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Finding Your Writer’s Voice

Writing_QuoteWriting does not come naturally, nor is everybody comfortable sitting down to write their guts out.  For me, as an avid bookworm, whilst growing up, it is like second nature to me. For the most part it is fairly easy to express myself, even with topics I am still learning about, because I have the confidence to write as I speak.  In adulthood, I have spent a good number of years as a community leader and an activist, which has helped me hone my ability to speak succinctly and clearly; it is only the odd bout of ADHD, that makes me stray off  the point and rattle on beyond others’ attention spans.

When I was suddenly approached for help with writing, what was amazing that these were intelligent and gifted people, one of whom was a retired English teacher!  As I had lost all my original material on the subject, with the hacking of my blog, I had to go back to basics once more to work out what people needed to do, to set their keypads rattling into action.

BE YOURSELF

So what do you need to do when you are trying to find your writing voice?  First of all get in your comfort zone if writing is not that place.  Begin with writing down your thoughts as if you were talking to family or a trusted friend, who has no idea what you are talking about.  This does two things:  it removes any voices in your head saying that you are ‘doing it wrong’, or that what you have to say is not good enough. You then will feel relaxed enough to be yourself and speak your mind and take the time necessary to fully explain what you mean.

READ ALOUD

Next read aloud what you have written. Take your time doing this; it is the most important part of any writing exercise.  The reason why is that you hear where you have either chosen words that do not make sense, where words are missing or even whole parts of your argument have been skipped, meaning you are jumping ahead and will not take your listener with you in your line of thinking.

If you have somebody you trust to read out aloud to, even better, because they will ask you WHY you say so-and-so means ‘such and such’. The thing is not to be offended or overly sensitive to questions, but to view their feedback as a gift which will improve your work.  The chances are if they have spotted a hole in your argument, so will somebody else.

The other benefit of reading aloud, is that it helps show where you need to take natural breaths when talking; this is why you need to take your time.  If you have long-sentences, with no grammar, or missing grammar, being short of breath is a sure sign, this needs to be considered.

BITE SIZED CHUNKS

This is another benefit of reading aloud. When you need to take breaths and write in your grammar and punctuation, you will be breaking down longer threads of argument or lines of thinking into steps which take you to your ultimate goal.  If somebody is hearing what you have to say for the first time, it helps them digest what you are feeding them.

There are lots of tricks and tips and hints to creating ‘digestible’ writing, which I will write about elsewhere. Meantime, if grammar is not your strong point, take a look here and sign up for Jane Strauss’s enewsletter offering help on grammar and punctuation. This website has some great information on the difference between : and ;   – nope it isn’t to do with smiley faces whatsoever, albeit they do help you express yourself better!

PROOF-READ

This brings me to my own personal area of challenge… I have ADHD and am arrogant about my writing abilities sometimes; it is a dangerous combination as a professional copywriter, because it means that no sooner have I written something, I am bored already and itching to move to the next subject or task.  This means that I occasionally do not proof-read before I submit drafts to clients.

It doesn’t matter how brilliant your writing, if there is a mistake, be sure someone will zoom in on that.  I have a client who is perfectionist about what he does and aside from that, measurement in millimetres is what he does everyday for a living as a designer. I swear, I produced an otherwise perfect piece of work for his website one day, only for him to ask me to remove a space between two sentences, as he had spotted that the gap was just a few pixels bigger than it should have been i.e. ONE character space!

I have no doubt that even as I therefore, advise you all to proof-read, I am also reminding myself to always do the same too. There is no substitute for going over a piece of written work more than once, to iron out the wrinkles. The first proof-read will generally pick up the glaring mistakes and gaps, the second, will be just ‘dotting the ‘i‘s and crossing the ‘t‘s’.

(If somebody can tell me the exact grammatical writing of that last statement, I will be much obliged, as on this rare occasion, I too am having an apostrophe crisis of confidence).

PRACTICE

This brings me nicely to the final element of finding your voice in your writing efforts.  The more you write, the more confident you become; the more confident, the easier to write it becomes.  You will find yourself ‘writing as you speak’, which is ultimately your goal.  Whilst your written words may be you at your most polished, it will still be your voice in the words and arguments.  You are merely learning to write in such a way as to make yourself understood to the widest audience of readers, or listeners, if you intend ultimately to deliver any kind of speech.

Practice does make perfect and also helps you pick up speed.  It is natural for anybody to begin any new ‘art’ haltingly, but as you learn the basic requirements to string your words together coherently, you will remember how you bridged gaps before, making the journey second time round much simpler.

GET HELP

If you intend to earn from your craft, then at some point, every professional requires help and support.  There are many experts online, but you want to really go with the best and get the best bang for your book with any online creative writing courses .

Joining a local creative writing group will also help you hone your skills. These groups are established as supportive forum for you to share what you write and get positive criticism of your work, to help you get the most out of it.  Do a search online and see what is happening locally with fellow writers.  They will help you raise the bar and up your earning capacity as a result of writing a higher quality of material.

If you are stalling, the best thing you can do is make yourself accountable. My favourite trick here is to have that chat with a friend who is driving you nuts because they are not doing something to help themselves. Phone them up and make a deal with them.  Agree that if they finally do that thing they are avoiding, you will stop putting off sitting down and writing what you have been intending to write for too long already.

JUST DO IT!

Wherever you are at in your writing career, be you a first timer, or a regular hack, the two biggest obstacles to getting anything down on paper, or onto a computer are fear of failure and fear of success.  Both of these things will make you procrastinate, until another day passes and you still have not got going.  So it is only yourself you have to conquer… so stop tidying your office, making another cup of coffee, calling a friend who needs you, or tinkering with the car… and just DO IT.

Too many people spend too much time getting ready to get ready or thinking they have to get it perfect… This is a process, but ultimately, it requires you to set the time aside and value the work enough to get stuck in… So, now you know some of the main stumbling blocks to finding your voice online or anywhere else, you are better equipped to get on with the job.

If you are writing a book, allocate the time and remove the obstacles in your head… if you do not use your voice, you may ‘lose it’. Those flashes of inspiration could be lost forever.

ENJOY!

Finally, for those of you who are freaking out the most at finally doing the deed and speaking your mind, know this: writing is like any other job… When you have finished, you will wonder why you did not do the job sooner.  During the process, you may even find yourself feeling better and even enjoy the task.  In all liklihood the whole reason this has been built up as such a huge mountain to climb in your mind is because the task is important enough for you to consider doing something that you might not ordinarily do, i.e. write! The sheer fact you are finally getting it done will be an immense relief of pressure and once you are in your flow, you will even find yourself enjoying the process, no matter how tough the subject matter.

