All Things Small Business, Potential Extra Income

SEO Demystified-What Every Website Owner Needs to Know About to Attract Clients and Sales

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Hosted by Lana Goldenberger, a marketing specialist about whom I’ve heard rave reviews  from a few of her clients.  Click HERE to view free talk, a little under an hour.

About Lana

Lana Goldenberg helps entrepreneurs make more money by attracting, keeping, and monetizing their ideal clients online. After a successful 12-year corporate career in Marketing and Product Management, Lana pursued her passion of coaching and helping entrepreneurs benefit from the same proven strategies that large corporations use to attract clients and increase profits. She takes the complexity out of SEO, SEM, Social Media and website optimization, and strategically incorporates them into her clients’ money-making goals. She shares her strategies via one-on-one coaching as well as group traing for teams and organizations. Lana holds an MBA from UCLA and a B.A. from UC Berkeley. She lives in Marina del Rey, CA with her husband and two children.

http://www.LanaGoldenberg.com
310-577-9504 office
310-710-6990 mobile
323-421-9375 fax
Lana@LanaGoldenberg.com

4 Simple Steps for a Compelling Quick Pitch for Product, Service, MLM

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This article from Julie Steelman, The Entrepreneur’s Selling Expert, was just what I needed to nail down my elevator pitch.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been required to give one and always felt I wasn’t concise enough, sharing more information than was productive for the moment. 
Your quick pitch is your most poignant form of permission marketing. 

It’s sole intention is to get the listener to say “tell me more”.

When they do, you have just gained permission to talk more in-depth about your product or service and you are speaking to a willing participant.

To construct a compelling and quippy quick pitch doesn’t take long if you know your business well.  Here are four simple steps.

Step #1:  Identify exactly what you are selling and name it.  Use clear and concise language that is easy to understand. Incorporate an adjective into this statement.

Step #2:  What pain or suffering does your product or service alleviate?  What is the end result people get when they use your product or service?  Name the payoff the customer gets. 

Step #3:  In one phrase, tell why you care about offering this product or service?  What is your bigger goal or mission?

Step #4:  Put these items together and you have your compelling and quippy quick pitch.  Make sure to make it conversational and practice saying it often. 

Service Provider Example:
With my 10-step system, I teach entrepreneurs how to sell enough to make more money than they will ever need.  I care that entrepreneurs learn how to sell well because they are the new face of business in America.

Product Example:
I developed a green and organic skin care line that is perfect for busy women. They can rejuvenate their spirit while reducing the signs of aging in less than 1-minute a day.  I care deeply that no women suffers like I did from allergic reactions to unnatural ingredients.

MLM Example:
I help people get their joy back by empowering them to take charge of their health.  I know if everyone would put this product in their body, their life would be different.  Mine was and that is why I care that other people have the same experience.

Avoid describing your process, instead explain the specific result customers get.

Avoid trying to cover your whole story in the first encounter.

Remember the goal of a quick pitch, no matter who you are talking to, is to get them to say, “tell me more”.  It can be a reporter, a customer, a potential investor, a chance meeting or a casual conversation.

I know Julie from a business organization to which we both belong, and highly recommend her for small business owners.  Her website is www.JulieSteelman.com.  For more useful tips, subscribe to her newsletter. 
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Graphics Showing Twitter Users, What They’re Talking About and When

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These graphics take a look at Twitter’s path to 10 billion tweets, and what is now known about its users and what they’re talking about.  Click Here.

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Five Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

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1.  Don’t offer too many choices.  Whether it’s the number of products you offer or the number of plans you allow your employees to choose from, sometimes  you can offer too many choices, which often frustrates people.  Companies offering a small number of retirement plans have far greater enrollment than companies that offer a large number of plans.

2.  Request active commitments.  Ask in a way that elicits an active response.  One common mistake restaurants make when taking phone reservations is ending the call by saying “Please call if you have to cancel.”  By changing that line to “Will you please call if you have to cancel?” (followed by a pause for an answer), one restaurant owner reduced his no-show rate from 30 percent to 10 percent.

