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Dumb Excuse #1

“I’m not sure I want to invest any money in my internet business right now.”

Yes, it’s sad to say but I hear this one from time to time. Let me be very frank with you. If you’ve already checked out my own top search rankings and still don’t quite understand just what a top search engine ranking would mean for your business, then you have some more learning to do! Please come back and see me when you realize it can make you millions per year!

Dumb Excuse #2

“I don’t have enough time to learn how to promote my website.”

The time investment needed to see dramatic results is about 90 days although you’ll see improvement immediately. Yep, just 90 days of working a few hours each day is going to give you a lot more visitors that you can sell! In fact, if your product sells already, then you are guaranteed success because you’ll be getting a lot more traffic and more traffic means more money when you already are selling it. If you can follow simple directions, then you will do very well following my plan. If you would just rather have personal coaching every step of the way just click here for information on this.

Now here are the three dumb excuses that really piss me the most. They make my blood boil. They infuriate me! And these excuses are only given by people who have no understanding whatsoever of what it is takes to achieve success in anything. They just haven’t figured it out yet.

Dumb Excuse #3

“I’m going to wait to get your book until… (insert favorite excuse here).

These people are just procrastinators plain and simple. They will think of every excuse in the world why they just can’t make a decision and get started right away. I get emails from these people all the time telling me that they intend to get my book just as soon as Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn come into perfect alignment or some other nonsense. If a person isn’t willing to take action after seeing the PROOF that my techniques work then I just can’t help them either because they just don’t get it and probably never will. They are literally losing money every day they delay.

Dumb Excuse #4

“I’ve seen your results for your own website and you are certainly #1 for your terms, but I sell lingerie and that’s a totally different product. Your methods probably won’t work for me.”

These people are the worst, because they’ve done the research and they’ve seen me at number one, but they still think that somehow it will only work for “car wax” or something! I usually get smart with these people and tell them. Yep, my techniques only work for “car wax”. In fact, it’s all a big scam. I got my website to #1 for “car wax” just so I could sell suckers this information…Arrrgh! My techniques will work for ANY website. In fact, I’ve never seen it fail to work yet!

Dumb Excuse #5

“My webmaster told me that he’s promoting my site to 7,000 different search engines this week and that very soon my site will be at the top of the search engines and getting millions of hits!”

If your webmaster told you something like this…then to put it as nicely as I can, they don’t have your best interests in mind. Actually, forget being nice: if they told you this then they are either completely ignorant of reality or they just are ripping you off! These are the people that just take your money and provide worthless services that don’t do ANYTHING for you. The worst part is that they KNOW they don’t work, but they take your money anyway!

About The Author

Mark James is ex- mobile phone marketing expert with a large experience in the UK phone industry. My home page can be found here and currently helps with marketing tips on o2 sim cards in the UK.

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Your local Chamber of Commerce.

Now before you stop reading, I assure you this really works, and no, this is not an advertisement for the Chamber of Commerce although it may read like one.

What seems now like a hundred years ago I owned and operated a company that was made up of three components: a monthly magazine that we converted over to the Internet (http://www.sbmag.org); a graphic art studio; and an advertising agency. While we were in our infant stages, one of the tools I used to build a client base was a one hour consultation for new business start-ups on how to get business with little or no advertising budget.

This program was very successful, and we ended up with a number of excellent clients that stayed with us for years. Most, if not everything that I suggested in that one hour session many years back, is still valid today.

The first thing I would recommend for a new business owner was to become a joiner. If your business is a mama-papa business, you should both join an organization or two, but not the same ones. Spread it out.

The first organization I always recommended joining was the local Chamber of Commerce. Your Chamber of Commerce should be the number one advocate for business of all sizes in your community. Most are structured about the same way with a variety of committees that deal with specific issues related to different aspects that make up your community. Make sure you become active in the committee that has the closest relationship to your business. If you are a retailer, join the retail merchants committee; if you are a contractor, you may want to join the government affairs committee or the transportation and traffic committee, etc., etc. If the opportunity presents itself, you may also want to consider chairing one of these committees or gaining a seat on the board of directors. This will add instant credibility and more exposure to you and your business. But be selective and don’t take on more responsibilities then you want to do or, worse yet, than you can do. Failing here can create negative public relations, the direct opposite of why you are there to begin with.

