How to Regain Your Clarity - ISSUE 52

Life has a tendency to throw curveballs your way in the most inopportune times and oftentimes you don't even realize it until it's too late. I'm talking about the loss of vision, motivation, inspiration, determination, perseverance, and even writer's block. One day you are rocking and rolling, the next you are blankly staring at your computer screen clicking on random links. You're wondering what happened to your momentum.

Well, I'm here to tell you from firsthand experience, this can all be fixed. There are multiple ways to regain your clarity but it's not going to happen overnight. Depending on how dense the fog in your head has become, it may take you 1-2 years before you get your spark back. The good news is that if you catch it early enough, it could take as little as a week. You just have to be able to see the signs of the fog rolling in and be proactive rather than reactive.

Go Outside and Play

One of the best ways to keep your sanity is to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. Go for a walk and get your body back in motion. Get that heart pumpin'! Nowadays we are so used to sitting in a chair all day, there's no wonder why so many people are lazy and unhealthy. Our bodies were designed to be limber and to move, not to be sedentary and motionless.

The next and even better thing is to go to the gym at least three times per week. You must also make sure you're spending a good 15-20 minutes stretching to release all the toxins in your body (Read - 'New Year's Resolutions, Your Business, & Going to the Gym'). Exercising does wonders for your mental state. Within 30 days, you'll feel more energized, happy, and ready to attack anything that comes your way.

Take a Break

Unfortunately, you live in a go-go-go society. The world is moving at the speed of light. If you are a small business owner, you already know that taking a break can be very difficult at times with all the demands set forth. Well, I'm here to tell you from experience, this is extremely important. If you don't take a break and time to stop and smell the roses, your life will pass you by before you know it and all you will have to reflect on is how hard you worked.

Ideally you shouldn't work more than 40 hours a week. Take time to spend with your friends and family as well as to give your body and mind time to rest and recover. You should also take at least one day a week to do absolutely nothing except for fun and relaxing activities.

You should also take at least 2 weeks off per year, preferably in a row. Put your work down and refresh. Go out of town and get away. Sleep as much as possible. After your vacation is over, you will come back to work ready to tackle just about anything!

Are you driven by Hope and Faith or Fear and Desperation? - ISSUE 51

Why do you think some people are more successful than others? Do you think it's because they are always better, smarter, more skilled, more experienced, more educated, etc. etc.? Or do you think it's a driving force that comes from within them to keep pressing forward? Believe it or not, it's the latter.

Keep Hope and Faith Alive

Studies have proven that successful people are not always born into wealth and power. They are also not the people who have the most education. Instead, they are the people who have found the inner strength to overcome all obstacles. They have a vision for their future and they will not let anyone stand in the way of their true calling in life.

They believe in themselves when other people don't. They think positively when other people tell them they aren't good enough or they won't succeed. This inner power comes from keeping their Hope and Faith alive. 

Many people don't realize the richest woman in the world, Oprah Winfrey came from a life of poverty and faced more trials and tribulations as a child than most face in a lifetime. She went from wearing dresses made out of potato sacks as a child to being worth $2.7 billion (Forbes).

Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart) milked cows and sold magazines in Oklahoma on a farm during the Great Depression.

Source: Business Insider - 15 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories

Overcoming Fear and Desperation

If you're like most people, you're probably thinking to yourself, "I'm not mentally strong enough," or "I can't do it." First of all, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ― Henry Ford. Second of all, stop listening to those people in your life who try to bring you down to their level. They have failed in their lives and even though it's subconscious, they don't want to see you fail so they try to stop you from taking risks and ultimately succeeding.

The reality is, all people who have become successful have failed more times in their lives than their are M&Ms in a vending machine. By true definition, they are failures. In other words, if you want to succeed in life, you're going to have to fail. It's that simple.

The best way to keep the hope and faith alive is to surround yourself by successful, supportive, like-minded individuals. You can find this support by joining networking groups, going to seminars, and even Church. There's always people out there who will be there for you, regardless of your situation.

The second best way to keep fear and desperation from setting in is to constantly read and develop your mind. Whether you realize it or not, your thoughts, ideas, and viewpoint on life is developed by the information you put into your head. If you stay away from the garbage, you will most certainly see opportunity knocking on every corner.

