Who Else Wants World Class Business Advice From Top Experts For Little or No Cost?

Well I’ll tell you, I certainly do! And why not? There’s plenty of it out there for the taking. As a matter of fact there’s more available these days than ever before in history. Why? Mainly because of the ease of access to both the material as well as those who have authored them… thanks mainly to the maturing of the Internet that is. There are educational and content rich web sites, blogs, podcasts, videos, seminars, teleseminars, and we can go on and on and on here. However, for all of that new technology that exists today, in my opinion, there’s still one medium that stands head and shoulders above the rest… especially when we consider getting the most bang-for-the-buck!

So what am I talking about here? I’m talking about books!

Books are one of the most effective and inexpensive ways of allowing you to climb inside the mind of someone who has been there and done that. Besides providing tremendous insight, they can save you years of struggle.

Personally on average I read about a book a week from either the “self-help”, “business” or “marketing” categories. I share this with you not to impress you in any way but to impress upon you the importance of reading. Does this mean you need to be as voracious a reader as I am? Absolutely not! I read as much as I do for a variety of reasons, one of which is just the fact that it’s one of my favorite hobbies… I do it for fun. It just so happens that my hobby brings with it a whole host of residual benefits for me and my business as well.

Now I am a firm believer that if you were to study maybe just a couple of great books from each of the categories I just mentioned to you a moment ago, and diligently practiced applying the wisdom they so generously shared, you would probably see a significant increase in your success.

Often when I’m working with a client I’ll recommend a book or two that would significantly further their success… some clients willingly take on the challenge by running out, buying the book and devouring it immediately. These are typically the clients that seem to move along their path to success the fastest. Then there are the other clients who kick and scream the whole way… making every excuse in the world why they can’t read what I recommended. Some of the excuses I hear the most are:

“I don’t have time to read.” Come on… isn’t your future worth a measly 15 minutes a day? At that pace, you could still finish about 26 books over the next year.

“But I don’t like to read.” Well then try an audio book and listen instead.

“I can’t afford to buy the books I want.” Well than fortunately for you, in America we have a place called a Library where you can borrow them for free.

Now I have to say my responses here were quite gentle… more gentle than I’d like to be because if you’re serious about taking your business and your life up a notch, there is simply no excuse for not reading.

So in closing, when was the last time you read a book on marketing? How about any business book for that matter? Or better yet how about a book in the self-help genre because if you’re anything like most people, it’s always best to get you out of your own way first; This way, the business and marketing strategies and tactics that you’ve picked up in the other books can stand a chance at succeeding. Ooh… that’s a bit harsh, however it’s said with only the best intentions for you!

Anyhow, let me leave you with a powerful quote from someone that many consider a guru to the stars in business and that’s Jim Rohn… and he once said, “Most homes valued at over $1,000,000 have a library. That should tell us something.”

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing coach and consultant, Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute' at http://www.onlinemarketingmuscle.com/marketingminute/ , -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, success articles, business advice, books, reading, web sites, blogs, podcasts, videos, seminars, teleseminars, self-help, marketing

7 Team Members Any Successful Entrepreneur Cannot Live Without

Being mentored by quite a few great business minds over the years, there was one concept that they all seemed to go on and on about over and over again with me – and that was the concept and power of “TEAM”.

For several years, I have to admit, I just didn’t get it. I thought I was being smart and properly frugal… seemingly saving thousands of dollars in hard-earned cash by doing it all myself.

Sound familiar at all?

Starting out as many entrepreneurs do with a Lone Ranger mentality, I was constantly pulling myself up by my bootstraps… in an endless struggle to make ends meet... always wondering what’s going on here. I’m smart… I’m talented… I’m a good person… so why the struggle? This shouldn’t be this difficult. What’s the problem?

Well in my case… and I know I’m not alone here… I was the problem! I was unknowingly standing in my own way to success. I had been essentially keeping my business in its infancy stage by holding onto behaviors that no longer served me. Just like a child who wants to do it themselves or, the stingy child who holds their toys close and doesn’t want to share.

Sound familiar at all?

Now there are some powerful child-like behaviors that bode really well in business. Take imagination for instance. Just imagine what’s possible for your business if you properly employ the concept of TEAM. Now there are so many possibilities for team members that can help move you closer to your vision for your business, however these 7 seem to be a staple amongst many of the successful entrepreneurs I know:

1. A Virtual Assistant to handle a variety of tasks that simply are not the best use of your time any longer. These tasks can range anywhere from doing research for you to sending out your newsletter each week.

2. A Business Coach to lend overall business guidance and a non-biased, unemotional opinion. It is best if this team member is someone who has been where you want to be with your business.

3. A Marketing Expert to help put together and potentially execute an overall marketing strategy for your business. It is best if this team member has an understanding of your industry as well as has an arsenal of marketing knowledge to provide you with an array of marketing strategies to choose from.

4. A Webmaster to help you professionally take your business’ vision online. No, your 12 year old nephew won’t suffice here… that is of course if you’d like to stay in business for long. So take care to choose a Webmaster who can effectively create and maintain your online presence.

5. A Bookkeeper to keep your financial house in order. They will crunch your numbers, organize your paperwork needed to do your taxes, and produce reports for you to use in decision making.

6. An Accountant to pick up where your bookkeeper leaves off. This team member should provide more specific guidance on how to keep more of and maximize your hard-earned dollars as well as handling your taxes for you.

7. A Lawyer to help you protect your interests as your business grows. I know it’s sad, but protecting ourselves is a necessary evil.

So in closing, I hate to be the one to break it to you but business is a team sport. Go it alone at your own peril! It’s just not smart to think that it’s best to do it yourself… I don’t care what your financial situation is. If there is someone you can add to your team that can do it better, faster, or cheaper than you, do yourself a huge favor and please consider them. That is of course so long as you use that time you’ve saved by hiring them to do something revenue generating.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

How to Determine Where to Network Yourself and Your Business

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” -- Jim Rohn

As the author of an information product on networking aptly titled “Pumped Up Networking”, I’m often asked a question that goes something like this… How do I decide where to network and which networking groups should I join?

I hate to do this to you however I can only answer that question with another question. What do you want to accomplish by networking?

Don’t worry… I won’t totally leave you hanging here. In lieu of waiting for a response from you, first let me start you off with some of the basics to consider.

• Your budget… Networking events and memberships can get expensive so determine how much of your marketing budget you can afford to invest on it.
• Your time… Networking can become very time consuming as it takes time to establish and nurture fruitful relationships so determine how much of your time each month you can afford to invest here.
• Your comfort zone… Networking can be intimidating and quite frankly a waste of money and time if you are not ready to network in certain situations or circles. Yes, the coach in me will always try to get you to stretch your comfort zone a bit however, going from zero to sixty in six seconds flat is typically not the wisest choice to stretch you and position you for success. Patience is a virtue here.
• Your gut… Learn to trust it. Does a particular networking event or group feel good to you? Do you like the other attendees or members? Is there good chemistry amongst the group? This is critical because if you’re not excited about where you’re networking or who you will be networking with, your heart won’t be in it. And if your hearts not in it, fruitful relationships won’t happen.
• The logistics… Times, dates, and locations are critical; wherever you choose to network must make sense from a logistical standpoint.

With the basics now factored in, let me present you with a few of the more common reasons for networking and where you can look to network to meet that need… hopefully one of these fits your scenario.

• If it’s to acquire new prospect to sell to… if possible, your best bet is to network directly where your target market hangs out, wherever that may be. Some possibilities may include events for charity or awards dinners if you’re marketing to the affluent; or Chambers of Commerce if you’re marketing to small businesses. If getting in front of your target market presents a challenge for you, you can approach it indirectly by networking with others who can ultimately connect you with your target market. For example, participate in lead exchange groups such as BNI, LeTip, or smaller but effective local groups such as in my neck of the woods, the LI Rainmakers.
• If it’s to establish your presence locally in your community or as I call it, become a ‘rock star’ in your own backyard, then maybe try your local Chamber of Commerce, Civic Association, or maybe even your local Church.
• If it’s to connect with your peers in your industry… maybe attend industry specific seminars and trade shows; or join a trade organization related to your specialty or industry (e.g. if you’re a professional speaker maybe try the National Speakers Association or if you’re a Chiropractor consider joining The American Chiropractic Association (ACA)).

So in closing, I have to say that I’m a firm believer that a person’s success can be determined by their ability to network effectively. And yes Jim Rohn is right... You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with… so choose your networking wisely.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Marketing Conversion Strategy Series: A Common Sense Approach to Turning Prospects into Paying Customers

By Dean Mercado

"I have learned to imagine an invisible sign around each person's neck that says, 'Make me feel important!'" -- Mary Kay Ash (1918-2001) American businessperson, founder of Mary Kay Inc.

It’s one thing to attract an abundance of leads or prospects to your business, it’s quite another to be able to convert those prospects into paying customers. It takes some trial and error… it takes patience… it takes persistence… it takes practice… lots of it to really get good at it.

Fortunately for us, many of the core skills required for successful conversions can be classified as what some may deem as common sense. One such core skill is nurturing. Nurture your vegetable garden and it will grow. Nurture your children and they will flourish. Nurture your target market and they will buy. Your ability to nurture effectively starts with your clarity in understanding exactly what it is your target market both wants and needs to not only survive but thrive. One such want that we’ll discuss in this conversation is to feel important… to feel needed… to feel wanted… to feel special… to feel that they matter.

So let me ask you a point blank question. Does your marketing make your target market feel important? Try asking some of your existing customers whether or not your marketing had this effect on them. You just may be surprised with what you hear.

So how exactly do you go about making your target market feel important? Well here are three steps to doing just that:

First… in order to do this, you must clearly understand who you target market really is. Who are you really serving? Continue to drill down on the specifics of who your target market really is until you get a very clear picture in your head of someone who best represents the perfect customer… your perfect customer. This is who you target.

Second… you must know a bit about what makes them tick… study them… get to know them… hang around them… what’s important to them? What are their emotional triggers that you can pull to get them to buy? This will give you the ammunition you need to be able to connect with your target market on a deeper more genuine level.

Third… consistently communicate your clear understanding of what’s important to them in your marketing messages; Showing them that you’ve taken the time to really understand what’s important to them will go a long way. In their eyes, this puts you in a different class than much of the competition vying for their attention. And it’s that respect that will make them pay attention to YOU.

So in closing, understand your target market and pay them proper attention and they will respond. Don’t be afraid to show signs of kindness, compassion, and empathy as they will help fill that void in your target market to feel important. You know why? You know why you should do this? Because they deserve it! Don’t we all? We all deserve to feel important because we are! Practice that and I guarantee you will see results!

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Marketing

Hear ye hear ye… The recession is coming, the recession is coming. Well let me ask you, is a recession coming? Is a recession really coming? How do you know? I tell you what, if you believe it’s coming for you, you’re right, it is coming for you. Alternatively, if you believe it’s not coming for you, you’re right again, it’s not. How could that be? Well I firmly believe that your beliefs, one way or the other, act as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your beliefs will guide your thoughts; which in turn will dictate your actions; which ultimately will shape your reality.

Now as a marketing guy I love the media however I have to caution you, be wary of them perpetuating your fears with the belief in a recession because where attention goes, energy flows. The more people that listen and buy into this fear, the more likely it is to become reality – at least for some. And for the media, doom and gloom gets ratings and sells papers so why wouldn’t they perpetuate it.

Now I’m not saying be uniformed or ignorant, or that the media is evil or something. Just be careful what you feed your mind. Keep looking for a recession, and you’ll find it.

In my opinion there is a right way and a wrong way to circumvent or if needed, navigate through a possible recession.

First, the wrong way... The word starts spreading of a recession looming in the near future. Panic starts to spread like wildfire with the majority of small businesses tightening their belts in anticipation of the tough times to come – for the most part, they will unjustifiably go from business building mode to survival mode. And one of the first things they’ll do is cut spending. Now unfortunately for most small businesses the first line item they seem to cut is the one that provides their sustenance and momentum – the marketing. As a result, the pipeline of prospects quickly starts to dry up and their fear of a recession becomes a reality – for them at least anyway.

Now the right way… The word starts spreading of a recession looming in the near future. Panic starts to spread like wildfire with the majority of your competition cutting their marketing efforts to try and save money. In turn realizing it or not, they’ve just cleared a path for you. They’ve uncluttered the airwaves making it easier for you to stand out from the pack and get noticed by, you guessed it… your target market. So while your competition’s sales pipeline quickly dries up, yours explodes with an abundance of new prospects. Hey, your target market will listen to whoever is doing the talking. And if you’re not doing the talking, someone else will… and that someone will most likely be one of your competitors.

So in closing, trust that opportunity and abundance surrounds all of us all of the time… even amidst the possibility of a looming recession. Let your competition bow to fear. Be bold… be unstoppable… don’t let anyone or anything other than you dictate your reality.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, recession, small business, competition

3 Simple Steps to Create the Business of Your Dreams – A Business that’s On Purpose

Imagine for a moment that at this same time next year, you have accomplished everything you’ve ever wanted… and more… for both yourself, and for your business.

Is that possible? Why of course! In order to accomplish that though, there are three very important components that you’ll need to put into practice:

First, be crystal clear on what it is you want.

As crazy as this may seem, in my many years of experience as a marketing coach and consultant, this is the number one breakdown I see entrepreneurs and small business owners make time and time again. They simply don’t know what they want! And believe me, it’s very difficult to get what you want if you don’t know what it is.

Essentially they’re like a dingy floating aimlessly in the ocean… instead of rowing towards a specific destination… a destination they choose… they let the tide push them around at will… all the while hoping the tide will push them somewhere good… not really knowing where that somewhere good is until they get there… and the sad truth is, is that since they’ve not chosen their destination, there’s a strong chance that they will never get what they want.

I don’t know about you, but that scenario scares me a bit. It scares me enough to dedicate ample time on a regular basis to get crystal clear on what it is I want. And the interesting part about this is that what we want, will and does change in one way, shape, or form over time… and that’s okay… that’s a good thing. There’s nothing worse than blindly continuing on a path to something we once wanted, only to find out that when we’ve gotten it, it wasn’t what we wanted any longer… as a matter of fact, we’ve wanted something different for quite a while… we’ve just negligently avoided revisiting our desires. Implementing regular checkpoints along the way should prevent this from happening.

Second, put a solid plan in place to achieve it.

I don’t care if you only take 5 minutes and jot it down on the back of a napkin… I’m a firm believer that every business needs a plan... for me, that’s both a business plan and a marketing plan. The business plan at a minimum should dictate the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “why” your business exists and your marketing plan should spell out the “how” you will get it done. The marketing plan must directly support and tie into your business plan… there’s no place for autonomy here.

As far as I’m concerned, a plan is not a plan unless it’s written down… just having it in your head doesn’t work effectively... I’m sorry to break it to you. Additionally, it’s not a viable plan unless it is shared with and supported by your team. Just like sports, business simply happens better with a team approach. Accountants, Coaches, shipping companies, your staff… these are all members of your team… get them involved... give them a chance to help you further your cause.

Third, diligently work your plan.

It’s not enough to create a plan and then file it away somewhere to collect dust. You need to diligently work that plan… making adjustments as needed along the way… all the while keeping your eye on the prize… that is, what it is you want.

So in closing, please know that there are no shortcuts here… you need all three of these components to purposely manifest what you want for your small business. If you’re unclear on how to approach these three steps, don’t be shy, get some help… bring in a coach or a consultant to help you make it happen. Bottom line is don’t be a victim of circumstance… create your business on purpose!

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' (www.MotivationalMarketer.com). Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute' (www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com/marketingminute), -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, marketing plan, marketing coach, marketing consultant, business plan, small business

The Core Skill That Drives Effective Marketing

"Communication is the most important skill in life." -- Stephen R. Covey

Well in my opinion, communication is the most important skill in business as well --especially when it comes to the one aspect of business that I’ll speak of here, marketing.

Effective communication will not only bridge the gap between you and your target market, but it will also magnetically draw them across that bridge toward you and then captivate them.

Effective communication should never be a one-way street where only one party is doing all the speaking -- then it’s not really a conversation is it? Which as marketers, we should always be looking to create and maintain conversations. Otherwise it’s more like a lecture where someone is speaking at you rather than with you.

Effective communication should ebb and flow like the tide -- with a sort of naturally magnetic push and pull to balance it. Too much push or pull and you risk creating repellent effects such as overwhelm from information overload, or making you appear too pushy. Too little push or pull and you risk appearing lifeless and dull or worse yet, non-existent. So a careful balance is critical.

Effective communication should flow gracefully like a dance. As the marketer you may choose to lead and make it real easy, lucrative, and fun for those you’re communicating with to follow.

Effective communication should establish a connection between both parties by first creating a clearing for it to happen and then continuously building rapport.

