used to know where the grocer and the eatery were in your old neighbourhood. In your new vicinity, you’ll have to do some hunting around. 

To save time and money, you can easily resort to local directories to find out all the places you need to go in your new city. Where to buy pillows, lamps, provisions...you can find them all with a few clicks. Some of us don’t trust the net as much as seeing something in person. But very soon you’ll get used to browsing information on various shops, health centers and hotels and reading reviews. 

A local directory can also help you find a home or an apartment in your chosen locality. For examples, if you go to ‘Yahoo! Local’, you can just enter the name of the city you are moving to and browse information on it under categories such as Restaurants, Health &amp;amp; Beauty, Home &amp;amp; Garden, Automotive, Computer &amp;amp; Electronics, Education and Entertainment &amp;amp; Arts. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can always search. It’s that easy! There’s also a section for recent reviews carrying stars as a rating.

If you don’t want to fuss with too much detail, you can try your luck at the popular neighbourhood searches of the week. They can quickly give you an idea of interesting place ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Three ways to advertise your business for Free</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You may have exhausted all your money to establish the business. What about growing it? You will need money for advertising, won't you?  Don’t worry, here are some of the ways you can advertise your business for free.

Articles and Press Releases
 
Writing articles and submitting them on popular websites can effectively help to position yourself as an expert of the specific area. You can write about topics related to your business and make the readers aware of your business. For instance you can use your business expertise and discuss the common issues and problems people experience and ways of overcoming them. Provided you offer sensible advice, you should be able to impress the readers and as a result they will be curious to know more about you. Further some may be so impressed that they want to contact you immediately. This is where the bio you include at the end of the article can add value to your business if it clearly yet succinctly describes you and your home business. Further do not forget to include your contact details and the link to your business website or blog which allows the readers the option to keep in touch with you.  
 
A press release on the other hand is more focused on your business and the latest development to your offering. However a press release should not give the impression of an advertisement to the reader. For instance you can effectively speak about the benefits of a unique feature you added on to your product and the positive impact it had on your customer’s busy life style or else you can discuss the ways in which your business helped your clients effectively solve their problems.    
 
The trick in both approaches is to keep the readers interested in reading till the end. As a result you may need effective writing skills.   
 
Forum Marketing
 
Forums are a great place to get together with people and build informal relationships. It really doesn’t matter what the topic of the forum is, because it’s all about n ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways to Build Trust Online with Article Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article marketing has many perks and benefits. We can communicate with people on a global scale.  We can reach many targeted customers very easily. And we have the added bonus of showing our readers that we're experts in our niches. This builds customer confidence.
 
But one of the challenges of marketing our businesses online is figuring out how to reach through the cold, mechanical computer screen and make a real human connection. Remember, people want to do business with people they trust. 
 
So, what can you do with your articles to establish trust online with people you may never see or meet in real life?
 
5 Ways to Build Trust &amp;amp; Win Customer Confidence with Article Marketing
 
1) Don't stop writing. 
 
You can't submit one or two articles and then expect to be regarded as an expert in your niche. It is the accumulation of repeated positive experiences with you that makes a lasting impact. As you're doing your article marketing, you should regard each article as a way to grow your relationships with prospects and clients. Decide on an article submission schedule that you think you can consistently complete long term. Once a month is a good goal.
 
2) Show readers that you're worthy of trust.
 
To build trust online, you want to show authenticity. So, before you write one word, think how you want to come across as a person. The more you're willing to let your guard down and portray yourself as a real person, the more you'll be rewarded.
 
3) Connect with readers by showing them that you started out just like them. 
 
Remember, most people buy on emotional impulses and not on logical, intellectual decisions. That's why during my speeches to large Internet marketing conferences and in my articles, I explain how I couldn't find a job and how I put my parents into debt as they tried helping me pay my bills. I explain how I even had to ask my grandparents for money. And I talk about the mistakes I made. 
 
After the connection is made, then I ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>All you Need to Know about Dating</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Dating is fun but it can be a challenge too. And you thought it’d get easier after high school! If you have been missing in action in the dating arena for quite a while or you are back to the world of singles after a long term relationship, you need to brush up your dating knowledge. Here’s the kind of relationship advice you’ve been looking for:

The Do’s 

You have to look the part. Catching a man’s eye takes some work. Looking good doesn’t have to be so hard. Any woman can touch up her looks and achieve a major change in appearance. A hairstyle can make a true difference. Enough of that neat ponytail, now it’s time to get a cool hairstyle that can be worn lose without any problems. If you have put on weight around the tummy and hip area, work out. It’ll give you confidence and improve your gait.  Put on some lip gloss and blush up your cheeks when you go out. When you look good, you’ll feel good too.

Go shopping! This is right up there with looking good. Take a look at your closet and toss out clothes which have been worn too many times to make an impression. Check out the latest trends to see if they flatter you. It will also make you seem in touch with the ‘here and now’. If you’ve been wearing baggy Ts and unflattering pants, lose them!

You have to work on your confidence. Believe it or not, dating takes commitment. You can’t throw up your hands and say ‘This will never work!’ after a few unsuccessful outings. The more you date the better you will be at it. Don’t try dating in a half hearted way. Your partner will be able to sense it. A reluctant date is a boring one.

Think of what your goal is, in dating. Some do it just for fun. Some do it to meet interesting people and to escape loneliness. But if you have plans for marriage in about two years’ time, then you’ll know what kind of man you should date. On the other hand, if you are not ready for commitment, you’d like to go out with a guy who doesn’t get se ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3100/All-you-Need-to-Know-about-Dating.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3100/All-you-Need-to-Know-about-Dating.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top 5 Reasons Corporations Use Gift Baskets  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a business owner, you want to increase your business by getting and keeping customers and clients. 

If you are not using gift baskets to get your message across and grow your business at the same time, you are doing both you and your business an injustice.

Below you will find five common reasons why corporations use gift baskets…

1. Turn Prospects Into Clients

Door-opening gifts help business owners introduce their companies to prospects who in turn, starts doing business with them.

2. Can Be Personalized to Reflect Your Clients Profession.

Studies link inserting items that reflect your clients’ profession into a gift basket increases response rate.  Clients take special notice of anyone who acts as a partner in advancing their career.

3. Convenient for Independent Professionals and Executives

Because busy Executives, health care professionals and those affiliated with other facilities have little time to shop for gifts, ordering corporate gift baskets takes the job of finding the perfect gift off their agenda so they can focus on other important tasks.

4. Great Business Travel Gifts

Business travel gifts are ideal if you are a parent who has a job that requires you to travel often to meet face-to-face with clients. Give your child a gift basket to reassure them of your love and to relieve the guilt of you leaving them behind.

5. Increase Business Over the Competition

Because many companies service the same clientele as the competition, use gift baskets as a new way to market your products and service.  The gift baskets are used to[URL=http://www.thegourmetgiftsshop.com/corporate-baskets.html] thank customers[/URL] for their patronage while enticing prospects to remember you.

]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3099/Top-5-Reasons-Corporations-Use-Gift-Baskets.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3099/Top-5-Reasons-Corporations-Use-Gift-Baskets.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Market to Your Local Community Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So you started a small business and you are now burdened with the marketing part of it. You can not afford to spend a lot of money on advertising, especially if your business is just starting to find its footing. What do you do? Try online marketing. Even if your company is larger in scope, marketing online paves the way for bigger profits.

How do you do this? First you have to start with the neighborhood and then expand. Get personal. The best way to reach out to your neighbors is to share true stories and to show sincere pride in the work you do. Commitment is vital to your success because at the personal level, you can’t run and hide. You will be the face of your business so put your best face on, even online!

Use local websites and portals for your business. By local, we mean city-specific. If you live in Morgantown, target Morgantown sites, not those of West Virginia, the state.  City specific websites are mushrooming everywhere so they shouldn’t be too hard to find. You can choose to advertise on these but be warned: it’s not as effective as advertising in the television or print media.

Another way to be visible on local sites is by offering content. Yelp.com and Judysbook.com are a couple of community-oriented websites that have grown rapidly because they cover all the suburbs and cozy towns. More and more people are making their way to community-based websites to get information on products and services.

Blogs are very good tools for small businesses. They are free and allow the writer to express his ideas and experiences. If you make them city-specific, they can lead to personal interaction with potential clients.

If you are advertising on Google, the best way to focus on the local customer base is to limit your visibility location-wise. Google will allow your ads to appear only for consumers in a specific city or locality.

One thing to make sure is that you are listed in your local business directory. Again, this should be city-spec ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3087/How-to-Market-to-Your-Local-Community-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3087/How-to-Market-to-Your-Local-Community-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Advertising ideas for your business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A business needs to grow day by day and advertising is one of the most popular methods employed by business owners to achieve this objective. However in general advertising doesn’t come cheaply. As a result many business owners tend to avoid it especially once they get established. However if you carefully analyze the environment, it may suggest to you that there are enough low cost yet highly effective advertising avenues ideal for home business owners, which are still under-utilized simply due to lack of awareness.

Business cards 

This is essentially the thing which everybody looks at when they want to contact you. A carefully planned and designed business card will therefore let you earn the powerful positive first impression that helps you stay long in a potential customer’s mind.  

Direct mail 

This method is ideal for a business with geographic restrictions. For instance if it operates only in a very limited area, there’s little benefit (compared to the cost) it can gain from another approach such as newspaper advertising. Another advantage of this method is that it suits any budget. You can decide whom to target and how many to target based on your budget. 

News paper/magazine advertising 

This gives you a wider coverage and will be ideal if you have a wider geographic presence. For instance franchisees of a home business franchise may collectively advertise its business on a national newspaper.

Let it be a news paper or else a magazine, the trick is to publish your ad in the page which can give you maximum benefits. For instance certain newspapers have special advertising features which may be more attractive to your target market. 

Vehicle advertising

This is increasingly becoming popular because its effectiveness and affordability.  Home business owners are advised to go for magnetic signs which are removable as and when required so that your vehicle is suited to your personal transportation requirements as well.  

Cross ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3084/Advertising-ideas-for-your-business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3084/Advertising-ideas-for-your-business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Flash and SEO: Like Oil and Water</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[We often deal with clients that are planning to &amp;quot;revamp&amp;quot; their sites with Flash, with SEO having already generated tremendous gains in their sales. The thing that we most dread to hear is that they've hired an experienced &amp;quot;Flash designer&amp;quot; that will be taking their websites to the &amp;quot;next level.&amp;quot; Unfortunately, that &amp;quot;next level&amp;quot; is often the basement - at least in terms of SEO results.

The bottom line here is that a site built entirely in Flash still faces huge obstacles. While there have been recent moves from Google and Yahoo! to try to index the content from combined Flash/SEO sites, those moves have not yet, from my experience, translated into SEO results or success (at least when compared to html sites).

We should make a distinction here between embedded Flash and sites built entirely from Flash.  For example, a site that contains Flash elements but still contains basic html elements will not overly suffer, as the Flash element (usually a movie in a box on the homepage or elsewhere) is externalized. A search engine spider will generally not try to parse through any files that have been externalized in the code - they will only index the code that is readily apparent on the source page.

However, from an SEO results perspective, there are still major issues with sites that are built entirely in Flash, and SEO is normally the first thing that suffers. First of all, the URL generally never changes no matter where people navigate on the site. As any decent SEO practitioner will tell you, every page of your site is a potential entry page for a search engine. With a site built in Flash, SEO suffers even more as you only have one potential entry page, which is the main URL. This cuts off dozens, hundreds, or thousands of potential pages that could otherwise be indexed in Google and Yahoo! (and all other engines). When your only potential entry page in the search engine listings is your home page, it is very difficult to tar ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3081/Flash-and-SEO-Like-Oil-and-Water.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3081/Flash-and-SEO-Like-Oil-and-Water.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A positive review is more valuable than paid advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Advertisements make us sit up and take note of products and services. They make us aware of the various choices available in the market. But how much do we trust advertisements? We know them to be biased after all. It’s not a surprise that some people find ads annoying and invasive. 

Another fact with advertising is that its effectiveness is based on the media used. For instance, user advertisements on user generated websites don’t attract people that much. Based on the survey conducted by International Communications Research, over 80% recall television ads while it was only about 28% for user generated site ads. On the other hand, online customer reviews do their work very well. Of all consumers considered by Eloitte &amp;amp; Touche USA Consumer Products Group in their study, 62% read customer reviews. Out of them over 80% had indicated that positive customer reviews had directly influenced buying decisions. 

Customer reviews can push the envelope when it comes to listing your products or services in the local business directory. They assist in search engine optimization. Now you know that customer reviews reach areas that ads don’t go. 

Reviews are not repetitive like advertisements. You have the option of reading reviews while advertisements are pretty much shoved in your face everyday. Consumer reviews give more information. They are written in a practical manner, so basically they speak the language of the consumer. They do not try to impress with every phrase. Generally, a positive review will be honest and not exaggerate unless it was written by someone with ulterior motives (like someone related to the business owner!). All these add up to the fact that a positive review is more effective for business than an advertisement. 

Any business has to think of the cost benefit ratio. If you consider reviews and advertisements, there is not much difference because although ads are established and effective, reviews too have proven their efficacy and  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3072/A-positive-review-is-more-valuable-than-paid-advertising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3072/A-positive-review-is-more-valuable-than-paid-advertising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ten Sales and Marketing Tips</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ Marketing is always an area of concern for home business owners due to the high costs involved. Even if you have the money you would not get sufficient benefits from it, unless you choose effective marketing channels. Let us discuss few tips which would assist you to conduct your marketing campaign effectively and economically.

Advertising

Advertising is generally expensive. Therefore you need to ensure maximum benefit for every dollar you spend. Irrespective of the medium of advertising, your message should be clear and specifically targeted to your customers to avoid confusion and achieve consistency. 

Networking

Socialize with many people as you can and let them know about your business. These people can direct potential customers to you. Start with your friends and relatives and gradually build on your network by joining associations with members that suit your target clients.

Promoting together

Watch out for other businesses in your area which compliment your business and negotiate deals to conduct marketing together. For instance you could include their brochure in your direct mails while they do the same for you in their mails.

Put your logo everywhere 

Make everyone aware of your business in every opportunity you get.  An effective way of doing this is displaying your logo anywhere that fits such as your car, t-shirts, business cards, invoices, envelopes and of course in your marketing material.

Publish articles

This is another cheap method of marketing as it only requires your time and effort. Take your time and write informative articles on various topics related to your business and customers and publish them in newspapers, article directories and blogs. This creates the opportunity to build your image as an expert in your field of specialization and thereby improve popularity of your business. 

Press releases

A press release can focus on variety of subjects including new product launches, technological developments an ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3041/Ten-Sales-and-Marketing-Tips.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3041/Ten-Sales-and-Marketing-Tips.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Understanding the Basics of Email Appending</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Emails have ushered a change in our business patterns. Although the spam menace has clouted the effectiveness of emails, they still remain the most effective marketing tool.  Traditional postage and telephones are nowadays considered to be expensive direct marketing tools. Email has become the global, multi-channel medium of business communication. Hence it is important that every business acquires the email addresses of their prospects.

What is email appending?

It is the process of matching a customer database that lacks e-mail addresses with a third party’s address database with a view to append the missing information to the client database.

How is email appending done? 

Email Appending is done when an organization that has a customer database containing names, postal addresses or telephone numbers wants to kick off e-mail communication with its clients. The organization hires an email appending services provider, who owns a huge database, to append the email addresses to their database. The third party email appending services provider will match the prospect list with their database and add their accurate email address to the database. Appending involves manual and automated process.

After the appending process, permission is sought from the prospects to send email messages to them. The vendor on the organization’s behalf generally deploys it. The purpose of the permission message is twofold: To make sure that the address is current and accurate and to ensure that the address holder is willing to receive e-mails from that organization. 
Why email appending is done? 

·	Speed up business processes with timely data delivery 
·	Eliminate cost of lost data 
·	Reach a wide audience
·	Enhance data availability and reporting 
·	Open a cost-effective marketing medium
·	Better marketing results
·	Enhanced customer service

The Cost 

All reputed appending service providers charge only for accurate, delivered, opted-in emails.  Al ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3040/Understanding-the-Basics-of-Email-Appending.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3040/Understanding-the-Basics-of-Email-Appending.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ten Tips for Advertising your Business Opportunity</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
1. Make customers feel special.

Consumers always react and respond to identification/ recognition.  A prime example of this is Starbucks encouraging barristers to learn names of regular customers. Great marketers also make sure that it is easy for their customers to reach competent/ professional persons when help is needed with any products or questions. 

2. Distribute business cards.

It is common practice among real estate agents to append their photos and info to magnetic calendars.  Another good idea is to give out notepads with contact info and taglines on every page.

3.  Don’t market to unprofitable customers.

It will not do you or your business any good.

4. Create an e-mailing list.
  
Direct mailers and e-newsletters are very effective. Attract your customers to open your mail. This can be done by including special offers, analytic data or any other useful info. 
  
5. Participate at trade shows and conferences.

It is always a good idea to be friendly. However be selective as trade shows maybe costly.

6.  Mix business with pleasure … and charity.

Never underestimate the viral power of hosting a charity baseball game in your community.

7. Create a destination both online and offline.

You can easily attract customers by offering them an “enjoyable experience”. A good example of this is the Barnes &amp;amp; Noble cafes. Casual gaming destinations is another good example and so too are forums.

8. Become an expert in your field.

By offering advice you establish yourself as an authority in that field. When people begin to identify you so too does familiarity of your associated brand. It is also a good idea to make use of tools like blogging and participating in a blogging community as well. 

9. Build relationships with local media. 

By having a good relationship with the local media you could gain a lot of publicity and create awareness among customers as well as prospective customers. The local media could pla ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3039/Ten-Tips-for-Advertising-your-Business-Opportunity.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3039/Ten-Tips-for-Advertising-your-Business-Opportunity.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tracking your Internet Advertising Results</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
How to track and test effectively       

First and foremost it’s important to realize that it won’t happen overnight. Visitors will never flow with any perfect regularity. E.g. a technique that increased your sales by 20% right after implementation may actually lose you sales in the long-run.  

 In order to track accurately and make positive changes you need to have enough data.  Simply analyzing your sales data over 100 visitors isn’t going to do much for you. It is always advisable to collect more data as this will give more accurate results.  It will also give you a more average figure.

Why averaging is necessary?

 It is always advisable to obtain an average figure because there are many variable factors that could otherwise influence your data. It could make your data appear both better or worse than it actually is. For instance are you getting that same quality traffic from the same place? Was it more targeted than previously? These are some of the variable factors that can make an impact on your results. For this reason averaging out through a long period of time is almost the only way to make sure that the data you get is reliable. 

An important thing to remember is to always test one item at a time. E.g. If you want to alter the text of an ad in order to make it perform  better, then test one sales letter with one headline, and one with another headline. No matter what you do, never change seven things in a single ad and later proceed to change five other things on your second attempt.  You may see a clear-cut boost in sales but how can you make sure what actually had the effect? 

Also don’t simply test one method in one month and change over to another method the very next month. Keep an eye out for software which enables you to track both ads throughout the same time period.
 
The simple truth is there are sluggish times even in the online world.  The quality and amount of your traffic will vary month to month according to thi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3035/Tracking-your-Internet-Advertising-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3035/Tracking-your-Internet-Advertising-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Income Potential- Welcoming New Parents and Babies</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Welcoming new babies and their parents to the community has been identified as a profitable home based business venture. In addition to the great income potential it offers, it also presents immense satisfaction, as you would be giving back something to the community you love and enjoy. In this business, you would be providing the new parents and their baby with a free welcome basket filled with very useful information regarding the neighborhood along with gift coupons and giveaways. 
 
Having a new baby at home can be very isolating and challenging for parents especially new moms in many ways. Adjusting to the demands of the baby, locating medical centers/ doctors or trying to understand and cope with the behavior of the new born baby can be very hard. Having a helping hand in locating child care/ day care centers, hospitals, baby stores, toy stores or obtaining advice/ information regarding new born baby’s or even a friendly visit from you is a sure way to make the new parents fit in and feel welcomed in the neighborhood.     
 
The welcome baskets you would be offering to the new parents will be sponsored by the local businesses, organizations and service providers in your community. In exchange for their sponsorship, you would be promoting their products and services to the new parents by word of mouth and the utilization of flyers and freebies. Child care centers, hospitals, clinics, baby stores and toy shops would be some of the many organizations which would be interested in joining with you. Most businesses would be willing to sign a contract with you as you would be proving them with inexpensive, personalized and targeted marketing.
 
As mentioned above, your welcome basket would be filled with useful information for the new parents. These could include the locations of hospitals, baby stores, pharmacies and child care centers, helpful advice on how to care for the new born, parenting handouts and a list of emergency telephone numbers. In addition y ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3023/Income-Potential-Welcoming-New-Parents-and-Babies.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3023/Income-Potential-Welcoming-New-Parents-and-Babies.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Baby Sign Language Signing Parties</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In the modern era, a growing interest has been shown towards teaching hearing, pre-verbal babies how to sign in order to communicate their needs with their parents or caretakers. The popularity towards this has increased rapidly especially since many researches have now confirmed that teaching signing to babies brings about numerous benefits, contrary to what was earlier believed. In the golden days parents avoided teaching sign language to their hearing babies due to the belief that it would impede the child’s language development. But now latest researches prove that this in fact would enable babies to speak earlier and better than non-signing counterparts. Also this reduces the frustration that babies and parents face everyday due to not being able to understand and communicate with each other.        

With the mounting popularity towards teaching signing to babies, hosting of signing parties are becoming more and more widespread as well as famous. Signing parties or baby signing parties as they are popularly known is when a group of parents (especially moms) get-together in one house and an instructor visits and teaches them how to sign. For example, a mom would organize and get around a group of ten friends over to her house where an instructor would conduct a workshop and teach all of them on how to easily start signing with their babies. As a rule, in these parties the hostess receives her class for free.

These parties usually contain an atmosphere of a mothers club. Even though fathers are also very welcomed at these parties, these are usually dominated by the presence of moms and their babies. A friendly, relaxed and comfortable feeling is enjoyed by all present at these meetings. After the completion of the signing workshop, many types of games and chitchat are enjoyed over delicious refreshments. Due to the personal learning experience received, in a comfortable atmosphere, many parents feel that these parties provide them more than they can ever  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3022/Baby-Sign-Language-Signing-Parties.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/3022/Baby-Sign-Language-Signing-Parties.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Advertise to your Target Market</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
When advertising, it is important that you advertise to your target market. This is because advertising alone will not be effective and will not address the needs of your customers. 

Why advertise to your target market?

It is most vital that you first identify your target market. This may be done by carrying out a market research. A market research plays a key role in any marketing effort and helps to identify your customer requirements. 

According to Wikipedia “A product focusing on a specific target market contrasts sharply with one following the marketing strategy of mass marketing.”

Defining a target market can be done by carrying out a market segmentation, where you pull apart the entire market as a whole and separate it into controllable, unrelated units, based on certain, important demographics.

These demographics include race, age, disabilities, income, mobility (here concentrates on travel time to work or number of vehicles available), educational attainment, employment position, property and home ownership, as well as location.

When you are analyzing these demographics individually, it helps to first put together a list of criteria which meets the necessary requirements for marketing your particular product/products. Use this list to go back to, as often as necessary, to ensure you don’t deviate from your objective. 

Here, you can concentrate on one important factor. Why do people purchase products or services in a general sense? If you give it thought, you will realize that there are only a few basic reasons for consumerism. They can be clearly categorized as:

·	To meet basic needs
·	To solve a problem
·	Indulgence / to feel good

Once you figure out which of these category/categories your product or service fits into, it is easier to determine your target market through market segmentation.

This market segmentation process allows you to clearly identify your specific target market and thereby your prospective cli ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2991/Advertise-to-your-Target-Market.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2991/Advertise-to-your-Target-Market.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tips for creating a winning Banner Ad</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Simply having the right software won’t help you in creating a good banner. Here are some tips on creating a good banner design.

1) Use the words &amp;quot;Click here&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Enter&amp;quot; every time you design a banner. You may think that these are overused words in the online world. However, it has been proven time and again that these do increase the effectiveness of a banner ad by about 20-30%. 

2)  Animate Your Banners. It is also said that an animated banner increases your banner ad’s effectiveness by 30-40%. The key when using animation is to keep it to a minimum when creating your banner. The reason for this is that having big pictures and images or live video in your banner will mean that it loads too slowly. 

3) Create quick loading banners. Having banners less than 10-12 KB ensures this. However, this may be difficult to achieve when using animation in your ads. Generally the majority of animated banners are within the 15-20 KB but that is a way too large to load quickly.

 4) Use an awesome headline in your banner. Also remember that simply having a fine looking banner doesn’t mean people will click on it .The key to an effective banner advertisement is to have a good headline. It is advisable to have the same headline on your banner ad as what you have on your entry page. 

5) The best word to use in your banner headline is &amp;quot;FREE.&amp;quot; This doesn’t at all imply that you have to include the word “FREE” in your banner and have no other text. The fact is, that by using the word &amp;quot;FREE&amp;quot; in almost any headline makes your response rates increase radically. 
 
6) Blue underlined text will often increase your response rate. Having blue underlined text usually implies they are links. Therefore by having your headline in this type of format will ensure a higher click through ratio as people know it is a link to another site.

 7) A blue border gives you a better response rate than any other color border does for a banne ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2990/Tips-for-creating-a-winning-Banner-Ad.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2990/Tips-for-creating-a-winning-Banner-Ad.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Consistency pays in Online Advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Online advertising encompasses a range of marketing strategies such as banner advertising, email marketing, search engine marketing and PPC advertising. Online press release distribution, blogging and article submissions to social bookmarking sites are also a part of online advertising.  

Banner ads first came on the internet in 1994 and it is especially appropriate when it comes to developing brand awareness of a corporate brand. A typical banner advertising campaign can include a game, competition entry or financial calculator of some sort. 

On the other hand Email marketing or Newsletters has long been a staple of any online advertising campaign. One of the main reasons is that this has proven to be a very cost effective means of communicating with customers and clients. 

PPC Advertising is a method of paid online advertising whereby ads appear as “sponsored links”.

Consistency pays in online advertising

It is important to use advertising effectively. Effective advertising will result in higher returns while at the same time being an effective means of communication. When it comes to online advertising this is no different. The same principle that underlies in offline advertising applies in the online world as well. 

Why consistency is important?

Consistency in anything is a very important factor as we all know. Without consistency it isn’t possible to achieve success time after time either. So never underestimate the importance of consistency. 

Advertising is essentially a component of marketing and marketing like they say “is a continuous process”. Marketing never stops and same applies to advertising. To realize the fruition of advertising takes time. It’s not an overnight process. First of all you need to draw out a plan and then implement it step by step.  It’s a gradual process and one that needs to be constantly monitored. Results may vary from time to time depending on “Seasonal” periods, demographic areas and t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2988/Consistency-pays-in-Online-Advertising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2988/Consistency-pays-in-Online-Advertising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Make sure your marketing plan works all year long</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
A marketing plan is essential to any successful business. It outlines the marketing goals of the organization and the manner in which these goals are to be achieved. Everyone concerned should be aware of this plan and it should act as a guide in conducting marketing campaigns. The usual tendency to forget the marketing plan in a few months after its preparation should be avoided. Every effort should be made to implement it throughout the year. 

An important fact to remember is that any successful business is one which sticks to a plan. So the marketing plan which is usually formulated by the higher management with the participation of the marketing staff should be implemented as far as possible. A degree of flexibility is also needed as and when the need arises. Sometimes depending on the finances available it may be necessary to deviate from the set plan. However whenever a decision with regard to marketing is taken the marketing plan should be kept in mind   It is always advisable to carry out market research before formulating your marketing plan.           

Market research

This has to be carried out by gathering valuable information and then analyzing it. You should pay particular attention on your competitors, your product, and your cost when formulating your marketing plan. In order to understand the market you have to understand what your target market wants and needs. Once equipped with this data you will find it easier predicting your target markets actions and take advantage of them. Obtaining data about your competitors will enable you to identify their strengths and weaknesses. It is a good thing to remember that your competitors are indeed your best friends (you can learn from them). Getting to know them well will give you ideas as to how to counteract their actions effectively.  This will enable you to see clearly the steps you will have to take to gain a competitive advantage

Having done market research the next important step is to devi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Successfully Build Customer Loyalty</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In today's competitive marketplace, the race to increase profits by cultivating customer loyalty is going at full speed. Customer retention is not only a cost-effective and profitable strategy, it is a necessity for businesses wanting to stay ahead of the pack. &amp;lt;p&amp;gt; As consumers are spending less thanks to soaring fuel and food costs, companies are more reliant than ever on the loyalty of a dedicated customer base to maintain a competitive advantage. Following the Pareto Principle, 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers, and in a recession the numbers are closer to 95% and 5%, says Ajit Maira, senior vice president of the Information Technology Services Marketing Association. Since these returning customers cost less to reach, are less vulnerable to ploys from the competition and buy more over time, companies need to give customers an incentive not to go elsewhere for the same product or service. &amp;lt;p&amp;gt; One of the most successful ways to achieve this cost-effective retention is through the use of [URL=http://www.dittmanincentives.com/content/WhatWeDoForYou/CustomerLoyalty.aspx]customer loyalty reward programs.[/URL] By rewarding the ongoing purchase of product or services, companies achieve long-term relationships with customers. With a variety of loyalty programs available to companies, the key is discovering what works best for your needs and goals.  &amp;lt;p&amp;gt; Build a Strong Foundation &amp;lt;p&amp;gt; Successful loyalty reward programs are built from a working knowledge of your customer base. To create the foundation, you must first identify the type of customers you want to retain and understand the types of products and services they value most. This information can then be used to determine the kinds of rewards programs that will appeal to them. &amp;lt;p&amp;gt; To obtain this level of understanding about your customers, it's vital to conduct targeted research. In an article in the Harvard Business Review, authors Thomas O. Jones and W. Earl Sasser, Jr.,  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2983/How-to-Successfully-Build-Customer-Loyalty.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2983/How-to-Successfully-Build-Customer-Loyalty.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are You Ready to Outsource to a Search Engine Optimization Company?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So, you are the marketing manager of your firm, and you've finally decided to pull the trigger and hire the search engine optimization company that you've been talking to for months.  The budget has been cleared, the SEO firm is ready to start, and it should be just a matter of time before you start seeing a huge uptick in business.  Right?

Not so fast.

An experienced search engine optimization company will tell you that an ill-planned campaign can be a non-starter from day one.  This usually happens when there is no clear understanding of what will be required of the client to make the project run smoothly.

What follows is a list of just a few of the things that your search engine optimization company will need from you in order for the company to get its job done as effectively and quickly as possible.  It's a good idea to consider these things before you sign the contract - because a stalled campaign will cost you money, even if it is just lost opportunity cost.

Access to and Control of Your Website

You may be ready to do whatever it takes to take the steps necessary for a successful SEO campaign.  Your IT team, on the other hand, may have ultimate control of the website.  This only makes sense - an internal IT team that controls the website knows the ins and outs and doesn't want anyone jeopardizing the functionality of the site.  However, an SEO campaign will usually require extensive changes to the site - and you don't want to hit a brick wall when you bring recommended changes to the IT staff or ask them to give your search engine optimization company access to the testbed.  Make sure that you have an understanding with them before you sign on with a firm, lest you suffer delays and internal strife.

Additionally, it is important that you can get access to either the log files of your website or to the current reporting platform.  Before a search engine optimization company begins work on your site, you want to be sure that you have a baselin ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Create Marketplace Strategies That Actually Gets Results</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Research shows very few companies actually know how to create an effective strategic plan AND successfully implement it in the marketplace.  Is your company one of them?

Failure to properly implement your marketplace strategy does much more than create glitches in the business. It can actually lead to business failure. And, in many situations, an incorrectly administered strategy is worse than no strategy at all. 

That's why, in my new book, Strategy Activation: How to Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success, I explain how &amp;quot;strategy disconnects&amp;quot; occur in even the best organizations. 

Why Strategy Disconnects Occur - And What It Can Mean to Your Business

Disconnect begins when businesses make a promise to the marketplace without first completing a self-assessment of competencies. 

When creating their marketplace strategy, most organizations research customer needs, competition promises and relevant gaps between the two. Yet, most companies do not recognize their current capabilities and limitations when considering their strategic options. Or they overestimate how much change they can absorb in pursuit of the strategy.  

Either misstep can have a tremendous negative impact on delivering on the promise. 

To Succeed in an Increasingly Knowledge-Based Economy, You Must:

*  Determine where the real and future market gaps in your industry exist 
*  Identify opportunities that align with your existing image and resulting marketplace &amp;quot;permissions&amp;quot;
*  Confirm that your organization has the right capabilities or realistic odds of creating the necessary capabilities
*  Envision how your strategy will be implemented at each key customer touchpoint
*  Define clear roles and chain of responsibility 
*  Remain flexible and responsive to marketplace shifts 

Most organizations have a number of strategic options and viable paths to potential marketplace success. Understand and use my three general rules when it comes to settling o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2966/How-to-Create-Marketplace-Strategies-That-Actually-Gets-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2966/How-to-Create-Marketplace-Strategies-That-Actually-Gets-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Rising Exhibiting Costs Places New Premium on Efficiency</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There is good news in the world of tradeshow research: according to a recent study by Exhibit Surveys, an industry research group, a considerable number of new attendees are coming to tradeshows.  At the same time, 39 percent of attendees report that their buying decisions are favorably influenced after viewing a company's exhibit.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the rising fuel, energy, and transportation costs that are impacting every sector of the economy have not skipped over tradeshow exhibiting. The cost per attendee has risen nearly 20 percent.  A typical exhibitor is spending $261 per attendee that they speak with -- a number that is up 15 percent over the last two years.

The question then becomes, how do you make the most out of every exhibit?  It is no longer sufficient to simply generate a positive ROI.  You need to ensure the maximum ROI possible, in order to justify these spiraling costs.

Here are the top five ways to get the most out of every tradeshow:

1.  Do Your Homework

To realize maximum ROI, you have to ensure that you're exhibiting at the right shows.  You will not generate a positive ROI, much less a maximum ROI, if you're not positioning yourself in front of an audience likely to be interested in your products and services.

Research shows carefully before making a commitment.  What shows are the largest?  Which shows attract your target audience?  Some exhibitors have had great success setting up shop at shows outside of their traditional industry group -- this may be a strategy you want to consider. 

Bear in mind some larger organizations have their own shows.  This trend has obvious positive and negative ramifications -- but a savvy exhibitor will be able to make the most out of the opportunities this change affords.

2. Emphasize Pre-show Promotion

Pre-show promotion is the single most important determining factor in generating show traffic.  If you want to have a lot of people, particularly people who  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Advertise your Home Business Online – Tips for success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Advertising plays an important part in any business. When it comes to advertising on the internet it is no different. The fundamental principles essentially remain the same. It is all about creating traffic for your website and doing the right things. Doing the right things will result in the right results.  

A great advantage of online advertising is its way cheaper in comparison to traditional methods of advertising.  Due to the ever growing recognition and use of the internet, the importance of advertising is unchallenged. Due to the power and size of the Internet you have access to a large target market. When dealing with businesses online advertising plays a very key role. It could also be very effective. By using a blend of online advertising techniques you could obtain a good number of visitors for your website 

You could start out with creating an eye-catching and interesting advertisement. It is also equally important that your advertisement delivers your message clearly. The reason for having an attractive design is that the chances of people seeing it are higher. Banner ads are the most common forms of online advertising. It is said that the ads that have the fewer words and fewer images are the ones with the best designs.  PPC ads are another method of profitable online advertising. To use PPC ads effectively and obtain maximum results you will need to make use of the space of the PPC ads efficiently. Another thing is to always use keywords in the ad and make the title and ads striking. 

Another means of effective online advertising is Email marketing. An important fact to remember is that when creating email advertisements take care so that it doesn’t get labeled as Spam. Consider publishing a newsletter and include good, current content. Send these newsletters with fresh content no more than once a week or bi- weekly. You may opt to use blogs, RSS feeds, and forums for online advertising.

Due to the rapid growth of the internet worldwide, ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Branding...It's Not Just for Cows!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Your company logo isn’t the only thing that makes up your brand. The service that you have provided to your clients, and your reputation are part of your brand as well.

If you think of your current customer base, how many of your clients or customers were referred to you by your past clients? If you answered “None”, you’re not cutting the mustard!

One of our clients has done a terrific job of building his brand name. He makes sure to include his company brand in everything he does. He’s consistently involved in local charity events, as well as donating his time to give back to his community. He passes out custom made T-shirts, hats, pens, and even branded butter mints (yum). People who don’t even have a backyard in which to place one of his products know about his company. You can almost guarantee that when they do purchase their new home, they’ll be headed over to pick up a firetable or Big Green Egg to place in their new backyard.

I was on the phone with a friend earlier this morning, and he was praising our company for being ahead of the times in our town by being in the branding business. We were discussing that there are still many people who aren’t quite sure what branding is. Eric summed it up perfectly by using the example that he gives to people when they inquire about it:

He asks them, “When I say jeans, what comes to mind?” their response? “Levis or Wrangler”. Branding in a nutshell!

Be consistent with your branding. Everything you put out should have your brand on it! This includes the employees working for you. (No, I’m not suggesting that you literally “brand” them with a hot iron.) Are they consistently giving the best service to your clients and staying on course to grow your brand?

Two free branding steps you can take today:

1. Create an email signature with your company logo and website url

2. Add your website url to your on hold music or voice mail message

Do it today – build your brand!]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The benefits of your Business-Point them out in your advertising promotion</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[1.	First and foremost why advertise? It could be to increase market share, obtain more clients or perhaps increasing your database (or even starting to build one). Is it trying to create brand awareness? Think over about what you really want out from your advertising. Doing this will definitively help you identify your target market. 

2.	Know your target market.  It is important to know your target market. You may have more than one particular target market. Just make sure that you have one advert per market. The worst thing that can happen is writing one advert and trying to get everyone through this one advert. Identifying your most profitable markets is critical when drawing up your marketing 

3.	Your target market may be categorized geographically/ demographically. E.g. a bakery may have customers within a 10km radius of their store). They may also categorize demographically (e.g. according to new business owners and new mums). 

4.	You may thin this further down to new mums with boys or girls for instance. The further you narrow it down, the more targeted your advertising will be. 

5.	Your headline should always capture the attention of your target market. 

6.	You need to have a powerful headline and intro as it is said that the headline and intro are the only pieces of writing that are generally read by a reader. So to make sure that the reader keeps reading make it precise, bold and don’t forget to outline the benefits! 

7.	Include Incredible Offers. In order to attract new customers you need to come up with great offers! This applies to online businesses as well and when you will be advertising through an offline medium. You need to catch the attention of your reader and make that reader want to get up and go turn the computer on, and type in your website name. 

8.	It is important to keep in mind that when organizing something like this it should be a Win-Win situation for everybody including the customer 


Bizymoms.com has been hel ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2904/The-benefits-of-your-BusinessPoint-them-out-in-your-advertising-promotion.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2904/The-benefits-of-your-BusinessPoint-them-out-in-your-advertising-promotion.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Creating An Effective Public Relations Campaign</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Define your goal
The first step in creating your PR Campaign is deciding what you want to achieve. It’s important to know what you are working toward so that you know when you’ve achieved it. Set deadlines and establish the criteria for measuring success so you know you've reached it. As always your goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, and time-specific.

Develop media database
Your media database should include groups that have the potential to impact your ability to reach your goal. Including:
 
  * Investors
  * Referral sources
  * Employees
  * Local government leaders
  * Business leaders
  * Freelance writers
  * Industry analysts
  * Newspaper
  * Television stations
  * Radio stations
  * News syndicates
  * Magazine
  * Ezines
 

In addition to contact information, your media database should include deadline, preferred method of contact, and frequency of publications.

Develop your message
When developing your message, make sure it's newsworthy, contains phrases that you want repeated that describe your business and what you want others to think about when they think about your company. You want your message to be clear, concise and to communicate the uniqueness of your business. You also want your message to be grounded in truth.

Develop PR Strategy &amp;amp; Tactics
Your PR Strategy consists of the type activities, channels and actions you are going to implement to achieve your goal. Basically, this will be the details of the plan, dates the activities will be implemented, and by whom. Your strategy can include:

  * Letters to the Editor
  * Press Releases
  * Articles
  * Newsletters
  * Blogs
  * Networking
  * Speaking Engagements
  * Tradeshow
  * Interviews
  * Surveys
  * Webinars/Seminars
 
Create query/pitch letters
Your query letter should be one-page, explain why the targeted media would be interested in your story. It should include some details, and possible ways to approach the story.
 ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Must Have Promotional Tools</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Elevator Speech. You must always be prepared to answer the most important question you’ll ever be asked, “What do you do”. The concept of the elevator speech is that from the moment you enter an elevator until the time it reaches the fourth floor you have explained what you do, and for whom. Your elevator speech should clearly state the solution you provide, and the market you serve. It should be a part of you. You should be able to recite your elevator speech without thinking about it.

Business Card. Often, the only collateral piece a prospective client will keep. It’s the cheapest form of advertising you can do. It must inform and make a lasting impression. Your business card should always be with you, and within easy reach; you should never have to look for your business card. Your business card should represent your business; include your contact information, logo and tagline. If there’s room, you may also want to include a short product listing or an industry description.

Website. Often, it’s the first time a prospective client will come in contact with your business. Your website allows you to get information about your company and what you are selling to a global audience. It also puts you on equal footing with your competitors, plus it’s kind of like having your store open 24/7. Your website should answer just about every question a prospective client can have. It must also tell them you are; what you are selling and how they can buy it. You should include a call to action; tell them what you want them to do and how to do it.

Articles are a great way to build your expert status and increase your sales, Articles written about things you specialize in prove you know what you are talking about. Articles distributed to article sites and newsletters can provide you with an enormous amount of exposure, and increase your website traffic. Always include a resource paragraph with your article that includes your name, your website, what you do a ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What you say and how you say it can make or break your business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In a conversation, your response to the question “What do you do?” will determine if the conversation continues. The first paragraph on your web site determines if a visitor will stay to learn more about you or leave. 

The marketing messages you deliver to your audience should clearly state the results your clients will achieve by working with you, and distinguish you as the solution to their problems. Your marketing messages should also show your uniqueness.

There are six messages you must have in your marketing arsenal:

  * Tagline – a few words that sets your perceived image.
  * Elevator Speech – a 3.5 second message that tells what you help your clients achieve.
  * Compelling Marketing Message – your main message that speaks directly to your target market; it shows you understand their problems and are the perfect solution to solve their problem.
  * Your Story – a statement that tells your ideal client what drives you to do what you do and why you are choice they should choose to solve their problems.
  * A Reason to Buy Now – a statement that tells your ideal client why they should buy what you are selling, and why they should buy now instead of later.
  * Call to Action – a statement that tells your listener or reader the actions to take so they can take advantage of what you are offering.

Each marketing message should be able to be delivered individually, and as one conversation. 

Your marketing messages should come from the client’s point of view and highlight the value you provide to the client,so when you create your messages use words that focus on the client’s problems and the solutions they are looking for. Start by asking yourself a few questions like:

  * What do you help your clients achieve?
  * What value do you bring to your client’s business?
  * What or how do your services allow your client to exist, perform or behave?
  * If your client was telling one of their clients about you and your busin ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Do your ads inspire readers to action?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It is increasingly become more important than ever in today’s context that your ad copy creates the curiosity of readers. Do you interest your readers in simple yet powerful ways to inspire your readers? You can appeal to a reader by communicating in different ways. Producing great ad copy is more than just simple plain conversation, it requires a special style. The wording has to be in a specific order so that it unlocks the reader’s mind.

Just think about your ad copy. Is it inspiring and will it thrust you into a blind rush of action? If this is not the case, take these steps into increasing your profits today.

WEAK PURSUASION 
Persuasion plays a key role in ad copy as well. It is often the case with ad copy that it may make calls to incomplete action. If this is the case then the whole idea loses purpose. Let’s take a closer look at a few examples:

Ad Copy One: 
Our new patented technology will enable you to promote your website to its full potential. You'll be wondering how you ever managed without it. Order your copy of XYZ right now!

Ad Copy Two:
Our new patented technology will enable you to promote your website to its full potential. Order your copy of XYZ today!

As can be seen although Ad Copy Two has a persuasive line, a call to action it has a rather weak closing. The closing has left a door wide open for readers to consider their actions. Ad Copy One on the other hand has a power line before the close and gives the feeling of doing a lot of work and that the thought this tool is a requirement. Also I have replaced “today” with “right now” in order to give a bit more weight to the additional line.  

Bizymoms.com has been helping moms realize their [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com]work at home[/URL] dreams for over 10 years.  With over 5 million visitors annually, Bizymoms offers ideas 100 featured [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com/U-Pick/ideas-100-text-ads.html]Text Ads options[/URL] to meet the needs of any business opportunity ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Benefits of Banner Advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Banner ads first came on the internet in 1994. There are primarily two benefits of utilizing banner ads. The first of these is that a banner ad lures users to click on the banner ad through which the user reaches the advertiser’s site. When this happens it is called a “clickthrough”. The number of clickthroughs divided by the number of impressions is called the &amp;quot;click through ratio&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;click rate&amp;quot;. It is easy to measure and what’s more shows a direct measurement of a banner’s effectiveness. 

Each time this happens is called a &amp;quot;click through&amp;quot;, and the number of clickthroughs divided by the number of impressions is called the &amp;quot;click through ratio&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;click rate&amp;quot;. This is easy to measure, and provides a direct measurement of a banner's effectiveness. Secondly banner ads help build brand recognition. Although ad agencies may claim otherwise it is almost impractical to measure. Utilizing user surveys and market research this can be done but these maybe   imprecise and abstract compared to the straightforward business of measuring clickthroughs and site traffic.  An important fact to remember is that if you want your ads to be seen you have to make them compelling. 

Banner ads may bring prospective customers to just within one click away from your business or products. Considering that a large majority of businesses adopt passive web strategies –building a web site and assuming that customers will magically find it. This philosophy of “If you build it, they will come&amp;quot; works in the movies, but doesn’t in the internet. A strategically placed banner ad is a very cost effective method of driving customers to your website that turns in it to a “pro-active” tool for a business. 

Name recognition also plays a vital part of any business.  Even if viewers don’t click through on to your banner ad they will be exposed repeatedly to your brand name, in context with your business message.  

Ba ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Advertising your Home Business - You have to spend money to make money</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ 
Some think that there are just two methods to increase profits. First of all you have to either reduce expenses or secondly boost your sales! Entrepreneurs may regard you only have a single choice – spend money! Many owners may make the same blunder when dealing primarily as a business.  They envision the best way in building a business is spending money. A large number of people think that the excellent way in building a business is by spending money. The belief is that to make money, you must spend money! This is wrong.  Taking it as an investment, a lot of people spend a lot of money for lead generation activities. There maybe some that purchase an ad through the living section of a local newspaper. There will be others that buy a direct mail list of about 1000 prospects or might even post a gigantic billboard over a over highway. E.g. a business that spent $ 20,000 on one direct- - mail campaign is still awaiting by phone for all the annoyed prospects to call them back and give them back their oppressive earned money! It never happened! Numerous representation is a local restaurant that spends $2, 000 each tour for a billboard! Business has sharpened and the owner is thrilled. But, when I asked her to try that her sales came from the billboard ad, girl could not! Always test and measure your advertising efforts, processes, procedures, and systems. Another important fact to remember is that before spending a lot of money make sure that it is a worthy investment. Fact is that the dollars you spend for advertising will never be seen again! All this goes straight into the pockets of the advertiser. 
 
Many companies are not seeing a undeniable return on investment ( ROI ) using mean methods. They are getting wiser with their dollars. You should plenty! ! Stop wasting your dollars on advertising! Go into to vision of other ways to attract the right clients and customers! Get profitable! Be more ingenious and practical! Employees will stay with a successful com ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2845/Advertising-your-Home-Business--You-have-to-spend-money-to-make-money.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2845/Advertising-your-Home-Business--You-have-to-spend-money-to-make-money.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Establishing a business Image through Advertising. </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[1.	It is always a good thing mentioning the deadline of your offer. It is common knowledge that people literally hate to know that they are missing out on something. Therefore mentioning a deadline will make them more/ less compelled to act. E.g. ‘Hurry- competition closes next Saturday! Call/Visit/Email today to reserve your place. Make sure that the customer knows how to contact you and try to make it a few different ways.
2.	‘Hurry- competition closes next Friday! Call/Visit/Email today to ensure you don’t miss out!” Ensure that you tell the customer how to contact you and try to make it a few different ways.
3.	Submit your advert. Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. Think from their angle. For instance; what publications do they read? What websites do they visit? Try to diversify your advertising modes over a few mediums. This means that you should have both online and offline methods and will ensure that your ‘eggs are not in one basket. 
4.	Test your advertising and measure your responses. Before committing yourself to a large advertising budget test a few different methods to see if they work. E.g. before sending 5000 inserts into a magazine, ask them if you can send around 300 to test. If you don’t get any responses you have saved yourself a lot of money! 
5.	Final word. It is important to understand that advertising and marketing is an ongoing process. It isn’t just something to do a few times per year. It is advisable that at least 50% of your time be spent on advertising and marketing. After all if people don’t know about your business- how can they buy from you? It is said that people need to see your advert or brand at least 5 times before they will act upon it? So consistency is very important.  Always have a monthly advertising budget. Be prepared to adjust and adapt to changing trends and marketing conditions. Keep building your momentum and keep a constant watch on it. Never Set and Forget


Bizymoms.com has been helpi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2836/Establishing-a-business-Image-through-Advertising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2836/Establishing-a-business-Image-through-Advertising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Making the most of your Advertising Budget</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
In order to obtain the maximum return on your investment for an ad campaign it is necessary to identify the most profitable options. An expensive advertisement only becomes worthwhile if there is a good response from your audience.

Do a proper research on the medium that you are hoping to use. Try finding out how the prospective customers fits the profile of your target audience. If local farmers don’t go to the local cinema and you want to sell fertilizer don’t consider advertising fertilizer there.  

Try estimating what percentage of the audience responds to your campaign and how many respondents actually purchase your product. This should give you an idea of the cost involved in attracting customers. You may use a similar calculation for several different media channels in order to determine the most effective method. But you need to remember that these calculations may only be approximate.

Once a media has been selected try bargaining the price. You may get a better deal or price when negotiating.

Refer to your budget. By doing this you can show that different channels and rival media are being utilized to carry out your campaign.

Make your reservation at the last minute, some publications may accept lower prices before they publish. However, you may not be able to choose your position and so risk a lower response.

You need to make sure that your advertisement is in the best possible position in the media. For example: 

·	Right hand pages are more eye catching than the left 
·	An advertisement should be on a page with related advertisements 
·	The best page for a newspaper advertisement is page three. Otherwise, the nearer the front the better 
·	An advertisement that includes a coupon for readers to cut out should be placed at the side of the page


Bizymoms.com has been helping moms realize their [URL=http://www.bizymoms.com]work at home[/URL] dreams for over 10 years.  With over 5 million visitors annually, Bizymoms offers ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2831/Making-the-most-of-your-Advertising-Budget.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2831/Making-the-most-of-your-Advertising-Budget.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Affiliate Programs as a Source of Income</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are in the process of finding a way to earn some extra income at home you may want to look into affiliate programs on the internet. There are many to choose from and they can be a fairly simple way for you to bring in some extra cash from home.

Finding the right program to fit your needs and interests is something to think about before choosing a company to become an affiliate to.  If you try a product from a particular company and you love them, you may want to consider looking into the affiliate program they provide, if they have one. It is much better to promote a company who offers services or products that you have personally tried or use. You will be more convincing when marketing.

Usually the process of signing up to be an affiliate is fairly simple. You will be provided with an affiliate ID and a website in most cases. The requirement from you is to advertise that website in order to sell the products or get others to sign up as an affiliate. You will earn a certain amount of commission on all the sales you make and the sales your referrals make. 

Make sure to check out the compensation plan. You really do not want to settle for a measly commission that would hardly be worth your time and effort. Some companies have very complicated commission plans that some find very hard to understand. I figure, if you cannot understand it and do not know exactly how much commission you will be making, you may want to move on to another company. Some make it impossible to reach an income goal that is worth pursuing. 

Do some research on the affiliate program and company you plan on joining to assure that it is stable and reputable. Of course, there will probably be positive and negative feedback on every company, but if you find more good than bad and it has the stability to back it up, you probably have found a good company to promote. If you try the product or service and like it, it makes it that much easier to promote and feel good about it.

