I am very excited to announce the launch of my new self-study course — Marketing 101 for Small Business Owners.  The course is written in plain English and is very easy to understand.  It takes you by the hand through the steps of defining and marketing to your target audience–one step at a time.  The lessons are sent right to your email inbox about once a week, which gives you plenty of time to work on the assignments in each lesson.

In working with small business owners for over 10 years now, many of the same questions come up over and over, so I address these questions as a part of the lessons.  You will learn all the basic steps that will start you on the path of reaching your potential clients using low-cost and free tools that will be shared in the course.

I’m very excited about this course and invite you to read more about it at Dramatic Small Business Marketing, a new site that I created just for this project.  The course runs for 5 months at only $19.95 per month–less than $5.00 per lesson!  This price is pretty much unheard of and may make some waves in the marketing circles, but I’m okay with that!

But if that isn’t cheap enough, I’m going to let you in on a really special secret!  I’m coordinating the launch of my course with the annual Mom Masterminds 10 Day May Madness Sale.  This is a super-exciting sale that only runs once a year.  Each participant puts up a valuable product for only $5.00!  You should check out all the great deals that are offered from now till May 19!  I’ve already been shopping!  Some of the things offered include:

• Advertising discounts
• Online courses to help you business
• Ebooks
• Private Label Rights articles
• Unique business idea books
• Keyword Research
• Social Networking informational products
• Virtual Assistant services
• Custom graphics
• Membership at Mom Masterminds — First Month only $5 AND $5 off the regular price for the rest of the membership!  (This is something that has NEVER been offered before!)

Please, go check out the deals at 10 Day May Madness for yourself–then come back and tell me what you liked best, what you have questions about, or what you bought in the comments!

NOTE: Please be sure to use the links located at 10 Day May Madness to receive the special $5 pricing on items listed in this post.

Just have a minute today, but I wanted to send you this free gift.  It’s a copy of the March MMotivator newsletter.  This is a publication that has, until now, been exclusively for Mom Masterminds members.  Starting with this month, however, it is open to the public.  There are a LOT of great articles in this issue–

• Celebrating Milestones
• Extra Inspiration from #IndieBizChat
• Why We Need a Life Roadmap
• The Organized WAHM: 3 Keys to Getting the Important Things Done
• Goldilocks and the Three Keywords
• and Much More!

I’ve been a member of the Mom Masterminds networking group for over a year now and have been thrilled with the support and helpfulness of all the members there.  It is the perfect place to start if you’re looking for a way to make a living from home–or increasing your existing business.  Most of the members are moms, but it’s not an exclusive thing–several do not have children…and we even have a few guys in the group.

If you’re at all interested, there’s a 7-day free trial that you can take (no obligation whatsoever).  I would encourage you to give it a try!  There are tons of great resources there and some pretty great colleagues and mentors who hang around the forum!

Download your free copy of the March MMotivator and let me know if you have any questions!

I’ve been told that I have the gift of gab–and it’s true.  I am able to connect quickly with people and can usually find some common ground to talk about within just a few minutes of meeting them.  It’s not something that I plan out, it just seems to “happen”.  I really enjoy meeting new people and  I love networking events!  I don’t mind “cold calling”.  I even enjoy interviews.  (How weird is that?)

My kids can’t believe how I can start talking to someone like I’ve known them forever.  As an example, during the last airplane trip that we took, I was sitting next to a guy and I found out that he was a pilot from the same airline traveling to his next assignment (the uniform was a dead give-away).  We started talking and before we knew it, it was time to land…THREE HOURS LATER!  For me, this is fun…but I realize that I’m the exception and not the rule.

For those who don’t find it totally natural, just think of it as making new friends.  People will never do business with someone who they don’t

• Know
• Like and
• Trust

As you make and develop these relationships, you will find that being genuine and developing the above will help others to know, like and trust you as a person.  They no longer see you as a salesperson who is just after your money, but rather, as a friend or acquaintance that genuinely cares about them.  People will do business with you–and they will refer others to you.  There is a great article that I read about this–here is  a quote from that article.

A critical component in any marketing campaign is learning, understanding and catering to the needs of your audience. This process takes time and doesn’t lead to an immediate sale. However, through developing relationships with your audience, you gain a far greater understanding of how you can uniquely meet their needs.

A concept that is often overlooked in modern digital marketing is the personal touch. Many companies seem to have forgotten that their audience is comprised of people who have needs, wants and could just use a simple “Hi! How are you today?” without having a “buy now” message shoved down their throat.  Read more about developing a following through altruism.

Are you building genuine relationships with other people?  Do they know that you care about them and you want to help them?  Your product or service could be just the solution they are looking for, but if they don’t know, like and trust you, they will find their solution elsewhere.  When you build those relationships and they do become clients or customers, they are generally loyal and long-time customers and may even become your sales force!  Take the time and get to know your potential clients–you may just make a new friend in the process!

I’m going to be very transparent here.  This is a personal invitation to my clients–leave a comment and tell me if I’m “walking the walk.”  If not, I want to know.  Comments are open to everyone of course.  I would love to hear how you use relationship marketing in your business–be sure to leave your URL when you comment!

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Niche Affiliate Marketing Strategies Workshop (NAMS) in Atlanta.  It was amazing!  Not just the learning, but the networking, too!  While I met a lot of “big name” marketers, I also met a lot of people just like me, which was just as great!  One of the people I met–and actually sat next to in class was Judy Kelly.  Judy wanted to have a background designed to coordinate with her website, Quick Steps To Health.  So, it was great that we were able to talk and that I have been able to help her with this project!  Here is the final result, which you can also see live on her Twitter Page.

Judy was so pleased that she wrote a testimonial for me:

In January at NAMS, I was fortunate to sit next to and therefore meet Kim. During our conversation, I discovered that she did website creation stuff. Being a non-technical person, I was thrilled to meet Kim. Turns out that she is fantastic at what she does. She designed and put up a new twitter page for me that looks awesome. Go take a look at http://www.twitter.com/judykkelly and see for yourself. You should have seen it before (ugh!). Kim is honest, trustworthy, prompt, and most importantly really really good at what she does.

Next time I need any type of web work done on my blog at http://www.quickstepstohealth.com I’ll certainly be calling on Kim!

Thanks, Judy!  It was great meeting you and being able to work with you on this project!

Local client, Josi Stevens, creates beautiful baby items.  Many of them are made from a material that I’d never heard of before–Minky.  It was one of the softest, most elegant fabrics that I’d ever felt!  It would be wonderful for a baby’s soft skin!

The items that Josi is focusing on to start include:

• Bibs
• Booties
• Blankets
• Burp Cloths
• Gift Sets

In addition to Minky fabric, she also makes some items in a flannel print, which is also a very soft fabric for your favorite little one.  Josi’s baby items make great gifts for baby showers and for visiting the baby for the first time!

You can visit the complete site at www.josiq.com