Are you in the majority?  Did you let your marketing sit quietly on a shelf all summer while you went to the beach, took a vacation, or otherwise took a business siesta?  Well, you’re not alone.  Most business owners let their marketing slide during the summer, thinking that people aren’t paying attention…it’s a slow season…people will be back in the routine once fall hits.  I’m not saying this is the right thing to do…I’m just saying this is what happens.

Snap Out of It!  Fall is coming fast and you need to get your head back in the game!  Don’t know where to begin?  Well, I’m going to give you some tips to get you started.

Make sure your marketing plans are in place:

• Is your website in need of changes or updates?
• Do you need to make any changes in your branding or extend that branding?
• Do you have business cards, brochures, postcards, and other marketing materials on hand–0r at least on order?
• Is your email list up and running?  If not, be sure to get a sign-up form on your site ASAP!
• Do you need to invest in any local advertising?

Plan for success:

• Are you working part-time and expecting a full-time pay?  Time to re-think your strategy!  Hard work pays off, especially for the small business owner or solopreneur.  So put in your time and make that success happen!
• Are you doing the things you know you should be doing?
1. blogging at least once a week?
2. marketing your business in some way every day?
3. building valuable connections on social media?
4. getting involved with local business networking groups?
5. continuing your education/training to make you a better business person and better at what you offer your customers?

Reconnect with your past customers:

• Offer them an incentive to come back and do business with you (exclusive sale, sneak preview of new items, etc.)
• Ask them to give you an endorsement that you can use in your marketing (website, promotional items, etc.)
• Send them a token of appreciation or thank you note
• Send out a newsletter, telling them about your plans for the upcoming fall or holiday season

Find new customers:

• Ask your customers to introduce you to people who may be interested in your product or service
• Host an open house of gathering where people can meet you in an informal setting
• Interact with your community, whether that’s a local community or a community of online people with similar interests

The key is to keep juggling!  It’s not easy, but it’s very important to keep building your business–even when it doesn’t seem like you have the time to do so.  Yes, the things you are busy with may be making you money, but if you don’t keep up your marketing, things will eventually slow down and you end up in a cycle of busy/slow/busy/slow.  Wouldn’t it be much nicer to have steady…and better yet, steadily increasing business?

Now, I realize there are a lot of other ways to gear up for your fall marketing campaign than I’ve mentioned here.  I’d love to hear some feedback from my readers.  What techniques have you successfully used to get back into the swing of things after a “vacation” time like “summer break”?  Let me know…that’s what the comment section is for!

Branding is a vital aspect to every business.  It is responsible for how the world perceives you and your business and it’s very important that we pay attention to this aspect of marketing.  If your business branding is sloppy or unprofessional, your potential customers will probably assume that you, also, are sloppy and unprofessional, which is hardly how you want to be seen!

Your marketing materials and all related promotional items should match in style, colors, and design.  By keeping uniformity, you give the customer comfort and a feeling of security, which may be subconscious, but is nevertheless very real.  That feeling of security helps to eliminate the confusion of who you are and how you handle business.  Remember, a confused customer will ALWAYS say no!

Uniformity in your branding leads to brand recognition.  Brand recognition builds confidence and awareness about your business.  People are less hesitant to trust businesses that have this image of credibility.  There is a feeling portrayed that the company will be around for a while–not a fly-by-night operation that will disappear with their money.

Some things to think about when branding your business and buying marketing materials:

• Your business cards are the single most, cost-effective marketing piece that you can invest in for your business.  Make sure to have them professionally designed and printed.  Make sure they are printed on a heavy grade, quality cardstock, as flimsy business cards give the impression of a flimsy company.  If you cut corners on your most important marketing tool, you give the impression that you may cut corners on something that matters to your customer.  NOT the first impression you want to leave!
• Your letterhead should match your website.  Your website should match your promotional materials.  Your promotional materials should match your advertising.  And so on.  I think you can get the idea–uniformity is important!