I fi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2809/Affiliate-Programs-as-a-Source-of-Income.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2809/Affiliate-Programs-as-a-Source-of-Income.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top 3 Email Marketing Must-Dos: from OptinBuilders</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It is a challenge, first up, to think-up products and services that have a ready and constant market. Even if your product is the best or the only one of its kind, getting people to accept it and love it enough to try it once, and then repeat the process is quite a tall order. Trying to drain the ocean with a bucket is what comes to mind when I try to quantify the sheer complexity of catering to end users, whether they are shopping for bathroom rugs or online marketing solutions like email appending or business lists. 
Let’s try and get the skinny on the most marketable marketing credos from the typical consumer’s point of view.
No. 1 Email Marketing Must-Do: Know your end user inside-out
Imagine you are in a shopping mall where all items are without labels; everything looks the same from outside except when you open the packaging and find out what’s in them. The same is the case with customers. It’s a guessing-game for many in the business to figure out what the customer is thinking. 
Some may call this analysis; I prefer to call it a qualified guess, because that’s what it is. At the same time, it is more prudent to let experts help you figure-out (lend you their Qualified Guess!) your target consumer objectively, rather you doing it with bias, preconceived notions or your company’s vision in mind.
You might never quite unravel the customer’s mind, but you can surely arrive at a calculated estimation of what he likes, dislikes, wants, doesn’t want, despises, expects: THINKS, really! 
No. 2 Email Marketing Must-Do: Customize your product or service 
‘Customize’ yourself first. Once you have a fairly good idea of what goes on in the minds of your target group of customers, you can ‘customize’ yourself, not just the product or service you are selling. What it means is, you need to be perceived by the consumer that you exist ONLY for THEM! That you cater to them singularly and to no other. 
This perception can be brought about in them m ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2755/Top-3-Email-Marketing-MustDos-from-OptinBuilders.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2755/Top-3-Email-Marketing-MustDos-from-OptinBuilders.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Obama Popularizes Himself among Youth through E-Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If Barack Obama becomes the next President of the United States of America, the country can assure that they will not fall short on one account, e-marketing. Demagogic run by Obama among the youth in the ongoing Democratic presidential primaries have stunned analysts and psephologists alike. 

The curiosity led the experts to pry into how Obama was able to muster the positive vibes of the youth in favor of him. It was evident in the final lab report Barack camp extensively used social networking and video sharing sites to great effect in garnering votes of the youth. His success in using social medium as an electioneering tool clearly shows that a new guru has arrived in the world of e-marketing. 

A survey showed that if one does not include social media in one's election campaigns it would be hard to draw the attention of the youth. Majority of the youth interact through social networking sites since internet connectivity has increased to larger areas. Blog sites have virtually become e-diaries of today's youth as outlets to vent their social and emotional feelings as well. 

As a result, social media have supplanted televisions, radios and other advertising spaces for election campaigns. Hence, it has been proved, it would be preposterous to avoid employing social media especially, in a high voltage election campaigns such as, the US presidential primaries. 

A statistics from a section of the press stated, immediately after the Second Super Saturday, Hillary Rodham Clinton had a comfortable margin of 15 percent lead over Barack Hussein Obama in Pennsylvania.  But the same team of public opinion poll managers gave Clinton just 5 percent lead over Obama just two days before the same primary election. 

Creating a huge 10 percent swing in favor of any candidate, that too in a month's time, was unheard of in Pennsylvania. The credit goes to Barack camp, their stupendous game plan to engage with the youth through sublime tentacles of social suggestion has s ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2742/Obama-Popularizes-Himself-among-Youth-through-EMarketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2742/Obama-Popularizes-Himself-among-Youth-through-EMarketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Optimize Email Deliverability with Best Practice Strategies</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As an email marketer you may face email deliverability issues every day. Whether you’re sending a personal email or bulk customer communication, electronic messages are frequently intercepted, filtered, erroneously labeled as spam, bounced or returned to the sender as undeliverable. For routine non-business correspondence, this is simply a minor annoyance and inconvenience. But when your message broadcasts a crisis or emergency, or if it includes time-sensitive account, billing or service information, you could face serious consequences. If you’re a marketer, every undelivered message translates into lost revenue. Luckily, there are ways to improve the odds of delivery and decrease the chance of running into problems in the first place

The key to email deliverability lies in earning the trust of Internet Service Providers, or ISPs. Because these companies need to provide quality service to their subscribers, they devise standard protocols and policies regarding unsolicited bulk email. To communicate with your subscribers and customers, without interference, focus on four key criteria proven to optimize deliverability rates. 

1. Mind Your Lists. How relevant is your list? You should only add recipients via responsible opt-in practices, removing bounced accounts and unsubscribe requests immediately. Never use distribution lists that are severely outdated or purchased. Many purchased lists include spam trap or HoneyPot addresses, intended to lure and catch spammers. 

2. Maintain Low Complaint Levels. Do recipients want your messages? Every time a subscriber reports you to their ISP, deliverability plummets. Several popular ISPs, including AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail, make this extremely easy with one-click spam reporting features. It’s important to know how many complaints are coming in. Complaint processing can be automated, with email marketing service providers removing complainers from your distribution lists and integrating this data into real-time repor ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2736/Optimize-Email-Deliverability-with-Best-Practice-Strategies.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2736/Optimize-Email-Deliverability-with-Best-Practice-Strategies.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Power of Asking Questions</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Make no mistake -- you're in a rough spot.  Exhibiting is a competitive environment.  You're vying for attendee's attention, against companies that are larger, better-funded, with newer exhibits and cooler ideas than you've got.
 
What this means is that anything you can do to differentiate yourself from the crowd is a &amp;quot;Very Good Thing.&amp;quot;  Being different gives you an edge over the masses.  On the other hand, being different invariably costs money.
 
Or maybe not.  You can differentiate yourself effectively by embracing the ‘power of questions.'  Having a team that can ask the right people, the right questions, at the right time, is the single most cost effective thing you can do to guarantee fantastic show results.
 
Very few people know how to ask effective, powerful questions, and quite frankly, those who do, tend not to wind up working the show floor.  Luckily, asking great questions is a skill that can be taught to those who don't already have it.  If you're like me, and weren't born with that great skill, here are seven strategies your team can start using today to make themselves better exhibitors:
 
Strategy #1: Listen
 
The best questions begin in silence.  Train your people to embrace the 80/20 rule -- they should be listening 80% of the time.  Listening is more than not talking.  It's an opportunity to focus on the information the visitor is providing.  The data they're sharing is invaluable and helps frame more appropriate questions throughout the conversation.  For sales people in particular, listening is a real challenge.  Yet, if they conquer and embrace this skill, they could easily boost their performance in flash!
 
Strategy #2: Determine Identities Quickly
 
One of the first questions your team should ask is some variation of &amp;quot;Who are you and what do you do?&amp;quot;  Never, ever rely on badges.  People can easily swap them.  This is probably the most commonly used competitive intelligence gathering strategy.
 
You wan ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>7 Strategy Execution Themes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[According to a study by the Conference Board, marketplace strategy execution ranks high in the top ten issues that senior managers must face today. While many issues drive poor execution, they all appear to point to one major common factor: A lack of organizational preparedness to implement marketplace strategies as envisioned by those who conceived them.
 
For example, consumer electronics retail store A advertises great selection and low prices. Its customers are unperturbed if they don't receive A+ service.  Their expectation is low prices not world-class service. 
 
Store B advertises, &amp;quot;No question is left unanswered.&amp;quot; Customers entering this store expect great service.  If sales associates are inattentive and customers receive no help when asking about a product then the expectation remains unfulfilled. This means customers will return for future purchases. 
 
Companies that spend their time developing a strategy need to follow through for the long term. That's why in my new book, Strategy Activation: Keeping Promises to the Marketplace, I reveal the 8 points below that will drive your organization in the right strategic direction. 
 
Top 7 Strategy Activation Themes to Think About When Creating &amp;amp; Following Through With Your Marketplace Strategies:
 
1. Understand that although a strategy may appear brilliant on paper, it is the implementation that is important. Failure to follow through can result when you allow your strategy to outstrip your organization's capabilities. It can also happen when your employees do not understand your marketplace strategy or their expected behavior or when your company does not support the strategy's delivery. You may also have conflicting success metrics and employee rewards. Find where the problem is and fix it immediately 
 
2. Keep in mind that a promise, no matter what it entails, leads to customer expectations.  Your strategy communicates intent.  It's a promise made to the marketplace.  This promi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>BONUS SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Bumping for Big Bucks</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2619/BONUS-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Bumping-for-Big-Bucks.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2619/BONUS-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Bumping-for-Big-Bucks.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 10 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - The Best Prospects in the World</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2618/10-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--The-Best-Prospects-in-the-World.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2618/10-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--The-Best-Prospects-in-the-World.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 9 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Develop a Marketing Niche</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2617/9-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-a-Marketing-Niche.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2617/9-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-a-Marketing-Niche.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 8 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Make your Customer a Star</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2616/8-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Make-your-Customer-a-Star.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2616/8-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Make-your-Customer-a-Star.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 7 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Develop a Positive Expectant Attitude</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2615/7-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-a-Positive-Expectant-Attitude.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2615/7-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-a-Positive-Expectant-Attitude.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 6 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Have Fun</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2614/6-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Have-Fun.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2614/6-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Have-Fun.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 5 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Set Goals and have a Purpose</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2613/5-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Set-Goals-and-have-a-Purpose.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2613/5-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Set-Goals-and-have-a-Purpose.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 4 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Be Jealous of your Time</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2612/4-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Be-Jealous-of-your-Time.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2612/4-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Be-Jealous-of-your-Time.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 3 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Become a Performer</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2611/3-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Become-a-Performer.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2611/3-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Become-a-Performer.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 2 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Develop your Potential</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2610/2-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-your-Potential.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2610/2-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Develop-your-Potential.php</link>
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      <title><strong># 1 SUPER SUCCESS SECRET - Enthusiasm</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FOREWORD:

Mega-Buck Income Sales Pros are the elite, that very special group that comprise the top 5% of all Salespeople in the World.  They produce 95% of the Sales that are made and enjoy a level of income and a lifestyle that most people would love to achieve.

The good news is that since Selling is a learned skill, virtually anyone has the potential to become a Super Star.  Common sense dictates that the quickest and easiest way to become a Mega-Buck Income producer is to simply search them out and then emulate them.  Talk like they talk, perform like they perform, use the very same words and phrases they use, copy their attitude and mind set, or in other words become a chameleon.  For the last 30 years I’ve had the privilege of studying these Icons of the Sales Industry.  I’ve brain-picked them and yes even trained many of them.  In fact, I enjoy the reputation of personally training more 6 and 7 figures a year Mega-Buck Income earners than any other Trainer.

During my 3 decades of research I learned that these Super Stars share many certain traits, habits, and even Skills.  The majority of them utilize most if not all of the Super Success Secrets, which are part of this Series of 10 Articles.  I will also share with you that I personally used all 10 of these Secrets to double my own personal Income each year for 5 consecutive years, before I became a professional Speaker and Trainer.  If we’ve already met you probably know that I love to say; “no matter where you start, the fourth and fifth year get real exciting”.

As you start reading you’ll quickly discover these Super Success Secrets are a combination of transferable Skills and Techniques along with the Attitude and Mind Set needed to become a Legend in your Industry.  If you have at least a basic working knowledge of Sales Skills and a burning desire to become great, any one these Super Success Secrets will increase your effectiveness, your Closing ratio, and yes your Income, by 20 t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2609/1-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Enthusiasm.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2609/1-SUPER-SUCCESS-SECRET--Enthusiasm.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to create a winning Business Email</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The Call To Action is one of the most important parts to getting high results from your email marketing and unfortunately [URL=http://www.marketingdataltd.co.uk]Click Here[/URL] seems to be a popular choose and at the same time the worst!

Things to consider when looking at your call to action:

1. The actual action you want the customers to take 
2. The wording and phases you use  
3. The appearance and presentation of the text, image, and location – very important 

Here are some strategies to help increase the responses:

1. Make your offer clear
2. Make sure the call to action is clear
3. Use clear text to make the call to action stand out, don’t be too wordy
4. Links Links, Links – make it easy for the reader to click through 
5. Professional images and a clean look


1. Make your offer clear

Just like when you are cold calling you have about 20 seconds to grab the clients attention it’s the same when sending an email the first few lines will be the deciding factor if the reader clicks on your email or not. That’s why “Click here” fails. Its also very important to consider the subject line, as this is your opening line. 

The click is the basic unit for measuring the click-through rate, a common measure of success for an email campaign. 


2. Make sure the call to action is clear

Generally when you are sending an email campaign its going to senior decision makers who not necessary have the time to read lengthily emails so its important that the call to action is clear.

The call to action should explain the benefit the reader will get, by taking the time to read on or to click through to the landing page.
 
Marketers who are using email marketing to sell a product or service should use the call to action to encourage the reader to move forward in the sales process, for example order now and receive 25% off.

Remember: 

You need to tell the reader what to do and what benefits they will get by doing it.

It hel ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2594/How-to-create-a-winning-Business-Email.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2594/How-to-create-a-winning-Business-Email.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is Article Marketing For You?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article marketing takes time. You have to write the articles.  Then find and broadcast your articles to relevant sites!
 
Is it worth the investment in time, energy and money?
 
Ask these questions to find out…
 
My Top 10 Questions to Discovering If Article Marketing Is For You
 
1. Do you want to grow your business? 
 
Articles will contribute to your bottom line. One of my articles made over $10,000 in a two-month period. 
 
2. Do you want more prospects and leads?  
 
Your prospects are looking online for information that can help them. When you write an information-based article, you will attract prospects who can become customers for life.
 
3. Are you looking to stand out from your competitors?  
 
When editors print your articles, you are getting their implied endorsement.. Top, targeted, high trafficked websites like About.com don't print just anything.  So when they chose your material, you are judged at a higher level.
 
4. Do you want to build your brand? 
 
Then article marketing is for you. 
 
When you write articles and have them  printed on dozens of sites, people will start to recognize your name. The more you do this, the more branding power you get. Eventually, you will be seen as an expert. Don't be surprised to hear prospects call you and say &amp;quot;I see you everywhere!&amp;quot;
 
5. Do you want maximum online publicity so you get your name out to your targeted audiences? 
 
If you've ever wondered why your competitor's article was printed when you are a bigger expert than she is, the answer is simple. She wrote the article and you did not! So, she's getting in front of your audience, and getting your customers!
 
6. Do you want to improve your search engine rankings?
 
Article marketing will help you by offering links from credible sites back to your site. The bigger and better the site, the more clout the link has. And the more high quality links you have, the higher you climb in search engine rankings. So shoot  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2580/Is-Article-Marketing-For-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2580/Is-Article-Marketing-For-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top 5 Advertising Methods</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[On the world wide web there are billions of websites and the same amount of people looking for those websites. So how does a person make sure their site is the one that those people find? Advertising and marketing their site is what they have to do, but they may wonder what is the best way to go about that. There plenty of ways to get your website in front of all the rest. Some of these advertising methods are listed below.

1. Article Marketing. This method has long term results since your articles stay in the articles directories for years. When you write an article about something that relates to your business you can put a link to your website in the resource box at the end. Use keywords in the title and throughout the article, submit it to article directories and you create a back link to your business website.

2. Blogging. Creating a blog is one of the easiest things to do with free services that you can use. Sign up, pick a template and write. If you have a business, write about things that are relevant to that business. Use keywords so your posts will be found in the search engines.  Add fresh content to your blog at least once a week, preferably more, especially in the beginning.

3. SEO-Search Engine Optimization. This method of advertising, or rather, marketing is subtle but powerful. Choose less competitive keywords and place them in the title of your website. Include them in the  h1 and h2 tags and also the meta and alt tags. Sprinkle them throughout your website content and at the beginning and end of your website. This will help you site rank higher in the search engines and be found easier with those keywords you chose. Optimizing your website is one of the first things you need to do when it is used for promoting your business.

4. Link Building. Creating quality links back to your website will help improve your ranking in the search engines and raise your google page rank. This advertising method includes placing your link on as many highl ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2504/Top-5-Advertising-Methods.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2504/Top-5-Advertising-Methods.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Article Marketing is Effective Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Starting a home business on the internet is a fairly easy undertaking for most people. The most difficult task is getting your name, business and website recognized in the sea of billions of other people with businesses and websites on the internet.

The internet has a huge population so one has to wonder how they can stand out in the crowd. Developing a name for yourself is very important. You want people to see your name and automatically recognize it as a name they can trust. Of course not everyone will know your name but if you can develop a trustworthy reputation among those in your niche, people interested in that niche will know who you are.

Now, getting to the most difficult aspect of developing and running an internet business. Getting your name recognized. Article marketing may be the best way to accomplish this goal. Writing articles that peeks a readers interest and provide quality, helpful information is a great way to build your online business and personal reputation.

Submitting these quality articles to reputable article directories creates a back link to your internet business website. The more quality back links a website has, the better position it gets in the search engines. When people search for certain terms in your niche or expertise, your articles may come up. They will read your article and if they like what they read they may click on the link in your resource box.

You may be wondering what a resource box is. A resource box is a small section of text at the end of each of your articles. It is also know as “about the author”. It contains your name and a little blurb about you or your business and includes a link to your internet business website. This is where the back link comes from, your resource box.

Some people may not like to write articles or have a hard time coming up with ideas to write about. You can have people write your articles for you, called ghost writing. You give information like the topic, keywords and r ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2479/Article-Marketing-is-Effective-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2479/Article-Marketing-is-Effective-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Business Benefits of Writing and Marketing with Articles </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Owning a website is easy—with many web host providers, free website creators are included in the monthly or yearly cost.  Owning a successful website is a whole other story.  You can build a website, but that doesn't mean that readers will discover your site.  Traffic rankings are the best way to ensure internet users are accessing your site.

There are many ways to increase your traffic ranking.  

1.	Establish links between your website and similar websites that have high rankings.
2.	Visit related websites or blogs and leave a comment with your internet address included.
3.	Optimize your website with effective keywords.
4.	Make sure your website is listed with the major search engines (Alexa, Ask.com, Google, Live Search, Yahoo, etc.)
5.	Market your website with articles that are posted online.

Writing and marketing with articles may be a new concept to you.  The goal is to create an engaging, informative article relating to your website that is then posted online in as many locations as possible.  The article links back to your website drawing reader's interest.  Readers find the article, become interested in your ideas, and access your website via the article links.  This is an extremely effective way to market your site, providing you follow a few steps.

First, your articles must always be enjoyable.  If you bore your readers, they will abandon the article and never give your work a second glance.  In essence, you must relate to your target market.  Avoid generic writing packed with facts and little personable material.  Articles should be full of stories to which many can relate.  Getting your reader to empathize--&amp;quot;Hey, I know exactly what you are talking about!&amp;quot;--is the key to success.

Articles must contain excellent grammar and no misspelled words.  Everyone makes mistakes, but if you are touting yourself as an expert and your article is packed with spelling errors, you will lose impact.  Have a friend or family member check art ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2478/Business-Benefits-of-Writing-and-Marketing-with-Articles.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2478/Business-Benefits-of-Writing-and-Marketing-with-Articles.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Advertise to Succeed</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you have started a business you know how important it is to get customers and have those customers come back and recommend your service or product to others. Advertising does not have to be something that takes up a lot of time or money. There are plenty of inexpensive or free ways to get the word out about your business. 

One thing that you may not think about when planning your advertising campaign is that having your name out there is just as important as having your businesses name out there. I have learned more and more about this recently and realized how much sense it made. You want people to be able to see or hear your name and remember who you are and what you do or what you have to offer. 

For example, using forums as a method of advertising can be a great way to get your name out in front of potential customers. Use your real name as your username and every time you post or reply to other posts your name is included. If you have meaningful and helpful information to offer, people will remember who you are. 

When you make a post on your blog or write articles that you submit to article directories make sure you include a blurb at the end that includes your name and what you have to offer. Pretty soon people may even start searching for your name. They may remember your name but not your business so it will be very easy for them to find you when they do a search. All the blog and forum posts will come up in that search and voila, there you are.

Video marketing is becoming more and more popular also. What makes this a wonderful form of advertising is that not only do people see or hear your name they also see your face. It is always easier to remember someone when they can see what they look like. They put a face to the name and suddenly your popularity goes up a notch. 

In order for people to see that video depends on other advertising you do also. Blogging and forum posting have been covered, so what else can you do to get yourself and yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2474/Advertise-to-Succeed.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2474/Advertise-to-Succeed.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Enhance Online Marketing With Backlinks</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Looking for a way to drive more traffic to your website? One of the most powerful techniques for increasing visitors to your site is by getting other webmasters to place links to your website on their sites. 

When other websites include links to yours, this can increase traffic in two ways. First, there is always a possibility that people who visit the other site will be interested in seeing what you have to offer and so will choose to click through to your website and browse around. Second, assuming the links are on appropriate websites, your website is likely to index higher in the search engines. The higher your site's search engine ranking, the more targeted traffic you will attract to your website. 

There are a number of different ways to build backlinks to your website, many of which are free or very inexpensive. 

Forum Posting
One of the quickest and easiest ways to begin building backlinks to your website is to become an active participant in forum discussions that relate to your line of work. Include a link to your website in your signature line, and you'll add another backlink each time you leave a comment on the forums you choose. 

Make sure the forums you select are relevant to your business. Doing so ensures that the other participants might be interested in what you have to offer and might click through to your website. Relevancy also increases the odds that the link will benefit you in terms of search engine optimization.

Article Marketing
One of the most powerful things you can do to create backlinks for your website is to engage in article marketing. This technique involves creating informative articles related to your area of expertise and submitting them to online article directories. Other webmasters visit these directories, looking for free reprint articles to update the content on their own websites. 

Every time one of your articles is published on another website, you'll get a new backlink, assuming you included your site's ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2462/Enhance-Online-Marketing-With-Backlinks.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2462/Enhance-Online-Marketing-With-Backlinks.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Article Marketing: The Affordable Way to Boost Traffic and SEO</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you looking for an affordable way to boost your company's online presence? Do you have a well-designed website that no one visits? If so, you need to work on search engine optimization (SEO) and increasing traffic to your site. The most attractive and marketing-oriented website won't help your bottom line if no one sees it. 

There are many different Internet marketing techniques and strategies, some of which are more effective than others. Article marketing is one of the most effective and affordable ways to generate traffic to your website and boost its positioning in search engine rankings.  

How Does Article Marketing Work?
Article marketing involves writing articles related to your business or area of expertise, and allowing other people to publish them at no cost. Each of your articles should include a brief &amp;quot;about the author&amp;quot; statement that includes the URL for your company's website. As a condition of being allowed to re-print your articles, publishers must leave in this statement. 

To make it easy for publishers to find your articles, you'll want to submit them to various online article directories that specialize in publishing free reprint articles. Webmasters, ezine publishers, magazine editors, and others seeking fresh content for their own online and print publications frequent these sites looking for well written articles that will draw visitors to their own websites. 

The articles you create should not be direct sales pieces or news releases about your company. Rather, they should be full of useful and interesting tips that will benefit readers in your target market. Writing articles that people will want to read increases the likelihood that publishes will use them and that potential customers will be interested in them. 

What Are the Benefits of Article Marketing?
If the articles you write for marketing purposes are well written, interesting, and include compelling information about your company along with a link to you ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2461/Article-Marketing-The-Affordable-Way-to-Boost-Traffic-and-SEO.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2461/Article-Marketing-The-Affordable-Way-to-Boost-Traffic-and-SEO.php</link>
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      <title><strong>4 Tips for Growing Your Business Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Whether you are interested in starting a web-based business, or you want to build your bricks and mortar business via an online presence, it's important to understand and follow the basics of online marketing. 

1. Create an Effective Website
Publishing a poorly designed or written website can actually be worse than not having a website at all. Many people think the fact that they can figure out the basics of how to use web development software means that they can design their own business website. However, there is a big difference between being able to get a site up and running online and actually designing, creating, and writing copy for an effective website that creates the proper image for your company. 

Unless you are a graphic design and marketing professional, it's probably in your best interest to contract with a professional web developer to create your company's website. Hiring an expert to perform this task doesn't have to be expensive, and it is certainly an investment in conveying the proper image for your organization. Additionally, you will be free to work on growing other areas of your business instead of spending time creating your website. 

2. Continue To Evolve Your Website
Effective websites are works in progress. When negotiating with your web developer, make sure to talk with him or her about ongoing maintenance and updates. Websites are not static presences. If you want to enjoy the full benefits of marketing your business online, you'll need to update your website on a regular basis. 

Fresh content is one of the most basic premises of effective online marketing. If your website looks exactly the same each time customers and prospective customers visit it, they'll stop coming back. Adding new content also helps your website index higher with the search engines, which means that it's easier for people looking for the types of products and services that you offer online when you update your website on a regular basis. 

3. Select ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Forum Marketing for Small Businesses</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Looking for an inexpensive way to spread the word about your small business online? Forums can be a valuable resource for getting the word out about your company's products and services, establishing credibility for yourself and your business, and driving traffic to your website.

Forum marketing has the perfect price tag for small business owners. It's free to participate in forums, so this activity can easily fit into your expense budget. However, benefiting from forum marketing does require time, effort, and consistent activity.

Find the Right Forums
The first step to effectively market your business through forums is to identify the most appropriate forum websites for your purposes. Start out by conducting online research to identify established, heavily trafficked forums that are relevant to your business and that appeal to your target market. 

The best way to identify appropriate forums for your marketing purposes is to spend some time surfing the Internet looking for forum websites relevant to your business. For example, if your business provides corporate logo embroidery services for small businesses, it's a good idea for you too look for good small business marketing discussion boards. 

Spend a few days monitoring the forums that appeal to you, and see what kinds of discussions take place on them. To start with, choose one forum that seems to be the most active and appropriate for your business, and register as a user. 

Keep in mind that you are participating in this forum as a representative of your business, so choose an appropriate username. If your goal is to brand yourself or your company, it's a good idea to your real name or your company's name as your username. 

Create Your Signature Line
Before you make your first post on the forum, you'll need to create a signature line. This usually consists of two to three lines of text that show up on every post you make. Look at the other posts in the forum for examples of signature lines th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2445/Forum-Marketing-for-Small-Businesses.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2445/Forum-Marketing-for-Small-Businesses.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Create a Clutter Free Trade Show Display</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you're getting ready to attend a trade show, it's a good idea to spend some time thinking about how you are going to set up your booth. When preparing for a trade show, you have to find the fine line between an adequate display and one that is too cluttered. Many trade show participants make the mistake of putting too much stuff on display, which results in an exhibit area that is crowded and difficult to manage. 

Think Visual Appeal
When you are setting up your tradeshow booth, don't focus your efforts on trying to cram every piece of promotional material you own on the table. Instead, think about what you can do to make the design and setup of your booth have visual appeal to trade show attendees. 

Keep in mind that your booth has to be attractive enough to entice people to approach you so that you have an opportunity to educate them about your company's products and services. Don't make the mistake of making your display look so overwhelming that attendees are turned off by your display or find themselves to intimidated to approach you.

How to Display Company Literature
You should definitely include some type of company literature on your trade show display. For most businesses, a general brochure is the ideal item to pass out at trade shows. You should bring a sufficient quantity of brochures to the trade show with you, but don't stack all of them up on your booth at the same time. Instead, put out just a few at a time, and replenish throughout the day as your supplies begin to dwindle. 

How to Avoid the &amp;quot;Grab and Run&amp;quot;
Many people who attend trade shows take great joy in the freebies that vendors give away at their booths. It's definitely in your best interest to take some kind of novelty item with your company's name, logo, and contact information printed on it. However, as with your brochures, it's important not to put all of your goodies on the table at the same time. 

If you have a huge stack of pens, sticky notes, candy, or  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2443/How-to-Create-a-Clutter-Free-Trade-Show-Display.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2443/How-to-Create-a-Clutter-Free-Trade-Show-Display.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Promote Your Business Through Local Business Trade Show Expo Events</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the best things a small business owner can do to increase visibility for his or her business venture is to participate in local trade shows and business expo events. Most communities with an active Chamber of Commerce or other membership based business organization have at least one annual expo designed to spotlight local businesses. The exhibit fees are usually very affordable, and participating is a great way to gain exposure for your organization.

Finding Events
To find out about trade show events in your area, it’s a good idea to get involved in appropriate professional organizations and networking groups. You should also scour the business section of your local newspaper on a regular basis to find out about upcoming opportunities. Many television stations, municipalities, and convention and visitors bureaus also post upcoming exp events on their online community calendars. The good news is that once you participate in a show, you’ll start to receive email and snail mail announcements of upcoming events. 

Exhibit Considerations
Before you can participate in a trade show or business expo, you will need to develop or purchase a booth display. Displays can be as simple as tablecloths with a few brochure holders, or as elaborate as a full screen multi-media presentation. They can range from being very inexpensive to costing thousands of dollars. 

Before deciding what type of display best meets your needs, it’s a good idea to visit a few trade show expos so you can see several types of displays in person. In addition to cost and design, factors you need to consider include: ease of transportation, ease or difficulty of set-up, and versatility. 

Giveaway Goodies
In addition to creating or purchasing an attractive display, you’ll also need to come up with some type of giveaways to have at your booth. You should purchase some type of promotional items that include your company name, phone number, and website to give away during the events i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2442/Promote-Your-Business-Through-Local-Business-Trade-Show-Expo-Events.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2442/Promote-Your-Business-Through-Local-Business-Trade-Show-Expo-Events.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Learning Search Engine Marketing (SEM)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Wikipedia defines Search Engine Marketing as a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

I could go into the technicalities of SEM, algorithms, robots, etc. However, if you’re reading this article, you probably aren’t interested in me stuffing a bunch of technical terms down your throat. You would rather learn about search engine marketing and how it can bring you more business.

I chose this topic today based on a couple of conversations I recently had with new clients.

One of our clients had embarked on a small ad campaign with Yahoo before coming to us. He mentioned that when he was spending the money on Yahoo, the traffic to his site was much higher.  When I asked how many sales he garnered from the advertising, he replied that he didn’t know. Website traffic and conversions to sales are two completely different things, with the latter obviously being more important. It’s crucial to keep track of your ROI (Return on Investment), if you are going to invest in online advertising. Make sure that you have the tools within your company—whether it’s your own database for tracking sales, or another form of tracking system—before you spend your first marketing dollar.

Another conversation I had with a client involved a Google Adwords campaign.  He was bidding using every keyword under the sun.  He had a huge CTR (Click Through Rate), but again, nobody was buying.  At the end of the day, his budget was gone and he didn’t have anything to show for it besides lots of traffic and an empty bank account.  Until I explained to him that he was paying for people to come to his site and quickly leave, he didn’t “get it”.  Having the right keywords in your campaign and your ad copy, that are relevant to your product or service, will get you qualified click through to your site.  You don’t want people to click on your ad, only to find that your site doesn’t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2436/Learning-Search-Engine-Marketing-SEM.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2436/Learning-Search-Engine-Marketing-SEM.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Ways to Tell If You Need a New Web Site </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I just recently created my fifth website in ten years. Why? Because it was time. I have changed and needed a new reflection on the internet. A new website gives you the opportunity to rethink, re-choose, reposition and rebrand. Here are some of the signs that it's time for a new one

You aren't getting the results you want

The first clue that you need a new web site is that you are not getting the results you want. People are coming to your site but not opting in. Your conversion rate is minimal. Not a good sign of success.  Look at your cpanel webstats and see the pattern of the past year. Chart your growth. I keep a chart of my web stats and mark on it what marketing strategies I put in place during a particular month so I can see how effective it was or was not as the case may be. 

You may need a new opt in, a new design, stronger keywords, and new sales pages - pretty much everything in order to get the results you deserve. A new web site lets you start fresh. 

Is your web site getting the conversion rate you want?
Are you attracting the number of visitors to your site that you need to be successful?

Your niche has tightened and needs rebranding

This niche-tightening is an on-going process. We start out wanting to serve the world and, after time and sometimes trial and error, we figure out the type of people who need and want our services. As we do, we need to change our copy content and our product offering. 

Several years I created a portal web site, which means people coming to my site had to make a choice on which of two websites they wanted to visit. One side was filled with philosophical and inspirational messages and the other was focused on internet marketing which also had some philosophy and inspiration but was definitely targeted for the pro-active internet marketer. You can imagine how different the copy and content was for each of those two sites. It was amazing what that simple change made in how differently I could interact wi ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2407/5-Ways-to-Tell-If-You-Need-a-New-Web-Site.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2407/5-Ways-to-Tell-If-You-Need-a-New-Web-Site.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Good Shows in Bad Times: Exhibiting When Your Industry Is In Crisis</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Right now, chances are you'd rather be in any industry than mortgages and home loans. A few months ago, pet foods were on the hot seat, and a good while before that, high tech was under a laser beam of disgruntled scrutiny. 

Every industry has its good times, when there's a lot of positive public buzz and money flows like champagne. However, every industry also has its bad times, where scandal and recall and bad business decisions can hamstring an entire sector.

What do you do when this happens to you? Is it possible to turn in a great tradeshow performance when everything else is going wrong? Is exhibiting even necessary during these bleak periods? 

The answers to these questions may surprise you. Read on to discover what you need to know:

Here are five strategies you can take when your industry is the one facing hard times.

Number One: The Show Must Go On

The first step is the simplest. Keep exhibiting! Many times when times are tough and money is in short supply, the tradeshow budget takes the first hit. This can be a very bad decision.

Attendees know full well that the industry's having a rough time long before they get to the tradeshow. They read the same papers you do and face the same challenges you're encountering. 

When they come to the show, attendees are looking for two things: what's new and exciting -- and in times of trouble, who's still at the show. Maintaining a presence at the tradeshow is a powerful, tangible way to say, &amp;quot;We're still here, we're still a player, and we'll still be here when this slump passes.&amp;quot; 

Forgo the show and you're saying that your company doesn't have the staying power or ability of its competitors. This is one case where out of sight is quite literally out of mind. Maintaining a presence -- even if it's a downsized, circumspect one -- is essential.

Number Two: Take Your Head Out of the Sand

It's important to acknowledge the reality of the industry situation. Attempting to ignore the  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Make a Committment PLUS The Silence Close</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[POSITIVE TIP # 13 from Mr. Fanta$tic
Make a Commitment
A wise man once said; Until we Commit we are only taking up space.  If you look around I'm sure you'll start to notice many people that seem to go through life only taking up space.  I encourage you to Make a Commitment to become the best at whatever you do.  Even though you may find yourself doing something for a living or even called upon to do a project that you aren't absolutely in love with, don't use that as a crutch for not doing the best you possibly can. 

Take pride in your work and your reputation and eliminate any possible excuses that might keep you from performing to the best of your ability.  Why not examine everything you do in life (even relationships) to determine if you've really made a commitment to do your very best so you end up with the best possible results.


SALES SKILL # 13 from Mr. Fanta$tic
The Silence Close  
Most of us have been taught that when we ask a Closing Question we're supposed to shut up and wait for the other person to speak first.  Of course if your Prospect or Customer has read the same Training Book, then you'll end up with a very uncomfortable situation where neither of you wants to be the first to speak.  If you ever find yourself in that awkward position, you can try a Silence Close.  After 15 or 20 seconds pass you can ask; 
When I was a little fella my Mama used to tell me that silence gave consent.  Do you believe my Mama was telling me the truth? 
Or, you can ask; 
Are you shaking your head up and down or back and forth?
Or, you can try; 
Since I don't hear anything, should I assume you're writing out the Check?

I also hope you realize that you're throwing in a little humor, which is always great to use in a tense situation. 
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      <title><strong>Renovation: A Promotion Tool for Real Estate Agents</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A real estate agent once asked me to work on the design of his flyer. He told me to come up with a creative and innovative design that stood out. He was new to the industry and had very little experience. I knew from the beginning that just a creative and innovative design isn’t going to help him attract clients – especially considering how much competition he has in a busy city like Toronto. So I decided to concentrate on ways to promote his image with the use of gimmicks and promotions. Why? Because the truth is no one is going sell with an agent who has very little experience unless he/she had something “special” to offer.

The concept of promotions in real estate is not new at all. Many agents use promotions to attract clients to sell or buy with them.  Most real estate agents chose to give offers such as “low commission” or “a chance of winning something”. These offers are too common and have very little impact on the buying/selling experience. In such a situation, it is beneficial to use a differentiation strategy to set yourself apart from the competition.

Here’s a promotional tool that will get your clients all excited: renovations. When getting your flyer designed, I suggest that you add a coupon for a “free renovation worth $500” to your flyer. This would give your clients the opportunity to renovate their existing house before selling it to the buyer. The main benefit to this is that the renovation would add value to the house, so the seller can make more money from the sale. Also, the real estate agent makes more commission because the house now sells for more. Sometimes, the seller may be in a hurry to sell the house and may not have enough time for renovating. In this case, you can offer them a renovation they can use towards their new home. Of course, since you won’t be making any commission from the renovation of a new house, you might want to lower the value of the renovation (to possibly around $400).

Why would a cus ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Is Traditional Small Business Marketing Dead?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you're like many small business owners and entrepreneurs today, you're not attracting new customers the way you should. 
 
There was a time when you could just buy a small ad, handout business cards at a networking event or mail a postcard and get clients. That's no longer the case.
 
What changed? Where has all the business gone? 
 
The traditional model is broken and traditional marketing methods are quickly racing toward obsolescence.
 
You want—and have a right to expect— more. 
 
- More prospects. 
- More sales. 
- More money. 
 
But too many entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals are wasting their time, money and efforts with traditional marketing practices. These practices  are washed up, worn out and do not deliver profitable results.
 
So what's alive? What's working? What can you do today to make a difference tomorrow without breaking the bank? 
 
Here's a sure-fire approach anyone can take immediately to make a dramatic impact on the bottom-line…
 
How to Revitalize Your Business Using Powerful, Low-Cost Marketing
 
1. Stop Thinking Media
 
Most business owners jump right to asking, &amp;quot;Where should I place my ad?&amp;quot; Then when the chosen media doesn't perform the way they think it should they state triumphantly, &amp;quot;______ doesn't work.&amp;quot;Then that media gets crossed off the list of possible choices and you're one step closer to finding the magic media. 
 
Or so you think. 
 
If you continue this trend and this way of thinking, you will quickly run out of media options and be left with only bus benches and match book covers. With every other media crossed off your list you'll be forced to come to the conclusion that marketing doesn't work. 
 
That's certainty not the case. It just doesn't work the way you're doing it... the traditional way. 
 
You have to stop thinking about where the ad should go and start thinking about who the ad is for. 
 
2. Stop Selling Products 
 
Perhaps we sho ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Ultimate Problem Solving Technique</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to move forward on a project and getting stuck. It’s frustrating because you may spend days, even weeks, spinning in your head with no solution in sight. Maybe you have to write an article, deal with a high-maintenance vendor or produce an info product, if you feel stuck, don’t worry. There is a proven five step problem solving technique that can get you unstuck and give you fast clarity on the issue you’re facing. 

Finding That Eureka! Moment
Last month, I was working with a multi-million dollar client who was stuck trying to fit all the components of her new program into a cohesive whole. She had binders full of great content and even more info spinning in her head. As I stood listening to her on the phone I went into creative problem solving mode – it’s a mini version of the five steps I’m going to show you.

Here’s what I did…

My eyes glazed over as I listened intensely to my client for 20 minutes. Then I asked lots of questions and poked at the problem with her for another 20 minutes. Nothing resolved itself – but that’s okay because I knew one of the five steps was to be confused and overwhelmed. 

I then stopped listening. My client kept talking but I was thinking of doing my laundry and what I would make for dinner. (I used to feel guilty about this until I realized how important this step is.)

Then in a flash it struck me! I saw all the pieces fit together in a beautifully laid out map in my mind’s eye.

I blurted out the idea. She was silent for a moment. Then she shouted, “That’s it!”


The Myth about Problem Solving
One of the greatest myths about problem solving is that you have to wait for inspiration to hit you. Nonsense! The production of new ideas is as definite a process as getting up in the morning and preparing for work. The key to getting unstuck is following a proven formula that artists, inventors and scientists have used for centuries.


How to C ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2278/The-Ultimate-Problem-Solving-Technique.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2278/The-Ultimate-Problem-Solving-Technique.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Lead Generation Made Easy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Working Smarter Not Harder

Lead generation doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming. There are so many marketing gurus around, all giving out masses of instruction on lead generation. Too often people are left confused and frustrated trying to implement all of it. But, there is an easier way. I’ll teach you how to use a simple information product to do the work of lead generation for you.

The secret is using a ten to twenty page special report as a give-away in exchange for a person’s name and email address. Your report should provide the reader with timely and valuable information on a problem they are facing.

Now that you have their name and email you have permission to follow-up with them. The special report did the lead generation for you!

But a report does more than that…

By reading your content-rich special report a lead gets to know, like and trust you (without you even having to use any slick, sales techniques on them).  


How 20 Pages Did All the Lead Generation for Me

A year ago, I gave a 5-minute talk at a local networking meeting in front of about 55 people. A couple of nights before that I wrote a “Special Report” – 90% of it was great content I knew my audience wanted to know about.

After my very brief presentation (I was so nervous!) I asked everyone to take out a business card and write on it, “I want Passive Revenue!” Sure enough, most people did exactly what I asked. I then said I would give them my new Special Report if they handed me their card. And again, sure enough, most people willingly handed me their cards. Lead generation was never easier!

That night I followed up with an email and the Special Report attached as a PDF. But I didn’t stop there. I told them in the email to stay tuned because in a couple days I was going to give them another gift – “So stay tuned.” With this I was building their curiosity.

A few days later, I followed up with another email in which I offered them a  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Make Money with an Information Marketing System </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you are like most people, you hate selling. It’s unnatural and uncomfortable pitching yourself or your product. But, not to worry – there’s a solution! You can “sell without selling” when you have an information marketing system. I’m going to show you over twelve ways how you can use the information in your head to do the selling for you over and over again.


The Secret behind a Successful Information Marketing System

Your information marketing system begins with the principle of giving great value to your potential client up front and for free. Begin by asking prospects, “What’s your single greatest question/challenge about (fill in your topic)?” Ask enough people and you’ll see clearly what your prospects want. 

Next, put together a simple information product like a Special Report or an audio CD that answers the most common questions and challenges. Give this report out freely. This way people will get to know, like and trust you because you’ve proven yourself by giving great value to them.


Where’s the Money?

You may be asking, “But if I’m giving it away for free, how do I make money with my information marketing system?” This is the great part. At the end of your special report you give the reader an irresistible offer to buy your product or service. Maybe it has a great discount or an added bonus. At this point in your information marketing system you want them to take the plunge and take action to buy from you because you’ve proven yourself in their eyes. 

You’ll be amazed at how many people will respond once they receive value from you. Here are four techniques to capture the lead so you can later market to them over time:

1. Give away free CDs instead of business cards 
Imagine you are at a networking event where everyone else is handing out their card and folks end up with a fist full of look-a-like cards, not knowing who gave them which card. 

Now imagine that you hand them your audio CD. What ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2276/How-to-Make-Money-with-an-Information-Marketing-System.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2276/How-to-Make-Money-with-an-Information-Marketing-System.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Publish a Killer Newsletter That People Actually Want to Buy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Some info-marketers must search high and low for a lucrative market, but not Ben Glass or Joe Polish. They already knew where their respective areas of expertise were. All they had to do was create a product to cater to the particular demands of their specific niches. In other words, they had to create value.
 
These astute newsletter publishers are now raking in the big bucks by riding on a fast-moving, on-the-right-track bandwagon called information marketing. 
 
Here's how they've become a top earner in information marketing and newsletter publishing…
 
How to Seize Your Market for Your Newsletter
 
Ben is a personal injury attorney so it was only logical that other lawyers would constitute the customers base for his newsletter. But first, he had to find out what kind of information his prospective clients would be willing to pay for. 
 
Joe, on the other hand, is a carpet cleaner. You probably never thought that anyone can make millions out of slime, grime and dust mites that lurk deep in our carpets. But Joe did.
 
He too investigated the needs of his industry. He researched how to turn his knowledge and experience into a hot commodity – a newsletter other carpet cleaners would want to buy.
 
Once Ben and Joe knew which gaps within their respective industries had to be filled, they were ready to launch their newsletters.
 
How to Create a &amp;quot;Killer&amp;quot; Newsletter
 
Ben discovered that promotional information for attorneys was sorely lacking. Eager to teach his peers how to expand their practices, he created an electronic newsletter that was a chockfull of marketing strategies. He provided &amp;quot;right-on&amp;quot; tips that even a roomful of lawyers couldn't object to. 
 
The idea hatched when Ben realized that solo and small law firms do not have the big bucks to spend on publicity. But in order to survive they have to promote their practices and services all the same. 
 
In addition to dispensing marketing advice via his newsletter,  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2275/How-to-Publish-a-Killer-Newsletter-That-People-Actually-Want-to-Buy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2275/How-to-Publish-a-Killer-Newsletter-That-People-Actually-Want-to-Buy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Find Your Brand In 30 Seconds Or Less</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Branding is one of those marketing tools that people spend too much unnecessary time splitting hairs over. In most cases you can find your brand in 30 seconds or less by answering one simple question.

I know this will upset some people so let me make it clear that I’m talking to small business owners and entrepreneurs…not large corporations. Branding is one of those marketing tools that’s waived in front of new entrepreneurs as THE most important thing they need right now. I strongly disagree…


The Myth about Branding
Branding is sold as the saving lifejacket for entrepreneurs but that’s a myth. It’s one of many tools…and not the most important.

I saw the myth in full force last week at a business seminar here in South Florida. I stood at the side of the room and watched 87 eager entrepreneurs being hypnotized by an expert on branding. The speaker was sincere and intelligent…it’s just that the audience wasn’t at the point in their business where they needed branding. They needed clients! 

But the speaker showed one commercial after another of Gap, Apple, IBM…all showing the importance of branding. Everyone lapped it all in…and completely missed the elephant in the room…

These were new entrepreneurs -- NOT multi-billion dollar companies with millions to spend on branding. Why would they even THINK about logos and branding when most of them were still figuring out who their target market was?


Your Logo Won’t Make You Money
Stop spending thousands of dollars hair-splitting about the color of your logo! Spend your time developing a headline that converts prospects to leads and leads to clients. Spend your money becoming an expert in your industry. Spend your time POSITIONING yourself as the expert your target market wants to hire…because THESE efforts will translate to money in the bank.

I remember I spoke at an event last winter about the power of knowing your target market, writing a winning headline, and convert ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2262/How-To-Find-Your-Brand-In-30-Seconds-Or-Less.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2262/How-To-Find-Your-Brand-In-30-Seconds-Or-Less.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Build Your List of Leads and Clients</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Your list of leads and clients is your retirement. It’s your goldmine that will feed you and your family for decades to come. Your first priority in marketing is building your list. Your second priority is building a relationship with your list over time by providing excellent value again and again.

Here are 3 fast and easy ways to list building…

1. Get a List Management Tool to Hold All the Names You Collect
No – your Outlook doesn’t count! You need a powerhouse program that makes it easy for people to sign up to your list and easy for you to email them regularly. I prefer 1 Shopping Cart:
(www.infoproductguy.com/1shoppingcart.html) 
because it does everything: organize products, sends automatic emails (Auto Responders), and manages your clients and affiliate program…plus much more.


2. Give Something Away For Free To Get People To Join Your List
Most websites miss out on a huge opportunity because they don’t capture a visitor’s name and email. It’s like a guest coming to your house and you completely ignore them! Shouldn’t you at least offer them a cup of tea or a sweet treat? Otherwise they’ll just leave you and never come back.

This is why I recommend offering something to your website visitor that they can’t refuse. And offering them a free subscription to your ezine isn’t enough! If you want to build your list fast, you need something with high perceived value like a free Special Report, eCourse or Audio Download. 

Make your Special Report really shine. Your goal is to get people to say, “Wow! If the free stuff is this good then the paid stuff must be awesome!”

Oh…and don’t hide your free give-a-way within your site. Make it obvious to your visitor right away what they’re supposed to do. I use an “Opt-in Page” as my first page in my website. It’s clear to my visitor that they get free, valuable information. If you don’t want an “Opt-in Page” as your landing page then put an “Opt-in Box” o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2259/How-to-Build-Your-List-of-Leads-and-Clients.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2259/How-to-Build-Your-List-of-Leads-and-Clients.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Warning! This Is What You Are Looking For</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Meet the Guru who is different

There are many Internet marketing gurus who promise to reveal their special secrets - in exchange for a hefty fee.

Not so with Harvey Segal of SuperTips fame.

He gives away his tips and secrets for free.

Like his SuperTips site where you will see his series of free and highly acclaimed SuperTips books.

You can even rebrand them with your affiliate links - all for free.

Harvey is also owner of the definitive information sites full of unrivalled free content
- The Ad Tracking Guide
- The ClickBank Guide

You can seek out the testimonials at his sites and see how the other top gurus rave about his free products.

And if you want to know how he makes money from free books and free content sites he even tells you - exactly - in the classic free ebook 101 SuperTips.

So what is this leading to ?

It's to assure you that when he now offers his ultimate secret tip it WILL be free and of stunning value. No strings attached.

Now let Harvey take over the story.

In my ebook 101 SuperTips I described Tip 100 as

&amp;quot;The greatest SuperTip of all&amp;quot;

And it was - when I wrote the book back in October 2003

As time went by I thought of more and more ways to develop Tip 100 with a collection of new ideas.

Until finally I found the unique twist which improved it by a quantum leap.

So I decided to put all my ideas in a book of its own - The Ultimate SuperTip.

** This book is free.

** I don't even ask for your contact details, just go ahead and download it. http://tinyurl.com/28gdke  

What's in the book ?

 I don't care what product you have. 
I will show you the VERY BEST strategy to promote it

- One which will never fall prey to the latest passing fads or the whims of the search engines.

- In fact you'll see why I have said Goodbye to the search engines.

I'll show you in detail an actual product that I sell with this strategy.
 
 I reveal the ingenious twist that takes this strate ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2225/Warning-This-Is-What-You-Are-Looking-For.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2225/Warning-This-Is-What-You-Are-Looking-For.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Ways to Build a Referral-Only Business In Less Than Ten Minutes a Day</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Even though it's one of the most powerful ways to build your business, most business owners don't send out personal cards because they don't know when it's appropriate, what to say, or they feel it doesn't apply to them because their business is DIFFERENT.

It doesn't matter if you're a real estate agent, coach, hairdresser, insurance agent, restaurateur, sales rep or dog walker, your business depends on relationships and if your clients and customers aren't staying with you for the long haul and bringing their friends, there's a flaw in the system.

A Technical Assistance Research Project conducted in Washington, D.C. a couple of years ago revealed the following reasons why customers leave a business:

1% - Death
3% - Move Away
5% - Buy from a friend
9% - Are sold by a competitor
14% - Product price
68% - Perceived indifference

You can add together the first five percentages listed, double them and they still won't amount to the number of clients and customers you lose because they don't have a sense of relationship with you.

In order to create a bond, clients need individual attention, acknowledgement and a feeling that they are genuinely appreciated.

And the simple greeting card has the power to make that happen.

Following are ten creative scripts you can use in a card to strengthen your client and prospect relationships. You will be astounded by the impact this individual attention has on the number of referrals you attract, the loyalty of your existing clients, and the reduction in complaints, returns, and advertising expenses.

After a Networking Event: It was a pleasure meeting you at XYZ last evening. Thank you for sharing your time and telling me about your company's vision for the future. I have been fortunate to work with outstanding individuals like yourself and would consider it an honor to help you reach your vision. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call.

After a Customer Makes a Purchase: Thank you! It wa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2224/10-Ways-to-Build-a-ReferralOnly-Business-In-Less-Than-Ten-Minutes-a-Day.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2224/10-Ways-to-Build-a-ReferralOnly-Business-In-Less-Than-Ten-Minutes-a-Day.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Four Generations In The Marketplace: What This Means For You</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Every company on the tradeshow floor has a few things in common.  They all want to capture attendee interest, and lure them into the booth with the new, the exciting, the irresistible.  They're all facing similar challenges: short attention spans, myriad shows, and increased competition from every corner of the globe.
 
However, there's one extra special way that savvy exhibitors can differentiate themselves from their competitors.  The company that has the best understanding of their target audience -- their wants, needs, problems, and challenges -- has the ultimate advantage in the exhibiting forum.  It is these companies that take the time to learn about their customers -- and more importantly, their customer's customers -- that succeed on the show floor and beyond.
 
Since the marketplace changes so rapidly, this is crucial. For the first time in recent memory, there are four active generations engaged in the commercial sphere.  This is a radical change which means a lot to your customers -- and of course, to you.
 
