1. Adopt Philosophy of “Givers Gain."

In 2003, members of Business Network International (BNI) passed over 2 million referrals to each other. Founded by CEO Ivan Misner, BNI is a business and professional networking organization that offers members opportunity to share ideas, contacts and most importantly, referrals. Misner founded BNI based on philosophy of “Givers Gain,” which is belief that in order to get business, it is important to first give business. One of critical factors in achieving success rests in ability to develop reciprocal relationships where two parties naturally refer business to each other on a consistent basis. “It’s not what you know but who you know” has never been so true as it is in today’s competitive world of business. For more information on Ivan Misner and his philosophy of “Giver’s Gain,” access this interview with Misner here.

2. Focus on Soft Innovations

In today’s competitive marketplace, old equation of spending more on advertising to increase profits it not working as it once did. In his latest book, Free Prize Inside, author Seth Godin, makes a strong case for using soft innovations as a way to get noticed in this crowded and noisy world. Soft innovations are small yet insightful ideas that can take your product or service from good to remarkable. They are often hidden, and they usually solve a problem that is “ peripheral to what your product is ostensibly about.” At first glance, you think soft innovation does not mean much, but once you have it in place, it becomes an essential part of your product or service. Examples of soft innovations include Starbuck’s Cards, Dinosaur-shaped pasta for kids, and Amazon.com cutting its ad spend and offering free shipping with money saved. For more information, read an interview with Seth Godin in Today’s Coach here.

3. Re-Groove!

How do you operate when heat is on? How do you respond to chaos? When new skills or new behaviors are needed, how do you respond? Knowing what to do and how to do it is one thing but being able to respond effectively and to keep your cool under pressure and on a consistent basis is a very different ballgame. As leaders in today’s world, it is crucial to learn how to work differently and how to be able to shift and bend to meet expectations which here one day and gone next. The half-life of a great idea or a new product or service has never been shorter, and it is up to you as a business owner to become masterful with reshaping strategies, adding new perks to old products, and to stay on top of your game in face of dramatically changing circumstances. You may find that your strength of achievement was required to get your company up and running but that same strength is now squelching creativity of your team. It’s time to Re-Groove! It’s time to unlock incredible potential that is inside of you that is required to get job done under present day demands. If you are dedicated to re-grooving (getting past old worn out grooves of your past conditioning and rut that we often get into,) it is essential to work with a coach or trainer who can coach you through new behaviors quickly and in real time. By learning to re-groove, you will be able to create incredible opportunities for your company and for yourself with lightning speed.

4. Make Your Brand a “State of Mind."

Are you winning when it comes to style, a smart and accessible mix of products and services, and first rate customer service? If so, Bravo! However, this is just a part of equation of what it takes to truly succeed. In order to create a brand that is truly memorable, it is crucial for you to live an inspired life and to make your brand a “state of mind” for your customers. This state of mind could be a feeling of trust and confidence, a sense of well being, or a state of knowing that you are buying from a company who has your best interests at heart. This state of mind cannot develop behind confines of walls of your business. It grows and develops when you are in middle of your potential buyers…in restaurants, traveling, checking out competition, playing sports, tinkering with a hobby, having fun and lots of it! If you are living fully and in relationship with others, you will be re-energized every day and you will give your customers a vision of what an inspired life actually looks like, because you are living one! Your brand will become much more than your trimmings...it will become connection that others feel when they think of you as a valued person in their lives.

5. Become Masterful at Mobilizing Resources.

Even though it is essential to increase your rating with search engines, to purchase pay-per-clicks, and to participate in link exchanges and banner exchanges, discussion forums can often provide an extra, non-conventional sales medium to your campaign that allows you to quickly pull in customers with personal contact and conversational presentations of your product.

You can find these boards by searching for specific product you sell and then adding word “messageboard” or “forum” or “discussion forum” after it in quotations. For instance, I sell marketing tools and online business-builders on one of my websites, so when I look for forums to market my products in, I go to google or overture and type in “business messageboard” or “marketing forum.” Find as many of these highly-trafficked forums as you can and sign-up. Some of them will require you to confirm it through your email address.

Before you begin actually posting on boards, you need to lay down some general rules of approach. I would suggest following methods, but you can decide for yourself what you think is appropriate for your business and situation.

These are my rules:

When I market on discussion forums, I always try to provide more for board than I take away from it in potential sales. Not only is it ethical, but it’s also good business. When people ask questions, I use expertise I’ve gained from Internet business-building and marketing to legitimately answer their questions. If I signed up for every board I could find, and then slapped a boilerplate marketing pitch on every site, I’d just get ignored or banned.