Miracle-Gro Your Business & Your Platform: Micro-Niche
Miracle-Gro Your Business & Your Platform: Micro-Niche
By Suzanne Falter-Barnes
In the marketing world, you hear a lot about micro-marketing, niche definition, and so forth. But not a lot about WHY this kind of focused and disciplined approach is important.
Here’s the deal: You cannot (REPEAT: CANNOT) expand your market to the size it naturally wants to be if you’re vague and sloppy about who they are.
Just yesterday I was on the phone with a colleague, Yvonne Divita, with whom I’m cooking up a majorly cool live event on publishing. In the course of just a few minutes we whittled our market down from ‘Just anybody on our lists and blogs’ to experienced corporate and wellness coaches, semi-advanced crafters who want to make a living from their business, and possibly therapists who want to break out and have been in practice at least five years. (Don’t worry, you can come too, even if you don’t fit those niches. 
)
I hung up feeling strong and inspired … I knew who I was targeting and just where to find them. My action step: to find associations, SIGS and other groups that reach exactly these folks.
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It’s Resource Day!
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Today is resource day. I love finding neat websites and resources and links on the web, so I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. Some are free, some are not, but all of them definitely meet my approval …
http://www.beinsync.com
Free version and also a pro version for $6.95 per month
http://www.logmein.com
Free version for remote access, and a pro version for $15.99 a month or $69.00 a year that includes remote access, file transfer, file sharing and the ability to invite others to log on to your PC for training.
http://www.skype.com
Use your computer to talk to people anywhere in the U.S. and Canada for free. Skype is a downloadable VOIP system that allows you to talk to other Skype users for free, using a headset and a mic. It also has some grat text chat features. Skype-in allows you to have your own Skype phone number at very reasonable rates, and Skype-out, FREE until the end of the year, allows you to call people with tranditional land lines. After the end of the year, you can continue to enjoy Skype-out at their very low, reasonable rates, as well as their great rates for international calls.
http://virtualtoolshed.ca/pdfs/VT-Blogware.pdf
A great little ebook about blogs, the different types of blogs and blog platforms = Free!
http://www.tinyspell.m6.net/
A tiny spell checker for Windows applications, forums and Instant Message programs that don’t include a spell checker = Free!
http://www.pdf995.com
Creates PDFs without having to buy expensive software = Free!
http://www.WordPress.org
One of the most popular and best blogging platforms on the web. An open-source program that you can self-host in a sub-directory of your on website or on it’s own domain = Free!
http://www.WordPress.com
The same great WordPress blogging platform for those that prefer to have their blogs hosted on a blogging server = Free!
http://www.thegosystem.com/cod_start.asp
This is just a fun little calculator that can show you how much $$ you are wasting each day due to being disorganized. = Free!
http://www.google.com
The Google Calendar!!!! It’s a great web-based calendar (Free!) that you can use for your own business, for calendar sharing with clients, or for personal use. Have as many calendars as you want, and share with clients or family or use all by your lonesome. View your calendars separately, or integrated into one calendar (different colors for different calendars) to see all of your appointments at once. The only hitch is that you need a Gmail account, which I also recommend, and is also free. If you don’t already have a Gmail account, let me know … I’ll send you an invite!
and last but not least, is http://www.protopage.com.
It’s a very cool start-up page where you can add sticky notes, photos, favorite URLs, you name it … you have to check it out to see how cool it is!
Check them out and see what all they do. If you like them, let me know …
Wishing you all a fabulously wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!!
Virtually yours,
Terry
What Speakers Speak About
What Speakers Speak About
By Norma Hollis
I have to admit that I always wanted to be a professional speaker. I remember when I graduated from college, a voice within me told me I could go and speak to the world. But the rational side of me asked myself “What will you speak about? You haven’t even experienced the world yet.” This delayed my speaking career.
Then when I gained a couple decades of life experience I found myself in charge of the youth ministry at church. I shared responsibility for planning monthly services with a youth as the speaker. As people watched me prepare the youth to speak, many told me that I should speak too, that I had a good voice and would be a good speaker. But my question was, “What will I speak about? I’m not focused on a topic yet.”
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Three Reasons to Offer an Online Newsletter
Three Reasons to Offer an Online Newsletter
by Alicia M. Forest, MBA
Multiple Streams Queen & Coach(TM)
If you want an easy and effective way to keep in touch with your target market, consider offering an online newsletter (ezine). Here are three main reasons to implement this as part of your business building strategies.
- To continuously build your email list.
Offering an online newsletter is one of the most effective ways to build your email list. If you’re already offering a Pink Spoon (your freebie offering, like a special report or short audio) to entice people to sign up for your list, consider adding a newsletter as well.
How to WOW Your Audience
How to WOW Your Audience
By Matt Bacak
All professional speakers who “wow” their audiences have one thing in common: P-A-S-S-I-O-N!
A public speaker can have the best information, the best voice, and the best Powerpoint presentation on the planet, but without passion, the speech will fall flat every time.
Every speaker is a motivational speaker. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about finance or personal growth – you need to ignite your audience and get them excited about your subject. And the only way your audience will become excited is if you’re excited. Inspiration begins with you and your own feelings. You’ll never succeed as a speaker unless your topic gives you an adrenaline rush.
