This arrived in my e-mail courtesy of Debbie LaChusa, a coach who has some wonderful ideas about how to take your business to the next level. I’m passing this article on to NYWICI members, as I think it would be useful for any business owner.
Enjoy!
Nancy L. Hoffmann
TomatoDesign.Net
212.691.1445
http://TomatoDesign.Net
“When marketing online, one of the first rules is to set up a system on your website that enables you to build a relationship with new prospects, vs. trying to sell to them on their first visit.
To do this, you offer visitors the chance to get a “free gift” from you in exchange for their name and email address.
This is nothing new, and it’s always the very first marketing strategy I work on with my clients. We set up a lead generation system on their website so they can build a list of their ideal clients. This way they have a solid foundation to build a strong, long-lived business on.
But one of the first challenges they often face is getting people to their website so they can then get them onto their list.
Now there are lots of ways to drive traffic to your website, but we want to make sure we’re driving qualified traffic – that is, ideal clients, not just any Tom, Dick or Harry!
Here are 10 quick & easy ways to attract your ideal clients:
1. Article Marketing
Write articles in your area of expertise and post them on online article directories likewww.ezinearticles.com. This positions you as an expert and drives people who are interested in your topic to your website.
2. Teleseminars
Do teleseminars for other people’s list. Find other solo-professionals with the kind of clients you are seeking, and offer to teach a free class for their audience.
3. Joint Ventures
Find other solo-professionals serving your ideal clients and find ways to partner, promote each other, or even feature each others articles in your newsletters.
4. Reciprocal Links
Find other websites that your ideal clients would be interested in and post links to them on your website. Then ask those websites to return the favor.
5. PRWeb
Publicize your business by posting a press release on www.prweb.com. This gets the word out about you and drives people who are interested in learning more to your website.
6. Social Networking
Network with other solo-professionals on sites such as Facebook. This is a great way to share what you’re up to and connect with potential joint venture partners.
7. Google Adwords
Buy your way onto page 1 of the search engine results for your top keywords and start driving traffic to your site immediately.
8. Advertise in Other E-zines
Find e-zines that reach your ideal clients and if they sell advertising, buy an ad and promote your free gift to build your list.
9. Affiliate Programs
Use a shopping cart system like www.10stepcart.com with a built-in affiliate module to enable your happy clients to get paid for spreading the word and promoting you.
10. Offline Networking
Don’t forget about good old fashioned networking events and conferences. Attend them on a regular basis and hand out business cards with a call-to-action for your free gift on the back.
If you’re not getting all the traffic you want to your website, pick 3-4 of these activities and start implementing them right away. If you do them consistently, you’ll see your traffic and list start to grow and you’ll be on your way to building a solid foundation for your business.”
© Copyright 2009 Debbie LaChusa
Debbie LaChusa created 10stepmarketing to help solo-professionals and small business owners market their own businesses more successfully. Debbie believes creating a marketing plan is the first step in building a successful business. Don’t have a marketing plan? You can get a marketing plan template to help you create one when you subscribe to The 10stepmarketing E-zine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com.
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Speaking of “Jellies” . . .
Regarding the story (below) of 9/16/08: The article happened! Crain’s “Workforce Management” Magazine published an article on 10/06/08 about the co-working event that happened in my loft! The link is http://www.workforce.com , and here is a photo of page 8, featuring me / upper left (hooray!) and my loft [click on image to enlarge for reading]:
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Arianna at Web 2.0
On Friday, 9/19/08, NYWICI Matrix Award-winner Arianna Huffington gave the Keynote “address” (which was really an interview) at the Web 2.0 Conference at the NYC Javits Center. To view the entire interview with Tim O’Reilly (O’Reilly Media, Inc.), go to:
http://blip.tv/file/1279644
The Huffington Post, which the “old boys” said could never succeed, is now the #1 blog — with 1/2 the traffic of the Washington Post — and growing by leaps and bounds. Arianna said she was attracted to the web by its “obsessive/compulsive” nature: follow your passions, and you can make a difference.