It is also important to keep your brand current with the culture, which brings up the aspect of re-branding.  Re-branding is when you update the look of your branding. There are times when you just need to freshen things up — shake them up a bit.  This is a process that I’m currently working through with Dramatic Design.  As you can see, the website has changed, well…dramatically!  (I’m still in the process of updating other aspects of my branding.)

While I still liked the branding to the left, it was starting to look very dated.  It was starting to get boring–and if I thought it was boring, what must my prospective clients thought!  It wasn’t right anymore, as my business is a constant state of transition and growth.  I needed to punch it up…take it to the next level.  So, I have upgraded the colors to something more “2011,” created a new design, and came up with a more creative tagline.  These things helped me to get excited about my business branding–and about my business.

If you haven’t considered your branding, I would challenge you to think about it!  If you have had the same branding materials for a while, it might be time to update your brand!  Either way, I’m here to help!  Please ask your questions below, in the comments, or send me an email.  Let’s see how Dramatic Design can help you shake it up!

New Year’s Day always seems like a time of reflection.  We as ourselves a lot of thought-provoking questions…

• How did things go over the past year?
• How can I make them better in the coming year?
• What do I want to do differently?
• Should my focus be on something different?

This is especially true for small business owners, as they are generally asking these questions of themselves twice — once about life in general, and another time regarding the growth of their business.

We formulate plans, plan some changes, change some aspects of our lives.  Many people make “New Year’s Resolutions“…and many people set themselves up for failure.  It’s in many ways like saying you’re “going on a diet.”  A resolution, like a diet, implies there is an ending date–a time when you will no longer have to follow the rules of your choice.  It’s temporary.

However, when you change your mindset and realize that you aren’t looking for a quick fix, but rather, a long-term solution, your whole perspective changes.  Adopting a healthy eating plan is so much more powerful (and positive) than saying you’re going on a diet.  You realize that it will take time and accept the fact that this isn’t just a temporary measure.  You accept the fact that there is room for moderation within the perimeters that you have set for yourself–not what some weight-loss book dictates.  It puts you in control!  And, after all, isn’t that part of the reason that you own your own business–because you want to be in control of your life?

On this first day of 2011, I would like to challenge you to make goals instead of resolutions.  Make them reasonable to set yourself up for success.  For example, don’t make a goal to blog every day if you know you’ve only been able to post 5 times in the previous year–that sets yourself up for failure!  Instead, make it your goal to blog at least once a week.  You can always increase your frequency if you find that you’re achieving this goal and want to push yourself more.  This way of thinking sets you up for success!  Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t push yourself–that’s the only way to get ahead in your business.  I’m just saying that you should be realistic.

Today is 1/1/11 — even the calendar is telling us that it’s time for a fresh start.  Have you thought about your business goals for 2011?  What areas do you need to work on this year?  How will you formulate your goals into positives instead of negatives?  What is your plan for achieving your goals?  I would love to hear about your goals!  Please post a comment, if you’d like to share!  And if I can help in any way, please let me know!

This is such an exciting development that I had to share!     In January, I shared that I went to Atlanta to participate in the NAMS Conference (Niche Affiliate Marketing Strategies) and it was an AWESOME live event!  Well, they have made some big changes that I think will allow a lot more people to take advantage of this wonderful learning event.  The biggest one is that they’ve made the January NAMS Conference virtual!  This means–

• No travel (for me, it’s 13 hours to Atlanta!)
• No hotel bill
• No eating out for the entire time
• No traveling in questionable weather

These three things alone will cut my cost in half! Additionally, I can be in the comfort of my own home and take care of my family and still get all the great training that comes with the NAMS Conference!

So, this is the 5th NAMS Conference and they just keep getting better and better.  The event coordinator, David Perdew, has some really amazing bonuses that could each be worth the price of the early-bird registration, which is only $297 (through the end of December).

