Get Your Customers to Post on Facebook For You!

You can brag about and promote your business until you’re blue in the face, but nobody can influence your future customers like your satisfied customers.

Social Proof…this is a very powerful marketing device. Social proof is when you demonstrate people are using, liking and enjoying your business, product or service. Testimonials are an example of social proof.

Social Proof as a Strategy on Social Media

A Like or a Share of a Facebook fan page post is a form of social proof. Read on to learn a few powerful and far-reaching tactics. I can almost guarantee you have never heard of this first one before. This can be used in any business which has a website. You don’t need to have a physical location so it’ll work for Service Businesses and Online/Ecommerce Businesses, as well as Restaurants, Retailers, Chiropractors, Dentists…any business with a Facebook Fan Page and a website.

The following video demonstrates one of the 3 tactics scroll down below the video to read the remainder of the post.

Strategy #1: Sponsored Posts

Now, for $5-$7, you can Boost a post or create an ad which is certain to reach between 400-1200 people.

For this small amount of money, you can create a target audience based upon a range of their ages, (33-62, for example), income, marital status, education level and any number of interests such as types of food they like, activities and hobbies they enjoy PLUS a distance radius around your location or service area. You can reach people around the country, the world or just 10 miles around your zip code.

Whether you do you social media posts in-house or you have a service provider, the average posts is costing you about $6.00-$8.00. This begs the question:

Is it better to pay $7.00 for an add to reach 500-1000 people who are strong prospects or to spend $6.00 to reach 50-100 people who already know you?

Strategy #2

Get your customers to do the work for you!

 DOWNLOAD A FREE COPY OF THE BUSINESS OWNER’S GUIDE TO MARKETING ONLINE, CLICK HERE.

When customers visit your location, give them an incentive to Check-In on their Facebook app. When they check in, lots of their Facebook friends will see this in their news feed. This is delivers your business name, location AND Social Proof which is like your customer’s testimonial about your place. This method works better when a photo is included with the post. A small bribe such as a Free Dessert or a $10 Gift Certificate is well worth the promotional value you get from this kind of exposure.

 

Strategy #3

 

This  strategy can be used in businesses where people come in to your place, order over the phone, online transactions and service businesses too.

 

Make it easy for your customers to help you. Create a dedicated page on your website which has one image on it (could be your logo or  an image depicting your service in action for example). Add wording to the page such as: “I recently {visited, purchased, used services of} ABC Business. I was very pleased with the {name the product or service} so I thought I would share this with my friends.”

 

Give your customers a pre-printed card or send an email with the website address (URL) for this page with the instructions to copy and paste it as a Facebook post. The very act of someone electing to cooperate is a powerful testimonial. The reach and impact could be significant. The setup isn’t very difficult and it can be used over and over.

 

How Important is Email to Your Overall Marketing Strategy?

Permission-Based Marketing.  Sound interesting? What’s that mean? It means when people give you their name and email address, they have raised their hands and said, “Please let me know what you’re selling because I might buy it.” Pretty sweet, right? “Send me your information because I want to hear about what you have to say.” “Send me your offers.” What could be better than to have a list of friendly people who give you permission and pay attention to your advertising?

Building Customer Lists and Prospect Lists Are The 2 Most Important Things You Can Do To Build and Maintain Customers and Cash Flow

There’s been a lot of emphasis on social media as a marketing platform in the last several years, and rightfully so. But do you know what the #1 goal of all the most successful social media mavens is? Getting email addresses. “The money is in the list.” This is the mantra of all the most successful marketers and it’s true.

When someone has given you permission to send them your stuff- your information, your offers, your news updates, it’s a beautiful thing.

Email Marketing is The Most Important Component of Online Marketing

The easiest person to sell something to is someone you have sold to and satisfied in the past. But just because this pleasing transaction took place in the past, it doesn’t mean there’s going to be a “next-time” because if you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. It’s not your customer’s job to remember you or to be faithful to you, it’s your job to remind them you exist and you appreciate them.

Here’s How Email Marketing Works

Example:

You take your car to a car wash close to home on a Sunday morning. They do a nice job. You signed up for email there because they promised you an occasional promotion. They keep in touch every now and then. You can see their email in your inbox. Sometimes you open it. Sometimes, not…you just delete it. When you open it, there’s usually a car care tip or a cute joke and an offer for a discount on a service. There’s a picture of the owner or the manager and you recognize him (or her). That’s nice.