And we can go on and on and on here however the point I want to get to is that communication is marketing and marketing is communication. Every time you open your mouth, you are marketing. Every time you write an email, you are marketing. Every time you stop talking and start listening to someone in your target market, you are marketing. Your clothes, your posture, your grooming, you body language all communicate a lot about you -- they’re all forms of marketing. Are you starting to see both the correlation and importance here?

Now as I’ve started to allude to, communication can be broken down into 2 forms, verbal and non-verbal. Allow me to explain:

Verbal Communication

By verbal communication, I’m referring to any variation of either speaking or listening. Let’s briefly explore the two.

Speaking

Whether writing an email, delivering a live speech, recording a podcast, posting on your blog, writing an advertisement, or using some other vehicle to communicate, when speaking, keep it direct and easy to understand. And most of all don’t ever be embarrassed or afraid to ask for what you want. Don’t try to impress your target market with industry jargon and fancy words. Simply speak in a tongue that will resonate positively with them.

Listening

Truly in my book the most underrated form of marketing available today. Quite simply people love the sound of their own voice and are usually pretty generous in sharing privileged information if given the proper space and prodding. Let alone if they feel that you are genuinely interested. Wow, what’s possible then?!

Non-verbal Communication

By non-verbal communication, I’m referring to the other, more intangible and often overlooked form of communication such as your appearance, your body language, your choice of fonts, the look and feel of your web site, even as far as the vibration and energy you convey. You may be surprised how often times your non-verbal communication speaks louder than your verbal communication. This is the kind of stuff that can boggle the mind with poor results from your marketing if you’re not paying attention to it.

Effective communication is making sure that both the verbal and non-verbal portions are in sync -- mixed messages tend to cause confusion and distrust -- two qualities that repel rather than attract.

And yes, whether you’re using verbal or non-verbal communication, you are marketing.

So in closing, your ability to communicate effectively will be in direct proportion to your success and happiness in all areas of your life. Now I’ve just scratched the surface and drew some correlations for you here. So if I could impart just one thought unto you, let it be to make one of your life’s endeavors to continually practice, nurture, and enhance your communication skills.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, communication, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, target market

A Simple Metric to Gauge Your Web Site’s Popularity

So tell me… how exactly do you know whether or not your web site is working for you? Is it making you money? Is it increasing your visibility with your target market? Is it broadening your reach within your target market? And what about your credibility, is it establishing and continually reaffirming it with your target market?

For most types of businesses, unless your web site serves as an e-commerce site directly selling your products and services to your customers, it is very difficult to establish and track whether or not your web site is actually making you money.

However with minimal effort, you can easily track and measure whether your web site is increasing your visibility, broadening your reach, and establishing your credibility with your target market… three very important reasons for marketing… with one simple metric. Here’s how it works.

From your Internet browser go to the popular search engine Google’s web site www.google.com and type in the search box the word “links”, a colon, a space, and then your web site’s domain name minus the typical “http://www.” part. So for example, for my web site, I would type: “links: OnlineMarketingMuscle.com” and hit either the “Enter” key or click the “Google Search” button.

The result that Google will return is any and all Internet URLs that it knows about that have linked to my web site. And in the eyes of the search engines, typically the more links the better. Yes, the quality of who’s linking to you does factor in to how you’re perceived by the search engines as well, but that’s a conversation for another day. So unless a large majority of your inbound links are coming from offensive, less than desirable sites, it’s hard to argue with the power of sheer volume -- it speaks volumes about your popularity across the web.

Now to take the usefulness of that data up a notch, run this metric once a month and record the results in a spreadsheet. Then from the spreadsheet you can easily produce a graph showing your increasing web popularity over time.

That’s it… it’s that simple.

So in closing, it’s nearly impossible to know whether or not your web site is working for you if you don’t maintain and analyze some sort of metrics. The one we’ve discussed here is just one in a series of simple, yet critical ones that everyone using the web as a marketing medium should have in their arsenal. The key here though, is not just collecting the data but how you leverage that data to enable you to make better marketing and business decisions.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercdo, Online Marketing Muscle, metrics, web site, target market, marketing, search engines, Google

How To Push Past Common Marketing Demons And Become Unstoppable

Regardless of what your thoughts and feelings are about marketing, let me assure you, it is not a bad thing. It’s not evil… it doesn’t bite. On the contrary, marketing happens to be a critical cog in the wheel of business success. And in my opinion for small businesses, it’s the most important cog because if your target market doesn’t know you exist, you most definitely won’t make any sales… and no sales equal no business!

And let me suggest that if you’re not screaming your marketing message from the rooftops, there may be more going on here than meets the eye. I repeatedly hear two common excuses from small businesses all the time… those being either a lack of money or a lack of know-how to support their marketing efforts.

Now I’m a firm believer that where there’s a will there’s a way, so let’s go ahead and diffuse those two excuses right now.

For those of you who claim poverty…

Yes, there’s no doubt that money can expedite the effectiveness of your marketing however there are dozens of marketing strategies and tactics available to you for little or no cost… just a little sweat equity so to speak. Take networking for instance. It doesn’t cost you a dime to tell someone what it is you do and how you can add value to their business. Or how about starting an e-newsletter or blog? Both can be done for little or no cost.

For those of you who claim ignorance…

There are simply way too many free or inexpensive marketing resources out there to use that excuse and be able to look yourself in the eye. Take this article for instance… it cost you nothing but your time and some energy to pull value from it. Sign up for some free e-newsletters or read the blogs of marketing experts. Tap into free resources from organizations such as SCORE (www.score.org) or the SBA (www.sba.gov). The resources available to you are unlimited.

How about this? Here’s one simple answer that addresses both the money and know-how excuses. Go to the library, borrow some books from Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerrilla Marketing” series, skim through them, pull out 2 or 3 ideas out of the dozens available that you would feel comfortable doing, and do them.

Or how about this idea? Barter. Trade your products or services for some marketing help. Not sure how to go about doing this, then join a bartering network. For a small fee these networks can connect you with others looking to trade.

Yes, it can be that simple. Marketing can be as simple or as difficult as you want it to be… you choose. If you say it’s difficult, you’re right, it’s difficult. If you say it’s easy, guess what… you’re right, it’s easy. Bottom line is yes, it is a choice… your choice. So why choose to be stoppable? If you are really passionate about what you do, choose to be unstoppable.

Now remember earlier when I mentioned that if you’re not screaming your marketing message from the rooftops, there may be more going on here than meets the eye? Well typically there is. My experience tells me that in many cases, a person’s unwillingness to do whatever it takes to market their business usually stems from beyond the two excuses we’ve just explored… it tends to border on the psychology-side. So if by clearing up the previous two excuses doesn’t do it for you, use the following revealing questions to dig a bit deeper and get to the root cause:

• What excuses or stories are you making up to let yourself off the hook for not marketing enough?
• Is there a confidence issue here? If so, what are you really afraid of?
• Is there an underlying fear of not looking good?
• Do you honestly and truly believe in the value of what you do? How about in your ability to deliver it?
• Is there a fear of failure at play here?
• How about a fear of success? Are you consciously or unconsciously sabotaging yourself so that you will not have to step into bigger shoes?

And we can go on and on and on here with the questions however my point is for you to dig a little bit… figure out what’s really going on. If you’re having difficulty, bring in a professional like a coach to facilitate this process.

So in closing, be willing to shine the light on yourself to see what’s really going on. The clarity that this exercise can bring as well as the possibilities you can discover can be life changing for you and your business. Just remember, it all starts with you, your desire to succeed, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to make it so.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, blog, e-newsletter, small businesses, marketing

2 Types of Marketing Strategies Every Small Business Must Have To Not Only Survive but Thrive

Let’s face it. There are an endless number of marketing strategies and tactics that a small business can employ. And when you factor in all the different combinations of these, the task at hand of choosing which ones to use can be both daunting and overwhelming. Do I join a networking group? Should we advertise in the local newspaper? Should we participate in a trade show? Do we need a web site? All these choices can confuse you if you let them and simply put, a confused mind typically does nothing, it tends to lock up, and worse yet it typically doesn’t take the actions necessary to grow -- actions such as marketing your small business.

So what I’ve done for you here is identify 2 types of marketing strategies that every small business must have to not only survive but thrive. So here goes:

1. A “Lead Generation” Type of Strategy

This type of marketing strategy at a minimum brings awareness to your target market of who you are, what you do, and why they should listen to you. It should help you generate interest amongst your target market in what you bring to the table -- enough interest where they inquire about your products and services -- they become a prospect for you.

Some examples of “Lead Generation” strategies and tactics are:

• Advertising in trade magazines
• Submitting articles to online article directories
• Joint venture arrangements with others who serve your target market
• Endorsements from others who have an influence over your target market
• Referrals from others who have an influence over your target market
• Ethical bribes -- in other words offering something of value for free in exchange for contact information
• Public speaking to position yourself as an authority in your field
• Trade shows
• Networking events to meet and greet your target market

And we can go on an on and on here. However as you are probably starting to see your choices are endless so where do you start? Well how about choosing one or two that resonate immediately with you and work those for a while. If they seem to be working, continue, if not try a different one. In other words do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. The point is get into action!

2. A “Keep-In-Touch” Type of Strategy

Once you’ve acquired leads using any combination of “Lead Generation” strategies and tactics, it’s critical that you find ways to stay in front of them -- stay in front of them long and effectively enough to persuade them to respond positively to your call to action -- eventually becoming paying clients.

Some examples of “Keep-In-Touch” strategies and tactics are:

• Sending out a weekly newsletter
• Participating in online forums and social networks
• Making phone calls to share something your prospects may deem valuable
• Attending regular networking events to reconnect with prospects
• Emailing prospects an article that they may find useful
• Send holiday and birthday greeting cards
• Refer business to your prospects
• Invite prospects to events
• Be a connector by introducing one prospect to another that you feel they should know

And once again, we can go on an on and on here.

So in closing, keep it simple. Choose one or two from each type of marketing strategy and work them diligently. Yes you will definitely find that some are better than others for you however, I firmly believe that any one of them, if diligently applied, will bear fruit -- you just need to take massive action.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, marketing strategy, marketing strategies, small business marketing strategies, small business marketing strategy, target market, lead generation, advertising, joint venture partnerships, endorsements, referrals, public speaking, trade shows, networking, newsletter, social networks, greeting cards

Want to Play A Bigger and Better Game With Your Business? It’s Simple… Step Up Your Marketing!

"The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day." -- Gloria Steinem (American journalist, founder of Ms. Magazine)

You want to earn more money in your business? Step up your marketing!

You want to attract not only more, but better clients? Step up your marketing!

You want to be the person your target market calls when they need what you do? Step up your marketing!

My point is whatever your motivation is for success in your business, stepping up your marketing is critical to making it happen!

So let me ask you. Are you bringing you’re “A” game every day? If so, awesome! Just continue to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.

If you’re not bringing you’re “A” game every day, why aren’t you? What’s holding you back? Is whatever holding you back real or perceived? I firmly believe that where there’s a will there’s a way -- so do you have the will to succeed? Or, does the notion of success scare the pants off you? As crazy as that sounds, the fear of success is quite common.

I don’t want you to beat yourself up though if you haven’t been bringing your “A” game in the past -- that’s not my point. It’s what you do right now, today that counts. Remember what you do today, dictates your results tomorrow.

Author Robert Ringer says it well in the title of one of his books, “Action!: Nothing Happens Until Something Moves.” -- That kind of sums it all up.

You could have the greatest marketing plan in the world however unless you implement it, it’s useless!

The secret here is simply that you have to want success… want it so badly that you can taste it! And, be willing to do whatever it takes each day to make it happen. Marketing is never a set it and forget it type of activity. You may have heard the saying that what you focus on expands. Well that goes for growing your business as well. When you market your business, you’re providing the necessary focus to expand what’s possible for it.

Here’s another secret. Successful entrepreneurs are either typically great marketers themselves or, have great marketers on their team.

Reason why… Whether you realize it or not, you’re in 2 businesses… The business of PROVIDING your products and services AND the business of MARKETING them!

And here’s yet another secret. You're better off being a great marketer and being just good at what you do than being great at what you do and being just a good marketer.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with a very simple yet powerful concept. The fitness of your business depends highly upon your commitment, willingness, and diligence in marketing it… period!

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, small business success, success, target market

The "5 W’s of Marketing" -- A Simple Technique to Getting Your Marketing Campaigns off on the Right Foot

Being a marketing coach and consultant, as well as a small business owner myself, one thing I clearly understand is that most small businesses simply aren’t fortunate enough to have an unlimited supply of marketing dollars -- money for marketing is typically tight. Therefore, in order to squeeze the most results out of those marketing dollars, a small business must carefully plan, craft, and implement all marketing initiatives.

Now since marketing should never be a one-time thing, I like to batch my marketing into campaigns. Campaigns that have real goals that can be measured -- otherwise how do we know if our marketing efforts have been successful or not.

That being said, I’d like to share with you a portion of my marketing planning process that I revisit at the onset of any marketing campaign I engage in -- whether for my business or for any of my client’s businesses -- it what I call the "5 W’s of Marketing".

The 5 W’s are simply the "who", "what", "when", "where", and "why" of your marketing and they are as follows:

The First "W": The "Who"

In a nutshell, this is your target market -- this is who you intend on selling your products and/or services to. So who are they exactly? Who are you going to market to?

The Second "W": The "What"

What exactly are the product and/or service you are marketing? And what are the benefits they bring? If you’re not crystal clear on what you’re really selling, there’s a good chance your target market won’t be either -- and a confused mind does not buy.

The Third "W": The "When"

When it comes to marketing, both timing and consistency are critical. So when do you intend to start marketing your product and/or service? How long do you intend your marketing campaign to last? A common understanding amongst marketers is that on average it takes at least 4 touches or contacts with your target market to just get on their radar, and at least 7 for them to consider buying from you. Therefore, it probably makes sense to plan at least 7 touches into your marketing campaigns. Now it’s also important here to determine at what intervals you will make each touch. In other words, day 1 you’ll get in front of your target market this way... day 3 you’ll get in front of them that way... day 7 this way... and so on.

Rule of thumb: erratic marketing = erratic results... consistent marketing = consistent results!

The Fourth "W": The "Where"

These are the marketing mediums that you will use for your marketing campaign. Marketing mediums are simply the paths we use to communicate our marketing messages to our target market. So where will you do your marketing? What mediums will you use and why? What mediums does your target market prefer? Knowing how you target market prefers to be communicated with can go a long way here.

The Fifth "W": The "Why"

This is your purpose for marketing. It defines what you expect to accomplish from your marketing efforts. So why are you planning on marketing your product and/or service in the first place? What results do you expect? Do you want to increase sales... establish your credibility... broaden your reach within your target market... or, all of the above? My point is to just be clear on your "why".

So in closing, I’m going to be a bit harsh here so hold on to your seat for a moment. Conducting any marketing without being clear on your 5 W’s is essentially negligence -- it’s a blatant misuse of your company’s time and money. So my challenge to you is to take the necessary 15 minutes to think through, document, and communicate the 5 W’s of each marketing campaign with all those involved with helping you make it happen.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your e-zine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? – Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog ‘The Motivational Marketer’s Journal’. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter, the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Marketing Planning

Magnetic Marketing Series: A Surefire Method to Increase Your Top-of-Mind Awareness with Your Target Market

I believe it’s safe to say that we all have our circle of influence -- extending from those who know, like, and trust us all the way down to those who although barely know us, can still be influenced.

Now some of our circle of influence may overlap our target market. Our goal in marketing is to continually increase our circle of influence within our target market -- to create top-of-mind awareness so to speak. This way when anyone in our target market wants or needs what we do, they think of us first.

So let me ask you 3 very important questions. First... How vast is your circle of influence within your target market? Second... How are you showing up for them? And third... How do you want to show up?

Follow me here for a minute... let’s play a little game. I’m going to name an occupation, a specific skill, or a trait and I want you to name the first 3 people that come to mind for you... here goes.

• Self Help Authors... name 3 that come to mind... got it? Great!
• People who are fun to be around
• Great Thinkers in History
• Baseball Players
• Savvy Networkers
• Captivating Speakers
• Real Estate Agents

Now I want you to use this same exercise for your industry. Who are the first 3 people that come to mind for you? So in other words if you are an insurance agent, who are the first 3 people that come to mind for you in the insurance business?

Let me show you what I mean by me doing the same for my industry, marketing. Who are the first 3 people that come to mind for me? 1. Jay Abraham, 2. Dan Kennedy, and 3. Alex Mandossian. These names rolled right off my tongue.

So why do you think is this so? Why do you think these people have top-of-mind awareness with us? Well I’ll tell you... I can sum it up in one word... "Marketing". It is effective marketing that makes these people known and "sticky".

They’re somehow creating a buzz with their target market, regardless if they’re really worthy or not, by either their actions or their words -- in a nutshell, whether by accident or on purpose, that’s great marketing.

Let’s face it, and this may sting a little bit, in business you can be the greatest at what you do, however if no one knows about you, how great are you really... think about that.

