You: The business owner, the lifestyle entrepreneur, the
one with the fire in your eyes and the passion in your
belly. You need to get your message, mission and vision OUT
THERE.
Your goal: To reach your Ideal Audience, target market,
potential allies, strategic partners, industry groups,
trade associations, fellow thought leaders, media outlets...
You can't contact them all the time (and they may not
always want to hear about you at a given moment). What you
can do is make connections, both purposefully and
organically, so when they're ready, you'll spring right to
the tops of their minds.
But then the overwhelm sets in. Who are they? Where are
they? How can you reach them? And, most importantly, where
do you start?
No sense making it harder than it has to be. Start with 10
of the easiest ways to "A-Ha Yourself!" - put your boldest
insights into joy-filled action - and work up from there.
1. Write an email to a person or business that caught your
attention. It may be one-on-one, or it may be through their
marketing efforts, but if a person or business makes an
impression on you, let 'em know about it!
2. Comment on a blog or website. Let the blogger or site
owner know you came, you read, and you enjoyed it.
3. Blog. Design the blog around your business, passion, or
expertise. In the best case scenario, those are the same
things.
4. Write useful articles to your target audience. Assist,
inspire, answer, inform, educate, debunk, entertain! Then
send out to ezine publishers, magazines, article
directories, and more. (Epiphanies, Inc. uses and
recommends AhaArticles.com.)
5. Submit a news release. Got news, an upcoming event,
seasonal tips, a new product or service, etc.? Sanctify it
with a press release to your local media, and with online
services like PR.com, PRWeb.com, or MarketWire.com.
6. Create a social networking page for yourself and/or your
business. Seems like there's a new social networking
website cropping up everyday! But for now, just concentrate
on the biggest and best, such as: LinkedIn, Facebook,
MySpace, Squidoo.
7. Teach about your topic. Whether it's a speaking
engagement, class, workshop, seminar, webinar, or
teleclass, get in front of an audience and let loose on the
things people need and want to know most in your field.
8. Serialize your knowledge. Create a series around a
theme, process, set of steps, bag of tricks 'n tips, crazy
shtick, you name it. Don't just go for the written word,
either. Try out audio (Epiphanies, Inc. uses and recommends
AhaAudio.com) or have fun directing a few YouTube videos.
9. Send out ezines, newsletters, or autoresponders. Build
an opt-in list and start sending them regular doses of
user-friendly, info-rich content relevant to their lives.
Repeat! (Epiphanies, Inc. uses and recommends AhaCart.com.)
10. Last but not least, get yourself a website. Preferably
a real website, with a dedicated domain, and matching email
addresses. (That means no you@gmail.com, @hotmail.com,
@yahoo.com, @aol.com, etc. Epiphanies, Inc. uses and
recommends AhaWebHost.com.) Make it easy to read, engaging,
and make each page its own relationship-building
experience. And don't forget one clear call to action on
each page!
In this new world of marketing, opportunity comes knocking
from the strangest places, on the most unlikely of doors.
The more you increase your visibility and active
involvement on the Web, the more you welcome new
connections, customers, clients, and serendipitous
possibilities.
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(c) 2008 Epiphanies, Inc. As the "Content Lovers" of
Epiphanies Inc., Lani & Allen Voivod help lifestyle
entrepreneurs and million-dollar businesses "A-Ha
Themselves" in fun and profitable ways. For FREE articles,
marketing tips, and content strategies designed to fire up
your passion and profit-ize your niche, sign up for their
"Inciter" ezine at http://www.EpiphaniesInc.com !
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