March 10, 2010

Five Ways You Can Successfully Sell Yourself to Others...
$8.0 Million Donated to War Veterans... The Entrepreneurial
Boom... Flip Negative Experience into an Info Marketing
Product... and More.

Let's say you've got your own business and things are starting to move. You've got some potential customers in the door with your advertising. You've piqued their interest with your competitive prices. Now you have to close the deal. What a lot of successful business people do to "seal the deal" is to not only sell their products and services, but also sell themselves to their clients.

Sometimes a great product might be a flop because of the person who is selling it. Other times, a poor product sells great because the salesperson is so convincing and personable. Either way, a product can only sell itself so much. You have to seal the deal yourself. Here are five ways that may help you sell yourself and reap the rewards:

Keep your ears open, your eyes on your customer and your mouth closed. It's funny that people who consider themselves good communicators are just good talkers. What you might not know is that listening is the most effective selling technique. When you listen, your client knows that you're interested in them and you're focusing on them. Listening makes the listened-to person feel good, and if you make somebody feel good, you're selling yourself. And make eye contact. One of the worst feelings for a customer is when they're talking to a salesperson and they're looking over their shoulder at another customer. You might as well tell them that they're not important when you do that. Next time you are in a meeting with a client or potential client, listen very carefully, keep your eyes on them (don't stare, but maintain eye contact) and ask at least one question, just to further convey your interest.

A little self-confidence goes a long way. Have complete confidence in your expertise -- but don't let it get too out of hand. There is a fine line between being confident and cocky. Answer any questions with quick, concise and informative answers. However, don't get too wrapped up in a boastful display. It will make the client feel inferior and that's bad for business. And never bad-mouth your competition. I recently met with a potential business partner who not only put down his competition, but also used profanity when doing so. Not very professional or impressive.

Think like you're part of a team. Don't consider yourself the leader with your employees and customers down the ladder. The team approach gets everyone involved, creates more useful ideas, and makes your client feel more involved in the process. Try to position yourself as a partner with your client so that you both benefit. While the customer is king, conveying the "we're in this together" impression makes them feel more at ease.

Don't hold back your expertise. Some businesspeople will hold back information. Big mistake. Open up to your client. When you share knowledge with people, it's amazing the amount of gratitude you get from them. If you have something you would prefer kept secret, make a light-hearted quip like, "That's a family tradition we keep under lock and key!"

Build business relationships wherever and whenever you can. Build relationships with everybody -- that means everybody at your client's site, your neighbors, your friends, your relatives and even your kids' teachers. Don't just concentrate on what you consider to be the business circle. It's amazing where a business opportunity might pop up!

America's efforts overseas have sent brave citizens far and wide. Under intense pressure and scrutiny, these individuals have made countless sacrifices. With many starting their journey home and many already here, they are facing a new set of challenges.

War veterans certainly deserve a hero's welcome as they transition back to civilian life. However, with a struggling economy and shrunken job market, many veterans are having a hard time integrating back to daily life on home soil.

Microsoft, the computer product giant, has stepped up to welcome veterans with a large cash purse.

Two million dollars in cash starts off an $8.0-million promise made to war veterans to help them find jobs and integrate quickly back to their lives at home. The remaining $6.0 million comes in the form of donated computer programs.

To get this money and help into the right hands, Microsoft is making the donations to organizations that deal with veteran services, workforce placement as well as community colleges. The money will also go towards assisting with job training and job searches as well as providing assistance for child care.

If you're a recent war veteran or know of someone who could use this assistance, then you can learn more about Microsoft's "Elevate America" program through their web site or by contacting the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization.

Although current economic conditions have had devastating effects on many, there are positives to be found. One of these is that more and more Americans are venturing into the world of entrepreneurialism by starting their own businesses.

A number of entrepreneur-friendly careers have been made available in the wake of the country's economic hardship. People have been able to apply the skills they've used throughout their careers working for someone else for their very own benefit, as the proprietors of their own businesses.

This is an extremely exciting time for many of these new entrepreneurs, who are now beginning to experience the freedom and satisfaction of owning their own company.

Of course, for the inexperienced entrepreneur, this situation can also be rather nerve-racking and daunting. After all, you may have never been the decision-maker before, been forced to negotiate deals, or even have had to adjust to a new work setting. After all, many new businesses start out of the home. These can all prove to be difficult adjustments for new entrepreneurs.