How to Find a Web Development Company & What to Look For - Interview - ISSUE 50

Featuring Shane Russell - Chief Master Marketer, Suited Marketing

 

Want to be interviewed? Subsilio Consulting 303.429.8189 denny@subsilioconsulting.com subsilioconsulting.com

Looking for Web Development? Suited Marketing 720.310.0501 info@suitedmarketing.com suitedmarketing.com

 

ABCs of Inbound Marketing - ISSUE 49

Featuring HubSpot's ABCs of Inbound Marketing

Gone are the days of bombarding prospects with print and TV ads. Today, people don’t want to be interrupted. Instead, they’re literally turning away from brands that keep using traditional means. The good news is marketing has changed too. Now, inbound marketing offers a cost-effective and quantifiable method of generating more leads and closing more deals than traditional, outbound marketing ever did.

Inbound marketing draws ideal buyers directly to your business’s doorstep. With inbound marketing, you match educational content with the specific challenges your prospects face at the perfect time in their buying process. It leverages social media so fans tell your story and share your content — further fueling traffic to your website and increasing leads for your business. Lead nurturing keeps you at the top of prospects’ minds, building credibility and respect, which distances you from your competitors.

A - a/b testing B - blogging C - conversion path D - dynamic content E - email marketing F - facebook G - google H - html I - inbound marketing

J - journalism K - keywords L - landing page M - meme N - nofollow link O - offer P - pinterest Q - qualified lead R - responsive design

S - smarketing (Suited Marketing) T - Twitter U - universal search V - video marketing W - workflow X - xml feed Y - youtube Z - zen

Click to Download eBook

Why You Should Create a Digital Business Card - ISSUE 48

Why You should Create a Digital Business Card to Explode Your Business

Like most small business owners, I bet you are running from networking event to networking event trying to make as many connections as you possibly can. How many times have you rehearsed and performed your 30-second commercial? Is it even effective? How do you know? Is anyone even interested in what you are saying?

First of all, when you are networking, you should be focusing on building relationships and NOT selling your product or service. You may have heard this before, but you were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason so you MUST use them proportionately and listen twice as much as you are speaking. People are going to not only trust you more when you are asking questions and listening, they are also going to feel like you really care about them more than you care about yourself. Whether you do or not, that's up to you, but I can guarantee you that the more outward focused you become, the more your business will grow and thrive.

Secondly, is saying the exact same thing over and over really effective and exciting for you? If you've consistently performed your 30-second commercial over and over, does it sound robotic or do you have the same enthusiasm and passion every single time? If you are like most people, you are most likely sounding more robotic each and every time.

Lastly, after attending hundreds of networking events and meetings, and listening to hundreds of people give their 30-second commercial, I can almost guarantee you are talking about the benefits and features of your business and not your passions. Telling people what you do is fine, but expressing your passions is paramount to be remembered. People won't remember you nor will they connect with you based off what you do, but they will if you share why you do and what you are most passionate about. I heard from a very highly respected man, Gary Sugar, recently that most people live in the shadow of their business, but must make their business the shadow of their passions.

Express your passions and stand out from the rest of your competition. Create a digital business card to do the selling for you. You've probably seen QR codes (square barcodes) on the back of business cards. If you already have one, have it go to a one-page website with your commercial, business card information, and a contact form. We have just began this new service of helping you accomplish this.

