Kendall Summerhawk asked:


Do you know what most women entrepreneurs bring with them when they start their own business?

The notion that being busy means being productive.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

As I warn my business coaching clients, this faulty (and even dangerous) notion is a hold-over from the days of working at a j-o-b.

You see, at a job, you’re paid to show up and stay busy. What people do at their jobs is rarely connected with actually bringing in new clients or making money.

But when you work for yourself, EVERYTHING you do MUST be tightly connected to getting and keeping new clients. Period.

Which means handling things like most emails, filing, problem solving (unless it’s solving your clients’ problems), administrative trivia, surfing the ‘net, sorting your Outlook files, paying bills, fiddling with your website, creating brochures… are a waste of time. These tasks don’t put women entrepreneurs closest to the money; they pull them away from it!

Here are my top favorite tasks that I do nearly every day to put me closest to the money:

Small Business Marketing Strategy #1: Write an article.

Not crazy about writing or not sure what to write about? One of the tips I shared in a recent Success Circle Marketing Makeover call is to write like you are having a conversation. Pretend you are chatting with a good friend about a very specific topic.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #2: Send a “thinking about you” card…or two!

Why not surprise a client, referral source, another woman entrepreneur or prospective client with a friendly “keep in touch” card? They will feel special…and think you are too!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #3: Send a press release written as a mini-article.

Think a press release is only to announce an important event? Nope! Take one of your articles, trim it down to 250 words and add your author’s bio. You can use this strategy to send one a week.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #4: Record a free audio tip for your website.

Even better, transcribe it and post it on your website as a viewable option. Google will love your site for adding fresh content.

Small Business Marketing Strategy #5: Make your first (or next) information product.

Keep it simple and get your information product done now! The credibility and leverage you gain will tremendously boost your business. Example: one of my Platinum Inner Circle clients created a $9.95 eBook on a popular topic. The result? This woman entrepreneur received dozens of sales and several new clients worth many thousands of dollars. Nice!

Small Business Marketing Strategy #6: Ask to be interviewed or to interview an expert.

Interviews are easy to set up. They increase your credibility, widen your exposure and raise your expert status, whether you’re the expert giving the interview or conducting the interview. Choose someone you respect. Call to ask for the interview (you’ll be surprised how often you’ll hear “yes”.) Then record the interview and offer it as a mp3 file on your website.

My business coaching challenge: make a stand for doing ONE small business marketing strategy each day, and then integrate your action into your daily routine.

This is how you’ll go from being busy to becoming successful… with a lot more time to enjoy!

Tammi Metzler asked:


If you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard people talking about blogging for both business and pleasure. But you may have no idea what blogging is or how to get started. Well, I’m here to tell you.

Keeping a business marketing blog can do wonders for your business, both by driving traffic to your web site and by establishing you as an expert in your field.

I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s start at the beginning. What is a blog, you ask? According to Wikipedia.com:

A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

What does this mean for you, the small business owner?  Blogging isn’t typically a method to get clients now; it’s more of a branding practice to get your name out there. Search engines love blogs because of the fresh content. With that being the case, a blog can bring new visitors to your site, and your regularly updated blog content can keep interested visitors coming back to your site to check out what’s new. Eventually, those interested prospects will start to see you as an expert, and the next time they need what you’re selling, they’ll remember you. 

The hardest part is coming up with fresh content for your blog. You can’t write a blog post once every two months and expect to have any favorable results. There’s nothing worse than a silent blog, so if you think you lack the time to maintain one, you’re better off exploring other options, whether that be looking into other internet marketing methods or hiring a copywriter to take care of the dirty work of actual getting your thoughts down into writing (yes, we do exist, and we can transform your knowledge and experience into interesting content that will attract the attention of your potential customers). If you can commit just a few hours a week to posting at least two blogs (or if you’re ready to hire a copywriter to take on this task for you), read on for more information about this increasingly popular marketing method.

Quite frankly, a small time commitment each week leads to the possibility of greater exposure for your business. Which means more interested customers are stumbling onto your web site, which means a higher chance of sales. It’s really very simple!

But maybe you’re not a writer, so it’s not that simple after all. If you find yourself staring at a blank page when it’s time to write your posts, take a moment to think about the questions your customers regularly ask you. For instance, let’s say you’re a financial consultant and people constantly ask you the easiest way to create a budget so they can pay their bills and still have fun money left over. Jot down the top ten tips that you would give your customers and describe each one in detail in its own blog posts. Just like that, you’ve got your first ten blog posts. If you post twice per week, you’re covered for five weeks!

Don’t let that stop your creative wheels from turning, though, because those five weeks will be gone before you know it. Keep looking for new ideas, and be sure to write them down as they come to you. You don’t want to be stuck scrambling for new material on a moment’s notice – you can bet your creative muse will be on vacation just when you need it the most!

I know what you’re thinking…”Sounds interesting, but how much is this gonna cost me?” Nothing more than your time, my friend. You can set up a new blog in mere moments with no out-of-pocket expense. Check out www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com for a few free blog options. Yep, that’s right – FREE. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Or maybe you’re concerned about the technological aspect. Have no fear; you don’t have to know HTML code (or even know what that is) to create your own blog. The programs mentioned above do all the behind-the-scenes work for you, so all you have to do is start typing. What are you waiting for?

The next time you find yourself with the desire (or the need) to grow your business, consider the increasingly popular world of blogging to get your name in front of potential clients.

Happy blogging!