You Are a Business Evangelist - But What Does That Mean?
By icjackson1913 | August 30, 2008
An evangelist is a person who spreads the word about something with the intent to convert listeners to belief in the subject of the message. This person is also supposed to be an expert on the subject that he or she is preaching or teaching about. In the religious sense, an evangelist goes from place to place, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The word “gospel” actually means “good news”.
So, what does that have to do with you?
Among other things, you are an evangelist for your business; you are supposed to spread the ‘good news’ about your product, service, and/or opportunity. You’re an expert in your field, and you have come to Everywhere, USA to share what others will perceive to be good news. If it’s not perceived at good news, it won’t matter to the consumer or prospect because you will have given them no reason to care.
See where I’m going with this?
Don’t just run your mouth about what you do and why - that may not be of any concern to those with whom you’re attempting to communicate. When advertising, marketing, and even having conversations with people about what you do, tailor your message to fit into the “good news” category. Solve a problem, address a concern, or make a difference based on what the listener is thinks is important.
Otherwise, people will feel like you’re preaching to them about what you think will save them - and most people don’t care what you think unless it lines up with what they think.
Keep on spreading the word,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Advertising, Marketing, Shameless Self Promotion | No Comments »
Take The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge - Make a Supplemental Income
By icjackson1913 | August 19, 2008
Many home businesses experience busy seasons and slow seasons, and there has to be something to fill in the gaps. Other home business owners who are still building their work-from-home empires simply aren’t bringing enough in yet, and may need some something extra to pcik up some of the slack. Then there are the freelancers, who rarely are able to predict their income from quarter to quarter. It can be tough staying motivated and encouraged when all of your work-from-home income isn’t steady yet.
So, what do you do?
One thing you can do is leverage the power of Squidoo. You’ve heard me talk about it before, but you may not know exactly how to do it.
I understand :-)
However, there are a group of ambitious lensmasters who are strategically working to create the foundation for a nice residual income simply from writing about things they know about - including their businesses! The motivational tool we’re all using is The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge, and you are invited to join as a contender!
Have no idea what you would write about besides your business? Take a look at my lenses to date and you might get some ideas!
[NOTE: This is indeed shameless self promotion, but in my defense, it does serve a constructive purpose, too.]
I.C. Jackson’s Squidoo Lensography
- The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge: Make a Supplemental Income On Squidoo In 60 Days Or Less!
- 10 Things Moms Can Do To Reduce Environmental Impact AND Have Healthier Kids
- The Truth About CFL Bulbs - Not Such a Bright Idea
- The Secret to Becoming a Stay-At-Home Mom Without Going Broke
- How To Find Enough Content To Write AT LEAST One Squidoo Lens a Day, Every Day!
- Facebook Marketing
- Where To Buy Michael Phelps Pictures | Photos | Posters | Wallpapers
- How To Study the Holy Bible Effectively and With Confidence
- Business Networking on Facebook
- How To Properly Dispose of Grease and Oils From Food Preparation
- Challenge Diary: My 60 Day Squidoo Challenge
- Unique and Creative Sorority Paraphernalia and Gifts: Delta Sigma Theta
- How To Create a Real Facebook Presence Without Actually Being There!
- Environmental News: Headlines On Pollution, Climate Change, Global Warming, Going Green, and More
- Pizza Hut’s Pizza Mia: The Worst Pizza Ever
- The Worst Jobs EVER - And How To Kiss Them Goodbye!
- The Color Purple
- Polishing the Diamond in the Rough
- The Best Infant and Toddler Bags for the Unique and Stylish Mom (and Baby!)
- I LOVE My Xyron 510 | Your Xyron Idea Headquarters | Where To Get Refill Sticker, Laminator, and Magnet Cartridges
- 10 Things Kids Can Do To Go Green and Reduce Environmental Impact
I hope that you join us and learn how to earn some extra cash as well as build your web presence with Squidoo!
To your continued success,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Marketing, Shameless Self Promotion, Social Media, Squidoo, Supplemental Income, Web 2.0 | 4 Comments »
Market On Websites That Will Pay You To Do It!
By icjackson1913 | August 12, 2008
But it takes money to make money, right? Well, most of the time. However, you deserve a break from the norm. You deserve an exception.
Hey, you’re a hard working home business owner; you’ve earned it ;-)
So, instead of always paying for your marketing, or marketing on free sites that may or may not provide any return on your time investment, market on sites that pay you to do so.
THAT’S a win-win situation!
All Paid Content Sites Are Not Created Equal
Be forewarned, however; all sites that claim to pay for your activity do not live up to their hype. I have been on a number pay-to-post sites that only offered pennies for a very time consuming effort. If you didn’t recruit a million people, you never saw more than a few bucks. I don’t have time for that, and neither do you.