In previous years, buying power was concentrated within a narrow range of years: the vast majority of commercial behavior took place within a forty year span, beginning as one graduated high school and grinding to a halt upon entering retirement.  In this environment, a mass market, one-size-fits-all visibility strategy worked fairly effectively.
 
Those days are gone.  Today's consumer can be a member of one of at least four generations, beginning with the pre-pubescent teens and extending right up to the infamous baby boomers.  Companies are targeting themselves to six year olds and seventy six year olds: obviously each requires a different approach from them, and ultimately, from you.
 
It's important to remember that not only are end customers member of these generations, but that attendees are divided among these four generations.  If your marketing prowess has you experienced in marketing to one given group, it's critical to take a st ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2193/Four-Generations-In-The-Marketplace-What-This-Means-For-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2193/Four-Generations-In-The-Marketplace-What-This-Means-For-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Choose a Postcard Marketing Company That Doesn't Cost You</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Yesterday to her surprise my wife received another huge postcard from a local salon. However, it wasn't just the size of the postcard that got my wife's attention right away. Here's what set this postcard apart from the competition:
 
- She recognized the salon. It was the third time she received a card from that salon over the last couple of months and 
- It was written and designed for women just like her, age 45-55 with a high income
 
This simple postcard talked to my wife.  It related to her. It connected to her. It delivered the salon's marketing message in a way that convinced my wife to visit it right away, even though she had been going to another salon.  She felt she was ready for a change.
 
If you invested in postcard marketing in the past, I can almost guarantee your postcards were not as effective and did not create the emotional connection to elicit the above response. 
 
Why? 
 
Because there are many direct-response marketing rules that most people, including postcard-printing companies, fail to follow.  
 
So, how can you choose the best company to handle this important process for you? Here's how you can avoid wasting your money, time and energy…
 
7 Questions to Ask Your Postcard Marketing Company Before Spending Your Hard-Earned Dollars:
 
1. Are you a marketing company or a postcard printing company? 
 
Marketing companies who use postcards as their medium of choice tend to care about your business and your success. They want you to enjoy a generous return on investment. Most postcard printing companies just care about the sale. They use generic pictures. They use generic headlines and body copy. They won't set you apart from the competition and they won't guarantee results.
 
2. Do you offer a complete, all-inclusive turnkey solution with quick turnaround time? 
 
It takes time and effort to effectively complete a postcard marketing campaign.  . Most postcard marketing companies rely on you to do most of the work or to ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2169/How-to-Choose-a-Postcard-Marketing-Company-That-Doesnt-Cost-You.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2169/How-to-Choose-a-Postcard-Marketing-Company-That-Doesnt-Cost-You.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Avoid Eating Your Words: 10 Essentials for Networking at Tradeshows </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Every moment at a tradeshow is important. This includes, of course, all of the time you're on the show floor. Add to that the time you're not actively exhibiting but are on or near the floor -- visiting other exhibits, grabbing a bite to eat, or en route to your hotel room. You only have a limited amount of time to represent your organization to the gathered attendees, so you want to make the most of every minute.
 
That's why networking events, such as dinners or organized off-site outings, are so important. Even though these events are primarily in social in nature, they're the ideal place to start or reinforce relationships with your clients and potential clients.
 
However, networking events can also create high levels of anxiety, especially among exhibitors who don't know what they're expected to accomplish or how they're supposed to conduct themselves to make the most of the opportunity. You don't want to flub it -- nor have your team flub it for you.
 
Here are ten tips your team needs to know to shine like stars -- even when they're not on the showfloor!
 
1. Relax
 
Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat as needed. If you're nervous, take some time to meditate, center, or do whatever you need to do to calm yourself before getting to the event.
 
People come to networking events to get to know you in a social setting. The focus is on fun and conversation: two areas where most people can shine without stressing themselves out.
 
2. Listen more than you talk
 
There's nothing in this world people love more than talking about themselves. At the same time, there's nothing rarer than a good listener. Stifle the impulse to talk, talk, talk and focus on being a good listener. Ask the person you're with about themselves: what they do, what hobbies they enjoy, and so on. Keep it personal and light -- you don't want to come off like you're conducting an interrogation.
 
3. Take your time
 
This tip is especially pertinent if you're at a show overseas. Mos ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2068/How-to-Avoid-Eating-Your-Words-10-Essentials-for-Networking-at-Tradeshows.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2068/How-to-Avoid-Eating-Your-Words-10-Essentials-for-Networking-at-Tradeshows.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Tips to Effective SEO Keyword Research Analysis</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Keyword research and analysis can be a daunting task, when done correctly, and expert keyword research is the foundation to a successful SEO campaign. Many new website owners think the keyword research analysis process is easy. They think free tools, such as the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool is the profit pill that will bring them instant results.
 
Unfortunately, the free tools will only give you a rough guide and a quick indication whether a hunch is worth further research. These free keyword research tools are limited to basic information. When performed correctly, expert keyword research exposes so much more - all the gems that are tucked away deep.
 
Real keyword research requires research AND analysis. There are so many aspects to the process that can not be left to chance.  Attempting to do the keyword research on your own is like going to a veterinarian to fix your car. My advise to all clients I do SEO consulting services for is to simply leave this task to the experts who have the correct keyword research tools and expertise. 
 
Following are 5 tips for effective keyword research analysis:
 
1. Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) - Use multi-word phrases 
 
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is a vital element in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for better keyword rankings in search results. LSI is based on the relationship, the &amp;quot;clustering&amp;quot; or positioning, the variations of terms and the iterations of your keyword phrases. 
 
Expertly knowing LSI and how it can be most useful and beneficial for your SEO and the importance it has with the algorithm updates to search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo which will benefit your keyword research for best practice SEO.
 
LSI is NOT new. For those doing keyword research over the years always knew to use synonyms and “long tail” keyword terms which is a simpler &amp;quot;explanation&amp;quot; to LSI. More often than not, these long tail, less generic terms bring more traffic to your site than the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2048/5-Tips-to-Effective-SEO-Keyword-Research-Analysis.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2048/5-Tips-to-Effective-SEO-Keyword-Research-Analysis.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Small Business Websites: Making Them Findable Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[$5000 later-and a score of headaches-you're grinning at the dull computer screen. There's the finished product, the grand ol' website you &amp;amp; your local designer have been slaving over for the past 14 weeks.

I'll readily concede that it looks great-quite polished, actually. But, now what? Will you fall prey to the same virus that so many small business owners are blinded by? The disease that shouts, &amp;quot;It's done! What an investment! Now, sit back and enjoy the money loaded traffic.&amp;quot;

In our technology dependent world, a good website can make or break a start up business. And, what makes a website &amp;quot;good&amp;quot; is not all about its design. A &amp;quot;good&amp;quot; website is one which can also be found.

There are many aspects regarding promoting a website on the net. In this article, I'll briefly touch on a few key basics.

First, never forget that unless you let people know your website exists, the probability that it will draw in crowds of buying traffic all on its own is practically nada. Once your site is completed, you've got to make its existence public. A website is really just a folder on a computer. If you've browsed through the hard drive of your desktop, then you're well aware of the hundreds of folders (some even hidden) that are on there. That's why you have master folders (i.e. the &amp;quot;Pictures&amp;quot; folder) and shortcuts so you can easily access the folder you most often use. 

On the web, people won't just stumble across your website unless you notify other websites of its existence (i.e. through submitting your site's information &amp;amp; link to directories and related websites). If the world wide web is a huge world, then your website needs to break away from its home in the mountains and join a neighborhood. Sure, you can stay isolated, but if you intend to make that site really work, you've got to join hands with as many other legitimate sites as possible.  Obtaining links to your website from other related websites should be on ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2033/Small-Business-Websites-Making-Them-Findable-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2033/Small-Business-Websites-Making-Them-Findable-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>15 Tips for Writing Powerful Sales Letters (aka Salesmanship in Print)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[15 Tips for Writing Powerful Sales Letters (aka Salesmanship in Print)
By Joe Heller, Trust Cycle Selling

I've written this &amp;quot;how-to&amp;quot; article to give you a competitive edge when writing a sales letter. The following 15 Tips (and tricks) will give you everything you need to know to write killer sales letters. Enjoy and prosper - 

The secret to writing a sales letter is that there is no secret. A killer sales letter is written to accomplish one of three things. 

   # 1. Generate interest to qualify (or disqualify) a lead
   # 2. Advance a prospect through the sales process
   # 3. Secure TOMA [Top of Mind Awareness] for additional sales with your existing client base

Question -- What makes writing an effective sales letter so challenging?  Here are the top 15.5 reasons why people fail to write effective sales copy and what you can do about them. 

1) No clear objective in mind before you sit down to write your sales letter -- In order to write persuasively you must have an end in mind, a goal for your reader. Ask yourself, what do you want the reader do when they finish reading your letter. 

2) Lack of an attention getting headline or opening sentence -- You must hook the reader immediately with a captivating opener in order to get the reader to invest their valuable time to finish reading the letter. 80%+ of sales letters fail to generate attention. 

3) Lead sentence fails to extend the theme of the headline into the letter -- You must bridge the reader into the sales copy once their attention is captured or risk confusing the reader and losing their interest. 

4) Fail to write in a conversational tone -- Write like you talk. A letter should be a dialog between you and the reader. The reader should get a sense that you are genuinely concerned with their well being.

5) Copy is boring, fails to keep the reader interested -- You must develop a writing style based on your personality, not on antiquated High School grammar practices t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2029/15-Tips-for-Writing-Powerful-Sales-Letters-aka-Salesmanship-in-Print.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2029/15-Tips-for-Writing-Powerful-Sales-Letters-aka-Salesmanship-in-Print.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Get Featured in O Magazine &amp; Instantly Skyrocket Your Sales</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Getting featured in O, the Oprah Magazine, is like winning the Academy Award. It's a distinction that validates your product like no other publication. 
 
In fact, getting featured in O helped raise one entrepreneur’s sales by 60% in just 30 days. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The mention brought much needed awareness to a cause close to her heart--breast cancer. Thanks to Oprah magazine the issue is now visible on a grand scale.
 
Knowing how valuable it is to get featured in O, you must consider your competition and understand that, just like The Oprah Winfrey Show, the standards at the magazine are some of the toughest in the industry. O magazine prides itself as a publication valuing beauty, courage, attention to the finer points of relationships, and people doing amazing things in the world.
 
Here Are 3 Things You Should Know If You Want to Be Featured in O, The Oprah Magazine:
 

1. Your product packaging must be beautiful.
 
If your product packaging and product itself isn't an eye-stopper, it's most likely not going in O, The Oprah Magazine. Jeanine Boiko of J9 Public Relations, who placed her client Bonjour Fleurette in the magazine three times for three different products, has this rule of thumb: 
 
&amp;quot;For a product to work in O, ask yourself this: if you walked past your product on the shelf somewhere, would it catch your eye and make you stop? It must have unique, attractive packaging that will photograph well. My advice, especially to new business owners, is to not play it cheap with packaging. At the end of the day, it's all about the draw of your packaging.&amp;quot;
 

2. Your pitch must be meaningful.
 
So, before you make a pitch, heed the advice of The Oprah Magazine Executive Articles Editor Dawn Raffel who says the magazine teaches people
how to live their best life: &amp;quot;It's about realizing your own greatest potential and also about making a contribution to others.&amp;quot; 
 
Whether you want to write about yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2026/How-to-Get-Featured-in-O-Magazine--Instantly-Skyrocket-Your-Sales.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2026/How-to-Get-Featured-in-O-Magazine--Instantly-Skyrocket-Your-Sales.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Eight Effortless Exercises to Improve Tradeshow Performance</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Tradeshow exhibitors have something in common with the rest of humanity: We’ll do what is easy, but avoid what those things we find to be or perceive as difficult. It doesn’t really matter what sphere we’re talking about: human nature dictates that more often than not, we seek out the smoother path, the gentler grade, the easier climb.
 
So in order to appeal to human nature and improve your tradeshow performance, I offer you this: Eight Effortless Exercises you can do with your team. Nothing here is particularly difficult, yet all are devastatingly effective. If your team can implement what they learn during these exercises on the tradeshow floor, I can guarantee that you’ll be very pleased with the result.
 
1. Go Over the Goals
 
Booth staffers function best when they have full knowledge of what as an organization, you’re trying, to achieve at the show. A show where you’re launching a new product and want to raise brand awareness is, in some ways, a fundamentally different exercise than a show where you’re simply attempting to reinforce existing relationships and move as much product as possible. Meet with your team and spell out exactly what you hope to accomplish. This is a good time to let them know what you expect on an individual as well as an organizational level.
 
2. Play Trivial Pursuit
 
How well does your team know your products and services? How about your company’s structure, organization, and public image? You might be surprised. Test your team with a friendly game modeled after Trivial Pursuit™ or Jeopardy™. Instead of random trivia questions, use questions centered on your products and services. Make sure these questions range from the everyday -- detailing features and benefits -- to the relatively off-topic -- are your products manufactured in the country? If not, where, and under what conditions? This exercise will reinforce product knowledge and help your team be prepared for whatever questions come their way.
  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2015/Eight-Effortless-Exercises-to-Improve-Tradeshow-Performance.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2015/Eight-Effortless-Exercises-to-Improve-Tradeshow-Performance.php</link>
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      <title><strong>After The Show: Self Analysis A Critical Component to Improve Performance</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Continual improvement is a goal for many exhibitors.  Knowing that tradeshows can play an integral role in a company’s marketing campaign, they’re committed to doing the best job they can this year -- and a better one next year.
 
To continually improve, you have to have a very clear and concrete idea of where you are right now.  An objective measurement of performance is the only way to plan for and achieve an improved result at subsequent shows.  It serves as your baseline.
 
How do you get this baseline measurement?  It’s a two part process, incorporating both measurable and intangible criteria.  The combination of these two criteria gives you the most comprehensive picture possible of your performance.
 
Let’s start with the measurable criteria.  These are your goals and objectives, spelled out in black and white.  If you say that you want to do $X in sales or collect Y number of leads, then you can compare your results against your goal.  It’s simple.  You met your goal, you exceeded your goal, or you fell short.
 
However, there are other factors in tradeshow performance to consider.  These are the intangible, hard to measure things that affect your show: staff performance, booth design, general ambiance, and a host of other criteria.  You need to know how you’re performing before you can improve that performance.
 
Where can you get information on these intangible criteria?  After all, there’s no magic ball where you can look and see how you did.  Tradeshow exhibiting is not like Monday Night Football, with cameras tracking every move and instant replay only a moment away.
 
This is where a mystery shopper’s services can be critical.  By providing an objective, focused analysis of your exhibit, a mystery shopper can pinpoint weaknesses, identify strengths and on occasion, offer suggestions for improvement.
 
It’s important to take the mystery shopper’s report into account. However, it is not the only point of view you’ll wa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2014/After-The-Show-Self-Analysis-A-Critical-Component-to-Improve-Performance.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/2014/After-The-Show-Self-Analysis-A-Critical-Component-to-Improve-Performance.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing to Sell--What to Look for in a Strategic Marketing Company</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[by Leslie McKerns--McKerns Development

When firms seek to sell products, some part of the process makes them wonder if they could benefit from the help of a professional marketing firm.  In fact, just recently the following companies came to me searching for a marketing company: 

1.	A group marketing foreign real estate projects (Costa Rica). 
2.	A company selling interactive greeting cards in the US and Canada.
3.	A business selling wholesale pharmaceutical products.
4.	An online children(s) behavior management program.
5.	A company marketing personal strength training.
6.	A firm promoting their own health and nutrition bars. 

Can you figure out what these firms have in common?

They were all searching for a consultant marketing firm to help them sell products, yet had not identified a single specific area in which they knew they needed help. Instead, they decided that they would find a company that marketed only health and nutrition bars or pharmaceuticals, or whatever their exact product was. 

Their one and only question for me was, Do you have experience marketing interactive greeting cards (pharmaceuticals/nutrition bars)? They were all searching for a firm with the exact expertise in their particular business niche. They all wanted to know what my company could do for them, (including pricing) but had not given any consideration to what they thought they needed. 

What is wrong with this approach? Finding a company that only knows how to pitch a single niche product is not the best way to go about finding a strategic marketing consulting firm. 

These companies miss out on a lot of expertise when they skip the self-searching process--What do I need? Exactly what do I not know? 

It is a little like answering the store clerk(s), How can I help you? with a shrug and then a question, What will it cost? 

A marketing consultant can help you establish or promote your business. It does not matter to a strategic marketing consultant what yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1989/Marketing-to-SellWhat-to-Look-for-in-a-Strategic-Marketing-Company.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1989/Marketing-to-SellWhat-to-Look-for-in-a-Strategic-Marketing-Company.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Engage Your Prospect</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ Got a big appointment? Want, or need, the sale? Sure you do – everyone wants to make the sale, especially when it’s a big one.

Well, here’s the good news: This column is not about “how to make the sale.” Instead, it contains the elements of a sale that engage the prospect. It’s way more powerful than your typical, “probe, presentation, overcome objections, close, follow up.”

These elements go way beyond traditional selling. These elements are for professionals who want to build relationships – not just make a sale. These elements will make the prospect respect you. These elements will lead to partnering. These elements will make the prospect want to buy from you.

Here are the major elements about the sale that you must incorporate into your presentation:

1. Develop a belief system in your company, your product or service, and yourself, that’s so strong, you assume every sale before you walk in the door. This mental mindset is the single most powerful element you can possess.

2. Do your homework the night before. Prepare ideas to help the customer produce more and profit more. Being ready with ideas that will help the prospect will breed your own self-confidence.

3. Pre-relax. Set your own internal tone. Listen to your favorite music on the way over. Be in high spirits.

4. Set your mind on helping achieve their objectives – not selling your stuff. That will set a game plan and the agenda for the meeting at the same time.

5. Tell the prospective customer you have come with a few ideas that will help them. This immediately separates you from the others. The prospect will be engaged, and listening from the beginning.

6. Make friends with the person or people you are presenting to before you begin your formalized talk. Become likable. If they don’t like you, you have greatly reduced the probability of them buying from you. Make small talk that allows you to find something in common. It helps everyone relax, and if you ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1985/Engage-Your-Prospect.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1985/Engage-Your-Prospect.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Network Without Fear</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[   It’s a fact that most of the business that is conducted today is the direct result of network marketing efforts.  Most people have to see a product or service advertisement seven times before they will buy, but are more likely to purchase much sooner if a friend, family member, colleague, or some person of influence refers them to that product or service.

   The biggest issue for most small business owners that attempt networking is fear. They have the fear of public speaking and they have the fear of rejection, and these are the issues I want to address.

   First lets address the fear of public speaking.  This is not as difficult as you may think; it does take a little bit of practice and preparation. I have listed a few things you can do help you get over this.

· Be prepared – practice, practice, practice what you are going to say.  Professional athletes practice the same drills and plays over and over again day in and day out; so that those actions become habit and can performed without thinking and can react to the situation. You have to do the same thing.

· If you are going to a networking event, make sure to                                      have everything you need the night before, if not sooner, and make sure you get plenty of rest.

· Some may say on the way to a function, listen to your favorite type of music to help you relax.  I personally do the opposite and listen to music that motivates me and gets me pumped up.  Which ever works for you to put you in the zone!

   Now you might ask, well how do you deal with the fear of rejection?  Well that’s easy. Develop a rejection free 30sec or so advertisement for your business.  Part of what lends to this fear is that you feel that you are trying to sell everyone in the room your product or service. This is the wrong attitude to have. Your goal when networking needs to be making contacts and how can you help them and how they can help you. Not selling them. Now if they need what ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1980/Network-Without-Fear.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1980/Network-Without-Fear.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing - Past, Present, Future</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing - A Juggler's Art: Marketing, in more the one way, is like juggling. This strange analogy will become crystal clear if we take a close look at it. Just like the juggler the marketer too has to do these things to thrive in his business: first, he has to hook his audience; gain their attention through several jazzy tricks; and then hold their attention by still more innovative juggling. All this he has to achieve without losing balance, focus or steadfastness in the art, the industry, in the marketer's case. In short, marketing is all about alluring, attracting and holding a collection of customers for your Company's welfare.

The Purpose Behind: To quote the American Marketing Association's definition, it is &amp;quot;an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders&amp;quot;. If one dilutes all the verbosity and looks at it, marketing means &amp;quot;selling&amp;quot; a product. This is the prime purpose behind any kind of marketing. The &amp;quot;selling&amp;quot; is accelerated with the help of properly chalked out plans called marketing strategies.

Factors that Influence: With &amp;quot;selling&amp;quot; as the ultimate goal, marketing strategies are influenced by two basic factors: first, acquisition of customers; second, retention of the acquired customers. So every other strategy that is laid out will focus on the above two. A Company has to work closely towards achieving these two to attain the desired cutting edge over its competitors. There are also a few other objectives like creating awareness (informational and educational) about the product, brand-building and accelerating sales.

Traditional Marketing: With the world changing at every nanosecond, marketing is also reeling under a whirlwind of change. New modes of marketing like e-marketing and online marketing have evolved. Yet traditional marketing still ho ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1963/Marketing--Past-Present-Future.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1963/Marketing--Past-Present-Future.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Marketing Cycle--The Dynamic Payoff of Knowing When you should Market</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There is a definite marketing cycle, and knowing when you should market can mean a dynamic payoff. You need to be aware of the marketing cycle in your industry, so that you can know when to market. 

To make the most effective use of your marketing dollar and your marketing time, block out a yearly marketing calendar based upon what your client does during certain times of the year. This marketing analysis is going to tell you what to offer and when to offer it. Then, knowing what and when, you simply select the delivery method--will it be postcard, newsletter or some other method?
 
Real life calendar months and events affecting the marketing cycle include:

1. November: November starts the holiday cycle, but many end of year proposals bids and contracts are signed during this period. Expect the company to be staffed but busy during this time (with the exception of the actual Turkey day).

Many company parties are being planned and held, so this can actually be a good time to mix and mingle in a business sense. 

2. December--January 1st: The time between Christmas and New Years is earmarked for holidays. Many companies close their offices during the period of December 22nd to January 1st.  Staff may be thin or non-existent, as employees travel or take time during this period. 

Make a list of your intended target companies and get to know their habits and policies. This will make sure that you do not waste time trying to reach a company that is closed, or spend direct mail marketing dollars sending out time sensitive materials.

You would not expect to reach staff for a coaching or training session in this time period, but you may be able to reach the top business leaders who typically take less time off than they allow for their employees. Top executives often return to the office during the quiet time in order to plan for next year, and this executive is concerned about coming out strong for the New Year. You will catch this top executive after the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1953/The-Marketing-CycleThe-Dynamic-Payoff-of-Knowing-When-you-should-Market.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1953/The-Marketing-CycleThe-Dynamic-Payoff-of-Knowing-When-you-should-Market.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Mystery Shoppers Enhance Tradeshow Performance</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Everything’s perfect.  The display is beautiful, your team is well-trained, you’ve got fantastic giveaway items and the best pre-show promotion you’ve ever had.  This is going to be the absolute best tradeshow ever.
 
Are you sure? You might be the last person who can answer this question honestly.  It’s not that you don’t want to -- it’s that you can’t.
 
Let’s face it.  After you’ve spent weeks, even months, planning, preparing and practicing your exhibit routine, you’re no longer objective.  You’re too close to your work to see it as a stranger would.  This is no fault of your own. It’s human nature.  We can’t engage with our work and distance ourselves from it at the same time.
 
Yet it is critical that our tradeshow performance be excellent.  Your organization’s financial well being depends in part of what attendees learn about your company from your exhibit. How will you know, at the end of the day, what they thought of your booth?
 
This is where the mystery shopper comes in.  By stopping by your exhibit and doing a little covert surveillance, the mystery shopper can provide you with a critical and fair assessment of your performance.  
 
This skilled professional will assess your booth on many levels. Was your team as polished as you thought they were? Was that clever signage really that funny? Did the giveaway items appeal or were they just so much more stuff to haul around the show floor?  The mystery shopper can tell you.
 
Getting an objective opinion of your exhibit is one very valuable and valid reason to hire a mystery shopper.  It’s not the only one.  There’s another reason to consider hiring a mystery shopper, especially if you have a larger company with several display teams.
 
When the cat’s away, the mouse will play. It’s an old saying, with more than a little modern truth to it.  Any time the boss is out of the office, for example, employees tend to slack off a little bit. It’s a good time to c ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1941/Mystery-Shoppers-Enhance-Tradeshow-Performance.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1941/Mystery-Shoppers-Enhance-Tradeshow-Performance.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Creating a Realistic Tradeshow Budget</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Having a realistic tradeshow budget is crucial for your exhibiting success. It’s imperative to include all of the costs associated with exhibiting in your financial plan, yet many exhibitors fail to take this crucial step. 
 
It’s almost impossible to realize positive ROI when you don’t know how much you’re spending -- and what you’re spending it on! If you ask most exhibitors what they think the largest expense associated with tradeshow participation is, chances are they’ll tell you the display space.
 
It’s true that exhibiting space is expensive. That 10X10 booth can set you back a pretty penny -- and price tags go up for larger spaces and prime locations. However, exhibiting space itself is generally only 30% of the total cost associated with exhibiting.
 
That 30% of your budget is fairly fixed. A fabulous negotiator might be able to get show management to shave a few hundred off the price of exhibit space, but that’s the exception rather than the rule. 
 
Instead, you’ll want to concentrate on that other 70% of your budget. The expenses that make up the bulk of your participation cost are, to some degree, variable. They’re under your control -- which means, with time, planning, and oversight, you can keep them down. The lower your costs are, after all, the easier it will be to generate a positive ROI on your show!
 
The reality is, however, that most exhibitors don’t pay close attention -- or any attention at all! -- to some of the items that make up the remaining 70%. The cost of their show creeps steadily upward, bit by bit, as small charges mount up and up until they’re a sizable chunk of change. This is particularly common among new exhibitors -- although it also plagues seasoned pros who fall prey to the assumption trap. This is when an exhibitor assumes that things will be done this year the way they’ve always been done previously. Like all assumptions, this one can prove costly!
 
Here are some of the items that mak ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Your Business-10 Sure-Fire, Wild Fire Revenue Building Strategies</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
by Leslie McKerns--McKerns Development

Whether you are a new business, an Internet startup or an established business, you will need to market your business and create revenue streams to keep your business alive, healthy and growing. 

As a strategic business development expert, PR strategist and brand manager, people sometimes ask me to promote their business through press and PR before they have fully developed revenue streams to ensure its survival.

Here are 10 sure-fire ways to market your business, build revenue for your business, and vital tips for growing your business and creating revenue sources.

1.	You will need several sources of revenue streams. Start by hosting a brainstorming session asking for idea contributions--these can be ways to market and bring revenue to your business based upon bringing new ideas to your mix or expanding upon marketing strategies you already have.

2.	Get or revamp your website. Add constant and consistent brand building content to the site to make it interesting and to get visitors to tell their friends and return themselves. With Internet 2.0 and all the jazzy add-ons available--make best use of the web as an interactive tool. Consider adding interactive features, games, polls, quizzes, or virtual assistants that can speak and interact with your visitors in real time. 

3.	Monetize your website. Consider adding products for sale and providing a shopping cart and charge card service (PayPal or the like) to your site. Capture your audience while they are engaged and in a buying mood.

4.	Join affiliate programs and sign up for ad programs so that others will host ads on your site, Google Adsense is one program, and there are others to explore. Solicit advertising on your site by bringing your site to the attention of advertisers large and widespread as well as local advertisers. Think Disney, current movie and sports tie-ins on down to local festivals and event opportunities.

5.	Offer a list of products a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1933/Marketing-Your-Business10-SureFire-Wild-Fire-Revenue-Building-Strategies.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1933/Marketing-Your-Business10-SureFire-Wild-Fire-Revenue-Building-Strategies.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Basic Principles of Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are a few things you must know when planning your marketing campaign. These factors are basic principles of marketing. Learning how to market correctly is the biggest task when starting a new business or selling a new product. Without proper marketing, your endeavors will more than likely not succeed. The following are some basic principles of marketing.

[Product] When marketing, you must first create a product or service that is clear and easy to comprehend so the potential buyers will have no problems in understanding what your company is offering. This is by far the most important role in marketing. If you are offering a product or service to impending clients and the client cannot fully understand what your product or service is and does, they will pick up and move on. A few of the things you can include in your campaign to make sure the public will understand your product and service is include a warranty, customer service, instructions, company name, visual examples of how your product or service works.

[Price] The next issue to work with when working on your marketing campaign is to create a price that is reasonable and competitive with your other companies in your market. You should do some research on these companies and find out the average prices of your type of product or service and in turn create a price that is lower than the average if it is possible in your budget and profit margin. The public will notice a product or service substantially quicker if the price is in their budget and with the growing economy, the public will appreciate a low cost product or service.

[Place] When marketing your product or service you must also choose a location that will best suit your company in reaching your prospective market. This is a task that few people will really spend the time on but it plays a major role in how well your business does. Think of it like this, would you promote your children’s toy inside of a bar? You must choose a location t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Marketing and Public Relation--Getting Your name in the News</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[by Leslie McKerns

In Marketing and Public Relations it is all about getting your name in the news. But, if you have tried issuing press releases with only modest success, what is next? 

You have to understand that magazines and newspapers are looking for the larger trends for their readers. They are trying to be the source of reassurance and a greater understanding of the big picture. For example, in real estate the issue behind the scene might be, what can I tell my readers about the next big thing in real estate? What can I tell my readers about great places to live, work and play? Where are savvy people putting their money? What businesses are thriving and why? What have you learned that works, and how can my readers benefit?

Is there a way to catch the interest of the big fish in media? Here are some top suggestions for getting your name in the news.

1.	Define a niche that will be your avenue to authority. 

2.	Be a consistent and authoritative issuer of news. You and your firm must be seen as an authority on a particular issue or topic. Only then will you be seen as someone to turn to for regular quotes and your take on the issue.
 
3.	Claim your stake to larger news. Start searching for stories about you and your firm that are larger than the small pieces you issue about staff changes and additions, charities and charitable work. This is the background to who you are, not who you are. 

4.	Make project or service news be about your core business first and peripheral issues later. In other words, if you are a developer of luxury hotels and resorts, hold the news about revamping third base of the kids(s) ballpark until you have the larger news out there consistently.

5.	Bundle your smaller news. Do not send out personnel and other notices piecemeal, one by one. It becomes larger news, and the media cares that you are hiring, adding space, moving to a new building only when they understand the core nature of what you do. Then, bundle the pers ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1923/Marketing-and-Public-RelationGetting-Your-name-in-the-News.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1923/Marketing-and-Public-RelationGetting-Your-name-in-the-News.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Salesmanship and Empathy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the simplest ways to increase your productivity as a salesperson is to tune into your buyer's point of view. When you are in tune with your buyer you have empathy. This means that you can identify with and understand their situation, feelings, and motives.

When you are in tune with your buyer everything you say or do seems to be right on the mark. The buyer gets the feeling that you really understand them and the road to a successful sale lights up like an airport runway. The opposite is also true. When you are not in tune with your buyer nothing you can do or say will seem to be right. When you push they pull and vice versa.

Master salespeople know the importance of empathy and tune in to their buyers as quickly as possible. Novice salespeople on the other hand, rarely make the effort. This lack of empathy between buyer and seller accounts for much of the negative experiences many consumers experience.

This kind of selling requires a genuine desire on the part of the salesperson to try and be of service. It is pretty easy to spot the salesperson with this kind of desire. These salespeople take an interest in the buyer on a more personal level. The empathetic salesperson asks more questions and better questions. They ask the type of questions that get the buyer to open up and talk about their situation.

Buyers like salespeople that reach them on a personal level. Everyone likes to be listened to and understood. When you demonstrate to your buyer that you are interested and paying attention they will open up to you and tell you what it will take to make a sale. Here are a few reminders to help you focus on your buyers; 

(*)Focus your attention on your buyer. Do not allow yourself to become distracted.

(*)Look for something you like in the other person. What do you think their friends like about them?

(*)Get your buyer to tell you their situation, hopes and fears with well prepared questions. 

Sell with empathy and increase your producti ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1916/Salesmanship-and-Empathy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1916/Salesmanship-and-Empathy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Choosing an Article Submission Service</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Building your list and adding prospects to your sales funnel with article submissions is the hottest sales lead generation trend on the Web today. However, the article submission process is one of the most boring and tedious tasks around. Thats why many authors, experts and businesses choose to outsource their article marketing efforts. 
 
How can you choose the best company to handle this important process for you? Follow these tips to avoid being ripped off from unscrupulous merchants?
 
Here Are My Top 10 Questions to Ask Any Article Marketing &amp;amp; Submission Service Provider So You Can Reach Your Goals:
 
1. Are the sites on your companys article submission list well known across the Web, or are they dummy sites that you set up? Some unscrupulous article submission service providers promise to post your article to hundreds or thousands of sites for a very low fee  like $15! What they dont tell you is that these sites are ones they have created for the sole purpose of posting your articles. No one visits these sites. Search engines dont index these sites. So no one will ever see these articles. Ask for a list of sites they submit to. If they dont seem credible, run fast!
 
2. Does Google index the sites you submit to? If Google doesnt, then you are wasting your time. Ask them for a list of success stories. By going to Google and typing the headline in quotes, you can check whether or not Google indexes the articles they submit.
 
3. Does Alexa index the sites your company submits articles to? Alexa.com is a website that tracks the traffic of all websites. Go there and type your website URL and youll see where your site ranks among the millions of websites. Its easy and fun to do. Try it! Now, ask the marketing company to provide the names of 10 sites they will submit your article to. See where they rank on Alexa. Do they even rank on Alexa? If not, watch out!
 
4. Is this a targeted campaign, or a scattershot approach? Ask the company how well targe ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1897/Choosing-an-Article-Submission-Service.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1897/Choosing-an-Article-Submission-Service.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Use Hidden Psychological Triggers &amp; Sell More Products and Services</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you remember the stupid beer commercial a few years back with the tagline &amp;quot;Why Ask Why?&amp;quot; 
 
Well, completely unknown to the ad agency, they had almost stumbled onto a breakthrough marketing concept. Telling people the reason why you are doing something is one of the most powerful influencers of human behavior. 
 
Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. in his book &amp;quot;Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion&amp;quot; talks about an experiment by Harvard social psychologist, Ellen Langer, that concluded people like to have a reason for what they do. Her experiment consisted of people waiting in line to use a library copy machine and then having experimenters ask to get ahead in line. 
 
The first excuse used was &amp;quot;Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush?&amp;quot; This request coupled with a reason was successful 94% of the time. However when the experimenter made a request only: &amp;quot;Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?&amp;quot; this request was only granted 60% of the time. A significant drop! 
 
Okay now for the shocker. 
 
It may seem like the difference between those two requests was the additional information of &amp;quot;because I'm in a rush.&amp;quot;
 
That's not the case. 
 
Because in a third experimenter, the experimenter asks &amp;quot;Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?&amp;quot; There's no reason mentioned or new information presented, just the words &amp;quot;because.&amp;quot; 
 
This time a full 93% of the people said yes simply due to the word 'BECAUSE'! And it didn't even matter that there was no reason given. Just the word because triggered a magic response. 
 
More psychological 'triggers' that can massively increase your sales letter success, whether youre writing online sales copy or direct mail copy. 
 
Max Sackheim, famous for the long-running ad &amp;quot;Do You Make These Mistakes In English&amp;quot; and originator of the book-of-the-month ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1891/How-to-Use-Hidden-Psychological-Triggers--Sell-More-Products-and-Services.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1891/How-to-Use-Hidden-Psychological-Triggers--Sell-More-Products-and-Services.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The One Two Punch of Brand BuildingHow to Build a Knockout Brand  </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
By Leslie McKerns  McKerns Development

How do you go about building a knockout brand? The one two punch of brand building might not be what you think. Think values and trust, not just colors and logos.

Building a Brand is about (1) what you stand for and (2) the value that brings to those exposed to your brand. If what you stand for is a value system that others want, and want to identify with, you will be able to make your brand easily recognizable. 


1. Start by developing a mission statement. This will be the reason you exist and the value you create. In order to become recognizable, your mission statement must be brief, yet contain the essence of your purpose. (What are you trying to do?) 

A mission statement for a bank might be: To be the greatest financial strength in the industry in order to provide maximum lending opportunities for our customers. 

Or, your bank may be built on relationships: To bring back hometown banking based on community relationships and values.

2. Develop a memorable tagline. Your tagline will express who you are and what you do. 

Financial Strength--For Life(s) Big Opportunities. (Bank One above) 

With Good Friends and Neighbors, Hospitality Counts. (Bank Two above)

3. Create a recognizable face for your company. When someone sees anything written or spoken about a company, they should be able to identify both the company and the values behind it (low cost leader or custom and handcrafted?) 

Hire a branding company to develop your brand image(web, stationery, colors, logo, tagline, mission statement, business cards, postcards, brochures, collateral, newsletters, mailers, rate sheets, warranties, informational cards, posters, signage, advertisements, letters, project sheets, bios, headshots, products, product names, branded or corporate clothing, etc.) 

3. Build Trust. To be believable, you must build trust with your audience. What is the desired public image of your business or service?  Consider how ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1886/The-One-Two-Punch-of-Brand-BuildingHow-to-Build-a-Knockout-Brand.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1886/The-One-Two-Punch-of-Brand-BuildingHow-to-Build-a-Knockout-Brand.php</link>
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      <title><strong>South Florida Magazine Editor Seeks Great Tropical Design Projects</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
Leslie McKerns of McKerns Development, a Florida based strategic PR, press, marketing and media relations company, is seeking submissions representing great tropical design projects for publication in a luxury lifestyle magazine. Submissions can be made in Architecture, Development and Interior Design. McKerns is the Real Estate Editor (Architecture, Design and Development) of CitySmart magazine, http://www.citysmartmagazine.com, and a professional writer and publicist for the architecture, design and development industry.

The magazine showcases regional, national and international development and design projects with a local tie. If you have a project or room that qualifies and you think it would be right for the luxury lifestyle readers of CitySmart magazine, McKerns would like to hear from you. Currently, we are in the market for fun, with a Summer Fling issue--and we are seeking submissions on great fun interiors and rooms; entertaining backyard getaways, fantastic pools and outdoor rooms.

CitySmart Magazine is South Florida(s) luxury lifestyle publication appealing to the affluent, educated and influential reader. The magazine can be viewed online and the pages of the magazine can be turned, viewed and read.

McKerns interacts with local, national and international stars in Development, Architecture and Interior Design, conducting interviews and writing features about trends in the development and architectural industry and recent and upcoming building projects in South Florida. 

In recent issues, I wrote about the latest in projects and developments in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, and lifestyle resort hotel condos in Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale Beach,  says Leslie McKerns. We were able to feature the work of Stiles Development Corporation, Garcia Stromberg Architects, Falkanger, Snyder, Martineau &amp;amp; Yates, EDSA, Trump International, and Adache Group. We feature the Morikami Museum in the latest issue, as well as important green and sustainable pr ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Promote with PR--How to Hit the PR Jackpot </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
by Leslie McKerns

As a business leader, you are constantly reading publications, studying their content and consistently reading articles about your competitors. Having heard that what others say about you is weighed more heavily than what you say about yourself, you understand the value of PR. Now, you want to be interviewed and need to know how to be newsworthy and how to hit the PR Jackpot.

Select Ideas that Sell. You (or your PR firm) need to devise irresistible ideas. Here are some Leads that Hook Editors: 

1.	Unique astounds. Unforgettable people, places, fresh ideas or unique opportunities. 

2.	Success sells. Strategies to increase power, politics, prestige or profits.

3.	Money talks. The high side and the low side of money. When money is no object, how is value determined? What is low budget, but worthy?

4.	Luxury tantalizes. Luxury living, luxurious people, luxurious places, luxurious products.

5.	Money is wise. Avoiding hidden costs, getting the best rates, negotiating best value or the best terms.

6.	Secrecy intrigues. Confidential secrets or sources revealed.

7.	Seasons Celebrate. Seasonal tie-ins (check with magazines well in advance, six to eight months is the norm.) 

8.	Novelty sells. If you or what you are doing is unique it can be made interesting to the press.

9.	Expertise excites. What do you know that others do not?

10.	Leaders lead. Leadership strategies to get others to follow you, your company and your ideas.

11.	Leaders Teach. Lessons Learned. (It has been said that no one wants to learn, they want to know--so use your best story telling techniques with this one.) 

12.	Trends garner interest. Lifestyle and current trend tie ins--what are you and your associates doing (or going) that is trendy, trend setting, noteworthy and repeatable or truly one of a kind? 

13.	 Danger dominates. Pitfalls or other dangerous aspects of business and how-to-avoid-it. 

14.	 Succession succeeds. Strategies for suc ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Betting on your Future? Not a Good Plan</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Recently, the lottery in NY -- the state I call home -- reached a record jackpot, larger than ever before.  When I penned these words, the grand total of funds just waiting to be won was over 340 million dollars.  As you can imagine, this got people talking.  Almost every local newscast covered the huge jackpot. People were lining up at convenience stores across the state, hoping against hope to cash in and win big.
 
This got me thinking about the two types of people: gamblers and planners.  Both would like to have the big bag of cash, but they take different routes to achieve it.  A gambler might plunk down a dollar -- or two, or twenty, or two hundred -- in hopes of winning big in a lottery, while the planner follows a less exciting route of saving and investing.  At the end of the day, whos more likely to have the big bucks? Chances are, itd be the planner.
 
Tradeshow exhibiting works the same way.  You can gamble on having a good show, approaching it in a frenzy because everybodys doing it and youve heard theres big money to be had, or you can approach it methodically, making a plan, doing your research, and making those actions that are prudent and improve your bottom line.
 
Some gamblers win.  Thats what keeps lotteries going, after all.  Some exhibitors show up with only half an idea of what theyre doing, a horrible exhibit and only fledgling show skills, and yet still have a triumphant show.  But the odds are against most gamblers.  For every winner, there are thousands of losers.  For every successful We just wing it exhibitor, there are hundreds who look at the time and effort expended and realize they could have done much, much better -- if only theyd taken the time to learn what they were doing. Are you willing to take that chance?
 
Im not much of a gambler myself, but even I know you should never lay money on the table without knowing whats at stake.  Ask yourself, what could happen if I leave my tradeshow performance to chance?
 
You co ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Athletes Train: Why Dont You?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Theres nothing like watching an athlete at the top of their game -- the sprinter racing to the finish line, the star center sinking the game winning shot.  They make it look absolutely effortless, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to perform that well.
 
Appearances can be deceiving. What you dont see is the long, grueling hours of training and practice star athletes put in behind the scenes: the endless laps around the track with no one watching, the skill drills where that star player practices jump shot after jump shot after jump shot.
 
The same is true for exhibiting.  The truly great exhibitors dont just show up at the show and automatically know how to turn in a great performance.  Theyve trained for the event, making sure that theyve got a good grasp of the fundamental skills needed and the game-day strategy critical to ensure success.
 
What type of training routine does your exhibiting team have?  Most companies, if they answered honestly, would have to say little to no time is devoted to practicing the skills needed to do a good job on the show floor. Its assumed that the skills necessary to be a good salesman or manufacturers rep in the field will automatically transfer over into the show environment.
 
Nothing could be further from the truth.  Someone who jogs everyday, even if they run for miles at a time, does not automatically turn into a top-notch marathon runner.  You can work out in the weight room twice a week at the gym.  That doesnt mean youre anywhere near ready to go compete in Olympic level power lifting!
 
There are some essential differences between the everyday routine your sales reps face and the high-pressure intense situation they encounter on the show floor.  From the extremely limited amount of time your team has with each attendee to the length of the event to the sheer numbers of people one talks to in the course of the day, tradeshows are a demanding event.  One needs to maintain lightning quick r ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Are You Celling Yourself Short?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Cell phones have changed our world.  With few exceptions, we can now talk to anyone we like whenever wed like.  The staccato symphony of ring tones accompanies us through our days: from the morning commute to the crowded restaurant at lunchtime, during meetings and even during the quick stop at the grocery store when the day is done.  Were always connected, always reachable.  Its a marvel.
 
Its a marvel that can destroy your tradeshow performance.
 
Consider the following:
 
Youre at a tradeshow.  An attractive exhibit catches your eye.  The product on display is exactly what youve been searching for.  When you approach the booth, a staffer looks up and with a gesture indicates that you should wait, just one minute, while he finishes his call.  When hes done talking to the important people, the message seems to be, hell be happy to talk to you.
 
How long are you going to wait? After all, youve only a limited amount of time at the show, and there are dozens of other booths on your must-see list.  When you discover that the display just a little further down the aisle also appears to feature a product that could fill your needs, chances are thats all the impetus youll need to move along.  Theres no sense waiting for the staffer to finish his call, not when there are other people who are more than ready to talk to you right now.
 
Lets flip the scenario around.  Youre on the other side of the aisle when your cell phone rings.  Do you take the call?
 
I can hear you now.  But thats different!  My call is important!
 
Guess what? The salesman in the first example thought his call was important too.  And it was -- to him.  It was more important than you were, at least.
 
Talking on your cell phone tells tradeshow attendees three things:
 
1. Your teams focus is NOT on the tradeshow. 
 
2. Your attendee is not the most important person in the room -- that honor belongs to whoever has your cell phone number.
 
3. The attendees business is not valuab ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Winnie the Pooh™ and Youat the Tradeshow?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[At first glance, theres no connection between Disneys Winnie the Pooh and tradeshows.  The same is true of Piglet, Tigger, and the rest of the gang.  What could this cuddly group of childhood favorites possibly teach us about exhibiting?
 
Surprisingly, quite a bit.  There are some very strong similarities between Winnie the Pooh and the other inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Woods and many tradeshow exhibitors.  Dont believe me?  Take a look and see how many of your staffers you recognize:
 
Winnie the Pooh
 
Pooh Bear may be cute, cuddly and approachable -- but hes also got one thing on his mind.  What makes this roly poly bear happy?  Honey, of course!  Hes obsessed with the golden sweet -- when hes not enjoying a meal, hes in search of the next smackerel to fill his rumbly-tummy.
 
A Pooh-style booth staffer is hungry.  He might be talking to attendees, but hes thinking about lunch.  If someone walks by with a sandwich, his eyes are instantly drawn to it.  Scents from the food court get his nostrils quivering.  When he gets a chance to eat, he takes it: even if that means eating in the booth!
 
Piglet
 
Piglet is a very small animal, made even more timid when confronted with unfamiliar surroundings, loud noises, bright colors, and crowds.  His reaction?  Why, to run and hide under the bed, of course, or behind his good friend Pooh.
 
A Piglet-style staffer may be naturally shy or someone who is easily overwhelmed.  Their reaction, inspired by fear, is to fade into the back of the booth and hope no one notices them.  More often than not, they get their wish -- which is good for them, but bad for your bottom line.
 
Owl
 
Owl is an exceedingly well educated bird.  Hes got a brain just cram-packed full of facts and figures -- and he wants you to know it.  No tidbit of information is too small to escape his attention, nor to avoid being retold to anyone who will listen.
 
If you have an Owl-style staffer, you might count yourself lucky.  After all ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Here's the Traffic, Where are All the Sales?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Unfortunately more traffic doesn't always mean more sales. Here's 3 tips to benefit more from the traffic you already receive....

We would all like to be able to brag a bit and declare what a flood of traffic our site is receivingtons by the hour, in fact! It seems we all get caught up in the numbers game. I, for one, like to take frequent peeks on how the statistics are holding up. Usually disappointment settles in if I didnt get a big increase from the last time I looked. Its true, traffic mattersor I would not be looking quite so often.

Most website owners have long known that traffic is important. Without it, we will not get any sales. Its also a fact that without a fairly large amount of traffic, youre not going to profit much either. Statistics show that you usually only convert a small amount of sales for a certain ratio of visitors that you receive. Nevertheless, you must also realize that its not just about numbers. Its about targeted visitors and what you do with those visitors once you get them to your site.

Heres 3 quick tips on optimizing the traffic you already receive at your site:

1. Analyze your traffic. Make sure you have some way to track your traffic flow so that you can determine what kind of visitors you are receiving at your website and where they come from. What keywords did they use to find your site on the search engines? Bidding for general keywords, such as biscuits may bring you wasted traffic. For instance, if theyre searching for dog biscuits and you only offer buttermilk biscuits then, this visitor is not a true visitor that will convert sales and your money is wasted.

*Two ways to improve your advertising:

a. Carefully choose keywords that will target specific products and not general products. Also make sure to include specific keywords within your site that will target the right market.

b. Carefully choose targeted websites for your advertising campaigns. Advertising on Marys Online Hotdog Stand will not hel ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Top Five Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[
by Leslie McKerns--McKerns Development

In this article I will share the top five marketing mistakes and how to avoid them. As a strategic business development, PR and marketing expert, I am often called in to set up a marketing plan, media plan and a delivery system for companies who wish to use an in-house marketing team rather than a consultant. This is absolutely fine with me, except that no one likes seeing their baby turned over to someone without the skills to follow through. So this brings me to the #1 marketing mistake:

1. Number One marketing mistake is handing your business development and therefore the future of your company to a person with no experience in marketing; worse, no experience in your field. In just one example, a top development and construction company turned their marketing, business development and public relation efforts over to a new graduate--in fashion design!     

2. Number Two marketing mistake is to market exclusively within your own field. An example would be an article in a magazine that only reaches the professionals in your field, not your end user or target client, or an ad in a technical or trade publication that only reaches your competition not your end user. You need a comprehensive media plan within your marketing effort and a targeted method to reach the media that your clients read.

3. Number Three marketing mistake is one-shot marketing. (This is the opposite of the scatter-gun approach in which random marketing shots are fired against a wall to see what will stick.) In one-shot marketing, a company picks a single element from a comprehensive marketing plan and produces this one element as their only marketing effort. This one-shot marketing approach could be a single postcard or letter mailing, a single ad, a single conference or event or a single press release. An effective marketing effort requires a concentrated marketing effort over a period of time, with at least four and up to seven points of conta ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Sales Lead Generation Tips:How to Build Your Hyper-Responsive Prospect List</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article marketing is the best sales lead generation technique on the Web today. Unfortunately, many marketers writing articles on the Web fall short in their sales lead generation efforts. They simply cant get people to visit their websites. 
 
This is a critical fallacy that will render your article marketing campaign worthless. You must get people to visit your website and join your mailing list. If you dont, you are wasting your time, money and energy. 
 
Sure, it is great to write articles displaying you as the expert in your field. And, yes, it is nice to post articles that help the world in general. But if your goal is to use article marketing as a sales lead generation technique that builds your email list, you might be falling short if your articles dont have a call to action that grabs readers by the throat and pulls them to your website. 
 
How do you do this?
 
You must have an irresistible offer so people will come to your website and identify themselves. Once you capture your prospects names and email addresses, you will be able to create a sales-winning relationship. If you dont do this critical step, youll never have another chance to sell to these people.
 
Here are four irresistible products or services to help prospects make the critical decision to visit your website and give you their email addresses:
 
 Special reports. Dont confuse special repots with newsletters. These are 3-5 page reports on a special topic. They should include your own insights that prove you are the expert.
 
 Quizzes. People love to take quizzes. Create quizzes that have 10 yes or no answers. Design questions so people will see their pain. This sets you up as the expert who has products and services that can help them. Heres a great site that features a quiz. http://kisstheorygoodbye.com/quiz/quiz.php. Take the quiz and then see how Bob Prosen leads you into learning about his book.
 
 Free 15-minute consulting sessions. When offering free consulting ser ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Give Great Media Interviews</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

By Leslie McKerns--McKerns Development

As a Publicist and writer, I am constantly called upon to interview subjects for magazine feature and news articles. People always ask me, can you get me published? What they are really asking is, why would the news or feature magazines want a story about me? 

Magazines want a story when it is lively, unusual, informative, educational or entertaining and follows the format that the publication uses and the public reads. Before you are interviewed for a print publication, do some advance preparation.

Here are five top tips I can share on what will make your interview outstanding and contribute to a great article.

1.	Take responsibility for giving a great media interview. Know exactly what you would like to get across to the reader. Practice steering your interview back to your central topic with bridging statements. Bridging statements are used during the interview when you sense that a reporter is veering off course from your chosen message. Examples of bridging statements are, I think your readers would be interested to know, that reminds me of a similar issue, let me just add that, I think youll agree, another relevant point is, you are correct in that, but I think Id add. 

2.	 Send the interviewer advance information. Include background information on you and your topic. If you know something particularly interesting about the subject, share it in your notes.

