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Personal Development Tips That Can Get You Out Of Your Slump

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Many people exercise self help. Rather than trying professional methods, people resort to trying to use their own personal thinking to eliminate problems in their lives and make themselves better people. The harder the personal problem, the harder it is to practice self help. If you wish to use self help to eliminate a problem, then read the advice in this article.

A great self help tip is to write down everything you like about yourself. Sometimes depressed people develop such a powerful, negative view of themselves because they can only see what they don’t like. Writing down a list of what you like about yourself can help you see yourself in a different, more positive light.

To get your finances back on track, develop a budget and a plan. Reaching your financial goals can help you to avoid problems later down the road, pertaining to money and your overall well-being. Set a budget for yourself on a monthly basis and stick to it. Once you are comfortable and can pay off all of your expenses, then you can figure in emergency funds and eventually “splurge.”

Influence your moods with food. Eat more complex carbs to help curb anxiety. To increase your alertness, add more protein and foodsd rich in essential fatty acids. White fish and salmon are great foods for this. To lift your spirits, add foods like turkey, lettuce and salmon to benefit from the protein and naturally-occuring tryptophan.

It is true that money cannot actually buy you happiness. It can, however, supplement you with things that can lead to your happiness. For example, it may make you happy to own your own home business. By buying things like a new desk or a new computer to do this, you are supplementing your happiness using money. Your happiness should never depend on new things, at the same time, happiness is not lnked to an austere existence either. Just aim for a nice balance.

Furthermore, lots of people use self help. They use self help as an improvement alternative to professional help. Self help becomes more difficult to practice as problems become more difficult. If you follow the advice provided in this article, then you can use self help to eliminate difficult problems in your life.

Contacting Prospects over the Phone

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“The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.”

Orison Swett Marden

The Basics

At this point you should have a good list of prospects that you are ready to contact. Over the next few days we will cover multiple approaches to contacting said prospects. Before doing so there are a few principles that apply no matter what contact method you choose. This training will cover the basic principles to consider when contacting small business owners.

Know Thy Customer

The most important point is that you should know your prospects. Obviously the level of information that you need to know about a prospects varies depending on what form of contact you are using. However the fact remains that the more you know the better. Business owners are constantly inundated by marketing company’s all fighting for their business. Therefore the more information you can learn about a business the more personalized your approach. Personalizing your marketing efforts will make everything you do a lot more effective.

Secondly you should get to know your prospects pain points. What is it about their business that you can help improve upon? It is not as simple as “make more money” but what specific problems do they have that your offline services can solve. When you know this information you will be able to present your prospects with a solution!

Finally you must learn to speak their language. The only business owner that cares about Click Through Rates, Title Tags, Optimized Mobile Landing pages is YOU! These things are important but to the average business owners it doesn’t mean much. You have to be able to explain your services in a way that a business owner can understand.

For example if you are offering SEO services the absolute worst approach you can take is the following…. “Hi, I’m Heidi with XYZ Company. I have been involved in internet marketing for 4 years and I have made over 200 successful websites. I can help you rank your site #1 on Google with Search Engine Optimization.” Before you even finish the business owner has probably stopped paying attention and decided to not work with you.

What Works For You

You are about to get a crash course in lead generation methods. I did this specifically, to show you every possible way of sparking interest from your prospects. Once you know and test the different options you can rank the different options that work best for you. You can have the best services possible but if your lead generation is ineffective then it won’t matter much. I don’t want to force one lead generation on you that you don’t feel comfortable with because you are the one that will have to contact the prospects. After this training you will be able to use create a lead generation strategy to help deliver the best possible results.

Tracking & Following

You should already have a large number of prospects ready to contact. Now imagine contacting half via email, sending 20 direct mail pieces, 100 cold calls and 10 PPC leads over the next several days. That is a lot to keep up with for anyone. Therefore it is vital that you develop a system for tracking your lead generation efforts. Personally I have an excel file with multiple tabs that separate my lead generation efforts. On this sheet I include the following:

  • business contact information
  • services offered
  • contact date
  • results
  • follow up info
  • specific lead generation info (script used, subject line, variations, etc.)

