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Are You Feeling Stuck? Six Timely Tips for Rebooting!

May 12th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm by Marnie
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Are you faced with an obstacle, feeling overwhelmed, or struggling with indecision?  Well, I’ve been there, done that. And, I’m hoping that my own public confession below may inspire you to evaluate your progress towards your business goals. And, if I may be so bold, I’ll recommend six timely tips for GETTING UNSTUCK.

My own private “MEA CULPA”

It’s long past time for this wannabe blogger to admit a significant “mea culpa”. I have not been practicing what I preach. – not attending to business. Why is that? For the past year, I put everything else as a higher priority than posting to my marketing blog. I frequently promised myself I’d get around to it later, once I completed all my other client and volunteer commitments. After all, they should really come first before my own business needs. Right? Where did that come from?

Reviewing my blog today, it was painfully evident that a year has come and gone and I haven’t gotten around to posting on it at all. Shame on me! So, with this first post in over a year, I’d like to recommend the book that gave me my long overdue wake up call, “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Build Reputation, and Earn Trust”. Authors, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, applied a much needed virtual kick to my backside by pointing out my wrong thinking. For more about Chris Brogan, visit his website Human Business Works . Julien Smith can be found at his website http://juliensmith.com

Earning “Trust” all over again….
“Trust Agents” brought home that my blog readers deserve much more. In order to meet my objective that readers benefit from my blog, the book reminded me, in no uncertain terms. that I must respect readers’ time and intelligence by providing quality content on a consistent basis. From this point on, my blog will be my top priority. I am recommitting to posting at least weekly.

Since I have not as yet finished reading the “Trust Agents” book (a bestseller on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Top 100 lists) I will save a full review for a future post. But, as you can see, this book has already had such an impact on me, that I dropped everything else on my “to do” list to get back on track and took the following actions:

Six steps to your reboot:
#1 – OK accept that “stuff” happens – forgive yourself (i.e. you’re only human like the rest of us)
#2 – Re-establish contact with whatever motivates you – a mentor, a book, a movie, music, a blog.
#3 – Pick a project that excites and challenges you, and then create a plan to implement it
#4 – Make your new plan public (share on Facebook or tell your family) so you have to live up to it
#5 – Break your new plan down into manageable steps so it doesn’t overwhelm you
#6 – Start at step one and “just do it”. And then “just do it” again for each subsequent step.

Congratulations, like me, you’re unstuck and rebuilding momentum!

Guerrilla Marketing 101

December 7th, 2010 @ 5:16 pm by Marnie

cover image of Guerilla Marketing Book

 

In their book “Guerrilla Marketing For the Home-Based Business” Jay Levinson and Seth Godin teach us “how to think like a guerrilla. Learning how to use your size and speed to your advantage is a critical lesson. You have countless opportunities to create profitable niches in businesses that everyone else believes are saturated.”

Where to start…

You’ll need to learn that you’re now Vice President of Marketing. Business won’t appear on your doorstep. It will come as the result of a consistent, long-term campaign to establish relationships and turn them into sales.

The single biggest mistake…

They (new entrepreneurs) give up too soon. It might take six months, eighteen months, or two years before a prospect is ready to say yes. Instead of switching from one get-rich scheme to another, pick your niche and focus. Hang in there.

The second biggest mistake…

Not having a plan. To embark on a program using many tools and tactics without a plan is foolish. Instead write down how you expect to proceed, how much time and money you intend to invest, and post it on the wall. This road map will make it easier for you to stay the course.”

For tips on creating your marketing plan, Your 2011 Marketing Plan In 7 Easy Steps, (my previous blogpost).

As always, I invite your comments and suggestions to improve this post and blog.