Dare to Be Different: The Evolution of an Ezine

As a marketer, and for the record, I do believe that we are all full-time marketers; I am always looking for ways to connect more regularly with and add value to my target audience – I want top-of-mind awareness for myself, my business and my offerings.

Now for years, I’ve known that publishing my very own newsletter would be an optimal way to do that and more however, as an innovative marketer, I kept coming back to the fact that there are already a ton of newsletters out there – and some of them are excellent. So I fought the concept of creating one tooth and nail. Did the world really need another newsletter?

Then one day I happened to take off my scarcity-mindset hat and put on my abundance-mindset hat and came to the realization that there’s room for all of us out there. So I said to myself, “Why not, there are plenty of potential subscribers available to me; there are over 6 ½ billion people in this world! And a portion of those people are meant to hear the information I will provide, from me.”

Being an online entrepreneur, I knew that if I took this major commitment on, I would want to do it electronically because in my mind, it would be cheaper, faster and easier for me to produce. So I went ahead with an electronic version of a newsletter or better known as an ezine. For weeks I scoured my favorite ezines, looking for both what I liked and didn’t like about them and came up with a professional and traditional layout for my soon to be ezine. I got it all ready – it looked great, I was all set to go.

Then right before I hit the send button in my contact management software, I slammed on the brakes. “Wait a minute”, I said, “What was I about to do”. This ezine, while potentially could be well received, looked and felt just like all the rest. Then my inner monologue really kicked in as I heard myself saying, “It could very easily get lost in the shuffle or worse yet, go unnoticed! That could translate into a significant number of people not getting the value I plan to offer every week – value that could possibly make or break a business”! And the conversation in my head went on and on and on. Bottom line, I just didn’t feel good about it anymore. And I knew if my heart wasn’t in it, the subscriber would know and ultimately both the subscriber and I would lose! They don’t get great content and I lose a subscriber and potential ‘Raving Fan’.

Now I don’t believe in being different just for the sake of being different. I believe in being different when it makes a difference, to both my target audience and to me. I educate my clients and prospects all the time on how to differentiate themselves from the competition. Basically, it was time for me to practice what I preach.

So I shifted gears and went back to the drawing board. That was painful. I was done. Why not just send it out? I just couldn’t. I wanted to create a something that made a difference and I wanted prospects to take notice. I wanted to create an ELF (Easy, Lucrative, and Fun) experience for them – I wanted a masterpiece.

Then it clicked! I love to speak! I love to write as well but I certainly enjoy speaking more. I also knew that studies prove that people are more likely to listen than to read and that they also retain more that way. On top of that, there were a lot less audio-based ezines than print ones so I would certainly stand out from the pack. All signs pointed to using audio, so right away, I knew an audio-based ezine was right for me. I felt great about it! And the rest is history…

So, what ways can you add more value to your target audience? How can you become top-of-mind with them? What else can you do to differentiate yourself from the competition? How can you do all of these things and actually have fun doing them? – Because believe me, people will notice.

My ezine the “Marketing Minute” worked for me, what would work for you? Ponder that one a bit.

© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships.  To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Secret, Yet Powerful Marketing Weapon Revealed

So you’ve tried direct mail, advertising, you’ve got a web site, maybe you’ve even tried networking as a marketing strategy. These and many other marketing strategies are all good and if performed properly will most likely bring you favorable results. A word to the wise here though, some of them can run you a fortune in marketing costs. And in my experience, cost has a lot less bearing on effectiveness than one would like to believe. Now being a fan of Jay Conrad Levinson and his concept of “Guerrilla Marketing”, I am always on the lookout for innovative and inexpensive ways to market. And what I have for you here certainly fits that bill.

I believe Napoleon Hill in his 1930’s classic book “Think and Grow Rich” was the first person to coin the phrase “Master Mind” and he defined it as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

Hmmm… So basically it’s building a team that leverages their collective brains and brawn to help one another get what they want.

So let’s not beat around the bush here. Are you ready for the secret marketing strategy? Well here goes… It’s quite simple really… there is strength in numbers. Two minds are exponentially more capable than one mind alone. In this equation, one plus one does not equal two, it more closely resembles eleven. We’re talking about leverage here. The secret is simply to gain leverage by creating your own mastermind. Not just any mastermind though; One that specifically focuses on marketing – a “Marketing Mastermind” so to speak.

So my proposal to you is to take that exact concept of a mastermind as Napoleon Hill defined it, and niche it to focus primarily on marketing.