3.	Be interesting. Use colorful, lively and descriptive wording. Think about the central theme of your article and craft one or two quotes that you can weave into the interview. If you dont know how to be interesting, study how other people provide great interviews. Start a clip file and review it often. Think about your work or the information you want to share with the media. What comments could you make that are a lively take on the issues? What unusual or informative perspective can you share? What stories, incidents or statistics back up your  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>You know referrals are important. How do you get them?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[For any Realtor, referrals are the lifeblood of business. In fact, the highest compliment a client can give a Realtor is their name and number to a friend or family member who is looking to buy or sell. But the reality is, unless a Realtor keeps his or her name in front of their clients on a repeated basis, even the best-intentioned client can simply &amp;quot;forget&amp;quot; to pass on the contact information.

So, what is the best way to stay on top of clients' minds? There are many methods to use. Here are just a few.

Send out a monthly newsletter, either online or through the mail. The newsletter should be less about the Realtor, and more about the market. Most homeowners are interested in what's going on in their local market, even if they did just buy or sell. So, fill the newsletter with information the reader will find interesting and pertinent, but not too technical. Include mortgage information as well, but don't go overboard. Then change the direction and talk about cultural events taking place in the area, new restaurants that have opened, holidays coming up, and then turn it back to real estate and highlight any new listings. The idea here is to remind the client that their Realtor is still in business.

An online newsletter is easier to manage and more cost-effective than sending it through the mail.  Having said that, however, does not mean that sending it through the mail is a bad idea. The best delivery mechanism depends on the Realtor, the client base, and how the Realtor likes to communicate.  

Another great way to keep in front of clients is to send clients greeting cards on particular milestones such as right after closing, six months later, one year later, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Sounds pretty basic but most Realtors do not do this. There are a few companies out there that enable a user to simply shop for a card online, type in the message, click a button, and they will take care of everything else - printing the card, addressing the  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Establishing Your Identity on the Internet</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If part of you business plan is to brand your name on the Internet, investigate if some else with your same name is already well established.  Vary your name to create a unique name that will have very little competition on the search engines.

If your business plan involves establishing a personal identity on the Internet, this requires some advanced planning.  You say, &amp;quot;I am who I am so why do I have to plan who I will be?&amp;quot;  Good question.  But let me give you an example - myself, John Howe.

As part of my business plan, I decided that I would become established as an expert on the Internet dealing with the Boomer generation. I launched off on that quest.  All was going well for a while until I googled &amp;quot;John Howe&amp;quot;.  I found that the first several Google pages were full of information on John Howe, but alas, it was not yours truly.

The John Howe who occupies the first several pages of Google is an illustrator from Vancouver, BC, Canada.  He is best known for his illustrations based on J. R. R. Tolkien's worlds (Middle-Earth).  His website is http://www.john-howe.com.   He was the lead illustrator for the very popular &amp;quot;Lord of the Rings&amp;quot; Trilogy.

You know the old saying, &amp;quot;If you are going to have to fight a battle, choose your own battlefield&amp;quot;.  Well, my parents took care of that for me by giving me two middle initials.  V and W.  When people ask me what it stands for, I keep a straight face and tell them, &amp;quot;Volkswagen&amp;quot;.  Actually it is Vernon Wallace.  My parents were Canadian and having two middle names is more common in Canada than in the US.

Anyway, I chose to adopt the full name, John V. W. Howe as my Internet Name, since that sets me apart.  I even had to go through special procedures with some sites (Ezine Articles, etc.) to ask them to go back and change my registered name from John Howe to John V.W. Howe.

It was worth the effort since if you google &amp;quot;John V W Howe&amp;quot; you will find that  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Shows Through The Eyes of a Sales Professional</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Face-to-face contact is more important than ever in today&amp;amp;rsquo;s business ever changing business environment because, among other things:
&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Most products, services and solutions are perceived as commodities&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Mergers and acquisitions which have:&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Customers wondering &amp;amp;ldquo;Who am I doing business with anyway&amp;amp;hellip;&amp;amp;rdquo;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Employees wondering if they have a job, and how to best do it&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Most customers can&amp;amp;rsquo;t define their best suppliers&amp;amp;rsquo; 	current capabilities&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Most employees can&amp;amp;rsquo;t properly answer the question &amp;amp;ldquo;Tell 	me a little bit about your company...&amp;amp;rdquo;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;  When you combine these points (and the many others that can be made about our evolving global business environment), it&amp;amp;rsquo;s no wonder that salespeople are stereotyped as disliking shows. The stereotype conveys, among other things, salespeople don&amp;amp;rsquo;t:
&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Want to be at the show or event because it&amp;amp;rsquo;s a waste of time;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Have time to staff an exhibit and do all of the other things that 	need to be done;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Want to invite their customers because their competitors will be 	there; and  	&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Ever get any good leads (in their territory).&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;  
Like most stereotypes, this one isn&amp;amp;rsquo;t necessarily true. More and more, salespeople and sales managers are recognizing that shows and events have evolved from marketing events into marketing and sales events and are the one and only time many prospects and customers will ever have face-to-face contact with anyone from your company. Shows and events as sales activities are, more than ever, the most cost-effective and time-efficient way to:
&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Create sales opportunities with both existing and new customers;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Diff ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1743/Shows-Through-The-Eyes-of-a-Sales-Professional.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1743/Shows-Through-The-Eyes-of-a-Sales-Professional.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing &amp; Business Development Questionnaire, Diagnose your Needs II</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[

By Leslie McKerns
McKerns Development
[URL=http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment]http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment[/URL]

Use this questionnaire to diagnose your marketing and business development needs. Then assign a simple formula and rating system to fix it.

Directions: As in Part One, thoughtfully and completely answer all questions. There are no right or wrong answers. If you are not currently doing something on this list, it does not mean that you must start. It does mean that you can use this questionnaire to diagnose your marketing and business development needs.

Assessing the Success of Your Current Marketing and Business Development Program

1.	Do you have satisfied clients, customers or patients?
 
2.	Have you captured this business success with written or filmed testimonials? 

3.	Can you name two or three problems you solved for your satisfied business clients, customers or patients? 

4.	Are these services highly marketable to future clients or customers?

Your Competitors

1.	Name three of your major competitors. Why have they been successful in your target markets? 

2.	What have these competitors done that you do differently?
 
3.	Can these differences give you an advantage or define a niche?

You and Your Staff

1.	What is the style and working manner of your office? Is this an advantage in your potential market?

2.	Do your clients come to your office, or do you go to theirs? Are you able to conduct a tour of your office? 

3.	Do you have plans, models, work in progress, videos or other material of high interest that you can show a prospective client?
 
4.	Do you have open houses? When? 

5.	Have your ever done a joint open house with sub-consultants, complementary firms, other disciplines or even vendors?

6.	What would get your guest list to attend your open house?

7.	Do you and your staff regularly explore objectives, goals and marketing opportunities? 

8.	Are all parties responsib ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Marketing &amp; Business Development Questionnaire, Diagnose your Needs Part I</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Use this questionnaire to diagnose your marketing and business development needs. Then assign a simple formula and rating system to fix it.

By Leslie McKerns
McKerns Development
[URL=http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment]http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment[/URL]

Directions: Squint your eyes tight and reach frantically for sand (to bury your head). Or, you could thoughtfully and completely answer all questions. There are no right or wrong answers. If you are not currently doing something on this marketing and business development list, it does not mean that you must start. It does mean that you can use this questionnaire to diagnose your marketing and business development needs.

Your Current Marketing &amp;amp; Business Development Program

Describe (in one or two paragraphs) your current Marketing &amp;amp; Business Development Program (who, what, when, where.)

How many of the following elements apply to your marketing and business development program?

1.	Our company has and follows a written Marketing Plan &amp;amp; Calendar of Action.

2.	Our company has collateral material (brochure, job sheets, catalog sheets, flyers) pre-printed and assembled by category of potential interest. 

3.	Our company has elements of collateral formatted and able to be tailor-made each time we need to reach a new audience. 

4.	Our company has an effective and active website. The website is updated with new content on a regular basis. The website hits are monitored, leads tracked and contact information gathered. 

5.	Our company has and maintains an active database of contacts. The database is current and updated often.

6.	Our company database is regularly analyzed for effectiveness. How are potential contacts reached? How often? With what results?
 
7.	Our company participates in the communities where our office and business is located. How?

8.	Our company leaders attend conferences and provide outreach such as speaking engagements and seminars. Whe ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 More Marketing Tips to Increase Sales</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Use any of these proven techniques for marketing to increase sales.  Entrepreneurs, Consultants and Business Developers can find additional information by visiting http://www.sellingadifference.com

Selling Tip #1:  Get Referrals

Valuable content is the only way to get quality referrals and quality leads.  Include e-mail a friend or tell-a-friend invitations with all outgoing correspondence.  You can include messages like this in the signatures of e-mails, at the bottom of articles, in newsletters and in your blog.

Because you are close to your genius solution and know all the ins and outs of its application, do not assume that your target market knows what to do with it.  Ask for what you want.  Spell it out for everyone.  If you want referrals, ask for them.  Put the referral-generating process at the forefront of your audiences mind.

Selling Tip #2:  Create an Opt-In List

Like all marketing you do, make it easy for your valued customer to do what you want.  Create a system that does not require much time or thinking to participate in.  People are busy and if a process becomes too long or cumbersome, theyll be moving onto something else.  You can create opt-in lists for your newsletters, regular article features, reports, advice, etc.

Selling Tip #3:  Start an Affiliate Program

Affiliate Programs are similar to getting referrals, the difference being that you actually pay commissions from revenue that is generated as a result of a referral.  The great thing about Affiliate Programs is that you only pay when you get a sale.  There are people who make great livings simply from affiliate commissions.  Aligning yourself with some fantastic promoters is a great way to reach thousands upon thousands of people.

Selling Tip #4:  Hold Seminars

When marketing your seminar to a targeted audience, try using a real invitation sent in an envelope through the mail.  Curiosity usually gets the better of people when theyve just received an invitation thro ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 Tips To Increase Exposure &amp; Gain Credibility with Your Target Market</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Below are some useful marketing tips that you can implement immediately to increase your exposure and gain credibility with your target market.

Tip #1:  Have your company website appear in the top 10 lists of search engines by using a careful linking strategy

For your company to appear as one of the top ten in a www.google.com search, for instance, you can first start by searching for your company.  Go to www.google.com and enter in some key words that would bring visitors to your own site.  Make a note of the companies that appear in the top ten list to research their linking strategy.

You can also research industry-relevant sites.  For instance, my target market includes professionals who sell and market service-based businesses. Rather than just researching sales training, I can research the specific industries that my target market comes from as well.  I could research recruiter training, recruiter resources, consultancy training, consultant resources, entrepreneur resources, etc., etc., etc.

Once you have compiled your Top Ten Lists, use a free service like www.alexa.com to research who these companies are linking to, who is linking to them, how much traffic they are receiving and related-sites information.

When you have this invaluable knowledge, research the websites that you are interested in.  For example, how many links appear on each page and where would yours be positioned?  Is your link going to appear at the bottom of a long list or at the top of a short list?  If youre looking at reciprocal linking, is the site relevant to your audience?  You dont want to lose credibility by linking to any old site.  It must provide value to your target market.

Once you have decided on which sites you would like exposure on, craft a reciprocal link proposal.  To make it easy for these sites to accept your offer, let them know that you have already added their link to your website and why you have done so.  This is your opportunity to praise their out ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>7 Steps Any Solopreneur Can Use to Build a Winning Brand</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Foley

What does your brand say to your customers? What, you don't have a brand because you're a solopreneur; a one-woman shop? Ah, but you do. If you have business, you have a brand, whether you realize it or not.

Think of some of the world-wide brands we experience every day - Target, Dell, and BMW. Just mentioning these names conjures up a feeling, doesn't it? For example, when you thought of Target you may have felt a bit light and happy because of their upbeat commercials. When you thought of Dell you might have thought &amp;quot;They're a friendly computer company. I could see myself buying a computer from them.&amp;quot; Or, when BMW crossed your mind, perhaps the image came to your mind of your hands intensely gripping the sterling wheel of the &amp;quot;Ultimate Driving Machine&amp;quot; while your foot is seriously on the accelerator as you swerve around tight-in corners. Oh, the feeling of power under your feet!

When someone says your company's name, people get some kind of immediate gut feeling, too. Something goes through their mind - That's your brand.

The question is, &amp;quot;Is it working for you?&amp;quot;

Your brand is the experience your target customers have while interacting with you. If their experience evokes a strong, positive emotional response, then you've got a great brand. Why? Because customers buy from emotion and back it up with their head. If your customers have trouble remembering your name when you're not actually in the room then you need to work on your brand.

Creating a brand isn't just for the big companies; it's for companies of all sizes because we're all fighting for attention from our target customers. Here are seven steps any solopreneur can use to building a winning brand:

Step 1: Rekindle Your Passion - Why did you start your business? What really brings you satisfaction when you're working with your customers? Tap into your passion about your business and let it resurface. Therein lies the essential ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Marketing Formula That Produces Profits</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Foley

You start your own business to find fulfillment, flexibility, and freedom - and to help others. You know you have a terrific product or service. You're talented, and passionate about what you're offering. But how are you going to get customers?

One word: Marketing.

Most businesses start with a drive and passion for what's being offered - the Field of Dreams &amp;quot;if you build it, they (customers) will come&amp;quot; approach. The excitement you feel about your products and services will just jump out at your prospects and have them knocking down your door, right? If only it were that easy.

It can be that easy - in fact, it's as easy as 2 + 2 = 4.

It's called the Marketing Formula. This simple formula has the power to bring customers pounding on your door.

The Marketing Formula: I + E + E + D = Profit$

I = Interrupt Get their attention, wake them up. &amp;quot;May I have your attention?&amp;quot; This is typically done through the headline.

E = Engage Excite their curiosity, build a case for your offer. &amp;quot;Now that I have your attention, here's why you should keep reading.&amp;quot; This is done through the sub-headline.

E = Educate Give them the information to decide, including specific and measurable results they can expect from your product or service. &amp;quot;Give me the evidence as to why your product or service is any better, or any worse, than anyone else's.&amp;quot; This is done through the body copy.

D = Decide Call them to action with an offer that gets the attention of anyone even thinking of buying what you're selling. &amp;quot;Tell the customer what you want them to do.&amp;quot; This is done with your offer.

Marketing may seem like art, but it's really much more of a science.

You can have a gorgeous ad with terrific, eye-grabbing graphics, but if you don't interrupt and educate your customer and spur her to a decision once you've got her attention...well, you've got a nice piece of art for your office wall, but y ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>5 Key Lessons I Learned From Working at AOL About Creating a Brand</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Foley

After 10 years of forging my career at AOL during their rise to global dominance, I consider myself corrupted. The lessons I learned there are seared onto my brain. And, thankfully so, because I've used everything single one in building my own business.

One huge lesson I learned was about BRANDING. By 1997, AOL was the number one online service, but the lead wasn't so huge that Microsoft's new MSN service couldn't take it away. If AOL was going to continue to bust open and take a huge lead, we needed to do something a bit different. Enter COO Bob Pittman. His first, foremost, and I believe, most valuable, thing he ever did was to insist that the company get serious about creating a brand. Not simply a well-known company, not a recognized logo, but a brand, something that evokes a strong emotion, that's incredibly attractive, and that people want to stay attached to.

We started to get deliberate about creating a brand. Everything we did - from look and feel to marketing to customer service to pricing to online content and more - communicated several tenants of the AOL brand: easy, affordable, and useful. It worked. By the year 2000, AOL was a $7 billion dollar company with 23 million members and a wide lead in the top spot.

When I left AOL and started Bodacious! Ventures, I took everything I learned about branding and applied it to my new business. Here are five key lessons about creating a brand that you can use for your own business:

1. Every company has a brand. The question is, &amp;quot;Is it working for you?&amp;quot; Creating a brand isn't just for the big companies; it's for companies of all sizes. We're all fighting for attention from our target customers. If you don't create a brand, then you risk not being remembered and not being emotionally attractive. Both are a prerequisite for sales.

Ask Yourself: What is my brand? Is it working for me? Am I willing to make changes if needed?

2. Your brand must evoke a strong ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Top 5 Marketing Tips for Busy Executives </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I have a favorite financial radio show--Dave Ramsey. He answers questions by saying, If I woke up in your shoes, here is what I would do. Now I am going to say the same thing to you busy executives that do not have the time to market your business. 

Number One thing I would do if I woke up in your shoes and did not have the time to market my business: I would fire my less than ideal clients, and replace them only when you find clients that energize and inspire you, and most importantly, clients with whom you do your best work. This is based on marketing guru, Michael Port s Red Velvet Rope Policy as outlined in his popular books and lectures. 

Number Two: I would do the same with any staffer or individual who saps your energy and your productivity. Fire and replace them only when you find stellar individuals who bring more to the table than they take away. This method assumes that you understand that in any relationship, both must benefit. 

Number Three: I would hire an independent publicist and provide that person with an overall understanding of my brand, what I am trying to achieve with my business and where I see it in five years. I would give the publicist 12 (one per month) ideas for stories and press about my firm that I think will get the attention I deserve while promoting the true core nature of my business. I would schedule a meeting per month via the internet to review ideas and see progress.

Number Four: I would find four key steps to building trust and credibility; once you build trust and credibility, business will follow. The four areas can be with your clients, with your staff, with your associates and complementary business contacts and with your community. The action steps can be to find ways that you can interact and impact these groups; while you benefit them, you will benefit yourself and your business.  Brainstorm trust and credibility on a daily basis. What makes you trust and believe your chosen leaders? What activities can you p ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>8 Powerful B2B Sales Lead Generation Techniques To Reach The Sale Prospects</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most of the fastest growing B2B companies do not rely solely on just one sales lead generation method. They have a complete arsenal of sales lead generation tools at their fingertips, that they can use at ay given time.
 
Here are my eight proven B2B sales leads generation techniques gleaned from helping over 170 B2B companies reach their sales prospects:
 
1.  Sales lead generation using relationship marketing  
 
Relationship Marketing is the approach underlying all of the sales-lead-generation-success methods. Relationship marketing simply refers to cultivating a personal, sales-winning relationship with your prospects. Its about developing longer-term relationships with customers rather than individual transactions.
 
During my 20+ years of experience in B2B sales lead generation, I've discovered the key to picking up sales others leave on the table is to keep in touch with your prospects via a series of ongoing communications and offers throughout your prospective customers' consideration processes. 
 
2. Sales lead generation through complementary partner referrals 
 
By joining forces with complementary partners, you can instantly multiply your sales lead generation pool and make it easier for companies to engage in doing business with you. Out of all the sales lead generation programs available to you, complementary partner referral programs can generate the highest qualified B2B sales leads.

3.  Sale lead generation using search engine optimization and Internet marketing strategies

Business buyers are more sophisticated and getting harder to reach than ever. Studies show that about 90% of business buyers start with research on the Internet, therefore its critical to have a well-tuned sales lead generation program that includes search engine optimization (SEO)/Internet marketing strategies to attract prospects at the beginning of their buying cycle.  
 
4.  Sales lead generation via telemarketing
 
Even though many people despise the th ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>IT Marketing:  Should Blogging Be on Your B2B Marketing To-Do List?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[For the past few years, you've heard so much about blogging that you're reluctantly concluding that now might be the time to join the parade.  Yes, blogs do have a place in the IT marketers arsenal, but only under the right circumstances. 
 
Blog Basics 
 
A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.  Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules. 
 
In simple terms, a blog is a web page made up of short, frequently updated articles, or &amp;quot;posts,&amp;quot; arranged chronologically like a journal. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not. 
 
Since blogs were launched, almost five years ago, they reshaped the web, impacted politics, shook up journalism, and enabled millions of people to connect with others and have a voice on the Web. 
 
Should You Blog or Shouldnt You
 
The reason you probably know the definition of &amp;quot;blog&amp;quot; is that blog readership is high among IT professionals like you. In August 2006, IT information-search company KnowledgeStorm surveyed 4,500 of its registered users, who are typically IT professionals. Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they read blogs, including 18 percent who read them daily and 33 percent who read them weekly. Keep in mind the percent of IT professionals that read blogs is dramatically higher the overall percentage.
 
While there are millions of blogs online, including my own B2B Marketing Blog, consider that Pew Internet &amp;amp; American Life Project reports that only 39 percent of Internet users read them. Before you decide to enhance your brand image and awareness with a blog, make sure your target audience is among the 39 percent of Internet users who read them.
 
I recommend considering blogging if and only ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Content Doesn't Matter if You Don't Want Traffic to Your Site</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Im afraid youve heard the truth too many times already.  Content, content and more content is what you need to get traffic to your site.  But, of course, its not just any content.  First of all, it has to be valuable content.  Not just yack-yack.  Whos really going to come back for more of that?   Secondly, the content should apply to whatever you sell or offer.  

Heres three quick tips on using content for your home business:  

1. Use content to gain repeat visits to your site.  Please dont sink your head in the sand.  Its true.  Find all the freebie places to advertise, but it will never be as valuable as spending your time researching and writing worthy content for your site.  If you have a direct sales company website, then make it a priority to create your own website.  Dont wait!  Youll be missing out on an opportunity to brand yourself, collect leads, and add your own content to your site.  Add valuable content that will get your visitors begging for more.   Here are three ways that you can start:

*Include informational articles on your site.  The main purpose of internet users is still to find useful information.  You dont have to be a professional writer.  Simply do some research on your subject,  place your information in a decent order and make it sound interesting by letting your personality shine through as if you were talking to your best friend.  We usually offer our own friends valuable information with enthusaism and even have fun telling our view. 

*A monthly newsletter is a great way to offer content. Be sure to include your newsletter sign up on each page.  Entice them with all the goodies they will get or information they will learn from your newsletter.  Tempt them even more by offering a free ebook, report or ecourse.

*Drawings and contests can be considered content for your site as well.  Make them fun and interesting. Hold a free drawing each month if you can.  People love to win prizes and this is a timeless promotion that wi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Write Ad Copy That Sells</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In our fast-paced society we all want quick results, delivery now, quick customer service, overnight shipping, etc. Why is that? The reason is simple -- &amp;quot;Time Is Money!&amp;quot;

Picture this, a website with class &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; graphics, a beautiful flash menu, video with sound and all the bells &amp;amp; whistles. Now imagine this beautiful website without any physical words at all. How many sales do you think it would make?

Rudyard Kipling once said, &amp;quot;Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.&amp;quot; Words make us laugh, cry and fall in love. Words have started wars and ended them. Same thing holds true when writing ad copy for your web site. The words you use have the power to positively explode your sales, or completely terminate them.

Great copywriters of the advertising age have given us tested formulas for the mechanics of writing effective sales copy. Attention-getting headlines, body copy which appeals to your readers' emotions, and benefit-laden bullet points. You must answer the question &amp;quot;what's in it for me?&amp;quot; While you're at it, don't forget to build credibility, ask for the sale, offer a bonus and finish with a P.S. that reiterates the call to action.

You write the ad copy but something is still missing. What you may have left out is the importance of style and delivery. Great copywriters, like great musicians, have practiced their delivery for years, honing their skills to razor sharpness. Like a Les Paul guitar in the hands of Eric Clapton, an accomplished copywriter's skilled delivery requires more than just an intimate knowledge of the basic fundamentals.

What about the rest of us? What if I need to make sales NOW? Here is a secret that will speed you on your way to writing effective copy every time:

Make use of these words in your ad:

1. &amp;quot;Fast&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Quick&amp;quot; 2. &amp;quot;Guarantee&amp;quot; 3. &amp;quot;Limited&amp;quot; 4. &amp;quot;Easy&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Simple&amp;quot; 5. &amp;quot;Testimonial&amp;quot; 6. &amp;quot ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Your Business Opportunity Online: How Do I Adapt To the Internet?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The way we market  business opportunities  is changing rapidly. From VOIP, video conferencing, email support, telephone answering services, and of course... the almighty Internet. As small business owners, we are faced with hundreds of decisions our elders never had to contend with.

Some keep hearing from other home business opportunity associates that Internet marketing is the greatest method of increasing business and building a foundation for repeat customers. The only problem is that you may be a beginner and have just learned how to send emails, let alone learning about SEO, web design strategies, content analysis, auto responders, pay per click, ROI, etc.

The question is do you hire a Internet marketing company or do you learn how to do it yourself?

Investing time into your company is what we small business opportunity owners do best but, in many cases, when it comes to learning new marketing methods we quickly open our wallets to anyone out there who seems like the right person to help with the situation. This is the worst possible decision you can make.

Diving into the Internet marketing community with your wallet open will result in a disaster if you aren't properly trained on how to spend your money wisely. The key is definitely not to hire an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company to take your money and attempt to promote your business opportunities behind your back. Instead, try finding someone who offers you their &amp;quot;training services&amp;quot; so you can train yourself or someone within your organization to learn more about what is required online, how much effort it entails, and what pitfalls to avoid.

As a business owner, if you blindly search online and pick a company to assist in online marketing, you really have no idea what you could be getting yourself into. There are no secrets to promoting your business online, only a lot of hard work. That being said, anyone with a computer can easily learn how to get their company high search ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Marketing To Women: What You Desperately Need to Know to Reach &amp; Engage Wom</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Women as consumers are different from men as consumers in so many ways! Men are more direct-driven to their destination goal, while women meander and enjoy the journey.  Women are multi-taskers and jugglers trying to stay in control while working hard at many different things in their life.
 
As a healthcare marketer, you must first understand women as healthcare consumers. You must know why health and wellness is important to them in their multi-dimensional roles as consumers, caregivers, career women and community leaders.   Gone are the days when most women were stay at home moms or at least similar in their life paths and stages.  Todays women are interested in health for a variety of reasons that relate to their multi-dimensional lives.   
 
Here Are My Top 4 Essential Strategies to Reaching and Engaging Women as Healthcare Consumers:
 
1.  Involve women in co-parenting or creating your messages with you.
 
Informal, interactive research providing springboards for spontaneity helps create a more transparent, empowering and compelling messages your audience (women) wants to hear and trust. This is one of the most intuitive, and most effective marketing to women strategies. Remember, women love to share ideas, spontaneous feelings, dreams, fears an most of all information. Todays women are seeking information and readily sharing what they have read in health or self-help books, womens magazines and on the Internet. 
 
To create a dynamic exchange of information and ideas and to maximize spontaneity, host these natural gatherings in settings such as coffee lounges, spas and wellness centers, living rooms and restaurants. You may even want to create a mini TV talk show and discover salient issues that can propel your marketing efforts and build your business.
 
2.  Position your health, lifestyle or healthcare message in a womans peripheral vision.
 
Neither a full frontal attack nor splashy, expensive product or service-focused advertising will captu ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1664/Marketing-To-Women-What-You-Desperately-Need-to-Know-to-Reach--Engage-Wom.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1664/Marketing-To-Women-What-You-Desperately-Need-to-Know-to-Reach--Engage-Wom.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Proven Strategies for Improving Your Alexa Rank</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[After spending two years building my own website, I was very disappointed that my Alexa ranking was still higher than one million. Alexa ranks each website based on the number of visitors it receives. The top ranked website, Yahoo! has an Alexa rating of 1 or 2. Less popular sites could be ranked up to 5,000,000.

In order to improve my Alexa rating, I spent about three weeks combing the web to find tips, secrets, and proven strategies for increasing my Alexa ranking. Unfortunately, many of the sites offering advice didn't even have a high ranking themselves. Finally I discovered a number of sites ranked within the top 100,000 that were all applying the same &amp;quot;Alexa techniques&amp;quot; to improve their ranking. I've begun implementing a number of these techniques and have improved my Alexa ranking by 250,000 spots in just one week.

Here's what you need to know. The basis for many of these techniques is the fact that your Alexa ranking is based reach and page views. However it only counts those who visit your site and have already downloaded the Alexa toolbar. Anyone can download the toolbar for free which is automatically added to your browser and tracks the sites you're visiting. Increasing visits from those who do not have the Alexa toolbar installed will not help your Alexa ranking.

I've summarized the 7 strategies that I've discovered and applied to my own website to increase my Alexa ranking. Apply these strategies to your own website and see your ranking climb towards the top.

1. Download the Alexa toolbar and use it every day to visit your own website. Alexa even gives you the ability to co-brand the toolbar with your own logo and give it away. You can download the toolbar here: http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/associatetoolbar.html

2. Use Alexa redirection whenever you can. No matter when or where you provide a link to your website, be sure to use the equivalent Alexa redirect URL. For example, when providing a link to my website, I use http:/ ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1638/Proven-Strategies-for-Improving-Your-Alexa-Rank.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1638/Proven-Strategies-for-Improving-Your-Alexa-Rank.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Secret Weapon Every Savvy Exhibitor Should Use</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It's time for a visualization exercise. Are you ready?

Picture this:

You're standing, with your booth staff, in your exhibit at a large tradeshow. This is one of the best shows you regularly participate in as it attracts a sizeable number of your target audience. Your team is prepared. Your display looks terrific. You've got interactive demonstrations, you've sponsored a speaker, and your giveaway items convey your marketing message, appeal to your target audience, and are in plentiful supply.

Looks good, right?

There's something in this scene, something I haven't mentioned yet, that could make it all even better. Something that will not only boost your ROI, but will create that most vital of marketing tools.

What is it?

It's a secret weapon that's more than come of age. In fact, it's been around since the beginning of time but only now is it realizing its full potential. This build up and suspense is all about &amp;quot;word of mouth marketing&amp;quot; and how you can use it to your advantage on the tradeshow floor.

I've recently read Seth Godin's Flipping the Funnel, and it really brought home the concept of how underutilized tradeshow attendees are as a marketing tool. Attendees are more than prospects and contacts: they're a potential sales force, just waiting to be tapped on your behalf.

According to Godin, we should:

Turn strangers into friends.
Turn friends into customers.
Turn then ... do the most important job
Turn your customers into sales people.

Why?

Why would you want to recruit a whole bunch of amateur salespeople, you might ask, when you already have a perfectly competent, fully trained professional sales team? After all, you've spent considerable resources recruiting, training, and retaining your current team. Isn't that enough?

Frankly, no. Regardless of how big your sales force is, there's no way they're going to be able to connect with every person who might be interested in your products and services. Even working  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1629/The-Secret-Weapon-Every-Savvy-Exhibitor-Should-Use.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1629/The-Secret-Weapon-Every-Savvy-Exhibitor-Should-Use.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Bring on the Baby Eyes</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[They say, &amp;quot;you can't teach an old dog new tricks&amp;quot; -- but if that old dog is an experienced exhibitor, he'd better learn some new tricks to stay alive in today's competitive tradeshow environment!

Recently, I had a range of experiences that brought home the importance of going to every tradeshow with 'baby eyes' -- with an open mind and willingness to consider everything about your exhibit from a number of different angles.

What are 'baby eyes'?

If you've ever spent any amount of time with a baby, you can't help but notice the way they view the world. Every single thing around them -- every object, every person, even every shadow on the wall -- is not only worthy of attention, they're downright fascinating.

Babies are fascinated by everything because it's all new. They've never seen it before -- and they lack discernment. Without a frame of reference, babies have no way to tell if they should pay attention to the fuzzy stuffed animal or the crinkly wrapping paper it came in.

That's true, but there's another aspect that's well worth considering. When a baby looks at something for the first time, they really see it as it is: free from any preconceived notions, and without any baggage. Additionally, babies are blissfully unaware of what other people think. They view new things not only free from their own expectations but free from the expectations of everyone they know.

What does this mean for tradeshows?

Eventually babies stop viewing everything as new, exciting and wonderful since this is a survival mechanism. After all, if we were constantly stopping to admire everything that caught our fancy, we'd never manage to do those tasks necessary for survival. Focus is imperative, especially for people who want to Get Things Done.

This is especially true at tradeshows. There are so many stimuli -- bright colors, attention grabbing signs, loud noises, crowds, vivid displays, interesting people -- that it's easy to get overwhelmed and find yo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>No Brainers: 27 Low or No-Cost Ways to Improve Your Next Tradeshow</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are lots of ways to improve your team's performance at tradeshows. From snazzy new displays to intensive training to rewards and incentives for top producers, it's difficult to even count the myriad ways What's not difficult is to realize that some of these improvement methods come with hefty price tags.

Don't despair. There are many ways to pump up performance without breaking the bank. In fact, I've collected 27 low or no cost ways to improve your next tradeshow:

1. Research the show BEFORE you commit: Does it attract a large number of people from your target audience?

2. Give yourself enough time: Planning and preparation for a major show can take 12-18 months.

3. Involve top management in the planning process. You'll get better results from your team if they know upper management is supporting their efforts.

4. Send e-mail reminders to loyal customers and strong prospects before the show, urging them to stop by your booth.

5. Define goals and objectives for show participation.

6. Share these goals and objectives with your booth staff. They can't achieve your goals and objectives if they don't know what they are.

7. Plan for security as needed: you don't want expensive prototypes or demo models 'walking away'.

8. Brief your team on common tradeshow espionage practices and how to defend against them.

9. Send enough people to ensure adequate booth coverage throughout the show.

10. Give each booth staffer a specific role, with job expectations clearly spelled out.

11. Stress the value of friendly greetings, polite manners, and appropriate body language.

12. Take the time to familiarize your team with the lead collection technology you'll be using before the show.

13. Make sure at least some of the people going to the show are prepared to answer technical questions.

14. Send friendly, personable people with a genuine enthusiasm for your company, its products and services. These may not be your most senior people: mak ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1627/No-Brainers-27-Low-or-NoCost-Ways-to-Improve-Your-Next-Tradeshow.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1627/No-Brainers-27-Low-or-NoCost-Ways-to-Improve-Your-Next-Tradeshow.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What To Do When You Can't Find That Perfect Prospecting List</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Imagine youre implementing a B2B prospecting campaign. You know your target decision maker is employed in virtually all companies, but you simply cannot find a list of names with your prospects title. Believe it or not, this happens more often than not.

So, what do you do? Do you buy a list of CEOs, owners, and presidents?

Or, do you incur the time and expense of calling each company to find the right person in charge of your product or service?

A Case Study: Lets take a real example of a program we at VSA implemented for a security-type service. Our client wanted introductions to decision makers at specific companies, but the names and titles for these decision makers were not available on a ready-to- purchase list. And, when we researched further, each company housed the decision maker in a different department: the security department, IT, operations, or the manufacturing plants, and so on. So, we couldnt even purchase a list of heads of IT, for example.

We decided to implement a phone and mail campaign over the course of a year, targeting multiple people at multiple levels within each company. We wanted the CEO and other C-level executives to learn our clients name and service offering. We also wanted to reach the manager-level individuals because they were close to the decision making process for our clients service. After our initial set of mailings, we made follow-up phone calls to the recipients. Any time we learned of a better contact we included these individuals in future mailings, so our list became increasingly focused.

This dual-pronged approach  mailing/phoning the C-level executives AND manager-level decision-makers  proved effective.

The best people to target from a selling perspective were the manager-level individuals in immediate need of our clients service.

However, since our client had little existing name recognition and was entering a high-profile market where C-level executives needed to approve the purchase, targeting ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1609/What-To-Do-When-You-Cant-Find-That-Perfect-Prospecting-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1609/What-To-Do-When-You-Cant-Find-That-Perfect-Prospecting-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Prospect List Predicts Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you know what the biggest predictor of success for your prospecting program is?

YOUR PROSPECT LIST!

Sales courses and sales writing  theyre of vital importance. But, if you cannot reach the right decision-maker, then these other tools are almost wasted efforts  and money.

Here are two case studies  where the list made all the difference between success and failure.

Client A is an established, successful firm who really knows its market.

The executives know that the best prospects for them are manufacturing firms primarily with male employees of a certain age group. They know the range of employee size, and the decision makers title.

In the past year, this client has come to VSA several times. At the clients request, VSA ordered prospect lists that fit the exact criteria our client wanted  not an entirely quick task, but one well-worth the effort. This kind of list can be ordered at virtually any list broker, but requires asking the right questions and scrutinizing the list delivered by the vendor.

Then, the VSA calling team began dialing for Client A.

We spoke to a real human being at nearly each prospect firm - a rarity in today's world of voicemail! Our rate of appointment-generation was excellent.

Our client visited prospects and made multiple sales, generating a significant return on investment.

Client B is a start-up firm, with no track record.

This client had previously hired a west coast firm, who didnt quite understand the market, to help them build a custom-list of prospects. This list was comprised of businesses with recent property damage because our client wanted to finance the repairs. The list included the apparent decision- makers names, telephone numbers, and addresses. What more could we ask for?

The VSA team began dialing for Client B.

We soon discovered something very interesting. Because of the property damage, most telephone numbers were disconnected, and few had forwarded numbers. When we found a fo ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Building Brand Awareness: 7 Ways To Educate Customers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The business world has long recognized the value of creating a recognizable and clearly defined brand. From top business executives to entrepreneurs striving everyday in their communities, and from traditional corporations to the Internet, building brand awareness is the most significant marketing practice today. Iit always will be as consumers continue to seek out their favorite brands.
 
Your customers are navigating a bewildering range of channels and feverishly marketed products before making a purchase decision. We are so bombarded by product brands that we are barely conscious of them much of the time.
 
In order to compete in todays cluttered marketing environment, businesses need access to Americas future customers. They need to start building brand awareness in the classroom before buying and brand loyalty patterns are set.  
 
Here Are My Top 7 Ways To Educate Customers In The Classroom &amp;amp; Simultaneously Build Brand Awareness 
 
1. Distribute product literature and/or give free product samples to learning institutions.  Learning institutions are usually open to learn about business products that would enhance and add value to what is being taught in the classroom.  
 
2. Establish information/demonstration booths in the classroom. The classroom information/demonstration booth will allow students to interact with your companys product and provide ongoing information to potential customers as they develop their own buying power. Your conversion rates will be much higher due to the education that is available to the students. 
 
3. Give free training on the use and benefits of the product.  This is a perfect opportunity to give students hands on training, and teach them about your products value.
 
4. Encourage educators to include information about your product or services in a curriculum guide. This one tip has the potential to multiply your market base nation-wide.
 
5. Offer a contest that empowers students to buy and use your product.  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1594/Building-Brand-Awareness-7-Ways-To-Educate-Customers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1594/Building-Brand-Awareness-7-Ways-To-Educate-Customers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Relationship Marketing in 2007</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A cliché in the motivational speaking business is that 'the definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing and yet expect a different outcome'. Corny as it is, it applies as much in relationship marketing as anything else. And if we want our businesses to continue developing, growing, becoming or remaining a success, it's vital that we re-look why we're doing what we do, and how we're doing it.

When I'm conceptualizing a proposal, report, talk, workshop, negotiation or a presentation, I ask myself, 'What's my objective?' Having done this for a long time, I know that it simplifies and fast-tracks the entire process. When I know the objective, I can test any element, thought or material against that objective or desired outcome for either inclusion or exclusion. I do this by asking myself, 'Will this take me towards the accomplishment of my objective?' If the answer is no, then however appealing, novel, innovative or whatever else the item may be, it either gets ditched entirely or gets put on hold in the project 'parking lot' for later re-consideration. You have to be that rigorous in your self-discipline.

The analogy for the objective-driven approach is a wagon-wheel. The objective is the hub of the wheel. Only when you've decided on it with crystal clarity, can you start putting the spokes in place. Often people will make decisions about elements for inclusion without first being clear on the objective. The outcome from the process is then usually fuzzy at best or confusing at worst. If the spokes (content elements) are selected on a rigorous 'does this fit with objective?' basis, then the customer, consumer or client perceptions, behaviour and responses are likely to revolve around them in the desired or intended fashion.

OK, so what's all of this got to do with relationship marketing 2007? Quite simply, it's going to be helpful before you start planning or implementing what I'm going to call RM (relationship marketing) activities for 2007, t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1590/Relationship-Marketing-in-2007.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1590/Relationship-Marketing-in-2007.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Sacks of Money to Burn on Marketing and Advertising?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Do you have sacks of money to burn on your marketing and advertising? All of the small businesses that Ive come across say they dont. Yet there are a good number of small businesses that have held their own marketing and advertising budget bonfires.

How does this happen? A conclusion Ive come to is that many small businesses burn sacks full of money in advertising with miserable results because they just dont understand the core basics of how advertising works.

A common mistake made by many small businesses is doing &amp;quot;a little bit here, and a little bit there&amp;quot;. Heres an analogy to think about. Have you ever been around someone who never finishes a full soda or drink before opening another one? You know the ones. The people who have several partly empty/full bottles or cans scattered around their work area or home. If we could visualize the small business that advertises a little bit here, and a little bit there, that's what they would look like.

When a business does a little bit here, and a little bit there they are ignoring a basic rule of advertising which is to have a concentrated message in an area, medium, or market thats most important to them. The small business owners who fall into this trap usually are the ones who become the most discouraged about advertising. Ive heard them say, Well, Ive tried everything, but nothing seems to work. From here on out, Im going to rely on my sign out front, and word-of-mouth advertising. By doing so theyve made the problem worse by making another mistake of removing themselves from the market and allowing their competition to have it all to themselves. The solution isnt to withdraw. The solution is to dominate or concentrate the message in one area, medium, or market thats the most important to the business with what can be afforded. And you don't add another medium until you can afford another &amp;quot;full one&amp;quot;.

Another full one? Yes, fill one glass full before you add another one, and fill that one ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1583/Sacks-of-Money-to-Burn-on-Marketing-and-Advertising.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1583/Sacks-of-Money-to-Burn-on-Marketing-and-Advertising.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Trade Show Thanks for the New Year</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[To start out the New Year, we gave thanks for the people we love, the things we enjoy and made the obligatory resolutions for the New Year.

Now, lets get practical and give thanks to the people who make our industry function, make us look good and help us make money.

1. We thank the Show Sponsor who has the marketing vision and takes the financial risk to put on the event. Without both the will and the way, there would be fewer successful shows.

2. We thank the Show Organizer who, with the Sponsors vision and financial support, puts all the pieces together, draws the contracts, supervises the nitty-gritty and gets us all through the door for the show and out again.

3. We thank the Exhibitors who invest time, money and manpower to present their products to the world in this unique environment. Its how we find out whos who, whats what and become attuned to whats going to happen in our industry.

4. We thank the Attendees who also invest time, money and manpower to attend the trade show and who look, listen and learn about our firms. With the golden hope that Attendees beget Leads beget Clients, we give them much thanks.

5. We thank our Exhibit Managers who make it all go so smoothly. These detail wranglers handle minutia with a smile and professionalism unfathomable by most marketing types.

6. We thank the Exhibit Designers who take our many ..but I think... and I wanna... and turn them into dynamic, attention-grabbing and profitable conveyors of the right image at the right time.

7. We thank the Unions - yes, we do - for their dedication to their crafts, their ability to take boxes and cases and crates, and make them the magic we need for the show - and then pack it all up again.

8. We thank the Freight Folks, from the local courier to the big guys in trucks, trains and planes. We appreciate their understanding of time critical and fragile, and we especially thank them for customer service courtesy and online tracking. Bah Humbug to those wh ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How Does a Trade Show Work? - Understanding the Four Components</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Is a trade show confusing? &amp;quot;It certainly can be,&amp;quot; says Julia OConnor, president of Trade Show Training.

OConnor says her firm estimates there are more than 175,000 trade shows in the US each year and each show can be dynamically different from another. Whether the show focus is Business-to-Business Marketing, Business-to-Business Sales or Business-to-Consumer, these are the four basic components of every event:

1. There is a Sponsor

2. There is a Manager

3. There are Exhibitors

4. There is an Audience

THERE IS A SPONSOR ...

This may be a trade association, magazine, show management company or other organization, but there is one party responsible for developing and sponsoring the event. The sponsor takes the financial risk that the event will be successful.

You sign the contract with, and pay your money to, the sponsor of the event. The sponsor decides if your company fits the criteria established for the show, including size of your booth and location. Some shows allow you to pay your money and select your booth site. Some shows use a point system with criteria, such as how often you advertise in its magazine, if you're a member of the association, or how many years you have exhibited at this show. Shows may have waiting lists, which means if you sign on and are allowed in, you may have no choice of location.

If you have any questions about the show, contact the Sponsor.

THERE IS A MANAGER ...

Smaller events may be handled internally by staff of the sponsor, or may be contracted out to a specialized firm, generally referred to as Show Management. Large events have a contracted show management firm.

Show Management is responsible for the all the details - the day-to-day and hour-by-hour running of the show. In turn, management will sub-contract for components of the show, and will designate official contractors, including unions, for such items as labor, electrical, catering, cleaning, flowers etc.

Show Management's r ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1551/How-Does-a-Trade-Show-Work--Understanding-the-Four-Components.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1551/How-Does-a-Trade-Show-Work--Understanding-the-Four-Components.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Only Thing That Really Matters In A Network Marketing Opprotunity</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The only thing that really matters with regard to making money in network marketing in THE SYSTEM!!!

I define system as: &amp;quot;The series of steps that a person must go through in order to recruit the necessary number of people to start making some money&amp;quot;

The problem is that most of the time the &amp;quot;series of steps&amp;quot; necessary for someone to achieve success are not simple, nor are they easily duplicated

Below is an excerpt from the piece I wrote back in 2005, this should shed a little bit of light on the problem:

---Start Excerpt

It is important that anyone reading this understands that there are a lot of companies that have come close to developing an actual &amp;quot;turn-key&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;hands-off&amp;quot; system but not a single company has actually succeeded (at least to the best of my knowledge).

Let's back up for a second and let me make one thing very clear. The problem with most Network Marketing companies is that they sell people on their product and compensation plan, but when it comes down to having an EASY way for members to &amp;quot;introduce&amp;quot; their business to others; virtually every company drops the ball. Or what's worse, these companies tell people what to do but the tasks are not easy.

My definition of easy is something that can be done without a lot of effort and with the brain capacity of a 5 year old. We also have to consider the fact that while some things may seem easy, they are in actuality NOT. What's easy for Mike may not be easy for Mary. So what we have to do is develop a set of tasks that ALL people will find EASY. Or even better yet... develop just ONE task that ALL people find easy and have that one task set in motion everything else that will result in new members signing up for the program. (This is called automation!)

A person must be able to accomplish this ONE task easily, quickly, and immediately after signing up for the program. Also, there must be no room for human error when accomplishing this ta ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1506/The-Only-Thing-That-Really-Matters-In-A-Network-Marketing-Opprotunity.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1506/The-Only-Thing-That-Really-Matters-In-A-Network-Marketing-Opprotunity.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Back Door Into Google?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let's face it, everybody in internet marketing, whatever their business or interest, is trying to get their web site into Google.  I can't say that I blame them.  It can be difficult to even get your page into Google in the first place, much less get a good page ranking once you are in.  In fact, the standard technique of submitting your web site directly to Google may be one of the LEAST effective and speedy ways of getting your site indexed and listed.

When you submit your web site to the Google search engine, it may be days, weeks, or even months before your web page is added, and it may be even longer before your entire website is indexed.  You have little or no apparent control over how quickly your site is indexed, but you can have some possible control over how quickly your web page is added to the search engine data base.

You will read all sorts of articles listing &amp;quot;ways&amp;quot; to get your web page in Google initially.  If you read carefully, you may see that they all boil down to one salient point.  In order to get at least an initial web page into Google, you need links from other web sites.  One point overlooked by many people is that these can be free sites that you have designed yourself, but, like any site that you are trying to use as a back door, they need to be already indexed by Google, they need to be visited regularly by Google, and the higher their page rank within Google the better.  Therefore, if you want to use sites of your own to help increase the speed of getting into the search engine, you are going to have to do a little bit of leg work on that first.  However, once a site has been created and is re-indexed regularly, adding links to new sites and pages can be one way to break into the big time with those sites and pages.

Anytime you want a site to appear in Google, you want it to also have a good page rank and placement in the results.  Most of this comes back to good old search engine optimization (SEO), but that is anothe ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1488/Back-Door-Into-Google.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1488/Back-Door-Into-Google.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Testimonials with Impact</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Like many aspects of running your coaching business, getting valuable testimonials is part art, part science. The science is in how to make the request. The art is in working with your clients to craft a useable testimonial.

Time and Space = Valuable Real Estate
When I first began my business, I felt lucky to get any kind of testimonial. As I began to market products and workshops, I realized that text space and the prospects time are limited commodities. In marketing, streamlined language is essential.

Why is less more in marketing? Because as consumers, our attention span is short and many marketing messages are coming at us all the time. The only exception to the less is more rule in marketing is the &amp;quot;slippery slope&amp;quot; - those long sales pages for products. (That's for another ezine.) For a testimonial to compel a prospect to buy, the prospect must:

1. Want to read it.

2. Believe the author is a real person.

3. See themselves in the author - the same challenges, the same goals.

4. See the concrete results the author received from your product or service.

Read This!
It's a scientific fact that most people read only 10% of what's before them, so as marketers we must make it compelling to read what we put before our prospects. That means:

- Short paragraphs.

- Text stacks of 5 lines or less.

- Word-smithed sentences with imperative language.

- Get to the most important points quickly.

- Appropriate grammar and punctuation.

Believe Me!
Prospects will believe your testimonial is from a real person if you:

- Show a picture of the author next to the testimonial.

- Have the author's name and either state, company name or title at the end.

- Have an audio version along with a short written version.

Relate to This!
You know what your prospects biggest challenges and goals are. Ask your clients to speak to those in their testimonial. It won't be a stretch for them.

Buy Me!
To buy your services, your prospect ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Claiming Clients</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I'll bet that right now you know anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of people who would buy your coaching services -- if only they knew your services existed and you were willing to ask them to hire you.

Yes! Build a website, publish a bi-weekly ezine, network, create teleclasses and workshops directed at your target market. Those actions will build your pipeline full of future clients. And, you could possibly have a full practice right now if you approached the people you already know and asked them to hire you! This is called claiming clients.

Believe in Yourself and Your Services
Claiming clients is a tried and true high touch approach to business. Every day, serious business people go out and claim clients. I know, because I've hired many of them. For me, the decision to hire was three-fold: 1. I admired them for contacting me directly and asking for my business. 2. I emotionally connected with them as human beings. 3. I perceived value in their services.

Why did I perceive value in their services? Because they showed me through their actions and their way of being that they themselves valued their services. But, if they hadn't asked for my business, it's unlikely I would have hired them.

The best example of claiming clients is the President of Coach U, Sandy Vilas, took 60 people out for coffee in sixty days to establish his first 60 coaching clients. He had fun and profited highly from his effort. And those clients kept referring more, so his marketing was done in 60 days. We can all do this. It's a matter of attitude.

If you're not comfortable claiming clients, set a developmental goal to get comfortable. Make it a game and start now!

- Set big intentions for your game. For instance, set a goal to give 20 sample sessions and get 20 clients in the next month. Increase your network ratio every day. The network ratio is the # of people you've asked for business divided by the # of people you know. If that number is under 1, it's time to get mov ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>55 Reasons To Send Out a Press Release</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When should you send out a press release? You want to know my acid test? If it's newsworthy and if it's useful to the reader. It's that simple.

There are many factors to weigh when considering the need to send out a press release. As a publicist I have sent thousands of releases over the years and while there are no hard and fast rules, the most important factor is that you've got to make sure it's newsworthy and useful to the reader. Any thing else and it's just a waste of time for the members of the media.

A good press release can accomplish a lot of things too. It can be used to announce information to the public, your investors, the media, your customers and even your competitors about you and your activities. To help my clients determine whether something is newsworthy I compiled a list of fifty-five press release ideas I give to them to get their ideas flowing about their own businesses. Some are for general consumer media and some may not apply to all business types.

1. Announce a new service.

2. Announce a new product.

3. Tie in with a national holiday, a birthday or anniversary. 

4. Report a new study of your own and your analysis or forecast.

5. Tie in with a controversy by commenting on it.

6. Co-op an event with the media.

7. Utilize a national survey or study to your benefit.

8. Announce your exhibit at a trade show or convention.

9. Commission a survey and report the results.

10. Write a white paper and announce its availability at your web site.

11. Create and promote a special event.

12. Use a current news event to frame your release.

13. Host a seminar and announce the information discussed.

14. Announce an upcoming speaking engagement.

15. Schedule a speaking engagement at the local library... for free.

16. Make reprints of speeches available at your website.

17. Create a contest and offer a prize that's newsworthy.

18. Pricing and policy changes.

19. Patents and trademarks.

20. Liti ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Hire a PR Firm... Before You Need One</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How can a company or individual know if it needs to hire a public relations/marketing firm?

There are many factors to weigh when considering if you need to hire outside help to obtain the public relations, media relations, marketing boost, promotional or advertising assistance needed to take your company to the next level.

If you aren't completely certain after debating the pros and cons ask these questions:

Are we getting all the PR we deserve?

Is our competition getting more than their fair share of media coverage?

Would media coverage bring more business to the firm?

Do we have a PR strategy for continuous year round media coverage?

Is our in-house &amp;quot;PR person or department&amp;quot; overburdened with &amp;quot;in-house&amp;quot; work like the company newsletter?

