Think about the original reason you decided to open your business. Connect with the excitement and anticipation you felt imagining the impact you were going to make in your community, being of service to others and feeling appreciated by your clients. Tap into the feeling of your business making a difference in their lives.

How was your life going to be different once you reached your ideal goal?

Now consider your current business, where are you now? What progress have you made toward reaching your goal? Along the way some things could not have been anticipated. What challenges have come up affecting your vision? How do you deal with unforeseen problems and conflict?

Crossing the gap

The process of envisioning the ideals for creating your business, contemplating where you are now along with considering the challenges while building your business is known as the gap. The gap is the space between where you are now and where you would like to be. The gap is very interesting, causing an emotional and behavioral affect.

We all have a gap in our business. The difference is based upon how you choose to bridge the gap. Know your goals. Once that has happened you can develop a navigation tool which will help you stay the course, successfully arriving at your destination.

My favorite approach is to develop a plan from the future goal back to the present, called reverse engineering. Along the way you create milestones. Those are your destinations of where you want to be by a specific date. Consider the step you need to take to reach each milestone. This will be your action plan.

Be Creative

This process can be applied to the creative thinker as well as the cognitive planner. So many different tools are available. Whatever is your style, there is something for you. These include vision boards, calendars, brain mapping and flow charts. Consider trying two different ones to challenge your right and left brain. You might be surprised with the results.

The tool you are willing to use is the one which is right for you. Expect the Unexpected Unexpected challenges will appear along the way as you are taking the steps to grow, and expand, your business. Do you meet those challenge head on, continuing to progress toward your vision, regardless of how uncomfortable it is? Maybe you think about the problem for awhile as you figure out what action plan to implement next. Or you could give up in defeat, believing you were not supposed to be following this avenue after all. Where do you fit in?

Your approach to the gap depends upon your beliefs, perceptions, prior experiences and support system. The most successful entrepreneurs take imperfect decisive action. The mindset is to continue making progress toward the set goal while correcting the course along the way. The gap is not a challenge, but an opportunity. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of focusing on where they are now, what is right in front of them. Although the day to day operations need to be addressed, they distract you from your goal. As a result it is possible to lose sight of the BIG picture, the original intention for going into business.

If you find you are getting off track get an accountability buddy. Having another like-minded entrepreneur who you check in with on a regular basis is powerful. Just the process of checking in on a regular basis for a couple of minutes helps to maintain focus, keeping you on course. This is not a long chat on a phone going over your social plans. Instead it is a brief 5-minute check in stating your intentions for the day which will help to keep you focused on your goals.

Strategy is your blueprint to success

Without a strategy it is difficult to determine if you are veering off course. Worse yet, maybe you never set a course to begin with. You continue to work in your business, but don’t have a definite direction. If that is the case, how would you ever know when you have arrived?

Of course it is necessary to address your current business needs right now, but you also want to maintain awareness of your business goals. If your goals are designed for growth, they will continue to stretch you. Not only will your business grow, but you will experience personal growth as well. They go hand-in-hand. You cannot grow your business alone. Personal growth occurs as you step out of your comfort zone.

Welcome feedback

Solopreneurs tend to be very controlling. It is part of our nature. There is a need to know all, be all. Well, sometimes that approach backfires.

There are just some things you will not know how to do yet. Don’t attach any judgment to it. It is all part of the process of growing your business and coming across something new and unexpected.

When you begin feeling overwhelmed, doubting your goals are realistic and feeling stuck, consider getting support. This might include asking a trusted alliance for feedback, hiring a virtual assistant or asking a mentor for guidance.

Determining which next action steps to take maintains momentum. Continue to evaluate your progress, where you are now and whether you need to make a course correction. This process is fluid and things will change as you move along. Be open to the possibility that the end result might turn out very different than you originally anticipated. This does not mean failure. In fact, things very rarely end up just as you envisioned.

Feel that you are ready to move forward toward your vision, but overwhelmed about everything which needs to get done to reach that goal? Doubting your abilities? You have tried to reach milestones before but end up getting sidetracked? Well, instead of looking at these things as negatives what if they could be used as information to help you reach your current goal successfully. The truth is the end result is important, but it is the journey which enriches you.

About the Author

And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE E-course “Step Into Your Greatness” available at: => http://mindsetformarketingsuccess.com

Click here to get everything you need and begin clearing the obstacles to the next level of your success.

