Marketing

  • 4 Tips to Help Make Sure Your Emails Don’t Get Sent to Spam

    4 Tips to Help Make Sure Your Emails Don’t Get Sent to SpamYou work hard to get people to opt-in to your mailing list.  Once you get them on your list the last thing you want is your emails to end up in the dreaded spam folder. Here are some tips to help make sure your emails get to where they need to be – in their inbox.

    1. Do not buy lists! Sure, we all want huge amounts of subscribers but it’s not worth your reputation to pay for those subscribers for a few different reasons. One, it’s not a targeted list of people. Out of say 1,000 people maybe a handful of them will actually be interested in what you have to offer. And two, these lists have the potential to get you blacklisted. How? If people don’t recognize you and mark it as spam or there are a bunch of bad (dead) emails that start bouncing back these are red flags and can quickly classify you as a spammer. When it comes to protecting your reputation and your mailing list, please stay away from lists of names you can purchase!

    2. Pay attention to the from field. When setting up your list(s), it’s important to pay special attention to the from field. You want to use your name or business name so that people will recognize you right away. As mentioned above, if someone doesn’t recognize the from name (and even the email address you use), it’s way too easy for them to mark your email spam.

    3. Clean up your lists regularly. It doesn’t take much, at least not in Aweber – the service I use and highly recommend – to go through and clean up your lists. What do I mean by cleaning up a list? Removing those subscribers that have been inactive for long periods of time or bad email addresses.

    4. Don’t use words that are considered spam. When writing your subject line, it’s imperative that you skip words that look like spam. One of the most obvious words is free (and that includes writing it like this: FREE. In fact, don’t ever use all capital letters period). If at all possible avoid using this word in your emails. But there’s also some other words that can send an email straight to the spam folder:

    • Sales
    • Satisfaction guaranteed
    • Click here
    • Act now
    • Risk free

    4 Tips to Help Make Sure Your Emails Don’t Get Sent to Spam

    These are just a few of the suggested spam words you should skip. Here’s  The Ultimate List of Email SPAM Trigger Words to check out.

    15 Day Email ChallengeNeed help with your email marketing. Check out our latest product. This challenge will take you by the hand and show you how create a winning list of subscribers.
    “The 15 Day Email Challenge”

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  • A Practical SEO Checklist

    Free search engine traffic is an amazing thing. It can grow your targeted traffic, bring you new subscribers and, best of all, increase your sales. But the thing is, you have to work at it. If you want to improve your search engine rankings, bookmark this practical SEO checklist to steadily grow traffic.

     

    For Your Off-Page SEO

     

    These are things that will affect your search engine rankings from outside of your web page. These are very important for growing the overall popularity of your site and make it easier for you to rank well for your chosen keyword phrases.

     

    • Create excellent content because it affects the following:

     SEO Checklist

      • How much your content is shared on social media…this provides important clues to search engines about the quality of your content.

     

      • How long a search engine user stays on your site. If searches on a search engine and finds your site, but clicks back right away, it will tell the search engine that you may not be very relevant for that phrase.

     

      • How often your content is linked to. If you have good stuff, people will link to it…but beware, search engines can detect quality links.

     

    • Ways to ensure you’ve got quality engaging content that attracts users and search engines:

     SEO Checklist

      • Each page should be on one unique topic.

     

      • Your navigation is clear and all your content is easily found by humans and search engines.

     

      • Use attention-getting headlines to grab your visitors’ attention and so they know they’re in the right place.

     

      • Make your content easy to read by using short sentences and paragraphs. Keep your words simple.

     

      • Break up your copy with subheads and bullet points, so viewers can scan it easily…instead of having them click away.  

     

      • Use images to draw the eye in and tell a story with your content. Humans are visual creatures and photos and other images can help retain their attention. If you need help with this check our free opt-in offer on the side bar.

     

      • Don’t forget to connect with other website owners in your niche. Friends tend to share the content of others, so this is just a win-win for all of you.

     

    For Your On-Page SEO

     

    In addition to the big overall picture of creating great content that makes its way around the web, there things you can do on each page you post to your website. Here is a list of quite a few things that can affect your rankings, but remember…don’t overdo it. Keep your optimization natural and make sure it makes sense. Otherwise you might alienate your visitors and search engines can sniff out attempts to game the system.

     

    • Some experts recommend you make sure your content is at least 300 words long. I would actually increase that to at least 500 words. People like meaty content.