Most Chambers also sponsor any number of different networking opportunities ranging form mixers to field trips. Attend as many of these functions as you can, and always make sure you wear a nametag and have plenty of businesses cards with you. My favorites were the mixers. However, don’t be obnoxious about it. I have seen people attending chamber events and simply walking around and sticking their business cards in people’s faces and launching into some sort of sales pitch. This won’t get it done. In fact, all it will do is tick people off. Remember, you are only there to meet and greet people and make friends and contacts, not sell them something right then and there.

Also remember that most, if not all, people in attendance are probably there for the same reason you are. Quite often I found it more beneficial to listen more then talk. People that have something to say are appreciative of those that are willing to listen. I can remember incidences where someone would say to me later that I really made a great impression on so-and-so, and that they thought what a great guy I was. In reality, I hardly said more then 20 words to so-and-so, but I did spend a half hour listening to him.

Some Chambers will arrange a ribbon cutting ceremony for you when you first join, assuming yours is a new business. If your business is not all that new, they may be willing to do something similar in the way of announcing you as a new member to the Chamber.

Most Chambers have a monthly newsletter and accept press releases. Some also sell advertising at very reasonable price. Also keep in mind that if you are an active member and maybe even a committee chairperson or board member, you may have your own column in the newsletter or at least a listing as a committee chair or member of the board. This listing usually will include the name of your business.

If your committee is dealing with important issues and or events, there may also be additional benefits in the way of local media coverage. I always made sure I chaired at least one or two events a year, and I picked the ones that were most likely to effect a large segment of the community “in a positive way”. This becomes important. For instance, you may want to think twice about chairing a committee to recall the local mayor and opt instead to take over the Christmas Parade.

A lot of Chambers sponsor trade shows. If promoted right, these events will offer an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your business. The trade shows are sometimes limited to a specific type of business. An example may be an electronics show or a fashion show. Obviously, if you sell running shoes, setting up a booth among nothing but big screen TVs and laptop computers may not be the place for you. On the other hand if you sell insurance, this may be the place for you to pitch homeowners insurance to people with a lot of high priced electronic gadgets. You have to pick and choose the right place at the right time.

Another function some, if not most, Chambers sponsor are seminars. Don’t miss the opportunity to present yourself as an expert in your field. Explore the possibility of becoming a presenter at a seminar being offered.

Don’t over look the possibility of selling your goods or services directly to the Chamber itself. It’s a fairly good bet that, with little exception, they are not going outside their own membership to purchase anything unless they absolutely have to. If you do get a chance to do business with them, make sure you give them the best service and the best prices you can. The last thing you want to do is over charge or under serve what is probably the largest and most influential business organization in your area.

The list of possible exposure via your chamber is endless — web site listings, yearly directories both on line and hard copy, referral services, business card racks, local maps and on and on. I can’t possibly cover all the advantages of membership. There will be many other opportunities that your involvement will create for you. Yet, not all of the benefits can be, nor should they be, measured in dollars and cents. One of the greatest benefits of being a member will be in the overall pride and satisfaction that you will get, knowing you are a leader working to make your community a better place to live. You can’t put a price on that.

Check out http://www.sbmag.org for a number of other ideas on promoting your business on a budget.

No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long the About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links included. Reciprocal links will be considered. Email floyd@sbmag.org.

Floyd Snyder has been trading and investing in the stock market for three decades. He was on the forefront of the day trading craze that swept the nation back in the late 1990’s both as a trader and as the moderator of one of the Internet’s largest real time trading rooms. He is the owner of http://www.TraderAide.com , Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org, http://www.FrameHouseGallery.com, and http://www.EducationResourcesNetwork.com.