From Loren Fogelman, the success expert, founder of Mindset for Marketing Success.

Whether you’re selling information products, small business services, real estate or widgets, there is one skill you need above all others to increase your sales. It’s not a better autoresponder series. It’s not the most competitive price. It’s not even the best product.

What you need is empathy, the ability to step into your prospects’ lives and see and experience what they’re feeling. True empathy does more than just guess or project what you want them to feel; it acknowledges who and where they are in their own individual lives.

Get Into Your Prospect’s Mind

The easiest way to get into your prospect’s mind is to ask him questions. What does he think about the world? How do his emotions affect his actions? What are his goals and aspirations? What’s his life actually like?

It takes a very good friend to go that deep, so you’ll have to ask less invasive questions until you establish a solid friendship. Empathy is even harder to develop if you’re working entirely online and don’t see or have a dialog with customers. Email and landing pages are often a one-way street, but they shouldn’t be.

Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and approach your product/service/writing from his angle. You will see yourself differently. Walk through your process and identify where it could be easier for the reader. Empathize with his wants and needs. Increase clarity and eliminate distraction.

Avoid Hot Buttons

Copywriting gurus preach hot buttons, those painful triggers that get prospects to act immediately. There’s a place for hot buttons in your communications, but they shouldn’t be the sole focus of your interaction with customers.

Instead, draw prospects in with your kindness, respect, intelligence, and empathy. You can address every anxiety, frustration, and trigger through empathy and stop beating your prospect over the head with his failures and shortcomings.

Avoid Urgency!!!

Nobody wants to be poked in the eye with flashing copy, huge colored words, and exclamation points!!!! Your prospect will scream and run away in eight seconds flat. Likewise with words such as extremely, hot, limited time, deal, must, act now. Unless your prospect is actually on fire, she’s not having the same emergency as your copy.

The empathetic approach understands what led the prospect to your landing page, email, or article. She didn’t just randomly click a hyperlink and stumble upon you (probably). You can’t create urgency where none existed before the page view. Acknowledge where she came from and make it clear she landed in the right spot.

Become a Trusted Advisor, Not an Expert

Being called an expert no longer has the same punch. Everyone on the Internet is an expert, so that means nobody is an expert. When you empathize with your reader or prospect, you aim to be an advisor and knowledgeable friend.

Approach the reader from a sharing viewpoint. You share your knowledge and expect him to share his with you in an exchange. You’re not above him; you’re beside him walking through a teaching experience. You are trustworthy, so he trusts you.

Admit your own shortcomings once in a while and you will seem genuine. If your product or service or copywriting helped you overcome failure, tell your prospect that. You’re in this together-you just happen to know a little more than he does.

Develop Empathy and Your Sales Will Increase

Get to know your customers and readers. Ask questions and share responses and ask more questions. Calm down your enthusiasm and urgency-unless you really are a crazy person who shouts in real life. Be genuine and human and courteous and knowledgeable.

Always approach your copy from the prospect’s perspective. Believe what he or she believes, just for a little while. Have the same goals and objectives, the same feelings and desires. Your product or service fits into a real life. If it doesn’t, why are you trying to sell it?

About the Author

To learn more about article marketing, SEO, freelance writing, copywriting careers, and branding, visit Evelyn Fielding’s blog at http://www.10000seeds.com/conqueringcontent. Reach full potential online. Maximize income. Become the expert. Conquer content.

Flyer distribution to local residents can be effective in the fact that there are teams of employees that go out and distribute your flyers to the general public either in your area or any area of your choosing. Most of the companies that offer this type of service have locations all across the country and can accommodate just about any business with their advertising flyer distribution needs. Most consumers today think that a flyer either on their mailbox or on their car is just some kind of situation that they do not want sign up for. But on the contrary there are huge benefits to picking up one of these flyers and using them to their potential.

And statistically people are still reading these flyers that come to their home or distributed onto their cars at large parking lots and other areas of your local demographic. That is why a flyer distribution service is still an important part of the whole picture that you should look into when advertising your business to the public. Flyer distribution services along with sign twirlers and even colder Inflatables will be just part of the campaign that a professional advertising company can do for your business along with increased profits and better peace of mind that your business is growing and reaching thousands of people at many different times of the day.