Here are two simple words of advice: don't panic. Every successful entrepreneur who's done it before you has gone through the same lows and struggles that you may currently be experiencing, and has made it through. They were able to do it with persistence and hard work, and by trusting their instincts and learning from their mistakes.

To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be comfortable in your decision-making. This means you have to try to acquire as much knowledge as possible from a variety of sources, while surrounding yourself with experienced people whom you trust. You want to be sure that if you need to know something, you can get the answer quickly.

You're also going to have to be able to wrap your head around the fact that, no matter what, you're going to make mistakes. This is a fact of life and nobody, not even Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, gets it right all the time. Every successful entrepreneur has made mistakes, learnt from them and applied what they learned to come back even stronger.

Finally, if you're going to be working from home, you're going to have to be responsible about it. Set up a productive work space that is free of distractions and lets you accomplish what you need to do. Working from home is not a vacation, even though it can seem like it at first. It's important to establish boundaries and schedule your work, so that you stick to the task at hand, much like you did when you were still at the office.

** Flip Negative Experience into an Info Marketing Product
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

It always makes me sad when I hear people speak of their life "failures." They talk in great detail about those crushing times when something went wrong with a certain part of their lives. Divorce, bad investments, or even some memories of not doing well in their studies can leave a lifelong scar on their confidence.

Life isn't easy, but what you need to keep in mind is that you have to keep going with whatever drive for success you have. Once more, you have to learn from your past problems in order to progress further. To sit and worry about what happened is a pretty unproductive thing to do. You just get depressed and negative while hopelessly dwelling on the past. That should not be your focus. It's what's coming that always matters.

But with that in mind, your past experiences are very helpful in minding the road ahead. In info marketing, they can be even more valuable to you. Your past experiences can be helpful to others and you can build a very solid, successful information marketing business from your own life experience, both positive and negative.

Providing information on life experience can take on many forms, especially if you can share stories and tips on things that happened in your working days. Here are some common topics:

--- The business veteran: This is one topic of info absolutely every entrepreneur can use. You've gone into business and, try as you might, it just didn't work. Maybe you were able to sell it off. Maybe you wound up in debt trying to get out of it. I hate to think you might have wound up going bankrupt. But, either way, your experience is very valuable. What did you go through? How did you deal with the problems? If you had to do it over, what would you do differently? All of the answers to these questions not only help others going down a similar path, but they can also help you establish an info marketing business that could rejuvenate your own professional career.

--- Lay-offs and professional downtime: I've been laid off before. It's not fun. You've got bills to pay, a life to lead, and then one day your boss decides he doesn't need you anymore. In my case, my boss told me the week previous I was going to get a promotion. How did that work? It wasn't good at the beginning, but I did get through it. If you have had a similar experience, you know it takes at least some elbow grease and some real determination to get back on the payroll again. But it also takes other things; other bits of information that can help others who are either freshly out of work or who work in trades and see lay-offs on a regular basis. If you know how to weather a professional downtime storm, it would be great to share with others as well.

--- Bad business partners: Most partnerships are pretty amicable and, when people get working on a career with similar interests in mind, they can generate real wealth together. But let's face it: there are bad ones out there. Some partners cheat, steal, or just don't live up to their end of the agreement. This can lead to loads of acrimony and even the occasional fight or lawsuit. I hope you've never been through this, but if you have, you aren't alone. It's happened to people even in my own family. And I know that they would have killed to know what to do when their partner wound up showing his dark side. Got good info on how to deal with a bad business partner? Great! Other professionals would like to get your info product.

--- The personal life/business life balance: Some people are great at managing both their professional and personal lives. But a lot of them are seasoned pros with years of experience and, well, very forgiving spouses. A new entrepreneur faces a lot of frustrations these days and a lot of them wind up going nuts trying to keep up with both professional and personal commitments. It can be tough to manage, but it can be managed. Good tips on lifestyle, relationships, what kinds of pratfalls an entrepreneur might face personally and how to deal with them can be useful to so many starting out today.

A lot of people are cynical about their professional life and it's not hard to understand why. They've been stung in ways that others cannot comprehend because they've never been through it. But cynicism never works. Focus and determination to deal with life's troubles, especially professional ones, are the traits one needs to master. It's that simple. An info marketer with that kind of information is valuable time and time again. If you have it, you need to get it out there!