3.  Argue against self-interest.  Trust is a critical component to persuasion.  The surest way to be perceived as honest is to admit to a small weakness in your argument, product or business immediately prior to communicating the strongest pro argument.

4.  The threat of loss is more persuasive than the potential for gain.  Instead of telling your audience what they stand to gain from taking your advice or buying your product, tell them instead that they stand to lose out on an opportunity if they don’t take your advice or buy your product.

5.  Make people feel as if they’ve already made progress toward a goal.  A car wash offering a loyalty card nearly doubled customer retention by changing their offer from “Buy eight washes, get one free” to “Buy 10 washes, get one free–and we’ll start you off by crediting you for two washes.”


Excerpt from the book Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (Free Press, 2008), by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin and Robert B Cialdini, reveals 45 additional effective strategies to make you more persuasive. Available at Overstock.com, $10.10, $2.95 S&H.

Female Entrepreuneurs-Could you use Nuts and Bolts Support With Emphasis on Media Placement?

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I belong to a premium business network group for women entrepreneurs called SAVOR THE SUCCESS.  My most coveted resource as a small business owner, it’s for the serious entrepreneur (do-ers) and their philosophy is give-give-get.  The founder, Angela Jia Kim, was interviewed on Fox News a couple of months ago, and explains best what the group is about. Watch video here. 

I recommend becoming a member – it’s free with limited access to resources, or $49/mo for premium membership with full access.  Premium membership includes, at no charge, monthly chapter Mastermind meetings.  Each person takes a turn explaining one thing they need, the rest of the group brainstorms the issue. I can tell you from personal experience, it’s invaluable.

The Coolest, Free, Online Teleprompter for Vlogs, Phone Presentations

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Use your computer as a teleprompter for vlogs, sales calls, phone presentations, and for college students calling home explaining the importance of attending a concert they don’t have money for.

Extremely easy to use.  Just cut and paste script into teleprompter screen.  CUEPROMPTER.COM

Thanks to financial therapist and money makeover artist, Lora Sasiela of Financially Smitten for bringing this site to my attention.

“Comment Blogging” Done Right Increases Influence and Traffic to Your Site

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“COMMENT BLOGGING”  was written by Donna Maria Coles Johnson, CEO of Indie Business Media, a communications company, which offers custom content and expert insights to help small and independent business owners maximize their potential in life and business.

Ms. Johnson is also the founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization serving independent companies that offer health, beauty and lifestyle products and services.

If you’re a very small business owner, or hope to become one, I encourage you to visit her site, get to know her, subscribe to her blogs, and fully participate in the wealth of information and resources Donna has to offer.

  • She hosts the weekly Indie Business Radio show, featuring authors, experts and influencers who are as committed as she is to encouraging small business success. 
  • Featured in dozens of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Business Journal, The Chicago Tribune, ABC World News, National Public Radio, Entrepreneur Magazine, Working Mother Magazine and Ebony Magazine. 
  • Donna Maria graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism. She was earned a Juris Doctorate from the Catholic University of America, where she served on the prestigious Law Review and majored in telecommunications.

9 Businesses You Can Start in Your Pajamas in 2010

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I am never more inspired and in awe when I come across stories how people have started a successful small business from nothing more than an interest in something, an ability to sew, wear a T-shirt, gaming and more.  You’ll read some of these stories in the link further below, an article I found on Inc.com.

Tonight, watching Animal Planet on TV, there was a fascinating story about an ordinary man and his beagle (a hound), who he trained to ‘hunt’ down bed bugs that had burrowed themselves in areas away from the bed –  in a closet, another room, or down a staircase.

A pest exterminator can’t thoroughly treat a home for bed bugs if he or she doesn’t know where the bed bugs have traveled. 

So the beagle owner created a niche business for himself and gets to go to work with his beloved dog and business partner each day. How great is that?

Here’s the article on Inc.com.  Let it inspire you to be open to new, creative ideas for yourself. Brainstorm with someone.  It could be a blast.  The process of creativity makes you feel vital and alive.