So real quick what should this mastermind look like? My suggestion would be 4 to 8 members from different, non-competing industries, meeting weekly to discuss how they can help each other market their respective businesses – Plain and simple.

Now it’s not my intention here to educate you in any detail on how to set up and effectively participate in a mastermind group, as there are plenty of resources out there already that can do that for you, it is simply to share with you what’s possible by leveraging this concept to support your marketing efforts.

Personally, I see this strategy as a phenomenal way for organizations, especially smaller ones with little spending money for marketing, to use the power of leverage to broaden their capability and effectiveness.

While the benefits of doing this could be endless, let me just share with you five of my favorites:

1. Plain and simple, it keeps you in the conversation of marketing.


2. It can provide you with unbiased feedback, brainstorming, and marketing advice based on experiences of what has worked, or hasn’t worked for your mastermind teammates.


3. You will significantly expand your reach and go beyond who you know and tap into who your teammates know. Now depending on what the group agrees to, you may gain access to the client list and/or mailing list of the other members. Additionally, you can explore the possibilities of joint marketing initiatives and joint venture arrangements where multiple parties share in the results.


4. You’ll be held accountable to get done what you say you will get done. This alone inspires people into action and action ultimately leads to results.
   
5. The list can go on and on and on however, best of all, masterminding is free!

So need I say more? I sincerely hope you’ll take this strategy on and try it on for a while. What do you got to lose? – It’s free. Remember, there’s power in numbers so build your “Marketing Mastermind” and reap the rewards today!

© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships.  To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Warning: ‘Casual Marketing’ Leads to Business Casualties

Part 2 of 4 of the ‘Marketing Recipes for Failure’ Series)

Let’s start out by defining exactly what ‘casual marketing’ is. In a nutshell, it’s trying a marketing tactic once, maybe twice, and when you don’t see immediate or expected results, you drop that marketing tactic and either try something else or worse yet don’t do any marketing for a while – hoping clients will just magically appear. This is the old “build it and they will come” disorder. I don’t know if you’re one of the charmed ones or not, but sitting and waiting for clients to show up has never worked for me or anyone I know of.

Now when analyzing reports provided by the U.S. Small Business Association, I noticed a shocking trend. Basically, for every small business that opens its doors each year, another one closes theirs. That’s a pretty scary statistic! And it’s my belief that ‘casual marketing’ is one of the main causes of that statistic being as bad as it is.

So how do you ensure that you don’t wind up on the bad side of that statistic? Well from a marketing standpoint, here are 3 steps to avoid the ‘casual marketing’ curse:

1. Vary Your Marketing Approach to Ensure the Most Comprehensive Reach

Approach your target audience from different angles using a variety of different mediums. First off, I believe it’s important to note that different people like to be communicated to in different ways. Visual people may give more credence to messages that appeal to their eyes – eye candy so to speak. For example flashy display ads, photographs, and video would most likely be their preference. Auditory people most likely would enjoy hearing your messages. Therefore, marketing campaigns that used tactics such as radio, teleseminars, and audio postcards would probably yield the most success. And lastly kinesthetic people who typically prefer something they can put their hands on. For example, test driving your product or service and physical samples would most likely appeal to them the most.

So being that it’s close to impossible to know the communication style preference of every one in your target audience, which approach do you choose? How about a combination of the three? For example, if you are a car dealership, why not offer a combination of flashy display ads, audio postcards, and test drives? This way you appeal to your entire target audience in one way shape or form.

Additionally, you may want to approach your target audience using different mediums. Don’t be afraid to mix it up here because once again different people tend to be more comfortable with different mediums. Some like print media like newspapers and magazines, others prefer Internet-based mediums such as web sites and email, while still others prefer mediums such as television – and the list can go on and on here.


2. Marketing Consistency Is Key to Building Relationships

While you may want to vary your marketing approach, it is critical however to communicate a consistent message and image of who you are and how you can solve your target audience’s problem. And for small businesses, the byproduct of this effort should lead to branding.


3. ‘All-the-time marketing’ Is Vital to Your Survival

Marketing should not be a some-of-the-time thing; it needs to be an all-of-the-time thing. And in the absence of your leadership, your target audience will tend to listen to whoever is doing the talking. And with the vast array of competition out there screaming in your target audience’s ear, your allegiance to ‘all-the-time marketing’ is more critical than ever. Now how you stand out from the pack is a whole other story for another day. Just know that you have to at least be in the game. So always don the marketing hat and learn how to sense and make the most of marketing opportunities.