Before making a decision about a flyer distribution campaign or even advertising of any sort, then the trip to the Internet with some key search words will come up with some details scenarios that other businesses have used to advertise and of the companies in general that advertised for them. This lets you get to know the company a little before entering into a flyer distribution campaign contract if that is something that your business needs at this point. This avenue of research can also give you some comparisons of different pricing packages and will let you find a package that is within your budget and will be the best choice for your business.

After this advertising is distributed you should see an overwhelming result of many different new customers both on the Internet and in your local area because of the new method of marketing and other advertising aspects that were implemented. This is why a flyer distribution campaign along with an advertising campaign can grow your business and keep profitability moving forward into the future.

About the Author

For more information on flyer distribution, please visit our website.

I know that many lawyers reading this went to law school never giving thought to the idea of having to do any legal marketing. In fact, I suspect that you would rather undergo root canal surgery than spend your precious time marketing and selling.

Just the thought of legal marketing causes an allergic rash to mysteriously appear all over our bodies. Can’t we just be left alone to “practice”? After all, isn’t practicing difficult enough? The long hours, demanding clients, time constraints, firm politics, and of course, dealing with opposing counsel on every nit.

Yes, practicing law is hard, especially in today’s economic environment. It doesn’t help that today the practice of law looks more like a business than ever before. With over 1 million lawyers in the United States alone, competition is fierce. Outsourcing, increased utilization of RFPs and contract attorneys, budgetary caps and alternative fees, hiring freezes, deferred start dates, reduced salaries, mass demotions, de-equitization of partners, and technology that commands 24/7 attention, are all altering the legal landscape. Practicing law may be a profession, but today’s law firms are run more like a business than ever before. And like their counterparts in the business community, revenues and earnings drive major decisions. The result of all this change is that just being a good lawyer or tactician is simply not enough anymore. If you really want to succeed in today’s environment, you have to become knowledgeable about legal marketing and client acquisition. It’s the only way you’ll be in complete control of your professional destiny. Sure, you could bill an outrageous amount of hours, be a national expert in your area of the law, even a partner in a large firm, but these factors no longer guarantee your financial and personal success. Deep down inside you know this to be true…unfortunate…but true.

And getting started is the most difficult part. An attitude and belief shift may be in order. For many of us, legal marketing is seen as demeaning, time consuming and a waste of our precious time. It goes against everything we believe in. Yellow page ads, obnoxious late night cable commercials, glossy brochures and similar looking web sites all serving only to gratify an attorney’s ego rather than sell real benefits and value reinforce this negative view of legal marketing. Most of us know that today’s typical legal marketing activities represent the opposite ends of the spectrum…either professional garbage about the impressive “image” of the lawyer, or raunchy ads about getting the client massive amounts of money for injury claims. And worse, they all look alike.

The reason the majority of us dislike attorney marketing is that we were never taught how to do it in a professional and personally fulfilling way. And with the pressure to bill hours, how do we find the time to market? Even more, what tactics should we use that fits our personality and are comfortable to implement? Let me assure you that when you know how, marketing your solutions can be easy and enjoyable…if you implement a few of these ideas.

First and foremost, determine what it is you really want to be, do and have with respect to your legal career. Failing to address these important and unique issues will render any legal marketing strategy completely useless and boring. In other words, what do YOU want to do with your legal career; where do YOU want to do it, and what do YOU want your professional legacy to be? The answers to these three important questions explores what inspires and motivates you, what it is you stand for, what activities you love to do, the environment you want to do them in, who you want to serve, and what you want your professional life to stand for. Second, you will need to adopt the mindset of a rainmaker, for being a rainmaker should be the most important activity you’re engaged in and having a list of profitable and loyal clients should be viewed as your most important asset. You are simply going to have to recognize that legal marketing is not selling your soul or compromising your ethics, but is the key that will dictate your future. A marketing mindset is simply the expansion of your value proposition and awareness into the relationships and assets that already exist within your business and sphere of influence. You already have what you need to become a master rainmaker; you just have to leverage your existing assets for the opportunities that await you.

Third, get some help. There are coaches, consultants, books, experts, all sorts of people out there who can help you get started. You’re an expert at the law…not marketing. If you want to cut years off your learning curve, cut down on failures and save thousands of dollars, get the expert advice you need.