So in closing, I have a little homework assignment for you. I’d like you to analyze your answers for the 3 people who had top-of-mind awareness for you in your industry. Why was this so? What were they doing to directly and/or indirectly cause this to happen?

Then I’d like you to reach out to several people in your target market and start asking who has top-of-mind awareness for them when they think about what you do -- and then probe to find out why. This is powerful stuff -- it can give you real insight and clarity into what’s working for others who do what you do.

On a broader scale, my point is to learn from and capitalize on the actions of those who already have top-of-mind awareness for whatever you want to be known for in your target market.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.



Want to use this article in your e-zine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).



Liked this article? – Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog ‘The Motivational Marketer’s Journal’. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter, the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.



Technorati Tags: marketing

Networking: 5+ Tips to Get the Most Value Out of Your Business Organization Membership

"When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all." – Theodore Roosevelt (26th President of the United States (1858 - 1919))


So, you’ve taken the initiative to join a networking group, now what? In a nutshell, go for it… play hard… work hard… make your membership worthwhile. Milk it for all it's worth. How do you do that you ask? Well there are tons of ways; however what I've done for you here is compile a list of 5 staple tips geared to help you get the most value out of your business organization membership.


1. Show Up
As they say in the world of lotto, "you've got to be in it to win it". It's simply not enough to just join the organization on paper though; you really need to show up. Attend the general membership meetings, functions, and events. Isn't the whole idea behind joining a networking organization to network and connect with others? Well you certainly can't do that very effectively if you're not there – so try your luck and come to the dance.

2. Come Prepared To Play
Now there are tons of tips I can pile into this one alone – too much for this article – but here are a few that pack lots of punch.

Every networking organization has its movers and shakers – find out who they are and a take a few minutes to learn a little bit about them. Additionally, peruse the membership directory and pinpoint specific members that you want to network with and do the same. I think you'll find that a little advanced homework can go a long way – generally people can tell if you've done your homework and are usually quite flattered.

Be prepared to introduce yourself as well as be able to answer that dreaded question "so, what do you do?" I recommend having both a 10-second introduction that clearly says who you are, what you do, and who you do it for; as well as a more detailed 30-second version that expands on that a bit to use when connecting more deeply with other members.

Bring plenty of business cards! I can't tell you how many times I've encountered networkers without them – I hate to sound harsh but, in the world of business networking that's just unacceptable.

3. Get Involved
One of the things that separate the good networkers from the great ones are their willingness to get involved beyond the general membership meetings – If there are committees available, they pick the one or ones that resonate with them and participate. If there are leadership positions such as a "Board of Directors", they ante up and let it be known that they're interested. They actively seek to deepen their relationships with the movers and the shakers by getting more involved.

4. Network between Meetings
I don't know of any business organizations that prohibit networking with other members between general meetings – so why wait? Follow-up with those you met at previous meetings and reach out and introduce yourself to others that you want to connect with whom for whatever reason didn't attend.

5. Leverage the "Other" Benefits
Besides the one obvious benefit of networking, most business organizations also provide a variety of other useful benefits to its membership. Not sure what those are exactly? – Ask. For example, you may be able to get yourself and your business listed on their high-traffic web site. Also, there may be member-to-member discounts on products and services that you could take advantage of. Some organizations such as Chambers of Commerce even offer discounted medical and dental benefit plans for its membership. Remember, if you don't ask, you don't get.


So in closing, be clear that no matter what business you're in, it's all about relationships and there's no better marketing strategy to connect with people than networking. Networking really does need to be a core marketing strategy of every business, but remember, if you’re going to do it, go all out and do it to the best of your ability.


© 2007 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 the following 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.


Technorati Tags: Networking, Marketing

The Key Skill That Transforms Good Marketing into Great Marketing

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." –Max De Pree

So… why a quote on leadership? Well essentially at the core, great marketers are great leaders! They not only effectively lead themselves, but their target market as well. Leadership IS that key skill that transforms good marketing into great marketing.

Lead Yourself
For starters, great marketers have a vision; they know where they’re going, they have a rock-solid plan on how they’re going to get there, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes. They have a way with words and have the capacity to properly communicate their vision in such a way that magnetizes them – drawing their target market as well as the best of everything toward them.

Also, they understand exactly how they’re showing up for their target market. They purposely lead that effort – never leaving to chance how they’re perceived. Without having to actually say it, they make it crystal clear to their target market that they would have to be crazy to do business with anyone else but them. Essentially they take charge and lead their own destiny.

Lead Your Target Market
I am definitely of the opinion, and I’m sure I’m not alone here, that most people want to be led and spoon fed – they don’t just want you to tell them where the gold mine is or how to get there, they want you to hold their hand, walk them into it, mine the gold for them and give it to them.

So with that in mind, what do great marketers do? They make the most of that idea. They paint a before and after picture for their target market – clearly showing and glamorizing what’s possible if they follow the great marketers lead. They educate their target market in a way that empowers them to make great decisions – decision they can be proud of. Great marketers are careful not to over-promise and are confident that they can over-deliver enough to as author Tom Peters puts it, WOW their target market. They know marketing is all about persuasion, not manipulation. They confidently stand behind their product or service, offering iron clad no hassle guarantees. And we can go on, and on, and on here but I think you get the picture here.

So in closing, remember that great leaders make great marketers; great marketers create great marketing; and great marketing leads to great results. Additionally, always remember that it’s your responsibility to not only lead yourself, but your target market as well – both their success as well as yours, depends on it!


© 2007 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 the following 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.


Technorati Tags: marketing, leadership

A Handful of Tips to Spruce-Up Your Networking

"It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference." –Anonymous

I bet there’s a good chance you’ve heard that saying before – it certainly packs a punch doesn’t it?

It’s much like that age-old question… “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

In other words as I always say, you can be the best at what you do, however if the people who you want to know about you don’t, then how good are you really?! Essentially, your value to your target market will not be where you want, or need it to be.

So here comes networking to the rescue… right? …or right!

Remember, we can give 2 people the same set of tools, abilities and opportunities and get 2 totally different results. So networking can only help you if you’re willing to help yourself.

With that being said, here are a handful of tips that you can apply immediately to spruce up your networking to give it the best chance to make a difference for you and your business.

Sharpen Your Saw!
As Stephen Covey so wonderfully puts it in his highly acclaimed gem-of-a-book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", habit number 7 is the habit of self-renewal or as he calls it “Sharpen the Saw™”. In this habit you are the saw, and as I see it and adapt it to our conversation here, you should continually seek to improve your tools, abilities and opportunities to get better results from your networking.

So how do you do that?

First, take a look at your props, tools, and systems such as your business card, your brochures, your web site, your elevator speech, your follow-up procedures as well as any other supporting props, tools, and systems that you normally would use or reference in a networking scenario.

Now evaluate what’s working, what’s not working as well as what changes you could make that would make a difference in the results you get from your networking and go ahead and make whatever changes to those props, tools, and systems that make sense for you right now.

Also, anything worth doing is worth doing well, so study the art of networking… pick up a book or two on the topic and freshen up your knowledge on the subject… give yourself permission to gain some new insights and perspective on networking.

Additionally, I would even go as far as to include things like your wardrobe, even down to your grooming. Go ahead and get that great haircut so you feel great – you’d be surprised about how we allow our perception of how we look dictate how we feel and ultimately how productive we are at any given moment.

My point here is to get a real grip on how you’re showing up to your target market through your ability to network effectively.

Choose Better Targets
Determine where it makes the most sense to play and play there… but don’t just play… play hard… play to win! Don’t waste your precious time playing where it does not serve you… it’s that simple. So go ahead and evaluate the current networking organizations that you belong to and once again evaluate what’s working, what’s not working as well as what changes you could make that would make a difference in the results you get from your networking and go ahead and make whatever changes make sense for you right now.

Practice, Practice, Practice!
Like anything else practice makes perfect! Well if not perfect, at least it will allow you to be as effective as you can be. With networking, it’s not enough to just be ‘book smart’, excellence is attained through experience!


So in closing, take a hard and close look at both your inner-self as well as your outer-self. Additionally, take a look at where you’re playing and practice your way to success. In essence, maximize what’s working and replace what’s not working with something that will.


© 2007 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 the following 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.

The One Marketing Strategy You Can’t Afford to Be Without!

"The power is in the follow up" –Dean Mercado

I see it all the time... not only as an avid networker but as a marketing coach and consultant. You meet someone… you exchange business cards… and then nothing happens! No one follows up. Why? Why bother networking if you’re not going to follow up to see where a relationship can lead?

This is a typical breakdown point for many independent professionals, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. On a broader scale, you spend all that time, money, and energy identifying prospects and making the initial contact. Then what happened? You disappeared! You literally faded away into the proverbial abyss!

Now, the popular consensus among many marketing experts is that it takes at least 4 touches or contacts just to get on someone’s radar and at least 7 touches for them to see you as a credible source to buy from. Now if that’s the case and you don’t follow up beyond the initial contact, you’re not even on their radar! So how could you possibly expect them to buy from you? Even if they need or want what you have to offer, unless they can’t find anyone else, they’ll probably give their business to someone they’re more comfortable with.

Remember unless there’s no choice, people tend do business with people they know, like, and trust... and regularly staying in front of your target market builds that bridge of familiarity and comfort with you. This way when they’re ready to buy what you sell, you already have top-of-mind awareness and will be one of the first people they call!

So with all of this being said, I firmly believe that every independent professional, small business owner, or entrepreneur must, and let me repeat that MUST, have at least one what I call “Keep in Touch” marketing strategy!

It’s critical that you stay in front of your target market on a fairly consistent basis. This at a minimum will give them a chance to get to know you… to get comfortable with you… comfortable enough to buy from you.

So let me guess… I bet your next question is “well what are some great ways of keeping in touch with my target market?”

My answer… there are so many possibilities available to you… regardless of your budget. Here are some possibilities:

• Start a blog and allow your target market to join in for regular conversations;


• Create a newsletter or an ezine that shares tips and tricks;


• Publish a regular podcast where you discuss hot topics of interest;


• Write “how to” articles geared to make your target market’s life easier or better and periodically send them out as a way to add value;


• Send out holiday, birthday, and special occasion greeting cards – I don’t care how old your target market is, we all appreciate being remembered;


• Reach out and touch someone with a phone call… even if it’s just to say hello;


• Invite one, or better yet a few people from your target market for coffee and some networking… believe me, if you put some thought into who you invite, they may really appreciate you connecting them with others they may be able to do business with as well;


• And we can go on and on and on here.

As you can probably see, there are literally tons of ways that you can keep in touch with your target market. Now be mindful that you don’t overdo it here… you don’t want to become a nuisance… That’s not the point. Neither is the point to bombard your target market with solicitations they didn’t request. This will only trigger the “oh no, what are they trying to sell me now?!” syndrome. The point is to find ways to stay top-of-mind by regularly adding value.

Additionally, select the marketing tactics and tools that both your target market and you are comfortable with. In other words don’t start a blog if neither your target market nor you are comfortable online – you most likely won’t get the best results that way.

So in closing, remember the power is in the follow up! You need to have at least one way, one “Keep in Touch” marketing strategy to regularly stay in front of your target market and establish the top-of-mind awareness it takes to succeed.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your e-zine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? – Then marketing coach and consultant Dean Mercado invites you subscribe and join in on the small business marketing conversation on his blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, Dean Mercado invites you to sample the latest edition of his FREE ezine, the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia ezine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Is Your Marketing Speaking My Language?

“Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say, ‘God, he said exactly what I was thinking.’ And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death”. – Lee Iacocca

Lately I’ve been making a number of enhancements to my blog, and something really jumped out at me. While the upside of blogging for small businesses is tremendous, unless you’re a regular blogging enthusiast, blogs can be downright intimidating to the intended end-user! And as a marketing coach and consultant, I can honestly say that marketing that’s intimidating is not good marketing! And yes, blogging is marketing!

Don’t get me wrong here though – I happen to love blogs – I use a blog to market myself and my own business. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that a properly implemented and targeted blog can be an extremely powerful magnetic marketing vehicle.

The problem with great tools such as blogs mainly lies in their implementation. In my opinion, many bloggers tend to get caught up in what I call ‘blog-speak’, a language that is somewhat foreign to the non-blogger. RSS feeds, trackbacks, permalinks, news aggregators… what exactly do these terms mean? And why should your target market care?

Unless your target market is mainly savvy blogging enthusiasts, speak to them using a language they understand. For example instead of just putting a cryptic icon representing an RSS Feed or just the words ‘RSS Feed’, how about adding a few more descriptive terms next to the RSS icon saying something like ‘Subscribe to this Blog via RSS Feed’. It’s just a subtle suggestion but at least your target market will have a better chance at understanding that that’s a way they can subscribe to your blog.

This brings to mind a good book by Steve Krug titled, “Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability”. If you have a web site or a blog and haven’t read this book yet, I highly suggest you pick it up and browse through it. The title alone is so powerful… Don’t make me think! Always look to make your target market’s experience easy, lucrative and fun! Make them think too much and they’re out of there – they’ll just go somewhere else where they can have a better experience – regardless of how great your content is.

So in closing, I hope I’ve urged you to take a look at the language you’re using in your marketing – remember to speak the language of your target market! Don’t try to be overly cryptic or cute with your marketing. Especially, don’t worry so much about being hip with the lingo – I’m not saying don’t use it… go ahead and use it where it makes sense… but the bottom line is make sure that you’re connecting properly with your target market. Paint a crystal clear picture for them so to speak so they know exactly what it is you are trying to say and what you want them to do.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your e-zine, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? – Then marketing coach and consultant Dean Mercado invites you subscribe and join in on the small business marketing conversation on his blog ‘The Motivational Marketer’s Journal’. Additionally, Dean Mercado invites you to sample the latest edition of his FREE e-zine, the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Practice Your Way to Marketing Perfection

“Repetition is the mother of skill.” –Anthony Robbins

Just ask any pro athlete how true that statement is. As a matter of fact, in most sports, athletes practice the fundaments of their sport every day. They don’t take it for granted that just because they know conceptually how to do something, they can deliver when it counts – This is what allows them to deliver that winning free throw at the buzzer, kick the game winning field goal in overtime, or get that game winning hit in the bottom of the 9^th inning.

Hey wait a minute could there be a correlation between the amount an athlete practices, their ability to perform in the game, and their income? You bet there is!

Well it’s the same in business. The more you practice marketing, the better you will get at it and the better you get at marketing the more revenue you’ll generate for your business.

The key to note here is that it’s not the quantity of your marketing so much as it’s the quality. Don’t fall into the trap of wasting precious marketing dollars on half-baked marketing strategies and tactics. Concentrate your dollars and efforts on fewer more promising ones. Just remember, whatever marketing you decide to do, do it to the best of your ability and milk it for everything it’s worth.

So how can you get started? It’s simple.

First, pick one marketing strategy or tactic that’s well suited for your business.

Second, practice it (in real time if possible) until you’re real good at it and it’s steadily producing adequate results.

Third, if you can create a system around it, systematize it. This will certainly help bring more consistent results and make your life easier and more cost effective.

Fourth, if it makes sense for you to delegate or outsource this now systematized marketing strategy or tactic, do it! This will free you up to do bigger and better things.

And lastly fifth, choose your next marketing weapon and repeat this process.

Remember though, that once you get some marketing momentum behind you, and momentum is a key here, don’t slack off. Keep your momentum moving forward – this is the best way to ensure that you have a steady stream of prospects and Clients for your business. I see it happen all the time, as soon as a business gets enough Clients to sustain themselves, they cut back on the marketing – they stop practicing! Essentially they’re removing the artery that pumps the lifeblood into the business.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with this series of thoughts. Practice breeds Ease; Ease breeds Confidence; Confidence breeds Magnetism; Magnetism breeds Clients; and Clients breed Revenue. See how this all ties together? And remember the old saying here that Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your marketing expertise so be patient with yourself and enjoy the journey of practicing your way to marketing perfection!

© 2007 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 the following 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.

Magnetic Marketing Series: I’ve Got Something to Say; How About You?

“You can’t be everything to everyone but you certainly can be an awful lot to a select few” –Dean Mercado

Let me guess, I bet that over the years you've probably heard statements like: "To get along, you need to go along" or "Don't rock the boat!" – Am I right or what?

Worse yet, you’ve probably heard them so many times that there’s a good possibility that they’ve been unconsciously programmed into your way of being. Maybe it shows up for you as having a fear of confrontation or simply being uncomfortable with fully expressing yourself or your opinions. Or maybe you’re one of the lucky ones and it hasn’t affected you at all – if so, good for you – consider yourself fortunate!

Now I speak and write a lot on the topic of magnetizing yourself and your business through your marketing to attract the best of everything – the best Clients, the best prospects, the best business partnerships, the best employees, etc., etc., etc.; And believe me, magnetically attracting what you want certainly beats chasing after it all the time – chasing tends to be both time consuming and very expensive.