First of all, let's define a PR firm, some people interchange a PR firm with a marketing firm, or marketing agency, or even an ad agency. Basically a public relations firm handles media relations and is the interface between a company and the news media.

A public relations firm or publicist will &amp;quot;pitch&amp;quot; the media on a story idea involving a company, invention or author. A good pitch about a story that would interest the people who read, watch or listen to a particular media outlet gets coverage.

Many larger companies rely on in-house staff trained in public relations or marketing while others hire PR consultants or publicists to handle their PR campaigns.

Joe Nicassio, author of Guerrilla PR Brand Manager, says whether a company should conduct its public relations, marketing or advertising campaigns internally or externally should be determined by these factors&amp;quot;

Do you NEED solid, consistent media exposure week after week, or are you satisfied with &amp;quot;occasional&amp;quot; exposure?

Do you have the internal staff and expertise to commit the internal resources to your public relations, marketing, advertising efforts?

If you have the internal staff, and they u ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How to Market Your Business During Your Lunch Hour</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a publicist and marketing expert I've worked with a number of doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and authors in their marketing efforts. I've used practically every form of marketing method from public relations and advertising to internet marketing and direct mail. You name the medium; I've done it... that includes banner towing planes, hot air balloons and highway billboards. But when you're the owner of a small business and captain of your own ship, money is tight and every minute counts so you need to maximize both time and money to the fullest. So, looking at an area that most people just slough off, I am here to tell you how to Market Your Business During Your Lunch Hour.

I've come up with a few things you can do over the lunch hour to promote your business. Here we go:

1. Never have lunch alone. Network with top execs, current clients, people who can influence others, everyone from the pastor at the church to the head of the Chamber of Commerce. Make a list and keep your lunch calendar full. Let's face it, everyone has to eat lunch and if you're buying most people would eat with anyone!

2. Write one article a week. Everyone has expertise on certain subjects related to their field. Write a 600-1000 word article about a focused topic. First come up with a list of topics you want to write about. Then set a goal to have them completed by a certain date; one a week works for me. If you don't have time, hire a ghost writer (you still get to put your name on it). Where do you find a ghost writer? Check your local newspaper; chances are there's a writer who'd like to pick up some extra cash. Can't work with someone so close to home, go two towns away to that community's newspaper. Or, check out this online resource at: www.writeittight.com. Then publish the articles on the internet using sites like www.arrivenet.com. Why should you go through all this trouble? It's simple. People search online for the solution to their problem or for someone or something tha ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Seven Tips to Get on a Panel at a Conference</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Admit it. You've been to an industry conference and you look at the people on the panel and you wonder, &amp;quot;How in the heck did 'that' guy get on the panel? I could do that.&amp;quot;

Well, you're not alone. Like getting asked to the Junior High Dance you can wait to get an invitation or get aggressive and make it happen. As a publicist I am often asked to get a client on the convention dais and as a result I've got couple of tried and true tactics that really work.

Here are seven tips to help you land that panel gig...

1. Bring a big name to the party. If you have little name recognition organize a panel around a topic and call in a favor from Bill Gates or other notable friend, client, customer or vendor by creating your own panel. Pitch the &amp;quot;ready made&amp;quot; panel, which includes yourself of course, to the conference organization. They have less work, and you get more editorial control over the discussion. Big names draw big crowds. All conferences like big names.

2. Create a catchy title: Even if you have a big name on your panel, an unexciting panel title and no mention of the big name will not be as interesting to the conference planner. Take a page out of the entertainment industry. Would people rather watch &amp;quot;Desperate Housewives&amp;quot; or the same program titled &amp;quot;Five Bored Housewives on Wisteria Lane?&amp;quot;

3. Make a promise. Tell conference planners what prospective audience members will learn and what they will take away from the presentation in the copy describing the program. For example: Tell them they will learn to do X, Y &amp;amp; Z and will be able to implement something tangible in their own business or practice.

4. Offer to promote the conference. Tell conference planners you'll promote the convention to the prospective conference goers. This helps drive more people to the conference and they will surely like that. You can offer to promote the event using: * A PR campaign to industry and consumer media. * A direct mail p ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>My Favorite Books on Book Marketing and Promotion Every Author Must Read</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a book marketing guy and book publicist it's imperative for me to keep up with all of the great books and magazine articles being published on the topic of book marketing.

I've read dozens and dozens of books on book marketing and usually have found a morsel or two of useful information in each one. Here's a list of my favorites. By the way, I've personally met or have spoken to each author and can attest to the veracity of the material they present and their credentials to discuss these topics.

PyroMarketing. Book marketing professionals know the secrets of success that drove the sales of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life to a chart-busting best-seller and Mel Gibson's &amp;quot;The Passion of the Christ&amp;quot; into a huge cinema phenom. Those of us in the business understand that sales of both blockbusters were driven by techniques outlined in a book called PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra who gained fame in book publishing circles when he served as the marketing director for The Purpose Driven Life, the best-selling hardcover book in history.

PyroMarketing embraces an idea that really has been in use for some time - niche marketing. That tool is well-known and used every day by book promoters but Stielstra lays out the niche marketing principles with a new, crystal clear message that is so compelling that it is a must-read for anyone who wants to promote an idea, service or product. Buy it at: www.pyromarketing.com

The Web-Savvy Writer: Book Promotion with a High-Tech Twist This is an excellent &amp;quot;how to&amp;quot; book on the ins and outs of online book promotion and publicity focusing on the latest technology. Author Patrice-Anne Rutledge is a bestselling author, successful technology journalist, and online book promotion expert who has utilized online marketing techniques extensively to promote her books and writing career. Patricia plows new ground filling the gap in the book promotion marketplace with her highly focused book on bringing technology ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Navigating the Radio Advertising Landscape for Maximum Performance</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Understand Fourth Quarter Hazards to Maximize Profit and Strategic Advantage&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;

Like all mediums, radio has various structural characteristics that make certain times of the year more or less favorable for advertising performance. Knowledge about these aspects of radio advertising is of tremendous value in maximizing campaign profitability and achieving long term success.

Don't Miss Q1
The first quarter is nearly always the best quarter of the year for radio advertising performance, mostly because of factors that lead to an abundance of inventory supply. That oversupply forces radio outlets to be aggressive in pricing their inventory. As a result of this dynamic, Q1 is always an important time of the year. You want to &amp;quot;get while the getting is good&amp;quot;, so to speak, and Q1 is certainly that time. Strategically speaking, Q1 is also a time when campaigns can either grab a foothold or be displaced by a competitor who has come well-prepared to do battle.

So how do you make the most of the favorable conditions in Q1? The most important thing is to make sure that you've spent Q4 testing and refining both media and creative variables so you can be very aggressive when the first week of the new calendar year arrives. Most importantly, you want to avoid going into Q1 with &amp;quot;tired&amp;quot; creative.

Challenges in Q4
However, while Q1 is one of the best times of the year, Q4 is one of the most challenging. In Q4, a number of factors combine to increase demand for radio advertising, which reduces the quantity of inventory available and sets a higher bar for remnant rates. October marks the start of the political season, when political groups advertise heavily leading up to the mid-term elections. In November, we experience the fall TV sweeps when the TV networks and local stations look to radio advertising to draw viewers in an effort fatten their ratings. Then Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, a period that extends  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Fundamentals of Direct Response Radio Advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Direct response radio advertising, at its core, works in the same way regardless of what type of business you are in. Whether you own a direct-to-consumer model business, a retail business, a web business, or some combination thereof, direct response radio advertising can help you grow. And grow profitably. The fundamentals of direct response radio, then, must start with a discussion of how radio advertising works within the context of a basic business model. The purpose of this article is to convey the fundamentals of direct response radio advertising that apply across businesses.

First, Two Important Concepts

Throw out all you think you know about advertising, radio advertising, and especially direct response advertising. It's best to begin with a clean slate, a blank whiteboard so-to-speak. There are two important concepts I want to introduce before moving forward.

Concept One: Radio as A Highway From Your Business to Your Potential Customers

Think of radio advertising as a 5,000 lane highway from your business to groups (station audiences) of your potential customers. The many lanes on this highway are the many different radio stations and radio networks that are available for you air your radio advertisement. It is on these &amp;quot;lanes&amp;quot; that you send your message to your customers.

The lanes are clustered in such a way that they reach groups collections of customers who have similar tastes and demographic profiles. Therefore, some of these lanes lead to groups that have a high concentration of people who match your target customer profile. As a result, advertising on those lanes (stations) is more profitable than others with a lower concentration of your target customer profile. These groupings are the radio formats, which are used in radio advertising to enhance the efficiency of, or return on, advertising efforts. For more about radio formats, see our summary at http://www.strategicmediainc.com/radio-advertising.php.

Concept Two: Radio  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>To Blog Or Not To Blog</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Blogs (or web logs) have been described as online diaries. According to Andy Wibbels, more than 70,000 new blogs are created each day! Blogs can have many purposes. Some people have personal blogs where they share details of their lives. Sometimes, families use blogs to keep each other updated on family happenings. Businesses use blogs to help build relationships with clients and potential clients.

Here are some ways a blog can help your business:

Blogs are typically updated more often than static web sites. Some bloggers update their sites daily, while others go with a weekly schedule, still others have a schedule somewhere in between. There are no formal rules when it comes to posting on your blog. Your posts can be as long, or as short as you want them to be. So, updating your blog will be less involved than updating your web site.

Blogs also offer a more informal style of writing that allows you to build a more intimate relationship with clients and potential clients. When you post to your blog, it's generally a more conversational style. This allows your own individual personality to come through, and for you to really connect with your niche.

Blogs can be a great way for you to get additional exposure for your business. When you set up a blog, you have the option of allowing blog updates to be posted on blog search engines and directories. By choosing this option, you are giving yourself exposure to a larger audience. Blogging can increase your web traffic and your e-zine sign-ups. Blogs also get regular media exposure. Keeping an updated blog that directly targets your niche is a great way to become known as an expert, and possibly gain media exposure.

You can choose to do a blog along with your e-zine, or you can write a blog in lieu of an e-zine. You can also build a community around your blog by allowing visitors to post comments. This will allow you to get to know your audience and allow them to get to know you further.

Blogging is a gre ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>EVENT, CONFERENCE AND MEETING PLANNING GUIDELINES: 10 STEPS TO SUCCESS</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Every event whether it's a meeting, party, seminar, conference, charity event, or your high school reunion will have common threads regardless of what it is, where it's held, when or why it is happening. The following common threads are found in every organized event. Make sure you plan each of the following steps thoroughly and you are guaranteed success.

1. Plan Your Vision: Your vision is the main reason and focus for having the event? It is a combination of your goals and objectives.

2. Set the Goals and Objectives: A goal is the general purpose of the event that provides a road map for the planning process. An objective is a measurable, attainable target that contributes to the accomplishment of the goal. An event can have one or multiple goals and objectives.

3. Select a Site: Location, location, location! Every event needs a site! Pick the location to match and support your vision, goals and objectives.

4. Create Promotion/Marketing Materials: You must get your message out. You need to get the basic information to the right people in the right amount of time so they know when to show up, where to go, and what to do when they get there. The message could be as simple as the date, time, and location via the telephone or as complicated as a multi page brochure for a multi-day conference with numerous events combined in one event. Or perhaps some major TV advertising and sophisticated website design for online registration.

5. Identify Your Participants/ Guests: Without them, you would not have an event. Whether they are invited guests, paying participants or required attendees, people will be coming to your event. Know your audience and target them carefully.

6. Create the Agenda/Timeline: Whether it is written down or planned, every event has a timeline. There is always a starting point and a finishing point. This is detail outline of the activities. What is happening from hours before the participants arrive to the follow-up when the event is ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>What is Copywriting and Why Is It So Important to Your Business?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[&amp;quot;There is no harder job in the world than copywriting, yet there is none more rewarding...both financially and emotionally. It truly is the world's best kept secret job&amp;quot;

First of all, there is some confusion about copywriting...let me dispel the most common myth:

What Copywriting is NOT

&amp;quot;Copywriting&amp;quot; is not &amp;quot;Copyrighting&amp;quot;. Copyrighting is the act of securing the copyright on a piece of work. A copyright is just the legal right to reproduce the work.

What Copywriting IS...

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia defines copywriting or the act of writing copy as:

Copywriting is the process of writing the words that promote a person, business, opinion, or idea. It may be used as plain text, as a radio or television advertisement, or in a variety of other media. I agree with this definition, but copywriting goes much deeper than that...It is both a science and an art.

Where You Can Find Examples of Copy

It's generally used in advertising and marketing and is primarily used to sell goods and services, but it is also is used to communicate with people. You can find it in all ads that you see everyday... That includes: the Internet, newspapers, magazines, billboards and radio...on the package of things you buy, on the back of your milk carton and even the bible! More on that later...

The Problem With Copywriting and Why Its So Important

The act of copywriting is the most mis-understood skill in any business, yet at the same time it's the most important.

Here's why: It's really just words on a piece of paper.

It makes it even more mis-understood when a copywriter asks for thousands of dollars and it only took them a week to prepare it.

But,

When written correctly and sent to the right people, it has been known to turn a mediocre business into an industry giant very rapidly.

Your words, reproduced thousands of times, leverage your message to thousands of people...and it costs only fractions of a dollar per ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1397/What-is-Copywriting-and-Why-Is-It-So-Important-to-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1397/What-is-Copywriting-and-Why-Is-It-So-Important-to-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How to Market Like Warren Buffett - Through the Eyes of An Investor</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Let's take a break for a minute from the flashy TV ads and the phone calls at dinner time asking us to change long distance plans.

Let's put away and forget everything we know about marketing just for a second, just long enough to see it from another angle, because in a minute I want to show you how to look at marketing and investing that will change your life forever.

To start, how do we define the two terms: marketing and investing? Well, investing is defined as &amp;quot;to commit something (usually money) in order to obtain a financial return.&amp;quot; But the word is based from the word investire in Latin, which means &amp;quot;to clothe, or to cover, gain control of something.&amp;quot;

So investing is all about gaining control over something in order to obtain a return correct?

Okay, now let's examine what marketing means. Marketing is defined as &amp;quot;the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.&amp;quot;

But why on earth would someone want to transfer their goods to a consumer?

To make money, to make a profit and to grow larger as a business that's why. At least, that's how it is in a capitalistic society, which I am presupposing.

So, can you see how the two concepts are linked? Can you see how the very act of marketing is also investing?

Now, let's take a page out of the book of the most famous and ridiculously rich investor, Warren Buffett. You know him; he is the king of marketing. He above everyone else, understands how investing and marketing are linked.

What's important about his style of investing is that he doesn't hold the charts, graphs, market capitalization, and the other technical business statistics with the same importance as does Wall Street.

In fact, he snubs Wall Street by looking at the fundamentals of the marketing aspects of a business. Let's examine them; there are only 3 real big ones:

1) He understan ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>A good brand name commands a premium</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In the long term, the ailing organisation needs to build a strong brand name as it will help to strengthen the companys future prosperity. The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Customers can only remember a limited a number of brands in their minds. Brands help the customers to remember the products. Thus, when you think of Mercedes, it suggests luxury, success, prestige, fast speed, well engineered, customer service par excellence and good resale value in Singapore. When you think of Volvo, you think of safety, thanks to the solid-as-a-tank bodywork. When you think of Nike, you might think of Michael Jordon or Just Do It. When you think of Hamburgers, you may recall McDonalds, soft drinks, you think of Coke and fried chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Customers are attached to the loyalty of the brand rather than the companys name. A brand is merely an idea and the only place that it exists is the mind. Logos, tag lines, designs etc are only the physical expression of a brand. Companies with powerful brands can command a price premium and have a competitive advantage. To build the brand name, you need to define an idea that is relevant to your target audience and next develop programs to best communicate the brand message to your target audience.

In very competitive markets such as consumer packaged goods companies, Nabiscos, Quaker Oats, Gatorades are losing their lustre. Consumers are no longer willing to pay a premium for branded goods. Companies with big brands should also focus on building better relationships with suppliers and retailers to improve the supply chain and maximize profits. You just cannot think of selling products. You have to think about selling solutions. This may include ready meals for working mothers, ready to go breakfast bars, ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1389/A-good-brand-name-commands-a-premium.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1389/A-good-brand-name-commands-a-premium.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Local Search: Getting More Exposure for Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You've got your website, your business cards, your listing in the Yellow Pages, your SEO, but what are you doing for Local Search optimization?

Local and Mobile Local Search evolved because they were market driven. It's how most people search these days. Now you can narrow your online search by location - specific city, zip code, country - whether or not you intend to get in the car and go there.

Local Search is the modern equivalent to the Yellow Pages. I don't know about you, but I haven't picked up the Yellow Pages in 5 years. For a while I stored them in my office to gather dust. Last year's one I threw in the trash immediately. I'm a computer person.

70% of consumers search for local services and products ONLINE. Over 25% of all searches on the engines are looking for local results.

In doing research for this article, I read what others had to say. One article said that people looked online for information &amp;quot;even if they intend[ed] to spend money locally.&amp;quot; Excuse me, EVEN IF? It doesn't matter to me WHERE I intend to buy, I look online ALWAYS.

Now this search method is available on mobile phones.

I consult in offices and I see what the executives and lawyers go through with their hectic schedules, trying to find out where they're supposed to be literally on the way out the door, with the phone ringing.

A good secretary has a packet prepared (what a luxury) but most of the time the boss is yelling on the way out the door, &amp;quot;Which court? Where is it&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Where's her office? Get me a map!&amp;quot;

Lawyers are big spenders. They also spend more time in a car than you might think. Courts are located where they're located, and sometimes it's easier to drive a couple of hours than hassle a plane trip. Many use that time to get on the phone, and also to get back to their personal lives. I think some opt for driving because of the possibility of peace and quiet. The only time I talk on the phone with a friend of mine who's a b ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1385/Local-Search-Getting-More-Exposure-for-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1385/Local-Search-Getting-More-Exposure-for-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building Your Fan Base</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Alicia Forest

Want to build your fan base? Meaning, do you want to attract more clients or customers to you and your product or service? Then build a platform. A platform is media lingo for having a solid base from which to pitch your work. It's about numbers, about how many people know what you do. It's about building your following, that you can use to then build it even more.

So, how do you build your platform? It's not hard ~ here are some tips to help you do just that:

1. Make sure your niche is narrow and solid. Research your target market until you can narrowly define who it is in that market that you are going to focus on. Make sure you get really clear on your &amp;quot;who&amp;quot; and your &amp;quot;what.&amp;quot; Be certain who your ideal client is and what problem you are solving for them. Then decide what you'll call yourself and/or your service/product. Make it a brand. Give it a unique name that will catch others' attention - even if you make something up.

2. Decide on the best web address (URL) for your business. The easiest way to get search engines to like you is to have a URL that has your keywords in it. For example, www.stopyourdivorcenow.com or www.artellawordsandart.com.

It's ok to have a long URL, since most browsers will prompt the visitor to the site after just entering a few letters once they've visited it once. And a lot of people will bookmark the site as well. Besides, it's easier to remember if your URL spells out what it is that you do.

3. Know your market. Your target market is your best source of information for what they need from you to help them solve their problem. Ask your friends and family to become part of your R&amp;amp;D team and use a free survey instrument like Zoomerang (www.zoomerang.com) to gather relevant and very valuable feedback from them to help you better understand their needs and tailor your offerings to those needs. This is undoubtedly one of the fastest roads to building a successful fan base ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1378/Building-Your-Fan-Base.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1378/Building-Your-Fan-Base.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Website Traffic And Search Engine Optimization:  The Domain Name</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Whether for business or personal use, before there can be a website, there must be a domain name, and one of the most important steps of a search engine optimization plan is to pick the right one.  

So what IS a domain name?  A domain name is that thing that people give you when you ask for their website.  TexasToyota.com, for example, is a domain name.  (That's a plug, by the way.  They really treated me nice when I bought my car from them, so I thought I would pay them back a little.  If you don't believe me, look for an article I wrote titled &amp;quot;If Michael Is Selling, I'm Buying&amp;quot;.)  

Some things to consider in choosing a domain name are:

1.  Keep it short and simple.  If your website is for your business, a short domain name has its advantages.  Whether you want to print it on business cards or display it on a billboard, making the domain too long or too complicated may make it too hard for potential customers to catch in one reading or recall later, if they did not have a chance to write it down.  An exception to this is if you can get a phrase which will be remembered into the domain name (Example: buytwogetonefree.com) ...which leads us to point number two.
 
2.  Make it easy to remember.  Your customer won't always have a pen with them, or maybe they won't even think about your domain name or website until later.  Short, simple, and easy to remember can be important, but you normally shouldn't just opt for something like qdipe.com, and we are about to tell you why.  

3.  Relate it to your business or organization.  If you sell bicycle parts, try to put &amp;quot;bicycle parts&amp;quot; in the domain name.  This is not only for the eyes of internet surfers, but for the search engines as well.  They use various factors to rank the pages they visit, and sometimes the words used in the domain can increase the rank of the page. This brings up another point.

4.  Think about keywords.  Although we are not going to get into Meta tags in this article, ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1368/Website-Traffic-And-Search-Engine-Optimization--The-Domain-Name.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1368/Website-Traffic-And-Search-Engine-Optimization--The-Domain-Name.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is Your Networking Not Working?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was at a networking event recently and this young woman came up to me and introduced herself. Using typical networking etiquette, I asked her &amp;quot;So, what do you do?&amp;quot; Well, that turned out to be the wrong question to ask her!

She proceeded to tell me all about herself and her business, not once stopping to take a breath or give me, or the other person I had been talking to the chance to say a word.

When she finished, she handed me her business card and said, &amp;quot;It was nice meeting you,&amp;quot; and walked away.

I felt like I had just watched a very bad 60-second commercial for her business. And boy was I NOT interested.

The sad thing was, she was a massage therapist, and I was an ideal client for her - I get a massage once a month and have for years. Too bad she didn't take the time to find that out. Definitely a missed opportunity for at least a more interesting conversation, and potentially a new client.

And the kicker was, she asked for my business card, but I NEVER heard from her after the event!

So what just happened?

I'll tell you. She spent her valuable time and money to attend this event. And, she did everything she thought she was supposed to do.

She went around meeting lots of people.

She told those people all about herself and her business.

She handed out lots of business cards.

She collected lots of business cards.

And then she went home, and expected her business to grow as a result.

Wrong!

If you network this way, you may as well save your time and money. Because you're probably not going to see results.

I believe you must approach networking the same way you approach any other form of marketing ...

You must use the Sharp-Shooter Approach

Select networking events that are a good match for you and your business. Events with attendees who are either your ideal clients, people likely to refer your ideal clients, or like-minded business people you could partner with.

Go with the intention of ma ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1343/Is-Your-Networking-Not-Working.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1343/Is-Your-Networking-Not-Working.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Successful Marketing Requires Follow Up</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I'd like to share the story of a new yogurt shop that opened in our neighborhood, because I think it provides some great marketing lessons we can all learn from.

The Little Yogurt Shop That Could

This little yogurt shop opened recently in a retail space that has been home to several ice cream shops over the past few years. None of the ice cream shops were successful in that retail space for any length of time.

My guess is this is partly due to the location, but probably has more to do with their lack of marketing and establishing a strong brand.

The Little Yogurt Shop Passed The Branding Test

The little yogurt shop seems to have a leg up on the branding end. It's called DIY Yogurt and you actually get to serve yourself the yogurt and add your own toppings.

This is a unique idea (a definite marketing advantage) and kids in particular seem to get a kick out of serving themselves and choosing and sprinkling the toppings on their yogurt by themselves.

So right there, the brand name (DIY or Do-It-Yourself) is consistent with the yogurt store's uniqueness.

Good job marketing so far.

They're Using Smart Marketing Techniques

The second thing they did right was to distribute 50% off coupons to all the homes in the immediate vicinity of the store. The coupons were valid on two specific dates and were used to announce the grand opening.

Smart marketing.

We were made aware of the shop and we were given an incentive to give it a try, which we did, along with many other people - the shop was packed with people when we visited. They also gave us a frequent buyer card that entitled us to a free yogurt after purchasing 10.

A good start on generating repeat business.

Now they've done three things right.

But guess what?

They Made One Potentially Fatal Mistake

That's where it stopped. It's been over a month since we went in for the 50% off trial and I haven't seen or heard anything from DIY Yogurt since. And not surprisingly, we haven' ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1342/Successful-Marketing-Requires-Follow-Up.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1342/Successful-Marketing-Requires-Follow-Up.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Avoiding &quot;Build It and They Will Come Syndrome&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Did you ever see the movie, &amp;quot;Field of Dreams?&amp;quot;

It's one of my favorites. Remember the mantra from the movie?

&amp;quot;If you build it, they will come.&amp;quot; If only that worked in business!

Unfortunately, many small business owners and solo-professionals fall into this trap when it comes to their website.

They take the first step of getting a website, but that's where they stop. They don't see it through.

The World Wide Web is a massive place. It's not the sort of place where someone is going to just happen upon your website. You need to drive them to your site.

There are a variety of ways to do so, some free and some paid.

Here are a few of my time-tested favorites:

1) Article Marketing

2) Pay-Per-Click Advertising

3) Public Relations

4) Trading links with similar websites

I've written about most of these topics in the past. Just visit http://www.10stepmarketing.com/freearticles.htm to read these and the many other small business marketing articles I've written.

In this article, I want to focus on Trading Links.

This is an online marketing tactic I've used successfully for a hobby website I manage.

And the best way to share how this strategy works is to tell you a quick story ...

In addition to 10stepmarketing, I also run a website called Twin Connections (http://www.twinconnections.com). I'm a fraternal twin and I've always been interested in the unique bond my twin sister and I share.

So I started Twin Connections to collect and share stories with other twins worldwide.

I needed to find ways to market that didn't cost anything.

Since this project is more a labor of love than a business right now, I needed to find ways to market that didn't cost anything. So I turned to link trading.

Why? Twin websites are easy to find through a quick Google search. I also figured that since I wasn't selling anything, but rather was offering a place for twins to share their stories, other sites would have no reason ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1341/Avoiding-Build-It-and-They-Will-Come-Syndrome.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1341/Avoiding-Build-It-and-They-Will-Come-Syndrome.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Opportunity of Private Labeling</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was having breakfast at a local restaurant the other day when I noticed on the table there was a bottle of hot sauce with the restaurant's name on it. I was impressed because I knew this was no chain - it is just a small independent restaurant who was taking advantage of private labeling. It is one of a growing number of small restaurants that enhance their brand by putting their own name on products.

First, let's be clear about what I mean by Private Labeling. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand. So this covers everything from Wal-Mart brand products to the small restaurant putting their label on someone else's hot sauce.

It is amazing the number of businesses now that are engaged in some form of private labeling. Restaurants, hotels, spas, hair salons, even car dealers are all putting their own brand on products such as hot sauce, lotions, shampoos, coffee, lip balm, bottled water and wine. Many corporations want to put their own logo on products that they giveaway to reinforce their brand. The corporate gift market is particularly busy around Christmas. There are also many small businesses that want to appear more professional by having their own brand of products to sell - coffee and bottled water are particularly popular here.

Getting Started

So as manufacturer how do you get started selling your product via private label? The easiest way is to just start selling to other local companies. If you sell coffee then start with the local cafés and donut shops - many companies are happy to support other local companies, particularly if they can get their own brand name on the products. Obviously, your existing customer base would also be a good place to start. You can offer to put their name and logo on the labels that go on your product.

Once you have a few private label customers you can then start a f ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1336/The-Opportunity-of-Private-Labeling.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1336/The-Opportunity-of-Private-Labeling.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Innovative Packaging Ideas</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It was Peter Drucker, the leading business thinker of the 20th century, who said that business has two functions - marketing and innovation. This article is going to merge both these ideas. Packaging is ultimately a marketing function, it is the final marketing message your customers will see before purchasing your product. If you are selling at a retail store your packaging can be a major factor in determining the success of your product.

Today, to break through the clutter of the hundreds of other competing products out there it pays to be different. Look at what your competition is doing, and make sure you have an innovative and unique look. Innovation in packaging will get your product noticed, it will help build your brand, and it will give your product some personality. Whether you like it or not your product is initially going to be judged by your packaging.

So, how do you create innovative packaging? You can pay a packaging design firm thousands of dollars to come up with some ideas or you can create the ideas yourself. Here are ten ideas that will hopefully stimulate some packaging innovations for your own products.

1. Create a Reusable Package

The boutique beverage market is mature and extremely competitive, so you might think there are few really new ideas when it comes to packaging. You would be wrong. POM Tea has created something truly different. For a start the product itself is different - it is tea infused with pomegranate juice. But it is the packaging that is remarkable; the drink is packaged in a regular tall drinking glass with a lid and a clear shrink wrap label. It says on the label: Remove the label, keep the glass. In our local Wild Oats it retails for $2.79, not that expensive for a bottled tea, and you get a free glass. No need to worry about recycling here - you get to reuse the packaging.

2. Add a Little Extra to Your Packaging

Sometimes you can have very standard packaging, but stand out from the crowd by just adding a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1335/10-Innovative-Packaging-Ideas.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1335/10-Innovative-Packaging-Ideas.php</link>
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      <title><strong>List-building: Where The Heck Do I Start To Build My List?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you trying to figure out where to start getting a list, how to get going? You may be so overwhelmed with all of the training and all of the different how-to's out there that you're wondering, Is there a simple way to build a list and make money?

The answer is yes.

There are about 30,000 simple ways to build a list. But if you want to build a list, do you have any idea what topic you want to build a list on?

If it's a very general topic, like trying to help people build home-based businesses, number one, don't do that. Are you currently making a lot of money with a home-based business? When I say a lot, I mean more than $5,000 a month?

If you're not, then are you qualified to help people do that?

Here's the thing. There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of step-by-step game plans that you can follow in order to make money online. I'm talking about ones that actually work. Never mind all of the bogus ones.

Who wants to just chase a buck? Sometimes we all feel like we have to if money is tight or if we are trying to make a change, right? Everyone's experienced that. I have experienced it. I probably will experience it again at some point or another.

The question is, how do you overcome that feeling and really get into something with a lot of integrity? That's the major point. You want to build your list around something solid and something completely honest and useful.

There are thousands of products on ClickBank that will allow you to do that. Just be sure to test the product first. Buy it, and if it's good, promote it. If it's bad, ask for a refund and find something else. Then, set up a list-building squeeze page that leads to the sales page. Simple.

Maybe you need to re-evaluate what's really important to you. If you really want get your list building, you need to start scheduling in time to work on learning how to build a list, and then, to work on applying these techniques to your business every single day.

You ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1332/Listbuilding-Where-The-Heck-Do-I-Start-To-Build-My-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1332/Listbuilding-Where-The-Heck-Do-I-Start-To-Build-My-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Relationship Marketing Must-Haves For Marketing Your Business Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Youve got products. Youve got a website. Youve even got some traffic (hey, even a little traffic is some!) Now comes the clincher for any business. To make money, you need to entice online visitors to buy your stuff.

How can you do this? Well, you cant grab hold of their hands and make them click the Buy Now button. But you can do specific things that may help them decide to click on it themselves.

In my line of work as a client attraction marketing coach to small businesses, Ive seen many business owners who consistently let visitors click off to web wonderland rather than convincing guests to buy their wares. These businesses may have products or services that are just as good or better than their competitors, but theyre missing out on some key information about how to convert page views into sales.

Relationship-Building: The Missing Link to Online Money-Making

To understand how your visitors online experience can lead them down the buying path, first become your visitor. What convinces you to buy things from other websites? Being human, most of us are more eager to buy from companies or people whom we feel we like, know, and trust.

An online customer cant look you in the eye, shake your hand, and think, Hey, I like, know, and trust this person! The good news is that by taking shrewd advantage of the the multimedia nature of the internet and the power of good writing, you can give your visitors the experience of having a positive, personal relationship with you.

Here are some tips for boosting your personal relationship with customers to help them feel an intimate connection that makes them more likely to buy from you.

Before I share the tips. I ask that you make an intention. Intend to use tips that reach you. You are reading this article for a reason.

Ten Relationship-Building Tips

1. Show
Post photos of your employees and your workplace. This helps visitors feel more like they know you.

2. Tell
Add audio clips of you speaking abo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1294/10-Relationship-Marketing-MustHaves-For-Marketing-Your-Business-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1294/10-Relationship-Marketing-MustHaves-For-Marketing-Your-Business-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As you sow, so shall you reap. So what are you sowing? What are your values? What really matters to you? How do you define fairness? Where do you draw the line between good and bad? Are you running your business because it is serving your needs or because youre chasing the almighty dollar?

My dictionary defines integrity in three ways.

The first definition is adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, honesty. Does your business reflect your moral and ethical principles? Are your morals acceptable to those you ask to buy from you? Are you honest with yourself and others about what your morals and ethics are?

The second definition of integrity is the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished. Is your business whole? In other words, is it healthy, vibrant, and running at peak efficiency? How about your personal life outside of your business? Is it healthy, vibrant, and running at peak efficiency (for this example I define peak efficiency as sufficiently removed from your business)?

Last but not least, the third definition of integrity is a sound, unimpaired, and perfect condition. Are your business models, methods, and results sound? Is your business free of any artificial constraints (such as you refusing to change something simply because youve been doing it the same way for many years)?

If the answer to any of the above questions is no, then you are not running your business from a place of integrity, but from dishonesty- to yourself, your family, employees, customers, everyone. If this describes you, then you need to understand that Im not calling you a liar, nor am I passing any sort of judgment. I do believe, however, that dishonesty costs far more than its worth. Its a slippery slope where one small untruth breeds another until an entire web of falsehood is weaved to protect the original breach. This web takes constant maintenance and vigilance to maintain lest the secret escape. Put simply, dishonesty breeds dis ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1260/WHAT-ARE-YOUR-VALUES.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1260/WHAT-ARE-YOUR-VALUES.php</link>
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      <title><strong>WHAT MESSAGE ARE WE SENDING?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[So I stop into a toy emporium in search of something special for my son, who, like most boys, is fascinated by machinery. He especially loves planes, trains, and ships, so it dawned on me to look for a ship of some sort because he already has the trains and planes.

I found myself becoming more and more disgusted by what I saw as I wandered the aisles. Is this world not violent enough that we have to play at it as well? A discomforting percentage of the toys I saw for all ages involved violence and weaponry of all sorts from medieval to futuristic. I dont care how stylized it is, a weapon is a weapon. Meaningless status symbols formed another huge percentage of the available offerings, everything from pimped out toy vehicles to fads that any child would quickly tire of. Even classic toys such as sets of interlocking blocks have become increasingly productized, a radical departure from the days when a child could build most anything out of the simplest pieces.

Has this world reached a point where everything must be prepackaged and spoon fed to us? Have we made some collective decision to stifle human imagination and creativity? Are we as a society actively trying to force our children into some preconceived notion of materialistic normality? Is the look of wonder in a childs eyes at even the most mundane aspects of daily life so hard to watch with our jaded eyes that we do all we can to squelch it at all cost? Have we sunk so low that the only solution we have for children who refuse to fit that mold is to pump them full of psychoactive medication?

Make no doubt about it: I am a marketer to the core of my being, one who is very pro business, pro commerce, and pro capitalism. Helping businesses increase their bottom lines is something I absolutely love doing. My job entails helping businesses optimize their systems and then craft the messages they send to their children, and I proud of that. So where, you ask, did this rant come from?

The simple truth is th ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1259/WHAT-MESSAGE-ARE-WE-SENDING.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1259/WHAT-MESSAGE-ARE-WE-SENDING.php</link>
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      <title><strong>COOPETITION 101</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Many businesses view competitors as enemies that must be crushed lest they themselves be crushed. In previous columns, Ive challenged you to focus instead on finding fusion marketing partners, companies you can team up with to expand your marketing efforts. One example of fusion marketing is the rack of brochures for nearby attractions that no hotel lobby is without. Another could be a restaurant, spa, and B&amp;amp;B partnering to offer a romance package to tourists. Fusion marketing can be an extremely potent tool and I continue to strongly recommend it.

Today, however, Id like to challenge you to take fusion marketing one step further by seeking ways in which you and your competition can possibly work together. Yes, dear readers, sometimes sleeping with the enemy can yield some very positive results. For example, the worlds leading software manufacturer (a small company in Redmond, Washington, that you may have heard about) recently invested some $150 million in its arch rival, a computer maker in San Jose, California that also makes a very popular portable music device. Coopetition is a term that embraces the truth that business combines aspects of both cooperation and competition.

Working with the competition now theres an interesting twist.

And yet whats wrong with that? Anyone who has played any kind of strategy board game can recount tales of alliances made and broken during any given session for no other purpose than prolonging the game and/or making it more interesting. I am positive more than one of you has cut at least one side deal when a bad die roll has dropped you on the wrong square.

If that works on the game board, why cant it work just as well in business? The mentality is the same: If you dont like the game or arent getting ahead for whatever reason, change the game. This is precisely what competing cyclists do by taking turns leading the peloton so that others can draft behind them and save their energy for the final dash to the finish  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1258/COOPETITION-101.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1258/COOPETITION-101.php</link>
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      <title><strong>YOURE SURROUNDED!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Thats right: They are all around you and closing in around your business. Should you come out with your hands up, or stay and fight? If for whatever reason they happen to be the police, then I strongly urge the former. But if theyre your competition? Ah, thats a different story.

When it comes to the competition, I have two fundamental beliefs.

First, competition forces innovation and efficiency. Without competition, wed still be driving Model T cars and companies could charge whatever they want since there would be no incentive to economize or provide value. I firmly believe that our standard of living depends on healthy vibrant competition. Im not a huge fan of resting on laurels and especially not of stagnation.

Second, the mere fact that you have competition probably means that you are in a viable industry. Think about it. Being in a business sans competition can only mean that youve either pioneered something truly new under the sun or that others have tried and failed. Do you really want to take that chance?

How should you respond your competition? That all depends on what makes your business unique and on your marketing strategy. You do have a marketing strategy, dont you? That said, I have one very simple rule.

Youre the underdog. I dont care who you are or what business youre in. Your competition is bigger than you, better, has a bigger budget, sound marketing strategy, and they have your operation squarely in their sights as an enemy to crush. The simple fact is that you are not going to win this battle with sheer muscle. Or, if you do win, then you will have expended so many resources as to make the victory hardly worth the effort. Yes, this does sound paranoid; however, never forget that being paranoid does not mean they are out to get you.

Just how the heck are you supposed to get ahead in this bleak landscape? Ah, now thats the question.

The truth is that you have plenty of tools at your disposal. Youre small. Youre agile. Youre pas ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>THE POWER OF OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How often have you heard the question May I help you? as you enter a place of business? If you or your employees regularly come in contact with customers, you all may have uttered that question hundreds or even thousands of times. The problem is that this question is closed, meaning that it only requires a one-word answer with no thought behind it. Hardly the way to engage someone who is trying to decide whether or not to spend money on what you have to offer. Remember that the key to obtaining market share lies in obtaining mindshare- in other words, people need to engage their brains before theyll break out their wallets.

The solution? Open-ended questions that require detailed responses and conscious thought to fully answer. In many cases, converting a closed question to an open-ended question is as simple as adding Who, What, Where, When, Why, or How to the beginning. Thus, for example, May I help you? becomes How may I help you?

This extremely simple adjustment accomplishes three things.

	First, it signals the customer that you actually want to help them instead of simply exchanging formalities. Think about our customs and etiquette and youll realize that most of it falls under maintenance behavior, which we engage in because were expected to, not because we want to. Maintenance behavior is an obligation and that sentiment comes across loud and clear every time we hear it. Would you rather buy from someone who has to help you or from someone who wants to help you?

	Second, open-ended questions force your customers to think, which both embeds your business and your products and services in their brains and gets them started down the want/need/afford path to a successful sale. How may I help you? Who are you buying this for? How will you use this item? All of those questions require thought to answer.

	Third (and most important), open-ended questions launch a dialogue between you and the customer, which magically transforms you from a salesperso ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>THE THREE INGREDIENTS OF EVERY SALE</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Congratulations! Your marketing efforts have paid off in the form of a prospective customer. Now what?

The bad news is that every prospect who departs sans purchase represents a failure to follow through on the interest built through your marketing. The good news is that there exists an extremely simple formula for qualifying your prospects and making more sales: want, need, and affordability.

Want. Does the prospect want what you sell? Want is an emotional response and human beings emotional creatures. In fact, my research indicates that logic mainly exists to validate and rationalize our emotions. Think about your own logical processes and delve into why you made certain decisions and how you justify them and Ill bet that youll find emotional underpinnings almost every time. You have therefore overcome a huge barrier whenever your prospect wants what you have to offer. If that want is strong enough, the prospect will do most of the work of establishing a need and figuring out ways to pay for it that could even include cutting back in other areas. If they dont want your wares, you are facing a steep uphill battle.

Need. Does the prospect need what you sell? There are two types of need. The first exists to justify and rationalize wants by forming perceived needs. For example, you may need transportation and may decide that you need the model with heated seats, navigation system, high-performance V6, etc. In this example, the need for transportation is the actual need while the need for luxury is the perceived need. Combine want with perceived need and you are well on your way to sealing the deal. And when you think about most marketing, isnt converting raw emotion into perceived need what its all about? On the flip side, it is entirely possible to need something without wanting it. Going to the dentist comes to mind (with absolutely no offense meant to any dentists who may be reading this). Many people would rather do just about anything other than going to ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>PRICING 101</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Ive worked with my fair share of clients and pricing is a perennial issue. More entrepreneurs than Id care to count seem to think that business will roll in if they can only lower their prices far enough. They slash and burn like rainforest farmers gone amok and wonder why customers arent streaming in.

The answer is very simple: Price is far less important than value. Think about your own purchasing behavior. Just how often do you go out of your way to scrimp a few pennies? How often do you spring for the el cheapo model of anything? By now you probably know that shortcuts make for long delays. The few pennies you save by schlepping to the low price leader are often more than equaled in time, gas, and hassle. The el cheapo model breaks at the worst possible moment leaving you (at best) inconvenienced and kicking yourself for your penny wise, pound foolish ways.

Human beings are astoundingly consistent creatures and what holds true for you also holds true for your customers. The bottom line is that only 14% or so of customers cite price as their primary buying criterion. The good news is that you can probably charge far more than 14% thanks to the you get what you pay for rule. In short, never compete on price. Well, almost never.

Where should you price your products or services? Heres my rule of thumb: Find the high and low prices for similar offerings in you area, then set your price at the 80th percentile. For example, if the lowest price is $100 and the highest is $200, price yourself at $180. If nothing else, this is an excellent starting point because it keeps you well clear of the pricing trap by allowing you to compete on value instead of on price. This is a very good thing.

The mantra I use with my clients is offer Rolls Royce quality at BMW prices. In other words, offer the best goods and services you know how to provide, all backed by the best guarantee you can think of (see last weeks column) sold with the true desire to give value to your cus ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>TAPPING THE EXISTING CUSTOMER WELL</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[OK, on with the show. Last week I talked about the power of the word free and suggested that offering freebies to your existing customers might well be your single best marketing tool. This brings up a bigger question:

What process do you have for following up with and retaining your existing customers?

Heres the stark truth: If you are not rattling off your step-by-step follow-up process then you are walking away from some of the easiest profit youll ever make. Period.

Your prospective customers must grapple with the decision whether or not to spend some of their money in your business. Ive said it before and Ill keep saying it: The act of handing over money is the ultimate act of consumer faith. By contrast, your existing customers have already taken the plunge. If youve done your part right, they found that an enjoyable and satisfying experience.

Existing customers have two major advantages over prospective customers: First, theyll tell all their friends about their purchase- particularly if it was major or otherwise significant. Second, theyll be far more likely to buy from you again. Tapping your well of existing customers is the easiest, cheapest, and most profitable thing youll ever do for your business. Sadly, far too many businesses miss this golden opportunity. The customers initial excitement fades and they become once again susceptible to the thousands of marketing messages your competitors and other businesses bombard them with every single day. Your customer has a limited supply of dollars. Youve already made the effort to sell them on your products and services. Why let all that go to waste?

How do you keep existing customers coming back for more? This is almost too easy in most cases. First, make the buying experience as pleasant as possible. Customers who associate good feelings with your business are far more likely to return. Second, remember that existing customers are not prospects. Dont market to them in the same way that you mar ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>THE BEST FOUR-LETTER WORD EVER</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[We tend to look down on four-letter words, often with very good reason. Today, however, Id like to introduce you to the best four-letter word youll ever see for your business:

Free.

This small word has the potential to completely transform your marketing. Look at it this way: You probably already invest time and money proclaiming how wonderful your business is. What if you could invest a portion of those resources in proving it? Talk is cheap. Action is everything.

What can you offer for free to establish yourself with prospective customers and/or stay in touch with existing customers? The list is nearly infinite. Here are some ideas to spur your creativity:

Free consultations: No matter what business youre in, chances are there are lots of similar establishments hawking their own wares. What if you advertised not your products or services but a free consultation on how to select the best of whats available? I suggested to my housekeeper that she offer a free 15-minute consultation in her classified ad. She tried it and has been buried under prospective customers ever since.

Free gifts: A major bank sent out a mailing advertising financial services to high-net-worth prospects. Some mailings contained an offer for a free leatherette notebook that cost somewhere under $2 apiece while others did not. The mailings with the free offer outperformed their cousins by a factor of about 4 to 1. Whats interesting is the very low cost of the gift relative to the target audience. This proves that your free gifts need not be extravagant. Dont hand out junk, just dont spend a fortune.

Free samples. Free upgrades. Free newsletters. Free products. As I said, the list goes on and on and on.

Why is this such a potent marketing tool? Two reasons.

First, the typical ad makes some big claims and asks for the sale. What does this tell you, the potential customer, about the quality of the business and its goods and services? Nothing. It does tell you that they want  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>SELLING WITHOUT SELLING</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In a previous article I promised to reveal the most powerful marketing tool there is (at least in my opinion). Well, here goes

We are surrounded by marketing, to the tune of several thousand messages per day. Marketing has become so pervasive that we dont even consciously register it anymore except in special cases. Do they register subconsciously? Probably- but do you, as a small business, have the resources it takes to bombard your audience so thoroughly that they have no choice but to remember you?

Of course not. This leaves you with a choice. You could decide to add your message to the blizzard and get lost in the marketing storm- a time- and money-burning machine. Or you could simply decide to opt out and step away from the maelstrom because you might just be able to sell far more without selling at all.

Selling without selling is far easier and much more cost-effective than it first sounds. All you need to do is to abandon the taking stance and slip into a giving stance. Instead of asking what your prospects and customers can do for you, ask yourself what you can do for them.

For example, the owners of a new restaurant discovered that most of their clientele frequent salons. What did they do? They visited every salon within a 1- to 2-mile radius and offered the owners a free dinner for two. Not one of those buy one, get one of equal or lesser value coupons, but a totally complimentary meal with drinks, dessert, anything they wanted, as much as they wanted, with no strings attached. Result? Business boomed. Why? Because the salon owners had a wonderful experience and were never pressured or even asked to buy anything. This combined with the gift of a delicious meal made them evangelists. I can almost see them gabbing up the new restaurant with every one of their clients and the clients getting hungrier and hungrier as they sit there thinking about the possibilities.

Question: How much less did this campaign cost and how much more effective was i ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>WHATS YOUR PROCESS?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What is your marketing process? What measurable, clearly defined steps do you take to convert a lead into a prospect, a prospect to a customer, and a customer into a lifelong client? If youve been following my columns, you know that marketing is a courtship ritual that encompasses all contact between anyone in your business with everyone outside it. So whats your ritual?

Imagine youre sitting somewhere minding your own business. A total stranger approaches and asks whether youd care to find a room and get friendly. My guess is that odds of your saying yes are pretty low. On the off chance you do accept the offer, the odds of your partner ever contacting you again are well minimal.

Question: Does this sound like most marketing you see every day that wants you to make the purchase and then vanish? Does it remind you of your own marketing efforts? I call this approach Friday night marketing. Friday night marketing relies on spreading a message far and wide in hopes (literally) of getting lucky. Sure, these ads might be targeted (you are, after all, far more likely to be approached in a singles bar than at your local eatery). But their approach and tone remain the same: buy, buy today, and happy trails.

Lets return to our example, only this time the stranger asks if youd like to go for coffee. Are the odds of your saying yes to coffee higher or lower than the odds of your accepting the more personal offer? My guess is those odds are far higher. You go to coffee and have a wonderful time with no pressure whatsoever. Afterwards, your new acquaintance invites you to lunch- another very easy step to take. From there, things progress to dinner, walks on the beach, and more until one day this former stranger asks for your hand in marriage. By this time, that huge step, that ultimate leap of relationship faith, has been rendered far easier by the step-by-step courtship ritual. And after the marriage? In theory, you and your partner remain together forever. Their fam ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1209/WHATS-YOUR-PROCESS.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1209/WHATS-YOUR-PROCESS.php</link>
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      <title><strong>SHOPPING FOR PROFITS</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Imagine running pell-mell down supermarket aisles blindfolded, tossing random ingredients into your shopping cart. My guess is that youll end up with a few ingredients that youll use, more that youll try and dislike, and a solid majority that you will never use. Now imagine taking a few moments to plan your menu before going shopping. My guess is that youll put all of your selected ingredients to good use.

How does this relate to marketing?

Think of every possible way to market a business (direct mail, newspaper ad, business card, etc.) as an ingredient. Do you consider marketing to be a series of actions or events? If so, then you are approaching your marketing from a things to do perspective. You may have lots of marketing out there, but what is the plan behind those efforts? Marketing without a plan is like running blindfolded through supermarket aisles, as described above.

Heres an example: You decide that you need a brochure, newspaper ad, direct mail campaign, Web site, business cards, and coupons. Great! So how do you plan to use them? What is your process for reaching out to prospective customers and guiding them through the soft steps to ease the stress of purchasing from you? Without a plan, you have no way to know and are therefore risking spending way too much on marketing that will return way too little. Failure to plan is one of the biggest problems I see with most marketing.

On the other hand, if you devise a marketing plan with very specific goals and tailor each marketing action to that plan, then you will be like the second shopper who created a shopping list prior to setting out. I think most people would agree that the best way to shop for groceries is to work your way backward from What do I want to eat? to What ingredients do I need to What do I have in stock to What else do I need?. Same with your marketing.

Try this simple exercise: Ask yourself What specific result do I want to achieve?, followed by What specific process shoul ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>YOUR INTELLIGENCE AGENCY</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Knowledge is power. In the Information Age, s/he who acquires, processes, and acts on the most information wins. How much information do you have about your business? Does your business have an intelligence agency? If not, you could be in big trouble and not even know it. Thats the bad news. The good news is that setting up an effective spying operation is extremely simple, costs next to nothing, and can really grow your profits. Fear not- this is nowhere near as Orwellian as it might seem. In fact, spying on your own business can be a lot of fun and extremely beneficial.

Why must you do this? You already have lots of information about the mechanics of your business such as vendors, suppliers, product lines, services, employees, consultants, regulations, and finances. You should also have a great deal of information about who your customers are, their likes and dislikes, etc. What else could you possibly need? Plenty.

Remember that marketing is all contact between everyone connected to your business with everyone in the outside world. By contact, I mean any sensory input obtained using any of the five human senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste). This includes every little detail from how your telephone is answered to employee attire, shop cleanliness, smells- you name it. If someone not in your business senses anything at all about your business, then you are marketing, whether you know it or not.

What impressions are your customers forming about your business thanks to your intentional and unintentional marketing? Are these impressions positive or negative? And why do you need this information?

As a business owner, you are in the relationship business. Keeping happy customers coming back for more and referring their friends and associates is the cheapest and most effective way to grow your profits year over year (see my past column Geometric Growth). With that in mind, the importance of knowing how youre treating your customers is self-evident. ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1202/YOUR-INTELLIGENCE-AGENCY.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1202/YOUR-INTELLIGENCE-AGENCY.php</link>
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      <title><strong>SPEAKING FOR FUN AND PROFIT</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[t is said that the fear of public speaking outweighs the fear of death. Seems some people would rather be the one in the box than the one giving the eulogy. I happen to believe just the opposite and I hope you do too because public speaking can be one of your most enjoyable and profitable ways to market your business.

In an earlier column, I asked you to find what youre an expert in. Finding your expertise helps you fill a specialized niche and greatly reduce competition.

The road to expertise is paved with credibility. Public speaking is a great way to build credibility. At worst, it costs you nothing. At best, your speaking fees can provide some nice pocket lining.