So let’s be honest now, have you been guilty of ‘casual marketing’? Whether you have or you haven’t, know that that’s not what’s important here, it’s what you do from now on that counts. So decide right now to employ ‘all-the-time marketing’ in your business. I urge you to try this persona on for a while and see how it fits. I’m sure that you’ll notice that it gets much easier over time – it becomes second nature. And better yet, it brings results.

© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer", is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships.  To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Fear of Failure: For a Marketer, It’s the Kiss of Death

Susan B. Anthony was once quoted as saying “Failure is impossible”. And you know what? I believe she was right because regardless of the outcome of whatever action you take, in anything you do, you always gain something from taking action.

On the other hand, fear of failure typically shows up as procrastination or inactivity which is the complete opposite of what fosters great marketing which for most of us requires properly targeted consistent and persistent action.

Now maybe you tried some marketing, even worse maybe you spent some of your hard to come by, hard earned money and didn’t quite achieve what you ultimately set out for.

As a marketer, and yes whether you realize it or not we are all marketers, if I was afraid to fail, I’d probably never try anything – unless of course it was a sure thing and I don’t believe anything in life is a ‘sure thing’. But anyway, if I never tried anything, I believe it would be safe to say that my target audience would not know who I was or what I do. Then as a result I’d most likely go out of business due to lack of sustainable income.

Now I’ve read the studies too that state the lack of capital as the main reason most small businesses fail however, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that although I can’t prove it, I believe one of the biggest reasons business fail or underachieve is due to lack of effective marketing.

The key here is to not be attached to an outcome. So what if customers weren’t banging down your door because of your last marketing campaign. What’s most important here is what you do going forward. The past is the past, you can’t change that. You can however, shape your future by what you do right now in the present.

Stay in the game. Learn from your previous marketing efforts and move forward.

Now marketing is all about timing and consistency and since timing is almost impossible to predict, consistency is key. You cannot know when every prospect is going to be ready to buy – that’s just impossible. It’s almost like trying to time the stock market. “Should I invest now? No. Should I invest now? No. How about now? Yes, it looks good, I’ll invest now.” Waiting for what seems to be the perfect time to invest is for the most part just like gambling. Hopefully you’re at least taking educated guesses there though, but that’s beside the point. Also note that even the best of the best investors regularly have bad timing however, their consistency and willingness to keep playing eventually bring them success.

So yes I’m drawing a parallel for you here. And my point is just get on the playing field. Get you marketing message out there consistently. Don’t sit back and wait for the perfect time to market your business – NOW is the perfect time! It’s always the perfect time to market your business because there is simply no way you can know when the perfect time is for everybody. However, by consistently getting your message out there to your target audience, you stand a much better chance of being top-of-mind when a certain prospect is ready to buy.

For example, if I sent out the same marketing piece every month, maybe for the first 4 months a particular prospect wasn’t interested. But then that 5th month rolls around and that prospect’s situation has changed a bit for whatever reason unknown to me, they now just happen to need what I offer and ‘whalla’ there I am positioned right in front of them.

Another key point to consider is that each ‘no’ brings you one step closer to a ‘yes’. So being told ‘no’ should not be looked at as a failure, but as a stepping stone bringing you closer to what you want.

So let me close by combining wisdom from 3 sources for you, former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nike, and Lotto and it goes something like this: “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” so “Just Do It” because “You’ve got to be in it to win it”!


© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Sell Your Successes: 3 Techniques That When Applied Effectively Can Lower Your Marketing Costs & Energize Your Business

Sell Your Successes: 3 Techniques That When Applied Effectively Can Lower Your Marketing Costs & Energize Your Business
By Dean Mercado

I attended a seminar the other day at a local trade show and one thing that they mentioned almost in passing that inspired me was the critical concept of “selling your successes”.

Hmmm… “Sell your successes” – What could that mean?

Simply put, when you walk the talk, talk the walk. Adjust your marketing and sales conversations and materials to reflect how your product or services helped someone achieve what they wanted.

Now how do you do this? Well here are 3 techniques that when applied effectively can lower your marketing costs & energize your business.

1. Let ‘Testimonials’ Pave the Way
To best illustrate this technique, let me share with you a line that I use often that goes something like this: “If I tell you that I’m great at what I do, at best you’ll take it with a grain of salt, but if an unbiased third-party tells you that I’m great at what I do, you’ll tend to believe them. In other words, people tend to give more credence to what someone else says about you rather than what you say about yourself.