Her mission at The Huff Post is to bring together 3 things:
1) To be a news aggregator with an attitude, airing a specific point of view;
2) To provide a platform for over 2,000 bloggers, some of whom wouldn’t otherwise have their own blog;
3) To build community: her readers leave comments in a continuing dialogue with the writers. This has proved more successful for her than for other news media. For example, she might feature a headline and a couple of sentences pointing to an article in the NY Times. While the NY Times might not get any reaction on their article, The HP’s readers often provide 500 (or more!) comments on Arianna’s site.
Conservative bloggers have failed: talk radio is their medium. (Radio proved itself to be ideal for fascism in the Second World War.) Progressives thrive on the web: she calls them natural “blowhards”. The web is self-correcting: no one tolerates untruth, and commentators never hesitate to respond to apparent misinformation.
At The Huff Post, blog writers seek to publish the truth backed up by actual facts: the idea that news can be “objective” is often sadly misleading, according to Ms. Huffington. Not all issues have 2 sides: for example, she firmly believes the earth is NOT flat, global warming is man-made, and so on. As Iraq is “the greatest foreign policy disaster in the history of the United States”, she wants to keep it front and center, even as other news media have moved on. The violence is continuing and we have achieved no “victory”, as the Bush camp would have us believe. We have let the Sarah Palin soap opera distract us, even while “Rome burns”, and this keeps us from dealing with the truly important issues.
The HP’s home offices are located above Dean and DeLuca, at 560 Broadway, NYC. The Administrative and Advertising teams are on the 3rd floor; while the Editorial and Tech teams are on the 4th. Additonally, The Huffington Post has 30 human moderators working 24/7 to edit “vile attacks” and keep the discussion from being undermined. This process in no way slows down the publication process; after all, it’s only 1% of 1% of readers who are likely to cause problems.
As for the $85-billion AIG bailout, Arianna pointed out that Wall Street has always gone with the illusion that “unregulated free markets bring public good”. Obviously, that hasn’t worked. The message the Bush administration is sending America (and the world) is that “if you’re big enough, you won’t be allowed to fail”. “Small” people can go down in flames, apparently, as are the millions of home owners who are losing their property. This is NOT what America is about!
Regarding the election, Obama is a brilliant user of the web, and wouldn’t even be a candidate without it. He maintains an open platform, not just the party line: his supporters can argue his positions. (Polls are very faulty, as they typically call land lines, and cell users are left out of the debate.) On the web, the community pushes their representatives to do the right thing. Citizen journalists are creating another platform.
The next big thing we need to consider is how to “unplug and recharge”. Sleep deprivation has driven us crazy: we seriously need joy in our lives! Some conventions provide spaces for yoga, naps and relaxation, so the presenters and attendees don’t burn out. Tim O’Reilly personally splits wood to “recharge”; Arianna sleeps, does yoga, meditates or hikes.
And there you have it!
— Nancy Hoffmann
TomatoDesign.Net
URL: http://TomatoDesign.Net
Blog: http://tomatogreening.wordpress.com
For the full discussion the site (again) is:
http://blip.tv/file/1279644
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The Workplace of the Future
My Loft — The Workplace of the Future?
Friday saw a group of about 15-20 freelancers wander in and out of my loft between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. We all came from different backgrounds, but we all had one thing in common: we were participating in a “jelly.” The idea of co-working isn’t new; but the peripatetic nature of this kind of sharing is. We meet at least once a month, each time in a different location. We make sure wi-fi is available, and we bring out laptops. Each of us works on a different project, but as we learn more about each other, we are also networking, as well.
The 2 bedrooms were co-opted as impromptu phone booths for conference and client calls, which worked out very well, as cell phones did not disturb the others. Some people stepped out into the hall, or strolled along 23rd Street, as an alternative method of phoning/exercising/eating.