Now I can easily see what the status is of different lead generation efforts I recently used.

Tracking your lead generation efforts also makes it easier to split test different lead generation methods. You can compare the time and effort needed for each method and which is most effective. Obviously if you know which is most effective you can invest more time using that particular method. You can also split test different aspects of your lead generation methods. For example if your primary lead generation method is cold emailing then you can test different subject lines or different landing pages. All of the information you can gather is helpful because it enables you to work smarter…. not harder!

Lastly the most important aspect of any type of lead generation is the FOLLOW UP. I would estimate that approximately 95% of the time after your initial lead generation contact you will have to perform some type of follow up. The follow up can be anything a friendly meeting reminder via email, a report that is sent, a postcard or even a follow up meeting to sign contracts. Also there is a chance that you didn’t get in contact with your prospect the first time you tried to contact them, does that mean you should give up? Absolutely not, it just means you need to follow up, maybe using a different contact medium or contacting at a different time.

What’s Next

It is time to get ready to contact your prospect and start generating some real leads for your offline business. Make sure you know some general information about your prospects and depending on the lead generation method you choose. I will show the top lead generation methods I use for my offline business but you have to choose the method(s) that you are most comfortable with. Finally be prepared to track and follow up on all of your lead generation efforts.

 

Starting Your Offline Empire

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Starting Your Offline Empire

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone made a courageous decision.”

-Peter Drucker

The Basics

When starting any business there are a few things that you should have in place so you can present your business to other local business owners and be deemed an authority. Some of the items mentioned in the section are general things that any small business owner needs others are things specifically for Internet Marketers.

Business Needs

Business name

  • Think about the image that you want to portray when you’re picking your business name and what you want your company to represent. The most basic of course can simply be <Your Name> Marketing Group or <Your Name> Internet Marketing. You can also go with something more general like Local Marketing Experts LLC . Either way having a real business name is better then approaching a small business owner and saying “Hi I’m <Your Name> and I’m a freelance internet marketer and I can rank your website in Google.”

Business License

  • Before I begin this section I would like to say that the information is in no way shape or form legal advice and you should consult with proper legal representation. With that being said I would suggest that any new business start a LLC (Limited Liability Company). In most states you can visit your local courthouse and set this up for a nominal fee. You also have the option of visiting a website like Legalzoom and completing the paper work online. Either way once everything is set you will be able to do things like open bank accounts in your company name, fill tax returns etc.

Business Cards / Marketing Material

  • Next you may want to invest in some branding material for your business. For example you will need business cards (VistaPrint), which you can leave with prospects and clients. There are plenty of templates to chose from you just want to make sure your basic information is readily available: Business Name, Your Name, Address, Phone Number and Website.
  • Invest in other office supplies as well including company letterheads, brochures, and flyers. You can visit GraphicRiver to get great packages for everything that you will need to brand your new business.

Now those are some of the basic things that any small business will need when starting up. As a new small business owner this includes you. Investing the money in these items shows that you are serious about the success of your new business. Moving on, the following items are must haves for someone starting an internet marketing business.

Web Marketing Needs

Business Website

  • You will need to get a domain name (does NOT have to be keyword rich) and create a website to promote your offline services. Personally I suggest using WordPress for all of your website needs. There are plenty of templates to choose from, you can even outsource the work if you like. Your website is very important because it basically is proof that you can do what it is your selling.
  • Now it doesn’t have to be some expert looking blog with thousands of post. A few pages including: services offered, portfolio, testimonials, a slider and contact page will suffice.

Mobile Optimized Site

  • If you are using WordPress as I suggested you will have two options for mobile options. First you can use a theme that is “responsive” which means your website automatically adjust to any screen size it is being displayed on. You also have the option of downloading plugins which convert your website into mobile friendly versions.