Fourth, the key ingredients of any marketing plan include: (i) strategic planning, (ii) tactical execution, and (iii) follow-up. Woody Allen may believe that half of life’s success is just showing up, but real achievement comes from preparation and follow-up. Marketing cannot be performed as a shotgun approach like the occasional power lunch or attending a dreaded networking event. You wouldn’t prepare for a deposition or trial without a plan; why implement a marketing plan without the same thought process. Every aspect of your client development plan must address your long and short-term goals, your strengths, niche, and what you want out of your business. Your strategy should be laser-focused and measurable.

Fifth, get someone to help with the grunt work. Your secretary or a virtual assistant can help write letters, call clients, send out articles, press releases, and help you build a client database. There is no way you can do this alone or completely depend on the firm’s marketing manager. It’s up to you; but apply the 80/20 rule and spend the brunt of your time on the most important clients and matters.

Sixth, do a little client development every day. Call that client who you haven’t heard from. Send an article of interest to a new prospect. Set a little bit of time every day to do some marketing and you’ll soon see a flower grow where once there was just a seed. Seventh, the reason most marketing efforts fail is due to a lack of follow-up with action. And we all make this mistake. In many ways, this is what determines your success or failure, and too often, we don’t realize it until it’s too late. Your system should utilize a “ladder” or “drip” multi- contact approach which will show you’ve been there for them and you’re the “go-to” person they need and want. The mantra here is to follow-up and stay in front of them consistently. And don’t stop until you either die or they tell you to drop dead!

Eighth, have fun with all of your legal marketing activities. Practicing law is difficult enough not to make the marketing fun. Choose tactics that you enjoy and are comfortable, or you won’t follow through. Be targeted and optimistic that you’re going to meet the people you need to advance your career and cause. And then with only a few simple disciplined actions every day, you will be led to the kind of success you desire. Executed properly, legal marketing will become like a second skin as your leads, relationships, and opportunities begin to grow exponentially.

About the Author

Cole Silver is an experienced lawyer and marketing strategist. His Raindancing Expert Audio Series and book, “How to Create Wealth and Freedom in your Law Practice”, 101 Powerful Client Development & Retention Strategies for Attorneys can be ordered by going to http://www.findcareersuccess.com.

When I mention to a business client that their new website can have a blog (like in Blogging for your Business), I’m often asked, “what would I use a blog for?” Most of us have seen how individuals might use a blog as an online journal of their lives – a place to vent and talk about what’s important to them – but how does a business use a blog to actually benefit the business?

Here, in no particular order, are a variety of ways that a business can make great use of a blog format.

1. Answer Questions

If you ever receive questions about your business or industry, either direct or implied, you can answer those questions in your blog. You simply start by posting the question, leaving out who asked it of course, and then answer it.

This is particularly effective since most people end up asking themselves the same questions, so it’s likely that you will be providing valuable information to many people. In fact, you should fully expect that eventually people will be using a search engine like Google and will type in your exact question and your blog post, with the answer, will come up as a result.

If you have an FAQ system or page, you can discuss the same questions and topics – the format of the blog post is simply more casual and conversational, while an FAQ entry should generally be more formal and to the point.

2. Client Spotlight

If you just completed a large or interesting project, or simply have something nice or compelling to say regarding a specific client, use your blog to share. It’s a great way to illustrate how you might handle a specific project or even a challenge. Be sure to get the client’s permission before you post your entry.

3. Reviews

If you read an article in the newspaper or some other online source that you think your customers should read, post a link to it in a blog entry and explain why you think it’s relevant to your clients. Conversely, you could also use this method to respond to negative press your business or industry may receive online.

You can also review a new product or service.

4. Teach

Regularly take a topic or issue from your industry and teach your clients all about it. This method involves a little more work on your part, but is eventually even more rewarding and compelling than others.

First, do your homework. Make sure that everything you state is correct and verifiable. Use statistics if you can and cite your source

Second, create your blog entry in a Word file and see how long it is. Break it up into smaller sections if its lengthy and label them Part I, Part II, and so on. You now have not only several blog posts, but a series that will entice readers to come back for the next part.

5. Lists

A particularly common technique is to make lists. You can list anything you want, anything that might be interesting to your clients, and talk about each list item for a moment before moving on to the next. An easy topic might be Do’s and Dont’s for your clients as I’m sure nearly every business has common pitfalls that their clients struggle with, as well as things every new client should be doing.

Do not feel forced to come up with a specific number, like “Top Ten”, as that will simply frustrate you when you can only think of 8 items. It’s your blog, so list 5 or 50 if you want to.