So, here are a couple of sites that come through on their promises, and provide opportunities to make a real supplemental income for a reasonable effort.
Get Paid To Market Your Business On…
Everybody’s an expert on something! Use your expert knowledge to create a supplemental income by creating a collection of “lenses” about whatever you know about, including your business. It’s free to join and use, affiliate links are allowed, and Squidoo pays you through revenue sharing for using the site! There are real people making thousands a month just from their Squidoo activity. You can create an income stream by using Squidoo to market your business(es) and your expert knowledge.
* If you haven’t already, check out The 60 Day Squidoo Challenge to jumpstart your marketing efforts on Squidoo! *
This interesting gem of a site is designed for home business owners and those who wish to be, and provides a unique networking eand marketing xperience that you can get paid to take advatnage of. Their 7-tier affiliate program is VERY nice so your networking and marketing time can be spent inviting contacts to and posting on a SEO supercharged site that helps small companies get to the top of Google just like the big dogs.
Got any suggestions for this list? Leave your comments - they might even be featured here!
To your continued success,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Marketing, Networking, Productivity, Squidoo, Success Tips | No Comments »
Don’t Be Afraid To Fail
By icjackson1913 | August 6, 2008
Too many home business owners don’t take risks because, well, we think that we can’t afford to. Or we’re afraid to ruin our reputations. Or we simply are afraid of the F-word.
Failure.
However, it is only in being courageous enough to go out on a limb that we will ever experience success. Think of the successful people that you look up to, and then think about how many times they failed in business before they found their way and climbed to the top. Success guru Mason Weaver writes about how a baby has to muster up the courage to take his first steps - how he is essentially going out on a limb, knowing that he will probably fall. This baby actually knowingly fails his way to success (from Polishing the Diamond in the Rough - available in the right sidebar here on HBM).
Another mentor of mine says, “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going.” Now of course, he stays on me to work toward getting it right in the long run, but the point is that sooner or later, you’re just going to have to take some risks. The best you can do to protect yourself is to take calculated risks based on through research. Do your homework, sure. Just know that in doing your homework, you will find that you are going to have to put on your track shoes and get out there in order to see any results. Playing it safe is not going to slowly bring you to the finish line.
It will leave you at the gate.
So, get out there, and show the world who you are and what you’ve got to offer. You’re probably not going to become an overnight success story. You’ll actually probably get it wrong a time or two. But isn’t getting it wrong and learning how to get it right better than not having the cahones to go out there and get it at all?
Be encouraged, and subscribe to HBM to continue getting high quality, focused advice just for home business owners,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Stop Marketing Your Product and Market Your Solution
By icjackson1913 | July 29, 2008
Cheesy, spammy, and otherwise ineffective advertisements annoy us because, among other things, they insult our intelligence. These bad examples speak to us as if we were impressionable children with money to burn and no original ideas. They are usually intrusive, and even if we are in the market for what the peddler is peddling, we usually go to someone else who hasn’t offended us with tom foolery that they call marketing.
Home business owners are usual suspects for such bad marketing because we are usually trying to do as much as we can for as little as we can with little to no training on what we ought to be doing and where we ought to be doing it.
It really can be a mess. You probably already know that. You probably learned the hard way.
So, what’s the solution? The solution is in the SOLUTION. (Yes, I am about to explain.)
Your product or service solves one or more problems. They whose problems you solve are already motivated to buy because they want their problem solved. You alleviate their pain and frustration by bringing them what they need. You don’t have to prime or pump them up to do what they were already looking to do in the first place - you just step in, help out, and go about your business.
That’s in an ideal situation, of course.
On the flip side, you can try and convince people who are not dissatisfied with what they have that they should acquire something new because you said so and because your whatever works better than the whatever that they already have and do not have a problem with. You can try and create a false sense of urgency or need, and it may work from time to time, but the buyer will usually realize that he or she was duped and cancel or return your whatever.
See the difference?
Market your solution to someone’s problem. People who have the problem will find you because they are looking for a solution. They essentially are looking for you! Everyone else will ignore you, so don’t worry about them. When they have the problem, they’ll come a-runnin’!
Keep solving problems and make sure you don’t miss any posts - register to receive Home Biz Marketing conveniently via email,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Greening Your Home Business - Updates
By icjackson1913 | July 22, 2008
Hey gang :-)
The “Going Green” portion of this site has been updated. If you want to become a force in our greening economy, check it out! The information here will help your business to go green.
There is more to come soon,
I.C. Jackson
Topics: Going Green | No Comments »