Social Media accounts

  • Nice optimized social media accounts are a must for your business especially if you will be promoting these services.

Payment Processing

The next big question I get asked by those starting a new business is, “what do you use to process payments?” The easiest and most effective is PayPal. Everyone knows and trust PayPal so you don’t need to explain to offline clients what it is. I use PayPal to collect payments from all of my clients. Now you may have heard of horror stories about PayPal accounts being frozen, however that has never happened to me and I don’t think it will happen to you. As I mentioned before once you set up an LLC for your new business you will also be able to set up a bank account for that business, when that is done you will be to also create a PayPal Business account as well. It is very easy to do and this makes it much easier to separate your business gains from personals gains. In the event that you want to research other payment process companies here are two other popular choices.

Freshbooks

  • FreshBooks has been around a long time and lots of business owners use Freshbooks for their payment processing needs.

WePay

WePay is an online payment processor similar to PayPal. However it is not as well known. It does include many of the same features as PayPay. Finally one important part to any Internet Marketing Business are the tools that we use to achieve our marketing goals. With that in mind I would like to show a list of the tools that I use most often in my internet marketing. Now I have tested and wasted a lot of money on bogus internet marketing tools, and some that were too time consuming to learn how to use so they are not shown on this list. Theses tools are the best of the best in terms of what’s needed for an OFFLINE Marketing business.

Google KWT Tool

  • Quite simply…. “old faithful”

Market Samurai

  • This tool is a nice combonation tool for keyword research and Pay Per Click research

Places Scout

  • This tool is the swiss knife of my offline marketing efforts. You can pretty run your offline business using this tool only

Opensite Explorer

  • This is the only tool that I use for my backlink analysis. Best of all they offer a free 90 day trail, which is more than enough time for you to get real value out of the tool!

Semrush

  • The tool is crucial in both my initial client website analysis and competition analysis. This tool will show you all of the keywords that a website currently ranks for and all of the PPC keywords the website currently targets. It also creates great graphs which I use in my initial client proposal. This is a must have tool.

Backlink Indexer

  • This tool is absolutely amazing, it automatically builds backlinks to your backlinks. This helps makes your backlinks more authoritative and creates more link juice. I use this tool on all of my backlinking strategies.

Fiverr

  • This is the easiest and cheapest outsourcer you can find. Most of the work is quality and you can find outsourcers that you can use for the long run.

Bookmarking Demon

  • We all know that search engines are relying heavily on social factors when it comes to the pages they rank. Well This handy tool will automatically set up social bookmarking accounts and automatically create high PR social backlinks for your sites. This tool literally saves me hours of work and makes my rankings skyrocket.

Paymo

  • This is a handy time tracking software. Keeping track of your time is very important especially if your a “One Man Army” or if you charge for work by the hour.

Basecamp

  • Project management can become very difficult if you are keeping track of everything your doing at all times throughout the month. This is a great solution for your project management needs.

Local Business PLR

  • You may want to invest in some Offline Marketing PLR or create some of your own. There are warriors that have great material out there to help you promote / introduce your offline marketing services.

Call Fire

  • Call tracking for all of your offline marketing needs. Call tracking enables you to see exactly how many leads you marketing efforts produced. Call Fire in particular has some great features that you can use to get new clients for your business. Highly recommend.

What’s Next

Now that you’ve made it through training number one, its time for the hard part…. TAKING ACTION! To begin make sure you start getting the items you need for your starting your business. That would be setting up your LLC, ordering some marketing material and getting your domain name. Also do some research on each one of the offline marketing tools I covered and test a couple out. We will be covering all of the tools throughout the next thirty days so it will be nice if you can use the tool when we cover it in the training.

Using Declarations to Empower

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Using Declarations to Empower

Your most powerful declarations come from refuting negative statements and feelings that would hold you back. What are your greatest doubts or insecurities in yourself? If you wrote down the opposite, what would it be? Use those statements as your own personal set of Declarations.