6. Events & Conferences

Use your blog to talk about and announce upcoming events and conferences, if it’s something you think some of your clients may want to attend or be interested in. If it’s a conference for vendors like yourself, then talk about it afterward and share some of the things you learned that might prove valuable to your customers.

Regardless of which method you use, always make sure that you re-read your entry for correct grammar, spelling, and factual information. Also, whenever possible, make sure that you’re using your targeted keywords. If you can, refer to older blog entries or articles you may have written and link back to them (that’s referred to as deep linking).

Of course, the beauty of a blog is that there are no rules or regulations. Your posts can be as long or as short as you want, and on any schedule you like (though the more regular you post, the better). Furthermore, there’s no reason why you can’t utilize each and every one of the techniques above, and anything else you might find or invent. Your blog doesn’t have to be the same each and every week, as long as the overall topic remains the same – your business and your industry. Continue to write interesting and helpful information and your blog will become a great sales tool for you and your website.

About the Author

Michael Allton is the lead web designer and owner at Stadia Studio, a web design firm in St. Louis, and has been helping businesses get online since the 1990′s.

In marketing materials, and in particular your newsletters, health and wellness pros tend to use the word “we” when speaking to their reader.

“We all need to… ” or “When considering XYZ, we must also think about…”

I find this to be habit of softening your opinion’s effect and make it palatable to a wider audience.

The intention is good, as you want your message to resonate with as many people as possible, but it’s largely ineffective.

It can also be an unconscious way of not standing out too much and avoiding the risk that not everyone will like what you have to say.

However, if you want to make your message memorable, you have to have an opinion.

Not a loud, pushy and obnoxious opinion (unless that’s your authentic style) but an opinion that gives the reader a sense that you are taking a stand for what you know to be true and that you’re not afraid to share it.

Your willingness to state your opinion actually gives confidence to your readers in your services and products.

Anything less weakens your message and frankly, makes you sound less confident about your expertise.

A better and more powerful way to present your work is to use the word “you.”

This is more direct and speaks to the reader as if you are writing only to them. It really hits home and it’s more personal. It’s bolder, fresher and doesn’t ‘beat around the bush.’

And in the health and wellness field, most potential clients desire that wake up call. They need it in order to take the risk of investing in your services/products and chance giving their health goals another go.

One way to help you step into this more effective communicating style, is to imagine one particular person that you loved working with, who achieved great results working with you, and write to THEM.

Those who are similar to them will REALLY resonate with your words and those who simply aren’t ready yet, won’t – and that’s actually perfect.

Speak directly to your readers, rather than speaking about them, and you’ll have a greater impact.

About the Author

As the Marketing Materials Maven, Karin Witzig Rozell combines her writing, coaching and nutrition counseling experience of over nine years to create powerful websites and marketing materials for health and wellness professionals. As the Founder of the member-based Wellness Professional Network, she also leads cutting-edge marketing classes on mastering the business side of healing for members. You can visit her at http://WellProNet.org and http://KarinWitzig.com.

But hey, don’t customers choose us? Well, the answer is yes and no (spoken like a true consultant!).

Yes, they choose us in terms of if and when they buy.

No, we choose them in terms of how we approach our marketing.

So, choose wisely.

We choose our customers by the price we charge, our message, how much information we offer, what our website looks like, how we treat prospects and everything else that makes up our marketing.

Stupid customers- Stupid customers respond to lowest-common-denominator and we’re-the-expert messages. The car that’s advertised at one-third the normal price that doesn’t exist. The arrogant salesperson/brochure/website who/that talks down to prospects. Stupid customers take more time than smart customers because the aren’t really stupid. They can see through your clever offer and resist, resist, resist. That’s human nature and that adds up to more of your time and a lower closing ratio.

Smart customers- Smart customers respond to information and authenticity. They’re an easier sale than stupid customers because they’re further along the sales cycle when they get to you. They also feel attracted to you instead of manipulated so, less resistance. And they give you referrals.

Loyal customers- Loyal customers are customers you’ve made smart. They appreciate how you treat them. They tell their friends about you. They don’t need huge discounts to buy again. They “get” why you’re better. Every smart/loyal customer is worth 5-6 one-timer/stupid customers. Because they buy again and tell their friends. Plus, the friends they tell tend to also be smart customers.