     

    • Conduct keyword research to find a highly targeted phrase that gets decent traffic, but doesn’t have too much competition. Try a tool like WordTracker.com.

     SEO Checklist

     

    • Use your keyword phrase in the title of your post and in the title tag, but make sure it will be appealing to website visitors.

     

    • Use your keyword phrase in the description tag for your post. Make sure the description not only includes the keyword phrase, but is interesting enough to make people want to click.

     

    • Incorporate the keyword phrase into the URL of your page. For example: fun-family-vacations.html

     

    •  Add the keyword phrase and other useful description to your images with the use of ALT tags.

     

    • Employ the use of H2 and H3 tags. They make your content easier to scan and are also a good place to include your keyword phrase and variations of it.

     

    • Include the keyword phrase and variations of it in a few places in the body of your content. Try to include it in the first paragraph as well.

     

    • Show you are a hub of useful information and link out to a related page on another website.

    I hope you found this practical SEO checklist handy. Remember to keep track of your rankings and tweak things as you go along. Just remember, it can take a bit of time before search engines update their listings, so give your changes time to come into effect.

    If you found this checklist helpful please be sure to share it on your social media so that your friends can also benefit from this blog post.

    If you found it to be overwhelming get in touch with me. I’d be glad to help you http://my.vcita.com/d802bba6/scheduler.

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  • How to Make the Most of Your Website or Blog

    Chances are you’re putting a lot of time, energy, and effort into your blog or website. Are you getting the results that you want? Are you achieving your online business goals? If not, you may not be making the most of your website or blog.

    How to Make the Most of Your Website or Blog

    Test, Test, and Test Some More

    The best way to make the most of your website or blog is to test what works and what doesn’t. There are many different things you can test and ways to test. Test headlines, test calls to action and test different content formats. 

    For example, your audience may respond more energetically to video content than they do to print content. Or maybe they prefer reviews over “how to” articles. Testing is the only way to know what your audience is responding to. Once you know, then you can adapt your strategies and tactics. Split testing is often the easiest method to test.

    Analytics

    Analytics are almost a website or blog essential. They tell you who visits your site, how long they stay there and what pages they navigate to. Analytics can also tell you the organic keywords used, or the link used, to find your website. Google Analytics is a free tool that makes it easy to create an account and then literally cut and paste a piece of code into your site’s code. 

    Just cutting and pasting code isn’t enough, though. You need to also review the analytics and base your strategy and decisions on the information. For example, if you find out that the majority of your visitors come from the south then you might create more content, promotions, and offers that appeal to that region. 

    Facilitate Engagement

    How to Make the Most of Your Website or BlogIf you’re not encouraging participation, comments, and interaction then you’re missing out. Create systems and opportunities to connect and allow conversation. Blog commenting is a start. 

    However, the posts need to ask questions and motivate responses. Even more, you want to reply to comments in a thoughtful manner that motivates more comments and feedback. Plug-ins that create forums, chats, and social media participation are another means to facilitate engagement. 

    To make the most of your website or blog, you want to create a stronger connection with your audience and visitors. By testing, using analytics to track the results, and by creating opportunities for conversation, you’re able to take your site to the next level. It strengthens your relationships with your audience and helps increase traffic, opt-ins, as well as conversions and sales. 

    What have you found to be helpful in developing your web presence? Are you blogging? I have found that sharing my blog posts on my social media platforms works well for my business perhaps it might help you if you haven’t tried it.

    Confused on the best ways to approach your online marketing? We offer one-on-one coaching to help you with navigating the sometimes confusing options of online marketing. Contact us today! https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/coaching-consulting

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  • LinkedIn is a Great Source for Social Networking

    LinkedIn is a specialty social networking site. It’s much more specialized than the others due to the audience it attracts. LinkedIn is specifically for professionals. If you’re looking for a job then it’s a must. However, business owners looking to attract prospects and connect with industry professionals can also utilize LinkedIn in a productive and prosperous way. LinkedIn is a platform that has worked exceptionally well for me to reach my target audience. So let’s take a look at this platform a little closer.

    What Is LinkedIn?

    LinkedIn is a Great Source for Social Networking

    LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with 225 million members in over 200 countries. It’s a social networking site that offers professionals a number of benefits and features. It began in concept in the living room of the owner and was launched in 2003. Ten years later it is a thriving social networking site that can be used in a number of business building ways.

    The Many Features and Benefits of LinkedIn

    Company Pages – The first element of LinkedIn is that it allows business owners to create Company Pages. Unlike Profile Pages, Company Pages comes with analytics as well as an ability to share meaningful content and promote your business. If you have a business and are on LinkedIn I’d advise taking this extra step.