A solid speech that is both well crafted and well delivered will work miracles. A weak speech that is poorly crafted and/or delivered wont earn you the respect you seek. How does one create a great speech? Easy! Begin with your conclusion. It should be powerful, succinct, and to the point. It should leave your audience thinking A-ha! and feeling motivated to take action. Next, what three points best support your desired conclusion and what order should you present them in? Finally, your introduction is the hook that catches peoples attention and makes them sit up and pay attention.

New to speaking? Its perfectly OK to use notes. Many speakers at all levels use notes to keep them on track. Not sure what to do with your hands or how to work the stage? Request a lectern or podium. Do you find yourself using words like and, um, so, or others as filler while you search for words? Heres a quick hint: When you feel your words outpacing your thoughts, pause for a few seconds, then continue. This pause helps your last point sink into the audience as you gather your thoughts. It also prevents you from inserting those extra words that brand you an amateur.

Remember that your goal is to build relationships by giving value, not to wheedle money. Make your speech about your audience, never about you. F ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>CALLING ALL EXPERTS</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What are you an expert in?

Notice that I didnt ask what you do or what your business sells. Do you own a coffee shop? If not, then please pretend that you do for a few minutes. If so, then what you do includes making coffee and tea drinks, possibly some baking, customer service, cleaning, bookkeeping, purchasing- the list goes on. If you own a coffee shop, then your business sells coffee, tea, other beverages, baked goods, and the like. And yes, I am stating the obvious.

Ashland has a lot of coffee shops. Competition must exist any time two or more businesses are selling similar or identical products or services in a given area, right?

Yes- if you approach the question from a what do you do or what do you sell perspective.

Back to the coffee shops. Visit some of the many examples in town and youll find that the product offerings are where the similarities end. Each shop has its own distinct ambience that appeals to a distinct audience. For example, shop A might find favor with the college crowd while Shop B attracts local artisans. Thus, the owner of Shop A might decide that she is an expert at helping students succeed while Shop Bs owner might decide that he is an expert at showcasing local craftspeople.

What just happened? Two businesses with nearly identical product offerings decided that they arent competitors.

A radical idea, yes, but what does it mean?

Since Shop A is the college study expert, they need not bother with the time and expense of marketing in the general media. Instead, they can advertise on campus (if thats allowed), in Laundromats, bookstores- anywhere college students hang out. They could even find other businesses catering to college students as fusion marketing partners. Meanwhile, Shop B can focus on the art scene without bothering to market to the college students.

Both businesses have saved money by nanocasting and have also eliminated the competition by focusing on their expertise instead of their products. Where d ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As you read this, Ill probably be driving back to Ashland from Seattle. During the drive up a couple days ago, I continued a long-running experiment. My car is equipped with a trip computer that displays my mileage and distance to empty in real time. Small changes in speed had a huge effect; reducing speed even a few miles per hour increased or decreased my miles per gallon by up to four. Slowing down increased my mileage to a point, below which it started dropping again. Hard acceleration also took a big bite out of my distance to empty. Exiting the freeway to do a few minutes of stop-and-go driving in Olympia? My mileage plummeted. Overall, I averaged over 32MPG- not too shabby for a 260 horsepower V6.

I noticed other things as well. Rolling off the gas as I crested a rise followed by rolling back on as slowly as possible as I reached the bottom and started up the next hill gave me the greatest overall efficiency. The lower speed limits in northern Oregon and Washington meant that one tank of gas lasted the entire 460-mile trip and then some.

What does any of this have to do with marketing?

The keys to my excellent mileage were pacing, consistency, and subtlety. Lets talk about these three topics in a little more detail.

Pacing. My normal cruising speed was about 65-70 miles per hour (portions of Washington have the higher speed limit). Slowing to 60 or 55 increased my mileage but also increased my trip time. Slowing much below 55 miles per hour would start decreasing my mileage because Id have to downshift, meaning that the engine would still be spinning as fast while not pushing the wheels as far. Speeding up requires the engine to spin faster, which burns more fuel.

Same with marketing. Getting fast results requires a greater outlay of your resources. Slow down too much and youll need to spend more to make up for your spotty efforts. Finding your own sweet spot for your marketing will give your efforts the best balance of coverage and longevity.  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>FISSION OR FUSION?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most businesses are on the lookout for competitors to fight and- hopefully- defeat. This is a classic example of scarcity-based thinking. People who subscribe to this worldview believe that there isnt enough to go around and that there must be winners and losers. Life is a constant struggle for money, food, power, and status. No matter how much or how little we have, there is never enough because someone named Jones is always one step ahead. I believe this mentality is responsible for the lions share of human misery.

What if you could turn your marketing swords into plowshares? What if you and your potential competitors could agree that theres plenty of business to go around and come up with a marketing system where everyone benefits? That is abundance-based thinking. People who think abundantly believe that there are enough resources to satisfy everyones needs and therefore see no need to stay in the rat race. This, dear readers, is the essence of fusion marketing.

I was coming up the stairs from the basement at Allysons when I noticed a series of framed menus from area restaurants hanging on the wall. What a brilliant example of fusion marketing! Yes, those restaurants compete with each other and with Allysons- at least at first glance.

In a recent column, I asked each of you to find out what makes your business special- those benefits you offer that set you apart from the crowd. Armed with that information, it becomes obvious that the restaurants in question may not be quite the competitors common sense might have one believe. Why? Each serves different food. If, for example, Im in the mood for French food, I wont give the Asian place a second glance. If I eat French food tonight, its a good bet that Ill feel like something different tomorrow, and the Asian restaurant will be that much more attractive. Have dreams of recreating some of the delectable dishes? Allysons sells the ingredients, the classes, the cookware, and even the wine. Even if two or more ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1198/FISSION-OR-FUSION.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1198/FISSION-OR-FUSION.php</link>
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      <title><strong>ENGAGE THE SENSES!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Ponder this: Every piece of information you have about the world reaches your brain through your bodys many sensors. This sensory input triggers emotional responses that we validate (rationalize) using our logic. Senses to emotions to logic. That is the human decision-making process.

The marketing implications are clear: Market to the rational mind and youre asking people to synthesize emotions from logic- a backward process with totally unpredictable results. Marketing to the emotional mind puts you on the right track but lacks the raw sensory input. What about marketing to the senses? Do that and youll trigger powerful emotional responses that people will rationalize into I need &amp;lt;your product or service&amp;gt; because &amp;lt;reason&amp;gt;.

What do I mean by marketing to the senses? Humans have five means of sensory input: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Craft your marketing to trigger these senses in the same way that Pavlov used his bell to trigger salivation in his dog. In this example, the dog associated the bell with taste and that delightful sense of relaxed well-being that only a full stomach can provide. Make your marketing the bell that triggers delightful senses in your prospective customers.

I did some work with a small company on the East coast that offers cruises aboard a rustic sailing yacht. I suggested that their marketing tell the story of a short cruise beginning with pulling up to the dock. Talk about the smell of fresh sea salt, the feeling of a refreshing breeze wafting through the hair, the sounds of seagulls and rigging slapping against the mast, the gentle rocking of the boat at night, the taste of hearty meals prepared over the stove. Close your eyes a moment and imagine all this. What emotional response does that trigger in you? Do you feel the call of the open ocean, the freedom from the daily grind, and maybe a bit of pioneering and exploring spirit moving within you? Does this make you more or less likely to want to learn mo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1197/ENGAGE-THE-SENSES.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1197/ENGAGE-THE-SENSES.php</link>
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      <title><strong>WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS SPECIAL?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One of the first questions I always ask a new client is What makes your business special? More often than not, the reply is a blank look. This is a shame because every business is unique in some way. The differences may not be obvious at first glance but theyre always present.

My definition of flawed marketing is any marketing that is costing too much and/or not having as large an effect as it could have. One of the biggest problems I see with most marketing is that its all about me, the business doing the selling, and not about you, the customer. Combine that with uncertainty about what makes the advertising business unique and youve got the recipe for some seriously flawed marketing efforts. The truth is that customers only care about you to the extent that you satisfy their wants and needs and require a compelling reason to give your business a try.

How do you go about go about creating customer-focused marketing that shows off how unique your business is?

Its actually quite simple.

Begin by getting out a fresh sheet of paper. On this sheet, list every conceivable benefit customers receive by doing business with you. Dont confuse features with benefits. Whats the difference? A feature is a specification or what we call bells and whistles, while a benefit is the end result of said bells and whistles. For example, 250 gigabyte hard drive is a feature and holds up to 150,000 songs (numbers made up) is a benefit. In short, list every last thing your customer can expect to get out of patronizing your business. The key here is to be absolutely brazen and shameless. This is absolutely not the time for modesty!

Your completed list contains all of the reasons why your company is a good one to do business with. I hope its a long list packed full of meaningful and valuable benefits. Take a few moments to look at this list, both to make sure you havent forgotten anything and to congratulate yourself on the fabulous job youre doing for your customers. Youve wor ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1196/WHAT-MAKES-YOUR-BUSINESS-SPECIAL.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1196/WHAT-MAKES-YOUR-BUSINESS-SPECIAL.php</link>
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      <title><strong>NANOCASTING FOR FUN &amp; PROFIT</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Common sense says that you should market to as many people as possible. Id like to suggest marketing to as few people as possible. This is called nanocasting- the opposite of broadcasting.

Think about a TV commercial for any product. The commercial is a broadcast because its going out to everyone viewing that station with no regard for individual viewers. What percentage of the many people watching that commercial are in the market for that product? Yes, many people might respond to the commercial and the campaign might seem a smashing success. But is it really?

Divide the broadcast cost by the number of responses and you may discover that the cost per response is very high. This is because the people who respond typically represent a very low percentage of everyone who viewed the commercial. How low? Depending on various factors, the response rate could be 1/10th of one percent or even less. Its like putting drops of food coloring in a bathtub; you wont see any change in the color of the water because the bathtub is very large compared to the few droplets of coloring. In this analogy, the bathtub represents the total viewing population while the food coloring represents the response to that ad.

Say you spend $10,000 marketing to 1,000,000 people and get 1,000 responses, or 1/10%. This ad cost 1 cent per viewer. Not bad, except that you just paid $10 per new customer. Still sound good? That all depends on your net profit per sale. If your product retails for $100, its entirely possible that you are only making $5-8 after paying all of your expenses (wholesale cost, employees, utilities, rent, etc.). If you just spent $10 to make each sale, then youve just lost $2-5 per sale. Oops. Cheaper product? Double oops.

Enter nanocasting.

What if your product is designed for dogs? Restricting your ads to venues that cater to dog owners shrinks your target audience to about 390,000 people (about 39% of households have dogs). If your product appeals to male dog o ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1195/NANOCASTING-FOR-FUN--PROFIT.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1195/NANOCASTING-FOR-FUN--PROFIT.php</link>
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      <title><strong>GEOMETRIC GROWTH</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Traditional marketing focuses on linear growth by constantly seeking to obtain new customers. Today Im going to explain how you can get a far bigger bang for your marketing bucks by growing your business geometrically. Geometric growth consists of four elements that you can imagine as the four sides of a square. The good news is that its far easier than it might sound. In fact, youre probably doing a little geometric growth without even realizing it.

The first element of geometric growth is to expand the size of each transaction. Restaurants where servers inquire about drinks, desserts, etc. and the piles of chotchkes near most cash registers are examples were all familiar with. A couple more examples: If you sell clothing, you could recommend a sweater to go with the pants your customer selected. If you sell electronics, you could inquire about extended warranty options.

No matter what you sell, there is (or should be) an opportunity for the customer to upgrade. Likewise, there should always be a way for the customer to downgrade. Why? Because offering one item forces an all-or-nothing decision. On the other hand, if you offer the product youd like to sell the most of in the middle of a range of options, youll find that most people will indeed buy that product because its neither ostentatious nor the el cheapo model. However, youll find that a good number of customers will gladly pay more for the upgrade. Youll also find that a decent percentage cant or wont buy the middle solution but will opt for the smaller offerings. Just by offering a few choices, youve earned additional money from both the people who upgraded and the ones who would not have purchased otherwise.

The second element of geometric growth is increasing the frequency of each transaction. This works well for consumable products and for products that go in and out of style. Food and fashion come to mind. People who have purchased from you once have already taken the hard step, making future p ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1194/GEOMETRIC-GROWTH.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1194/GEOMETRIC-GROWTH.php</link>
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      <title><strong>SOFTLY, SOFTLY</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Window shopping is nice, browsing is even better. But actually forking over your money? That ultimate act of commercial faith isnt called coughing it up for nothing. Buying is a hard step made for emotional reasons that our rational minds are quick to second-guess. As if the actual purchase wasnt difficult enough, buyers remorse sets in as you fret about whether you got a good value, wonder how you let the salesperson talk you into it, and dread getting the bill in your next credit card statement.
	
I can only surmise that everyone reading this knows firsthand what Im talking about. The kicker? If youre in business, then your very survival depends on getting people to take that hard step, preferably more than once. Ideally, people who take the plunge with you will convince others to do so as well since word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there.

How can you increase your odds of success? Easy: Remove the sting from the buying decision by creating a series of soft steps that dont involve money or even selling. Each soft step seeks your customers consent to take the next soft step and so on. The entire process builds trust and confidence and forges a relationship between you and your customers that eventually transforms the actual purchase from a hard step into yet another soft step.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery is a classic childrens book. In one chapter, the prince meets a fox. This fox desperately wants a friend but as a wild animal fears all who approach him. The prince asks how he can become the foxs friend and is instructed to visit the fox every day at the same time. During these visits, the prince is to do nothing but sit silently and watch the fox, coming a little closer every day. The fox explains that doing this will not only lessen his fear but will make him start to anticipate the pleasure of the princes company. Eventually, the prince will draw near enough to touch the fox, who will then be tame. In other ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1193/SOFTLY-SOFTLY.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1193/SOFTLY-SOFTLY.php</link>
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      <title><strong>YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[This old movie house cliché hides a deeper truth: Money is life, because earning money requires an investment of time (as your alarm clock reminds you each morning). What do I mean? Try this simple exercise: close your eyes and start counting off seconds. As you do this, consider the fact that each passing second is gone forever. Each passing second is one second closer to the end of our lives as we know them. Tick tock, tick tock. The end keeps approaching, steadily and relentlessly. Tick tock, tick tock.

When we look at time this way, we suddenly realize that time is life itself. We further realize that any discussion about time and money must be a discussion about exchanging a non-renewable resource (our time, indeed our lives) for a very renewable resource (money).

What does this mean for your business? Traditional business thinking says that money is the engine behind successful marketing campaigns. This two-step approach forces you to invest time earning money for further investment in actually marketing your business. Question: Can you achieve the same results in a one-step process whose main ingredients are not money but time infused with energy, imagination, and information? Think you could do more with a lot less money? Think you might see faster results because youre investing time for the desired outcome instead of for some intermediate goal?

Remove the connection between money and effective marketing and youll find yourself actually connecting with your customers and getting to know them as the wonderful people they are. Youll find yourself understanding your customers in ways you never thought possible, and youll find that youre much better able to sense and respond to their needs. Youll also find your customers noticing and appreciating your human touch and returning to your business again and again. In nature, this is called a symbiotic relationship, where all participants benefit from their relationship with each other.

Sounds good, you ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>WHAT IS MARKETING?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Traditional business thinking tends to think of marketing in terms of specific actions such as placing a newspaper ad, a radio spot, a TV commercial, etc. This limited definition carries three major problems with it:
 
- Most marketing resembles a grocery list of random ingredients with no idea of what the meal is going to be. Imagine strolling down the aisles randomly selecting ingredients without knowing what you want for dinner that evening or to eat for the rest of the week, only that you are hungry. Sure, you'll wind up with some delectable edibles. You'll also wind up with an inordinately high amount of stuff that you simply can't use for reasons of taste, allergies, lack of complementary ingredients, etc. Not too efficient!
 
- The second problem is that most marketing is all about &amp;quot;me&amp;quot;, the seller. My products are so great. My business is so wonderful. Drop what you're doing and come on down to give me your money. The thing is, customers only care about you and your business to the extent that you can satisfy their needs and wants. Think about any purchases you make: Do you do it to satisfy yourself or the seller? Enough said.
 
- Third, we live in an instant gratification society where everyone wants everything their way yesterday- including marketers. But marketing is more like an apple tree than a magic bullet: Plant an apple seed and you must wait a few years to start getting apples- a few at first, then more as the tree matures. Meanwhile, you're constantly applying liberal doses of water, fertilizer, and love. Same with marketing. With apple trees, you can watch the seedling growing, the flowers opening, the fruits slowly ripening. With marketing, that process is invisible, causing many marketers to cancel or change their campaigns- and in so doing, uprooting the growing tree and starting the whole process again from scratch.
 
Here is a more effective definition of marketing. This definition has three parts:
 
First, marketing is a ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Why You Should Focus On Quality Articles During Article Writing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A lot of website owners are now aware of the fact that writing articles and submitting them to major article directories like EzineArticles, Isnare, and GoArticles can go a long way to helping webmasters acquire one way links and get higher search engine rankings.

I'm not going to deny that links from these directories help. But getting links from them should not be the end goal; in fact it should only be your initial goal.

What you should actually be striving to accomplish is having your articles published on related websites. Those links look far more impressive to search engines like Google. An example to help clarify it for you - if you want to get a job as a carpenter and on your resume you only have one reference - who do you want, Bob Vila or the better known Michael Jordan. Bob Vila, of course, because he's known for being in your industry.

The major mistake I see people making when writing articles or hiring others to write their articles is that they're focusing on quantity, trying to put out as many articles as possible or hiring writers as cheaply as possible to mass produce articles. That's a mistake - a MAJOR mistake.

It hurts you in multiple ways. First of all, real people read articles on the major article directories. You'll get traffic to your site just for having articles on these sites just from people clicking your resource box links. However, if your article is full or errors or unhelpful, they're not likely to visit your site. On the other hand, if your article contained information that was actually helpful to the reader, they're far more likely to visit your site and spend their money there.

Second, if you're putting out low quality articles, other webmasters are not going to want to republish your article on their site. I've visited a lot of sites where people put articles on them, and the good sites you desperately want the links from are not using the articles you had written for $5 each from a writer in India. They're usin ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1186/Why-You-Should-Focus-On-Quality-Articles-During-Article-Writing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1186/Why-You-Should-Focus-On-Quality-Articles-During-Article-Writing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>B2B Lead Generation: Targeting your efforts</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When looking to generate B2B sales leads, you want to find those companies who have a problem for which you have the solution. The methods you use in finding and contacting those companies will determine if your business-to-business lead generation efforts will be a success or a failure.

Begin planning your lead generation by creating lists that rank your current customers in three categories:

* Gross revenue. Place the largest companies at the top of the list and the smallest at the bottom.

* Profitability. List from &amp;quot;most profitable&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;least profitable.&amp;quot; Keep in mind that the most profitable are not necessarily those with the most gross revenue.

* Fit. Which companies represent the best fit for what you are selling? This ranking is more subjective than the first two. It identifies the companies you know well, those with business you understand, those that are fun to work with, those you understand best and those with which you have--or could have--a great working relationship. Rank these companies in order, descending from the best fit.

Your ideal customers are those that are at, or near, the top of all three lists. While reviewing your existing customers, consider the following questions:

* What industries are they in?

* Are they small, medium or large businesses?

* Where are they located geographically?

* What is their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code?

* What are the titles or job functions of their decision-makers?

This information will help you focus your lead generation efforts to find similar companies and decision-makers to target with your b2b marketing efforts. Determine what is unique about these leads so that you can find more like them.

In addition to looking at your current customer base, review your company's internal expertise and credentials to determine likely prospects for your solutions. If your company is a start-up and has no existing customers, you can leverage your own pa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1101/B2B-Lead-Generation-Targeting-your-efforts.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1101/B2B-Lead-Generation-Targeting-your-efforts.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Telemarketing Is Still An Essential Function Within A Dynamic Sales Team </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Uncovering new opportunities and potential new business is an essential task of any sales team, however, it is probably one of the most unpopular activities. The main reason for this is that professional salespeople, just like the rest of us, fear rejection.

The reality is though, if we have confidence in our products, solutions and services, we owe it to ourselves and to our company to tell as many people as possible. I have always taken the view that if a prospective client rejects my proposal, then they have lost out on dramatically improving their business. A positive and confident mind-set is essential for successful telemarketing and cold calling. 

So what are the rules?

Plan &amp;amp; Prepare:

Make sure that you are prepared for the call:-

	Have all the relevant documentation to hand.

	Prepare a script including everything you wish to ask. Use bullet points not sentences.
 
	Familiarise yourself with the script - practice, write down your agenda and be direct.

	Keep the opening of the conversation simple, but say something interesting, try using a prime desire statement to grab their interest so theyll want to hear more.

	Explain why you are calling.

	Question - use a variety of questioning techniques i.e. Open, Reflective, Direct, Hypothetical, Exploratory etc.
    

Set Yourself Goals &amp;amp; Clear Objectives (Primary &amp;amp; Secondary):

Consider - what is the purpose of the telephone call? (aim high but realistic)
 
	Is it to inform?
 
	To establish a need?
 
	To obtain an appointment?

Never attempt to sell your product or services over the phone (unless you are in a telesales role)

Never make a statement you cannot back up.

Remember to Discipline Yourself - Dont Be Deflected


Ensure That You Have The Right Information:

Never assume that the information you have is correct:

	Confirm you are talking to the right person.

	Confirm they have the authority and not just the title.

Be informed ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1088/Telemarketing-Is-Still-An-Essential-Function-Within-A-Dynamic-Sales-Team.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1088/Telemarketing-Is-Still-An-Essential-Function-Within-A-Dynamic-Sales-Team.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Three Essential Elements To Make Ads And Direct Mail Profitable</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Financial advisors and their firms waste millions of dollars monthly on promotions that don't pay or produce anemic results. In many cases, these direct mail and advertising promotions can be profitable by insuring these three elements are included in the promotion.

The first thing you need is an emotionally grabbing headline that you can only compose when you know your target market better than they know themselves. This step requires that you have a target market such as retirees, business owners, executives in the glass industry, etc. A general headline like &amp;quot;Seeking Higher Returns with Mutual Funds&amp;quot; is destined to flop because it has no focus on a target market. If, for example, you are interested in marketing mutual funds to retirees, then your headline should be &amp;quot;Losing Money In Mutual Funds? Learn How Retirees Can Preserve Assets.&amp;quot; (See sample at www.nfcom.com/ads). Run that ad in senior publications and you've got the beginnings of a winning ad.

It's critical when composing your headline that you know your target market's most powerful motivator. For example, if you prospect business owners, you cannot assume that more profits, cash flow or lower taxes are their primary concerns. Such an assumption is based on your logical thinking, not on the facts. You get the facts by meeting with 10 or more business owners and finding out what motivates them. People in the marketing department usually skip this research; they never meet with clients and often make their best guess in composing promotions. The worst case is when you have a 30-year-old marketing graduate, who has never met with clients, writing an ad targeted at seniors. The result is a promotion lacking sufficient profitability if any. To write effective copy for ads and direct mail, you need to know what your prospect's think before they think it. Do your research because it pays larger dividends than you can imagine. Note that you must really listen when doing your research and ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1033/Three-Essential-Elements-To-Make-Ads-And-Direct-Mail-Profitable.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1033/Three-Essential-Elements-To-Make-Ads-And-Direct-Mail-Profitable.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing, Marketing, Marketing - Does It Ever End</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing, marketing, marketing, it's like a never ending cycle and it must end! Even though I do talks and give tons of information on infrastructure, systems, processes, target market, and all those other things that are critical in business - it always ends at &amp;quot;well...can you help me with marketing?&amp;quot; I know I know, it's the marketing that drives revenue the revenue in your business but it can also be the camel that breaks your business's back. In order to have successful marketing you must have the infrastructure in place to support your marketing activities.

For example: Let's say you implement a wonderful campaign to sell a particular service or product and it's based on people purchasing online and in turn you have to ship them their purchase or provide a place for them to download the purchase if it's an digital product. What things do you think you must have in place to make this campaign a success?

Just to name a few:

* Target Market Defined

* The Solution must fit the need of the Target Market

* Key Messaging and Consistent Brand

* Good Quality Web site with functionality

* The Right Pricing structure

* Transaction processing and managing

* Customer Service requirements

* Follow up procedures and schedule

...this is just the beginning.

Yes, I know there are many tools and resources out there to help you automate and manage this whole campaign.

Main Takeaway: Just because you have the right tools doesn't mean that you have the right target market or have the right solution.

There are many reasons why your marketing isn't as stellar as you would like it to be. I've created a process for clients that allow them to implement a basic marketing program that will be the standard for the life of their business. This is the first step - get a basic program in place and stick to it for at least six months. Next, as you gain momentum, update and get feedback you can adjust and add other activities.

Your Next Step ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1021/Marketing-Marketing-Marketing--Does-It-Ever-End.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1021/Marketing-Marketing-Marketing--Does-It-Ever-End.php</link>
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      <title><strong>A Compelling Elevator Speech: The Real Thing Happened to Me - by Linda ONe</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ A Compelling Elevator Speech: The Real Thing Happened to Me 
by Linda ONeil

Dozens of business people were rehearsing scenes like this in the hotel ballroom as I stepped into the elevator. As the elevator doors opened, I stepped into an impromptu encounter with Glenn Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc. I did not know who he was. As the elevator doors closed, he gave me a gentlemanly grin. Then I got the real thing.

Hello, I said with a smile. Having just come from the conference in the ballroom, where people were learning about elevator speeches, my RADAR was on. He smiled a silent hello. 

As the elevator approached his floor, he spoke: What do you do? The table was turned. I gave a pretty good elevator speech, answering with a convincing spin on my importance. (He later told me that he used the three-foot rule by asking me that.) Then, I asked him the same question.

You know, he began, theres a whole bunch of people, right now, trying to work out the best way to describe themselves in 30 seconds or less. They are investing their time and their hope in a great answer to that question. They want memorable content and convincing presentation, and they think that the results are going to be wonderful. I nodded.

The truth is, he continued, a compelling elevator speech doesnt sound especially eloquent or look like a flash of light. In fact, a compelling elevator speech isnt about you at all. Its plain talk about the problems you solve, plus a word about how you rescue people from those problems, followed by a simple question. No rhymes. No bombshells. 

What sort of simple question? I followed. He replied, Does that matter to you? I told him, Yes; I want to know, please. He told me, Now you do know.

Thats it. Thats Glenn Harringtons formula for a compelling elevator speech  in an actual elevator. After naming three pains you relieve, make a benefit statement that positions you as the rescuer to people who suffer those woes. Then, ask a questi ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Five Steps to Successful Print Advertising</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[1. Clearly identify who you want to reach
Whatever product or service you advertise, identify the ideal customer as specifically as you can. The nature of your product or service may define this group for you.

For example, if you sell dentures that cost extra for colour-matching to individuals' natural teeth, then you should consider advertising to wealthy individuals who value natural-looking teeth. Your advertising should appeal to their image-consciousness.

By clearly identifying your target market, you can increase the response to your ads.

2. Find a publication that your target market reads
Ideally, you will find a publication whose reader profile perfectly corresponds with your customer profile. Moreover, many of your established and prospective customers read it regularly, and none of your direct competitors advertise in it; its frequency provides good exposure, and its ad rates entail an acceptable level of risk.

3. Treat your ad as a teaser
Advertising can perform a variety of functions - from increasing name recognition to evoking specific actions within a specific time. In any case, successful print ads communicate just enough to entice their audience.

An insurance broker, for example, might entice a specific group to call for information. A law firm might entice its target group - possibly law-school grads- to visit its table at a career fair. A consulting agency might entice prospective clients to book a free needs analysis. Know them and your creative hook should come to you like plain sense.

4. Make a commitment and stick to it
Consistency is critical in print advertising. Most successful advertisers buy ad space in blocks of time that begin at six months. Many advertise constantly for years. For print advertising to work, you need patience and perseverance - especially in the first few weeks. If steady advertising just isn't a fit, then buy big advertising - a higher risk. Many do both and adapt their ads as times change. Whatev ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Why Most Newsletters Don't Work - part two: Effective Newsletter Content</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Client newsletters do generate results. Yet, many business people who issue a newsletter find it frustrating to generate the results they want. This is why most newsletters are cancelled after a few issues. Many eventually conclude that newsletters just don't work. Those not willing to give up on their newsletter need to get real about newsletter content.

what newsletters do
A good newsletter might never cause a spike in sales. However, if you watch other indicators over time - such as business per client, referrals from newsletter readers, and client retention - you would see how a newsletter performs as an investment in client relations. Newsletters shape market perception. Good newsletters help to build and maintain hundreds of business relationships with meaningful engagement.

What to say?
For many, a newsletter is demanding and time-consuming - especially when content that the issuer wants to communicate elicits difficult-to-measure results.

Some report news to readers already swamped with news. Some offer persuasive articles or clever commentaries to readers who really don't need to be sold. Some offer lists, tables, and graphs. These, too, come with the risk that readers might not care. So, if a newsletter is best used as a tool of brand management, with what content?

the cost of off-the-shelf content
In a lot of situations, it is tempting just to buy good content, if you can find it easily at a reasonable price. But what is the reputation-shaping effect? Your clients can tell when your message is not really yours.

meaningful, brand aligned
Because a client newsletter is a medium for business communication, and because it assumes a business relationship between the issuer and the reader, a newsletter is a medium for client relationship management. Your clients can tell when you're involved in your newsletter. Hence the need for original, brand-aligned newsletter content.

the cost of do-it-yourself content
Some decide to keep the connect ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1013/Why-Most-Newsletters-Dont-Work--part-two-Effective-Newsletter-Content.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1013/Why-Most-Newsletters-Dont-Work--part-two-Effective-Newsletter-Content.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Most Newsletters Don't Work - part one: Success and How to Monitor It</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Some people think newsletters don't work. Often, they're right. In a world where most newsletters don't work, it is common to be confused about how to define newsletter success.

What's it good for? Over the past ten years, I have paid attention to newsletters. I can tell you why most don't work. It starts with confusion about what newsletters are good for. Confusion about how to monitor success comes from that.

How many next-day phone calls? Many marketers expect a newsletter to generate results as soon as it arrives. Most newsletters do. However, when the results expected are new sales and referrals following each issue, most newsletter issuers eventually conclude that newsletters don't work. By the way they gauge success, they're right.

Check your perspective. From a sales perspective, an ineffective newsletter should be canned. But first, consider other perspectives. For example, think from the perspective of the impression left on readers. What impression would it make on you to receive two or three newsletters, then none at all, from your accountant? your lawyer? your investment advisor?

What newsletters do Because of mismatched expectations, many who issue newsletters conclude either that newsletter success is harder to achieve than they imagined, or that newsletters just don't work. Yet, I see something in these situations that often escapes people struggling with an unsuccessful newsletter: A newsletter shapes people's perceptions of you.

Four Brand Effects It can do other things, such as announce news and complement advertising; still, every newsletter is a reputation-shaping instrument of brand management. Any newsletter will: *leave a first impression, or *mould an already-formative impression, or *validate a formed impression, or *confuse a formed impression.

A newsletter makes an impression. How does this fit into a context where more sales and good referrals are wanted now? Consider the following example.

Maintain meaningful contac ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1012/Most-Newsletters-Dont-Work--part-one-Success-and-How-to-Monitor-It.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/1012/Most-Newsletters-Dont-Work--part-one-Success-and-How-to-Monitor-It.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Attract More Customers by Making Time for Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven

To start seeing remarkable success, you must make time for marketing. Many people tend to make their marketing a low priority. Instead of including it as a part of your weekly routine, you may find yourself scrambling to try and find customers only when business is slow.

Create more room in your week for marketing by restructuring your time and task management. Here are some tips:

1. Commit to marketing every week: Your first step is to go to your calendar and carve out slots of time to work on your marketing -- this includes sales, networking, writing, presentations, and so on. Schedule uninterrupted time for marketing in the part of the day when you are the most productive.

2. Eliminate timewasters: We can all find a bajillion ways to procrastinate including Internet surfing, playing online games, watching TV, and reading e-mails. Make a commitment to yourself that you will put aside your favorite time waster. If you cut back on these things, you'll be amazed at how much you can do. Remember, your marketing is an investment in YOU and the long-term success of your business.

3. Chunk up your time: For your essential tasks and your marketing, make chunks of times to work on similar activities. For example, push sales calls and customer call-backs into one slot on your weekly calendar. Block out sessions for creating new products or service lines. Only check your e-mails once or twice a day, answering them all at one time.

4. Develop a marketing system: You can create a simple spreadsheet, make notes in your planner, or sketch out activities on a large flipchart sheet on the wall. The point is to make an annual profile of your marketing activities including: events, trade shows, advertising deadlines, direct mailings, seminars, and so on. Schedule marketing and stick to it!

5. Make marketing a habit: Commit to making marketing into a weekly habit. This means that even when you are busy, you still schedule time in yo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/995/Attract-More-Customers-by-Making-Time-for-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/995/Attract-More-Customers-by-Making-Time-for-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Effective Marketing: First Impressions Count</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven

A mistake that entrepreneurs and business owners making is trying to create their own marketing materials or to have an amateur - a friend, relative, or neighbor design their materials. It may seem like you are saving money by doing your own logo, business card, or website, however, the reality is that you are making a VERY costly mistake that can make your business more likely to fail.

By trying to create your marketing materials cheaply, you end up looking...well...cheap. Many business owners do not realize the high cost of this mistake. They do not understand that by having a logo, stationery, brochures, and other marketing materials that looks unprofessional and poorly designed is creating a sub par impression in the minds of new prospects.

When you are in the building and growing phase of your business, you need everything you do to accelerate your success. Your logo and marketing materials are the first impression people get of your company - a professionally designed logo contributes to your success by enhancing your business visibility and credibility.

Your marketing tools should move your prospects closer to making a purchase. You cannot afford to look unprofessional and &amp;quot;thrown together&amp;quot; because you won't look like the expert you are, and you won't attract your dream customers. If a prospective customer views your materials as unprofessional or confusing, you will lose them to a competitor.

Here are specific reasons why unprofessional marketing hurts you:

1. Your business does not look reliable and trustworthy. Customers may assume your company is more likely to fail because you have not taken the time to create a stable branding presence. No matter what business you are in, people want to purchase services or products from a company that appears established and secure. They want to know that you will be there for them if they have a problem or need your products/services in the future. Well-establ ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/993/Effective-Marketing-First-Impressions-Count.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/993/Effective-Marketing-First-Impressions-Count.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ensuring Business Success: 4th Quarter Publicity = 1st Quarter Prosperity</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Todd Brabender

As the year 2006 starts to wind down, many businesses and entrepreneurs are making plans and budgets for the year 2007. Those plans could include anything from setting up goals for new products to preparing marketing, sales and PR/publicity campaigns. When it comes to your publicity plan, WHEN you launch your campaign can be just as important to what and how you launch.

HOLIDAY PUBLICITY OPPORTUNITIES: If your product/business lends itself to increased holiday sales, the next few weeks are a perfect time to get a publicity campaign launched - given the right media targets. Many holiday issues are already been laid out for magazines, and many other media outlets are feverishly seeking information/pitches on innovative stories for the holidays. Some media outlets even reorganize or beef up staff around the holidays to allow for an increase in stories on products. Have your publicist help you take advantage of this increased media opportunity.

PLANTING PUBLICITY SEEDS NOW FOR 1ST QUARTER RESULTS: Some business owners may be of the mindset: &amp;quot;I think we'll wait to launch a publicity campaign until after January 1st.&amp;quot; The problem is -- if you wait to launch your publicity campaign until the first of the year hoping for a quick media interest blast in January, you may be in for a quiet month. Keep in mind most media outlets have editorial lead-times of a few weeks to 6 months. Also what some entrepreneurs don't realize is this. Because of the increasing number of publicity pitches media outlets receive, anything you send out is subjected to what I call the &amp;quot;media digestion period&amp;quot; - simply put - that is a period of time (sometimes weeks, sometimes months) that it takes media outlets to:

#1) see/understand your release and decide if they are interested; #2) find space/time in their editorial calendar to place the article/news story/show segment.

The potential placement is also directly dependent upon how quick ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/976/Ensuring-Business-Success-4th-Quarter-Publicity--1st-Quarter-Prosperity.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/976/Ensuring-Business-Success-4th-Quarter-Publicity--1st-Quarter-Prosperity.php</link>
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      <title><strong>I can't afford a publicity/public relations campaign -- can I?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Todd Brabender

It's a phrase I hear over and over again from many entrepreneurs, small businesses owners and inventors: &amp;quot;I'd love to hire someone to launch our publicity campaign professionally, but we can't afford it, so I'm just going to have to do it on my own.&amp;quot;

Over the past several months, I have been conducting an informal survey among entrepreneurs and business owners who have contacted me about my services. I have found that due to their lack of information or knowledge on the topic, many businesses typically over-estimate or over-budget the cost of a prospective public relations/publicity campaign. During my PR consultation with them, I asked: &amp;quot;How much do you think it will cost to launch a solid, effective PR/publicity campaign for your product/business?&amp;quot; Of the 102 people I've queried:

*11% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $10,000+ per month

* 32% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $5,000-$10,000 per month

* 39% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $3,000-$5,000 per month

* 12% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost $1,000-$3,000 per month

* 6% - Thought a professional PR campaign would cost less than $1,000 per month

The truth is -- you can get a publicity/PR campaign in all of those price ranges. What you get for your money and how effective the campaign will be is the real question. It is true that the more you pay the more you get. But getting the most publicity/PR exposure doesn't mean you have to get most expensive PR agency or specialist.

A good rule of thumb is to align yourself with a PR business that best reflects your business size. Most times their rates will be in line with your prospective PR budget. If you are a small business owner with two employees, you need not hire a high-dollar PR agency with dozens of employees. Find a PR business whose office size and capabilities closely resemble your business.

Case in point -- there is  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/975/I-cant-afford-a-publicitypublic-relations-campaign--can-I.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/975/I-cant-afford-a-publicitypublic-relations-campaign--can-I.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The Increasing Power Of Publicity - and how it can benefit your business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Todd Brabender

The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was very energetic, almost giddy: &amp;quot;I have finalized my marketing budget and need your help launching an advertising campaign for my new product,&amp;quot; he breathed. &amp;quot;Congratulations,&amp;quot; I replied, &amp;quot;but before we implement an ad campaign, I want to make sure you have explored potential PUBLICITY opportunities that could generate some cost-efficient media exposure first.&amp;quot; Then, silence. &amp;quot;I never thought about that,&amp;quot; he sighed. &amp;quot;Frankly, I don't know much about it.&amp;quot;

He is not alone. It's a common conversation. Although many entrepreneurs or business people know a bit about publicity or media exposure, the majority of them simply don't understand the full benefits of &amp;quot;publicity placements&amp;quot; or how to go about generating them successfully. Publicity placements have always been a cost-efficient way to market a product/business and generate clients or customers, but because of lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding of what publicity is and does, many entrepreneurs don't take full advantage of publicity opportunities -- and that can lead to missed marketing chances.

I recently surveyed a few dozen business owners and entrepreneurs in some newsgroups and business chat rooms about their knowledge of &amp;quot;publicity placements&amp;quot; in the media. I found out that only 37% knew that a simple &amp;quot;product profile&amp;quot; in a magazine was generated as a result of publicity efforts. Most thought the company had paid the media outlet to run the feature, much like an ad. And of that 37%, less than half of them knew HOW to generate a similar placement.

Another interesting fact, because of the recent slowdown in the economy, expensive advertising budgets have been slashed. As a result, many businesses, like your competitors, are turning to publicity/PR campaigns as a more affordable means of marketing to compete with other companies. ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/974/The-Increasing-Power-Of-Publicity--and-how-it-can-benefit-your-business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/974/The-Increasing-Power-Of-Publicity--and-how-it-can-benefit-your-business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Stop Selling, Start Positioning: How Marketing Pros Thrive Even in Bad Time</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I disagree with conventional thinking that the #1 fear in America is public speaking. I personally “love” to speak in public. The #1 fear in my book - as it is in most business owners’ books - is “selling. Hard-core, grubby, “get ready for rejection” traditional selling.

If you are like me, you have taken a zillion sales seminars ... learned all the “secret techniques” ... listened to all the motivational tapes of top salespeopie (like Tom Hopkins) ... rehearsed your phone script with a mirror in front of you, and the bottomline is “You still hate sales”!

I have been a highly successful business owner for 21 years and have NEVER gotten any business through “selling.” Where I *have* gotten ALL my business is through “marketing” and “positioning.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Positioning = Marketing, Attracting Customers
Selling = Convincing, Overcoming Customer Resistance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Positioning” is about creating a market presence ... positioning yourself in your prospects’ mind as the “expert” and the “preeminent leader” in your industry or field ... so that good, qualified, eager customers *seek* you out for your products or services.

What are the essential steps to successfully “position” your business?

1. KNOW YOUR *BEST* MARKETS ... based on your experience, skills, expertise, interests and passions.

2. MARKET FROM A PLACE OF UNIQUENESS ... eg., a “unique” success formula, a patented product, a proprietary process or “better than average” results. Without uniqueness, your offering is a mere commodity.

3. MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE TO YOUR MOST LIKELY TARGETS. There are many, many ways to make yourself visible - both online and offline. It is beyond the scope of this article to address any strategy in depth. Let’s, however, briefly look at some of the most common ways:

=&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Writing articles, books, repo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/948/Stop-Selling-Start-Positioning-How-Marketing-Pros-Thrive-Even-in-Bad-Time.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/948/Stop-Selling-Start-Positioning-How-Marketing-Pros-Thrive-Even-in-Bad-Time.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Getting Into Marketing Momentum ... The Accelerated Way</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[GETTING INTO MARKETING MOMENTUM:  The 5 Power Principles for Getting Your Business into High Gear

Do you know the #1 reason why most businesses fail and why you could become a fatal statistic as well?

The answer is ... MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING.
 
Marketing is the “life blood” of any business.  Without marketing, there are no revenues.  Without revenues, there is no business.

So what is blocking you right now in your marketing efforts? What will it take to get your marketing into high gear?  The following five principles are your essential starting point.

======================================&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;
MINDSET MASTERY PRINCIPLES&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;
======================================

ONE))  IGNITE YOUR INNER MARKETING FIRE:  The Power of Spirit.

To get into marketing momentum, you MUST have  ...

 ==&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;  COMPELLING REASONS   &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;==
 
... deep-seated, soul-driven,  emotional reasons for being in your business  ---  or you will never survive.  

Weak reasons create weak results.   Compelling reasons create compelling results.

What are your compelling reasons in your business?   What passions does your business satisfy?  What higher cause propels you in my business?

If, after answering these questions, you are still uncertain about your compelling reasons, you just may be in the wrong business.

TWO)).  REFRAME YOUR MARKETING “PICTURES”:  The Power of Choice

Have a “personal stigma” about marketing yourself?  Does  the thought of marketing make you wince? Then, let’s play a game called ...

 “NAME YOUR MENTAL MARKETING BLOCK” :)).

Think of the word “marketing”.  What comes to mind automatically ??
  
“Aggressive used car salesmen conning you into buying  a lemon?”  “Pesky unwanted telephone solicitors interrupting your dinner?”  “Obnoxious door to door salesman trying to sell you overpriced vacuums??”
              
We all have “war stories” and negative past experien ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/943/Getting-Into-Marketing-Momentum--The-Accelerated-Way.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/943/Getting-Into-Marketing-Momentum--The-Accelerated-Way.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Tunnel Vision Marketing: The #1 Prospecting Mistake That Costs You Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Tired of investing time or money marketing your business and going nowhere fast? Frustrated by how “hit or miss” your marketing efforts turn out? Want to know the secret to multiplying your marketing results with greater precision and velocity?

The solution is simpler than you think.

More than 85% of all businesses suffer from a profit-threatening disease called Tunnel Vision Marketing. What are the symptoms? How can you diagnose if your business is suffering from this disease?

Well, when you think of the word “tunnel vision,” what words come to mind? “Narrow focus?” “Losing sight of ...?” “Blinders?” “Missing the big picture?”

Tunnel Vision Marketing is all these symptoms and more. It ‘s a blindness about who your client is ... what makes them tick ... what they are deeply feeling, etc. If your business is in survival mode, plateaued or tolerating marginal performance, it is probably suffering from Tunnel Vision Marketing.

The good news is: there is a cure. What I am about to share with you is the ** #1 SECRET OF TOP MARKETEERS **. A secret that will escalate your revenues ... cut your marketing time by 50+% ... and differentiate you and your business, even in the most crowded competitive times.

You want to know that secret, right? Then read on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#1 MARKETING SUCCESS SECRET:

“Thou shalt know thy clients and prospects ... inside and out.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagine in your mind’s eyes a recent prospect. What do you know about that person? Anything, other than their name, phone #, etc.? Do you know what makes this person tick? Do you know their *real* needs and wants?

If you want to dramatically shift your marketing results, you MUST put yourself in your client’s or prospect’s shoes. You MUST know the nuances of their thinking ... their feelings

... their lifestyle ... their deepest desires ... their most anguishing  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/931/Tunnel-Vision-Marketing-The-1-Prospecting-Mistake-That-Costs-You-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/931/Tunnel-Vision-Marketing-The-1-Prospecting-Mistake-That-Costs-You-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>VALUE-DRIVEN MARKETING: Attract Clients &amp; Generate Referrals W/Ease </strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you an established business who has reached a certain level of success, yet, find yourself frequently asking:

==&amp;gt; “Isn't there must a better, easier, more lucrative way to market and grow my business?” &amp;lt;==

There IS. I call it “value-driven marketing.”

Value-driven marketing, unlike traditional product marketing, has one destination: to create deep, meaningful VALUE in your clients’ businesses or lives. With this approach, you become a magnet for new clients and prospects. You cultivate lifetime customer loyalty.

Below are the success principles to such an approach.

SUCCESS PRINCIPLE #1: Value-driven marketing is a mindset ... a fundamental shift in the way you think about marketing.

Value-driven marketing requires a deep desire to serve ... a deep love of your customers. It requires a daily commitment to seek “more ways to add value to your clients’ lives/businesses.” How are you adding value to your clients’ lives or businesses on a daily basis?

SUCCESS PRINCIPLE #2: Value is in “the eye of the beholder.”

Value is in “the eye of the beholder.” Your prospects and clients -- not you -- determine the “worth” or “value” of your products or services. How do your prospects and clients perceive your value?

SUCCESS PRINCIPLE #3: There are 2 kinds of value: perceived and real value. Both are necessary to grow your business.

Perceived value gets your “foot in the door” and converts prospects to clients. Real value is what keeps your clients coming back. Are you creating both perceived and real value in your marketing efforts?

SUCCESS PRINCIPLE #4: To create value, you must get inside the customer’s head.

Creating value requires that you know your prospects and clients inside and out. You must know their emotional “hot buttons,” their motivations, their preferences, their decision criteria, etc. Without such knowledge, your marketing efforts are like blowing in the wind. What do you know ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/930/VALUEDRIVEN-MARKETING-Attract-Clients--Generate-Referrals-WEase.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/930/VALUEDRIVEN-MARKETING-Attract-Clients--Generate-Referrals-WEase.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Secrets to Creating an Email Newsletter That Gets Results</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

At almost every meeting I attend in my city, I get really positive feedback about my email newsletter, Work Smarter, Make More, http://www.worksmartermakemore.com . People generally tell me they love it, or they ask some question about something I've written about in a previous issue. All in all, it's pretty cool--I kinda feel like a celebrity!

In everything that I do, my goal and my focus is to get subscribers to my newsletter. I'm not trying to sell them a coaching program, nor am I trying to get them to buy some product. I just want them to get my weekly email newsletter. That's it. Just get a little dose of Donna on a weekly basis (pun fully intended).

My rationale behind this comes from my philosophy that people have to know, like, trust and respect you before they'll decide to buy anything from you. I've finally acknowledged and embraced that I'm a pretty good writer and have decided to lead with that gift and use that as my marketing tool for my business.

Back in 2003, I decided that I made some serious changes to how I published my email newsletter, and I'm now starting to see the results of the writing I do each week. The results include readers calling or emailing me for coaching, to sign up for a program, to sit in on a teleclass, or to form a strategic alliance with them. Just exactly what I'd hope would happen!

Here are the five secrets to newsletter publishing that I learned through the &amp;quot;school of hard knocks&amp;quot; that have helped successfully market my business through email newsletter publishing:

1. Publish consistently on a weekly basis. I initially published my newsletter on a not-so-regular basis initially because I didn't see my newsletter as a serious marketing tool (silly me!). I then went to a regular monthly publication about a year later and then to a twice-a-month publication, and finally ended up publishing weekly in 2003 Now, if I miss a week, I'll get a couple of emails wanting to know  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/898/5-Secrets-to-Creating-an-Email-Newsletter-That-Gets-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/898/5-Secrets-to-Creating-an-Email-Newsletter-That-Gets-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top Ten Ways to Get Qualified Clients from your Tradeshow Exhibit</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

Typically, doing a tradeshow isn't an inexpensive proposition. There's a great deal of investment of money in your setup and materials, as well as the time you and your employees invest in staffing the booth. If you're working solo, you're doing the bulk of the preparation and staffing alone, which adds to the anxiety and tension.

My recent tradeshow debut caused me to think about how to approach the situation, make it productive for me and fun for my visitors. These are the ten tips I've followed in my preparation process:

1. Determine your primary goal for being an exhibitor in the tradeshow. I know that my email newsletter is a great marketing tool for me. Therefore, my primary goal is to add to my readership. I'm doing that by sponsoring a giveaway -- a free enrollment to an upcoming program. Last year when I attended this same event, I noticed many vendors giving away hefty gift certificates ($100 and up) to local restaurants. While I think that's a great way to attract attention and get people to give you their contact info, I wonder if it's effective in getting qualified prospects. So, I've decided to give away a program that I do, a program that's ideal for business owners. I think those who would like to win this are much better qualified prospects than those who want a restaurant gift certificate.

2. Don't overwhelm your visitors. I know, from having visited many tradeshows, that I tend to return home with lots of info, most of which gets thrown in the trash. I can't imagine I'm the only one who does this, so as I planned my collateral material for the show, I decided that &amp;quot;less is more&amp;quot; and that my handouts would be copies rather than color brochures or flyers. This enables me to give something away to visitors (in addition to my biz card) but lets me keep my costs low. And, I've limited myself to 2 handouts, and my biz card. That's it.

3. Make your display warm and inviting. Nothing is worse than tryin ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/896/Top-Ten-Ways-to-Get-Qualified-Clients-from-your-Tradeshow-Exhibit.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/896/Top-Ten-Ways-to-Get-Qualified-Clients-from-your-Tradeshow-Exhibit.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Top 10 Reasons Submitting Articles Helps You Find Clients Online</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

Making the decision to submit articles to build my website traffic has been one of the smartest online marketing decisions I've made recently. I've been publishing an email newsletter since 2001, but only started exploring this option as a way to build website traffic a little over a year ago.

My article-writing routine consists of setting aside time in my calendar (every Wednesday from 9 AM - noon) to write my article, post it on my website, set up my email newsletter to go out, and submit my article through a submission service. Creating this routine for myself has created a bank of 25 articles that I've written, along with another 25 or so that I have yet to submit to the article banks.

Writing articles is a challenging task, and many of my clients cringe when I mention it to them as a marketing strategy. However, I think it's one of the smartest marketing strategies in your marketing arsenal. Why? The best articles reflect the writer's character and voice, and contain valuable content gleaned from the writer's personal experiences. Non-writers are encouraged to hire ghost writers, but I think It's difficult for a ghost writer to make an article sound like you -- enough so that someone feels as though you're sitting across the table from them over a cup of coffee. After reading an article in one of my newsletters, I've been repeatedly told by numerous readers who know me, &amp;quot;Oh, that sounded just like you!&amp;quot; There is no higher compliment to my ears -- I know that my authenticity is coming across to my readers. That's an important aspect of article writing to me -- I want my readers to get to know, like, and trust me so that at some point they feel comfortable doing business with me.

Here's how writing and submitting articles are helping me find clients online:

1. Establishes you as an expert. I'm submitting 6-10 articles per month through an article submission service. Anyone searching for articles that I've writt ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/889/Top-10-Reasons-Submitting-Articles-Helps-You-Find-Clients-Online.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/889/Top-10-Reasons-Submitting-Articles-Helps-You-Find-Clients-Online.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Steps to Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

If you're the owner of a small service business, having a solid Internet marketing plan in place can both increase your name and brand recognition locally in your geographic area, as well as expose you to a whole new set of potential clients throughout the world. If you have a business plan or vision that is written, you only need to integrate this Internet marketing piece into that existing plan. However, if you are like many of my clients, you carry your business and marketing plans in your head without bothering to commit anything to paper.