So to further our conversation today, I’d like to point out one very important quality that commonly shows up with magnetic people or businesses (or as I call them, magnetic marketers) – and that is their willingness to be opinionated and heard.

So with that being said, let’s get something really clear here… Magnetic Marketers have opinions and they’re not afraid to share them!

Case in point, take a look at the politically astute comedian and television personality Bill Maher – Bill Maher hosts a popular talk show on HBO called “Real Time with Bill Maher”. On his show, Bill clearly articulates and expresses his thoughts and opinions on current political events and provides the impetus for his guests and audience to do the same.

Now Bill’s the kind of guy that you either love him or you love to hate him. However, the bottom line is that he is magnetically drawing viewers in droves! And as a very magnetic marketer, Bill Maher invokes passion in his guests and his viewers and invoking passion is a key to getting people to pay attention and take action – isn’t that what we all want from our marketing – to get people to pay attention and passionately take action? I’d certainly say so.

Be mindful though when using this approach. Unless you’re known to be a comedian by trade, getting attention or a laugh at another’s expense is just wrong – don’t do it. That goes for whether the person being bashed is present or not – especially if they’re not! The bottom line here is that it most definitely will backfire on you. Your audience will start thinking things like… “Well, if he says that about him behind his back, I can only imagine what he says about me behind mine”. Do yourself some justice and don’t sacrifice your integrity just to get attention. You most certainly can be opinionated and maintain your integrity at the same time!

Yes, there is one drawback to being opinionated and heard and that is that you might repel some people. My answer to that is so what. As I stated earlier in my opening quote, you can’t be everything to everyone and there’s nothing wrong with that! Ultimately, this will help you narrow your focus and allow you to attract others that like you for you – these are those people in your target market that have a higher potential to be the best Clients, the best prospects, the best business partnerships, the best employees, etc., etc., etc.

So in closing, Remember the 80/20 rule; where 80% of your audience will give you 20% of your business and the other 20% will give you 80% of your business – focus on that 20%!; And whether knowingly or not, by becoming an opinionated and heard magnetic marketer you are leveraging the Law of Attraction to draw those 20% towards you.

© 2007 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 the following 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.

10 Great Marketing Quotes That If Absorbed Into Your Business, Can Skyrocket Your Success

You know there comes a point in time when we realize as human beings that we don’t know it all. More important still, is the point in time following that when we realize that that’s okay, and there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s no way we can know everything. We could spend several lifetimes on this planet and still not know all that can be known.

Now do we need to know everything?... No!

However it is important to grasp the concept that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel – the world already has a wheel, and it works extremely well. Leverage that fact as well as others that are readily available to you and spend your time on the things in your business that really need your attention – like taking action for instance.

This is a very important distinction and was a critical revelation for me personally when I finally really understood it!

So what I’ve done here is assembled 10 great marketing quotes from some of the greatest minds our world has offered up so far and I’d like to share them with you in hopes of inspiring you to lift your marketing game. Here goes:

1. David Ogilvy on Advertising Ethics

"Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine."

2. Albert Einstein on Metrics

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

3. Al Ries and Jack Trout on Marketing Strategy and Timing

"Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills."

4. Peter F. Drucker on the Power of Really Knowing Your Target Market

"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself."

5. Jay Conrad Levinson on the Never Ending Life Cycle of Marketing

"Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely."

6. Philip Kotler on a Key Ingredient to Satisfying Customers

"Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders."

7. Orvel Ray Wilson on Why Customers Buy

"Customers buy for their reasons, not yours."

8. Robert G. Allen on the Importance of Educating Your Target Market

"No matter what your product is, you are ultimately in the education business. Your customers need to be constantly educated about the many advantages of doing business with you, trained to use your products more effectively, and taught how to make never-ending improvement in their lives."

9. Jay Abraham on the Criticality of Self Promotion

"Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence and income."

10. Jeff Bezos on the Power of Viral Marketing

"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful."

Great stuff hah?! Did any of these quotes click with you or strike a nerve? Either way GOOD we’re stirring emotions! Emotions are great for your marketing! Emotions can make your marketing message more powerful!

So in closing, I’d like you to do yourself a HUGE favor – Give yourself permission to tap into and take action on the marketing wisdom of others. Remember learners are earners so become a lifelong student of marketing – believe me, you’ll thank yourself later for it.

© 2007 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 the following 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.

A Simple 3 Step System for Sizing-up Your Competition

"An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." – Jack Welch

The key word that Jack Welch uses in this quote is action. And we’re not talking about undirected or aimless action here; we’re referring to action based upon knowledge. Now in terms of marketing ourselves and our businesses, that’s a core philosophy that we need to adhere to in order to produce better results. Otherwise, you may as well go to Vegas, because your marketing simply becomes gambling. And if you’re a gambler, you know very well that there is no such thing as a sure thing – not if you’re gambling legally and ethically anyway.

So with that being said, what I’d like to do is give you high-level exposure to my simple 3 step system for gaining a competitive advantage with a target market. Here goes:

1. Identify your Competitive Landscape
Before we begin this step, it’s important to note here that competition comes at us in two ways: both directly and indirectly.

Direct competitors are those ‘apples-to-apples’ type competitors. For example:

• Two or more newspapers going after the same subscriber base
• Two or more business coaches serving the same niche
• Two or more books by different authors covering the same topic

Indirect competitors are those ‘apples-to-oranges’ type competitors – they are not the same exact fruit however in some instances they fill the same need. For example:

• Yoga classes versus medication to provide relief for an ailing back
• Fast food versus diet pills to satisfy hunger
• The “do-it-yourselfer” versus a service provider

And we can go on and on and on here however I think you get the point

So go ahead and make a list of who you see as your top 5 to 10 competitors and remember to factor in both the direct and indirect ones.

2. Gather Key Data
Now that you’ve identified your key competitors, it’s time for you to really get to know them – it’s homework time – it’s time to dig in and do some research. At a minimum, I recommend you gather the following key data regarding the competitive business, product, or service – Maybe even make a little table or chart for yourself:

• What are their Strengths?
• What are their Weaknesses?
• What Opportunities do they create for you?
• What Threats do they pose for you?
• What Features do they offer?
• What Benefits do they claim?
• What’s their Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
• What marketing Strategies & Tactics do they employ?

Alright now that you know what you need to collect, here are a few suggestions to help you find what you’re looking for:

• For starters, ‘Google’ them – search for their business, product, or service online and see what you find
• Next, check out their Web site – you may find everything you need right there
• Then, get on their mailing lists – usually you can do this by simply “opting-in” on their Web site
• And lastly, if you haven’t found what you’re looking for using the Internet, as an offline tactic, get to know your local Librarian and ask for their help – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that many of them are expert researchers

As you can see there are lots of ways to find out what you want to know – and the Internet has certainly made this process much easier.

3. Put That Data to Use
Let me reiterate that Jack Welch quote again. Now I know it’s twice in one article but it’s a really appropriate quote. So here goes: “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”

Hmmm… So it’s what we do with what we discover in the first two steps of this system that can give us that edge that we’re looking for. Let me explain. You should leverage the information you uncover to determine how to uniquely position and promote yourself to your target market. Use it to differentiate yourself from the competition. Use it as input in creating your brand. Use it to determine what to say in your marketing to you target market. And ultimately, use it to help you determine what marketing strategies & tactics to use.

© 2007 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 the following 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.

Are You Properly Leveraging This Potential Competitive Advantage?

"The Internet is the Viagra of big business." – Jack Welch

How true?! I love it! There’s simply no question about it that the arrival of the Internet has changed the way we do business – forever! For many of us it has provided that booster shot in the arm that allows us to play a much bigger and better game! We can now compete and play on a grander scale – accessing markets that at one time, may not have been readily available to us.

Now while the Internet can open doors for us, the flip side is that it also opens doors for others as well – exposing us to ever-increasing levels of competition.

Essentially, with the full-on arrival of the Internet, we have literally migrated, in what seems to be overnight, from a local to a global economy. It wasn’t that long ago where we used to buy all of our goods and services from local businesses within a 15-minute radius of where we lived and worked.

Nowadays, it no longer makes any difference where our vendors are located – unless it’s our preference of course. Loyalty to our local neighborhood businesses is continually being displaced by newfound competitors vying for a piece of our market share – literally wooing our target market with cheaper, faster, and easier ways to purchase alternatives – those alternatives being their products and services instead of ours. In a way it’s sad, it almost marks the end of an era, regardless though, it’s the cold reality and we as 21st century businesses need to leverage it on our behalf as best as possible.

So when we talk about marketing our businesses in this new millennium, it’s eminent that we factor in, in a big way this exploding marketing medium called the Internet.

Web sites, blogs, podcasts – want to boost your credibility, visibility, and reach with you’re your target market? Well these are the in-demand players on the block these days.

This is not to say that traditional offline marketing no longer works – it certainly does and very effectively I might add. My point is simply that you need to consider you online marketing options as well.

So what are some Internet marketing strategies and tactics that you can consider leveraging in your business?

• Well how about publishing a web site to boost your credibility?
• Or, publishing an eZine to communicate regularly to your target market?
• What about creating and virally circulating an eBook?
• How about connecting more personally with your target market by publishing a blog?
• High-speed Internet connections now afford us the ability to publish audio and video on the Web – so how about publishing a podcast?
• It doesn’t get much cheaper than running email marketing campaigns. How can you use them to add value to your target market?
• How about making it easier to buy from you by selling products and services directly from your web site?
• Ever thought about enrolling others to promote your products and services for you on a pay-for-performance basis with an affiliate program?
• How about establishing your credibility by writing articles and publishing them on numerous high-traffic web sites?
• What about networking yourself with your target market via online networking forums?
• Gain attention from the press by submitting press releases to a number of online public relations service web sites.
• And the list can go on and on and on!

So in closing, as you can probably tell, I love the Internet – in my book it’s pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread! As much as I love the Internet though, it’s essentially holding our feet to the fire and forcing us to play a better game to survive and thrive in today’s global economy.

© 2007 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 the following 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.

One Entrepreneur’s Way to Win the War of Competition!

“In accordance with our principles of free enterprise and healthy competition, I'm going to ask you two to fight to the death for it.” – Monty Python

You’ve got to love Monty Python! Yes, competition is healthy but no, rest assured you do not have to fight to the death for it. As a matter of fact I’d like to explore with you how you may be able to leverage it and make it work for you. WHAT – competition work for me? Yes, it can work for you! Tune in for a minute and try to keep an open mind here.

Several years back I was the CEO of a computer services company where we provided services like computer networking, network security, disaster recovery planning, as well as a few other in-demand services. The market was literally saturated with companies that did what we did. Competition not only came from other local similar-sized businesses but, from companies we didn’t even know played in our industry from all around the world no less – hah… there’s the boon and the bane of technology for you!

Anyway, would you believe it if I told you that most of my business came from my competition? In other words my competition would hire my company to provide services on their behalf to their customers. This is big business! As well as an additional revenue stream opportunity often overlooked by many companies.

So instead of fighting to the death with a competitor, as Monty Python so eloquently put it, how about establishing a relationship there and mining for the diamonds that may exist?

Now this approach might not work with all of your competitors however, if it works with just one, you’ve got access to a revenue stream that you didn’t have prior. Let alone if that competitor is a larger business than yours, their scraps could be your feasts.

This is a think-outside-of-the-box style potential winning strategy. And yes business is about winning whatever winning looks like to each individual business – whether it’s about profits, market share, ability to tithe, whatever makes your heart sing, it’s about winning. Lose enough and you can put yourself out of business in a hurry.

But just because it’s about winning doesn’t mean someone has to lose. Competition does not have to be WIN/LOSE scenario – in other words I win and you lose or vice versa. That premise comes from a scarcity mindset. And believe me, think about scarcity and you’ll get scarcity and that’s not something you want to attract into your business or your life. Think abundance or WIN/WIN and you’ll position yourself to allow abundance to flow in. There’s plenty of room in the business world for all of us – there’s plenty of customers, plenty of money to go around. To think any differently is sabotage.

So in closing, think about how you can leverage this strategy of partnering with your competition in a way where you both can win. Remember, I just opened the box for you here. It’s up to you to peer into that box with an abundance mindset and see what diamonds lay in waiting for you.

© 2007 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 the following 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

5 Keys to Unlock Your Marketing Genius

“Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious spirit which hovers over the production of genius.” – Isaac Disraeli

I was delivering a marketing seminar recently to a room full of entrepreneurs when I was asked a great question by an attendee in the audience. Now I don’t know whether or not he clearly understood the depth of significance to successful marketing his question posed, but it was profound.

His question was essentially… How do you coach your clients into determining what types of marketing they should do?

Now I answered his question pointing out 5 key areas that I investigate with my coaching Clients to make that determination. Now are there more factors to consider? Maybe. However if you take into consideration at a minimum these 5, I believe you’ll see agreeable results in your marketing.

1. Know Thy Target Market

Be crystal clear on who they are and how they want to be communicated to. For example: Do they prefer to be contacted directly in a more intimate way such as telephone or seminars or in a less confrontational way such as email or direct mail?

2. Know Thy Financial Fitness

In other words, how much money, time, and other resources do you have available to you to market your business? How much do you anticipate you will need? Typically, cash-on-hand is a trade off for time and other resources – the more cash you have the less “sweat equity” you need to invest in your marketing and vice versa.

3. Know Thy Strengths

What marketing-related skills are you good at? Do you write well? Are you a good public speaker? Are you outgoing or more of an introvert? Make a list of your dominant skill sets and peruse marketing strategies and tactics that align with them – remember these great words to live by… “Do what you do best and hire out the rest”.

4. Know Thy Passions

It’s not enough to just explore what you’re good at. You must take into consideration whether or not you enjoy doing them; because if you don’t, believe it or not your lack of enthusiasm and energy will be picked up on by your target market.

5. Know Thy Risk Tolerance

What’s your tolerance for risk? Are you “risk tolerant” in other words you are comfortable taking risks or do you tend to be “risk-averse” which is more conservative?

Simply put, certain types of marketing are riskier than others. But unlike investing in the financial industry, higher risk doesn’t necessarily equal higher potential results.

So in closing, it’s critical that you take the time to intimately know both your target market and yourself. This is how you determine what will work best for you. Not by playing “follow-the-follower” and being a “me-too” marketer or choosing the so-called latest and greatest marketing strategy. That doesn’t cut it. Your marketing has to create an “ELF” experience for both you and your target market – “ELF” being an acronym for easy, lucrative, and fun. And if it doesn’t provide that “ELF experience, I highly recommend you consider changing it.

© 2007 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 the following 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.

Dean's Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006 (Part II: The Second Five)

“The best of prophets of the future is the past” – Lord Byron

Well I certainly hope you enjoyed last week’s article where I uncovered the first five of my “Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006”. In a nutshell they were:

1. There Is Only NOW.


2. The Law Attraction.


3. Don't Be Attached To An Outcome.


4. Systems & Projects.


5. Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better.
   

If you’d like to review them in detail, for a limited time, you can visit my blog at www.MotivationalMarketer.com.

In the meantime let’s continue on with numbers six through ten from our list:

6. A Scarcity Mindset Is A Repellent.
   Be mindful of the space you are coming from. Coming from a space of scarcity while attempting to enroll others in you and your business, makes you appear needy and desperate and tends to repel them. Instead, try coming from a space of abundance where anything and everything you desire is possible and see how you begin to become a magnet for those you wish to attract.


7. Do What You Do Best and Outsource The Rest.
   Don’t fall into the trap of trying to do it all yourself. It’s more expensive than you realize – in many cases it can be even more expensive than hiring an expert to do it for you.


8. It's All About Team.
   Don’t try to go it alone – it doesn’t make sense, you don’t have to. The lone-ranger mentality doesn’t work. The power lies in attracting the best people you can to help you achieve your vision. Check with Bill Gates, that’s what he did to create Microsoft and last I checked they’ve done pretty well for themselves over the years.


9. Invest In, And Lead With, Your Marketing Strengths.
   For me, I do my best marketing when I'm speaking on stage to an audience. So it makes complete sense to leverage this marketing strategy to the hilt going forward as opposed to others that I might not be so good at. So what’s your marketing strength? And how can you best leverage it?


10. Don’t Try To Be Everything To Everyone
    The concept of jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none went out of style a long time ago. More than ever, people are seeking out the experts for everything – and the experts are complying by carving out and focusing on niches. For example instead of a handyman to install our crown molding, we want a crown molding specialist. This doesn’t mean the days of the handyman are dead; they’re just not nearly as lucrative as they once were.

So in closing, one of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned in my life, especially since I have four brothers (three of which are older and full of lessons to learn from), was exactly that – to learn from not only my experiences but, from the experiences of others. I sincerely hope you allow yourself to do the same.


© 2007 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 the following 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.

Dean's Top 10 Business and Marketing Lessons Learned in 2006 (Part I: The First Five)

“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill

Wow it’s 2007 already… can you believe it? The time just seems to fly by. So let me ask you, are you ready for this new year? Are you sure? Because ready or not, 2007 is here and there’s no better time than the present to put a stake in the ground and make the most of the past year.