Another approach is to finish the following statements with your own words. Find inspiring statements and power words.

 

I am…    I inspire…  I empower… 
I create… I attract…
What are your Declarations?
Declare Your Freedom
 

How can you make your Declarations powerful? Instead of just reading your declarations, you need to say them out loud!

While you say them, move your body, and help it to believe what you are saying. Stand strong, with both feet firmly planted. Strike a superhero pose and declare your

declarations to anyone within the

sound of your voice.

When you do this, you create an experience for yourself instead of just a thought. Turn on epic music in the background to influence your emotions and enhance your mood.

 

What will you do today to make your declarations into true declarations of freedom?

Your Sacred Declarations

Your Declarations are a part of who you are. You can use them to defend yourself from the negative comments of others and from those inside your own head. They can shift your energy dramatically if you let them. Sometimes, the most powerful way to use your Declarations is not with grand gestures or loud adventurous music. When you are alone, take the time to put your hand over your heart and say them quietly and reverently to yourself.

 

Do your Declarations inspire you to greatness?

Trials and adversity happen in everyone’s lives

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Trials and adversity happen in everyone’s lives. These storms might seem like barriers to expression, but they can be an invitation to dance in the rain!

 

 

“Life isn’t about waiting for

the storms to pass.

It’s about learning to

dance in the rain.” 

t’s easy to get down when life starts to rain on you. But, when you’re standing out in the rain, getting soaked, you still have a choice. Either you can let the storm drag you down, or get up and Dance!


 

 

 

 

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when the storm comes.“

-Alexandre Dumas in “The Count of Monte Cristo”

Anticipate the Obstacles

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If you’re on a journey worth taking, you can expect that some kind of challenge will emerge. Do you have the tools to overcome the pitfalls and keep focused on reaching your destination?

Anticipate the Obstacles

  • If you come to a road block, you can let it stop you–or you can power up to create a new path.
  • What will YOU do when the obstacles appear?

 

Keep Moving!

Structuring your website for internet success

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Is your online company utilizing internet marketing campaigns? If you aren’t, you may want to think about doing so.

Here are a few ways you can structure your website for optimal success.

Normally, the most used links are at the top or bottom of all websites. These are known as site-wide links. It can be beneficial to you if you have a particular page that you would like your visitors to see. This can be the page on which you advertise your product or the page on which the customer can make a purchase. Have site-wide links in a tidy menu so that visitors are able to simply and quickly find your site’s other pages. Make sure you describe each of your menu pages well and organize them intelligently.

 

One very important part of your website is the HTML code. Meta tags are a good way to show search engines what your website is about. HTML tags will help search engines judge how relevant your content is while your visitors will not be able to read them. Create quality Meta tags by choosing popular and relevant keywords. Be wary of over-using Meta tags, since this can have a detrimental effect. A different Meta tag for each page of your site is important so that search engines will send viewers to that specific part of your page.

 

As you develop your site, make sure you are using both H tags and keywords. H tags ought to be in article titles as they highlight your most important keywords. The text will be more visible by altering the look of the font and associated color. You will gain more traffic to your site via search engines if you use H tags well. This is because H tags make it easier for search engines and visitors to identify your content.

 

Be alert to the latest ideas in for website setup. There are some staples that you are going to use over and over again, but you don’t have to rely completely on those techniques. The Internet is constantly evolving, and is a very fast-paced environment. Stay on top of the online buzz, and keep your marketing fresh by integrating new trends as soon as you identify them. Though trends don’t last, enjoy the increased revenue while they do. Stay abreast of the latest viral video and meme developments, and you’ll be ready to organize a campaign around them at a moment’s notice.

 

That is only the beginning of what internet marketing is all about. Once you are on the road to success with these tips, check into more complex ideas that will provide even greater success.

 

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