Although San Francisco and Boston aren’t strangers to the jelly, we are the only one in Manhattan (there may be one in Brooklyn, also.) The invitation is sent in advance by e-mail (our group currently has 500+ members), and is limited to a certain number on a first-to-RSVP basis.
One of the early-birds Friday was Jessica Marquez of Crain’s “Workforce Management.” She interviewed us separately and together, and will do a feature article (with sleepy photos) for the publication. Another unusual event took place at the end of the jelly, when Nichelle Stephens returned from a client meeting uptown with a magnum of lovely brut “vin champagnois” [aka "champagne" — see below]. Needless to say, the remaining 9 people toasted each other in style!
Another of the participants, Todd Sundsted, is writing a book on the workplace of the future, and thus was both working and doing research by participating. He found a desk my father had made and happily attached himself to it for the duration: there were quite of number of original and creative seating arrangements made during the day.
There was even a large skateboard parked in the dining area. Ken Smith, a C++ programmer, was only in town for the weekend, and took advantage of the jelly to utilize the informal workspace. Apart from the fact that no one showed up in jammies, it was an altogether improvisational — yet very productive — event.
The jelly is certainly the trend of the future, as more and more people work from home or in a freelance capacity. Even some with normal full-time jobs took time to work with us, as they had tasks that could be remotely accomplished.
If you would like to get more information or to join up, contact Tony Bacigalupo at jelly@tonybacigalupo.com . And come “jell out” with us!
— Nancy L. Hoffmann
TomatoDesign.Net
URL: http://tomatodesign.net
Blog: http://tomatogreening.wordpress.com
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Are We THERE Yet?
It’s hard to believe it, but it’s been about 40 years since women started being treated like people. That is, people who could have careers, integrate male-only schools, and break down barriers from the classroom to the bedroom.
So I think it’s time to take stock of the situation. Where exactly are we, as of 2008? Have we, in the 1970 words of Virginia Slims cigarettes, “come a long way, baby”?
Now that we are actually the MAJORITY of the planet’s population (and will continue to be for a few more decades), can we change the paradigm? Can we make $1.00 on a man’s dollar in the workplace? Will we be the majority of CEOs in this century? Will we ride the new wave, looking over the horizon, and seize the opportunities that are being presented by Green Technology? Or will the men continue to be the innovators and powerbrokers?
Personally, I haven’t benefited much from the Women’s Movement, mainly because I was born too soon. I’ve spent my life playing catch-up to the marketplace, or being the First Woman [whatever], and having to wait for the playing field to level out after my “entrance”.
But most of you have been able to plan and conduct careers, unlike your predecessors. Where do you see yourselves going in the next few years? Will you be helping other women to succeed? Or hiring young men, as so many of you do now, in preference to older, more experienced women?
Will you be building safe houses for women in tough 3rd-World countries, like Eve Ensler (of the Vagina Monologues)? [And why hasn't she been nominated for a Matrix Award??] Or helping women trapped in poverty to have both career training AND daycare?
In the early ’80s, there was a groundswell among major corporations to provide “flexitime” and on-site daycare for women. Why did that evaporate? What about men who are primary caregivers: how can we help them?
Please let me know your take on this.
After all, Bogey, this could be the beginning of a great dialogue!
Meanwhile, Happy Vacation! See you in September!
— Nancy L. Hoffmann
TomatoDesign.Net
URL: http://tomatodesign.net
Blog: http://tomatogreening.wordpress.com
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My Brilliant Career
Welcome to My Brilliant Career, a blog for NYWICI members who are going through career and life transitions. We’ll get to know them and follow their career rollercoasters. You’ll find postings from 20-somethings just starting out, and career veterans who want — or are forced to — make major changes in their working lives. Stop back soon for the latest postings.
Filed under: Communications, New York, career, women | 1 Comment
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