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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Want to get more visitors to your site? Dig your information

Social media sites are what 2007 will be all about. The more connected you can get online, the more your business will grow.

I've been playing around with Digg http://digg.com/ and will be trying to work my way up in ranking in the future. One of the fun tools to watch is at http://digg.com/spy There you can watch real time what others are reading. It's interesting to see how fast it changes, and exactly what people are reading. Give it a try.

Lori

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

A Place To Get New Ideas

As many of you know, I write bi-monthly for the Denver Business Journal. So I do head over to the business journal's website quite a bit.

If you haven't been to their sites, you may want to take a look around.
http://www.bizjournals.com/ From this one portal site, you can access and of the major city's papers and complete sites. You can read a wealth of information. And you also have access to the events and networking section, which will provide you with everything that's happening around your town in the coming weeks.

I also use the business journal's website to gain access on potential customers, and use it for a variety of research. The more you know about people and businesses, the easier your business gets!

Lori

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Book Review - The Automatic Millionaire

I just finished The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. I've read several of his other books, and decided it was time to read this one when I found it on the shelves of my local library.

The thing I enjoy about David's writing style is how simple he makes things. He has a unique perspective of looking at finances, and relaying them in an easy to use fashion.

One of the biggest things I walked away with from this book is how to think rich, and how to share that knowledge with your children. He tells a story about a couple in their early 50's ready to retire because of what their parents had taught them about money.

We Inherited Knowledge

is what the couple told David.

Basically, to retire rich at an early age, you need to:

1. Pay yourself first. Always put money away for yourself first before you pay the bills. Automate the process if possible.

2. Save a few dollars a day. They called it the cigarette factor - basically the latte factor - and you should eliminate one habit from your system, and use the money to pay yourself.

3. Buy a house and make two 1/2 payments every month instead of one big one. You pay off the house much quicker this way.

4. Don't buy things on credit, minus your house. If you can't pay for it, don't buy it.
Pretty simple rules, and they make a lot of sense to me.

It's a great book if your new to the whole finance/savings idea, or if you want a refresher on great ideas. (I never get bored reading simliar items - I alway pick up one or two new nuggets along the way!)

Lori

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

New Site I'm Contributing To

Exciting news! I'm a new contributing expert for Rat Race Rebellion!

As a photographer with 20 years of experience, they've decided to make me their expert on starting a photography business. I have an incredible profile up:

http://www.ratracerebellion.com/EC_photographer.htm

And starting in April I will be moderating the bulletin board on photography.

I'm excited to be a part of this growing community!

Lori

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Monday, March 12, 2007

What a great marketing promotion

So you think you need to spend a lot on promotions to bring in the sales?

Think again.

I just found a great idea at Moosejaw.com

For a limited time, you can get a free invisible cup with the purchase of boardshorts or a bikini. You simply add your free invisible cup to your order, and it will be processed when you make your purchase.

If you have a fun business where your clients have a sense of humor, this is a perfect way to get people talking.

Lori

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Friday, March 09, 2007

Finding Data for Your Newsletter

People ask me all the time how to come up with data for their ezines.

Check out this site I found today.

http://swivel.com/

Swivel is a site where anyone can post data. You can graph it, showcase it, and use it. I spent a few minutes on the site looking around at the charts and graphs, and found some very interesting data.

If you like to use stats and data in your ezine - Swivel is the perfect place for you.

Lori

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Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Plug In America

I watched an incredible movie tonight with my family. It's called "Who Killed The Electric Car?" It's definitely worth watching - everyone in America should make it required viewing. I've even heard some schools are having their kids watch it, and discussing the implications afterward.

This movie sparked an interesting discussion with my own daughter. Questions like:

Why can people hate something, and actually stop its production, when its obvious its a good thing?

How can you take action and get your point across that this is something we need as a country?

12 years olds are very astute in their analysis.

So I did a little research, based on comments from the film. Check out

http://www.pluginamerica.com/

and discover ways you can demand new technology, and not give the auto dealers and big oil companies what they want the most.


Lori

Friday, March 02, 2007

The End of The Ridiculous Proposal

In my blog post from February 12th, I mentioned that a new bill was being proposed in Colorado to create a Do Not Mail list similar to the Do Not Call list.

Good news - the bill was thrown out yesterday after a lot of static from the US Postal Service, the Direct Marketing Association and other groups representing businesses that use mail as a part of their marketing methods.

Direct mail - or junk mail - will never reach epidemic levels because of the cost. As a business owner, you have to constantly weigh the value of the mail piece. If its not pulling in a profit, you can't afford to keep sending it. So that in itself helps keep it at a minimum.

I love junk mail, and as a business owner, I hope you do too. You can learn so much from other businesses mailers. Keep the one's that motivate you. Read them all, and learn from others who have invested a lot of time and money into their marketing efforts.

Lori

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Thursday, March 01, 2007

Steps To Viral Marketing

It seems everyone is striving for a way to go viral.

Viral marketing refers to the strategy of putting your marketing out to your prospects and customers, and letting them send the message on to other prospects. The more fun and outrageous it is, the better chance you have of going viral. That's why YouTube is so popular - if you see something you like, its easy to send on to others.

Some viral strategies work better than others. Though you can build with a viral idea in mind, its hard to predict what will catch on with people. Some things die a quick death, while others go on to sell millions.

There are elements to use when you build a viral strategy.

1. Give away products of services. It must have value in the eye of the beholder.
2. Is easy to transfer from one person to the next.
3. Utilizes existing communication channels. Again, people have to easily be able to share it with friends.
4. Motivate people, and touch them in their heart. It has to affect their behavior, and feel emotion towards its message.
5. Let others quickly share the information. Articles can quickly move around to different businesses, sites, and resources. Videos can quickly be linked by email or though websites and blogs.

Viral is a fast moving form of marketing. Once its out there, nothing can stand in its way.

To produce a viral marketing campaign on your own, you have to be thinking in terms of quick media. If you aren't online marketing, and using quick forms of marketing, you're losing out on the possiblities.

Get started now!

Lori

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