In May 2007 she begins selling make-up brushes and eye shadows on eBay.  She’s uneducated, but trusts her love of make-up will help her provide for her family somehow.  Very quickly she realizes customers are regularly bombarding her with questions on how to apply make-up.   Rather than sending them somewhere else, in July 2007 she opens a YouTube account under the name Panacea81.  In her modest home, with her child running around in the background at times, and with her strong working class accent, she uses her webcam to  record herself applying make-up.  She’s amazed at how quickly word spreads of her modest tutorials.  One day she’s contacted via her Facebook page to create her own line of products.  Now a couple of years later, Lauren Luke’s got her own make-up line available at Sephora, and she’s doing an international tour.

If this doesn’t show the power of an organic online presence to generate income, we don’t know what does.  Source

Our experience has been that small business owners are often afraid to show a personality for their business.  They don’t want to be seen as the brand for their business, but they also don’t listen to their customers’ comments or questions.  Sometimes a natural direction for their business to unfold is crystal clear, but the business owner shies away due to fears of alienating one type of customer.

We don’t recommend radical moves, but it is possible to make calculated moves and experiment based on strategy that comes from analysis.  If one customer segment is stagnant or declining, it may be worth the business owner’s time  to focus some energy on a new customer segment that could be more profitable.  Combining the love for what one does with an entrepreneurial touch may just be what your business needs to soar over the competition, even when that competition may have dozens of employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Look at Lauren Luke.

Even as individuals we grow and mature into a personality that is all our own, a brand.  A business that is not growing, but refuses to explore new ways of operating will lose out on finding a niche that could mean the difference between success and failure. A new business that has no clear vision for how it presents itself in the marketplace will also meet difficult times.

During these unstable times, if your business isn’t growing, don’t become paralyzed with fear.  This is the time to create a brand that is authentically you.  Remember that business plan you made, when you were first filled with the excitement of opening a new business?  Pull it out and re-connect with your original dreams.  We can help you find your way. Call us for a free one hour consultation.

1.  Have a decent statistics program in place that tells you what keywords people are searching for to get to your site.  I hope you did some research before putting your site up and blogging to see which keywords are most used to get to your competitors, too.  You need to know what words your potential customers are using to search for your product or service.  If you don’t, you’re wasting your time and money.

2.  You’ve got up to 95 words only to use in a Google Ad, including 25 words in the title.  You need to incorporate the key words in there, too.  Go through your keywords list, separate them into groups that pertain to a particular offering, etc., and then create your ads based on that offering. You need to know which key word or key word phrase you’re going to use in the ad and the ad has to make your potential customer click through to your site.

3.  Edit your ad down so that you use simple words.  These are easier to read/understand and it also frees up more words for you to use in your ad.  Use Gas instead of Gasoline, for example. You get the drill.

4.  Don’t be coy.  You need to stand out from all the other ads AND you need to get people to click.  Experiment with your ads. Try different tactics.  Be bold, be coy, sell hard, sell soft.  You need to do this and you need to TEST.  Try Google Website Optimizer to create A/B tests to see which type of sales copy works best with your customers.

Here’s a quick hint:  never be unethical or annoying and stop trying to sell me something with each tweet.  Right there, that bit of advice will shut down over 90% of small business tweeters.

If you’re a small company and you’re not in the middle of a major controversy that has the global media spotlighted on you, ONE TWEET PER DAY is more than enough.  Make it relevant, make it news.  If you’ve got absolutely nothing to say, then say nothing.  Trust me, if you tweet just for the sake of tweeting, we’ll stop reading your tweets and even un-follow you.

If people follow you, great.  They’ve chosen to read your tweets.  However, you don’t have to follow them back – don’t follow just anyone.  Remember that you might offend customers by your choice of follows.  Keep them relevant to your business, avoid controversy, avoid personalities who might be off-putting to your clients, avoid subjects that are polarizing.

When something big happens, it’s all over Twitter within two minutes.  Most everyone has a TV, radio, Internet, mobile devices.  They don’t need you as a primary news source.  Don’t repeat the news.

Share your knowledge.  Not every tweet should be about selling something to your followers.  Share information. Thank clients. Refer to interesting articles on your site or other content.