You pass by a car wash on your way home from work every week. It’s convenient. You don’t have to go out of your way at all. It’s $2.00 cheaper than the other place. But you don’t go there any more because the other guys keep in touch. You feel like you know them. You feel like they know you. They send you an email coupon for a FREE WASH on your birthday. 

Friend, substitute your business for the car wash. Are you keeping in touch with your customers on a regular basis with email? Do you send your customers a Happy Birthday message and a gift via email? Are you reminding your customers you care about them, you value them and you exist?

Email will keep your business in top-of-mind position but if you’re like most business owners you probably feel like:

• You don’t have time for emailing people. Then get someone to do it for you!
• You don’t want to burden your customers with unwanted emails. But if people are giving you their email address, they’re requesting your offers! What a gift! Use it!
• You tried this and you didn’t get any results. But chances are you didn’t know how to do it right or you gave up too soon.

Email is a numbers game. Only about 12% of the people on your list will even open your email at any given time. But if you have 1000 people on your list, that’s 120 people! Out of 120 people, SOME of them will show up and do business with you just because you sent them an email. If that’s true, wouldn’t you be eager to grow your list to 2000, 3000, 5000? Almost everyone loves to be recognized on their birthday and will gladly include it if asked. On average, over 70% of people will open your Happy Birthday email. IT’S A NO-BRAINER!

Email Marketing Tips:

1. Consistency: no one wants to be bombarded with emails but a consistent schedule is vital to email marketing success. Once weekly, twice monthly, no less than once per month depending on the type of business you’re in. Don’t be discouraged if you fail to get results with some of your emails. Keep delivering with regularity. Don’t worry about being a burden, they gave you their email contact information!
2. Headline: (aka subject line.) A good headline is essential so your email isn’t deleted before it gets opened. Avoid hype. Do a little homework. There’s a lot of material out there with ideas on how to craft email subject lines.
3. Personalization: email programs have the ability to automatically insert your recipients’ first name into the greeting of your message. Use this function in your program. Personalization is proven to be effective.
4. Keep your eye on opt-outs: if you send an email and a larger-than-typical number of people opt-out, learn from it. Try to figure out what may have triggered the negative response.
5. Sell but don’t be “salesy”: With your offer or promotion, deliver a bit of information, humor, or story in your emails. Be personal. Including something about your kids, your pet or your recent vacation is engaging. Inspirational quotes and jokes are fuel for getting more of your emails opened and read.
6. Proof read: spelling and grammar errors are killers. Create your email but don’t send it right away. Reread it out loud and check spelling. Keep sentences short and eliminate unnecessary words.
7. Link your message to a specific page of your website. Suggest your recipients share your message on social media.
8. Make an offer. Send them to your coupon page on your website. Suggest they share this too!
9. Think about the benefit your audience: Remember your readers want to know “what’s in it for me?”  Deliver a benefit for opening your email. Otherwise they’ll delete and eventually opt-out of your list.
10. Include list building into every marketing effort from this point forward. 

Keeping in touch with people who have NOT done business with you yet but have shown interest in a product or service should be a top priority. It’s easy to keep in touch with email. If they’re not ready to buy now, your periodic email will keep you in top-of-mind position for when that time comes.

Contact Andrew Mazer at 1-866-799-2825 for email marketing consultation or email: info@mazermarketing.com

 

Direct Mail to New Movers. Target Marketing at its Finest.

Its funny how things come full circle. In the digital age, the opportunity to market effectively with direct mail may be at an all time high. If you haven’t noticed your mailbox is probably less cluttered today than it has ever been in your lifetime. Fewer companies are using direct mail in lieu of email. This means your direct mail pieces are going to stand a much better chance of being consumed.

Learn How Easy it is to Market to People New In the Area. New Mover Marketing Any Small Business Can Do It.

In today’s video I’m discussing the benefits of marketing to new movers. But not just any new movers. People who have recently moved into your town or (any town you choose), people who are homeowners and have an income in excess of $80,000. This is a very nice target market to send direct mail if you’re the type of business who serves the public. This is for restaurants, chiropractors, dentists, coffee shops, dry cleaners, carpet cleaners, pet sitters, veterinarians, financial advisers, and the list goes on and on.

