November 2, 2009

Is this the End of Excess?... And the Winner Is... How to
Create a Winning Game Plan... Slide Your Way to Info
Marketing Success... and More.

About five years ago, if you asked the average person what their dreams were, many would say they want a luxury car, a spacious home and the freedom to travel.

But now, that same question yields answers that are more along the lines of simply having any home at all and having the money to continually pay for gas.

While people may now want slightly simpler things, there are a few constants that, no matter what happens to the economy, people will still want and pursue them to the best of their ability.

The first universal want is security. Feeling safe, either in the comfort of your home or with friends and family, is something we all strive for. When our safety is compromised, we'll do anything to get it back.

While many people may feel safe in a gas-guzzling SUV, the environmental movement has been shifting this perception for many people. Safety can now be tied to environmental responsibility and you can expect to see more and more products and services advertising their environmental benefits in the coming year.

The next constant want is for freedom. The freedom to choose and the freedom to act how you want. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't want and enjoy personal freedom.

As we age, it becomes easier for us to lose some of our freedom. We're hindered by aging bones and muscles, yet we still desire our freedom. Products and services that allow us to maintain our freedom will constantly be in demand. From simple medical supplies to more elaborate inventions, you can expect the personal freedom industry to continue to thrive.

As you can see, while many people may be scaling back their desires to more attainable sizes, there are still certain wants that will never go away. As an entrepreneur, tapping into these wants could help you connect with a strong customer base and allow you to see continued success for years to come.

As a child, I loved entering contests. The toy store in the mall had coloring contests every month and I remember sitting at my desk trying my best to stay within the lines. When I was done, my mother and I would head to the mall and my picture would be placed on the wall near the cash register.

Now, I don't believe I ever won one of these contests, but I did get to go to the toy store more often and, as a kid, I don't need to tell you how exciting it was.

This little trip down memory lane is an example of how contests can be great for businesses.

One of the largest challenges facing small business owners is coming up with new ways to stand out amongst competitors and get customers not only buying, but also involved to keep them coming back.

Contests are a promotional tool that has been around for ages,
and continues to be used in new ways.

One example of how this old concept has been made fresh is in the online market. Retailers, such as Amazon, allow registered users of their site to post product reviews. Not only does Amazon post product descriptions, but they also make each product page into a small forum where people you'd never encounter otherwise offer their suggestions or warnings about what you may purchase.

Other companies hoping to get new users to do the same on their web sites have been encouraging customers to also post on their sites by having contests built into these promotions. One store was offering reward points for accepted comments, while other sites have giveaways for users who comment.

When it comes to your business, what customer comments would you like to receive? Rather than sitting back and waiting for them, create a contest that gives you the feedback you want and rewards your customers in the process.

You've probably heard it before: the best way to achieve success is through calculated steps and an organized plan. It's possible that your attempts at running a successful business in the past may have failed because you were unprepared and unorganized and lacked a clear vision or path.

Without established goals and a clear idea of your priorities and what you'd like to accomplish, it becomes very difficult to achieve success. This is mainly because you are unclear about what you'd like to achieve, or you know what you'd like to achieve, but have no idea of how you're going to get there.

A successful business requires various objectives and processes and a vision. Of course, in order to stay on point, you'll also need lots of patience and the willingness to work hard and make tough decisions when the opportunities present themselves.

Setting goals isn't as simple as just saying, "In five years, I want to be the richest guy in town." It takes much more than that. So let's start from the beginning.

Let's say your goal is to have the most successful online pet store in your city. We know what you want to do; now all you have to do is figure out how you're going to get there. The first thing you're going to want to do is to come up with your long-term goals.

Generally speaking, your long-term goals are the objectives you'd like to achieve in roughly five years or so. Either way, they are goals that will take lots of work and time to realize. Long-term goals may be things like reaching a million dollars in sales, developing your own 50-piece pet clothing line, expanding to neighboring towns, or selling franchises.

Once you've come up with some of your more far-off goals, you can start thinking about your short-term goals. Short-term goals are generally things that you can achieve within a few months to a year. They will include things like coming up with a business plan, coming up with marketing angles, scheduling meetings, getting your business up and running and all the little things that will get you closer to achieving your long-term goals. It's very important that you don't overlook the magnitude of setting short-term goals, because they often play the most important role in your business' development.

Realizing short-term goals is what allows you to achieve your long-term goals. They ensure you take the necessary steps to success and also help to keep you motivated. After all, when  you can track your progress through short-term goals, it reminds you that you're moving in the right direction and that you are capable of realizing your dreams.

To be successful, you must set goals. Now that you know the basics of goal-setting, go out and achieve!

** Slide Your Way to Info Marketing Success
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

So...do you have any great memories of high school chemistry class?

Even without hearing your voice, I can sense a silence. That's okay. It's not something that conjures up carnival-like memories for me either.

One thing that made chemistry class kind of dreadful was doing independent projects. My teacher, with the best intentions I'm sure, wanted us to do research and create interesting presentations. It wasn't much fun, but I remember a presentation a couple of guys did that really made me take notice. This was the late 90s, and these two guys brought in a laptop, rigged it up to the overhead projector, and began tapping the space bar. They had created a slideshow and did their whole presentation using some software one guy's father used at his job at the local power plant.

Suffice to say we were all impressed, especially since I am still remembering it today. As time passed and I entered and exited post-secondary, then headed to the world of work, I saw many people using laptop and digital slide presentations very frequently.

Slide presentations are just another good, modern tool for all information marketers. You might find yourself in a situation where you are a making a pitch to a prospective financial backer or presenting to a group of fellow colleagues at a convention. Either way, a killer visual presentation to show the best parts of your information marketing business is handy to have in order to make a lasting impression on an audience.

Here are some tips for making a good slide presentation for your info marketing business:

-- Slide composition: You can do this on your own. I use "Microsoft Word" and do up each slide on a blank page. Whenever you're writing slides, don't treat them like your content. Just include the basic information. Use point form notes to briefly detail the key points of your business and what you are showing to a prospective client. For further reference, check the 'Net for templates on creating good slides.

-- Pictures and graphics: Even though you are an info marketer and your specialty is written content, it's always good to include some completely visual materials. My memories of my time in the publishing world are of people including a lot of graphs and pie charts with their slide presentations. These are good to show sales figures and prospective areas of output. But you can also show photos of your establishment, some examples of your work, and other visual elements of your business in your presentation.

-- A good digital program: There are a lot of digital programs for slides these days that are so easy to operate and ever- changing in their formatting abilities that I can't mention them here. In the event your computer or laptop is without one and you still want to create a presentation, do not pass go and get to your local retailer to get one installed. They aren't very expensive and you can do it right from home. If you already have "Microsoft Office" or "Adobe Studio," check them out, as many of the more recent updates of those programs have good slide-creation capabilities.

-- Invest in a portable digital source: My old boss in the publishing world never went anywhere without his digital notebook. He was always doing a presentation of some sort, and he was always ready to input an Internet connection and slide projector in whatever boardroom he happened to be in. While I doubt you have to go to these extremes, having a laptop to take to a convention or client's office is a good idea, especially once your business gets bigger. I am also told a "Palm Pilot," "BlackBerry" or "iPhone" can do this like a laptop, so those might be some options as well. Do some research and see what works best for you in your price range.

The old saying is pretty much cliche, but it's true, too: "One picture says a thousand words." If you get the opportunity to do a really great slide presentation, take advantage of it. Your info marketing colleagues and clients will see all that is great about your business and want to get involved financially in what you have to offer.