Stick to these rules, have a strategy in mind when you open a Twitter account, and give the responsibility to someone who’s earned it – not because they’re young or happen to be an assistant, but because they understand the power of social media to create revenue.

About one Sunday per month we offer 2+ hours of jam-packed information and tips from a strategic marketing & business development expert – 1 of only 800 people in the world who are Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals in social media, blogging, lead conversion, lead nurturing and analysis.  Learn how to use WordPress, a free, powerful, functionally rich content management system, and get thousands of dollars worth of tips and advice from a former top international corporate executive.  Don’t want to use WordPress?  No problem.  What you will learn here will save you money and grief no matter what content management system you use.

It’s easy to find websites that have clearly cost upwards of $25 000 and they don’t do anything to improve the business’ bottom line.  If you’re planning to create a new website, upgrade your old one, or just realize that you have no idea if your website is bringing you customers or leads, then this seminar is for you.

Are you an entrepreneur or small business person that thinks the only way to get things done right is to do it yourself?  This seminar is for you. Whether you hire a consultant or attempt to do it all on your own, you will appreciate the insight and the expertise you will gain. You will know exactly what you need, and no web developer will be able to sell you an expensive solution that doesn’t bring results. 

The seminar is held monthly on a Sunday, usually from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM (or later) in the North Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach. You should come prepared to take notes and learn things that will save and make you money. Call or email for more info. Total cost is only $70 in advance or $75 at the door for minimum two + hours that will save you thousands of dollars in possible mistakes.

Email palingenetic.productions [Email address: palingenetic.productions #AT# gmail.com - replace #AT# with @ ] or call 954-840-3649 for more information.

Our latest client

• Increased his web visitors by over 850% per month immediately
• Attracted partners
• Reversed the downtrend in sales in just 1 ½ months. This means new customers are walking in the door. They are making money, and they are in the black.
• Has a high Google search ranking because we’re doing things right, and the competition is paralyzed with fear of the “bad economy”.
• Is feeling positive and optimistic about business again.

Is YOUR website a dinosaur?

Do you have the right foundation for A PROFITABLE ONLINE PRESENCE?

Do you want to get in on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other social media sites that you needed to be on YESTERDAY? You need a site to refer people to – a site that sells and represents YOU.

Do you know that most people KNOW WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO BUY SOMETHING BEFORE THEY LEAVE THEIR HOMES?  Use new consumer behavior to your advantaage!

In this WORKSHOP you will LEARN

• How WordPress began and how it has evolved into much more
• What you need to have before you get started. How long building a website will take.
• Where to get Wordpress and how to install it (or have it automatically installed)
• How to set it up so it can’t be easily hacked
• How to set up so your site is “viewed” by Google and other search engines
• SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and how easy it can really be
• How to install additional functionality (security, anti-spam, etc.), plus optional ones for e-commerce, database management, etc. These plugins will give you almost unlimited options.
• How to find, install and test different “themes” or templates that change the look and feel of your site
• How to edit footers, side bars, create pages, blogging, etc.
• How to collect MEANINGFUL statistics easily and for free & how to use them to improve your site
• How to keep your site up to date so that security is maintained
• Next steps
• If there is time, individual questions will be answered.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion and a free 1 hour private consultation.

Maggie Curran (www.maggiecurran.com) is a seasoned entrepreneur and business development professional with over 30 years experience in both the US and Europe. She works with multinational corporations of all kinds, as well as select small to medium-sized businesses. She is also dedicated to sharing her extensive business & online experience with others.

We are proud to have earned the CERTIFIED INBOUND MARKETING PROFESSIONAL title, acknowledging our expertise in blogging, social media, lead conversion, lead nurturing and analysis. We develop your business through strategic web presence and other activities to create business for you.

*Aside from domain name registration and webhosting, your additional costs can be zero or just a few hundred dollars if you decide to buy a template or use a consultant.

This seminar is not sales pitch. A lot of important information will be covered. Come prepared to take notes and get ready to take charge of your online presence!