Serving your local community? Then new movers are a great target market.

Today I generated a list of over 2400 people who moved into Cherry Hill New Jersey with in the past 4 months or so. Again these people have an income of over $80,000 and are the owners of the home. If these people came from out of town, then I’ll be looking for places to eat and service companies like plumbers electricians garage door repair people contractors… You get the picture. Be the first to serve them successfully and you stand a chance, a very good chance of becoming their supplier of goods or services indefinitely. Build the relationship before someone else does.

So how do you reach these people with direct mail? Well, you can mail a 4 inch by 6 inch postcard with a $0.35 stamp. You can usually get a good deal on a postcard like this printed in color for somewhere around $0.15 (maybe less).

You can get the list for free if you have access to Reference USA and your printer can handle electronically putting the address labels on each card.

Group Marketing with Your Neighbors or Network

I understand that sending 2400 pieces of mail at $0.50 each is a considerable sum of money to experiment with. But let’s say you get together with three other business people and do this as a group effort. If you were in a networking group you could pick 3 other people from there. If you are in a shopping center or shopping district, you can get together with your neighbors and put something together. You can make four nice sized ads on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. Add a first class stamp and an envelope and you’re all in for about $0.70 per piece. Now you’re down to $420 each. But you can get 2,3, or 4 pieces of paper in that envelope with the same stamp and get even more people in on the deal thereby reducing your costs even further.

Target marketing is key. It goes way deeper than the address.

One of the big mistakes business owners make is not planning their advertising effort in advance. They have not given thought to their target market, or their message. New movers are a great target. Welcoming high earning people who just moved into town is a great market with a very nice message already built in. “Welcome to the neighborhood we’d like to get to know you. Come see us. Here’s an offer just for you…our new neighbor.”

If you need some help building a list or otherwise coordinating a New-Mover Marketing Campaign, reach Andrew Mazer at 1-866-799-2825. This works anywhere in the USA.

Small Business Marketing-7-Point Checklist and Execution Plan

In case this is the first time you’re hearing from me, I’m Andrew Mazer. I’m the founder of Small Business U, but first, I’m a business owner. I started a wholesale business in Philadelphia back in 1986 in service to hardware stores, variety stores and $1.00 stores. I was 21 years old at the time. I’ve been in service to business owners ever since.

I’m a business owner who learned how to market my own business online. After wasting a bunch of money on my first website back in the late 1990’s, out of sheer frustration that I couldn’t find anybody to competently help me, I went on a mission to figure it out.  I decided to take it upon myself to learn how to leverage the Internet to get new customers. There was no way I was going to miss the emergence of the Web as a marketing platform.

One Technique or Tactic Can Make a Huge Difference. You May Find it On This Page.

In year 2000, I discovered one way to get my business in front of a qualified market of prospective customers and since then, I’ve been getting new customers and making real sales every day.

This one single idea actually carried me and expanded my business for more than 2 years before I realized I there are probably more things I could start doing to get more customers online.

I started telling some of my friends in business some of my ideas which they applied to their business and they started getting career changing results as I have.

One of the coolest things that I discovered which inspired me to teach other business owners is, marketing your business online is not at all complicated. One thing, one tactic applied can spark results in dramatic fashion. This is not an exaggeration. In fact all the things that I teach business owners work independently of one another. Each time you add another, they all work better. You don’t have to be an encyclopedia of knowledge and be a prisoner of processes to get your website to start generating customers.

As I mentioned, the very first thing that I learned about marketing my business online was really effective. Every morning I would wake up to find new orders in my inbox. And every day, people would call and say I found out about your company online. And then they would order merchandise from us to sell in their stores. This went on for a couple of years before I even considered I could be doing something more. I learned one more thing. it worked. Each individual element of marketing I added improved the results.

Now I’m going to give you a list of 7 things you can do and you don’t have to be an expert or get any technical training to do the stuff.

Out of these 7 things, it only takes ONE to make an impact on your business. Pick one to implement.

These are listed in no particular order.