How do we do this you ask? Well as for me, what I like to do is spend some quiet time reflecting on what worked and didn’t work for me in my marketing as well as in my business over the past year. I also work with my Clients to do the same to draw out of them the powerful lessons that their experiences brought them.

So what I’ve done here is boiled down those many lessons learned and have brought you the essence of what I considered are the top ten of those lessons for 2006. This week I will present the first five of those lessons and follow up next week with an additional five. So without further adieu, here are the first five:

1. There Is Only NOW.
   Yesterday is gone, tomorrow doesn’t exist, there is only NOW. NOW is the only reality there is. It’s what you do NOW that determines your happiness and success going forward. Learn from your past, that’s okay. Just don’t dwell on it because you can’t change it. Instead, channel you energy to create your ideal future by being the best you can be right NOW.


2. The Law Attraction.
   This is a powerful concept that although has been around since the beginning of time, is really just starting to find its place in mainstream business. The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. So be mindful what you focus on because the law attraction can be a double edge sword – it can help you manifest more scarcity just as easily as it can help you manifest more abundance.


3. Don't Be Attached To An Outcome.
   So what if something didn’t turn out as expected. Get your ego out of the way long enough to learn from your experience and move on.


4. Systems & Projects.
   I learned this one from a gentleman named Rich Schefren.
   
   There are two ways that work should be done inside your business, systems and projects. If it's an activity that is ongoing or something that is done more than once you should develop a systemized way of doing it inside your business. If it's temporary, goal directed, has a beginning and an end and is unique, it should be managed as a project.
   
   Now I have years of experience creating systems and formally managing complex projects for others and I fully realized the vast benefits of doing so. However, for some reason, I wasn’t applying those skills to the best of my ability in my own business. Hearing Rich Schefren say it for some reason clicked with me and was one of those A-HA moments.


5. Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better.
   Don't get sucked into the bigger is better idea. Let demand instead of your ego drive expansion.

So in closing, let me ask you, did any of these lessons learned seem familiar? It may sound funny but just as we are all humans and we tend to experience the same problems such as we all bleed and we all catch colds; what I’ve found is that many of our businesses are not so dissimilar as well – we tend to experience the same things. So my best advice is to leverage this wisdom today and create a brighter tomorrow.


© 2007 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 the following 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.

Are You Sponsoring ‘Marketing Insanity’ In Your Business?

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." – Benjamin Franklin

Let me ask you a point blank question. When was the last time you took a cold hard look at your marketing to find out whether or not it’s really working?

This is an important question because whether or not you enjoy marketing your business, it is simply not a set it and forget it function. It needs to be regularly monitored and tweaked to ensure its effectiveness. Not doing so is what I call ‘marketing insanity’ – throwing marketing resources into the abyss with hopes of positive results. This typically spells disaster for a small business – realistically it can be looked at as a form of gambling. Now I don’t know about you but as a small business owner myself, I’m not willing to risk my livelihood on a gamble.

So if you haven’t done so in the last 3 months, now is as good a time as any to pull back the curtains so to speak and take a real close look at your marketing performance. This is a process that I call ‘reflection’ and it’s intended to be used as a catalyst for business improvement and growth.

Before we get started here though, I’d like for you to put on your ‘thick skin and honesty cap’ because with all due respect, this process simply will not yield the best results for you if you’re not willing to reveal the real truth regarding you business’s state of affairs – it simply can’t. You have to be willing to ask and honestly answer some real tough questions. But hey, if you can’t be honest with yourself then who can you be honest with?

So are you ready to get started? Great… well the process of reflection for our purposes here is twofold. First take a clear snapshot of the current state of affairs of your business and then second examine that snapshot in terms of what’s working and what’s not working. [Sounds easy enough, right? Well hold on a minute, while the process of reflection is simple, it can pack a punch in terms of the reality it reveals.]

Some questions to get you started in this process may be:

• Have you met or exceeded your revenue goals over the past month? Past quarter? Or, how about the past year?
• Which product or service lines are your top bread winners and why? Which are not meeting expectations and why?
• Have you built a significant and steady pipeline of prospects interested in what your business offers? If so, how did you do it?
• How many new clients have you picked up over the past month? Past quarter? Or, how about the past year?
• Which of your clients has been the best and most lucrative to work with? How can you attract more like them?
• Have you strengthened your credibility in the marketplace? How about your visibility?
• What marketing strategies and tactics did you use? Were they effective? Why or Why not?

Now as things get clearer for you and you make your determinations, don’t allow yourself to get emotionally attached to any specific marketing strategy or tactic, simply replace the things that are not working with others that might work. Additionally, know that it’s okay if things didn’t turn out exactly as planned – this is all part of the growing process. The past is the past, it’s over and done with and we can’t change that however, we can certainly guide the future by understanding the past and taking appropriate action in the present.

So in closing, I’d like to leave you with a very relevant quote from success expert Tony Robbins, “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.” So do yourself a favor and take the time to reflect and just say no to ‘marketing insanity’.

© 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 the following 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: Types of Web Sites – A Primer

If I was to ask you what was the first thing that you thought of when I said the words Internet marketing, what would you say? I bet there is good chance that you thought of “web sites” – and you wouldn’t be alone there. As a matter of fact, when most people think of Internet marketing, they think mostly and even in some cases solely of web sites.

Now there are several types of web sites available – essentially one can be created to fit just about any need. And what I’d like to share with you is a brief overview of what I believe are the most useful and popular types of web sites today.

“Brochure” Web Site
(e.g. www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com)
The most common web site out there is what I call the “Brochure” web site. This one just as it implies, simply acts as an online brochure for your business. Typically it will contain a “home page”, an “about us” page, a “products” or “services” page that describes what you do and a “contact us” page. Pretty much this is what most businesses create for themselves.

“Portal” Web Site
(e.g. www.yahoo.com or www.msn.com)
A “Portal” web site is best described as a web site featuring a suite of commonly used services, serving as a starting point and frequent gateway to the Web (Web portal) or a niche topic (vertical portal).

Some of the more popular Web portals such as Yahoo.com, AOL.com, or MSN.com offer a broad array of resources and services, such as email, forums, search engines, and on-line shopping malls.

A vertical portal is more like a themed web site containing a directory of links to commonly used products, services and/or information specific to the theme. This type of portal serves as a springboard or shortcut to web sites covering a specific topic or niche.

“eCommerce” Web Site
(e.g. www.amazon.com)
The main purpose of an “eCommerce” web site is to sell your merchandise over the Internet. A well designed “eCommerce” web site can explode your sales potential by availing you to a whole host of online shoppers – some of which cannot easily get to your physical location because they may not live near you, as well as others who simply prefer shopping online – And believe me, there are hordes of people who prefer shopping online. I should know; I’m one of them.

“Sales Letter” Web Site
(e.g. www.PumpedUpNetworking.com)
The main purpose of a “Sales Letter” web site is to get your audience to take one specific action whether that’s to buy the one product or service that this web site is promoting, or getting them to provide their information in exchange for something you will give them.

The key to these web sites is their single-minded focus. They provide all the necessary information that the visitor would need to make an educated, proper decision – which if the “Sales Letter” web site is written properly, just happens to be the one action the web site owner wants them to take.

“Membership” Web Site
(e.g. www.RealBusinessForum.com)
“Membership” web sites are what I consider the up and coming star of web site types. These web sites are generally subscription-based and require a login and password to enter and access the meat of what they offer.

Properly designed “Membership” web sites act as a gathering place for like-minded people providing access to whatever their virtual community desires.

For the “Membership” web site owner, it provides many benefits such as a new revenue stream for their business in terms of the membership subscription fees as well as access to an audience that’s interested in a specific type of product or service.


So in closing, understand that your web site or web sites do not need to fall cleanly into one type of web site – mine doesn’t. Allow yourself to be creative here and use whatever type or combination of types that best suits your need.


© 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 the following 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.

How To Add Some Muscle To Your Marketing Using This Simple Yet Effective Technique

Well it’s holiday season once again and you know what? – There’s simply no better time than the present to leverage a few dollars from your marketing budget to deepen your key professional relationships.

Now what am I talking about? I’m talking about sending holiday greeting cards to those responsible for you being in business today – this could be your Clients, joint venture partners, key vendors, key affiliate partners, mentors, coaches, employees, or whoever you deem vital to your success. Heck you may even want to include a few of your key prospects in this as well.

While the concept of sending holiday greeting cards may on the surface seem mundane, it can serve as quite an effective marketing tactic if done correctly. And yes, I consider sending holiday cards as marketing. It’s more personal and authentic in nature than most traditional marketing however, it’s marketing nonetheless. And I strongly believe that the effectiveness of any marketing tactic or strategy is dependent on how you are showing up for each member of your target market. So in the case of holiday greeting cards, the effort and personalization you put forth are critical to its effectiveness.

Let me ask you… What would you rather receive from someone you have continually spent your hard earned money with? No card at all? The same pre-printed card that was probably sent to numerous others? A blanket email that was probably sent to everyone in their database? Or a good quality card that they obviously took the time to personalize by handwriting something specific to you?

I’m guessing this is a no-brainer. In my opinion none of the other options can replace a personalized handwritten greeting card. It simply does wonders for cultivating authentic relationships. It makes people feel special… like they matter… and you know what? They should matter to you and what would be so wrong with letting them know that they do?

Sending handwritten personalized holiday greeting cards can also play a pivotal role in differentiating you and your business from the competition! Despite what some may think, not all businesses send cards, let alone handwritten personalized ones. And regardless if your competition sends them out or not, this is a unique opportunity for you to connect on a more personal level with those most important to you.

Now I’ve heard every excuse in the book from people why they do not or cannot send holiday cards – probably the most common one is that they don’t have the time.

My response to that is to make the time, as those important to your success are worth it. If that’s simply impossible, then get some help – you could always hire a virtual assistant to help you make it happen. Or simpler yet, just do what you can by maybe scaling it down to only sending cards to your 5 most perfect Clients.

Yes there’s a good possibly that those important to your success won’t feel slighted by not receiving a card from you however why not take the opportunity to connect authentically?

So in closing here’s my challenge to you, this week send handwritten personalized holiday greeting cards to your 5 most perfect Clients – letting them know that you were thinking of them and that you wish them and their families well this holiday season. Remember be genuine, be authentic, and allow it to be personal.


© 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 the following 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.

Magnetic Marketing Series: What’s Your Higher Purpose and Why Should I Care?

In his bestselling book "The Purpose-Driven Life," author Rick Warren starts out by making the bold yet powerful statement “It's not about you”. In other words, “Well hello ‘ego’. I hate to be the one to tell you but, it’s not about you” – wow what a blow to our egos that is! And you know what? I wholeheartedly believe Rick Warren is right. Now while he appears to be referring to the purpose of our individual lives, I believe that his statement is equally as important and true for our businesses as well.

Simply put, “Your purpose must be bigger than you!”

So then let me ask you… Why are you in business in the first place? Why are you taking up space? Now if you answered something like… to earn a decent living and support my family… I’m going to take a guess that all you’re getting out of your business is a decent living and just enough to support your family. You put your intention out there and the Universe responds accordingly – that’s the Law of Attraction.

Now I’m not here to pass judgment on you however I do feel that the Universe intends abundance for all of us and may I be so bold as to say that the only limitations we have are the ones we place on ourselves.

Additionally, your purpose of earning a decent living and supporting your family does not inspire me to take action to do business with you. Yes, I dare say it, I want to be touched, moved and inspired by your purpose and I’m sure your target market wants the same.

All things being equal who would you rather do business with, company ‘A’ who never discusses their purpose and just blends in with everyone else or company ‘B’ whose larger purpose is one that you can identify with and care about such as ending world hunger or, helping others live lives of abundance and prosperity. I think the answer is obvious – people prefer doing business with people they like and can identify with.

So let me ask you the same questions again but let me rephrase them… What’s your higher purpose? What’s your calling? How will your business add value to this planet?

Take the time to think these through and document your answer. Then so long as you are coming from a space of authenticity and not manipulation, don’t be afraid to share your higher purpose with your target market. I believe that you’ll be pleasantly surprised how this can magnetize you and draw like-minded, supportive people to you. People just love to be part of something big, something larger than life… So why not become a conduit for that to happen? In essence, use your marketing to share your higher purpose so you can ultimately make a larger contribution to the higher good.

This will at a minimum differentiate you from your competition and magnetize you so you begin to draw your perfect Clients toward you.

Keep in mind though that your target market must be able to relate to as well as appreciate your higher purpose. Once again it must not be blatantly self-serving and it must be bigger than you.

So in closing, take the time to clarify your higher purpose; then scream it from the rooftops to your target market and enjoy the abundance that it can create for all.


© 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.

Magnetic Marketing Series: Even Though It’s Business, It’s All Personal

Did you ever hear somebody say, “It’s just business, it’s not personal”? I know I certainly have. Well my answer to that statement is baloney, who were they trying to kid? It’s kind of like a sugar-coated way of saying “I’m sticking it to you, but don’t get upset about it” – Am I right or what?

No business happens without affecting people in one way, shape or, form. So how could it not be personal? As a matter of fact I’m of the opinion that when the personal is taken out of any business, it becomes sterile and institutional – in other words, BORING. And worse yet, those businesses are usually on their way out.

So here’s a million dollar tip for you… business is very personal and don’t let anybody tell you differently!

Now as a, well I guess you can say, marketing expert, two of the most pressing questions that small businesses ask me all the time are:

1. How do I attract better and more clients?


2. How do I differentiate myself from the competition?

My approach in answering these very important questions is quite simple. I believe it’s safe to say that people prefer doing business with people they like and can identify with – don’t you think? So based on that, I take an approach that leverages that premise and I’ve coined this approach the “Power of Personal”. In a nutshell the “Power of Personal” marketing approach caters to the personal side of your target market by putting a personal spin on your marketing – looking to make your communications with your target market more authentic and magnetic.

Let’s explore this approach a bit.

The Power of Personal is magnetic!

The law of attraction dictates that like attracts like so if that’s the case, I believe it’s safe to say that the more personal you are in you business and in your marketing, the more you will attract like-minded, better-fitting Clients.

Well how can you make your business and your marketing more personal? You can start by openly and readily sharing your story. How did you get to where you are today and why are you doing what you do? Give your target market a way to get to know you and a reason to trust you.


So with that being said, what’s your story? What makes you interesting and possibly even unique?

Now if you want to take it up a notch and really leverage the Power of Personal, along with allowing your target market to get to know you, take the time to get to know them more intimately. Intimately enough to clearly understand things like, what’s important to them, what challenges they face, how they want to be helped, and so on and so on.

Once you do this, you can leverage that knowledge to strengthen your marketing message and your relationships with your target market.

The Power of Personal is strategic!
Talk about a simple yet excellent approach to differentiating yourself from the competition. You are a unique individual – we all are for that matter. Stand behind your uniqueness and leverage it in your marketing.

One place you can start with this is by taking a hard look at your unique selling proposition or more commonly known as your USP. Look to strengthen it and leverage it more effectively in your everyday marketing.

The Power of Personal is just plain good business!
Remember the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Being authentic and personal in your marketing is simply good business. It takes the uncertainty out of it and empowers all to make better decisions. Ultimately, it tends to make business fun and isn’t that what life is all about, having fun?


So in closing, I just want to reiterate that:

The Power of Personal is magnetic!
The Power of Personal is strategic!
The Power of Personal is just plain good 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.

Magnetic Marketing Series: If Like Attracts Like, Then Who Exactly Is Your Marketing Attracting?

Let me ask you. Could it really be possible that the types of prospects that your marketing is attracting, is simply a mirror image of how you’re showing up in the marketing messages you’re putting out there? Well according to the universal Law of Attraction, that’s a big “yes” – you are attracting the mirror image of your marketing.

So is your marketing attracting those who you deem as perfect prospects – Perfect prospects being those that express the characteristics and behaviors that you prefer in a Client – your ideal Client so to speak – Clients that make your life easy, lucrative, and fun?

If so, great; whether knowingly or not, you are most likely properly leveraging the Law of Attraction in your marketing!

However if don’t seem to be attracting that ideal client, or enough ideal clients, then obviously something’s not right. And what I’m going to suggest you take a look at is not your typical mainstream marketing advice – I’m going to for the sake of this conversation assume that you’ve got your traditional marketing bases covered. You’ve properly considered things like your target market and the marketing medium you will use to communicate your message. You’ve done your marketing due diligence and logic states that your marketing should be working – but it’s not. At least not to the level you need it to.

So what am I talking about here? Brace yourself and listen with an open mind here as this may be the most important marketing advice you will ever hear.

I’m talking about being more authentic in your marketing – authentic as I’m describing here meaning the real you. Give yourself permission to open up and genuinely share yourself with your target market – let them in to your world. It’s okay to be human. Share your ups, your downs, your likes and your dislikes and you’ll be amazed at how the Law of Attraction kicks in and begins attracting those who are more aligned with you, to you.