So use every opportunity to gain testimonials about you, your team, your product, your service, or your business in general. Collecting and effectively using testimonials should become a key marketing strategy for your business.

2. Using ‘Stories’ to Get Your Point Across
Storytelling has been around since the beginning of mankind and when used properly can illustrate your point better than almost any other way. Stories have the power to capture and engage the listener in a softened manner – not the hard selling approach that people typically run away from. Stories also have the unique ability to take complex ideas and make them easy to understand – without a dissertation on the subject.

My best advice here is to model other great storytellers. Take one of my favorites for instance, Mark Victor Hansen. Just look at his Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. Essentially each chapter is a story effectively illustrating a point that touches, moves, and inspires its readers.

So you may be tempted to say, well that’s easy for him, but I’m no Mark Victor Hansen. Now maybe you potentially are or aren’t, however my point is, that this is a very learnable skill, people aren’t born with it. They develop it by continually practicing and honing it.

3. Sharing ‘Case Studies’ to Illustrate what’s Possible
Case studies are a sure-fire way to give your prospect a mental picture of what’s possible for their business should they engage you help. These are particularly great for those prospects who need to see it themselves in order to believe it. Case studies illustrate tangible solutions – they tend to instill a deeper level of confidence in your prospect that you can get it done for them. Essentially, you have a track record of success to draw upon.


Now when using any or all of the 3 techniques just discussed, remember that just like telling a joke, timing and delivery are critical to their success. For example placing a testimonial in your sales letter in just the right spot where you are looking to establish credibility is key to getting your prospect to keep reading.

These techniques can also play a critical role in humanizing your business and its offerings – placing real people behind your messages. For example, instead of pounding a prospect with every possible service you offer and the features and benefits of each, try using a short story to simplify a complicated solution that you implemented for a similar customer. Or how about using a relevant case study in a sales presentation illustrating how your service helped a client with similar needs to the prospect you’re presenting to.


Try integrating these techniques into your everyday marketing and realize the positive residual effects they can bring.


© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Networking for Success: The 3 Phases of Small Talk

Networking for Success: The 3 Phases of Small Talk
By Dean Mercado


In my mind, small talk basically consists of 3 phases:

1. The ice breaker
2. Get to know you better
3. Graceful exit

So let’s go ahead and briefly touch on each phase and in turn give you some concrete takeaway strategies that you can apply immediately for each.

Phase 1: The ice breaker
So you attend a networking event… you make eye contact with someone you want to meet, you approach them and introduce yourself… now what?

Well having a few powerful, open-ended ice breaker questions should certainly do the trick. For example:

=> A tried and true ice breaker is the proverbial, “So Jeff, what do you do?” In other words “Jeff, what business are you in? Now people love talking about themselves and their business so the idea here is to get them started talking. Most people also love to hear the sound of their own voice so the ice breaker question is critical and essentially sets the tone and potential for the conversation.

=> Another good ice breaker could be, “So Jeff, what brings you here today?”

Now notice on these sample ice breaker questions I’ve repeated the person’s name. First off by doing this it will help burn that person’s name into my head so I don’t forget it. Secondly, people love the sound of their own name – so don’t be afraid to use it throughout your conversation.

Phase 2: Get to know you better
Depending on the results of the ice breaker questions you should by now be able to determine whether or not it makes sense to get to know this person better. If not, simply skip this phase and go into your graceful exit. But if you do see a synergy here, by all means try some of these again open-ended, getting to know you better questions:

=> So Jeff, how did you get into that business?

=> What types of challenges keep you up at night?

=> Jeff, help me out here, draw me a mental picture, what does success look like for you and your business?

=> What’s new in your industry these days? Any events or trends that are shaping it?

Now you can use one, two, all of these questions, or more if the situation permits. However, be careful here not to dominate and monopolize someone’s time. If you’re at a networking event, there’s a good chance that they’re there to network and meet other people as well, so it may make sense to go to the graceful exit phase and encourage that you two get together in the near future.

Phase 3: Graceful exit
It’s vastly important how you leave a conversation – as this is the last impression you make on that person. We’re not looking to create any animosity here by rudely blowing someone off. The key here is as this phase’s title states, is to exit gracefully.

A key difference between the types of questions or statements you make in this phase as opposed to the previous two phases is that now you shift to using close-ended ones. For example:

=> Introduce the person to someone else that may be of interest to them and then politely excuse yourself. The dialogue can go something like this: “Hey Cindy I’d like you to meet Jeff. Jeff’s in the xyz industry as well and I just felt that you two should meet.” Now they exchange pleasantries and you immediately exit the conversation by saying something like, “Well you two probably have a bunch to talk about. Cindy I’ll catch up with you later and Jeff, it was great meeting you.”