REWARD

When you are finally done, remember to reward yourself, even if it is only patting yourself on the back.  If you are likely to be rewarded financially for finding your voice, then why not treat yourself accordingly..?

 

Copywriting | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Writing

Cash Flow Concerns

I attended my first Robert Kiyosaki event a little while back. It was a taster evening for those looking to get out of the rat race and learn how to invest in real estate and property like the professionals in order to generate residual earnings and steady, predictable cash-flow.

It was enlightening, exciting and great to have the confirmation that I am on the right road in at least stepping out of the 9-5 world to work for myself, even if I was not walking out of that event having made the very reasonable down payment on Rich Dad’s weekend training weekend intensive on how to generate wealth via this vehicle.

If I had have had the cash ready, I may well have invested, just for some of the priceless information regarding raising capital that would have been part of the deal.  However, I chose another option… Focus on goals already crystallising in my mind and heart to study investing in trading the Forex markets.  Macro-economics and politics is a passion, so it makes sense for me to go with my strengths and interests.

Nevertheless, it was fascinating to hear just how effectively you can turn around your cash-flow with the buying and selling property game, unlike my mother, that game does in fact scare me… Not least in finding the right building works co-ordinators… That might just be a ‘master-minding’ / ‘net-working issue’ to be ironed out later. Perhaps it is even an excuse not to act, but I don’t think so.

I have been rediscovering old passions for understanding how the bigger system works. How governments and markets interact and more importantly, how market speculators interact with those market behaviours.

At the end of the meeting a penny, or perhaps a golden coin dropped. As I sat there working out how I could afford it, I realised that my conclusion of selling the car, which I never use, would also fund my training in Forex sooner than I had been anticipating…

I was so distracted by all the cash-flow thought process, that I got off the train one stop too early late last night and walked in the rain for over half an hour with only a packet of onion rings and a few biscuits and an apple in my bag to fortify me… having foregone my evening meal to get to this Kiyosaki conference in time.

But as there was only a fine rain and my head was crammed with problem-solving by then, I was grateful for the excuse to walk and think. I came to the conclusion that at some time I may have to move on from the freelancing to make a living. Self-employment just means you are ruled by your job, having to do everything from licking stamps to accounts and operations…

I am not complaining for working hard since being a freelancer, as here I am in productive time sacking off from commitments to the guy I contract for to write this blog! I certainly could not get that freedom in a job!!!

But it’s time to get back on track in planning towards making money work for me instead of me for it!!!  So I am moving over to the “investment quadrant” from the self-employed quadrant at the earliest opportunity.  Whereas property investment will not be my thing for cash flow, forex trading will be and that is the goal that keeps me focussed these days.

So for any of you out there feeling the same way, like the hamster in the wheel, this is your wake up call… Learn from the wake up call indirectly from Robert Kiyosaki, the original Rich Dad!  What are you thinking will get you leveraged earning? Do you work for someone else and are thinking it is not helping you get the kind of lifestyle you want? Check out Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow Quadrant on You Tube then have a think about how you might break the cycle of working for someone else by checking out my article on One Chic Mom on working for yourself as your first step to boosting your cash flow.

Uncategorized | adminda | | Leave a comment

Taking the Mystery Out of Making Money

“Money to money”, is what my mother always said. History lessons on the “Making of the English Working Class” and books like “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” confirmed her Millionaire Money reality in my mind. It was not possible to become rich unless you were born to money, or became a celebrity.

I came from a relatively poor family where money was a huge issue daily; albeit, we had become wealthy enough for the annual holiday to Wales through my parents’ sheer hard work! I live there now, possibly because it was the only time of the year I felt like I was surrounded by riches – although not of a monetary sort, but definitely natural riches!

I have also spent much of my adult life, carrying the mindset of my father – “get a good education and you will be made for life”. Well that was only partly true; trouble is we worry about the formal education of children and forget that we are meant to be ‘Lifelong Learners’. Truth is, Bellamy’s lessons in nature on TV were as valuable as any education which got me a paid job. My formal education never earned me the riches wildlife gave me that’s for sure!

But I digress…the point is, that for twenty years of my adult life, I have got up at a fixed time every day, worked like a dog and drove home, often too exhausted or still too broke to enjoy the fruits of my labour…. All of that time, out of the corner of my eye, I watched the rich who had all the money and the fun…….and whose lives were a mix of intrigue and, I confess, jealousy to me.

So I did what many poor people do to cope with going without.  I counted my blessings instead of my pennies and got on with keeping the house and garden, which I now ploughed all of my energy and limited finances into….growing fruit, to keep down my shopping bills and fighting off slugs and snails competing for my veg, staying on top of the latest house-owner calamity!

Not So Small Change

After a life-changing car accident, it seemed almost overnight my perspective started to change.  I started to read different books whilst I was recovering. … OK, reader, I feel the need to say for the record at this point, that I am a caring humanitarian at heart; I believe in the greater good, shared humanity, justice and equality as far as it can go. Yet here was I starting to read about the “entrepreneurial mindset” from the likes of T. Harv Eker, and listening to those I had always considered selfish, materialistic, tax evading, thieves of the public purse to the detriment of those in need.  How come I was starting to agree with some of their views of the world?

For months as I continued to improve my financial literacy , I discovered that so many rich women whom I investigated in order to find possible role models are actually just people with a passion, who were driven and persistent in making their dream a reality.  When the market was ready for what they had to offer and their passion for what they promoted came together, they made a killing.  This is the point at which my mother was right… when they had spare investment finance , they put their money to work for them, ‘leveraging’ even more wealth.  That makes good sense practically it seems to me…

Will I Be Wealthy? Will I Be Rich?

Now that I too was ready to find a new way to make a living for myself, I had to consider new options, because the old ways had not been working out.   As I now became increasingly committed to being a wealthy woman in retirement, there was only one option, I had to BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR!  Yep, little ‘dyed in the wool socialist’ me wanted to make money and make the best of the capitalist economy I was part of! Survival money was no longer enough. My dreams had got bigger…

I hope you are wondering how such an otherwise non-material  person can apparently change direction so dramatically.  Hell, even I have had to wonder if I had just sold out?  Well, here’s how I see this: not only did I not want a retirement in poverty, I also wanted to make more money to SHARE MORE OF IT AROUND.  I want to help causes I care about and I cannot do that broke… Of course I also want buy myself some well-earned time freedom to enjoy my good fortune too… An entrepreneurial mindset does not just mean making money for money making’s sake. It is not money that is intrinsically evil… Wealth can be a tool for good as well as bad.

