Self Employed Success

A client sent me Adam Urbanski’s blog post, “Outer Circle Marketing Target Exposed,” and asked my opinion on it.

Here’s the article I wrote in reply: “Which Marketing Model is Right for You?”

Neither marketing model is wrong, and both offer you insights into creating a marketing strategy that will work for your business.

By the way, NONE of these ideas and models are new; we’ve been talking about these concepts in marketing classes for decades. Let me explain…

If you are ready to make 2009 your Best Year Ever, read on…

I am a huge fan of mastermind groups. I would not be as successful as I am in my business without the help of my mastermind group.

Each year, I form two or three mastermind groups, exclusively for self-employed small business owners.

Each group meets twice a month for three months and is limited to six members (plus myself as the Mastermind Facilitator). Groups meet via telephone (teleconference) for 90 minutes each session. The next group starts April 6.

A mastermind group is like having a personal board of directors, and offers a combination of masterminding, peer brainstorming and support in a group setting to sharpen your business and personal skills.

What You’ll Get By Participating in a Mastermind Group:

• Increase your own experience and confidence
• Sharpen your business and personal skills
• Create real progress in your business
• Add an instant and valuable support network
• Get honest feedback, advice and brainstorming
• Borrow on the experience and skills of the other members
• Create plans and have the group hold you accountable for fulfilling your plans and goals
• Receive critical insights into yourself
• Work ON your business, not just IN it; make the transition from being self-employed to acting like a business owner
• A sense of shared endeavor – there are others out there!

The cost is just $295 per month for three months. That’s a 40% savings off the cost of private coaching and consulting, plus all the benefits of a mastermind group!

Want to know more about mastermind groups?

To learn more about the upcoming mastermind group, visit my masterminding website:

http://www.TheSuccessAlliance.com

We meet every 2 weeks on a Monday for three months. The April 2009 Success Alliance Mastermind Group meets as follows:

• April 6
• April 20
• May 4
• May 18
• June 1
• June 15

This group meets via teleconference calls from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM eastern.

To learn more about the upcoming mastermind group, visit my masterminding website:

http://www.TheSuccessAlliance.com

To apply for membership in this group, contact me via the above website and I will send you an application form. The application process helps me to make the “right fit” among the members in the group.

Application deadline: March 30; only four seats left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oENmXKKlCAI

I think SEO, along with email marketing, are two of the hottest and most quickly rewarding internet marketing techniques in 2009.

I saw a great article from Mashable today, 20 Best SEO Plugins for WordPress.

You often have full control over implementing SEO for your website, but if you have a WordPress blog, you’re left with the way WordPress “thinks” SEO should be done.

These plugins can help you revv up your SEO on your blog today!

Eighty-five percent of all websites are found through search engines.

Is your website getting the fullest traffic possible from the search engines?

In order to achieve high rankings on search engines, you need to know search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Join us for this one-hour teleclass where we’ll cover some of the most important things you can do as a business owner to improve your search rankings.

This non-techie class is for business owners to learn the basic principles of SEO and how to apply it to your site.

This free teleclass is held
April 7, 2009
1:00 – 2:00 PM eastern

Class will be recorded, so if you miss a session, registered participants will be able to download the audio recording of the live class and listen to it later.

To register for this class:

http://www.passionforbusiness.com/calendar.htm

A colleague of mine in one of my mastermind groups shared a great tip with us a few months ago: instead of writing a huge to-do list every day (and never completing all the tasks), focus on just three tasks a day.

I’ve been trying this technique now for about 2 months, and I’m happy to report it is a winner!

Truthfully, I don’t know “how” it works; I just know that it does. Each day I choose three tasks that I will complete. If I finish them, I can always do a fourth task.

For some reason, having only three tasks a day feels so much more empowering that I’m able to do them easily, without stress and overwhelm. My to-do list is dwindling and I’m moving forward in my business at a faster pace.

Try it and see if it works for you, too!

I saw a great blog post today that I think you’ll find helpful:

Social Media Marketing- The Top 20 Social Media Sites that Can Impact Your Traffic

How to have your best year ever (part 3 of 3) with Jim Rohn. The Day That Turns Your Life Around.

How to have your best year ever (part 2 of 3), with Jim Rohn

(I love this comment he makes, “Be willing to face the numbers…”)