1. WHAT part of you?

Most people resists marketing as they associate it to selling, which they dislike… Yet did you know that etymologically, word “marketing” comes from a Latin word merc r meaning “to buy!” Become honest about your fighting marketing, and ask yourself: WHAT part of you are you not buying that you cannot imagine yourself selling? (Oops, told you those were two delicate subjects!)

2. WHAT’s in a name?

Did you know that Coca Cola is only brand that can “afford” to have their name written in script? The scripted font engenders feelings of casualness, and relaxation. Similarly, have you noticed how reassuring is golden “M” arch of McDonald’s? As soon as you see it, you know where you are, even if you were to be traveling in a country whose alphabet you cannot read, e.g. Greece. WHAT a relief! Ask yourself: what feeling is in my brand name? (I have no answer to why one would eat a Big Mac in Greece…) 3. WHEN is it time to market?

Know thyself first! From knowing yourself you will have clarity to know what your name means, and WHEN to speak it. Furthermore, WHEN you know your unique strengths, passions, and talents, you live fully in your heART, you sing your own melody with an authenticity that is remarkably attractive and thoroughly irresistible… Ask yourself: what makes me be me that I truly like about myself? (Yes, I noticed too: after Diogenes came Socrates!)

4. WHEN did you say?

Self-acceptance is your life work, until your life becomes your work! Look at what you have not forgiven or what you cannot love yet; there lays missing piece of your own puzzle! Possibly it is having insomnia, or maybe it is being a married to a maffioso… WHEN you learn lessons of your resisted experiences, your weaknesses turn into strengths, and you become like an invincible sun! Now you consistently and coherently offer quality and meaning to your clients. Ask yourself: What did I learn that can be of value to my clients? (Sing with me: “Amazing Greece, how sweet it is…”)

5. WHERE do I go to find it? Should your self-inquiry reach a plateau, tests and assessments are a great place to learn about yourself… To sort your temperament, you may take Myers-Briggs evaluation, www.myersbriggs.org or give Keirsey test a chance (www.keirsey.com). Another very simple way to see yourself is simply to ask your friends and your clients questions on how they see you, why they would choose to come to you, what they see as your main asset, etc… Do not forget to interview your family (siblings can be especially merciless on that subject, and so helpful!) When decoding their feedback, rather than thinking that this sounds like Greek to you, ask yourself: WHERE are words to best describe me? 6. WHERE is your niche?

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as bylines are included, with a live link, and article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

How To Promote Your Business – A 10 step guide for beginners

Often times when people start an internet business they don't have a clue how to go about their marketing campaign. They end up posting ads aimlessly to places that do nothing but send them spam and waste time and money. Then, after a couple weeks without results, they give up. It almost happened to me and I know it happens to others everyday. So, in order to help newbies, I decided to give a quick overview of some of widely used techniques for marketing your business. When used correctly these marketing techniques will dramatically increase traffic and sales without emptying your bank account.

Here they are, in no particular order:

1) PPC's (Pay Per Click) - These are a very widely used method of getting traffic to your website. Pretty much everyone uses PPC's at one time or another. The concept is really simple… you bid a certain amount on keywords related to your product or service. Then when someone searches for those keywords they find your ad (assuming you bid high enough). Finally, they click on your ad and you pay amount you bid. This is great because you only pay for traffic that actually goes to your site and all traffic is targeted.

PPC’s may sound intimidating because of word "pay" but you can usually find keywords to bid on for a very low amount. The highest bid I have on a PPC right now is 25 cents per click which is actually considered high for some. You can also frequently find deals where you get money put into your account just for signing up. Then traffic you get doesn’t cost you anything. Send an email to webmaster1@gmail.com and I will send you a list of some PPC’s that do this.

For a list of top PPC's go to www.payperclicksearchengines.com -Note: Google Adwords is not listed in their top 10 but it should be. Overture and Google are widely considered to be two best. You can find Google Adwords at http://www.google.com/ads/programs.html 2) COOPS - This one is also really simple. You just pay a certain amount for guaranteed prospects. Usually someone that generates very high amounts of prospects, due to their marketing efforts, will allow you to participate in coop for a small fee. They are also a super time saver because you don't have to do anything to get prospects, except pay a little. Coops are a really great deal when you are new because you typically aren’t real great at getting your own quality prospects without spending a lot of money or tons of time. 3) Article Writing - Writing articles is another great way to generate a lot of quality traffic as well as make a name for yourself on internet. All you do is write on a topic you know about and submit it to places that accept article submissions. This one scares people at first because they don’t think they can write. Trust me it's not as hard as you may think to find a topic you know something about. Then just write a couple pages about it. For example: I never used to think I could write articles but you are reading this one right now, aren’t you? 4) Forum Submissions - Basically all you do with this one is go to internet business forums and post answers to people’s questions. This one is more for making a solid reputation for yourself as a knowledgeable and trustworthy individual.

I have already written an article on this so I won’t go into much detail here. The article will give you a lot more info, you can find it at http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com/forumsuccess.html It tells a lot about what to do and not do in forums as well as provide you with some good forums to get started in.