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If you want to drive your organization to a higher level of success, here’s a word of advice: set some ambitious goals. No one ever unlocked the leadership capabilities, creativity and passion of their employees by asking for modest gains. Unfortunately in our “prove-it-before-you-do-it” ROI world, some organizations limit risk-taking and inadvertently penalize those who consistently think outside the box. The result is an organization as demoralized as it is bored.

In advertising, this propensity can be deadly. The best advertising people thrive on risk-taking because that’s where the big breakthroughs live. And breakthrough advertising helps build brands and profits. When the pressure to limit risk and drive down costs is overwhelming, it shows in safe, lackluster work.

Lou Tice, personal coach extraordinaire, reminded Seattle’s downtown Rotary last month that setting unrealistic, audacious goals actually increases the likelihood that the goal will be achieved. This may sound counterintuitive, but it’s actually good common sense. Those who set small goals never stretch and grow. So sacred cows thrive, people stay in their comfort zones, the quality of their work suffers, and they influence others to underachieve. Conversely, when people set outlandish goals, the only way they can achieve them is by changing the way things are done, moving into a new zone where innovation can flourish, and turning sacred cows into hamburger.

One of the most dramatic examples of the benefits of setting big goals can be found right here in Seattle. Several years ago, City Librarian Deborah Jacobs and Executive Director of the Seattle Public Library Foundation Terry Collings decided to dream big. In what became the “Libraries for All” initiative, her team set about rebuilding the entire public library system here in Seattle. Not content with providing a much-needed facelift to the facilities, they wanted to show the world that Seattle was serious about opening our doors to anyone who was hungry for information. Reaching this goal required better facilities, more resources for books and programs, and innovative thinking about the role of the library in the digital age.

An amazing thing happened. Their goal was so breathtaking, and the leadership so resolute about achieving it, that momentum started to build. In 1998 Seattle voters approved a $196.4 million bond measure, the largest library bond measure in American history. This funded construction of the new library buildings. Private support flowed into the foundation as momentum built and this provided much needed support to buy books and expand programs. As an icon of this bold, new initiative, the foundation hired the controversial Dutch architect, Rem Kulhaus, to design what has since become the new Central Library, a building universally lauded for both its architectural merit and for bringing the library into the 21st century.

When the Central Library opened, The New York Times architectural critic wrote: “At a dark hour, Seattle’s new Central Library is a blazing chandelier to swing your dreams upon. If an American city can erect a civic project as brave as this one, the sun hasn’t set on the West. In more than 30 years of writing about architecture, this is the most exciting new building it has been my honor to review. I could go on piling up superlatives like cars in a multiple collision, but take my word: there’s going to be a whole lot of rubbernecking going on.”

Today, every single community library in the Seattle system is being renovated or rebuilt.
And I’m sure it’s no coincidence that in 2005 we were named the “most literate city in America” by an annual Central Connecticut State University study.

Most people involved in this monumental accomplishment consider it a career-crowning achievement. It started as a goal that seemed too big to achieve, but teamwork, tenacity and out-of-the-box thinking brought this bold idea to its unabashed triumph.

With its unrelenting focus on ROI, corporate America may be crushing the kind of innovation that built our new Central Library. And what is particularly ironic is that bold action often provides a better ROI in the long term than a so-called safer approach. That’s why it’s incumbent upon those of us in advertising and marketing to make the case for risk-taking. We need to push back on the money people and request budgets that allow for innovation, and even the occasional failure. The more conservative, risk-averse philosophy may look sensible, but an approach that guarantees conventional thinking, bland solutions, and modest returns is far from it.

Bill Fritsch is president of Hydrogen Advertising, an award-winning, Seattle-based advertising agency emphasizing superb ideas efficiently produced. Reach him at 206-389-9500, ext. 224 or email bill@hydrogenadvertising.com. For more information, visit http://www.hydrogenadvertising.com.

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