Maggie Curran Inc.
www.maggiecurran.com
954-840-3649

If you have no Internet savvy, but know you need to establish a professional online presence, call us for a quote. 

This Sunday, Nov 1 come to our second WordPress seminar for 2 hours of jam-packed information and tips from a strategic marketing & business development expert – 1 of only 800 people in the world who are Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals in social media, blogging, lead conversion, etc.  Learn how to use WordPress and get thousands of dollars worth of tips and advice from a former top international corporate executive.

Click on the link below to register or RSVP.

Register Now!

The seminar will be held this Sunday, Nov 1 from 1 PM to 3 PM in North Beach/Miami Beach.  There may be time for individual advice.  Come prepared to take notes and learn things that will save and make you money.  Call or email for more info. Total cost is only $50 for two hours that will save you thousands of dollars in possible mistakes.

Thanks for your attention and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Maggie Curran

Maggie Curran Inc.

palingenetic.productions [Email address: palingenetic.productions #AT# gmail.com - replace #AT# with @ ]

954-840-3649

I recently had an email conversation with a company that required I give them lots of personal details before they would let me see what exactly they were selling.  By the time I did all that and got a link I had to click on to confirm my “membership”  by email (hey, I just want to see what you’ve got!), I was pretty annoyed.  Then it turns out that this site was offering virtual space to run webinars.  Why couldn’t they just say that up front?  Instead there was a lot of internal jargon about benefits to customers without ever giving just one simple sentence explaining what their product was.

Source

But at this moment one of my Inboxes contains over 8 000 emails with about 1 760 unread. I have 8 email addresses that I use for various purposes, so the other addresses have fewer emails – mostly because I don’t check them very often. Usually I archive unread emails for possible future research. There are those, though, that immediately make me go “UGH!” as soon as I see the name in the SENDER column. These I delete without reading. The unfortunate senders are “OUTGOING”, “INTERNAL”, “INTERN”, “NEWSLETTER”, “REVIEW” and similar completely uninformative, generic and non-human names. Is there someone at your company called “OUTGOING”? I sincerely doubt it.

To make me care about what you’re saying please be a real person talking to me (see me as another real person because I am), and understand that I have specific interests and needs that you can probably satisfy because I’ve already signed up for your email newsletters!

Here are some Subject Lines I also delete without reading:
“EMAIL BLAST” – I don’t like being blasted, thank you.
“3 New Articles” – Who cares? I can tell you I don’t.
“A Hot New Post!” – That’s debatable and I probably won’t agree it’s hot.
“April (or other month) Newsletter” – And what exactly is it that you want me to do with it? If it’s not an intriguing call for me to take action, I will interpret it as unfocused as the subject line sounds.

I could go on (about 8 000 times…), but you get the picture.

Get my attention by being a real person who is writing to ME about something I NEED to know to DO MY JOB BETTER or to MAKE MY LIFE EASIER/MORE FUN/MORE BALANCED/MORE ENRICHING. Then I’ll happily give you a few minutes of my valuable time.

My latest client
• Increased his web visitors by over 850% per month IMMEDIATELY
• Attracted partners
• Reversed the downtrend in sales (in just 1 ½ months!) THIS MEANS NEW CUSTOMERS ARE COMING IN
• Is feeling positive and optimistic about business again!

Is YOUR website a dinosaur?

Do you have the right foundation for A PROFITABLE ONLINE PRESENCE?

Do you want to get in on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other social media sites that you needed to be on YESTERDAY?

Do you know that most people KNOW WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO BUY SOMETHING BEFORE THEY LEAVE THEIR HOMES because of the internet? Ever heard of Google?

You cannot generate increasing awareness and sales, if you don’t have a decent online  presence.  The days of a website being a substitute for a brochure are long over. Your website needs to be working for you all the time. It is ideally a living, changing entity that not only gives information, but also collects it. You don’t need an expensive web developer to have a professional online presence.

Learn how to use the free, but extremely versatile WordPress software to create a professional looking online presence for very little money.* Check out Tamarind Thai Restaurant’s website made with a template that cost only $25.00. Within just one month they had over an 850% increase in unique visitors to their site, plus the additional real life customers to prove it works!

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

This seminar will show you: