Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop their services or products. This causes them to generate and fulfill a marketing plan that requires them to swim upstream using backstroke. To save stress, consider placing business plan on hold until first completing a few customer surveys. Okay, some of you are saying, "Catherine, how can you do a survey before you know who your market is?" Yes, this is one challenging double edge sword, that is, if you're mindset is set there.

Over years, I've found that everyone I've worked with generally knew what he or she wanted to sell. I don't believe you are any different. This is perfect place to start. You have a clean slate to write on. You might be at a place of seeing it in nonspecific terms with measurable doubts as well. That is okay, doubts will always be there, thus, allow them to be your friend instead of a foe. It’s easy to start with a gender preference -- choosing either women or men as having a higher purchasing balance for what you are selling. If you don't have a majority gender in mind, choose one you feel most comfortable talking with or asking questions to.

Let’s dive in a little deeper, its time to start thinking about your surveys and what to ask. Okay, don't fade out on me now. Generally, when people think of surveys, they visualize or experience sensations of long drawn out processes that cost more money then they can afford or time that they don't have patience for. Boy, do I remember those days of thinking.

Let’s play together on this concept of taking surveys before writing your business plan. At least, allow old perceptions to sit outside your door until you've finished reading this article and learning of a new possible alternative perspective. The perspective that surveys come first and don't need to be time-consuming, money-hungry, must be done by professionals, mongrels.

Take area you want to focus on, combine with your gender preference, and begin there. For instance, if your area is life coaching and you feel more comfortable with working with women you have a starting point. This doesn't mean you will never coach men, set those thoughts aside; they will block your progress and keep you stuck.

From knowing just this basic information, you can now create a few simple surveys in no time at all that don't require any money. Even if you know more specifics about your buyers, you might want to back it up to this point if you are stuck in generating questions. To generate this survey plan you don't need to know whether your focus is for a product or service, or even if its for electronic, telephone, or in-person delivery, at this time.

The first question you want to generate and ask is what your gender wants to buy next. If asked in narrow terms, they will answer. If asked too broadly, they will respond with "don't know." If latter, rewrite question more specifically, then ask again. Whenever I start, I sometimes have to revamp my questions five or six times. Just an FYI, to help you understand that even experts refine as they go. Surveying is an evolutionary process.

A second survey question is for people who have purchased from you in past. What are looking for next? What do they want to accomplish in next few months or whatever future terms they desire to talk about?

That is a darn good slogan for Power Linkers, because it hits nail on head. When you are marketing anything, of course your best bet is to reach every possible customer for your product with your message, right?

But if you are not a big multi-national corporation with millions of dollars to spend on flashy advertising, what are you going to do?

MORE... Well, internet is where little guys have had equal footing with big corporations from beginning. Remember big tech company crash when thousands of over-financed upstart internet companies went way of dodo? Who could forget that, right?

Those guys thought they could dominate on OUR turf if they threw money at problem like they do in offline world of television, radio, magazines, and newspapers. And experiment failed miserably. Only a few companies got through that fiasco, but not without some deep scars.

All while, people like me were watching and learning. And I realized then and there that battle for monster profits on web was going to be waged guerilla fashion.

Low budget, no budget, less money and more creativity involved, better! And that is how Power Linking was born. And that's why Power Linkers are "..everywhere you want to be."

If you put science of linking to use in a massive, systematic way, by studying your potential customers' habits and using this knowledge to be "everywhere they surf," you cannot help but blow your competition out of water.

There are billions of web pages on net. There are fewer super-high traffic places on net, but still a pretty mind-boggling amount. How many of them are you on?

How many sites with over 1 million visitors a month link to your website? Did you even think that was possible until I asked question?

How well do you know your customers and their surfing habits? If you sell horse blankets and many of your potential customers surf Number 1 horse lovers site online, what can you do to get exposure for your site there?

And if you say "Spend money on advertising" I am going to ask you to re-read what you just read above!

Get it out of your head completely, right now and for good, that you have to have money to make money. That you have to make a huge investment in hard cash to get exposure your site needs. That point could not have been made clearer by tech crash!

And when you don't have money to lose on mistakes already laid out before you on a silver platter, it is a cardinal sin to spend a DIME on advertising!