=> Another example of a graceful exit may be: I can certainly see some synergy between what you and I do. Can I give you a call next week to set up some time to talk further?

=> Or, it’s been great meeting you, will I see you at future meetings?

=> And lastly, wow, this is quite an event don’t you think? Well we should probably keep moving… it was great meeting you Jeff!


So I hope you found this segment of the Marketing Minute useful and are ready to apply the strategies for the 3 phases of small talk immediately. Remember stay in the game and practice, practice, practice and you too can see the results you like for your business.


© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Jumpstart Your Marketing With The “Rule of 5”

Jumpstart Your Marketing With The “Rule of 5”
By Dean Mercado


Let me ask you and be honest with yourself here, are you getting the results you want in your business? If you are great, this message will be helpful in getting you to the next level. If you’re not, don’t worry, it will certainly put you on the right path.

Now I’ve read the studies too that state the lack of capital as the main reason most small businesses fail however, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that although I can’t prove it, I believe one of the biggest reasons business fail or underachieve is due to lack of effective marketing.

When I attended a seminar by T. Harv Eker a few years back, he mentioned and I quote “it takes creativity to make money”. In other words it doesn’t take money to make money, it takes creativity to make money. Now that’s a hard concept for most of us to grasp, it certainly was for me until I started reading a few Guerrilla Marketing books by Jay Conrad Levinson which primarily deal with using sweat equity and creativity instead of money to promote your business.

Now why am I telling you this? Basically to lay the foundation for the gem I’m about to share with you here today. That gem is a simple yet effective technique I picked up from two of my mentors Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield.

This technique is called the “Rule of 5” and what it means is simply doing at least 5 things every day towards accomplishing a specific goal.

Now since learning this concept a ways back, I have expanded on it a bit to make it more relevant and effective for me. And my guess here is that there’s a good chance it will suit you as well.

So here’s my adaptation that I call “Rule of 5 Marketing”. Essentially it means doing at least 5 marketing activities every day to effectively promote yourself or your business. You commit to this and you are virtually guaranteed success.

Now that can mean making 5 phone calls to key prospects, giving a teleseminar to 5 or more prospects, sending out a press release to 5 publications that cater to your target audience or, whatever marketing activity is most effective for your business. Just make sure you do 5 things day in and day out, without fail because a big part of marketing is about consistency.

And speaking of consistency, a great way to hold yourself accountable and to stay on track is to keep a daily journal where you log the 5 marketing activities you completed each day.

If you find yourself slipping and not getting it done, I recommend you enlist a coach or a colleague to become an accountability partner for you – then you can phone them or shoot them an email letting them know you honored your commitment. This just adds that little extra something to inspire you to get it done.

So commit to it, journal it and be accountable to apply the Rule of 5 to your marketing every day and watch your business take off.


© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Differentiate or Die – 3 Keys to Eclipse Your Competition

Differentiate or Die – 3 Keys to Eclipse Your Competition
By Dean Mercado


Quite frankly there are very few ways to really differentiate yourself from your competition. You make a great product, so do they. You provide top-notch customer service, they do too. Worse yet, there’s probably a competitor out there that already plays a bigger and better game than you. So what can you do about it? Well, here are 3 keys you can start applying immediately to differentiate and separate yourself from the pack:

1. Positioning. Let’s face it. People want to be associated with and buy from those they believe are the best. Back in the early computer days, there was a saying that nobody ever got fired for buying an IBM. IBM was believed by most to be the best personal computer available. Were they? Maybe. However, they were the perceived expert. Gaining this credibility in your field without a doubt tilts the scales in your favor. This is one of the greatest ways to magnetize your business and lead you on a path to create raving fans.

2. Relationship Building. Consistently stay in tune with and in front of your desired audience - not hard selling, but relationship building. When you truly and genuinely have their best interest at heart, and believe me, they can sense it, you lay the foundation for an insurmountable bond to be formed between you. Remember, people buy from people, not, companies.

3. The 180 Degree Marketing Method. The crux of this methodology is simply to look at what your competition is doing and do something else. Dare to be different. The best way to successfully pull this off is to look into other industries and pioneer their successful marketing ideas and techniques in your industry. I hate to be the one to tell you but, most marketing ideas and techniques have already been done somewhere by someone. So why try to reinvent the wheel. I’m not saying plagiarize here. I’m simply saying learn from the success others have had before you – especially by leveraging ideas and techniques that are new to your industry.