Becoming Wealthy Is a Long Haul

But, Rome is not built in a day, right? And I am pretty used to set-backs, so I have definitely got one of the crucial entrepreneurial mindset traits and that is tenacity…that dogged determination to persevere in order to get what I want once my mind is made up…against the odds if necessary.

So, then…how does someone starting from zero make millionaire money and create my own wealth, despite lack of hereditary wealth or family support to count on, let alone any capital?

I started with spending what little money I had on the education in financial literacy that I never got in school. I bought books by: T. Harv Eker , Robert T. Kiyosaki, Stephen R. Covey and then Stuart Lichtman…..

Learning from those who have inspired other entrepreneurs is where believe my ‘change’ in my mindset really started…I had thought that how to become wealthy was a mystery that I would never understand… Now I know different.   Even whilst the rich continue to get rich and the poor continue to get poorer and I risk being in the latter category, I am determined I am not going to resign myself to poverty for the rest of my life and continue to say that “money doesn’t matter”, because that would be lying to myself.  It is just all relative…

Stuart Lichtman proved this to me in one single exercise from his book… Picture this: It is my brother and sister’s birthday one week before the magic materialised for me.  I was determined to stay positive that day for them, making mental efforts not to let the fact that I was nearly a month into my business and had not made one single sale yet put a downer on my enthusiasm on their day.

The Thousand Mile Journey

That morning, I got stuck into what seemed at first like a ridiculous and humiliating materialisation exercise in the first of a series of Stuart Lichtman’s mindset training ebooks I bought.  12 sides of A4 later, with the same few sentences written 100 times repeatedly, I focussed on being positive for that day, even if I needed a little help to do it!

At the time of writing this, I have hardly really begun Lichtman’s mindset training but, I am so excited I want tell complete strangers about the things I am learning!  So I am going to share with anyone reading this blog the truth contained in the first of the books that came with Stuart Lichtman’s series of e-book courses on how to get whatever you want FAST (not just money).

Fast Money header]

The truth is that making millionaire money is neither a mystery nor impossible; it is a science and Stuart Lichtman’s book series are just one way to learn to master its principles and how to practise making your desires become real through consistent manifestation exercises.

Now, if you are sitting there letting this wash over you, or are thinking “so what?” or “Yeah, right!” I am going to suggest that you to do just this one thing: remember when you were a child and the world was still full of magic ?…..Remember, when you got so engrossed in make believe, you forgot who you were and where you were and how good that felt?  Maybe it even motivated you to take steps towards making it real the rest of the time…

Well, that is kind of how I feel about what has been happening in my world over the past few years. What’s more, I not only want more of it, I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE who are also ready to learn to earn and work on your mindset!

What Is Mindset Training For Entrepreneurs?

So, if you are curious about what the “entrepreneurial mindset” means, or about how your life would be different if you had more of what you wanted out of life, or maybe you wonder sometimes about chance and coincidence, even as you wrestle with your scepticism … Well for the sake of that part of you inside you…or for that little person who still wants to go to the sweet shop / the safari / home of your dreams, but cannot afford it, today is as good a day as any for you to test the science of becoming wealthy financially and taking a step towards turning whatever it is that you really want materially into reality!

Dog_Tag_Addict

The process starts with taking off the dog tag saying who you think of yourself as and opening books to shift your poverty mindset. If you have questions about whether merely reading books will work, that’s understandable.  I too question whether I can, but I am sure as hell not going to get in my own way with continuing in self-limiting beliefs.

If you have read this far, you have some reason why you are interested in what I am saying. So why not stack the odds in your favour and give yourself a 98% chance of getting what YOU want this one time? (This by the way, is Lichtman’s success rate with thousands of his clients so far!)

IF you are ready to exercise your mind and broaden your options in life generally, make a commitment to improving your mindset. Making money is only part of the equation, mindset is the trick to maintaining your goals. Nobody achieves anything alone for long; we need our reality to be supported and validated by others.  Lichtman has done this for me.

Whatever you choose to do, decide to take some action towards achieving your financial goals. You only have one life.  Achieving financial freedom by committing to developing your mindset and improving your financial literacy are huge steps towards immunising you to the impact of contemporary economic structures – which as time goes on may in all liklihood prevent you from ever achieving your dreams of real fulfillment for your future and your family.

The global economy is getting tougher for the majority to survive, but you can learn how make it easier on yourself to build your goals and make more money,or go and get what drives you.  As time is your only real enemy, Stuart Lichtman offers a tool that can get you closer to where you want to go faster.

Anything Fast

Don’t be deceived by the title here; this is a series of ebooks covering one of the most important areas of anyone’s life – their financial well-being.  Stuart Lichtman has changed THOUSANDS of peoples’ lives; he and other entrepreneurs who have developed the mindset for success have changing mine.   If you’re ready to ramp up your efforts, this mindset training is for you.

Psychologically Unemployable Is No Shame

Each of us tend to be in our comfort zones daily; it seems that the human condition is as ‘creatures of habit’, adapting to change only as and when we are forced to.  For some, however, perhaps through experiencing extra-ordinary circumstances, the opportunity to choose change and achieve material success is both a drive and incredibly satisfying… if a little uncomfortable or even scarey occasionally too as suddenly our world begins to change around us and options are less familiar.

After spending time moving around in voluntary work over a number of years, working with different agencies , I realised eventually that my passion for active involvement in social change had evolved into a love-hate relationship with politics.  It frustrated the hell out of me, but the people I worked with and for inspired me and it seemed I could not leave the subject alone!

It seemed there were three choices for me: social work, lecturing or research. None of these options particularly appealed to me at the time; all too ‘institutional’.  I was passionate and wanted to feel like I could make a difference; the only career of the three which held any appeal was social work, but even with this, I was aware that my impact might only be limited and I might have been irritated with the necessary constant compromises and constraints.

Meantime, I studied hypnotherapy and psychotherapy and even set up a business which failed miserably.   If I am completely honest, working with peoples’ neuroses privately was maybe a risk too far for one so young.

I did actually begin to train in social work, until a family crisis meant I needed to focus on my immediate family’s needs, leaving no room for studying others’ problems on a 9-5 basis.  This was a turning point for me which took me on a completely different life track.