Remember people love doing business with people they like and can identify with so don’t hold back. Holding back tends to lend an air of mystery that in business can either scare away perfect prospects or make you look just like everyone else – BORING.

And if you happen to outsource your marketing, be extra careful here. Are you sure that the messages they create on your behalf, whether in an advertisement, a brochure, or any other marketing materials are properly capturing your authenticity? Do yourself a favor here and be sure that they are.


So in closing, sometimes we have to look a bit deeper to find the root causes of our successes and failures. And those searches can sometimes take us out of our comfort zone and into more abstract areas. It’s when we are bold enough to play full out and stay in the game long enough that we uncover the real gems of our success.


© 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.

Marketing Methodology: The 180° Marketing Method

Let me ask you a couple of point blank questions if I may – First, why would your target market choose you over your competition? And second, what are you doing to ensure that you stand out long enough to get noticed and ultimately hired?

For most of us, there is already a glutton of people and businesses out there who do what we do. There are tons of Financial Planners, CPA's, Internet Marketers, Business Coaches, Real Estate Agents, and so on. Bottom line, there’s a lot of competition all around you vying for a piece of the same pie – your pie!

And too many businesses today, like lemmings play follow the follower – only to be left in bewilderment wondering why they are not achieving the success they feel they should in their business. They take a “me too” approach to their marketing and expect ever increasing market share. The reality here is that this approach tends to blend you in with all others who provide similar products and services – positioning you to compete on price alone. And believe me, unless you’re moving tons of quantity, you do not want to be in that position.

I have to say that one of the greatest gifts that my master's degree in business administration has given me was the idea to study and leverage what I needed from world class companies in different industries. Although at the time I didn’t quite fully understand the extent of the significance of doing that, many years later I look back and WOW, what a gift! That gift has provided me with the basis for a marketing methodology that I call the 180° Marketing Method. The root idea of this methodology is simply to look at what your competition is doing and do something else – look into other industries and pioneer their successful marketing tactics and strategies in your industry.

Now I’m not telling you to stop doing a specific marketing tactic or strategy that works for you just because your competition happens to use the same one – Heck, leverage that one for all it’s worth. You may want to however put some thought into how to tweak that one a bit to help you stand out. Additionally though, I’m recommending that you employ other marketing tactics and strategies that your competition may not be using. Expand your horizons, look at other industries – How do they market, sell and deliver their products and services?

So how do you go about applying the180° Marketing Method? Well here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Really know your target market. What’s important to them? How do they prefer to be communicated with and marketed to? Identify what works as well as what doesn’t work for them.


2. Really know your competition. Exactly how do they market and position themselves to your target market? If possible get on their mailing lists to stay abreast of their marketing efforts.


3. Look for great marketing and create a “swipe” file. If your challenge is marketing, what expert, business, or industry in your opinion does a great job at it? How do they effectively market themselves? Can you leverage their approach to use with your target market? Gather samples of their effective marketing copy as well as any other copy that you feel you can use to inspire your own.

So in closing, take note that doing the same thing your competition does just because that’s what everyone else does in your industry comes from a survival mindset and can be fatal. Want to skip that fate? Then I challenge you to adopt an abundance mindset and dare to be different by employing the 180° Marketing Method in your business 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.

How Does Your Marketing Stack Up On The ‘Fun-Meter’?

Ah, Halloween one of my favorite times of the year. There’s just something about Halloween that seems to bring out the child in me. It takes me back to simpler times and flat out just makes me want to have fun. Costumes, scary movies, parties, candy, all certainly for some reason or another, seem to add up to a good time. I guess that little child in me still exists and as far as I’m concerned, thank goodness for that!

So why is it that so many of us as we grow older tend to lose that sense of fun and excitement? Life becomes common and almost sterile. And as for business, why does it have to be so serious? Wouldn’t it great if everyday of your business life was fun and remarkable? If it already is, then my hat’s off to you, because you are definitely doing something right.

Now, a simple interpretation of the Law of Attraction is that ‘like attracts like’. So it should be safe to say that if you want to attract more fun in your business, you might want to be more playful yourself. And since most businesses use their marketing to attract what they hope will be their ideal prospect to them, why not be more playful in your marketing? Don’t be afraid to have some fun with your prospects. I have to say that most of the marketing that I see on a daily basis is simply sterile – it’s institutionalized marketing. And I have one word to say about that, and that’s ‘BORING’.

So if that’s the case, then ‘WOW’, that’s certainly a great opportunity for those of us who dare to be different!

Now I have to ask you, have you looked at your marketing lately? How does your marketing come across? Is it different, fun, and remarkable, or is it, how did I say that before, ‘BORING’?

So, if you have a fun side to you like I do, then don’t be afraid to be authentic – let your playfulness shine though in your marketing, dare to be different, and reap the rewards.

Have a happy and safe Halloween and here’s to your success!


© 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.

What Should Your Marketing Really Be Promoting, the Drill or the Hole?

My quick answer, if you can help it, neither, let me explain.

Let’s take your typical running shoe for example. There are probably hundreds of different models being marketed and sold out there. So what really sells one particular shoe over another? Is it the features such as the price, the colors, or the style? For some… sure, maybe. Or, how about the benefits such as the brand, or the shoe’s availability? Again, for some… sure, maybe. But what if your target market was the serious adult runner who regularly participates in competitive races? Would they be interested in the features and benefits? Yes, sure they might. However, what if you had a shoe that had proven to make several well-known athletes run faster and ultimately win high-prized competitions? Don’t you think the serious runner would be more interested in running faster than in the brand or color of the shoe?

Point being that while the features and benefits are important to some and should play some role in the marketing process, their importance is simply dwarfed by the anticipated results that your product or service may deliver.

Now I’m not saying to make false claims here. I’m simply saying that results sell! That’s why marketing tactics such as testimonials and case studies are so effective. They typically speak to the results that someone in your target market has realized because of you, you product and/or your service.

So how do you uncover the potential results that your product and/or service may deliver? Well obviously as just alluded to, there’s no better way than though client experiences; More specifically, ones that can be documented in testimonials and case studies. Don’t have the luxury of testimonials and case studies yet? Try drilling down to uncover the real reasons that your target market would buy your product and/or service – what’s the result or results that they’re really after when using a product and/or service like yours? One way to find out is to simply ask your target market, survey them, and find out their ‘why’. For example if your product was a drill and your target market was the middle class, do-it-yourself homeowner:

You might ask your prospect: "Why are you looking to buy a drill?"
Your prospect might respond: "I need to drill a hole."
You might then ask: "Why drill a hole?"
In which your prospect might respond: "So I can hang a picture of my family on the wall."

Now at this point you at least know that your target market may be using your drill in the picture hanging process and can continue querying to find out the results that they are after – such as being able to hang a picture perfectly centered and straight in less than 5 minutes without damaging the wall, thus freeing up their time to spend on more important things to them such as their family.

So if your drill has features and benefits that would support the desired result, such as a built in level or bit storage right on the drill, those would be worth promoting at this time; other features and benefits can and probably should be temporarily stored away until needed. In other words, don’t bombard your target market with every possible feature and benefit – this tends to cause overload and confusion and confused minds tend to not take action. And as marketers, this is not the result we want to cause.

I do understand that the previous sample dialogue may seem really rudimentary however I use it to illustrate the importance of, along with a simple methodology, for learning your target market’s real motivations for buying. And that will certainly help you create a stronger, more effective marketing message.


So in closing, I like you to do me a favor, I’d like you to try on this results approach to your marketing for a while and see how it fits. Think of your marketing for a moment as if you were casting a movie. The ‘results’ that your product and/or service brings would be the leading actor. While the ‘features’ and ‘benefits’ would be the supporting cast.


© 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.

Are You and Your Business a Victim of ‘Marketing Clutter’?

Recently I’ve been on a mission to clear the clutter from all areas of my business and my life. I’m simply just amazed at how much clutter I had allowed in – clutter on my desk, clutter on the floor, clutter on the walls, clutter on my bookshelves, clutter in my closets, clutter in my computers, and even clutter in my marketing too? – Clutter was literally everywhere – and I consider myself a fairly organized guy. Stuff just seemed to continually sneak its way in and never thought to leave once its truly useful period had passed. And if you subscribe to the practice of Feng Shui, the clutter had been draining and stifling my energy and ultimately my effectiveness in terms of accomplishing my goals.

Now I do believe that one person’s clutter could be another person’s gold. So in other words, this clutter I speak of simply was stuff that I’ve accumulated that wasn’t serving me any longer. That doesn’t mean that things I deem as clutter couldn’t serve someone else. So I graciously acknowledged the clutter for its contribution to me and gave it new life by donating it to others who could and would put it to use.

So why do I share this with you? Simply put, all of your clutter affects your ability to effectively market yourself and your business. And let me go ahead and define what I will refer to as ‘marketing clutter’ as any marketing that doesn’t currently serve you. While it may have served you once, it’s no longer effectively contributing to your bottom line – your income.

So let me ask you, when was the last time you reviewed your marketing plan for clutter? Or, wait a minute, let’s take a step back. Do you have a marketing plan for your business? If you do great – allow me to suggest though that unless you’re reviewing it on a fairly regular basis (e.g. monthly or worst case quarterly), now is probably a good time to dust it off and take a close look at what working as well as what’s not working in your marketing.

If you don’t have a marketing plan, allow me to suggest the possibility that that alone may put you on a path to marketing clutter. Not having and following a marketing plan tends to promote what I call the 3 biggest marketing recipes for failure and they are ‘Casual Marketing’, ‘Spray & Pray Marketing’, and ‘Flavor-of-the-day Marketing’ – all of which lead to ‘marketing clutter’. If you are unfamiliar with my marketing recipes for failure concepts, you may want to visit my blog at www.MotivationalMarketer.com where you will find a 4-part article series on it.

As for ‘what’s working’, I highly suggest you maximize those marketing efforts until the law of diminishing returns sets in and it no longer makes sense.

As for ‘what’s not working’, allowing those marketing efforts to continually drain your resources for a less than needed return on investment is what I’m referring to as ‘marketing clutter’ and should be eliminated, redirecting your resources to more promising marketing efforts.

Let me give you an example, I’m an avid networker and use networking as a key marketing strategy for my business. Recently, when reviewing my marketing plan with the aid of my business partner along with my business coach, one marketing effort in particular that I’ve seemingly overlooked, glaringly showed up for them. One of the networking groups that I had belonged to had simply become ‘marketing clutter’ and they strongly suggested that I eliminate it and redirect my efforts to more fruitful marketing endeavors. Little did I realize that although this networking group had become ‘marketing clutter’, I turned a blind eye to it because I was simply emotionally attached to this group. Additionally, it became routine – I got comfortable. In marketing, that’s a dangerous place to be. So long story short, I was coached and reminded to be the CEO of my life and to lead my team and so I eliminated that networking group from my marketing. So what did that accomplish, ultimately by removing the ’marketing clutter’, I made room for other more suitable and potentially lucrative networking activities – one such new networking group that I’m excited about had shown up about a day later. Now would that new group have shown up in my life if I had continued with the old group? Hmmm… I'll let you ponder that one a bit.

So in closing let me leave you with this thought. We are the captain’s of our own ships embarked on the journey we call life. We do not need anything unnecessarily complicating or cluttering up that journey. In our own way, we all want that journey to be successful – whatever success looks like to each of us. Clearing the ‘marketing clutter’ as well as any other clutter in our minds and environment will simply clear the path and light the way to that success we search for.


© 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.

2 Key Marketing Ingredients for Your Recipe for Success

As any decent chef will tell you, that pinch of this or dash of that key ingredient along with some TLC (tender love and care) can make or break a dish.

Now as far as key ingredients go, I’m not talking about the main ones of the dish such as the meat or the vegetable, I’m talking about the minor but key ingredients such as a certain spices like salt, pepper, coriander, or cumin.

Let’s take salt and pepper for example; without those key ingredients, your food may taste bland to some. Well it’s the same with your marketing, without applying certain key ingredients such as inspiration and intuition to the mix, your marketing may come across as bland and not generate the response you desired.

Let’s dig in and explore each of these 2 key marketing ingredients a bit further.

1. A Pinch of Inspiration
   As a speaker, author, and all-around ambassador for great marketing, I am always on the lookout to be both inspired and inspiring in my marketing. And that’s how I feel about all marketing as well; it should be both inspired and inspiring.
   
   The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. For me, I consciously seek out inspiration so I always seem to find it – and sometimes it’s in the oddest most unexpected places. I’ve simply become very adept at drawing the connection between each inspiring moment and my marketing. As for this article, I was inspired by a great book that I just read aptly titled “Inspiration” by Dr. Wayne Dyer. Great book by the way, I highly recommend it. Anyway, I’ve learned to gain inspiration from not only my experiences, but also from the experiences of all those around me. And I always try to work that inspiration along with the vibe it carries into my marketing.
   
   So what inspires you? And how can you work that inspiration into your marketing so that it inspires others with the same effectiveness or better?
   
   For starters, take a look at what others are doing to market their products and services. Does any of their marketing inspire you to take action? Now chances are yes, there is marketing out there that is targeted at you that does its job by inspiring and moving you into action. Note that feeling of inspiration. Jot it down on a piece of paper along with why it inspires you. And try to capture that effectiveness in your marketing.
   
   Additionally, get to know what inspires your target market and moves them into action. Not sure what that is exactly? Then get to know them better and ask them; it’s as simple as that.



2. A Dash of Intuition
   Your marketing must feel good to you, period! Not to get all mystic on you but I do believe that your marketing materials and message carry your energy, your vibe, your aura, or whatever you want to call it, with them. So for example, if you feel good about an ad that you have put together, there’s a good chance that those coming into contact with your ad will intuitively feel good about it as well – and vice versa.
   
   Learn to trust your gut! If something in your marketing doesn’t feel right to you, it probably isn’t. Additionally, beware of integrity conflicts here. Make sure that all of your marketing is consistent with your values as well as the values of your organization. Any inconsistencies will eventually show up on the intuition radar of your target market; and if this happens, your target market may not know why they don’t trust you or feel good enough about your offer to buy, they’ll just sense something isn’t right with you and tend to distance themselves from you.

So in closing, people love to buy and far be it from us to hinder their desire to do so from us by skimping on key marketing ingredients for our recipe for success. By simply adding these 2 key ingredients, inspiration and intuition to your marketing recipe, you are providing the necessary spices that can make you target market’s buying decision and easy one that they can feel good about.

© 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.

Is Your Web Site Working Overtime For You? 5 Ways to Squeeze More Value Out of Your Web Site

There is one thing you can be sure of, and that is that the Internet never sleeps. Now with that in mind, let me ask you a point blank question, is your web site poised to take advantage of that? If it’s not, you could be leaving some big money on the table. Face it; you’ve paid the same amount of money to create and maintain your web site whether it works part-time, full-time or overtime for you. So why not make it serve you 24/7 365 days a year? How? Well here are 5 ways to squeeze more value out of your web site:

1. Use It as a Lead Generation Tool
   To not only survive but, succeed in business we all need to constantly generate and maintain a list of prospects or otherwise known as a 'sales pipeline' to sell to. The easiest way to do this using your web site is by offering your visitors something for free such as an ezine (electronic newsletter) or an ecourse which is typically a how-to tutorial delivered via email in exchange for their contact information.



2. Use It to Personalize Your Visitors Experience
   The Internet over the years has received a bad rap as being impersonal; while this may have been true once, back in the stone knives and bear skins days of the Internet, today’s powerful technology has done its part and given us the tools we need to really take our businesses and the Internet to new levels. There is simply no reason for our web sites to be impersonal any longer. The ball is in our court now – it’s up to us, the developers and users of the content that makes up the Internet to make it personal and effective.
   
   So how can you make your web site more personal? Well here are a few examples for you. How about getting rid of those stock clip-art images and replacing them with real pictures of you, your clients and your business? How about adding audio and/or video to your web site so your visitors can hear you and see you speak? How about including case studies and testimonials of success stories?
   
   Remember people like to do business with people they feel comfortable with so the more personal your web site, the more possible your desired results.



3. Use It to Communicate With Your Visitors More Often and In Real-Time
   There is simply no substitute for staying in constant contact with your target market. And today, there are plenty of Internet-based tools available that are either inexpensive or even free that can be implemented immediately on your web site to enable you to do this. Some examples could be setting up an email marketing system that works in conjunction with your web site, periodically sending out an ezine, implementing a real-time forum for your subscribed members to converse on, or hosting a blog where you can post content and allow your visitors to respond or comment on your postings.



4. Use It to Sell Products
   In today’s world of instant gratification, why not capitalize on it by allowing your web site visitors to buy and pay for some or all of your products and services through your web site? Also, why not add more value to your visitor by making available someone else’s non-competitive, but complementary product through your web site as well? And while we’re at it, why not take advantage of impulse spending by up-selling your visitor with other low-cost, almost no-brainer impulse items during your web site’s shopping cart check-out process?