There’s a great quote floating around that’s attributed to both Zig Ziglar and Dr. Kenneth McFarland that goes something like this: “There are no traffic jams when you go the extra mile." Applying these 3 keys definitely get you traveling on that extra mile.

So while most businesses are out there like lemmings playing follow-the-follower, I challenge you to step it up and dare to be different. Be a leader and go it alone on the road less traveled and I guarantee people will stop and take notice.


© 2006 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

9 Marketing Credos for a Thriving Business

9 Marketing Credos for a Thriving Business
By Dean Mercado


1. Differentiate or Die! You Must Stand Out From the Pack. Don’t become another “me too” option for your prospects to choose from. When you allow this to happen, you position yourself to compete only on price – a tough arena to play in.

2. You Are in Two Businesses... The Business of DELIVERING Your Products and Services AND The Business of MARKETING Them. You're better off being a GREAT marketer and have adequate ability at what your business delivers than have great ability at what your business delivers and be an average marketer.

3. Know Thy Target Audience! Who exactly is your ideal customer? What do they look like? Where do they hang out? What is their decision making process? Keep drilling down until you are crystal clear and can visualize them in your head. Then focus your marketing efforts directly at them.

4. The Internet is Simply Another Medium to Reach Your Target Audience – Don’t Be Intimidated by it! You do not need to be a computer expert to market your business online. Nor do you need to go it alone. Help is all around us, we just have to ask for it.

5. Consistency Is Key! This is where the old cliché “Out of sight out of mind” really holds true. You must have consistency in the look, feel and frequency of delivery of your marketing efforts. This builds a level of comfort between you and your prospects and helps you maintain “top of mind” presence with them.

6. Apply the Rule of Five to Your Marketing Efforts Every Day. Commit to doing at least 5 things per day to market your business and see your business soar!

7. Have a Plan! Know the 5 W’s – Who, What, When Where, and Why of every marketing initiative you take. Add to that a financial forecast for your marketing efforts and you are golden!

8. Diversify Your Efforts! Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket. Have multiple marketing tactics going at all times so that you always have a bread-winning marketing tactic.

9. Tap Into Viral Marketing! Get others promoting and selling for you.


© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

Internet Marketing: 5 Reasons Why Your Business Must Have an Online Presence

Internet Marketing: 5 Reasons Why Your Business Must Have an Online Presence
By Dean Mercado

The Internet has officially changed the face of business and in case no one has done this for you already, let me be the first to formally welcome you to the “Information Age”, or should we call it the “Internet Age”.

The Internet is simply not a fad or a flavor of the week. It is the real deal and it is here to stay. It may morph in one way, shape, or form however, it is here to stay and the most successful businesses are taking advantage of it.

So why exactly should you take your business online? Although there are tons of reasons, here are 5 key ones:

1. It is expected. Quite simply, the Internet is one the first (if not the first) places people look to find out more about you, your business, and/or your product. They look for your website as well as information they can find out about you from other websites. Yes, I dare say it, in 99.9% of the cases, it will damage your credibility to some degree with a prospect if you cannot be found out there.

2. It is cheap. Never in history has a marketing medium been available to all businesses, no matter the size of their company or bank account that afforded them so much possibility for success.

Obviously money if applied properly can increase your results on the Internet; however, you really can get started with little or no money. Skeptical, just read some of the books from the “Guerrilla Marketing” series by Jay Conrad Levinson.

3. It is immediate. Face it. We live in a world of instant gratification. We want everything yesterday. If something is not immediately available, we just may lose interest or worse yet get it from somewhere else – like your competition.

4. It is 24/7. The Internet simply never sleeps. Having and implementing an effective Internet strategy can be like having a well tuned marketing and sales force that continues to do your bidding around the clock.

5. It is global. Why limit your business to the 15 minute radius surrounding your office? Your current competition certainly isn’t and new competitors are seemingly coming out of nowhere every day.

Look at the Internet as a means to allow you to share your genius with prospects who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to experience what you have to offer.


So in closing, what’s the best advice I can muster up on this topic? Make a sincere effort to understand the Internet and the sheer power and opportunity it brings to your business. Create a plan of attack and get in the game. Play on the grandest court available today, the Internet!

© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Liked this article? Want to use it in your eZine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include this complete blurb with it (including links):

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine the “Marketing Minute” – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.