When change came again, as it inevitably does, my home town seemed to be slowly dying, as traditional manufacturing industries were shut down and people were so hopeless it was depressing to be there.   In the nineties, there were very few paid jobs in ‘social change’ – plenty for me to volunteer for, however, so I did. This stood me in good stead for when I moved to the nearest booming metropolis for several years, taking temporary contracts… but still I consistently kept feeling like there just was not a complete ‘fit’ for me.

I knew that I loved working with communities of people who were getting together to make changes happen in their neighbourhoods and I apparently had an aptitude for facilitating projects.  Paid contracts in the field were rare however.

Growing tired of the chaos, frictions and endless familiar obstinancies of beaurocrats, after many years pinballing between project development work and admin jobs, I felt that relocating was a positive move to where I could get some psychological space and recoup myself.

I put my community participation to work again. Working together with people who are motivated by a passion to make their world a better place is not just about making a practical difference in people’s material circumstances, the real joy to be had in community development is also seeing the personal development of those involved as each learn to lean on each other and find mutual inspiration and motivation.

The Best Job In The World Still Involves Bosses

Nevertheless frustrations and sense of compromising principles from project devlopment work comes with the public relations management in the work.  Every employer who funded my contracts had some sticky internal politics of their own which needed resolving.  I, as facilitator, was the conduit between these larger agencies and the pockets of people these institutions needed to engage, but did not know how to.  Whether my employers really believed in the centrality of community participation, or whether there was expedience and some lip service paid, the researchers at the likes of the Joseph Rowntree Trust still discuss to this day…  Thirty years on after riots which tore up the rule-book in a number of British cities when my own participation first began.

I know that I am digressing from the theme of making money here, but I think it is important to share the experience of someone who has come from a world view where principles and quality of life come first, because those non-materialist values seem so diametrically opposed to where I am now… But actually, it is really just a logical extension.

My own ‘crisis of faith’ happened when I felt that the necessary relationships with those communities we were supposed to be serving became so compromised I was offering platitudes to ‘customers’ which I felt I could no longer satisfactorily justify. As I wrestled with my seniors on issues of practice and ethics, that ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ I was using to help people recreate new environments, I now believe we all possess was dying… A ‘mutual agreement’ was reached… I left my job, wondering what the Hell I would do from there onwards…

Perhaps the Universe sometimes has the first move, however. This was a big one, shoving my car from the rear into the back of another one!  That car accident was ironically the best thing that had happened to me in a number of years!  I was forced to take time out and rethink what I wanted.  I went back to my books, not being able to move around a lot for a few months. I listened to personal development training CD’s, watched videos on YouTube and became hooked one day, by a video called ‘Inside Out’ in which Jay Kubassek talked about how he was “psychologically unemployable”. A switch went in my head at that moment which has since led me down a whole new path in ‘making a difference’.

Now I feel once more that my life is on track and my passion and drive to work for social change has returned…  But now as a true entrepreneur.  This time it will be with one person at a time via my new work as a newbie entrepreneur.

After years moving around different jobs, I am loving being self-employed, even when I want to hurl my lap top across the room when something stumps me, I feel like I have left a majorly self-destructive habit behind …my addiction to the apparent security of the pay-slip… Not only that, I know that whatever comes next, I am more in control of my professional development and more importantly, personal development is about achieving greater levels of freedom and integrity.   Another really great part of my new life, is that my earnings will now reflect the true value of my contribution to making a difference with people and that is immensely challenging to me…

I am learning month by month consistently how to do what I do better and how to achieve more leverage… I still have a long way to go after a few years, but momentum has started and THAT is a kick that I cannot describe unless you have set up your own business and seen it move from strength to strength…

So… If you are still finding your feet or looking at a whole new direction in life, start with your mindset …  Be clear about your values.  Money, it is said, makes us more of what we really are.  I do not accept every contract I am offered, sometimes I have to bear the discomfort and pain of financial uncertainty as a result, but this time I am in control of what I take on.  If I can still make money from following my passions, then this is exactly what those who are already rich have done too… If I am even half as successful, I am going to be a very happy woman….

 

Mindset | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Become Wealthy Entrepreneur Mindset

The Investment Gravy Train Stops Here

I’m writing this blog post today on a topic I do not usually get too deeply involved with here. But an email I received from Mike Maloney of GoldSilver.com made me think about what many of my readers may be increasingly looking at as they build their wealth and net worth as their business grows.  I wanted to share with small business owner readers who are both business owners and careful investors the shocking realities of where your financial investment is going if you are on the derivatives gravy train.

If you are a fan of Robert Kiyosaki (Author of: ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad‘ and more recently ‘Conspiracy Against Your Money‘), Mike Maloney is the guy who advises big investors on how to use precious metals to create wealth and maximise return on investing the wealth they build .

There’s another reason I felt compelled to write this post too… Increasingly, I find myself becoming frustrated at the fate of the little guy’s struggle to survive, in the face of the massive bail-outs of the banks going on and the hugely corrupt practices we continue to hear about, from PPI, to Libor and fixing of foreign exchange markets … The more I learn, the more determined I am to make time to share what I learn with those prepared to listen, in order to help them make different choices about their how they build their wealth as a business owner.

I make no bones about it, my ambition is to become wealthy – I make no apologies for this. After personal life crisis and a lifelong experience of poverty, I am committed to increasing my financial literacy and lift myself into a position, where I am financially free to make choices about my own future. So if anyone else reading shares this aim of achieving financial freedom, you too need to be thinking about where to invest some of your money so you can be more sure that your accrued wealth is safe.

What has this to do with freelancing as a writer? Answer: EVERYTHING!  It’s about PROTECTING your ASSETS as you build them. Many small and medium sized business owners do reinvest their profits back into their own business, but financial advisors recommend ‘spreading risk’ or ‘diversification’ to protect the wealth you build.

Even if you are not one of the millions of independent business owners, but you are one of those careful savers, financially savvy enough to be already in the process of investing in your nest egg, or at least researching your options and wondering if it’s still going to be there by the time you are ready to retire, this eye-opening discussion is for you…

Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest bankers, have been cited for unethical financial practices, as the activities of the many of financial giants increasingly come under greater scrutiny. Meanwhile, reports from the big Wall Street banks declare regularly in quarterly reports of not having lost money trading.  In 2010, for the 63 straight trading days in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010, the beneficiaries of the average Joe’s taxes, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Citigroup made money trading for their own accounts.  These are banks getting hand outs, whilst the little man is struggling and businesses are going to the wall.