1. List all your services or products: Create a web page or blog post to describe every item or service you sell. For example, if your a massage therapist, you probably have a menu of massage services or styles all listed on one web page. Now, give each individual massage style it’s own dedicated page. Why? Because if you make a page dedicated to Pregnancy Massage and all you do is describe pregnancy massage, and its benefits, this page will attract more attention from the search engines when someone is looking specifically for pregnancy massage. Add statistics, quotes from medical experts, and testimonials from women you have served. Drop a photo on the page and you have added valuable content to your website which will serve you and your business forever. For businesses selling physical products, do the same thing. Start with your favorite, most profitable items and work your way down. It’s a tiny investment in time and creativity and worth so much.
2. List all of your service areas. Whether you serve people at their homes or businesses or if they come to you, this is an effective strategy. I have a friend who has a garage door business. He repairs and replaced residential garage doors. His business is called Cherry Hill Residential Overhead Door. Cherry Hill is a town in Southern New Jersey, very close to Philadelphia. He was obviously getting great placement in the search results for people looking for garage door help in Cherry Hill but he was invisible in the surrounding towns. We made a page listing each town in about a 15 mile radius around Cherry Hill and then an individual page describing the services he provides there. Now, he’s getting call fro all those areas and he’s even showing up in searches in adjacent towns not even listed on his site. If you’re in a business where the people come to you, list the places where people come from to patronize your place. Make up web pages describing your place, your products and services, give directions, add a map…make it helpful by using practical information which may be useful to the website visitor.
3. Make an offer. Give your website visitor a reason to engage with you right now by giving them a gift, a discount coupon or a piece of educational material which can be delivered automatically and electronically the moment someone puts in their name and email address. This will improve the chances of doing business with you right away AND it will add their contact information to your email list so you can keep in touch.
4. Expand your online footprint. Make sure your business information (your profile) is listed on every possible and practical search engine and directory online. This is so important. You may have done this years ago but guess what…you need to revisit this. Things change. There are dozens of places you can have detailed information listed about your business and people use them. You can list details about your business and products, business hours, photos, and more. This puts your business right in the intersection where people are at the time when they’re actively looking for a business, product or service like yours.
5. Improve your About Us page. One area where no one can compete with you is YOU. Most owners don’t like to show themselves on their About Us page. Instead, they just tell more about the business. I know there are a large percentage of people who make their decision to buy because of what they learn about the owners on the About Us page. Why are you in business? Did you take over the family business? Where did you learn your craft? Married? Love dogs? Sharing things like this make you more endearing to certain people. Other businesses can’t (or won’t) get on this personal level but it’s very powerful. It’s especially important if you’re the type of company who serves people in their home.
6. Consider advertising on a directory. There are all kinds of online directories out there where you can place your company profile and fill it with details about your business (see #5 above). Some are general and some are industry-specific. Many are free but come with an option to pay for premium listings. Some are only fee-based. My company has been advertising on a fee-based directory for many years because it works. A good fee-based directory does their own marketing in order to drive results to their subscribers. It’s like having a team of professionals working to make sure your investment produces dividends. I highly recommend you do your homework and find a fee-based directory with a good reputation and try listing your business on it.
7. Make your website mobile-friendly. If your website is more than a few years old and you haven’t updated it in awhile, it’s probably not considered mobile-friendly or mobile responsive. This means it doesn’t display well on phones and other mobile devices. It’s official…the search engines will not show your website in the search results (it will rank your website much lower) if there are similar businesses with mobile-friendly websites to show instead. It’s a bummer to have to redo your website but it’s a fact of life. Getting customers is worth the investment.

If there’s one item on this list which stimulates you to take action, I honestly think it will serve you well. I have executed these elements on my own websites and for clients and they work. They work now and they worked years ago. They’re not “tricks” to try. They’re tactics which work.

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/smallbusinessu/

If you got any good ideas from this checklist, you will REALLY appreciate my book,

The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online.

I don’t normally sell it online.  I give it away to attendees who come to my $397.00 full-day seminar/workshop.

However, if you have read this far down the page, I can tell you’re a serious student (like me). So, I’m going to give you instant access to download the book for $7.

If you do, I will also send you a coupon code worth $50.00 off my $397 seminar/workshop in case you think it may be for you.

Right now, I have events scheduled in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, NJ. You can see the details if you CLICK HERE.

Click Here to buy the book now.