Here are ten considerations you need to make as you complete your Internet marketing plan:

1. Objective of Internet Marketing Plan: What do you want to accomplish by using Internet marketing? To find new clients? Provide services and info to existing clients? Sell services or products? Educate your target market or your staff about your product or service? Create an online community for your target market? How much money to have to spend each month on this Internet marketing plan? Having a goal and budget in mind will make your marketing more effective.

2. Marketing Funnel: The most successful online business owners have a marketing funnel (think of it as an upside down triangle) through which they &amp;quot;funnel&amp;quot; clients. The process begins from the wide top of the funnel, representing low-cost products or free give-aways, and moving clients down through the funnel to the narrower portions which represent gradually increasing investments from the clients from your higher-priced products and services. What products and services do you currently offer? Are they at varied price points that would create a funnel effect? What plans do you have to increase your product or service line? Will those new offerings plug gaps in your marketing funnel?

3. Your Competition: Knowing and understanding where you stand among your competitors can you help you strengthen your marketing message. Do a  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/885/10-Steps-to-Creating-Your-Internet-Marketing-Plan.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/885/10-Steps-to-Creating-Your-Internet-Marketing-Plan.php</link>
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      <title><strong>15 Proven Strategies to Grow Your List</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter

I've been publishing an email newsletter since 2000, and have to admit I wasn't very attentive to the whole process at the beginning. Hindsight is 20/20, and I could kick myself for not taking this strategy very seriously, as my email newsletter list is my gold mine because it's filled with subscribers who already know something about me.

Each week after I send out my ezine, I receive several emails that begin, &amp;quot;Hi Donna! My name is ..., and I know you don't know me, but I know you, as I've been reading your newsletter for a couple of years now.&amp;quot; I love those emails, as I know that my reader has begun to like, trust and respect me -- all the characteristics that need to be in place for them to decide to buy something from me.

Many of you may be asking, &amp;quot;Well, Donna, isn't the email newsletter dead? Everyone is blogging now.&amp;quot; True, blogging is quite an effective way to publicize your business. However, I believe in the power of doing both. There are people who don't have the time/energy/desire to read a blog and would rather have the info delivered directly to them in their inbox, with no additional clicking required.

How can you grow your own list? Or, if you're just starting an email newsletter, how can you get subscribers to the list? Here are 15 strategies I've used over the past 5 years to get subscribers to my email newsletter list:

1. Tell your clients, colleagues, friends and family. Just like a birth announcement, tell everyone you know about your new &amp;quot;baby&amp;quot; -- your email newsletter. Because you want a list in which subscribers have opted in, don't add people directly to the list. In fact, many ezine distribution services don't permit you to do that. Instead, provide them with an email sign-up link, or send them to the form on your web site where they can subscribe to your newsletter.

2. Have a sign-up box on every page of your web site. You never know on what page someone will land  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/883/15-Proven-Strategies-to-Grow-Your-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/883/15-Proven-Strategies-to-Grow-Your-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>GREAT WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[1. Ensure your mindset is one that is focused on the possibilities rather than impossibilities.

2. Produce and distribute postcards.

3. Advertise - radio, T.V. newspaper etc.

4. Draft news releases and circulate to appropriate publications.

5. Network. Network. Network.

6. Write advertorials.

7. Link your business to current news items.

8. Create quizzes/competitions.

9. Become an expert in your field.

10. Write articles for your Trade Journal.

11. Participate in cross-promotional marketing - that is, find a business who will advertise your products and services and you do the same for them for mutual benefit.

12. In your written materials use words that will draw people in, e.g. `how to', `the 10 hidden secrets of' etc.

13. Give people what they want - having done your market research you'll know what this is.

14. Sponsor charitable events.

15. Promote the benefits of your business, what will your customers get out of it?

16. Make sure all the risk is on your side. Customers want products and services that are risk free.

17. Offer `freebies' with great perceived value, e.g. website developed free of charge £400 value.

18. Write your own news story - most news stories are planted - why not create your own!?

19. Shout about the benefits of your services and products.

20. Have faith and constantly look for the upside. Continuously ask yourself, and what else can I do to make my business an even greater success?

21. Write a book and become a constant source of reference and so immortalise you and your business.

22. Create every opportunity you can to speak about your products and service.

23. Accept speaking engagements that are offered to you.

24. Create a memorable brand.

25. Find out what your competitors are doing and turn them into followers - get that cutting edge.

26. Promise less and deliver more, customers like to know they are getting a great deal.

27. Engage your customers emotion ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/844/GREAT-WAYS-TO-MARKET-YOUR-BUSINESS.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/844/GREAT-WAYS-TO-MARKET-YOUR-BUSINESS.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Be a Star with Free Publicity</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[What makes your product or service unique? No, it's not price. And you need to think again if it's quality. It's really YOU. And that's exactly what the media look for. Think about it for a moment. Reporters don't really cover stories about products or services; they write about the people behind the product or service, or the experts. That's just one of the reasons why you need to position yourself as the authority in your field. After all, people want to do business with someone they trust. And who better than an expert? Experts are sought after, get more business with less effort, and command higher fees. They also possess credibility that makes selling themselves easier. Follow these tips to become the recognized expert:

1. Find your expertise - and use it in all your marketing. Think of topics that relate to what you do. If you manufacture organic pillows, you can be the 'healthy sleep expert.' If you are a virtual assistant, start calling yourself the 'efficiency guru.' Then once you find a title that fits, use it all the time - on business cards, your website, postcards, etc.

2. Write articles. There's no better way to get know as an expert than to write and publish articles about your expertise. Think of at least twelve topics, do the research and get writing. Most articles are no more than 500 words. Use lists and bullets to help keep it short. And don't forget to include a resource box.

3. Be available to the media to comment on your topic of expertise. Let reporters covering your beat know you are an expert and available to comment on your field. Also, jump on a breaking story that involves your expertise. For example, if you're a gardener and there's a story about a massive amount of rainfall, pitch a story about how to keep your garden from drowning.

4. Speak on your topic. Come up with a great presentation that gives useful tips and find local places to offer to speak for free. A matchmaker could talk about how to find true love. Once you g ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/840/Be-a-Star-with-Free-Publicity.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/840/Be-a-Star-with-Free-Publicity.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Does Your Online Media Room Rate?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Setting up an online press room on your website is an important way for you to show the media you mean business. The simple task of dedicating an area of you site specifically for the media can save you the expense and time of using postal mail, help reporters and producers to conveniently meet their deadlines, and impress your target audience and potential clients.

The following is a list of items you should include in an online press room:

*Contact information. Offer specific and accurate contactinformation to make it easier for reporters, producers, and editors to reach you.

*A link to prior press releases. Demonstrate your credibility by posting press releases that either you have written or has been written about you.

* About the company. In the online press room, offer briefly the mission of the company and remind them what it is that your business can do for them.

* Bios. Present to readers background information about you as the owner of the business and mention degrees, accreditations, or awards.

* Company fact sheet. A fact sheet offers the basic information about your business that clients and media outlets would want to know.

*Facts concerning your expertise. Offer findings and statistics to demonstrate and reinforce the importance of your field and how those facts are newsworthy.

* FAQs. Listing frequently asked questions can help address what reporters and clients want to ask about in addition to their concerns without wasting the time of exchanging emails.

* A photograph. A picture can be used by reporters or producers when quoting you as an expert source and also creates a source of familiarity with clients over the vastness of the World Wide Web.

*Client list. Mention clients that you have dealt with in the past. This can reinforce the success of your business with its obviously long client list or it can present known names that generates a boost of credibility. * Story ideas. Listing story ideas in your field of exper ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/839/How-Does-Your-Online-Media-Room-Rate.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/839/How-Does-Your-Online-Media-Room-Rate.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Be a Hot Guest</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Want to make an impact in front of thousands of people just by talking? Stop dreaming Oprah... and start doing radio.

Did you know that American radio stations need more than 10,000 guests per day to fill their shows?

Producers are constantly looking for compelling guests. And the key to getting their attention is to make sure that whatever you're going to talk about is: *Controversial. Producers LOVE anything that gets their phone lines going. And nothing does the trick like a good argument. *Entertaining. If you can make people laugh and tell them fascinating stories, you'll always be in demand as a radio guest. *Informative. Give people useful, timely information. Give them stuff that makes them say, 'Wow! That's amazing! I didn't know that!' *Or a combination of the three. Your first step is to come up with topic ideas that are interesting, fun, controversial, new or unusual. Make sure that your topic is appealing to the listeners. You need to focus on a problem and why you're the solution. Don't focus on the product or service you want to promote.

Here are the top ten most appealing subjects to help you get thinking about your topic: Sex and relationships Saving money School violence Corruption Sexual harassment Health and fitness Hollywood &amp;amp; celebrities Sports Making money Travel

Now narrow that focus down to a title that's attractive to your target audience.

For an entrepreneur coach, you may come up with: &amp;quot;The No-Stress Way to Start Your Own Business.&amp;quot;

For an interior designer, your title may be: &amp;quot;Get Your Bedroom Ready for Romance.&amp;quot;

A safety expert could use the title &amp;quot;Keeping Your Child Safe, Even While You're at Work.&amp;quot;

Once you've got a great title, you need to create what I call a Guest Sheet, similar to a speaker's one-sheet, this one-page document highlights the title and outlines why you are the perfect guest for the topic.

Once you have all the information together for your Hot Guest Sheet, ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/838/Be-a-Hot-Guest.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/838/Be-a-Hot-Guest.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are You Sending the Right Stories to the Media?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Media coverage offers a free outlet for businesses to gain publicity for their services or products.

However, the more influential the media, the harder it is to get their attention. If you want to get past the media's defense, you have to know just what it is that they are looking for.

Reporters tend to be more receptive towards certain story ideas. They are always interested in topics such as sex and relationships, saving money, school and violence, corruption, sexual harassment, health and fitness, Hollywood and celebrities, sports, money making, and travels.

Here are some examples to help you take full advantage of every opportunity presented to publicize your business:

1. Human-interest stories. Whether it's about a person or a project, the media always loves a good human interest story. One effective approach is to tell a rags-to-riches tale in your business. You can discuss how you or someone in your organization has transformed from being a regular teenager in high school unsure of her future to being the proud owner of one of the most successful restaurants in town.

2. Tie soft news with a big current event. Take recent headlines and tie it in with the services or products that your business offers. For example, if you are a women's health specialist, you can establish yourself as an expert concerning the various methods of birth control. You can comment on recent studies proving how the birth control patch has a tremendously higher risk of blood clots than the pill and proceed on to talk about the alternative protections available. You are taking a headline that has already captured the attention of the audience and is providing a helpful solution. 3. The result of a customer survey or research. The media is always interested in findings of a research or a survey. Be sure that the topics are suitable for your area of expertise and also to include controversial questions that will surely capture the media's attention.

4. A top 10 list. The ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/837/Are-You-Sending-the-Right-Stories-to-the-Media.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/837/Are-You-Sending-the-Right-Stories-to-the-Media.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Are You Tagging? Create a Successful Tagline for Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A tagline is a sentence that artistically sums up the solution that your company can provide.

A tagline is the key message for your business and it may be the most important part of your promotional writing.

Getting it right, however, can be difficult. The shorter a description is, the more challenging it is to write.

If your tagline is clever enough, people will remember it and forever associate it with your business. You can craft an effective tagline by following theses steps:

1) Make a note of what captures YOUR attention. When you see an advertisement on a billboard, TV commercial, or in a magazine or newspaper that catches your attention, write down what it is that makes it memorable. You already know it works because it affected you, so you know that you're taking notes from the best of the business. 2) Write down everything you can think of that relates to your business. Start big and end small. List everything important and worth mentioning pertaining to your business, then narrow it down by eliminating anything too general or that is not a central point. Keep phrases like 'helping people' and 'total business solutions' out, since they are so generic. Read everything over and strategically decide what should be eliminated until you are left with 3-4 main points and take it from there.

3) Keep it short. Taglines should be no more than 8-10 impactful words. Use words that are positive in nature and spark interest. For example, if you were writing a tagline for the word 'tagline,' you might come up with &amp;quot;Tagline... simple and memorable.&amp;quot;

4) Develop several taglines before deciding on one. With those 3-4 points, develop several taglines. Read them out loud to make sure that they are easily repeated. Gather opinions by asking friends and even strangers what the tagline is telling them about your business and make sure that it's the message you want to send. The key here is NOT to tell people what your business does, but let them try t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/836/Are-You-Tagging-Create-a-Successful-Tagline-for-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/836/Are-You-Tagging-Create-a-Successful-Tagline-for-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Become the Recognized Expert with Articles</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Want people to see you as the go-to expert in your field? Then you should be writing articles that offer usable information for your target market.

In just the last few years, article publishing as a promotional tool has gained enormous popularity. Article databases have sprung up all over the web.

As a result it isn't unusual for anyone - not just professional writers - to write and submit articles about their products and services in the hopes that readers will be more interested in making a purchase.

Writing articles can help you: * Brand yourself as an expert in your field * Get free advertising through your resource box * Boost your sales and profits * Promote affiliate programs * Boost your Pagerank because of the links pointing to your website * Get more traffic to your site, when it gets published on websites or ezines whose readers you want to target

So, are you using this creative and free marketing tool? If not, it's simple to start. Gather your best areas of expertise and start writing.

Follow the simple steps below to ensure that you are structuring your article correctly:

1) Come up with a catchy title. The title should appeal specifically to your target audience. It needs to captivate their attention and strongly encourage them to read on. Some sample titles are &amp;quot;How to Balance a Family and a Profession&amp;quot; to appeal to working parents, or &amp;quot;Six Tips to Generate Publicity&amp;quot; for businesspeople and entrepreneurs.

2) Write a brief introduction. The introduction for an article should be no more than 3-5 sentences. It should be a very short summary of what the article is going to address without giving away the expert advice.

3) List your points. Whether you want to write a tip sheet, offer your point of view, or discuss a case study, do so right after the introduction. Write directly and to-the-point to avoid prolonging the article and boring the audience.

4) Explain. If you are writing a tip sheet, offer 2-3 sent ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/835/Become-the-Recognized-Expert-with-Articles.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/835/Become-the-Recognized-Expert-with-Articles.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Building a Good Media List</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You've written a great press release and it's ready to go. But the bigger question remains: who do I send it to?

Before you begin sending the release to anyone and everyone, take heed. By not targeting the release to the right person at the right media outlet, your release will simply go into the trash and you'll never gain the respect of any reporter.

So look long and hard at your perfect release. Who would be truly interested in it? Let's face it, Oprah probably doesn't care you have developed additions to your product line.

Look for publications and media that match your target market, not where you'd like to appear.

Where to find media listings? Once you determine who you want to send the release to generally, you need to get all the information on the media. You can use the following to find who your looking for:

1) Surf the 'Net. Several databases are available for a fee. But you may find they are out of your budget. In addition, there are several free listings of media on the Internet. These are great for a start, but often leave out important contact information and may never be updated.

2) Use the library. Most libraries have resource directories that list local and national media. Take a few hours and write down all the information you need. You'll need to remember, however, that since these directories are in print, many of the listings may be out of date.

3) Use what you already have. A savvy person is already monitoring what's going on in their target market's media, often to subscribing to publications and using RSS feeds &amp;amp; news alerts on the Internet. (Check out Google's News Alerts to create your own). Every time you find a story that is related to your topic, write down the name of the reporter and contact information.

Don't forget you need to verify the information. Editors and the like often change roles or switch companies, so regardless how recent you feel the information is that you have, you need to call to verify i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/834/Building-a-Good-Media-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/834/Building-a-Good-Media-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Get the Most Out of Tradeshows</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Trade shows. They can be boring or exciting. And yes, your feet can kill you after standing all day waiting for a potential customer to turn in your direction. The success of trade shows depends on exhibitors making the most of them. Many exhibitors don't comprehend the enormous potential for publicity at trade shows, conferences, association meetings, and expositions. They spend a fortune to be at the shows, but they don't capitalize on the publicity opportunities, which can impact their sales for the year.

Exhibiting at trade shows brings new leads, the chance to meet up with clients and catch up with old contacts. However, in addition to sales and seminars, trade shows present many excellent publicity opportunities. Follow the tips below to ensure a successful and beneficial trade show experience:

1) Make sure the show is right for you. Not all trade shows and events have your customer coming through the door. Make sure you know exactly who is attending and that they are your target market.

2) Make a deal before you commit. Event organizers can - and do give booth discounts. Well organized events, at minimum, provide a list of attendees after the event so exhibitors can follow up. More organized events provide participant contact information before the event, as well as after. Other value-added benefits to inquire about include: being included in participant email distributions promoting the event, as well as an advertisement in the event show guide.

3) Write pre-show press releases which include a booth number. Get a list of the media attending from the organizer before the show and send a press release to them. Make follow up calls to the media and set up appointments at the booth for reporters to see what you're offering. Smart companies work weeks, and sometimes months ahead, establishing strong relationships that can pay off big, long before the show is under way.

4) Research the competition. By finding out about other booths and what they hav ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/833/Get-the-Most-Out-of-Tradeshows.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/833/Get-the-Most-Out-of-Tradeshows.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Therapy: Stop Sabotaging your Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As a CEO or business owner, have you ever felt like your mind was going in circles when trying to decide what you should do next to grow your business? Have you agonized over how to get more business, express your value, minimize your risks, and realize your dreams? Then it's time for what I like to call &amp;quot;marketing therapy&amp;quot;. This process will help you unlock the issues that are holding your marketing strategies back, so you can achieve success and make more cash … even during this bedraggled economy.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON ISSUES? Common issues relating to marketing include a fear of rejection - this is most common when you're conducting sales. After a company has been in business for 15-20 years, the issue of burnout and complacency often arises. You know you're stuck when you never can seem to find the time to unleash that marketing strategy you'd planned which, of course, is the issue of procrastination--the queen of issues for so many of us! &amp;quot;Marketing therapy&amp;quot; resolves the core issue underlying that procrastination. Often it surfaces as a marketing strategy that really isn't a good fit for your particular business or skills. Sometimes you just need that step-by-step knowledge required to take action.

Conversely, the fear of success, or of growing too fast, typically comes from the overwhelming worry that you'll have to work even more hours than you're already cramming into each day. There's another surprisingly common issue (to which women, in particular, often fall victim) - that of feeling like a fraud, or that you really &amp;quot;don't know what you're doing, and they'll find out soon.&amp;quot;

If you're a business owner with 10+ employees, you'll often begin to feel 'disassociated' with your company, since you're spending more time managing your employees, payroll, and systems rather than focusing on the beloved product or service that prompted you to launch your business in the first place. Depending on the size of your business or or ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/826/Marketing-Therapy-Stop-Sabotaging-your-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/826/Marketing-Therapy-Stop-Sabotaging-your-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Deeper Truth: Key to Marketing and Life</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Last week I saw &amp;quot;Talk Is Cheap, Dreams Are Priceless,&amp;quot; a play describing what real acting is really about, not just the fakery we mostly see in film** (show's details at end). My friend Javier teaches this Meisner acting technique, and he got me thinking about a deep honesty or authenticity, and how critical truth is for marketing, acting - or really, for one's entire way of life.

I find that authenticity is not only the key to great acting, but also to profound success in marketing: when you are truly authentic about how you enhance a client's business with your service or product, you'll attract more of those people who need that very help. Sounds easy, right? Yet it's often unbelievably hard, just like authentic acting. Or psychotherapy. Or athletic training. Or anything worthwhile in life. You have to completely break down the barriers of your behaviors and external belief system to find this truth! But breakdowns are really hard and sometimes painful... and human animals will always shy away from pain. But think of this simple truth: we may suffer the torment of change more easily because we grow enormously afterwards. In fact, knowing that we are growing can keep the torment down to a minimum!

WHAT'S THE PROCESS

This Meisner technique teaches that, in order to have any real and lasting effect on an audience, an actor must project truthful emotions in 'unreal' situations (on stage or in front of a camera). In acting, the teacher must help students discover the real truthful feelings underneath their outward expressions, because throughout life we are taught to cover up our real feelings. Why? Because we're often raised to fear someone will react, or because we're simply not in touch with our core &amp;quot;authentic&amp;quot; self. In life, people have a range of choices to reach this core of happiness, strength, hope, release or love. They may go to therapy, work with coaches, trainers, teachers, gurus or consultants (yes, I'll refer some great peop ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/825/Deeper-Truth-Key-to-Marketing-and-Life.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/825/Deeper-Truth-Key-to-Marketing-and-Life.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Make Your Marketing Stand Out From The Crowd</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As I browse (or rather delete) my way through my in-box each day, it always amazes me how many emails and article I receive telling me how to do Internet Marketing, build a list, develop a website - and a whole host of Internet related topics that, frankly, go right over my head. Sometimes these products are accompanied by such a host of other up-sells that you would be hard-pushed to find time to read them all, let alone take action.

Yes, I'm interested in building a business, and I know that I need some Internet skills, but as to products, the choice is overwhelming. And more to the point, if I purchase an Internet type product and try to sell it on, within 24 hours my in-box is full of messages from other people all trying to sell me the product I'm trying to sell them. It's all rather incestuous, and no wonder I've never made more than a few dollars trying to sell such products. The market saturates rapidly, and before the week is out, people are giving the products away as free gifts!

Of course, the other, more important, problem is that these products have limited appeal beyond the home business market. For instance, your average Jane Public is only likely to be interested in building an email list for her Christmas cards, so why would you waste your time trying to sell her list-building software?

Now that's not to say women aren't interested in business, just that MOST women are not. Of the group of ten women I meet regularly, only one (me) runs her own business. I have tried to interest the others in business, but they just don't want to know. Anyway, I digress slightly.

The very basic point I want to make is that to have a viable business on-line (and off-line) you need to offer products to a targeted audience. Give the people what they want.

What is without doubt is that both men and women now regularly turn to the Internet as a source of information and research. Even people without a PC will visit the library or an Internet cafe to look so ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/820/Make-Your-Marketing-Stand-Out-From-The-Crowd.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/820/Make-Your-Marketing-Stand-Out-From-The-Crowd.php</link>
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      <title><strong>When Promoting Your Small Business Which Comes First - Chicken or the Egg?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Finally, my business has reached that famous five-year landmark and we are busy preparing for our 5-year anniversary celebration.  The party starts at the crack of dawn as our team arrives early to the ballroom to set up for a quarterly big event featuring world class motivational speaker Omar Periu.  

But it hasn’t always been so easy.
At a time when so many small businesses fail, what is it that has made Freedom Builders soar?  I have learned so much in the past five years.  And I believe there are definitely very specific skills that are essential to ensure the success of any small business.  The first key is to believe in what you are doing. 

I know my business helps people and I believe in Freedom Builders as much as if it were my child.  This leads me to the second key, persistence.  You must do whatever it takes to see each crisis through.  As an entrepreneur or small business owner you are the captain of the ship and everyone is counting on you.  There is no such thing as failure.  And the third key is fun.  You have to truly enjoy what you are doing.  This is the winning formula; belief, persistence and fun.

Our upcoming five-year anniversary party is really going to be fantastic.   Our keynote speaker, Omar Periu came to this country from Cuba with his family when he was a little boy.  They did not speak English and they had only the clothes on their back.  Now Omar is a famous world-class speaker.  I can’t think of a better person to share this day with.  So many of us are so much more fortunate, but we lack vision and don’t appreciate what we have.

Omar believed he was destined for greatness.  Did he ever hit pitfalls?  Absolutely and that’s where persistence comes in.  You must choose to take the pitfalls, learn from them and allow them to make you stronger.

I believe in the little guy.  I believe in the person who really wants it.  This is who Freedom Builders is here to help.  Our 2007 plan is absolutely incredible.  We are rol ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/799/When-Promoting-Your-Small-Business-Which-Comes-First--Chicken-or-the-Egg.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/799/When-Promoting-Your-Small-Business-Which-Comes-First--Chicken-or-the-Egg.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Writing for Success - Get That Article Written!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article writing has become an internet explosion as marketers work out new ways to build traffic to their sites.

Most search engines now use the links that article placements generate as a key indicator of the value of the site mentioned in the article - usually the signature. And it's one-way links to your site that are the most valuable.

And article writing is not that hard - in fact there are some simple and great formulas that really do work when you are trying to come up with ideas.

Top Ten Ways to... 3 Key Steps to... 7 Ways You Can... How to...

...are all simple yet very powerful ways to start out when you are composing your article.

And then there are the issues around quality and content. You know, the real beauty of writing articles is that they are about opinion - your opinion.

And whilst people can debate what you say (because their opinion is different), this very rarely happens, except where you find yourself contributing in very competitive fora, which you can choose to do - or not! Often these are the most fruitful places to get your links seen.

As you are sharing your opinion, it's not that you are encouraging others to think like you do. No, it's about stimulating thought.

If your article provides that food for thought, then you have done your job, your article will be read, passed on and will do your reputation and traffic no harm at all.

No one can claim your opinion as wrong - it's you opinion! Inside your brain. Of course others can criticise it, yet if that irritates or disconcerts you, it's time to review why you are writing your articles in the first place.

Detach yourself from the content, in the warm and cosy knowledge that your article is out there, on the internet sending little beacons out to search engines, that the website shown in your signature is worth visiting.

Bear this in mind - as long as you have taken the time to get your resource box, or signature, right, with the necessary HTML link, if that ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/786/Writing-for-Success--Get-That-Article-Written.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/786/Writing-for-Success--Get-That-Article-Written.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Make Your Article Writing As Easy As Paint-by-Numbers With This Checklist!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you've ever tried to write an article, you have most likely felt engulfed by a blank feeling - not knowing where to start.

...I'll bet you have!

This is one of the major reasons why most people simply don't write articles. They basically don't know where to begin.

If you've been in this position, here's a checklist that should help you do away with some of the most common problems in writing articles so that you can increase your online business up to the next level:

1. Have a definite intention in mind.

Always have a definite purpose in mind before you begin writing. You should be absolutely clear about what you are hoping to accomplish by writing your article. Is it an article that will solve a problem for your customers, attract prospects to build your list, improve the link popularity of your website or make a sale?

2. Identify your target audience.

Before writing an article, carry out research on your target audience. What will your chosen subject do for them? What pain or problem do they face or try to avoid that your article can provide answers to?

3. Develop an in depth plan that stresses the advantages.

Now that you have a reason and an objective, arrange your article so that reading it quickly will immediately show your reader how they will gain from it and what are the most essential purposes.

4. Immediately stop your reader with your title.

Your heading should seize the reader's interest and 'compel' him/her to read your first paragraph. Using your most essential benefit frequently does it. Your title should also include keywords that are highly related to your subject matter.

5. Your article must start with the most significant benefit.

Do not keep your most significant information for the end of your article. You need to present it right away to seize your readers interest and then further increase on this in the subsequent paragraphs.

6. Keep your sentences short and simple.

If possible, stay away from s ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/766/Make-Your-Article-Writing-As-Easy-As-PaintbyNumbers-With-This-Checklist.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/766/Make-Your-Article-Writing-As-Easy-As-PaintbyNumbers-With-This-Checklist.php</link>
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      <title><strong>&quot;How To Boost Your Income With Video&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are thousands of people advertising affiliate products or selling online information services, so it's no question that the contest is getting intense. The test is to try and do better than other affiliates and come up with ways to be unique.

There are also many excellent methods being taught to these affiliates to help them plan their strategy for the program they're promoting. This is all designed to help them work more efficiently so that their earnings (and the program owners) will accelerate.

The problem is that everyone is getting the same advice, so you need to do something a bit unusual to give you the advantage so you can be noticeable from the opposition and encourage your prospective clients to buy from you.

What better way to impress your prospects than to make a top notch, full motion, streaming screen-captured video. There's no better feeling than having your prospects reaching for their credit card excitedly to willingly buy your product on the spot.

This is the impact of video. It is proven beyond doubt that providing your customers with an exciting visual demonstration of your product can instantly boost your online sales.

You do not need intensive training or education to learn how this method can drive your affiliate program. Anyone can produce eye-catching videos, from multimedia tutorials and step-by-step presentations accessible online.

This course of action is like having your customers seated right next to you or looking over your shoulder at your desktop, as you show them the features they need to see and hear. All this done in an easy step by step fashion.

One of the better 'screen capture' video programs available is Camtasia. So how does Camtasia work?

Basically, Camtasia records your desktop actions in a single click. You don't have to save and compile all your files because your demonstration is recorded right on the spot.

You should want your Camtasia videos to be seen in as many places as possible and  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/765/How-To-Boost-Your-Income-With-Video.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/765/How-To-Boost-Your-Income-With-Video.php</link>
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      <title><strong>&quot;A True Case of Super Successful Viral Marketing&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The most valuable way to learn is to study examples of real life success stories and then turn what you've learned to your personal advantage. Here is one such example of a very remarkable viral marketing campaign...

The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) was chosen to display the world-famous exhibition for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. HMNS quickly recognized that while the Exhibit was anticipated to create a huge amount of interest, it didn't have a great deal of interest for their main audience.

The success of the exhibition would therefore rest on how well it was marketed.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science promptly called in Spur Digital to assist in reaching the targeted demographic audience and create interest in the Exhibit. HMNS was also hopeful of obtaining new investors and associates to expand their potential revenue.

Spur Digital worked with HMNS to discover the target market for the promotion and developed a combined online media plan to reach those audiences.

The campaign featured an online competition that was marketed through targeted online media outlets including appropriate Web sites, Search Engines and third party E-mail lists.

Viral marketing was an essential component of the campaign, so Spur developed an original strategy to get people to refer their friends.

Spur recognized the target audience as males 18 to 34 years old who were enthusiasts of action and fantasy films, regular video game players and movie renters, tech-savvy who normally didn't spend time at museums.

Based on this information, Spur chose search engine ads that would go together with specific search words, dedicated email advertisements, sponsored email advertisements, banner ads on web sites targeted toward the preferred audience, and emails to the HMNS list.

Did the campaign work?

Like a well-oiled machine. The results were outstanding. The effect of the viral marketing effort was amazing - over 23% of registrants came from the Tell ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/764/A-True-Case-of-Super-Successful-Viral-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/764/A-True-Case-of-Super-Successful-Viral-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>&quot;How to Rapidly Build the Confidence of Your List!&quot;</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[While many people have gone to enormous lengths to build barriers to keep their email accounts from receiving what they regard as spam-related email that promote a variety of products, there are also those who accept these type of emails.

This is largely because these subscribers want to be more aware of what these sites are recommending that may be useful to them. They look forward to being kept posted on what they are interested in and what's new in the marketplace they have selected to work in.

Most marketers would consider themselves very lucky to have these kinds of readers and the crucial factor needed to get these types of readers is trust. When your readers trust you they will repay you with their loyalty and respond to your marketing campaigns.

With a list of enthusiastic subscribers who trust you and are excited to receive your updates, the messages you send containing your promotional information, newsletters and any other important information will get read.

The quicker you can build a receptive list, the faster the word about you and your site gets distributed around the net. And it goes without saying that the larger your opt-in list, the more traffic you get and the more sales you make.

It's simple math if you think about it. Though building the numbers is not that simple... or possibly it is?

- Earn the trust of your readers!

Earning your readers trust isn't all that hard if you run a legitimate online business. People rely on others who understand what they are talking about.

As a result the first step you need to do is to seek as much information as you can about your market niche and then forward it on to your list.

If your readers and prospective customers identify you as an expert in their chosen subject - and you supply valuable content that solves their problems - they will quickly recognize you as someone to trust.

To put it another way, show your clients that you know what you are talking about.

Supply them w ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/763/How-to-Rapidly-Build-the-Confidence-of-Your-List.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/763/How-to-Rapidly-Build-the-Confidence-of-Your-List.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Creating a Website Explosion</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[By the time you've finished reading this article, you'll be part of a real-time experiment by becoming my oxygen. Let me explain ...

One of the easiest ways to promote your website and your business is article writing. There's no better way to show off your expertise than to write an article about what you know and publicize it.

Articles can help your website explode with popularity. One of the keys to ranking well in search engines is getting other websites to link to yours. By writing an article about your area of expertise - whether that's fishing, rocket science, or anything in between - other websites will link to you, raising your popularity.

Will other websites actually link to your article? Yes. I'll prove it.

I'm writing this article on July 27, 2006. It's an original work and this date is important because it's the beginning of this live website popularity experiment. This article is an ingredient in a chain reaction. It will end up blazing a trail across the internet. It won't cost anything and it will raise my website's popularity for months.

In a few moments, I'll show you how to measure the results of this experiment yourself.

First, let's think in terms of a fire - there are three ingredients: fuel, oxygen, and heat. We'll apply those three to creating a fiery website explosion.

Fuel: Your fuel for creating a website explosion is an article. For instance, this article is what's going to catch flame and spread. Without fuel, nothing happens.

Oxygen: Your oxygen source is the internet itself - it's the audience that will be interested in what you say. That source is what will help this article stay lit and continue to spread. Much like an actual fire, oxygen keeps everything going.

Heat: Ignite your articles with a little bit of online promotion. As with a real flame, it doesn't take much to get started. Even a little promotion can go a long way.

Subtract any single ingredient, and nothing will work. You can't promote an ar ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/759/Creating-a-Website-Explosion.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/759/Creating-a-Website-Explosion.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Shocking Fact Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One day when I was doing some research on-line I discovered a statistic that was so shocking I felt compelled to share it with other entrepreneurs. I was reading a study posted on the website of a very reputable marketing source.

Being in the business of helping others market their businesses more effectively, this information was most unsettling to me.

The research proves that the average salesperson, business owner or entrepreneur lost out on 75% of their potential income last year due to one thing and one thing alone - poor marketing skills. Based upon this fact, I would like each reader to think about what he or she earned in 2005. Jot that figure down. Now multiply that figure by 4 and record the result. This is what you could have earned, should have earned and deserved to earn last year. The only problem is that you did not possess the proper skills to generate four times more business.

Over the years, I have worked with thousands of sales people and entrepreneurs from coast to coast and around the world. I have found that they are all in the same boat. That's why it is my passion to empower them with the skills they need to earn what they deserve. In an effort to empower entrepreneurs worldwide, I have created a free weekly newsletter and free 60 minute CD containing valuable tips and strategies that can be used to help people market more effectively. Sign up by visiting http://www.PowerfulProspectingTips.com.

I would like to share one simple strategy that you can implement right away to increase their sales. Did you know that people do business with people they know, like and trust? Yet most often when we meet a new prospect, we talk about our business. Let me ask you, can people get to know you when all you talk about is your widget and all of its bells and whistles? Can they get to like you at all? And most importantly, can they begin to trust you? The answer is no, certainly not.

It doesn't matter if you are speaking with someone one-on-on ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/748/Shocking-Fact-Every-Entrepreneur-Needs-To-Know.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/748/Shocking-Fact-Every-Entrepreneur-Needs-To-Know.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Little-Known Marketing Secret That Creates Big-Time Results</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Have you ever wondered why some people are able to build their business much faster than others?  Having been an entrepreneur for most of my life, discovering the answer to this question has been my obsession.  And guess what, I have finally cracked the code.

Before I share my secret with you, let’s look at two very common scenarios.  In case #1, there is an entrepreneur/small business owner who is living sale to sale.  He lives an average lifestyle but has little to no savings.  He believes in his product or service and is confident one day things will get better.  When he makes a small profit, he invests it in buying leads or a direct mail campaign to generate leads.  Several prospects respond to his efforts, however, his conversion rate is very low.  Before he knows it, years have slipped away and he is still out there peddling his product and living sale to sale.

Now let’s look at case #2.  This individual has recently been through bankruptcy.  His small business has failed but he is more committed than ever to make it work the second time around.  He has done all of the things case #1 did to generate more business and he knows where this landed him.  He knows he must do something very, very different.  Thinking out of the box, he begins to use some alternative strategies to generate leads.  Suddenly, he has hundreds of new prospects coming to him every day.  He quickly turns that into thousands per day.  Because these prospects are coming to him, they are expressing an interest in his product or service vs. him hunting down people who don’t care, don’t want it and just want to be left alone.  His conversion rate from prospect to customer is over 70 percent.  He’s so flooded with leads and new business he has to hire a staff and lease office space.  

Let’s fast forward to two years later.  Case #1 is still living sale to sale.  Case #2 has purchased a Mercedes, bought a second home, become a father, owns a private jet and now runs three mill ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/706/LittleKnown-Marketing-Secret-That-Creates-BigTime-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/706/LittleKnown-Marketing-Secret-That-Creates-BigTime-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Seven Ways to Expand Your Business by Writing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[There are numerous ways you can promote your small business as well as stay in touch with your prospective clients by writing. Some common methods of written works include ezines, articles, e-courses, free reports, booklets, how-to manuals, and ebooks. Writing allows you to demonstrate your knowledge in your specialty area and provide valuable information that prospects can use. It also sets you up as an expert in their eyes - and people like to hire experts.

Here are seven different ways you can promote your small business by writing.

Newsletter or Ezine An ezine is the #1 way to promote your services online. Offering a newsletter, an ezine, a free report, or a course by email are the easiest ways to and grow your database for your business

Articles Writing articles is a very effective way to promote your business both online and offline. There are many journals, magazines, and online directories what will publish your article and give you exposure to a wide audience. Include your contact information at the bottom of all articles so that people can get in touch with you if they like what they read. Ecourse An ecourse, or course by email, is a very simple way to give away some of what you know so that people get a taste of what it would be like to work with you. This type of course is typically a brief lesson sent over several days.

Free Report Giving away a free report at your website is an effective enticement to encourage people to sign up for your ezine. People like free giveaways, and if you provide value and demonstrate your knowledge of a topic they are interested in, you might gain a client.

Booklets Booklets are an effective marketing tool to give away, or can be an additional income stream if you sell them at your website or to a corporate client. Small booklets can be created quickly by creating a list of short tips for your readers. How-To Manuals Package what you know into a how-to manual. Or, combine it with audio for a complete home stu ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/692/Seven-Ways-to-Expand-Your-Business-by-Writing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/692/Seven-Ways-to-Expand-Your-Business-by-Writing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Seven Benefits of Creating a Personal Brand</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Personal Branding can be a powerful tool for success. If you are marketing yourself or your professional services, a strong personal brand will draw people and opportunities to you like a magnet.

Personal Branding is about honing your skills, narrowing your focus, and getting clear on what you're passionate about.

Branding is not just about you being better than your competition. It's about getting your prospects to choose you as the ONLY solution to their problem. Here are seven powerful benefits of creating a strong personal brand:

1. Increase your competitive edge One of the greatest benefits to you of having a strong brand is that it creates a sense of individuality and &amp;quot;separateness&amp;quot; in the marketplace so that your clients are able to easily differentiate your company from your competitors.

2. Catapult your authentic self into the marketplace Your brand is deeply rooted in your authentic personal identity. The goal of personal branding is to be known for who you are as a person and what you stand for. Your brand is a reflection of who you are, your opinions, values, and beliefs that are visibly expressed by what you say and do, and how you do it.

In effect, it evolves from the search for identity and meaning. For many, it's about using your best talents and gifts in the service of others. With a clearly defined personal brand strategy, you will create your life from a level of personal authenticity that reflects your deepest priorities. 3. Focus your time and talents to achieve maximum leverage Your personal brand plan can become your own compass or personal North Star. It can guide all your actions and communications so that you demonstrate authenticity and consistency in all your interactions. 4. Create top of mind awareness for your business or professional services Product and service differentiation has now shifted to brand differentiation. It means consumers do not distinguish products and services, but brands. The branding proces ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/690/Seven-Benefits-of-Creating-a-Personal-Brand.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/690/Seven-Benefits-of-Creating-a-Personal-Brand.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Write Effective Ads For Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are the ads you are writing for your business just not getting any results? Are you spending money on advertising, but getting very few hits? This article will show you how to effectively write an advertisement for your business or website to produce more click-throughs and more potential customers.

The first rule of a good advertisement is to look at it from the reader’s perspective. You are very close to your business, and you know all that it has to offer. Someone reading your ad will not necessarily know those things, so you have to step away from the ad and look at it from a reader’s point of view.

Secondly, you need to provide a problem, and a solution for that problem. This can be applied to virtually every business on the planet. Your business can solve someone’s problem. What is that problem? If you are selling makeup for example, their problem is that they need and want to look more attractive, younger, and better than they do without makeup on. You are providing a solution to that problem by giving them the right makeup to do so. If you will examine that sentence, you already have a basis for your ad. “Look more attractive! Have younger looking skin and enhance your appearance with our products!&amp;quot; Always search for what their problem is, then start your ad by addressing that problem.

Be sure to tell the readers WHY they should buy from you! For every business out there, there is a competitor or potentially, lots of competitors. You need to let the reader know what you can provide them with, that the competition cannot. Reach out to your potential customer and let them know why your product is the best and why they would WANT to buy from you!

There are two important words in the advertising industry. Want and Need. Want and Need have to work together to pull a potential customer in from an advertisement. First of all, they have to have a need for your product. If you are selling makeup, you don’t want to target men! So look for wo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/677/How-To-Write-Effective-Ads-For-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/677/How-To-Write-Effective-Ads-For-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How Writing Articles Can Increase Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Well, for starters, you are reading this right? Many online business owners use article writing as a way to spread the word about their business and their website, and if you aren’t doing so, you are missing out on a lot of potential customers!

In this article, I will show you some very simple yet effective ways to write articles easily to increase traffic to your website.

The first thing you need to do in order to write an effective article is to write about what you know. If you don’t know about the internal combustion engine, you shouldn’t be writing articles about the internal combustion engine. Hopefully, you already know a lot about what you are selling, so that part should fall right into place. For example, if you sell advertising, write articles about advertising: how to advertise effectively, ways to advertise, how not to advertise, how advertising can help you, and so on. You may also write article on other topics you have knowledge about that may not relate to your business. For instance, I have written a lot of articles about cats, housecleaning, and religion, yet these have nothing to do with my business. However, writing articles that are related in some way to your business will only help to attract visitors that are interested in what you sell.

Another thing to keep in mind is where your articles are being published. Are you submitting them to search engines? What about to article directories? Are you publishing them on your website or in newsletters? There are dozens of places you can place your article to get others to read it. Of course, the more places you submit your article, the more chances it will have of being read. Just be careful to make sure who your target audience is. You don’t want to submit your article to a gardening website if your article is about flying airplanes. Not only is the chance that your article will be declined larger than normal, but even if by chance it does get published, people at that site generall ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/676/How-Writing-Articles-Can-Increase-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/676/How-Writing-Articles-Can-Increase-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Online Parties and Vendor Fairs Can Help Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[An online party is also known as a vendor fair or online expo. Online parties can be very beneficial to your business whether you have a business of your own, or if you are in direct sales (selling for another company, such as Avon, Watkins, etc.). Online parties are most popular in the WAHM (Work At Home Mom) circles of the internet, however there are other places to find online parties to sell your products as well.

At an online party, you pay for a time slot (usually either a half hour or a full hour) to advertise to the other party visitors. You get the full time slot to say whatever you would like to about your business, your products, and anything else you would like to tell them. Online parties are held in chat rooms, usually either php-based (which means any browser can use it), or Java based (which means you need to have the ability to run Java applets on your computer). During the party, which usually lasts all day, other vendors who have signed up for spots, as well as people they have invited will generally be in the chat room as well.

It is important that if you do sign up for an online party, that you promote your time slot to customers, and other people on Yahoo Groups, message boards, and newsletters. The more people you can get to come to your party, the better!

Once you have signed up, and paid for your time slot, you simply need to show up at that particular time and give a presentation on your company that you signed up to represent. Start by introducing yourself to whoever else is in the chat room, give a little information about your company, and be sure to include a link to the website address of your company. Then go into a little further detail. Let the others know about specials, discounts, coupons, or products you especially like. Tell them why they would enjoy your products and what makes your products special. Remember that this is an interactive chat room, so you may be asked questions about your company or your products. In fa ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/675/Online-Parties-and-Vendor-Fairs-Can-Help-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/675/Online-Parties-and-Vendor-Fairs-Can-Help-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Seven Low Cost Marketing Ideas</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Growing companies face the issue of marketing their products or services. It is possible to use marketing consultants to do this, but marketing consultants often cost too much money for small companies. An affordable option is to try the following low cost marketing ideas to promote the business.

1.Press Releases - Make press releases that are newsworthy and draw the attention of the readers. The releases should be short and to the point with an opening sentence or phrase that is convincing and holds the attention of the reader.

2.Search Engine Marketing - Having a Website and using the services of a search engine is a necessity in today's environment where greater numbers of people are accessing the Internet for their requirements. The website host must be reliable so that prospective customers can access the site without difficulty. The website's design should be imaginative to the draw attention of viewers. Websites are an inexpensive method for accessing greater numbers of people. The website should have the company's contact details, including the business phone number and email address. Advertise in newsgroups that are in a similar line of business so that the site is easily accessed.

3.Trade Shows - Rent space at trade shows and hand out promotional material to clients. Keep a feedback or order address registry for clients. After the show, contact them, keeping the promises made at the booth.

4.Direct Marketing - Create a finely tuned list of targeted recipients and directly mail the explanatory material to them.

5.Yellow Pages - Make an ad stand out in the yellow pages with an attractive design and listing under a specific, targeted head.

6.Public Service - Promote the company in a positive manner in the community by sponsoring events, donating products to local charities and holding events with local schools or other groups. Distribute promotional t-shirts, pens, or mugs with the company's name emblazoned on it.

7.Business Card and Netw ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/671/Seven-Low-Cost-Marketing-Ideas.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/671/Seven-Low-Cost-Marketing-Ideas.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Research Your Target Market in 5 Easy Steps</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Why do so many new products and service companies fail? Usually for many reasons. Companies often are so enamored of their new product ideas that they fail to do their research, or they ignore what the research tells them. It is important in product development to develop products that your consumer's want, not simply what you desire to produce.

With effective market research, you can determine the need for your service, a product's likelihood to sell, target-market demographics, and desirable store locations. There are numerous ways to uncover this information -- from online research to focus groups. Here are a few simple and free ways for entreprenuers to do market research:

Step 1: Go to www.google.com

Step 2: Identify key words that describe your target market and service/product offering

Step 3: Run a search on each of those keywords

Step 4: Research the top 10 Sites that show up on Google and the sponsored links on the right for the following 7 Key Market Research Questions:

1. Who is the company and principal of the company?
2. What products and services are they trying to sell?
3. At what price point are they offering these products and services?
4. Who are they targeting? What are the demographics of their target audience?
5. How are they delivering their product and service?
6. How are they positioning their product and service?
7. How are they promoting their product and service?

Step 5: Create a one page document for each company that summarizes the key questions and then one final executive summary of all 10 sites comparatively. Use this information to create and position your own marketing strategy.

Other Ideas
* Ask your existing customers - Conduct a survey of your target market with Survey Monkey.
* Invite a group out for lunch and have in informal focus group.
* Contact a local MBA program and offer an internship to a grad student.
* Join online forums that talk about your kind of business.
* Set up a chat room wh ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/638/How-To-Research-Your-Target-Market-in-5-Easy-Steps.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/638/How-To-Research-Your-Target-Market-in-5-Easy-Steps.php</link>
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      <title><strong>5 Tips to Quickly and Inexpensively Improve Your Brand Identity</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[In an overcrowded marketplace, if you're not standing out, then you're invisible. Establishing a brand is absolutely critical to long term, sustainable business growth - especially in service oriented businesses. The single biggest motivator in buying is not data, nor is it facts, it's emotional response. People buy when they feel comfortable, when they feel they can trust you, when the process feels natural and reassuring, and when they come to the feeling that buying will make them feel good.

The best way to captivate your audience is with an authentic and powerful personal brand. The benefits of a strong personal branding will give you an edge over your competition and enhance your value in the global marketplace. Branding identifies and differentiates you, your business and your products and services so you stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Your brand could make the difference between prospects and customers.

Once you have a powerful personal brand, the next step is to consistently communicate it through your brand identity: logo, business cards, letterhead, web site, invoices and any other outward communications you have.

I strongly recommend that every service professional develop a powerful brand first. While that process is taking place, I wanted to provide 5 simple tips that can be implemented quickly to provide an immediate improvement in your brand identity.

1. Have a consistent Web address and email address.

If you own a web site, then you own a domain name and it is hosted with an Internet Service Provider. For example, my domain is journeyavenue.com. Call your service provider and ask them to set up your email account. I recommend keeping it simple - firstname@yourdomain.com .

I recommend including a signature block with all your outgoing e-mail. A signature block is a four to six line mini-advertisement at the end of the message. This can be easily done within the e-mail software so that every outgoing e-mail will automatical ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/637/5-Tips-to-Quickly-and-Inexpensively-Improve-Your-Brand-Identity.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/637/5-Tips-to-Quickly-and-Inexpensively-Improve-Your-Brand-Identity.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Brand yourself with a Better Bio</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A bio is a key part of your marketing toolbox. And a well written one is worth it's weight in gold! This seeming simple marketing blurb has the amazing power to wow the media, impress a decision maker, or showcase your expertise to any potential buyer. And, once you have written a good bio, you'll find a million uses for it. In addition to adding one to your website, you can use in your article byline, email signature, one sheet, promotional flyers, brochures, sales letters, and more! But how you go about writing a bio? Below are some 20 tips for what to include in your bio.

1. Area of expertise

2. Title and company name

3. Media coverage you have received including television, magazine, and radio

4. Topic you you are a sought after speaker on

5. Number of people you have spoken to

6. Number of counties you have spoken in

7. Names of books you have authored

8. Credentials including notable awards or recognitions you have won

9. Clubs or organizations that you are actively involved in

10. Personal insights such as what you believe, your mission, your vision

11. Quirky fact about you such as &amp;quot;A former school teacher-turned-confrontation expert, Jane helps people communicate more effectively. Or an avid baseball fan, when Bill is not speaking, you'll find him eating hot dogs and watching the Chicago Cubs with his son Dave.

12. Interests or hobbies

13. Occupation of your parents, if it's interesting and adds to the story. Ex: The son of Vermont Turkey Farmers, Jim Smith is….

14. What your hometown is known for.

15. Interesting or substantial former careers

16. What led you to start your current business

17. What you help people to do

18. Events that shaped your life

19. Offices you have held

20. Call to action like &amp;quot;For a free report on &amp;quot;9 Ways to Build your Bottom Line&amp;quot; visit www.9WaystoProfit.com]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/620/Brand-yourself-with-a-Better-Bio.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/620/Brand-yourself-with-a-Better-Bio.php</link>
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      <title><strong>20 Ways To Use Articles To Get Killer PR For Your Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Writing articles is a powerful, free way to promote your business. Because articles are a news source they are much more credible than a paid advertisement. This is a fantastic way to get your message in front of thousands of eyes. It can establish your credibility in your Industry; it can promote name recognition, and help you to introduce a new product to the world! Once you write an article don't just let it sit! Put it to work!

Here are 20 ways to MAXIMIZE the use of your articles!

1. Offer article as a FREE REPORT to customers.

2. Place articles on autoresponders

3. Offer article as a free gift when people refer others to you

4. Offer article as a free gift for subscribing to your opt in list

5. Use articles as weekly tips for newspaper columns, magazines, or ezines

6. Ask colleges, seminar or workshop presenters, and other training organizations if your article would make a nice addition to their training materials packet

7. Submit your article general knowledge directories such as ehow.com

8. Submit your site to specialized vertical portals specifically on your topic. Ex: marketing or business related resource sites like www.makingprofit.com

9. Submit your site to webmasters with sites where your article would complement their content

10.Use copies of your articles in your media kit or new client introduction pieces

11. Post articles in frames around the office. Visitors will see them when they come in.

12.Send out copies of articles with sales letters, meeting follow up letters, product release letters, It shows prospects that you are an industry leader by being &amp;quot;in the news&amp;quot;.

13.Archive articles on your web site

14.Have piles of articles on display in your office for visitors to grab

15.Give permission on your web site for others to republish your articles if they include full bio.

16.Contact editors of ezines to see if they would be willing to publish your article in their ezine

17.Post your a ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/610/20-Ways-To-Use-Articles-To-Get-Killer-PR-For-Your-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/610/20-Ways-To-Use-Articles-To-Get-Killer-PR-For-Your-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>4 Secrets To Building An Engaging Brand Experience</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[When you think of creating a new brand, it's easy to think about advertising managers sitting around a conference room tossing around ideas with caffeine fueled creativity. However, often times, the most powerful branding comes from adding a little &amp;quot;fun&amp;quot; to your brand experience.

Driven by the Burger King mentality, today's customers want to do business their way on their time. They want to make their own choices. As business people, it's our job to make sure then when customers are ready to make their choice, our product or service is their top choice.

Below are five secrets to put some spark and imagination into your brand and create an unforgettable brand experience.

Secret #1: Tell Your Company's Unique Brand Story

Television shows have long been a part of our culture. When viewers watch television shows, they see stories about characters that we relate to. Remember the Brady Bunch theme song? It tells the story of a lovely lady... well, you know how it goes.