Last year, Lloyds were lambasted for undermining small businesses’ capacity to survive by what seem to be corrupt practices.

These very banks have benefited from a redistribution of wealth from the taxpayer when ‘bailed out’ as “too big to fail” at 0% interest.  Max Keiser refers to this as nothing less than financial terrorism, where the middle classes are the ultimate losers…

Trading, of course, is supposed to be a risky business; lots of little guys get gobbled up! But so risky that these vampiristic institutions apparently deserve to be paid millions for protecting their firms’ precious capital, whilst NOT lending back to the “high-risk” people and business “liabilities” who paid for their satin cushion for their fat-cat asses to land on in the first place!

So, what is so shocking about generating profits paid for by the average person, at the behest of government? Let’s look at the maths of ‘quantitative easing’….

Borrow $1,000,000 @ 0% interest from taxpayers, represented by the central banks (Fed, BoE, ECB, IMF, etc).
Then lend that money back to the US government at e.g. 3% interest rates = 3%+ gains

Then take into account LEVERAGE: i.e. banks can borrow at least $10 for every $1 of equity capital they have, to thus increase the size of their “bets”; so in turn, relatively small amounts of equity borrowed, can be transformed into huge profits.  Because interest rates are so low, sadly those misguided middle class believers in saving at a bank, are getting no interest on money being gambled by their bank, because there is no firewall between the investment arms and the commercial / retail arm, with which the average tax payer is familiar.

What is really hard to swallow, is that the taxpayer pays twice if they then want to borrow from these financial institutions, but are told that they are too much of a risk to lend to! That is insult to injury! This, of course, is the reality that many business owners are facing right now, both in the USA and the UK. Austerity only applies to the majority of poorer folk who cannot achieve this kind of leverage, it seems…

Recently, it was also reported that the lending rates between banks were rising steadily, thus ensuring the position of the big boys in the future… It just gets worse, the more you focus on the money games going on.

In view of this, as business owners, I think we have a duty to ourselves and the communities we serve, to not add to the already swollen coffers of fat cats getting the cream… The fate of the fiat currency which they trade in with you and me is destined to crash… That gravy train is on the way to being derailed… Check out the videos on investment, Mike Maloney posts to his GoldSilver.com website to learn how to protect some of your wealth built via owning your own business via real assets.

 

Uncategorized | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Business Owners Investment

What It Takes To Be A Winter Olympic Writer

It’s the Winter Olympics in Sochi and all the sexier, high octane sports are getting into the news.  Jenny Jones got a bronze for snowboarding – first ever Brit to get metal for snow based sports… Speed and jeopardy is making news.   I love these sports characters like Jenny who are ‘stalwarts’ of their sport – in it for their passion, not phased by not being in the lime-light, but proud to participate nevertheless. Those athletes honing their craft year round, without the glare of publicity shows a certain tenacity and passion.
The other day, I witnessed an example of the year-round dedication to perfection on my doorstep. I was walking a dog in freezing conditions in the foothills at the back of my house, where world champion cross-country cyclists and runners, alongside local fire-men and policemen are out in all weathers, staying fit, breath exhaled in cold white little clouds, eyes fixed on the horizon…
What struck me in this biting cold, was a sexy silver Bentley crawling along ahead of a heavy-set runner in tiny thin shorts, built like a rugby player, with legs red raw with the cold. He looked as if he had been out for hours in these punishing conditions!
I was fascinated by this starkly contrasting scene: between the grim determination and obvious hardship of that athlete was putting himself through, with what seemed to be his luxurious chauffeur driven car, by his side for the moment he was ready to bail in.  This scene had the markings ‘winner’ all over it.  (I am not sure which I was most impressed with his tenacity against the elements or the fact that this guy was obviously really successful at whatever he did!)
Whilst I might not have a Bentley, I also felt like I knew something of this runner’s mindset.  I felt myself willing him on in every heavy footfall forward… Pushing oneself against the odds can be a tough and lonely place to be…The battle is with the self as much as the elements.
I am not an athlete, but feel I understand the long-distance runner.  I write more and more these days, both out of passion for what I do, but also because my sights are also set on a horizon ahead of me.  I am beginning to go with what has consistently been a part of my life, which I have never shared with others, until recently.  Now, I am writing as much as for the long-game of business success as the love of what I do.  My sporadic blog compositions are becoming a practised discipline.
Writing a blog regularly feels a little like ‘The Lonliness of the Long-Distance Runner‘, like in that Damon Runyan book.  If there are any other writers reading this right now, I am sure you will understand the sentiment.   Whilst I know that readers of my blog have appreciated what I say, because I have seen the stat’s before my blog was hacked and lost last year, nevertheless, my obvious public rewards and ‘accolades’ in the form of comments on my blogs are not happening yet for me to point to as evidence of ‘making it’ as an Olympiad writer – albeit where I guest post elsewhere, my pieces are shared amply.
The point about  copy-writing and blogging for marketing one’s business in the long-term sales cycle is that you want to take as many converts and fans with you on your journeys to getting people closer to those finish lines where everyone wins.  This takes tenacity in spite of the inevitable distractions thrown in the path of progress.
Understanding that even long-distance champions have their teams that they turn to sometimes for support and  who contribute to making them successful makes me determined to share my craft with fellow writers this coming year.  Already, I have one client whom I am coaching in helping her find her writing voice and I have helped others who are beginning online marketing in similar ways.  In explaining how others can make improvements in their writing and in coaching them to find their own voice, I am realising just how far I have come in my own copy-writing development.
With this in mind, I hope you will  give me some  feedback at the finish line below to spur me on to the next leg of my long distance writing run in 2014 and tell me how you think I may be able to help you too and I will endeavour to write on topics you suggest!

So, what have the marathon Runner and the Writer Got In Common?  Answer: Persistence, passion and finishing line focus which comes from a LOVE  of writing!

What is it that inspires you to stick with your goals in the chillier Winter periods when curling up to watch the Winter Olympians build their dreams is more appealing than sitting staring snow blind at a computer screen? What does your horizon look like that you keep your eyes fixed on as a writer?  How do you maintain your consistency of effort in writing to market your business or do you simply to write for the pleasure of it?

Copywriting Mindset | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Copy-writing Writing

Blog It and They Will Come

PPH_Cert_5It’s just over a week off my fiftieth birthday. I promised myself a few years ago that I would build this site with a view to showing other freelancers and would be entrepreneurs some of the ways I have found on my way to financial freedom. I have built much and lost much here, but any entrepreneur knows that when disaster hits, you just have to keep going.