• You get all of the NAMS 1-4 Conference recordings!  That’s over 150 hours of teaching by some of the greatest experts in the field of affiliate marketing!
• 5 sessions per day for 3 days…THEN…additional sessions during the following week for live events (recordings provided, in case you cant make those sessions)
• Assignments for each session to help you put what you learned into action
• Accountability groups in the forum for follow-up with your peers and the instructors
• Special NAMS marketing software, including
  • Article Twister
  • Local Domain Hound
  • others that David is still in negotiations with to provide
• 6 months of Gold Membership to the Niche Mall, which is being re-launched in January ($90 value)
  • About 1,500 ready-to-sell products in about 140 niches
  • You choose which niches you would like to promote
  • You receive 100% commission on any 10 niche categories
  • It’s completely  set up for you–all you deal with is a link!  This is niche affiliate marketing in the simplest form!  All you have to do is drive the traffic!
• A workbook with notes and assignments from the conference, including audios, videos/webinars from the sessions, which will be sent to you several weeks after the last webinar

Okay, so I was saving the best for last…the price of $297 not only gets you the NAMS 5 Virtual Conference, but it also gets you admission to the LIVE NAMS 6 Conference in Atlanta, August 17-22!  So, you’re getting 2 conferences for less than the price of one!  The “regular” cost of admission is $697.

So, it’s basically like getting 6 months of training by the best affiliate marketers in the business for under $300.  Some coaches charge that much for one hour of their time!  Some of the instructors include:

• Willie Crawford
• Denise Wakeman
• Mark Hendricks
• Jeff Herring
• Maritza Parra
• Lynn Terry
• Kathleen Gage
• Paul Evans
• Nicole Dean
• Dan Morris
• Karon Thackston
• Kevin Riley
• Ellen Britt
• Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins
• many, many others

I had the pleasure to meet most of the above instructors in January and I have to tell you, they are top-notch professionals who really want to help other people to succeed.

So, will I see you there?

Google has a LOT of free tools to help you market your business.  One of these is called Google Places (click on Business Owner to get started).  It’s an online directory where you can list your business (think Yellow Pages) for FREE!  By listing your business with Google Places, you will:

• show up in Google Maps with your information in a “bubble”
• have an option in Maps to view “More Information”
• increase your visibility to Google with the information you want them to see
• be fed statistics that will help you to better target your marketing efforts
• gain another inbound link to your website, which will help you rank higher in search engine results

Below, you will see a screenshot of Dramatic Design’s listing on Google Maps.  (Click to enlarge any of the images below.)  URL: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&georestrict=input_srcid:f619ea71e3881350&ie=UTF8&view=map&cid=1830561358437269488&q=Dramatic+Design&iwloc=A&ved=0CEsQpQY&sa=X&ei=UoTiTKX9HJj8yAWVyay6Dw

Here is a screenshot of the Profile page created for Dramatic Design on Google Places.  It’s really another way to promote your business and the inbound link from Google’s servers is a high-quality link, which is valued higher than the average inbound link.  You can add whatever images and links you like to your profile and your customers can add reviews about your business, too.  The URL for this page is: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&georestrict=input_srcid:f619ea71e3881350

And, below is a screenshot of the administrative area of Dramatic Design’s Google Places account.  You will see, when you enlarge the image, all of the areas you can add and change on the right side and the statistics on the left.  In the upper-right corner, you will also see that you can add status lines, like you do on Facebook or Twitter.  Google also allows you to add coupons for your potential customers that will show up on your profile page at no cost!

I found it very interesting to see that Dramatic Design was returned as a result 36 times for the term “business development” in search results.  This is something that I do help with, but it’s never been a focus area–perhaps it should be?  Now, are these results as good as I would like?  No, but I’ve gained the eyes of 111 searchers who may not have found me without being listed in Google Places.  In marketing, every time you have eyes looking at your search result, that’s a good thing!

Have you set up your Google Places profile yet?  If not, go to http://places.google.com and claim your business listing!  Once you’ve set it up, I would love to take a peek!  List the URL of your profile in the comments!