5. Use It to Empower Your Visitors to Make Proper Decisions
   There is no greater way to become a trusted advisor for your target market then to consistently provide them with the information they need when they need it to make a proper decision. How do you do this using your web site you ask? Well how about providing relevant, informative articles, some ecourses or tutorials, case studies, recommended tools or books, or maybe adding a frequently asked questions section to your web site just to name a few. The bottom line here is to be a generous giver, not a taker and although there are no guarantees here, your visitors will eventually respond to you the way that you want them to.

Now most of the ideas here are not so new in the ‘brick and mortar’ offline world, however, they are not yet the norm in the online world. So implementing one, some, or all of these ideas will definitely differentiate you from your competition and position you for success.

© 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.

Does Your Marketing Stand Up To This Simple Yet Effective Marketing Methodology?

I want you to think about this for a minute. In today’s oversaturated marketing world, you only have a few seconds to grab your prospect’s attention – let alone convince them to stick around for a minute and listen to the rest of what you’d like to say. So essentially, your marketing better be good or else you may be just throwing money into the wind. I hate to put it so harshly, but that’s the cold reality. And if you’re a small business, you probably can’t afford to waste any resources let alone money on ineffective marketing. So essentially whatever marketing you do do, has to bring results – it has to have an edge. For starters, you may want to get a clear understanding of both the demographics and psychographics of your target market. Demographic data such as income, age, and gender as well as psychographic data like values, attitudes, and lifestyles provide clarity and empower you to make better marketing decisions. These also play a very vital role in this simple yet effective marketing methodology that I’m going to share with you right now. Here goes, it’s simply: Deliver the 'Right Message', at the 'Right Time', to the 'Right Audience', using the 'Right Medium'. Let’s go ahead and break it down.

'Right Message'
Constructing effective marketing copy is a science among itself and too lengthy a discussion to have here in this conversation so I won’t go there right now. Just know that it’s a critical element to getting your message right and unless you have some education and experience in this area, it’s probably in your best interest to bring in an expert to help you. Regardless though, whether you are outsourcing your marketing or doing it yourself, make sure all your marketing materials can stand up to the ‘WIIFM’ or ‘What’s In It For Me’ test – where ‘Me’ stands for your ideal prospect in your target market. Now this test or rule of thumb goes for all of your marketing materials, whether online or offline, from your web site all the way to your business card, it must be all about ‘Me’, your ideal prospect, not you. I hate to be the one to tell you this but frankly, your prospect doesn’t care that much about you. They only care about what you can do for them. That’s harsh, I know, but once again that’s the cold reality.

'Right Time'
Now unless your product or service is seasonal, such as landscaping or holiday decorations, getting the timing right may be quite challenging. People tend to buy when the timing is right for them, not necessarily when we want them to buy. And sometimes there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to why they buy when the do.

So getting to know our ideal target market’s buying patterns as best as possible can be very helpful – hence psychographics and demographics. The easiest way to do this is probably just to ask a cross section of your target market until some buying patterns start to emerge. Find out what they want and when they want it. And yes we as marketers can attempt to persuade our target market that now is that right time to buy, however we can’t physically make them do anything they don’t want to do. So giving them what they want, when and how they want it as opposed to manipulating and forcing it upon them is marketing at its best, with integrity.

'Right Audience'
Can you clearly see a model of your ideal prospect in your mind’s eye? What do they look like? Where do they hang out? Are they hungry for and can afford what you’re offering? What problems does your product or service solve for them? Ask yourself these questions and more until you have clearly defined your ideal prospect from your target market.

'Right Medium'
Know enough about your target market to clearly understand how they want to be both marketed to and communicated with. Do they prefer email? Direct mail? Phone calls? Or any combination of those and/or other marketing mediums? If you’re not sure which medium to use, you can always ask your target market. Additionally, you can research what others who also market to your target market find as the most effective mediums for them. Just remember that whatever mediums you choose, make sure you measure and track the results for yourself – this way you really know what works based on your own experience.


So once again and in closing, remember, regardless of who is responsible for your marketing, make sure it delivers the 'Right Message', at the 'Right Time', to the 'Right Audience', using the 'Right Medium'. Apply this marketing methodology to all your marketing efforts and watch your results soar.


© 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.

Marketing Lessons Are Everywhere, So Will My Real Target Market Please Stand Up?!

You know what never ceases to amaze me? The fact that there are lessons to be learned from every experience we have in life. No matter how bad or abstract the experience may seem, I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.

Some experiences may not directly be marketing lessons however the ripple effect that those initial experiences cause may be delivering them to you – you just have to train your eye to notice them.

Case in point: my recent car accident

Recently I was in a car accident and my doctor just as a precaution recommended that I get some x-rays taken – now don’t worry, I’m okay. Anyway, since x-rays aren’t something that I typically get or think about every day, I didn’t know of anyone who provided that service; so my doctor kindly recommended an x-ray provider to me. Now of course I gladly followed his referral and gave my business to the provider he recommended. Why? Because the referral came from a trusted advisor, my doctor. Over the years of serving me, he has clearly positioned himself to me as an expert and an authority figure on health. Additionally, he has established a lot of credibility with me.

Without his referral, I would have basically selected a provider based on my own preferences, prejudices, and filters – things such as their location, the fact that they take my insurance, they could give me an appointment when I wanted it, and even down to the what may seem more to some as silly, but very real criteria of liking the location, a cool business name, I’ve heard of them somewhere before, a cool website, intuition, etc. Now take note here that the referral superseded most of my very important conscious and subconscious criteria.

Are you beginning to see the power of all the different marketing lessons at work here? In this case study alone, we’ve got lessons on positioning, credibility, referrals and more – All of which are critical keys to effective marketing.

However there’s one key lesson that I’d like to drill down on a bit further here and that’s understanding and marketing yourself to your real target market. Let’s explore this further continuing with the x-ray provider as our model. Now if most people are like me, and I’m guessing they probably are, x-rays aren’t something that most people get or think about every day and so we typically would go wherever our doctor recommended to get them done. So if that’s the case and I’m an x-ray provider, wouldn’t it make sense to market to and align myself with other medical practices whose clients need my services? In essence, the x-ray provider’s target market is really other medical practices that could refer them not the actual patients they serve. However, they do need to make sure they deliver on the customer service side of the equation because believe me, if they don’t, there’s a good chance the referring doctor will hear about it. Negative feedback tends to travel much faster than positive feedback and negative feedback could stop those referrals in a hurry.


So in closing, valuable marketing lessons are everywhere – potentially saving us tons of wasted time, money, and anguish. We just need to tune in to and leverage those marketing lessons when available – no matter how subtle the lesson.

And let me leave you with one critical question – “Who is your real target market?” You may want to spend some time with that one as the success and health of your business highly depends on 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.

The 9 Simple Truths to Building an Unbreakable Relationship with Your Business Contacts

1. Do your homework
   With the arrival of the Internet in full force, it has never been easier to find out something about anyone. Just “Google” them, go ahead, type their name into Google and run a search. You’re bound to find out something you can use to help you bond with them. There’s nothing more flattering than when someone you meet with has obviously taken the time to learn a bit about you in advance.


2. Keep stellar records of interactions
   As business people we may make hundreds maybe even thousands of contacts each year making it all the more critical to keep good records. Today’s customer relationship management (CRM) software such as ACT! makes it real easy to effectively track interactions whether they are by email, meetings, or phone conversations. Now when we are about to resume conversations with someone we haven’t spoken to in a while, we can go back and see exactly where we left off.


3. Stay in touch
   There’s nothing worse than not following up with a new contact. You’ve gone through the process of meeting them, now what? Have a system for staying connected. Email marketing systems make this easier than ever. Although consistency is key here, be sure to make each contact purposeful and valuable to your contact.


4. Learn to listen
   We have the ability to hear but do we always listen intently when our contacts speak? If so, we probably wouldn’t forget their name within seconds after they tell us. Pay attention! Seek first to understand and then to be understood – not the other way around. Most of us are so busy trying to figure what to say next, that we don’t really listen to what the other person is saying.


5. Your word is gospel
   As a matter of fact, your word is all you have. It is gold, treat it as such. How? Be honest, it’s as simple as that. Abuse it with your contact, and you can damage your integrity and credibility with them, possibly forever.


6. Show respect
   Respect for your contact, their actions, beliefs and their time. This doesn’t mean you have to like it; you just need to respect it because it’s important to them. Nothing damages a relationship more than utter disrespect. This is even more reason to research your contact and find out what makes them tick. Hey, if you can avoid offending someone, why not do it.


7. Exercise Patience
   We live in a world of instant gratification. We want everything yesterday. While this can appeal to some, it wreaks havoc on our ability to be patient. Keep your cool. And most certainly don’t come off as desperate. And remember it’s okay to be persistent, just not pushy.


8. Be genuine
   Don’t be afraid to share something about yourself. People do business with people, not companies. Let your contact get to know you, the real you, and you’ll see some of your relationships grow to a deeper, more fruitful level.


9. Be a giver not a taker
   Let your generosity flow and if there’s any credence to the law of reciprocation, it will all and more come back to you in one way, shape or form. But give for the right reasons, without expectation of anything in return and allow yourself to experience the true gift of giving.

© 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.

7 Keys to Getting Your Marketing Messages Noticed and Acted Upon

Is your marketing falling on deaf ears? Did you know that the average person is bombarded with about 2400 marketing messages every day – and you can probably double or even triple that number if that same person walks into a supermarket. Why that constant bombardment should be enough to drive each of us insane. So how do we combat that? Well basically over time we’ve learned to tune it out – we simply have conditioned ourselves to ignore the marketing messages. Now does this complicate our jobs as marketers? You bet it does! Some would think you need to be a creative genius to get your marketing message noticed let alone acted upon. Now I don’t believe the life of a marketer is that difficult yet, however I do believe that it’s now more important than ever to take your marketing more seriously.

So as marketers, and yes I do believe that we’re all marketers, what are we to do? Well here are 7 keys to getting your marketing messages noticed and acted upon:

1. Streamline Your Marketing
   Don’t aimlessly contribute to the chaotic marketing attack – 2400 hundred marketing messages in a day is insane. Don’t throw your marketing message into the abyss while you cross your fingers hoping that someone is sitting idly by anxiously awaiting your marketing message. It just doesn’t work like that. So how do you streamline your marketing you ask? Well for starters, carefully plan your marketing. Make sure that your target market is clearly defined and communicate to them in a manner and frequency that they will appreciate. In the long run you’ll not only save a fortune in misspent marketing dollars but you’ll gain far more credibility with your target market.


2. Establish Market Relevance
   What real problems does your product or service solve for your target market? Can this be tied into any current events? What makes your product or service any better, cheaper or faster than that of your competition? Why should your target market buy from you? Command attention from your target market by answering these questions and sharing those answers as part of your marketing message.


3. Shut Up and Listen
   Stephen Covey says it best, “Seek first to understand and then to be understood”.
   Stop doing all he talking and start listening for a change – at least long enough to understand your target market; especially in terms of what they want and how do they want to be communicated to.


4. Build Lasting Relationships
   It takes two to tango. Keep in mind here though that you don’t just want one dance with your clients, you’re in this for the long haul. You want to dance over and over and over again until one of you can’t dance no more. So remember, good relationships are not built on one-way streets – it’s the genuine interaction between two parties that makes them good.


5. Create a Buzz
   The formula here is simple. Be unique and noteworthy and people will gladly share your story for you.


6. Dare to be Different
   Creating and delivering effective marketing is not for the meek – you need to continually find ways to stand out from the daily gluttony of marketing messages clouding your target market’s minds. If you haven’t yet read “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin, now would probably be a good time to do so. Seth Godin does a fine job on showing you how you can make your business not only different but, remarkable.


7. Don’t Be So Stingy
   Everyone loves free stuff! Don’t be afraid to give free taste tests. Let your target market try a sample of what you offer. And remember the Law of Reciprocation, when you give freely to others, they feel inclined to give back one way or another.

So in closing, I highly encourage you to take these 7 keys and find ways to employ them in your business 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.

The Top 5 Steps to Position Yourself as the Obvious Expert in Your Field

1. Get Ready!
   Are you ready to assume the role of the obvious expert? Visualize yourself for a moment in your minds eye being in that role. What exactly does it look like? Got that picture in your mind? Now look the part! Sound the part! And BE the part! Talk the talk and walk the walk so to speak!
   
   Additionally, study existing experts and model their characteristics that you admire. Hang around with experts. Remember, you are the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with, so make those 5 really count.


2. Get Seen!
   Did you ever hear the old cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Well for the purposes of this discussion, it is so true! We are very visual by nature. Just look at the amount of television people watch on average every day – we simply thrive on visual stimulation.
   
   So with that in mind, find ways to get in front of your target market whenever possible. Not just physically as in in-person seminars, meetings, or other gatherings but, virtually as well – especially virtually. Find ways to get on television. Regardless of whether through commercials, talk shows, or on the news as a subject matter expert, people tend to believe what they see.
   
   For those of us who may have difficulty getting on television, today’s technology teamed with the power of the Internet makes using video even more powerful and possible for everyone. How you ask? Learn to use streaming video on your web site or better yet, deliver it directly to your target market’s inbox via email. The uses for streaming video are endless. I highly recommend you explore this one further however, here are a few suggestions to intrigue you:
   
   
   • Create virtual seminars – record it once and deliver it on demand – over and over again.
   
   
   • Deliver video postcards via email.
   
   
   • Develop information products that can be promoted and sold all over the Internet.


3. Get Heard!
   Next to video, audio is the next best thing. Speak to anyone willing listen. Get your message out there. How do you get your voice out there as a perceived expert? Well here are a few ideas:
   
   
   • Land radio interviews as a subject matter expert or better yet create your own radio show on the Internet.
   
   
   • Use technologies such as podcasting to deliver your message – subscribers can now listen to your podcast via their PC or other portable audio device such as an iPod at their convenience.
   
   
   • Conduct teleseminars posing you as a subject matter expert.


4. Get Read!
   Whether through writing books and articles or getting coverage by the press, learn to leverage the power of the written word. People tend to believe what they read and typically attach instant credibility to authors.
   
   Keep in mind that when you tell someone you’re an expert, they take it with a grain of salt. However, when a third party such as a respected publication says the same, it holds much more weight and adds instant credibility to you.


5. Get Discussed!
   Find ways to maintain top-of-mind awareness with your target market. Continually stir the pot and create a buzz about you. Repeatedly “wow” them and create a stampede of raving fans. Get the press on board! They have the power to instill significant influence over their audience – essentially they have the power to turn you into a “rock star” overnight.

So in closing, the bottom line is to position yourself as the obvious expert and make your target market feel that they would have to be crazy to do business with anyone but you!


© 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.

Beware: Is ‘Flavor-of-the-day Marketing’ Draining Your Marketing Resources?

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


“He who fails to plan, plans to fail” – Author Unknown

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” – Peter F. Drucker

Before we begin this discussion, let’s do some housecleaning. First, let’s define ‘Flavor-of-the-day Marketing’ as unplanned, spur-of-the-moment marketing. You get excited about a new marketing strategy or tactic and act on it without clearly thinking it through. You do it to ‘keep up with the Jones’s’ so to speak – justifying it to yourself by thinking “they’re doing it, so I should be doing it too”. This is typically caused by the lack of a solid marketing plan and/or the lack of discipline to follow it. Additionally, if you’re guilty of ‘Flavor-of-the-day Marketing’, most likely you’re worrying too much about what others are doing and not necessarily what’s best for you.

Second and last bit of housecleaning is that we need to make a few assumptions about your business:

1. You are clear on your “What” – your vision of what you want your business to be, do, and have


2. You are clear on your “Why” – the reason your business exists in the first place.


3. You are clear on your “Who” – the target market you will serve.

If these 3 core concepts are currently not clearly defined for your business, please for your own good, take the necessary time to define them now – it will be in my opinion some the best spent time you will ever invest in your business.

Now that our housecleaning is complete, it’s time to lay out your game plan, your driving directions so to speak to help you move effectively and efficiently towards your vision of what you want. To do this you need a solid plan, more specifically a solid marketing plan that provides your “How” – a step-by-step roadmap that you can follow to lead you from where you are to where you want to be.

Trust me, you do not want to ‘shoot from the hip’ here – that’s where the big marketing and financial mistakes are made. It is incredible how much money is spent by businesses every day on poorly planned ‘flavor-of-the-day’ marketing strategies and tactics.

So what should your marketing plan consist of? At a minimum it should spell out what marketing strategies and tactics you will use, where you will use them, when you will use them, the forecasted dollar amount you are setting aside to carry them out, who will be responsible to ‘champion’ them, and who will hold your ‘champion’ accountable for getting them done.

To take it up a notch, I would recommend that you define what would constitute success for your business in each of those marketing strategies and tactics, set goals for each of them, and put mechanisms in place to track and measure their effectiveness.