78 Ways to Increase Your Profits Through Lead Generation - ISSUE 47

1. Local Newspaper Advertising
2. Daily Newspaper
3. TV Advertising
4. Radio Advertising
5. Magazine Advertising
6. Trade Journal Advertising
7. Industry Newsletter Ads
8. School Newsletter Ads
9. Newspaper, Magazine & Newsletter Inserts
10. Public Relations
11. Press Releases
12. Letterbox Flyers
13. Sidewalk Handbills
14. Catalogues
15. Brochures
16. Yellow Pages
17. White Pages
18. Directories
19. Barter/Trade Exchanges
20. Buy Database Lists
21. Direct Mail
22. Piggyback Invoice Mailings
23. Tender Lists
24. Fax Outs
25. Billboards/Posters
26. Shop-a-Dockets
27. Taxi Backs
28. Cinema Advertising
29. Sponsorships
30. Postcard Mailings
31. Internet/Web Pages
32. Building Signage
33. Car Signage
34. In-store & Sidewalk Signage
35. Window Displays
36. Passing Trade
37. Point of Sale Material/Displays
38. Product Packaging
39. Video/In-store Displays
40. Shopping Center Promotions
41. Create an Industry Newsletter
42. Stickers and Tags
43. Fridge Magnets
44. Named Promotional Gifts
45. Blimps, Balloons, Plane Banners & Skywriting
46. Gov’t Programs/Contracts
47. Uniforms/Name Tags
48. Business Cards
49. Networking Functions
50. Salespeople
51. Telemarketing
52. Cold Calling
53. Competitions/Surveys
54. Host Beneficiaries
55. Strategic Alliances
56. Write a Book/eBook
57. Seminars & Events
58. Fetes & Shows
59. Open Days & Sign On Days
60. Fundraising Campaigns
61. Trade Shows
62. Party Plan
63. Network Marketing
64. Distributors/Agents
65. Licensees/Franchisees
66. Market Days
67. Change/Open More Locations
68. Trade Longer/Different Hours
69. Open New Territories
70. Test & Measure
71. Provide Team Selling Incentives
72. Team Buying Incentives
73. Referral System
74. Social Media
75. Blogging
76. YouTube
77. Search Engine Optimization
78. Email Marketing

Successful Business Plan - Your Business is More Like Your Car Than You May Think - ISSUE 46 - 10/9/12

Remember how exciting it was to go buy that brand new vehicle sitting in your driveway? It took you months to do all the research of all the latest makes and models. You compared ten of your favorite cars side-by-side. You compared safety ratings, features, styles, colors, gas mileage, and price. Your ultimate goal was to have a sporty car with decent gas mileage, leather interior, sunroof, and power windows. You knew the car you chose was a bit expensive, but you didn't care. You just had to have it!

Jump forward four years. You have amassed more than one-hundred thousand miles and your car has since lost its curb appeal. There are dings and scratches all over the exterior and stains and tears on the leather interior. Your once shiny, brand new car is now a clunker money pit.

The repair costs have gone through the roof, primarily because you couldn't afford all the regular scheduled maintenance the manufacturer recommends in addition to the wear and tear you put on the car. You had no idea the maintenance costs were going to be so high because you never factored that into your buying decision and during the whole four years of ownership, you never even opened the owner's manual to look at the maintenance schedule. You also didn't pay attention to the fact that the car's make and model is notorious for having issues after the factory warranty has expired.

Sure, you changed the oil a few times a year and even had the brakes changed, but that's it! Even worse, you took out a seven-year loan and you still owe $5,000 more than the car is worth. Since you're completely upside down in your car and you can't afford to pay for the cost of repairs, you're convinced the best option is to give up and walk away from the whole thing.

As weird as you may think this analogy is, the link between your car and your business holds more truth than you would expect. One of the best quotes out there about people in relation to their success is, "people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." To add to that, people also focus too heavily on the wrong things such as the visual appeal rather than the nuts and bolts.

Going back to the car analogy. If you were to have planned correctly and asked the right questions, you would have saved yourself a lot of money and a lot of grief. Not to mention, if you would have been able to afford the service and repair costs of your vehicle, you would have enjoyed it so much more and it would have lasted you for years to come.

Instead, you were too focused on the emotion of buying a flashy, expensive car. You didn't realize the car was going to cost you an arm and a leg to keep it running smoothly and you didn't take care of it to ensure it would last.

Starting a home-based business can be one of the most rewarding ventures you ever embark upon but it's going to take a ton of hard work and dedication. The warm, fuzzy feeling will eventually wear off and if you don't do your hardcore planning by writing a successful business plan ahead of time as well as constantly nurturing and caring for your business, you will be just like the other 90% of small business owners, and doomed to fail before you even started.

There are many hidden costs associated with owning a business and if you don't produce the results you desire due to lack of planning and nurturing, you will lose the will to continue. Before you know it, you will have acquired a large amount of debt and will want to give up ending worse off than when you started.

If this article relates to you in any way, shape, or form, please let us know. We'd like to hear from you about how you could have done better in the beginning or what you did to overcome this obstacle.