It is a mental struggle as much as a time struggle to keep writing here, whilst juggling clients’ workload and the day to day stuff of being human. This week however, I really want to share some good stuff.

MOVING THROUGH RANKINGS AMONGST FREELANCERS ONLINE

The online agency for freelancers, PeoplePerHour where I obtain over half of my new clients has recently reconfigured how they rank their freelancers, giving us a ‘certification’ status. As I write I am ranked 296th out of 600,000, which is not bad going, given I started with PeoplePerHour in 2011 and for a whole year did nothing but telesales and the odd article if I was lucky.

Now I have built up a diversified range of services I offer and have got some great testimonials from people I have worked for. I am breaking my earnings records consistently and I expect this to continue this year, even as I am increasing my prices in order to balance demand – some days my head spins as I wonder if I will manage what clients ask of me!

Over the Christmas period and for the first week or so of the New Year I was worried once more that I might not pay my mortgage; whilst late, the little miracles keep happening and the cash is still flowing, albeit still a little more haltingly than I would like.

What is really important is that clients are starting to come back to me. One Chic Mom is one of the many articles I write for the lovely Claire and her team weekly. Claire gives me free reign to write what I like and since the new year I have upped my work for her from three articles a week to five and I am about to get my own ‘featured writer’ page. This feels fantastic after struggling sometimes last year with confidence to be able to really offer something of value to readers.

I have other regulars who come back in the design world: interiors and fashion and I feel really blessed to indulge my love of talking about beautiful things, whilst sometimes also having demanding legalistic content to write for one regular and some intensely challenging and fascinating material in the field of psychology and neuro-science for others. I also have a couple of fellow writers who get me to help them with their work, which is immensely satisfying.

Nowadays clients are also starting to refer me on to business colleagues they work with too, which is just the best kind of client, because there is a good chance that after some discussion and a good proposal for work they need doing that I will secure that contract, because I am not having to compete with numerous others and nor am I coming to them ‘cold’.

Having worked pretty hard this past couple of years to build my portfolio, the results are starting to come through. Had you asked me a few years ago if I thought I was going to get as busy as I am I would not have been sure, although my heart was full of hope that the success that others have had in their freelancing careers would also come to me if I just stuck with it and continued to learn and stretch myself.

Now, I am at the point where I will still take the occasional session of telemarketing work, but I have increased my price to £25.00 per hour! Given that people working in call centres are often on less than £8.00 with commission, I am pretty pleased with how things are moving. At some point this year it is possible I will simply stop telemarketing altogether and concentrate solely on my copy-writing.

I still have other plans for developing myself professionally which I am aiming towards and so I aim this year to get to the point where I know from week to week exactly how much copy-writing I have to do and how to make time for my other entrepreneurial interests. To have this in view is a great place to be and just proves once more that adage amongst entrepreneurs: “Build it and they will come”. I am pleased and proud of pushing myself beyond my self-limiting beliefs to get to this point and look forward to seeing what I achieve this year, given how far I have come in as little as three years copy-writing for others, based on blogging for myself for several years now.

PPH_Cert_5_Badge

Copywriting | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Copy-writing Freelance

Happiness and The Life Blueprint

Tony Robbins on Making Your Happy Life Story Come TrueIt’s coming up to Valentine’s Day and my 50th birthday in the next couple of weeks.  That’s quite a powerful combination of special dates for me.  It’s a time for taking stock, but also a time for looking forward and the fact that I am single still in the lead up to the 14th February, means that there is still an area of my life that is not how I would like it ideally.

Don’t get me wrong, the past five years or more have been the best and worst of times.  I feel like I have come of age all over again since I started my own businesses and since failing a few times in the process.  I have learnt a lot about survival and thriving.  I am now finally starting to live my life according to my true purpose and am regularly feeling like I want to push myself that bit further for my clients, because as I help them get what they need from quality work from me, then I too am getting what I need, by being made to stretch my own limits.

I am pleased with how my business is progressing steadily and I am less stressed about meeting financial commitments.  My clients are building up and returning.  I have lost some either through my own mistakes or a mismatch of needs or even communications breakdown.   Whilst I am sad about one or two I lost or who never came back, I learnt from mistakes and will not make the same mistakes again.

On the whole, I am still digging deep to find creative writing solutions for most of the companies I work with.  The key word being “with” i.e. where I feel I achieve the best results is where the client is able to work with me to create a great piece of writing.

Take my interior designer client.  James is an intelligent and talented designer and fastidious in his attention to detail, when it comes to interior renovations and installation.  Where he struggles, is in expressing what he does in written words.  Often he will give me a general brief – a skeleton of a project he is working on, or an idea.  I write the picture he paints or sketches, then I read what I think could be his words back to him.  He interjects every now and then with technical insights on the work he does or other tweaks.

The work we create together is fantastic and the proof is in having pieces published in prestigious publications, online and offline.  The quality of his work obliges me to step up to the plate and be prepared to learn new concepts.

The collaborative copy-writing projects are what give me the greatest satisfaction, because I get really good feedback and am establishing relationships.  The money is great and the kudos is pretty cool too, but sharing a sense of achievement, when both my own efforts and those of my clients are being recognised is pretty fantastic.  We are both winning…

Listening to Tony Robbinss talk about this Happiness and Our Life Blueprint stuff , it seems this happiness I feel about my work is because I am living according to my blueprint.  That is, my idea  of what I want from life matches my life conditions.  I am empowering others and I am doing it by writing.  This is so exciting to me.  I am living my life closer to the picture of what makes me happy.

Finally at least in this part of my life, I have carved out a story line that fits who I am… Next I have to work at finding the right person to get my love blueprint sorted.  I have a story in my head where I find happy ever after, but I am still single.  That’s a tougher call and one I have been failing at for many years.  Carving a career out of writing is a walk in the park by comparison, but I am ready!

 

Enjoy Tony Robbins inspirational video on telling yourself your best possible life story by clicking the picture below

Tony Robbins Happiness Video

Tony Robbins On Creating a Happy Life Story

Uncategorized | adminda | | Leave a comment

When Lightening Strikes, Be The Rod For Your Home Business

Believe it or not, this blog is actually six years old, but hacked once, then database deleted by another, without the ability to salvage much.  There has been a lot of great material here on how to survive working for yourself as a freelancer and entrepreneur and the various options open to those wanting to work from home in their own business.

Sadly, here I am down to a few pages, once more after lightening struck a second time, so it’s going to be a long haul to bring this site anywhere near offering loads of valuable content for those looking to find others who can offer good advice and share their experience of being self-employed and working from home.