One-timers- One-timer customers are those who end up buying and feel manipulated. You won’t see them again. Or they buy because of your “huge, gigantic sale” and only buy for that reason. There’s no profit in them, in case you didn’t already figure that out. Okay, so clearly, you want smart customers. Customers you don’t manipulate. Customers you educate. Don’t feel I’m taking away something from you; your ability to “sell hard” in your marketing or get attention in creative ways. I’m not. I am, however, taking away the headline or promise that is/borders on too good to be true or has to have an asterisk after it. You know:

70% OFF Sale!!*

*Excludes all our good merchandise and is limited to the crap in the back corner of the store nobody wants.

Don’t be lazy. Find out what your customers are interested in, what will motivate them to act now. Ask them, because now is very different than a couple years ago when you last asked your customers how they were doing.

If you know more about your customers you won’t have to make these dumb offers or write dumb headlines:

Our CRM Software Will Make You the King-Kong of Your Industry

Of course, accompanied by a picture of King-Kong!

Or:

Our CRM Software Helps You Find More Customers in Your Prospect List No picture of King-Kong required.

Make the effort to understand what’s going on with your target customer so you can choose more wisely.

About the Author

Hamilton Wallace is a small business marketing consultant in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is an expert in direct response marketing, including sponsored search, SEO, direct mail, message and story, and in creating simplified, effective marketing consulting solutions for small businesses.

Progress and success is what all network marketers desire to hear when building their business. And in building a successful business, social media can be used to do just that. However, in order to become successful you must understand the role of social media in marketing. This is important because understanding the role is like understanding the purpose of a game. When you have a better understanding of the role or purpose, you will be able to sufficiently build a prosperous business. So, if you have an interest in understanding the role of social media in marketing, this article can help you on your path to learning it in 3 easy steps!

Firstly, social media is a middleman between your business and building a relationship of trust with people. This should be used as an indirect way to make money and is only here as a supplement. Remember this because too many people are trying to make money directly off social platforms and end up disappointed. For example, some marketers constantly spam their affiliate links on their page and on others as well.

If you do, then people will ignore you and think that your business is annoying.

Secondly, connecting with people is what social media is all about. However, avoid adding massive amounts of people and thinking that more is better. Quality is more valuable than quantity. Create a positive relationship with people in social media and you will see that people will trust in you. Also, avoid adding a large amount of people in a short amount of time because this may lead to your account being banned.

Third, social media is a place where you can direct people to your business site. This site should have valuable and useful content. However, do not automatically send people to you sales page because it is a big turn off. You should gain the people’s trust. You have to prove to them that you are knowledgeable and the go-to guy when it comes to building a successful business first.

Overall, when following these steps presented above, your way to success should be on its way! Having a good understanding of the role of social media in marketing is important and with the proper actions you can create a prosperous business in no time.

About the Author

Learn more about the role of social media in marketing. Stop by Kevin Tan’s site where you can find out all about internet marketing strategies and what it can do for you.

“9 Highly Effective Spa Marketing and Salon Marketing Tips!”

Spa and Salon Marketing & Advertising Strategies

Here are 9 low-cost but highly effective spa and salon marketing tips to help you boost your sales and profits fast.

Tip 1: Look for some low-cost ways you can strengthen the perceived value of your spa products or treatments. You can easily do this by adding in other treatments and products by packaging your offers. Then test raising your price. Don’t be surprised if both your sales and your profit margin go up!

Tip 2: Try to limit your customer’s decision making to either “Yes. I’ll buy.” or “No. I won’t buy.” Don’t risk losing them by including “which one” decisions. The more options you offer the client, the more likely some customers will procrastinate and never make the decision… causing you to lose a sale needlessly.

Tip 3: You can demonstrate a low cost for your salon products or hair services by breaking down the price to its lowest time increment. For example, “Enjoy all of this for less than 90 cents a day” (for something priced at $325 a year like your salon membership program).

Tip 4: Add an unanticipated bonus to every sales transaction just before completing the sale. It prevents customers from developing any last minute hesitation… and changing their minds about buying.

Tip 5: Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your local targeted area. Postcards are dog cheap and easy to use. Most recipients who ignore other types of advertising will read a brief ad when it’s delivered to them via a postcard.

