I have been an entrepreneur since 1998. When I decided to leave corporate America and start out on my own, Earl (my honey of 14 years) decided to have a “sit down” with me. Here is what we discussed:
If you have not had that sit down with yourself or your family maybe it’s time. Maybe it’s time to ask REAL questions that matter. This list is because I know of MANY people who say they are self-employed that make NO MONEY (or very little), and I am passionate about making money (among many things!) This list are the top 20 reasons I find that is true. Think critically about this list, even if you are making money, because if one is an issue for you, it could be what’s holding you back from the next level of success.
You have no marketing plan that you actively and consistently work
You have not owned your value
Your target market is generic and unfocused
You have not evaluated if the market you want to reach is interested or willing to pay for your product or service
You lack follow up
You lack consistency in message, marketing and brand
You don’t invest in your business; you want it all for free and then wonder why people won’t pay you
You fear success
You think everything needs to be perfect before you ever “launch”
You don’t have a system to handle growth and opportunity
Your model doesn’t support true revenue building (not just fun money or income, but true revenue)
You needed something to do while the economy was so bad and you couldn’t find work
You do not have the motivation to hustle and do what it takes to get the sale
You don’t enjoy marketing, finance, sales, strategy, and planning and don’t have a partner doing it
You are paralyzed by the unknown
What will you do to have a REAL conversation about being in business?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Becoming an affiliate seems so enticing, “just sign up and share your link today”. Actually it is not that easy! Signing up is easy, managing requires a commitment to sharing your links regularly, marketing it regularly, make sure you actually receive payment, and following up with people interested. It has to be considered a part of your business.
On the flip side, there is nothing more rewarding than waking up and seeing you made an affiliate sale! I average about $300 a month in affiliate sales, nothing to brag about, but takes us out for Sushi and Sake twice a month! NOW this blog post is not for people who want to be “Affiliate Marketers”. Not my style. Watch this video to learn more.
So, you want to be an affiliate and feel great about what you are suggesting to others keep my 4 points in mind! When I work with my lifetime members of the Social Networking Coaching Club advanced learners learn about affiliate products that help their customer base buy from them increasing their bottom line!
Is it right for you to become an affiliate? What products/services are you willing to align yourself with that feel good for you and your customers?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I recently started a new exercise program based on how I achieve success in my life. Yes I do vision boards, but let’s face it manifesting it isn’t enough. Action is required. This video shares the power of TEN in achieving success:
The steps in the video are CRITICALLY important, do BOTH forced rankings, skipping it will not give you the true reality check you need.
Then, compare the lists. Where can you make changes now you make the “reality list” look for like the “need to do list”? If you really want to achieve it, you must act as if, making these lists match is important! One of the things I share in all my audio inspiration programs, like Building Your Business is the “Just 10” model for success. Just 10 means you focus 10 minutes EVERY DAY on the things that are most important.
What changes do you need to make, and how are you going to achieve greater success, happiness, fitness, wealth, relationship…after your “reality check”?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Honestly I am shocked by how many people are “living their passion” but not making any money! Watch this video about a conversation with my good friend Owen JJ Stone, aka Ohdoctah:
So here is my two cents:
1-stop hanging out with broke people
2-finish what you start
3-develop passion into PROFIT
4-learn sales and marketing
You will be much happier when you do. And if you have personal passion that’s great, but business success, not personal success is about generating revenue. Period. Hard to hear, I bet, but Feisty Ann needed to say it.
So it’s 4Q FY2010, (that’s business lingo) what will you change to be a passionate revenue generator in your business?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
In January this year I did this video, it’s important to watch to gather the context of this post.
Do you know that as of August 2010, 2 BILLION videos a day are watched on YouTube alone (not counting any other videos online. Getting over yourself and using video is incredibly important for your goals these days. It develops trust and credibility even faster than your blog can.
In July of this year, after loading videos regularly, but not really paying attention to what I can do with social media and YouTube (yes YouTube is a social media channel, you can comment, like, have favorites, friends and subscribe. You can market to those you are connected with as well), I decided it was time to build a strategy for success. So here is what I did:
1-I purchased this program ($10 a month) a steal! TubeTool Box is a phenomenal time saver
TubeToolBox does target searches for the people I want to connect with for me, all I do is load the phrases, tell it to start and it finds 1000’s of connections for me that are a fit with my target market(it’s running as a write this, 355 my potential people as of this morning). Then, to make it even better, it will auto send the friend invites for you! The program is BRILLIANT because it knows YouTube’s parameters so you don’t get flagged as spam. My friends have increased from 59 to 1630. My subscriptions (which I am not even trying hard yet) are up from 16 to 284!
2-I worked with some amazing friends of mine to develop a “video viewing program”. This program drives people to watch your videos to watch. Let’s face it, more views mean more opportunity. This program invites some of those 2billion views a day to YOUR videos. The result: My views are up in the 1000’s! I have also received 2 paid speaking engagements, a webinar and I am part of the YouTube Partner program which gives me a share of income from Google ads. So far the ads alone is bringing in about $200 a month! There are programs that do it for about $50 a month, but I think we have made ours quite affordable and do-able, (starting at $10 a month) so try it!
YouTube is a speeding train. Be the ENGINE of that train in your industry. Figure out the kinds of videos yuu can do product reviews, stories, fun, inspiration to attract your market to your product or service.
What is my point? YouTube works as a social media sales and marketing tool. But there are programs out there to focus your efforts to make it successful. It’s time to think about your marketing videos. Oh and I hope you will subscribe to my You Tube channel while you are there!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Social Media has dramatically changed how we can do business, because it has changed how our customers interact, make decisions and ultimately decide to buy. Not realizing this could hurt you not help you. I once heard Tim Ferris of The Four Hour Work Week speak and he said if you are not interacting online you just have no clue what’s being said about you or your business.
How many of you believe you run or work for a company that’s doing a pretty darn good job?
How many of you realize that ALL companies big and small make mistakes?
How many of you realize that sometimes a customer needs help?
Here is the thing though: Now more than ever customers are making their decisions ONLINE.
If you are not managing your business online, you are loosing opportunity. Just like these two companies did. Don’t be that company. What will you do differently to engage your customers online?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