Losing six years worth of material has been a bad body blow and tells me once more – as I obviously did not learn from my experience in Spring of this year – that I have to find new ways to protect and consolidate work achieved to date.  Having a few complementary online businesses as I do, my focus sometimes gets scattered and I assume that all is fine with what I have done once a task seems done with.  Unfortunately complacency can lead to disaster when running your own business and building your entrepreneurial equity. Re-evaluating risks needs to be a regular task.

My blog is the product of real brain stretching exercises and spilling of guts and even shedding a rare tear… I make an effort to put a lot of work into it and deliver content that is relevant to fellow female entrepreneurs.  Yesterday I was very close to tears when I found out that my hard work and story of my own journey as an entrepreneur here on my website was as good as lost. ( I have yet to figure out how that is going to impact my rankings on the search engines.  That will be a painful lesson too, no doubt…)

The reality of running any business, especially as a sole trader, or single entrepreneur is that you can get incredibly busy delivering services to a range of clients and sometimes forget to protect the assets which give you leverage. In my case, this was my blog… Struck by lightening twice in the one year!

I use this website for a few purposes:to share experiences of being a freelance copywriter, entrepreneur and also as a show-case for my capabilities to those who may consider hiring me to deliver copy for their projects.  Unfortunately, the breadth of subjects I can write on now have to be proved all over again through building up my portfolio from nothing all over again.

Recovery From Having Your Legs Kicked Out From Under You

It’s a tough job to get back up after falling flat on one’s face once, let alone twice, but mistakes and the obstacles they create and extremely challenging circumstances are part and parcel of being an entrepreneur.  I signed up for those rules of the game and have to accept that troubles such as these will happen if I do not consolidate everything I write and do online…  Making mistakes and even repeating them sometimes goes with the territory of having ADHD… It’s just tough though really…

The grief and depression I have suffered of late over the loss of years of hard work here, makes me more determined than ever that also I probably need to work very differently than how I have been to date.  So I am upping my game, so my blog is going to get better and better….  The devastation has been so great, I can do only what it feels necessary to do as an entrepreneur when disaster strikes sometimes…. Lick your wounds, cry with a friend, then carry on regardless….

I have learnt a lot in the past six years of being self-employed and have had a number of disastrous projects that have nearly bankrupted me.  Whilst my blog appears bankrupt for the time being, continual improvement is something I do strive for in whatever I do, so in future this blog for helping fellow freelancers and home business owners will offer a whole lot more for people to learn from as they begin to earn from home.  In this instance, I just want to reassure others that occasionally the going gets rough, so resilience of mindset when “shit happens” is really important… We have to carry on believing that change is a constant and as long as we continue putting one foot in front of the other, we can get to where we need to be.

Whilst I am feeling broken-hearted right now that so many memories of my process as a newbie online marketer are now lost, from now on, I have learnt another lesson, to always consolidate and back up everything I produce and only to rely on service providers who know what they are doing.

Who knows, maybe what I have written in the past is outmoded? There may even be an unseen gift in what has felt like a nightmare of late.  I hope to bring a clearer focus to the information I offer from now on, that’s for sure.

Time to dust myself off from lightening striking twice… but I have breath in my body and lots of energy to share with anyone looking to learn from my mistakes and I look forward to sharing more electric content in the future…

See you again in the light!

 

Uncategorized | adminda | | Leave a comment |   Home Business Mindset

LOVE HOW BIG YOUR BOTTOM LOOKS WITH ADVERTISING

I’m on a mission here today, to encourage new business start ups or those starting a business from home to look at your bottom line, to pull in your belt and make that bottom look bigger! Learning to use your marketing budget more wisely when cash-flow is tight means that you will be making a trade off, of paying less in income and more in time advertising with no-cost advertising strategies.

I get people just starting out contact me for advice about how to promote themselves with little or no money to spend on advertising. I think people are often confused because they see advertising off line every day and have been brought up on a diet of bill-boards, magazine advertising, glossy brochures through the door and when they switch on their computers, they are now feeling over-whelmed with the clever targetted advertising in their email accounts, their social media platforms and not least on the search engines.

It is hard to know where to start for a business newbie. Lately, I’ve been thinking about paper based publications marketing and advertising and I wanted to share what I’ve found, about how to make your bottom line expand with some simple strategies that will help make the most of your advertising and help to keep it low or even no cost!

If you are paying for advertising already, or plan to in the future, the following also offers some basics on assessing what works and what doesn’t in advertising methods and what this can mean for your profits and advertising ROI.

Dried Mud Shows the Cracks

First off, stop any advertising that isn’t working! Obvious, right? Seriously, you would be amazed at how many business people run ads just because that’s what their business has always done, or because it’s what their competitors do. Shockingly, they don’t even really know whether the ads are working, because they never thought through why they were doing it, who they were targeting, let alone set up any results tracking, or really comparing their competitors’ strategies. It’s that old: “throw it at the wall often enough, some of it will stick” time and money wasting philosophy handed down from way back when…

If you want your bottom line to get bigger, then seriously, do not bother buying the ‘easiest cuts’, just because the guy selling ad space in a household name telephone directory, that has been around since you were knee high to a grasshopper just called you to tell you about their latest deal. Chances are the big boys are still building their experience of online advertising and to be honest, they are more concerned with numbers, rather than quality service delivery, because that is the business model they were built on.

If you are paying for entry into a local telephone directory, do not assume that for a little extra cash, their one page templated web-site will do your business any favours. It might work for some industries, but if you really want a showcase for your work, you might need an online brochure, NOT a post-card! Talk to friends about how they have set up their own websites and start doing that TODAY and commit to learning how to make it work, or outsource it, but make sure you OWN the domain and content when you do.

When Analysis Takes You Beyond Paralysis

Secondly, you won’t know whether the ads are working unless you test and measure all of your advertising. This is so important . So many businesses allocate a certain amount of money to an advertising budget, spend the money every year, with only a vague sense of whether the ads are working or not. This is not a good profit building practice! Habitual advertising without analysis of results, perhaps also shows a complete lack of understanding of this vital sales and lead generation strategy.

Do not beat yourself up over this common mistake; you are not expected to be an advertising guru, when your special skill is installing solar panels or pet-grooming and care! Many business owners are so caught up in the daily running of their business, they put faith in so-called professionals, who are often call-centre workers, chasing a commission and could not care less if your business succeeds or fails. The owner of the advertising business might care, but your daily oppo is another creature altogether.

