Marketing | Transforming Women Now

Top Start-Ups in 2010

On August 9, 2010, in Marketing, by susan

Happy Monday morning!
As a coach for aspiring entrepreneurs, I like to provide my readers with information that will help them make better decisions, gain more knowledge and create forward movement.

If you are just thinking about starting a business, have some ideas, but want some other
Options that will more than likely be successful than take a look at the list below of some ideas for great start-ups! I was reading Inc.500 this morning and thought I would share their list of top start-ups for this economy. Here they are:

1.Environmental Consulting
2.Translation and Interpretation Services
3.Home Health Care
4.Mobile App Design
5.Ferryboat and Inland Water Transportation
6.Tea and Healthy Beverages
7.Fun, Games and Hobbies
8.Exam Prep and Tutoring-Special Ed. , Language and Music
9.Bakeries and Baked Goods
10.Self Storage Leasing
11.Handmade and Vintage Goods Online
12.Medicinal Marijuana Retailing
13.Self- Published Video Games
14.Blood , Plasma and Sperm Banks
15.Water Supply and Irrigation Systems
16.Safety and Quality Testing

If you would rather start a business in your PJ’s here is a great article to read as well
http://www.inc.com/articles/2010/01/home-based-business.html

Enjoy!

Need An Online Media Kit? Jessica Swanson Shows You How!

On August 3, 2010, in Blog Posts, Marketing, by susan

If you’re looking for a way to launch a public relations campaign, look no further than the Online Media Kit.

Creating an online media kit allows both prospects and the media a chance to discover “behind-the-scenes” information about you and your small business.

In addition, media kits make it virtually painless for journalists, event hosts, radio show producers and bloggers to contact you in order to highlight you and your small business. Plus, it showcases the fact that you are media-friendly, and even more importantly, media-savvy.

Your media kit should be kept on its own separate page on your website. Many small business owners call the page Media, Press or Media Kit. In addition, choose file formats that work on multiple platforms, browsers and computers (i.e. PDF files).

There are generally six main components of a well-crafted media kit:

1. Company Overview. Provide important information about your company including when your company was founded, a concise description of your company, your mission statement, guiding principles and contact information.

2. Overview of Your Products/Services. Supply a short overview of your products and/or services. Include clickable links to sales pages for additional information.

3. Current Press Releases. Publish current press releases so that visitors can track the growth of your company over time.

4. Personal Fact-Sheet. Include your title, personal bio (including a long and short bio) and sample photos (optimized for both the internet and print).

5. List of Suggested Questions. Supply journalists, radio show hosts, writers and publishers a list of suggested questions that they can ask you related to your small business. It’s always a good idea to help make a prospective interview as painless as possible.

6. Links to Media Mentions and/or Appearances. As your small business begins to receive media coverage, publish these mentions and/or appearances to provide additional credibility for your small business.

Remember that all components of your media kit should be brief, interesting and compelling making it simple for the media to showcase your small business.

Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely free marketing strategies. To download your FREE Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit: Shoestring Marketing Kit

Are You Using Social Media As Well As You Should Be?

On July 25, 2010, in Marketing, by susan

You know how people are always talking about how great social media is? And it is great- I use it regularly. But what a lot of people wonder is what value can social media have for my business? Everyone wants to know how to monetize social media, but people aren’t really sure how to.

I recently came across this new training program, “From Platform to Profit” which focuses on teaching a specific system of content syndication to help improve search engine ranking, build expert status, send more traffic to your website, and help you generate more leads into your business.

It’s being taught by two well-known online marketing coaches, Denise Wakeman of the Blog Squad, and Dr. Rachna Jain of The Mindshare Corporation. The focus of this 4 week training is to help people create a content syndication strategy that works.

People are spending hours and hours on Facebook and Twitter, but ignoring the other 10 kinds of social media sites you can use.

This means that you’re not using social media as well as you could be.

And don’t worry, even if you’re not super technical, the training is designed to be easy to follow and easy to apply.

In just a few weeks, you’ll learn how to convert your text content to multiple formats, and, just as importantly, how to efficiently send your content around the internet. Done correctly, content syndication has the possibility to move your business to a whole new level in terms of recognition and opportunities.

I’ve already signed up, and wanted to make sure you had the same opportunity.

Learn more here: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?Clk=3835181

Do You Use Webinars as an Entrepreneur?

On July 12, 2010, in Blog Posts, Marketing, online marketing, by susan

I am just getting started with the wonderful webinar technology. So far, I absolutely love it!! I am working with a colleague of mine , developing a product with a test group, and have truly felt the power of the webinar! Not only can you talk and connect with your clients and customers, but you can create wonderful powerpoint presentations that enhance what you are learning and engage your clients.

There is a small warning, however, when it comes to creating your powerpoint presentations. Try to avoid (and I have learned this the hard way) fill in the blanks, and all word, detailed presentations the entire time you put on your webinar! Instead, pepper your presentation with images, quotes, and more images….take your clients and customers through and experience that elicit feelings and emotions..that keeps them engaged and right with you.

How many times have you sat through a webinar or powerpoint slide show and couldn’t WAIT until it was over or until the presenters ‘got to the meat’ of the program. Personally, I can’t stand 30 minutes of introduction, our story and all the hooo ha…I want the info, the meat, the shtuff…don’t you? I would rather the webinar be 30 minutes of content that I can use right away instead of 2 hours of introduction…booooorrrriiing! LOL!

Stay tuned for some new and exciting things I am going to be holding for YOU! My webinar’s WON’T be boring and will be content filled

What will YOU be talking about during your webinar? Hopefully not yourself for the first hour!!

Here are some resources for you to use when putting together your first webinar:

http://www.megameeting.com

http://www.gotomeeting.com http://www.instanteleseminars.com http://www.voxwire.com

http://www.webex.com

http://www.on24.com

http://www.fuzemeeting.com

http://www.dimdim.com
Feel free to share your resources and experiences! I would love to hear about them!

Face Book Fan Page 101 LIVE Event!

On May 4, 2010, in Marketing, by susan

If you are a newbie entrepreneur, and have a small business that isn’t on facebook yet, than you truly DO NOT want to miss this 3 hour hands on event my colleague, June Stockwell Social Media Specialist and I are hosting for you!