Now imagine harnessing the power of storytelling for your business! By sharing your brand story, you create a powerful connection to your customers. They feel as though they know you. This brand story paints a colorful vignette of who you are, what vision you hold, and what experiences made you the company you are today. While your brand story might not be as catchy as the Brady Bunch tune, raving fans love to share stories of their favorite brands with others.

PartyLite is a direct sales company that has done a phenomenal job of weaving their brand story into their marketing message. Listen to the story of how this company got started.

&amp;quot;Mabel K. Baker, a young housewife, provided holiday candles for her friends. She hand-dipped candles from the wax of bayberry plants, which were plentiful on Cape Cod. From these humble beginnings, Colonial Candle of Cape Cod was established. In 1973, PartyLite was established to satisfy the desire people have for home beautification, alo ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/608/4-Secrets-To-Building-An-Engaging-Brand-Experience.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/608/4-Secrets-To-Building-An-Engaging-Brand-Experience.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The 20 Minute Business Marketing Work Out</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Are you tired of over-hyped marketing miracles guaranteed to bring thousands of qualified visitors to your web site overnight? Do you find yourself scurrying from one client project to another in hopes of conquering that endless &amp;quot;to do&amp;quot; list? Do you wish there was an easy &amp;quot;sure fire&amp;quot; way to promote your business? Introducing the 20 Minute Marketing Work Out Plan, guaranteed to develop a firm, strong business physique!

But can twenty minutes of promotion every day actually make a difference? You betcha! In fact, before you know it, your business will be a mean lean machine with customers lined up at your door. Ready to get started? Are you ready, get set, go...

THE STRETCHING WARM-UP ROUTINE

Are you guilty of slamming that first cup of coffee, hopping into your chair in your pajama &amp;quot;business suit&amp;quot;, and rushing into your daily routine? Before you dive into client phone calls, invoicing, and working on client projects, take a few minutes to stretch, think, and plan your daily routine. Instead, start your day with a &amp;quot;work out plan&amp;quot; by making a &amp;quot;to do&amp;quot; list for the day. My &amp;quot;work out plan&amp;quot; starts by dividing my paper into 3 distinct areas including one for business, personal, and client interests.

1) BUSINESS: At the top left of my paper, I write my business workout plan. Here, I list the business management activities I need to do such as client invoicing, web site updates, and marketing activities.

2) PERSONAL: At the top right corner of my paper, I list my family/personal work out plan. This includes family errands, personal phone calls, household chores, social plans, and other reminders. By listing these both the business and personal at the top, it's a reminder to me that my family time is equally important as my business time. It helps me to stay balanced by dividing my time and activities fairly among business and family.

3) CLIENT: Then, in the area below those two, in the middle of the ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/607/The-20-Minute-Business-Marketing-Work-Out.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/607/The-20-Minute-Business-Marketing-Work-Out.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Increase the Number of Referrals for Your Small Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[You are probably familiar with saying that there is no advertisement like a satisfied customer. Isn't that the truth! How many times have you tried something that someone you trusted recommended to you? Your associate's satisfaction with a particular vendor, product, or service can motivate you to try it for yourself, often with the same positive results. The question is how can you make this principle work for your small business to obtain the benefit of receiving more referrals?

It may seem a bit obvious, but the first thing that you need is happy clients. That involves a commitment to excellence and the drive to go that &amp;quot;extra mile&amp;quot; to make sure that they are completely- not just mostly- satisfied with their experience with your company. No one is likely to recommend a company that is just marginal, but an exceptional experience with your company will make your clients much more comfortable about vouching for your business. Every customer counts, and you should do everything you reasonably can to ensure that each transaction leaves your clients feeling impressed by the service they received.

After you are sure that your clients are completely satisfied, the next most important thing you can do is ask for their referral. Tell your clients that you would appreciate their recommendations of your company to their friends and associates. While it may feel strange at first to those who do not regularly ask for such, realize that your clients, too, often depend on referrals for their businesses. They can certainly understand their value, and they will probably be happy to refer you if they are satisfied- or better yet, amazed- with the service that your company has provided them.

Be creative in encouraging your clients to recommend your business. When requesting referrals in person, perhaps you can give them a few promotional products that they can share with their associates. Also include a statement at the bottom of your invoices thanking them for t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/603/Increase-the-Number-of-Referrals-for-Your-Small-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/603/Increase-the-Number-of-Referrals-for-Your-Small-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>One postage stamp can deliver your next best customer to your doorstep!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[One Postage Stamp Can Deliver Your Next Best Customer to Your Doorstep!


All too often, in our years as an outsourced marketing company, we have heard potential clients tell us at our initial meeting that direct mail doesn’t work. We are consistently amused because we are sitting across from that potential client as a result of a highly targeted direct mail piece.  In fact, our business has been built on targeted direct mail.  How have we successfully built a ten-year-old marketing company using direct mail? By defining our customer “wish list” and putting our name in front of them on a regular basis via the United States Postal Service.

Creating your Wish List
Every business has an idea of whom they would like to be doing business with but limited resources won’t allow you or your sales department to call on every potential customer.  The only way to get your foot in the door and to create a “warm lead” is through a well thought out and executed direct mail campaign. Begin by identifying your target audience.  Can you go back several years and target customers who have done business with you and the past, were good customers, and yet you haven’t had contact with them in several years?  Are you a member of an association who will sell you a list of members who would be interested to hear about your products or services?  If you plan to purchase a list through a broker, be sure you purchase from a knowledgeable broker who will be able to assist you in finding a list that will meet your goals and target your potential market.  Some purchased lists are rented for one time use and are “seeded” with fake names.  To avoid penalties, be sure to follow the rules when using these lists.  Whether you are using your own customer list or a purchased list of prospective customers, it’s important to make sure that your list is accurate and up to date.  We call this the “grunt work”.  Time spent at this stage will save time and mailing costs, while  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/587/One-postage-stamp-can-deliver-your-next-best-customer-to-your-doorstep.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/587/One-postage-stamp-can-deliver-your-next-best-customer-to-your-doorstep.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Don't Forget to Market Your Internet Business Offline</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Marketing your internet business is a key strategy to being a successful internet marketer. However a lot of people who are internet marketers think that they should only do online marketing this is so wrong. Sure there are billions of internet users online and you should try and target your advertising to them but you also should advertise your business offline. How do we advertise our business offline, there are many ways to advertise your business offline.

Classified advertising is one of the preferred offline marketing forms as it is so easy to contact your local newspaper and place an advert in the next issue. If you decide to do this you really should use a tracking program as you want to know where your customers are coming from and re work what works and what doesn't so that you aren't wasting your money.

Flyers is another great way of getting the word out about your website and encourage people to visit your site, maybe offer them a freebie or a discount to encourage them to visit your website. Even if you don't make a sale you may get them to subscribe to your list and make a sale further down the line.

Word of mouth tell all your friends about your website you never know they may tell someone who tells someone who purchases something from you or decides that they too want to get into the internet business and they may join you in building your down line and sign up for one or two of your programs.

Have your website address on the back of your car. If you have a really nice car why not get a really cool sticker made with your website address and a slogan and while you're in traffic someone may just jot down your website address and check it out and purchase something. You can also get family and friends to also ad stickers to their cars.

The whole reason for marketing online or off is to get targeted traffic to your website so don't limit your chances don't forget to market your website offline.]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/581/Dont-Forget-to-Market-Your-Internet-Business-Offline.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/581/Dont-Forget-to-Market-Your-Internet-Business-Offline.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Lessons from the Midway</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Grilled Onions

Yummmmm!  Before your feet can hit the farmer’s dusty, rocky ground they call the County Fair Parking lot, the aroma seduces you like the sirens lured the ancient mariners.  The smell is irresistible.  Giving your ticket at the front gate you have every intention of visiting the exhibits, but the smoky haze down the midway pulls you forward like a mystery to be discovered.

Strolling the corridor of make-shift booths and multi-colored tents, the mixture of smells from the grilled onions and burgers leap out and try to pull you in.  But you fight the urge.  Suddenly, without warning, a sudden burst of smoke from a raised pit door shoots out like a smoke signal bearing a secret message just for you.  You’re glands are salivating as you’re drawn dangerously close.  The smoke clears.  The chickens – all halves of course – have the perfect mixture of spicy sauce that blackens them in certain places to ensure their crispiness.  You’re only a man.  You can take just so much.  Hold on!  Hold on!  You can make it. What?  What’s that?  The grill master’s turning the plump sausages and as his fork punctures the one you have your eye on, the juices flow causing the flames to shoot up from below.   

“I can’t take it any more!” your tongue screams to your brain.  “I’ll have one of each,” you practically yell at the devilish grill master, “and plenty of onions to go!”

So…how’s your marketing?  What’s missing in your sales?  Many people say that if only they could get in front of a prospect, they could sell her anything.  “The problem,” they admit, “is simply getting in front of her.”

The problem is not “simply getting in front of her”.  The problem is doing something to get in front of her.  It’s called marketing.  In its simplest form it’s getting her attention to look at your message; to smell the grilled onions.  “The person who can capture and hold attention is the person who can effectively i ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/573/Marketing-Lessons-from-the-Midway.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/573/Marketing-Lessons-from-the-Midway.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Benefits Of Using RSS Feeds For Businesses</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Before the advent of blogs and rss feeds, common marketing strategies used by businesses include:

- pay per click - articles or ezine - search engine optimization - press release - 'viral' marketing - email marketing

With the advent of blogs and rss feeds, we are now presented with a new form of marketing which businesses can use in marketing their services or products.

Rss feeds are not meant to replace the strategies discussed earlier, on the other hand, it can be used to compliment and support existing marketing strategies like email marketing.

Perhaps you still don't realize or fully understand the power of RSS Feeds as a marketing tool.

After all, email, articles, pay per click and so on work fine, don't they?

Unfortunately, the truth is:

1. It's getting harder to send e-mails to the prospect's inbox because of SPAM filters. This means your marketing message is not read by your subscribers, which translate to lost opportunities and profits.

2. People are getting numbed by the amount of e-mails they receive everyday.

3. People are not reading their e-mails, again affecting your marketing campaigns.

4. It's getting harder to get people to opt-in or subscribe to your newsletter or content.

With RSS feeds, this changes the playing field:

1. RSS feeds can bypasses email - Eat your hearts out! Rss feeds can be read by desktop software and delivered right to your prospect everytime they turn on their PC

2. RSS feeds allow you to syndicate content rich news in your niche market and attract targeted prospects

3. People who subscribe to newsfeeds are generally in the higher income bracket and educated. They want to find news and information to solve their problems. Can that person be YOU?

4. E-mail doesn't allow yourself to be branded all over the Net. With RSS feeds, your content gets circulated/sydnicated and you can brand yourself as an expert.

5. RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS feeds directories, which will list your  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/563/Marketing-Benefits-Of-Using-RSS-Feeds-For-Businesses.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/563/Marketing-Benefits-Of-Using-RSS-Feeds-For-Businesses.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Marketing Lessons from Street Performers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[How to Market Yourself in Your Underwear

&amp;quot;Ayieeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa!!!!&amp;quot;

I thought the two startled businessmen were going to leave a surprise in their shorts. They were bushwhacked from behind the bush by bushwacky. The street crowd held their collective sides as they split with laughter.

One of the two best places in America to watch street performers is at Fisherman's Wharf. The two San Franciscans fell victim to the diminutive little man who had set up his small bush office on the sidewalk of the Embarcadero near Pier 39. Squatting behind it he would spy unsuspecting tourists walking towards him and prepare for the pounce. After surviving your own scare, you'd move several strides down the walkway so as to not draw attention to him and watch and wait with glee for his next unwitting cast member to take center stage. Beside him his donation cup was overflowing with tips from his formerly terrified but now amused audience.

I'm a student of marketing. And bushwhacking is a marvelous technique in the appropriate environment: well-known street performing area, tourists, people having fun. It was the unexpected technique in the expected environment that surprised you. A technique you'd never forget. Ever. Something you'd tell others about for a lifetime. We can all learn from marketing geniuses like the bushwacky.

Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads, says the focus of your marketing is to &amp;quot;surprise Broca&amp;quot;. French surgeon and anthropologist Paul Broca, in 1861, was the first to identify the left hemisphere of the brain as involved with speech production, in particular assessing the order of the words as they're used. Williams refers to Broca as &amp;quot;the theater critic of the imagination; the part of the human mind that anticipates and ignores the predictable.&amp;quot; Williams says your goal in marketing is to surprise Broca with the unexpected so your message won't be ignored.

&amp;quot;The common, the mundane, the average, the predictable ar ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/550/Marketing-Lessons-from-Street-Performers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/550/Marketing-Lessons-from-Street-Performers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Ad Copy - Making It Count</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Ever find that some ads just don't quite get the pull as well as others? Maybe some flounder while others even failed miserably. And you just seem to have a little difficulty figuring out what works and what doesn't.

Well, start counting. Here are some pointers on what makes good ad copy work.

1. Compelling Headline - Look around. What grabs your attention in today's newspaper or main ezine headlines? Check the New York Times and USA Today. Use buzzwords or whatever it takes. Reach out and grab your targeted industry reader.

2. Sub-Structure -Readers today have tired eyes. The Internet and email keep growing and cranking out more and more each day. So make your copy appealing. Chop up your copy by using sub-headings and bullet points. Don't make people read endlessly to find major points.

3. Contact - People want to communicate and not just toss money away. Offer a phone number with a human on the other end. Skip the automated menus and elevator music. You don't like it; your clients don't either. You are busy; so are they. Tune into THEIR needs.

4. Order Options -Buyers want choices. So give them some. Set up ordering via as many ways as possible; email links, toll-free phone and fax number, online and postal forms. One size doesn't fit all here.

5. Free-something - People want free samples, trials, bonuses or anything.

6. Price - Don't shy away from sharing price - at least a range. Don't irritate readers and make them search. How much? Make it clear.

7. More info - Offer a place for people to learn more. Make they reply email address a domain name with information, maybe a free ebook or report with photos, testimonials, etc. !

8. Ad Errors - Test your ad BEFORE it goes out. Do you links work that you mention? Does the phone number work? What does the voicemail recording say on the phone? Does your email address work that you've included? Make sure to check details and look for spelling and grammar errors.

9. Legibility - Can you read ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Experienced Copywriter Reveals Little-Known Secrets To Closing BIG Deals!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Dear Friend,

Hogwash!

That's what I say to people who tell me that their business is purely and solely a &amp;quot;cheapest price business.&amp;quot;

People who stubbornly insist that &amp;quot;MY business is different&amp;quot; are right, but not in a good way.

Their business is different because it will never make big money.

People who are unwilling to open their eyes to BIG ideas are solidly parked right in their own way... their own BIG obstacle to success.

Big money is made by translating great ideas from outside your industry -- whatever it is -- into your industry. What gives you your competitive edge is a unique selling proposition (USP).

That's the key... not your low, low price. (Although in some instances your price may be part of your USP.)

Recently, I was consulting with a client and I was explaining my opposition to selling by cheapest price.

She insisted that hers was an intangible, not a product; that my examples didn't apply to her business; and that, basically, I had my head up my butt. I tried to explain in terms I hoped she'd understand:

* You can fly coach or PAY MORE to fly first class in the same plane and get to the same place at the same time

* You can get financial planning for free from over half of all financial planners (who make their money only from commissions) or PAY MORE for the service and still pay commissions to other fee-based planners.

* You can get your taxes done by H&amp;amp;R Block or PAY MORE to use a CPA

So the critical question is:

&amp;quot;Why Do People PAY MORE For Some Services When The CORE SERVICES Offered by CHEAPEST PRICE Competitors Are Pretty Much The Same?&amp;quot;

&amp;quot;Debbie,&amp;quot; I told her, &amp;quot;You've gotta understand: value differences don't have to come from the 'core' item.&amp;quot;

It doesn't matter whether you're talking about a product or a service. Value differences usually come out of areas of expertise and service such as:

* Exclusivity * Access * Guarantee

&amp;quot;And De ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Do You Make These Dumb Marketing Mistakes? (I've Made Some of Them Myself!)</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Most businesses have what I called a &amp;quot;sales prevention department.&amp;quot;

It's not part of anyone's business plan and no one starts their SP department intentionally, but we all have one. It's the &amp;quot;department&amp;quot; that sends out the messages that prevent people from spending their money with you.

My personal favorite is a classic and one that you see all the time in front of grocery stores at bus stops...

&amp;quot;No Change Here&amp;quot;

Imagine you're walking down the street in a new neighborhood and you see a sign that says:

&amp;quot;No Change Here&amp;quot;

The message is clear: we're not very friendly here. And your reaction to that message will be just as clear: &amp;quot;I don't want to go in there.&amp;quot;

If you see that sign every day while you're waiting at the stop, the impression it leaves -- that the shop is one that is uninviting and unhelpful -- will linger. If you need to purchase a pack of gum or a magazine, you'll take your business elsewhere.

Over the past two years, I've collected the following 24 sales-killing messages from lots of Sales Prevention Departments. Do you recognize any of them from YOUR business:

The &amp;quot;Just Say No&amp;quot; Sales Prevention Department * We don't allow ads like yours to placed in that section. * We don't accept VISA, MasterCard and American Express. * We don't sell to Canada/USA.

The &amp;quot;Catch Us If You Can&amp;quot; Sales Prevention Department * We don't have 800 numbers that work for both the U.S. and Canada * Our telephone prospect/customer put on hold &amp;quot;forever&amp;quot;. * Our telephone prospect/customer gets busy signal. * The person who handles that is not here. Can you call back? * We don't accept orders by fax or e-mail. * We don't orders in person. * We can't accept your order unless you have an account with us.

The &amp;quot;Pony Express&amp;quot; Sales Prevention Department * We can't ship over the border. * I'm sorry, we only ship UPS - we don't ship FedEx. * We only order/ship on Wednesday ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Lazy Writer's Way to Creating Killer Headlines!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I have a confession to make.

It's about the title of this article. I stole it and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I &amp;quot;modeled&amp;quot; the title after the highly successful ad headline &amp;quot;The Lazy Man's Way To Riches.&amp;quot; Contrary to what you believe,

Top copywriters don't make up the &amp;quot;killer&amp;quot; headlines they write, they steal them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about word-for-word plagiarizing here. I'm talking about taking already &amp;quot;proven&amp;quot; headlines and using them as a basis for writing your headlines.

Here's an example of how to do it: Let's use the famous headline...

&amp;quot; Who Else Wants To Look Like A Movie Star?&amp;quot;

This headline has been ripped-off (ethically) many, many times by nasty marketers...including yours truly. Why? Because it works!

Let's say you're selling a home study kit that teaches pepole how to get a job fast. How could you adapt the &amp;quot;killer&amp;quot; headline above for your ad?

How about this:

&amp;quot;Who Else Wants Their Phone Ringing Off The Hook With Quality Job Interviews?&amp;quot;

After your headline, you'd go into the story. Tell how tough it is to get an interview in today's job market. Show them some stats. Report how most people just hope the phone will ring after they send out a bunch of resumes.

Next, you'd go on to tell how your stuff is different. How using your stuff can help them ace the interview and get that dream job and make their career wishes come true...blah...blah...blah...

Got it? Good.

Let's try another one. Let's say you're selling natural supplements to baby boomers. How about...

&amp;quot;Who Else Wants To Feel Healthy and Young Again Without Taking Drugs?&amp;quot; Baby boomers want to feel good and look young. Push right on their hot buttons and they'll respond.

Here are a few more examples for different products or services...

&amp;quot;Who Else Wants To Grow Bigger, Prettier Flowers Next Spring?&amp;quot;

&amp;quot;Who Else Wants To Be Forever Be ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>How 'Al Bundy' Can Boost Your Advertising Results!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Dear Friend,

Are you familiar with the advertising campaign, &amp;quot;Reading is FUNdamental&amp;quot;?

Well, here's something less &amp;quot;FUN&amp;quot; that the ads don't mention:

90% of the people in North American have the reading skills of a 12-year-old.

&amp;quot;So what,&amp;quot; you say?

&amp;quot;Who cares,&amp;quot; you mutter.

&amp;quot;What does the reading level of North Americans mean to a high-powered, soon-to-be living in the lap of luxury marketer like me,&amp;quot; you ask?

Get with the program! This is big, REALLY BIG stuff. If most consumers are at a seventh grade level, it means:

* Your sales writing must be SIMPLE * Your sales writing must be CLEAR * Your sales writing must be EASY ENOUGH for AL BUNDY TO UNDERSTAND

Don't think of your average consumer as a discerning, highly educated person who just loves to crunch numbers and sift through dense information. If you do, you'll be on the copywriting road to hell.

Instead, put an image in your mind of Al Bundy. (You know... the lovable, if not too bright, guy from the TV series &amp;quot;Married with Children.&amp;quot;) Believe me, there's a &amp;quot;little bit o' Bundy&amp;quot; in all of us -- a pinch of Al, a hint of peg, Peg, a touch of Kelly, and a smidgeon of Bud).

When you sit down and write a sales pitch, envision your customer stretched out on a plaid sofa with a brew in one hand and the TV remote in the other. He's taught his dog to &amp;quot;fetch&amp;quot; the TV Guide from across the room. When the phone rings, he's too lazy to get off his butt to answer. When a commercial urges, &amp;quot;Call NOW,&amp;quot; he thinks, &amp;quot;Maybe later.&amp;quot;

How motivated do you think this &amp;quot;Bundy&amp;quot; is to place an order for whatever it is YOU might be selling? You're right -- not very.

To appeal to all the &amp;quot;Bundys&amp;quot; out there -- to get them off the couch and onto the ordering process -- you'll need to use words, sentences and paragraphs that are easy-as-pie on the eye (and the mind) of the consumer.

The &amp; ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/528/How-Al-Bundy-Can-Boost-Your-Advertising-Results.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/528/How-Al-Bundy-Can-Boost-Your-Advertising-Results.php</link>
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      <title><strong>What Do The Olympics Have To Do With Marketing?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to do business online, you need a web site.

Your web site will be your advertisement, your storefront, your salesperson, and your cash register! That's why it is so important to pay careful attention to every aspect of your web site's development.

1. It has its own domain name.

Having your own domain makes your web site easier to find and more likely to come up in search engines.

It also demonstrates an image of stability and that your business is a serious one. Make sure the domain name is catchy, easy to remember, and suitable for your business.

Forget about .net, .org, or .biz! Everyone remembers .com more than .net. It's that simple. It's positioning!

A good .com domain name is going to pay for itself a thousand times over...faster than any .net or .org address ever could.

I know that all of the good .com domain names are gone; however, just get creative with your .com name. Register your domain name now. You should not pay more than $10 for a domain name. Shop around. I use godaddy.com.

2. It has fast loading web pages.

If your web site loads slowly, your prospective clients may not be willing to wait and may never come back to your site. Web surfers are extremely impatient.

Remember that not everyone is using cable or DSL.

There are still a lot of people out there using 28.8K, 33.6K, or 56.6K modems. Just look at how many people are using AOL's dial-up service - 35 million members!

Unless you don't want to do business with those 35 million people, don't overload your web site with fancy graphics that are slow to load. Get out a timer and stare at your screen for 10 seconds.

It seems like forever, doesn't it?

How long does it take for your home page to load? What can you do to make it load faster? Bottom line: You cannot have a home page that loads too fast.

3. It includes an opt-in email list.

Do this as quickly as possible.

From your home page, give your visitors a good reason to give you their em ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/523/What-Do-The-Olympics-Have-To-Do-With-Marketing.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/523/What-Do-The-Olympics-Have-To-Do-With-Marketing.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Donald Trump's Marketing Secrets Revealed!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It's official!

Now in it's third season, Donald Trump's killer television series &amp;quot;The Apprentice&amp;quot; is officially a &amp;quot;franchise.&amp;quot;

With new seasons in the making, a clothing line that carries &amp;quot;The Apprentice&amp;quot; brand, DVD's in production, and mega-fortunes to be made, it's no surprise that the king of real estate... a man who knows a good thing when he sees it... is involved.

I like Donald Trump a lot.

Mostly because I learn something new from him every time I watch him in action.

One of the barbs critics aim at Donald Trump is that he's a shameless egomaniac who can't get enough of the spotlight.

Well, they may call it egomania, but from my perspective... it's a brilliant business strategy.

I'll admit it: I'm a marketer.

My job is to make people sit up and take notice of my clients (and their products or services), and to deliver a &amp;quot;brand&amp;quot; message at every opportunity.

That's exactly what &amp;quot;The Donald&amp;quot; does.

If that makes me him an egocentric, self-congratulatory target for media pundits, who cares? Because it also makes him a &amp;quot;household name&amp;quot;...in households from Bangor, Maine to Bangkok Thailand.

Brand recognition is the foundation of every marketing strategy.

If you're a small business owner, YOU are your brand.

That means you must sell yourself as well as your product or service.

Trump understands the concept, and what's why you see his brand Trump on everything.

You've got to be willing to get name out there... Willing to say, &amp;quot;Hey look me!&amp;quot;... Ready to stand up for yourself, believe in yourself, and blow your own horn...

Loudly and as often as possible.

Have you noticed that each episode of &amp;quot;The Apprentice&amp;quot; includes a segment devoted to a current Trump project?

This as an opportunity for &amp;quot;The Donald&amp;quot; to billboard a success story.

Week after week, he tells millions of people, &amp;quot;I'm a great real estate giant and here's  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/521/Donald-Trumps-Marketing-Secrets-Revealed.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/521/Donald-Trumps-Marketing-Secrets-Revealed.php</link>
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      <title><strong>7 Levels of Internet Marketers</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you want to jump-start your life and your business, you have to know what type of Internet Marketer you are.

True financial success only comes to those that master this concept. So ask yourself, &amp;quot;Do you know what kind of Internet marketer you are&amp;quot;?

Have your marketing experiences on the Net been positive, negative or mixed?

As you read through the seven levels of marketers provided below, I want you to know that at various times in my life, I have been at almost every single one of them. It was only as my knowledge and experience increased that I was able to upgrade to the level I am at today.

At some point while reading the descriptions of each level, you will probably recognize where you are or where other people are you know.

I recommend while reading you write down where you currently are as you discover your level, to help improve your awareness of your current strategy. This will also help you realize where you need to go.

Here are the seven levels of Internet marketers.

Level 1 - The Mooches

The &amp;quot;Mooches&amp;quot; are people at the very bottom level of marketing. They're clueless and sit around wasting their time. Most are completely ignorant of the moneymaking opportunities available on the Web. These people spend their time whining about their financial status without taking the time to evaluate what they need to do to get ahead.

Most Mooches don't have a clue about Internet marketing. If you ask them what the Internet is for, they'll say, &amp;quot;to chat&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;to e-mail friends&amp;quot; or even better, &amp;quot;to watch porn&amp;quot;. You know, something useless.

Lever 2 - The Wanna-Be

The &amp;quot;Wanna-Be&amp;quot; has ambition, but not enough. They wander around in the dark looking under stones for a magic treasure box. They want to make money, but don't have a clue how. They get sucked into ridiculous scams and waste their money on garbage ideas that won't get them anywhere. They need to get smart quick about where ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/504/7-Levels-of-Internet-Marketers.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/504/7-Levels-of-Internet-Marketers.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Brand Your Consulting Business</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Today's competitive marketplace for consulting services is no longer responsive to the marketing strategies that worked in the past. The services you provide should speak volumes about your consulting business. Think about what happens when you hear phrases such as, &amp;quot;the ultimate driving machine&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;Don't leave home without it&amp;quot;, and &amp;quot;Just do it&amp;quot;. Chances are good that you can immediately associate them with BMW, American Express, and Nike. These companies have mastered &amp;quot;brand brilliance.&amp;quot; Brand your consulting brilliance because the future of your business depends on it.

There's an old adage; &amp;quot;Perception is reality&amp;quot;. Simply stated, the perception of a brand lies in its ability to influence a client's behavior. When you have successfully branded your business, in the client's eye there is no service in the marketplace quite like your service.

All consulting businesses should have a distinct, sustainable, and competitive advantage to differentiate their services from the competition. I call this process of identifying your advantage &amp;quot;Brand Your Consulting Brilliance&amp;quot;.

Here are six simple steps to brand and differentiate your services in the current business environment.

1. Think client focus first.

The client's reality: Consulting businesses exist to serve clients. Develop a client visitation calendar and schedule in-person visits. Look the client in the eye and say, &amp;quot;I am here to serve you.&amp;quot; Follow up and follow through on all client related matters in a timely manner.

Create a client questionnaire so clients can rate the performance of your services. You want them to tell you how you're doing and what you can do to serve them better. It's also a way to discover what challenges they are currently facing. Be relentless in your client retention efforts.

2. Discover a distinct advantage that will set you apart from competitors.

Start by articulating your &amp;quot;unique marketing p ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/480/Brand-Your-Consulting-Business.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/480/Brand-Your-Consulting-Business.php</link>
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      <title><strong>The 6 P's of Personal Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Unless you're using every advantage of Personal Marketing , you're not achieving all of the potential success that is sitting there waiting for you to grab. Personal Marketing means that you're providing the right impression of your small business, right down to the smallest detail. If you want to be more successful in all your various endeavors- and especially in the case of a small business- you need to know the six &amp;quot;P's&amp;quot; of personal marketing. These are a set of concepts developed by business and entrepreneurship experts that give you the key to unlocking your potential.

PERSONA

Who are you? What is your small business all about? What kind of customer service do you provide? What are your business values? What are you proud of ? What makes you different from the competition ? These are questions potential customers and clients must answer for themselves in a short period of time. How they answer them depends not just on what you say or what kind of persona you have managed to convey to them. Your policies, atmosphere, customer service, integrity, and overall quality are all factors that you can usually control. Your business &amp;quot;personality&amp;quot; has to shine through , so don't waste time wondering if they'll like you. Simply be yourself and they will.

POSITIONING

Everyone knows you have to be at the right place at the right time and know the right people-right? While this is true to some extent, more important to realize is that you can put your business in the right place when the time is right and get to know all the right people. Positioning is how you do it- and this simply means you want to make sure you're always in the best position possible.

PACKAGING

Just like you make decisions about the products you buy based on their packaging, so do prospective customers and clients. They make a decision about your business as a whole by the atmosphere you put forward, the quality the packaging of your specific products implies, and the ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Power of Marketing Podcasts</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[If you've used the Internet at all this year, you've probably heard of podcasting. It's the one word that's almost guaranteed to come up in discussions of small business marketing, and with good reason too. Podcasting has become more and more popular over the past 12 months and is set to become the most powerful marketing tool of the future. But what exactly is it?

What are Marketing Podcasts?

In simple terms, podcasts are like radio transmissions which are broadcast over the Internet. Listeners subscribe to an RSS or Atom feed and can listen via their computer or hand-held devices such as iPods. They're a little like a blog and a little like radio - and they're starting to take off in a big way. In marketing terms, podcasting presents a new and very powerful method of communicating directly with your clients, both current and prospective.

What are Marketing Podcasts About?

The simple answer to this question is that a marketing podcast can be about anything and everything you think will be of interest to your listeners. You may want to talk about a new innovation you're using in your business, interview some of your industry leaders or discuss some of the big issues in your area of the business world. The choices are endless and it's up to you to use your imagination to come up with something people will be interested in hearing.

Why use Marketing Podcasts?

There are many different ways in which marketing podcasts can help benefit your business . Here are just a few of them.

1. Marketing podcasts help build tangibility By creating a podcast you let your listeners/customers see the real you - the people behind the business. This helps give your business some kind of tangibility and personality. Rather than just being a faceless corporation your business becomes something your customers/listeners can relate to and understand.

2. Marketing Podcasts Increase Your Credibility By offering a podcast on a particular subject, you're establishing yours ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Power of Article Marketing</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Article marketing can increase your business prospects, publicity, and profits. Writing compelling &amp;quot;how to&amp;quot; articles will educate and inform your target market, transforming you into a trusted source of information.

It's a powerful way to go from a relative unknown to an expert in your field virtually overnight.

How does this help your bottom line?

Chasing clients is a tedious and often unrewarding exercise. Instead of chasing them, you can win them over by sharing your knowledge and expertise.

For instance, you can write short &amp;quot;how to&amp;quot; articles of 250-700 words related to your industry. Then submit them to various article directory sites for wide exposure to hundreds or thousands of online publishers.

By allowing them to be freely published by website owners and newsletter publishers, your articles could be viewed by millions of Internet users who might otherwise never have heard about your small business.

This is an incredible, low-cost marketing tool that generates targeted website traffic and helps build your mailing list.

Articles as Free Advertising

Posting free-reprint articles on reputable article websites such as Ezine Articles (http://www.ezinearticles.com ) and Idea Marketers (http://www.ideamarketers.com ) will save you a lot of money on advertising. You'll gain publicity and a lot of credibility for your business.

Of course, your article submissions should be purposeful and beneficial to those who will be reading them. After all, the whole point is not only to attract the attention of potential clients but to engage them with your ideas and information.

First, identify your target audience and think about what they'd like to read about.

Then, when you have your subject matter chosen, you can begin researching and writing your item. Here are some suggestions to make your articles more effective:

Article Writing Tips

* The Title: This is one of the most important parts of an article because it's t ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>Humor and Advertising Don't Mix? You Just Don't Have a Sense of Humor!</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Humor: One of the Best Advertising Methods

Sex, money, and religion. What do they all have in common? They are the three subjects that are most powerful when getting a person's attention. However, when it comes to developing catchy advertising, I can add another subject to that list: Humor. Humor works and that's the bottom line. People always say to be wary of humorous advertising because it can work against you. These people believe that when you use humor you could offend some people by being stereotypical, too clever, not clever enough, or flat out insulting. But when advertising works against you, it can still work very much for you.

Before you jump all over me with your arguments, let me first lay out some ground rules for this article. I'm assuming that no business would be dumb enough to run an ad simply to offend people. You pull that kind of a stunt and you're going to get what you deserve - a lawsuit. Additionally, I'm assuming that when you run a humorous ad that has the potential to offend, you take that into account when planning the overall reaction to the advertisement.

Dispelling the &amp;quot;Offensive Humor Only Hurts&amp;quot; Story

Your business has a target market. And your advertisements, if done correctly, are geared towards this target market. This is the general rule companies follow. But other demographics are going to see your ad. You can't possibly stop this from happening.

So when Spike TV advertises some extreme wrestling match or a Sport Illustrated photo shoot, they are most likely going to use scantily clad women and crude jokes in the ads (if you don't believe me, take a look at their website). Some women will naturally be offended by this. But you know what? That woman will sit around with her husband, her sons, her brothers, or male co-workers and talk about how she was offended. These men, who the ad targeted in the first place, most likely enjoyed the ad, but it probably did not make a huge impression upon them. Having t ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/446/Humor-and-Advertising-Dont-Mix-You-Just-Dont-Have-a-Sense-of-Humor.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/446/Humor-and-Advertising-Dont-Mix-You-Just-Dont-Have-a-Sense-of-Humor.php</link>
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      <title><strong>10 Essential Criteria For Choosing Your Target Market</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A specific group of people you will focus on selling your services to is your target market. This is not to be confused with the problem you will be solving for this group.

Why choose a target market?, You need to decide exactly who your audience is before you sell your services. Deciding on your target market lays a critical foundation for your business. When you get clear about who your target market is, you will:

* know where to focus your selling and marketing efforts.

* know where to focus your research efforts. You want to intimately understand your market: the problems they have and the language they speak. The greater your level of understanding the more magnetic you will become.

Your target market will determine your income and success. Choose the wrong one and you will waste a lot of time and money with very little results.

Whatever target market -TM- you choose, check to see that it meets the following 10 essential criteria:

1. Your TM has a big problem. They think about it all the time, it keeps them awake at night.

2. Your TM wants the problem solved. The impact and cost of the problem is big enough that they will act to solve it (some people have problems they are quite happy to live with!).

3. You can easily find your TM. Do they belong to associations? Are there conferences for this target market? Are there publications? Where do they hangout? If it's not easy to find your target market, it will cost you a lot of money to find them.

4. Your TM has money to spend. No point having a terrific service if your target market hasn't the money to pay for it. I know this sounds basic but it's often overlooked.

5. Your TM has a history of paying to have this problem solved. You want to focus on a target market where there is a proven track record of problems and people paying to solve them. A good sign is if your competitors are selling similar services to the target market.

6. There's enough of your TM out there to sustain a b ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/424/10-Essential-Criteria-For-Choosing-Your-Target-Market.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/424/10-Essential-Criteria-For-Choosing-Your-Target-Market.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don't get your readers' attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines (and sub-headlines) play a vital part in the copywriting process for other reasons, too.

Whether we, as copywriters, like it or not, the fact is most people will not read all the copy word for word. Headlines can help fill in the blanks in several ways so &amp;quot;skimmers&amp;quot; still get the gist of the information included in the copy.

Headlines Outline the Benefits

Using headlines and sub-heads that state benefits about your product/service can be a powerful strategy. Using wireless home networking for example, you might create headlines and sub-heads that read:

--Work From Anywhere In Your Home --No More Jumbled Cables Strung Everywhere --Have Multiple Computers Online At The Same Time --Make All The Computer Users In Your Home Happy

Even if the customer didn't read the copy included in between these heads and sub-heads, they would still be made aware of all the benefits of having a wireless home network.

Headlines Give An Overview

Depending on the type of copy you're writing, headlines can help to urge your customers to read further. In fact, in long-form copy, headlines should create their own sub-set of copy. If you read just the headlines, they should make sense all by themselves. For example, copy about a new book on how to start your own business might use the following headlines.

New Book Takes You Step-by-Step Through Starting Your Own Business

An introduction would go here as well as copy designed to gain the attention of the reader.

Starting A Business Is Easier Than Ever

Continue with the copy here.

The Little Known Secrets In This Book Will Show You How

More copy here.

See? As you read through the headlines and sub-headlines they make sense even without any copy. ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/385/Progressive-Headlines-Guide-Customers-To-Buy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/385/Progressive-Headlines-Guide-Customers-To-Buy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>How To Write Little Tiny AdWords Ads That Bring Giant-Sized Profits</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It seems to be a phenomenon. You try Google AdWords Select, your ad gets &amp;quot;disapproved&amp;quot; by the powers that be at Google, you count your losses and give up. It doesn't have to be that way. There are two primary factors to succeeding at Google AdWords. The first is getting the right keywords. The second is writing little tiny ads. Neither is all that easy, but they can both be done.

Mark Twain said it best. &amp;quot;If I would have had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.&amp;quot; The point… it takes much more skill, and much more time to write short copy than long copy.

Let's go through the process together and I'll show you a few tricks of the trade that have brought me AdWords click through rates of 7.1%, 8.0%… even 25%.

Step One - You would be very wise to either use a benefit or an end result in your headline. In order to do this, you'll have to be aware of the difference between features and benefits. Start by making a list. I'll use the example of an online shoe store.

Here are a few features:

huge inventory wide selection of sizes discounted prices free shipping

And here are the benefits associated with those features:

hundreds of styles to choose from hard-to-find sizes in stock save money free shipping (costs nothing extra)

Step Two - Know what your customers are looking for. YOU may feel that one benefit outweighs another. However, your customer might feel differently. Be sure you understand what is important to your customer before writing your headline and your ad. You have no room to waste so it is vital that you find a so-called nail and hit it right on the head.

Step Three - Work in your keywords. There tends to be a greater click through rate on search results that use the exact keyphrase the surfer types in. The same holds true for Google's AdWords program.

While the following have by no means been researched, we'll assume that some optimum keywords for our shoe store are: women's  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/384/How-To-Write-Little-Tiny-AdWords-Ads-That-Bring-GiantSized-Profits.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/384/How-To-Write-Little-Tiny-AdWords-Ads-That-Bring-GiantSized-Profits.php</link>
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      <title><strong>SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part 2 of 2</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The Rewrite

My first thought with the rewrite was to stop making &amp;quot;trust and urgency&amp;quot; the undertones and instead make them the obvious focal points of the copy. As usual, I started with the headline. The previous headline was:

When every second counts, turn to Top Security, Inc. who has been securing Orlando / Central Florida homes and businesses for 689,453,910 seconds.

I wanted something more direct so I changed the headline to:

Top Security, Inc. of Orlando Security Systems From a Trusted Neighbor

This included one of their keyphrases and also made it perfectly clear this company was local and trustworthy.

For the introductory paragraph, I wanted to get the visitor's attention and hold it long enough to make a point: That security is something you need to think about now, not later. I opened with the following:

&amp;quot;If only I'd called you sooner.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I never thought this could happen to me.&amp;quot; These are just a few of the many comments we have heard from our customers in Orlando. Security systems suddenly became a top priority for them, but not until after they'd experienced a frightening break-in or a devastating fire. After these disasters, our Orlando neighbors were convinced that burglar alarm and security issues should be a forethought, not an afterthought.

The copy does not beat the visitors over the head with the fact that they could be hurt, face losses, or experience some other frightening situation. It simply plants a seed of &amp;quot;what if&amp;quot; and moves on.

This section of the copy also lends support to the keyphrases Top Security wanted to rank highly for. Because &amp;quot;Orlando Security Systems&amp;quot; can be an awkward phrase to repeat, I split it up in several instances to help the flow of the copy stay natural.

The remainder of the page speaks to the facts that Top Security is local, has longevity in the community, is right around the corner, and offers several other benefits national security compan ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/383/SEO-Copywriting-Makeover-Good-Rankings-but-No-Sales-Part-2-of-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/383/SEO-Copywriting-Makeover-Good-Rankings-but-No-Sales-Part-2-of-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part 1 of 2</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It's been a myth for as long as the Internet has been in existence. Get good rankings and your site will be successful. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that has never been the case. What you get when you achieve good search engine rankings is a lot of traffic. That *can* be a wonderful thing, but it by no means guarantees even one sale.

You see, search engine rankings are not responsible for making sales. They are responsible for getting visitors to click to your site. If you (or your search engine optimizer) have done your job, you'll have descriptions in your search returns (or PPC ads) that bring in qualified visitors. But still… even with qualified visitors, the engines are not in a position to make sales at your site. That's the job your copy and usability elements handle.

Top Security, Inc. faced this problem. They had good search engine rankings. They were listed on the first page of most of the major engines. They had the traffic. Sales, however, were not where they wanted them to be. What was the cause? One look told me the copy was the culprit. (Take a look at the original copy here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-original.pdf.)

The Problems

Top Security had a tough sale by anybody's standards. They sold home security systems and maintenance services. (Something hardly anybody likes to talk about until after something happens, and it's virtually too late.) In order to get someone to move on products/services like home security, insurance, and the like, you really must develop a sense of trust and urgency.

When I first viewed the Top Security, Inc. home page, it was obvious that they knew what they needed to do. They had made a few attempts on the page in the form of graphics and MP3 files to accomplish those two goals. For example, they posted a current Threat Advisory graphic from the Department of Homeland Security (establishing urgency). There was also an MP3 that played kindergarten children singing &amp;quot;God Ble ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/382/SEO-Copywriting-Makeover-Good-Rankings-but-No-Sales-Part-1-of-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/382/SEO-Copywriting-Makeover-Good-Rankings-but-No-Sales-Part-1-of-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. Copywriting is no exception. I oftentimes see copy that is well written, but obviously created by an amateur. How do I know? One or more of the following five mistakes was made and that killed the copy… dead.

Once you understand why these mistakes are, in fact, mistakes, you can easily avoid them. It isn't like they are complicated concepts. It just takes someone to bring them to your attention so you can guard against them.

Pull up your site in a browser and follow along. See if you've made any of these mistakes on your site.

#1 - Writing Without Knowing Your Target Audience

This is, without a doubt, the biggest mistake of copywriting and the #1 killer of conversions. Why? I'll answer with a question.

When you write a letter (or email), do you just start writing and decide afterwards who you're going to send the letter to? Of course not! So why, then, do so many people just jump in and start writing website copy without having a clue about who they are writing to? It makes no sense to me.

How can people possibly communicate with their site visitors if they have no idea who they are, what they are looking for, their preferred communication style, what problems they face, how they hope to use the product/service to solve those problems and countless other information? Truth is, you can't.

Take knowing your target customers to the extreme. Find out everything you can about them. Then combine all that info to create an imaginary person (or imaginary people) who fit the profile of your target audience members. You can even name them if you want to. Then - with every sentence - write to that person (or persons).

#2 - Writing Without Knowing the Product/Service

Like it or not, you're a salesperson. That means you have to know all the details of the product or service you're writing about. How else can you convincingly convey the information to prospects who visit the sit ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/380/Common-Mistakes-That-Can-Kill-Your-Web-Copy.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/380/Common-Mistakes-That-Can-Kill-Your-Web-Copy.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Copywriting Makeover: The Value of Being Crystal Clear: Part 2 of 2</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[The Rewrite

The original headline read:

&amp;quot;Warning! Deadbeat daycare parents don't want you to know about this website!&amp;quot; &amp;quot;The Provider Watch &amp;quot;No Regrets&amp;quot; Risk Management System contains over $615,654 in unpaid daycare debt, and that number grows daily!&amp;quot; &amp;quot;There are a growing number of parents who simply steal childcare services by refusing to pay.&amp;quot;

I wanted to make that much more clear and also plainly deliver a major benefit to daycare providers so I changed the headline to:

Find Out If Parents Are Bad Payment Risks BEFORE You Accept Them As Customers

That spoke loudly to providers who had been burned one time too many. It let them know immediately that this was a site that offered help in the way of prevention.

When looking over the body content, there were two things Provider Watch included in the original copy that I wanted to keep. These were the testimonials and some pretty terrific factoids pulled from a survey they conducted. The testimonials would, obviously, add credibility and trust. The factoids would verify that there was a need for this service and, hopefully, add some shock value with a splash of &amp;quot;Oh my gosh!&amp;quot;

To accomplish this, the testimonials were left in their original position - rotating via a Java app in the upper right-hand corner of the banner graphic. The factoids, however, were extracted from within the body text and given their own position in a newly created sidebar on the right side of the page. This would help them stand out and be noticed.

The next challenge was to outline what services are provided, then clearly point out benefits of these services to the site visitor. At the same time, I was keeping an eye open for opportunities to include keyphrases within the natural flow of the copy.

After outlining what was available from Provider Watch in the body content, I took it one step further by constructing a bullet list of what was included in both the free member ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/379/Copywriting-Makeover-The-Value-of-Being-Crystal-Clear-Part-2-of-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/379/Copywriting-Makeover-The-Value-of-Being-Crystal-Clear-Part-2-of-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Copywriting Makeover: The Value of Being Crystal Clear: Part 1 of 2</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Sometimes, despite our best efforts, the message we most want our customers to hear gets lost in a sea of superlatives. The marketer within us takes over and - before we know it - the core focus of the Web page, brochure or flyer becomes blurred. Let me assure you of one thing... if your prospects can't determine - with crystal clarity - what you do and how you can benefit them, all your copywriting efforts will be in vain.

Provider Watch suffered from a bit of this problem. When I read their original home page copy (which can be seen here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/providerwatch-original.pdf), I was confused about what they offered. While all the information seemed to be within the copy, I didn't get it. That's what happens all too often when we write our own copy: *we* understand what we mean, but that clarity isn't passed on to our readers.

The owner of Provider Watch knew she had a great product. She also knew it should be very popular with daycare providers. She'd been working with daycare businesses for years and had a great understanding of what they struggled with as well as what would help them overcome their obstacles. What the owner didn't understand was why her copy wasn't triggering the reaction she was hoping for.

The Problems

There was no major problem with the Provider Watch home page. Instead, there were several little problems; the sum of which was costing Provider Watch conversions.

The copy certainly did strike an emotional chord by relating to the site visitors on their level. What happened, however, was a delay in moving from an emotional tug at the heart to delivery of the message. As the visitors read on, they felt connected to *what* was being said, but they weren't clear about *why* it was being said. Your message has to stay in constant forward motion. If you bog down in the emotional without also offering solid information, the reader will soon begin to wonder why s/he is at your site. I didn't want to lose the emoti ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/378/Copywriting-Makeover-The-Value-of-Being-Crystal-Clear-Part-1-of-2.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/378/Copywriting-Makeover-The-Value-of-Being-Crystal-Clear-Part-1-of-2.php</link>
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      <title><strong>One Product, Three Customers, Three Different Ways To Write</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[My soapbox is just about worn out. I've been preaching the necessity of knowing your target audience for at least 10 years. &amp;quot;You can't write effectively to someone you don't know,&amp;quot; is how my spiel would normally go. When one day someone asked me to show him what I was talking about. &amp;quot;I'm writing copy for computers,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;Everybody needs and can use a computer. How could a general product like that possibly have different target audiences?&amp;quot; I'll show you exactly how.

Be Specific With Your Definition

Don't ever begin an analysis of your target audience with the word &amp;quot;everybody.&amp;quot; The people who fit into your target group are individuals. They certainly share common traits, needs and wants, but they are unique. When defining your customer base, and the segments within it, be as specific as possible.

Senior Citizens

If we go back to the computer example, we would surely find several segments within the target group who buy computers. One would be senior citizens. According to the Pew Internet &amp;amp; American Life Project Report, 54% of Americans ages 60-69 go online. In fact, 21% of those over the age of 70 also go online. In order to surf the Internet, these people need a computer.

What concerns do seniors have when it comes to computers? Fear is a big emotion that comes into play with this crowd. While they love the idea of being able to keep in touch with family and friends, many in this age bracket have a hang-up with learning to use new technology. Ease of use and a low learning curve are some things that must be communicated clearly.

High School and College Students

Having grown up using computers in the classroom, and most likely at home, students are generally very comfortable and confident with this technology. If something breaks, they'll figure it out themselves or just get a new computer. Portability, the latest technology and speed are the biggest factors for students.

With many younger user ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/377/One-Product-Three-Customers-Three-Different-Ways-To-Write.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/377/One-Product-Three-Customers-Three-Different-Ways-To-Write.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Is Your Copy Trusted by Google?</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[As long as I've been an SEO copywriter, I never knew that Google had its own trust factor with relation to site pages and their copy. Yet, a recent column in the Google Librarian Newsletter did a wonderful job of explaining what Google is looking for in the way of copy. These are practices I've preached with fervor for years. This information can help your copywriting become a trusted source for Google and potentially aid in increasing your rankings.

As I started reading the original issue of this newsletter, Matt Cutts began to explain that Google uses many factors (other than Page Rank) to evaluate and rank pages. Matt continues to describe the use of keywords and their relationships to other page factors.

For instance, let's say one keyphrase you're working with in your copy is &amp;quot;flat monitor.&amp;quot; I've preached for years that keyphrases work best when all the words remain in their exact order. That is, when you use the entire phrase &amp;quot;flat monitor&amp;quot; as opposed to only using the single words &amp;quot;flat&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;monitor&amp;quot; individually. Matt confirms this by saying relevance and trust might be increased in Google's eyes when the words &amp;quot;flat&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;monitor&amp;quot; are used next to each other.

Why would it matter? Because &amp;quot;flat&amp;quot; can refer to practically anything. That word by itself could easily be used on a page that has absolutely nothing to do with monitors. While the word &amp;quot;monitor&amp;quot; can refer to a screen used with a computer, there are many different types of monitors. If the search query were specifically for &amp;quot;flat monitors,&amp;quot; pages about CRT monitors and other types would have little relevance and therefore wouldn't be deemed trustworthy. &amp;quot;Monitor&amp;quot; can also mean to observe, which would be irrelevant to the search query used in our example. So, using the phrase as it was typed into the search engine is the most relevant application.

What else? Have your keyphrase in the title.  ..]]></description>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/375/Is-Your-Copy-Trusted-by-Google.php">http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/post/index/50/375/Is-Your-Copy-Trusted-by-Google.php</link>
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      <title><strong>Networking For Success</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Copyright 2006 Red Ladder, Inc.

Networking is an art form practiced by many, mastered by few. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Owning my own company, I get to practice a lot.

My favorite networking example is from the movie, For Love of Money. There is a classic scene where Michael J. Fox, who plays a hotel concierge, ducks into a helicopter owned by a man named Chuck. The helicopter pilot says to Fox, &amp;quot;How do you know Chuck?&amp;quot; Fox says, &amp;quot;I don't know Chuck. But I know Eddie Shackner. Eddie knows Jerry Levine. Jerry knows George Spitzer. George knows Chuck.&amp;quot; The pilot replies, &amp;quot;Small world.&amp;quot; Really!

In its simplest form, networking is about building a strong web of relationships. Below are some essential tips for successful networking whether your goal is to build your business or simply to establish new professional relationships or friendships.

DO:

* Bring business cards wherever you go. They are the &amp;quot;currency of networking.&amp;quot;

* Have a 30 second elevator 