Marketing With Video Demonstration

A productive and powerful online presence is much more than just a website and some social media posts. As I was creating some content for my wholesale website I decided this would be an ideal demonstration of incorporating several online marketing processes, all wrapped around the showcasing of a single item. This is how to leverage an “online presence” which includes my website but extends way beyond it. (See video below)

In this process I’m combining video with an entry on my wholesale website’s shopping cart, embedding the video onto the website and sharing the video across multiple channels online. All this with just a little over an hour invested. The video is shot on my iPhone which anyone can do. No special equipment is necessary. No real technical skills are required. Of course you need to know how to get into the back end of your website and learn a couple of processes and procedures which are easily learned and repeated anytime you want. The results are demonstrated.

In this video you will see how I’ve been using video for many years which to date have resulted in more than half a million video views which have been instrumental in helping me sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products.

How to Market Your Business, Products and Services Using Video

Demonstration videos like this can be used for showcasing any kind of product or service. It doesn’t matter if you are selling cheeseburgers or computer software, water purification systems or wood refinishing services, garage doors or garbage bags.

Video has a way of being seen by a specific audience which happens to be interested in the content of the video. This makes it highly targeted to a current or future prospect for your product or services.

You can poke around and find lots of my videos online. There is no fancy editing or production quality. There doesn’t need to be. In fact, my videos have a “reality factor” which transmits sincerity and evokes trust.

 

In my book The Business Owners Guide to Marketing Online, I talk about marketing a cheeseburger. If I were selling cheeseburgers I would make a video of the entire process of making some specialty and maybe a little crazy cheeseburger. It would be a beautiful and gloriously sloppy, greasy and otherwise mouthwateringly irresistible piece of work.

Sure, someone could take notes and duplicate the process at home to make their own, but there are people who would say, “Oh, I gotta try that.” Or they would say, “Hey, I like this guy. We gotta try that place!” It wouldn’t be a commercial for cheeseburgers at my restaurant it would be a video about a wild and wacky cheeseburger. I would post it on YouTube. I would post it on my website. I would share it on as many social media platforms as I could find and I would send out an email directing people to check out this glorious cheeseburger video. I would ask those people who are already on my email list and Facebook fans and friends to share it. This, my friends is called marketing a cheese burger joint. But maybe my place isn’t a cheese burger joint. Maybe my place is a diner and I sell all kinds of food. Then I would move on to another topic like some kind of interesting omelet. I would move on to a handful of dinner entrees. Then, salads and desserts.

How do you get more money for products than your competitors? By differentiating what you sell from what they can get in any other place. Could you sell a $20 salad? Why not? Just add lobster meat or filet mignon. How do you launch a unique dish, product or service? Many of us want to but we don’t even try because we don’t know how to get the word out about this new idea. Well, you’re learning how right here.

Marketing with video and on your website and on social media and by email is a fraction of the cost of traditional print media and you can get the word out fast if you have the understanding and control of your online marketing. You can test things, try things, and have fun with it. And it works.

Is it time for you to take control of your online marketing? Is it time for you to take control of your website so you can implement ideas the moment they enter your mind?

The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online Seminar & Workshop

Business owners can not manage what they don’t understand. That’s why most of them are frustrated by writing checks to marketing service providers and getting little or no return on investment.

Click here to find an upcoming event near you.

3 Hour Seminar and Workshop is 100% Pure Educational Content on the Topic of Marketing Your Business Online

The material covered in this presentation is specifically for the benefit of the owners of businesses. NOT necessarily so they can become the internet marketer for their company but so they can understand it enough to set goals, plan, manage, monitor and make sure they’re making wise marketing decisions and investments.

In this 3-hour seminar and workshop you will learn: 

• How to make every aspect of your website work harder for you. Most websites are made by “geeks.” They’re a little bit like artists. They know how to create things but they’re usually not good at business or marketing. I will show you how to improve your website so it acts like a customer-generating machine and business ambassador.

• How Search Engine Optimization works and how to do it yourself. This is how people find you online who don’t even know you exist. Most websites are lacking in good SEO. I will show you how to fix its current deficiencies and how to add new content to your website which will match how people are searching for a business like yours online. Find an upcoming event near you. Or call 1-866-799-2825

• How to stop wasting time and money on social media and learn how to do it right. There’s a lot of fake-phony frauds taking people’s money to post useless crap on social media to a list of fans who don’t buy anything. If you’re paying one of these people, register for my seminar.

• How to build a valuable customer list and keep in touch with the power of automation. A list of customers is a real and powerful asset. Technology makes it easy to keep in touch and it’s really important. It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It’s your job to remind them you exist. I’ll show you how.

