How To Beat The Competition, With The Basics

By Ken Leonard Jr. ©2002 KLJ Online It goes without saying that having good work habits is essential for success in any business venture, whether online or offline. Online marketing presents a worldwide selling opportunity, but with it comes a "sea of businesses" competing for same customers that you are. Successful people do what others aren't willing to do to "make it happen". Don't you think that using excellent work habits might give you an edge over competition? You're right. It will! Direct marketers in "real world" have succeeded using basics for years. These apply to any form of sales or business, certainly to online marketing. Consider email marketing, which "is" direct marketing. You are presenting a product or service (read:"sales pitch") to a prospect directly to their own personal email inbox. The marketer has to deal with a lot of same issues that offline marketers deal with daily. With experience comes "know-how" of a veteran marketer. These sales talents have been developed around a base of straight-forward, simple concepts that are a must for success. The online marketer that learns and applies these ideas "will" have an edge over poor work habits of a lot of people selling on internet today. Step One - Be Positive, Always ------------------------------ When someone asks "How are you today?", how do you answer? If it's not "great", it should be. Positivity breeds positive results, as negativity only leaves you nasty, with poor results. Do whatever it takes to build and achieve a positive manner and outlook on life. This will be easier for some than for others. You know yourself best. If you are generally a negative, abusive or short- tempered person, this may be difficult for you. But it is certainly possible. If you are an easy-going person that may have an occasional "bad day" (like we all do!), this will be easy for you to accomplish. The benefits of achieving a positive attitude are enour- mous, helping you reach all of your goals and aspirations. The presence of a negative attitude can be disastrous to any business, especially to a home-based venture. Step Two - Don't Lose Your Attitude ----------------------------------- It is easy to relax on a sofa with chips and a cool beverage, and maintain a great attitude. The test comes when you are confronted with "negatives". They may be from family or friends, a co-worker, or from a business "lead" that just told you "no". How about from a day of dozens of "no"s from potential customers? It helps to understand "law of averages", as it concerns sales matters, to keep that good attitude going strong. Basically, law of averages means that more people (contacts) you see (or call or email), more "yes"s (sales,leads,promo opps) you will get. Sales of any kind is all a numbers game. When you are having a bad work day (lots of "no"s,poor ad responses), don't quit with a bad attitude. Increase your efforts (see people, or work to make people see you) and you will find prospects and sales. You will make more money, and will feel better about yourself for going that "extra mile". It takes work to keep up a good attitude. Step Three - Be Prepared ------------------------ Yes, here in US, this is motto of "Boy Scouts". Know what you are getting yourself into. Always research your "position" in market. Never lose a sale or a good lead because you didn't "do your homework". With online marketing, this means reading as much quality material on subject. This means studying your comp- etition. Don't launch a product, then find your "target" market. Research market first, find a common problem and fix it. Find a small, focused "niche" of customers that you can present a beneficial product or service to. Now build your product around unfulfilled "needs" and "wants" of this niche market. Being prepared "before" you develop a product will save you time and headaches in future. It may also mean difference between success and failure. Step Four - Set Goals --------------------- All of "steps" in this article are important. Setting realistic, "do-able" goals may be at top, along with having a positive attitude. You must have a solid business "plan of action" if you expect to succeed. You must know where you want to take this "ship", and where you want it to take you. Do what- ever works for you to build a strong game plan. If you want to write your goals down, do it.(This is an excellent way to know "exactly" where you stand now, and where you want to be going). If you need to put up signs and notes around your office or home to remind you daily of your

How To Run A Stress-Free Online Business

"How To Run A Stress-Free Online Business" By Ken Leonard,Jr. http://www.kenleonardjr.com ©2002 KLJ Online "Don't Quit Your Day Job!" I think we can all agree that stress is one of worst things in life. If you manage stress well, you can also manage your business and your life well. Living with stress can make running any business a chore. Too much unmanaged stress can break up families and friends, and will ultimately be fatal to your business and your health. The ideal business plan for an entrepreneur that expects to be successful "down road" is to develop multiple streams of income. When starting a home-based business, you can immediately begin working on your second "stream" by not quitting your day (or primary) "job". This puts your new online business in best position in which to succeed, with minimal stress. There is no pressure to "produce" from day one, as long as your household income stays same. Of course you will push yourself to reach your goals, but if you don't make a profit for a while, your personal finances are not affected. Being in this great situation, you will notice that you not only enjoy building your home-based business, but you now enjoy your time at your "regular job" even more. When you go to work in morning ( or whenever), you know that you