Advertising is often trial and error; what works for one industry might not for another. If ad campaigns, such as Pey Per Click, are not working, use some other marketing strategies that can bring you a bigger return on your investments. Consider Free Ads to test your key words and find out what attracts your ideal customer. The time spent here, running split tests, where wording or order of messages are slightly different might make all the difference in hits by new customers, when having the budget for paid search advertising. A bigger ROI on your bottom line looks good from any angle; just put in the work to testing or out-source this work to someone on Fiver.com, for instance!

Live and Direct Response

Thirdly, only run ads that are going to get a response. This is known as ‘direct response advertising’. The other form of advertising is brand advertising. (This is designed to build and sustain awareness of a brand. Yes, of course your brand is important too as a small business owner…. but this is another marketing article for another day…). The point is focus on where you get the greatest impact for the least effort or budget.

Learn to earn like advertising-savvy online marketers who only pay for ads that produce a profitable response. For instance, in Pay Per Click campaigns, knowing what your conversion rates and your Cost Per Click is, tells you where to draw the line. You can work out the cost of generating a new customer, then think about the average sale revenue generated, to see if it is worth your investment. This is not always straight forward, but these are crucial cost management tools. For some small business owners, this level of analysis is out of their comfort zone. The trouble is that not being interested in this aspect of your business, can ultimately leave you demotivated as you watch your business ‘muddle along’ at best, or worse still…struggle, whilst your competitors seem to be steaming ahead.

Learn Techniques To Earn From Advertising

Your business marketing strategy is a whole skill set in itself which requires your commitment of observation, study-time and active willingness to learn. Do you (or your marketing team if you have any) know, for instance, what the cost of a sale conversion from your advertising campaign is? Who are responding to which ads? How many are buying? How is this reflected in overall costs of campaigns and product prices? If you cannot answer these questions, chances are you are losing money.

Sometimes, business people are so caught up in all other operational considerations, taking time to really analyse the success of their ‘sales lube’ gets left behind. Are you trotting out tired campaigns for convenience because of tight deadlines with other day to day, ‘bread and butter’ work? Putting in some appraisal time can really pay off. One small tweak in any off or online ad campaign can even have exponential results.

For instance, the KEY element in any pay per click advertising is the headline – the first words of your ad. Obvious, right? Sadly, not to all it seems… Focus on what you have to offer to grab peoples’ attention in the few seconds you have before they click away – use an attention grabbing message to distract them from whatever else they might otherwise be doing? You have SECONDS to do this online; it is a very immediate medium, full of seekers after immediate gratification.

Remember, you are potentially building a relationship with new customers here; first impressions count, especially online. Research says you have literally seconds to even start that process! One simple tweak to your headline can really increase your response rate. TIP: If the headline of your ad is currently the name of your company, you can almost certainly increase your ad response rate by replacing the ‘Me! Me! Me! approach to a compelling offer or an amusing or intriguing few words which appeal to your customer, who may not even know you yet. Who really cares who you are until you have built a lasting trusting relationship?! The public are tuned into W.I.F.M. daily; i.e. What’s In It For Me? Put yourself in their shoes and ask what they are looking for. Even if it’s just entertainment they are after, offer salesmanship!

The body of your ad should be a personal communication to the individual reading it. It needs to be about them and speak to that one person you are going out there in the wild west of the online world to find. It needs to address their needs, desires and fears AND it needs to constantly communicate the BENEFITS of what you are offering, not just the qualities, or features of your product(s) and service.

At the end of the ad you need a call to action. Tell people exactly what they need to do to take the next step towards you and make it easy for them to do so. If there is a bonus of some kind on offer, remind them. If you have a time-limited offer, make it obvious what the benefits are of acting NOW and what they will miss out on if they don’t act on your information!

Some other basics of the marketing masters include: Don’t advertise on a left hand page e.g. in magazines or newsletters. This has been proved over and again. When we read any publication, our eyes are drawn to the right hand side of the page. It makes sense then, that more people will see your ad if it’s on the right hand page. However, on any single page, our eyes alight on the top left and move to the right, hence the placement of sponsored ads on Google, for instance – not random, people!

Bargain hunters, remember, we are in a recession and advertisers need your business. So, NEVER pay the full rate you get quoted for ad space. You can always negotiate advertising space prices. If this is something you are not comfortable with, get some practice in with someone you trust to play hard-ball with you. If you’re a small business, be aware that large companies who use ad agencies are buying based on the readership or audience numbers, rather than the ‘rates chargeable’. Haggle and negotiate; you are not expected to be treated the same as the big boys and your custom is just as important in tough times. Think about it, paying, 20% less for your advertising can turn an unprofitable ad campaign into a really lucrative one.

Whilst still on the subject of advertising presence in publications, don’t think that just because your competitors are there, that you need to be too! Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your competitors are there because their ads are producing great results. Chances are, they are only there because their competitors are and the funny thing is that many won’t even know if their ads are getting results anyway, because they don’t really bother to measure results either! This is a mistake commonly made by newbies who are still looking around for marketing role models… I know this because I’ve done it!

Consider non-traditional advertising media to complement e.g. magazine advertising. So many businesses waste money on unproductive, restrictive advertising outlets. Other marketing strategies might be more profitable, especially if your budget permits, used jointly to underpin or mutually strengthen each other’s message with targeted audiences: Direct Mail, Telesales Marketing, Direct Sales, Email Newsletters, Internet, Referrals, Strategic Alliances, etc. The possibilities for a good marketing mix are as successful as the planning and execution you put in.

Knowing what works, above all, is the result of your actively testing and experimenting over time. This takes patience, planning time and strategic focus. The good news is it gets to be fun when you start to see the results of tightening up on your methods as you look back over the year and can link upticks in revenue to tweaks in advertising campaigns. More importantly still, advertising can become a highly profitable part of your marketing tool box when you get it right and immensely satisfying when you know that your expansive bottom line is directly resulting form feeding your campaign properly.

If you are looking to learn more about marketing effectively and have time or money to invest, I recommend checking out YouTube videos and Ehow to get you started. Think about who is going to be in charge of your campaigns and get them on board; if your ventures into advertising are still new, make sure that the type(S) of advertising you choose suit their personal styles and current time commitments, as much as your budget.

What you have to ask is whether you are happy to keep losing money from your tight profit margins, or if you would rather expend some time and energy for a while to build that healthy bottom line. The bigger the better as you get older, I think…

 

Uncategorized | adminda | | Leave a comment