• How to multiply the effect of offline marketing and online marketing simultaneously. . Print ads, radio ads and TV ads all work better in coordination with a website. In this seminar, you’re going to learn how to 2x, 3x or even 10x the results of your offline marketing.

When you know what to do and how to do it, much of the execution can be done by a minimum wage worker. But this is important stuff and I urge business owners to take a special interest in it because when this stuff works, it becomes more enjoyable and then you can escalate your skills and activity to produce even greater results. It’s really very exciting.

Bonus (if we have attendees interested in the subject):   Find an upcoming event near you

• Secrets Groupon Doesn’t Want You to Know. Most businesses engaging in “Deal” marketing are getting people in the door but missing out on the hidden opportunities.

100% Educational Content-100% Satisfaction Guarantee

The tuition is backed by a 100%, No-Questions Asked, Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee.

Any attendee who isn’t completely satisfied the content delivered within the first 90 minutes of the presentation is worth 2x the cost of tuition, may leave at the break and get a full refund. Who does this? Only those who KNOW their stuff works. I love business owners. Let me help you.

 

Seminar/Workshop includes breakfast, a follow-along action guide, and a 30-minute one-on-one coaching call any time within 60 days after the event.

Small class size (between 5-15 people) assures everyone’s most pressing questions get answered and all are equipped to take control of their destiny online.

If you can’t find an event in your area, let us know you’re interested by emailing: support@smallbusinessu.org. 

How to Prepare for Business Networking

Depending on the size of the event, most networking meetings allow each person between 10 seconds and 2 minutes for a personal commercial. There are always those people who have a commercial which is planned and well rehearsed. Those people stand out, don’t they? They exude confidence, authority and expertise. They seem as if they’re ready for business.

Preparation is the Key to Creating Opportunity at Networking Events

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
Confucius (and Tony Robbins) said luck is where preparation and opportunity meet. If we show up to networking meetings we are walking into an environment which presents opportunity. That’s why we attend. We are going to get out of it what we put into it. If we go in unprepared, what can we expect? We must present our business, our ideal type of client and the benefits of doing business with us clearly and concisely.

Your Networking Commercial, aka Elevator Speech

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
By being prepared in this manner, we’re going to make the most of each and every investment of time and money to attend networking events. When we make the investment of time to clarify the most important and compelling speech, given 10 seconds, 30, 60 and 120, we’re going to increase the chance of attracting new customers every single time we make the presentation. Stumbling, stammering and searching for the right words aren’t going to compel anyone to hire you for your services or refer you to their contacts.

Show up prepared. Dress appropriately. Make eye contact with people around the room as you speak. You’ll feel confident. You’ll look confident, positive, and successful. With every event you attend will come the increased chance of attracting new business and referrals.

Preparing a Good Elevator Speech or Personal Commercial

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.
Here’s an exercise you can do which will help you deliver a good networking commercial. Answer these questions in a way you can deliver the answers quickly and backed with a tone of confidence and authority. Use any of them alone or string them together as a networking commercial depending on the time permitted at the event.

1. Who do you serve? Who is your ideal client? If you’re in a room with 50 people at a networking event you will usually only get 10 seconds to state your name and your business name. You can still have time to squeeze in your ideal client especially when you have already eyeballed someone in the room with whom you would like to meet or work.

2. Who is your ideal referral partner? By announcing your ideal referral partners, you’re expanding your reach because you’re potentially tapping into another business-persons cache of clients and connections. When given 30-seconds, you can logically tie in the ideal client plus the ideal referral partner.

3. What is your special talent, expertise or value proposition? This is where the rubber meets the road. Benefits rule here. Be conscious of keeping this message about the benefits your prospective clients can expect as a result of your expertise. This commercial can tie together the facts in the others and consume a minute or two.

Practice this. Regardless of the venue, format or occasion, being prepared with a brief and cogent commercial will always serve you well.

See details about our upcoming Networking and Seminar Events. Click here.

I Have Been Validated by Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time. I see him as a combination of Regular Guy, Super Smart, Highly Opinionated, Genuinely Caring, and Highly Focused.

Modeling and studying people of great accomplishment is always a great way learn, avoid mistakes and streamline your path to success. I think most people will agree, Cuban is a good guy to follow.