Tip 6: Prospects who ask questions are typically close to buying. Take advantage of this. Don’t just answer their question. Include a reason for them to buy your spa treatments as part of your answer. Then ask for the sale… or tell them exactly what to do to place their order. i.e. “We accept Visa, MasterCard, Amex or cash, which would you prefer?”

Tip 7: Collect testimonials from your clients and use them in all your spa marketing efforts. Testimonials provide grounds that your spa products or treatments deliver the results you promise. For maximum impact, use only testimonials that describe specific results the customer enjoyed.

Tip 8: Include “benefit rich” headlines on all your salon marketing material including your website! Many visitors arrive at a web page then immediately click away… unless something instantly catches their attention and keeps them from leaving. A headline accomplishes this!

Tip 9: Continually test and evaluate everything you use or do to promote your spa business and salon. Allocate 80 percent of your spa marketing budget to proven promotions. Use the other 20 percent for testing new variations. Most salon businesses using this system continue growing – even in highly competitive markets.

Bonus Tip: Handle client complaints quickly and with a positive attitude. Strive to preserve your relationship with them instead of your immediate profit from the transaction. They will reward you with repeat sales and referrals… instead of punishing you by telling everybody they know about their unhappy experience using your day spa or salon and causing you to lose future clients.

Each of these spa marketing and salon marketing tips provides a simple, low-cost way for you to boost your sales and profits quickly. All you have to do is take ACTION!

Dedicated To Multiplying Your Revenues…

About the Author

Since 1994, John Uhrig has successfully used the Internet to effectively convey and market information. Recently, John decided to create a beauty salon, day spa & salon marketing system where he shares his experience and information for proper marketing. This System can be found at: http://www.spamarketing.ca

Video provides us with the capacity to correspond with others in a manner that builds trust and a personal association. Moreover when you put a video online it is supposed to be there functioning round the clock for you and it is also economical and simple to do. Basically, video has many attributes to like.

The following is a list of ideas about making video part of your marketing strategy.

?Make sure that you embed your video on your blog because it is or at least it should be the center of your social media advertising so by placing your video there where people can find it and subsequently find out more about you can only be a positive thing.

?Aim to grab the attention of your viewers within the first 15-20 seconds of your video -make sure that you enforce the benefit people will receive as they view your video. It is important to note that if you fail to grab your viewer’s attention within this time they are going to get bored and go elsewhere.

?Always be yourself and don’t try to make yourself out to be someone you’re not. If you are fun and outgoing be fun and outgoing on the video. If you are more reserved and serious then that is how you need to present yourself in front of the camera. Trying to be someone you are not will not gain you the trust of other people – it is not that difficult to tell when someone is faking.

?Write up a rough draft of what it is you plan to say rather than reading straight from a script – you want to sound natural and not robotic. Through drafting up an outline of bullet points you will not stray from what your main point is and you will also come across a more natural speaker.

?Ensure that you create a catchy title, preferably incorporating your main keyword just as you would do in any other form of marketing and at the same time you aim to grab people’s attention. At the very least you should have basic copy writing skills in order to help you to create a catchy heading.

?Maintain eye contact with the camera, in the same way that you would if you were talking to someone face to face. It is a known form of body language that not maintaining eye contact makes you appear to be untrusting. Of course this is something that will require a degree of practise but you will find that over time you will become more confident and therefore better at it.

?At the end of your video, make sure that you have a clear call to action this means that you tell your viewers what action you would like them to take once the video is finished. You might ask them to leave a comment or feedback or you may want them to join your opt-in list to receive a freebie.

?When you edit your video make sure you have means of contacting you as the final credit. This is easy to do with any editing programme you choose but it is extremely important.

?Obtain a microphone, they are usually not that expensive and improve your audio. If you have one, you could easily start out with your webcam; just make sure you have a nice professional background and light yourself well.

?Market your video and upload it to YouTube first. If you really want to go that bit further you can use Traffic Geyser which is a paid programme but it will upload your videos to more than forty video hosting sites. You could alternatively choose to use a service called TubeMogul which is free but this uploads to less sites, about 12-15. Whichever way you choose, make sure you get yourself out there.

About the Author

Ruben Paixao has four years in commercial video production and three years in video marketing. He has helped many companies increase their sales conversion rates that presell. For further useful information and to secure your Collection of FREE “Underground” Videos That Reveals Every Single Tip, Tactic And Secret To Market Persuasive Videos That Make You Money NOW!, visit: http://www.videosmarketing.biz