Now we can go on an on here with more of what else could be in your marketing plan however, your marketing plan does not have to be elaborate to be effective – It just needs to be well thought out. Keep it simple! There’s no need to over-plan here. Get it on paper though because for some reason once it’s on paper, it becomes real.

In parting, I’d like to leave you with a pair of key distinctions: First, your marketing plan is a living document. It should be tweaked as needed to keep you on a straight-line path to getting what you want. And last, it’s important to understand that no amount of planning in the world is going to help you achieve what you want unless you take action based on that plan – so in essence, pave your way to success by planning your marketing and working your marketing plan.


© 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.

Are You Guilty of Using a ‘Spray & Pray Marketing’ Approach to Attract Your Target Market?

(Part 3 of 4 of the ‘Marketing Recipes for Failure’ Series)


"The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it" – Mal Pancoast

Ah, the wasteful ‘spray & pray marketing’ approach. It’s just like using a shotgun to hit your target instead of a sniper rifle; the shotgun spraying ammo all over the place and maybe catching a piece of your target while the sniper rifle zooms in and hits your target dead center. Choose your weapon carefully as the wrong choice can prove costly. In marketing, for my money, I choose the accuracy of the sniper rifle. I want to hit my target market dead-on every time.

Now unless your business is drowning in excess cash, so much so that you have an extreme need to just throw money overboard to lighten your load, a real strategic approach is needed to ensure that your marketing gets the biggest bang-for-the-buck.

Spraying your marketing message out to anyone and everyone and hoping that the right someone will immediately come knocking at your door just doesn’t cut it. On many occasions I’ve seen businesses get frustrated and give up on a great marketing strategy because when they applied it, they used a ‘spray & pray marketing’ approach. And guess what? It didn’t work out well. They essentially threw out costly resources and got extremely frustrated and discouraged in the process.

So how do you avoid the ‘spray & pray marketing’ approach? Well here are 3 steps to a more strategic marketing approach:

1. READY!
   Know exactly what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing – have a clear vision of what you want and set specific goals to accomplish it. Set your sight on the desired end result in your mind’s eye and ready yourself to go after it.


2. AIM!
   Who do I want to serve and why? Are they hungry for what I’m offering? Do they have the money to spend on what I’m offering? Does my product or service solve a specific problem or need for them? If so, what problem or need? Ask yourself these questions and more until you have clearly defined your ideal prospect from your target market. See a model of your ideal prospect in your mind’s eye and set you aim on them.


3. FIRE!
   Now with the accuracy of a sniper’s rifle, display your marksmanship and deliver your marketing message right to the heart of your target market – no where else. Essentially you want as close to a bull’s eye as you can get with every shot. Extra, wasted shots cost money so accuracy is a critical. Additionally, hitting the right target is also a critical.

So in closing, a little clarity can go a long way in positioning your small business for success.


© 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.

The 3 Biggest Marketing Recipes for Failure and How You Can Avoid Them

(Part 1 of 4 of the ‘Marketing Recipes for Failure’ Series)


“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” – Abraham Lincoln

Fact: According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years.

Now that’s a very scary and unfortunate statistic and in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons small businesses fail or underachieve is the lack of effective marketing.

Therefore, what I’d like to do in part 1 of this 4-part article series is to expose to you what not to do with your approach to marketing. In the subsequent articles that follow, I will break down each one of the 3, as I call them, ‘marketing recipes for failure’ and share what to do to avoid them.

So without further adieu, here is what I believe are the 3 most common and biggest small business ‘marketing recipes for failure’:

1. ‘Casual Marketing’
   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.


2. ‘Spray & Pray Marketing’
   Essentially it means spraying your marketing message out to anyone and everyone and hoping that the right someone will immediately come knocking at your door. In the online world of the Internet we call this technique spamming and it’s illegal in that world. So why do so many small businesses use this approach in the offline world? This sort of untargeted and in my opinion inappropriate marketing is a huge time and money drain that needs to be plugged up immediately if a small business is to succeed.


3. ‘Flavor-of-the-day Marketing’
   Did you ever hear of the phrase ‘wing it’? How about the old cliché ‘flying by the seat of your pants’? Now there’s a time and a place for unplanned, spur-of-the-moment action, however it should not be the main approach to your marketing. Lack of a solid marketing plan and/or the lack of discipline to follow it are typically the driving forces behind this problem.

So let’s be honest now, are you guilty of using any of these ‘marketing recipes for failure’? I admit it; I had been guilty in the past and have learned some hard lessons because of it. If you are guilty, first off go easy on yourself. The past is the past; it’s over and done with. It’s what you do with your marketing from this moment forward that will ultimately determine the success of 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.

A Quick and Simple 5 Step Formula for Marketing Success

"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it" – Winston Churchill

At least once a year, better yet every 6 months, and even better still, every quarter, it’s time for each of us to pull back the curtains and take an honest, hard, and close look at our business – Take our pulse so to speak and gauge exactly how we’re doing.

It’s time to reflect on what’s working as well as what’s not working, set refined or new sights, and make the necessary course corrections for our respective business.

So with that being said, here is a simple 5 step formula to help you to reflect, refine and realize your marketing success.

“Marketing Success Timeline”


Directions to Get From Point ‘A’ to Point ‘B’
|
Point ‘A’------------------------------------------------------ Point ‘B’
|                                                                                     |
Where You Are Now                                Where You Want To Be

1. Clearly Define Point ‘A’ – "Where You Are Now"
   Take a clear snapshot of the current state of affairs of your business and then examine that snapshot by determining what’s working and what’s not working.



2. Clearly Define Point ‘B’ – "Where You Want To Be"
   It’s time to do some soul searching. Ask yourself the point blank and often avoided questions of “What exactly do I want?” and “Where do I want my business to be in a year/ 3 years/ 10 years/ etc.?” Being honest and thorough here is the key to true success because this will focus you on your truly desired destination and should dictate how you market yourself to your target audience.



3. Map out Directions to Get From Point ‘A’ to Point ‘B’ (HINT: This is Your Marketing Plan)
   Just like when you’re driving a car, where the clearer and more direct your driving directions are, the faster and easier you will get to where you are going; the same holds true for your business here, except in this case, the driving directions are your marketing plan. If you don’t have a marketing plan, put on the brakes and create one immediately, you just might be driving your business in the wrong direction. If you do already have a marketing plan, then it’s time to refine it, by doing more of what’s working and less of what’s not – it’s that simple! And remember the fastest path between 2 points, as illustrated in our timeline example, is a straight line – don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked, stay on the path.



4. Start Traveling Your Path to Success
   A key concept for you to grasp here is that any plan, no matter how comprehensive it may be, is useless if you don’t take action on it. So guess what? It’s time to take massive action and start traveling the path to success!



5. Track Your Progress along the Way
   Now, while you’re traveling along your marketing success timeline, there will be lots of luring forks in the road and turns that you can take that could drastically alter the direction you’re heading. Worst case, if you’re not paying attention, one wrong turn can take you the complete opposite direction of where you want to be; getting you lost just enough to put you out of business. So it’s critical at regular intervals to check your course and make sure you’re still on track. Additionally know that as you progress along your path, you will grow wiser every day, so you may be able to sharpen or shorten your path by applying other or more streamlined marketing strategies and tactics.

Remember though, that the fun is in the journey, not in the conquering of your destination – so enjoy the ride.


© 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.

7 Killer Tools You Can Use On A Shoestring Budget Without Having a Web Site

When most people think of Internet marketing, they think solely of web sites. Are they right or wrong? Well both. While web sites are a key component of Internet marketing and in many cases are the only Internet marketing tool businesses use, they are not the “be all, end all”. They are not required for Internet marketing. However, I do highly recommend them as they are best suited to sit at the core of your Internet marketing plan, the hub so to speak, but that’s a topic for another conversation.

So here are 7 killer Internet marketing tools that you can implement on a shoestring budget without having to have a web site of your own:

1. Email Marketing – When properly implemented, there probably isn’t a quicker, better, and less expensive way to stay in front of your prospects and clients than to leverage the power of email. You can literally touch an unlimited amount of prospects and clients with a single click – how’s that for power?!



2. Blogs – Blogging is a great tool when you would like to step it up a notch and stay in constant contact with your prospects and clients. Some ideas on how to use it might be to post what’s new with you or your business, post informative content as a value-add to your clients, or hold and interactive forum with your clients geared towards understanding how to better serve them.
   
   There are a handful of free or low cost blog hosts out there that really make this process simple (e.g. Blogger and TypePad).



3. Article Marketing – This is a phenomenal approach to bringing notoriety, interest and ultimately leads for many types of businesses. It can be used as a major differentiator or value-add on why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. Whether your clients are local, regional, national or global -- articles are portable and usable in all situations -- that's part of their charm.



4. eZines – Much like blogs and article marketing, eZines are great way to stay in touch with your prospects on a more scheduled basis. Additionally, they are probably the forerunner in helping you develop a list of prospects to market and sell your wares.



5. Affiliate Programs - Get others promoting and selling for you. This tool can become the equivalent of having both a full blown marketing and sales staff that gets paid on performance. They don’t promote and directly lead to a sale for you, they don’t get paid. For the do-it-yourselfers, there are plenty of tools out there to help you set up this type of program. For everyone else, there are excellent service providers out there who can coordinate and manage this process for you (e.g. Clickbank and Commission Junction).



6. Viral Marketing – Again, a great approach for getting others to promote and help create a buzz about you, your business, your products and/or your services. The best, most genuine way to get this started is by creating raving fans out of your existing clients and then helping them help you spread the word.



7. Public Relations – If I tell you I’m the best at what I do, you’ll take it with a grain of salt. Maybe you’ll believe me, maybe you won’t. However, people tend to believe what they read. So if a respected publication tells you that I’m the best at what I do, that usually holds more weight and adds instant credibility to me.

Spend some effort here. Become a resource for the press. You help them and they can significantly help you.


I highly recommend you spend some time with these. Explore how you can implement one, some, or all of these Internet marketing tools to help explode your business.

© 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: 10 Deadly Sins of a Poorly Designed Web Site

Face it. There are tons of web sites out there but very few that actually pull their weight and get results. Effective web site design is not easy. If it was, every business that put up a web site would realize enormous success. It takes many different skill sets to pull together a killer web site.

That being said, here is a list of web site design sins for your edification. Consider these deeply and I highly recommend you make sure your web site doesn’t commit them.

Web Site Sin # 1 – Web site does not have a crystal clear objective. Why do you have or want to have a web site in the first place? What do you want it to do for your business?

Web Site Sin #2 – No clear call to action. This sin dovetails on the previous one. Once you are clear on your web site’s objective, make it real clear to your visitor what action you want them to take. Clearly spell it out. Trust me, leave no room for interpretation.

Web Site Sin #3 – Web site does not have a means to capture visitor’s contact information. You are missing a tremendous opportunity to gather prospects who are clearly interested in what you have to offer – hence qualified prospects to market to going forward. Do whatever it takes here. Offer what we call an “ethical bribe” in exchange for their contact information.

Web Site Sin #4 – Web site doesn’t give visitors a reason to come back. Unless your web site is a one-time sales web site, you must keep it chock full of new and great content to keep it producing for you.

Web Site Sin #5 – Web site has no substance, all style. Dovetailing on the previous sin, focus should be more on adding valuable content as opposed to having flashy animations. Flashy animations may wow your visitors once (if you’re lucky), but great content starts building a relationship or dare I say a dependency on you. Bottom line you’re adding value to your prospects.

Web Site Sin #6 - Web site has an “it’s all about me” mentality. Keep the copy conversational in tone and focus clearly on what’s in it for your visitor. Make them feel that it’s all about them – make them feel special.

Web Site Sin #7 - Web site is inconsistent with your “Brand”. Your web site does not have to be the best looking site out there. It is far more critical to be consistent (same overall look, feel and design as your other marketing materials).


These next three sins are absolutely inexcusable and should not require much explanation. Nothing will frustrate your visitor more and detract from your credibility faster.

Web Site Sin #8 – Poor or inconsistent navigation. Don’t make people think. Make it real easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.

Web Site Sin #9 – Dead links. This is a credibility killer. Always do what you say you’re going to do. It is amazing what people can read into a dead link – the worst being that you simply don’t care enough about you visitor.

Web Site Sin #10 – Slow web site. I know, it’s hard to believe but not everyone is using high speed broadband Internet connections yet. A little compassion here goes a long way.

© 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.

7 Reasons You Need to Market with Articles Now

Looking for a simple way to get an edge on your competition?
Successful businesses who are in it for the long haul continually apply innovative marketing strategies and tactics to differentiate themselves and get that edge. Two such killer marketing strategies are positioning and relationship building. And guess what? Article marketing is a proven tactic that just happens to address both of those marketing strategies. Is it the “be all, end all” of positioning and relationship building? Absolutely not. However, it is an excellent step in the right direction. And on top of that, there’s probably a good chance that your competition is not using this tactic. Face it. It takes some time, skill, and effort to write and effectively use articles, that’s why the masses don’t do it however, those looking for an edge do.

So why choose article marketing as one of you marketing tactics? Here are 7 exceptional reasons:

1. It is quite simple. People love to buy from and deal with the best. Writing and effectively marketing your articles helps you position yourself as the expert in your field.


2. Let's take this first concept a step further for reason #2. Let’s be blunt here, as an expert, you can justifiably increase your rates and charge more for your products.


3. If your articles are good and distributed properly, they can spread like wildfire and literally cause a viral marketing frenzy. Ultimately driving business your way.


4. A big part of Internet marketing has to do with the Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. It’s critical that we play their game. That being said, Search Engines love content such as articles! Many Internet marketers try the latest fad to trick Search Engines into getting a better ranking. If you have a lot of time and/or money on your hands to keep up with the latest trends and the ever changing Search Engine rules, then do what you feel is right. However, one tactic still holds true with improving Search Engine ranking, and that’s article marketing.


5. People love to be and feel well informed – It helps them make better decisions. Your articles can serve as the source for the input they seek. And who better to buy from then the source that provided the information in the first place.


6. Talk about getting major bang for the buck, articles can easily be repurposed in a variety of ways. For example:
   
   
   • They can become content for your or someone else's newsletter;
   
   
   • Used as free giveaways to prospects/clients, in seminars, at networking events, etc;
   
   
   • Used to spark conversation in a blog or an online networking group such as Ryze;
   
   
   • Combine multiple articles into an eBook, book or info-product that can be sold or given away in exchange for contact information;
   
   
   • Become the basis for a live seminar or teleseminar;
   
   
   • And we can go on and on and on.


7. Articles when distributed properly are a great way to stay in touch with clients and prospects. Studies have shown that on average it takes around 7 touches before a prospect buys. Why not use articles as some of those touches? This will help continually boost your prospect’s perception of you as someone who consistently adds value.

We live in an age where information is king. We all know something others would be interested in knowing. Share your knowledge and like a magnet you’ll draw your prospects towards you.

© 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.

Marketing: Your Brand Is About More Than Just Good Looks

First let’s clear up a common misconception of what a “Brand” really is. A brand is more than just your company’s name or logo. It’s more than just a particular type of product you offer such as Q-tips brand of cotton swabs. It’s more than just the look of the packaging of your product. In a nutshell your ”Brand” is the culmination of everything your prospect’s 5 senses can pick up on about you.

It’s the image you present at all times. From the company’s logo and color scheme all the way to the manner in which your employees dress.

It’s what your prospect hears from and about you. From what they hear about you in the media to how your customer service team handles incoming complaints.

It’s the feeling your prospect gets in all their dealings with you. From their satisfied or unsatisfied interaction with you to the relationship building activities you carry out.

It’s the pleasant or unpleasant scents that get associated with you covering everywhere from the scent of your product or facility, to even your employees.

And lastly it’s also the tastes that get associated with you. From the taste of your product (if it’s a product meant to be tasted) to the quality of coffee or tea you serve.

As you are probably beginning to see the picture I am painting for you, your brand encompasses everything about you. Hence you can see why it’s important to always put your best foot forward.

Let’s take this one step further. Even more important than being perfect in your eyes, is being consistent in the prospect’s eyes.

Consistency is the key to branding. It is terrible branding practice and just plain unacceptable to offer great service one day, and bad service the next. You are better off being consistently mediocre. Then at least the customer knows what to expect and is generally more satisfied. Another example of bad branding is having a different look and feel for your website as compared to your other marketing collateral (e.g. business cards, brochures, etc.). Ultimately, your prospect should be able to recognize you at a quick glance – just by colors, design style, logo, etc.

For instance, let’s take the fast food retailer McDonalds. They have done a spectacular job at branding. Their food tastes consistently the same no matter which location you eat at – essentially around the world. What you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste are pretty much consistent and acceptable across the board.

Bottom line, branding is essential to establishing your identity in the marketplace and consistency is the key to effective doing that. Prospects want consistency! Consistency breeds comfort and comfort is an aspect of relationship building - a key marketing strategy.

© 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.

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.