Cuban has a blog called Blog Maverick. He shares a lot of good advice. In a post entitled The 6 Things You Need to Know to be Great In Business, the #3 thing Cuban includes is: Learn As Much As you Can About Technology. I definitely agree. However, what I THINK he was really suggesting is learning about what technology can do and how to use it.

Most business owners put their hands up like a shield over their face and shudder at the idea of learning about technology. We don’t need to know how electricity is generated, sent through a series of transformers, capacitors and wires. We just need to know how to flip the switch.

I started educating myself on the subject of online marketing techniques back in year 2000. It was for the purpose of marketing my wholesale business, Mazer Wholesale, Inc., and the merchandise I sell to retailers. I didn’t learn it all at once. Actually, I learned one thing which was successful for me and it took about 3 years before I learned the 2nd thing. It wasn’t until the 2nd thing started working that I really started to get interested in learning more.

In my book and seminar entitled, The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online, I simplify marketing online. It’s really not that complicated and I make it easy to understand. I break it down into 7 fundamentals any business owner can understand.

Business owners need to understand technology so they can implement it and manage it. So they know what’s possible. So they can prioritize and make good choices.

It’s not necessary to become a genius, an expert or a guru about technology to become proficient at marketing online. It really comes down to learning the fundamentals. When you understand the fundamentals of marketing your business online, you will know what to do and how to do it. This doesn’t mean you have to do the work. You’ll be able to get someone else to do it for you. It could be someone you already have on staff, a freelancer, or a virtual assistant.

Learn all about the fundamentals of marketing your small business online at The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online seminars. The schedule of upcoming events can be found on the navigation bar at the top of this page.

The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online Seminar

The Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Online

More and more business owners are ready to take control of their online marketing. They should. It’s not difficult. It’s really very simple. To see all scheduled dates for this seminar, click here.

Save Money, Make More Sales, Get More Customers-Learn How it Works…Online

What’s more important in your business than saving money, getting more customers and making more sales? Nothing. This is why you must invest a couple bucks and a couple hours. This stuff can change your business and your life. I know…it happened for me! And when I started sharing this information, it started happening for my friends and my clients. It’s the real deal.

I have been using the concepts I teach in this presentation for my businesses and for my clients for 15 years. Even though the internet has changed, computers and internet-connected devices have changed, websites have changed and technology has changed, the fundamentals I teach have not changed. They work and they will make sense to you…even if you’re not a computer-person.

In a 2-1/2 hour seminar, I break it down into 7 basic fundamentals.

• They’re easy to understand.
• There’s nothing technical about them.
• These fundamentals form the foundation (and are really ALL that are necessary) to have a Rock-Solid Online Presence™ which will get you a steady flow of new and existing customers, clients or patients.

Some of the things I’ll be teaching are:

• How marketing online is similar to marketing a garage sale!
• How to make sense of Social Media
• How Google and the other search engines decide which businesses (websites) to show in the search results
• Lessons of a Cheeseburger
• Misconceptions about email

When is the Best Time to Fire Someone?

Every business owner is faced with the task of hiring and firing. Letting someone go is easy under some circumstances, but it’s often a heavy burden.

The Best Time to Fire Someone is Immediately Upon the First Time You Consider It.

Letting awkward and angry feelings fester are really bad for you and your organization. They affect the whole place. Letting someone stay who just doesn’t blend with your personal style isn’t going to work for either of you. You usually know these things early on. Tolerating behavior like lateness, disrespect, sloppiness or rudeness is going to bring your reputation down. It’s easy to identify these things. Nip them in the bud.

Today, lawsuits are a concern so every employer should have an employee handbook clearly describing your policies. If you describe how employee performance is judged, lay out and follow your warning and reprimand procedures, and you document these, you’ll keep yourself out of trouble when it comes time to drop the hammer.

Never underestimate the power of intuition. If you suspect someone is stealing or is just otherwise not a good fit for your organization, you’re probably right. The pain always grows when you don’t take quick action.

Don’t feel guilty. When you let a person go, you are sending them off with a greater chance of landing in the right place. It’s a good idea to explain this to the person. You can more easily part on good terms. I’ve been fortunate over the course of 30 years in business. Many former employees have stopped by to tell me the time they spent was a good experience and thanked me for it. It’s a wonderful feeling to be a positive person in someones life, even if it came from a graceful firing.