    LinkedIn groups – This feature may be one of the most beneficial because it allows you to join groups that are specific to your audience and your industry. Within a group you can connect with other professionals and prospects to build an audience. Groups support conversations, article posting, polling, and display group icons on your Profile Page to further enhance your connections. If you feel comfortable enough with LinkedIn you can start your own group. 

    Advertising – Like many social networking sites, LinkedIn offers advertising options for members. You can reach a targeted audience with ads that you can test and track for best results. 

    Marketing solutions – LinkedIn offers a professional membership that goes above and beyond the standard membership. You can then utilize features like their Marketing Solutions program that also lets you create specific messages for your audience through targeted content marketing.
    Integration – Finally, LinkedIn is a site that understands you want to make the most of your social networking efforts. You can integrate many social media management sites with your LinkedIn pages. Integration saves time and maximizes your results so you can write and schedule posts, manage comments, and monitor analytics from one place. However, being active in the conversations that occur in groups for instance is key to having success on LinkedIn.

    Creating Content for LinkedIn

    LinkedIn is a Great Source for Social Networking
    It’s important to remember that while you can integrate your social marketing efforts, LinkedIn has a unique audience. It often makes sense to create unique content for LinkedIn followers. They tend to be professionals and their needs may be different than your general audience.  
    People tend to trust the information they find on LinkedIn more than other sites. This simple fact can help you build tremendous authority and credibility in your niche. If you’re not using LinkedIn to grow your business or you’ve let your profile lag, consider giving this top rated social media site the attention it deserves. 

    Looking to create a brand on social media? We can help. Check out our social media products for more information.
    We make it easy.

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  • Tips for Using Social Media Marketing in Your Business

    Tips for Using Social Media Marketing in Your BusinessSocial media marketing is one of the most powerful tools business owners have access to. It allows you to connect with your audience. You can engage and build a community around your business. Business owners can also use it to learn more about their audience so they can better meet their needs.

    So let’s take a look what you should be considering when utilizing social media for your business.

     

    Identify Your Purpose and Goals

     

    Why are you using social media and what do you hope to accomplish? There are many different reasons to use social media. You may use it to sell products, to build your opt-in list, or to drive traffic to your landing page. Do you want to generate new leads or build relationships with your existing prospects and clients? Consider both your long-term and short-term goals.

     

    For example, if you want to build your opt-in list with social media marketing, how much do you want to achieve by the end of this month and what are your goals for the next three years? Setting the right goals for you and your business will help you create a social media marketing strategy that’s effective and productive.

     

    Identify Tactics to Support Your Goals

     

    There are different tactics to consider based on your business goals. For example, if you want to drive people to your opt-in page then you may want to hold a contest or sweepstakes that motivates people to sign up (be sure to check social media platform rules). You may also want to create a content marketing strategy specifically for social media that identifies you as an authority and promotes your opt-in offer. Once you’ve identified a tactic that works for your business, create an action plan and timeline.

     

    Identify Your Brand MessageTips for Using Social Media Marketing in Your Business

     

    What message do you want to convey on your social media page(s) and how do you want to communicate it? Keep in mind that your message and brand should support your other branding efforts. However, your approach can be different on social media.

     

    Finally, assess your resources and leverage technology. Identify the tools and technologies that can help you achieve your social media marketing goals. For example, there are services that automatically publish a link to your blog post on all of your social media accounts. There are also plug-ins that can be added to your website or blog that help visitors connect with you on social media. Take advantage of technology it will help you achieve your social media marketing goals and save you time and money.

    At Strategize Your Success we help our clients reach their goals with technology so that they can build a stronger and more profitable business. Contact us today if you need help with strategic planning, branding or technology. Also, check out our resources page for additional tips.

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  • Advertising and Social Media Marketing

    Advertising on Social Media

    Social media sites have been offering advertising programs for a while now. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn provide business owners with the means to promote and reach targeted audiences on their sites. The programs are becoming quite popular because of the results they’re able to deliver. Additionally, it’s a new way to reach your audience and may help you extend your advertising strategy beyond Google.

    Why Social Media Advertising Works

    In addition to the fact that millions of people access their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts on a daily basis, they’re also accessing the sites on their mobile phone. That means that as an advertiser on one or more of these sites, you’re getting in front of your audience on a fairly consistent basis and that is what we all want, right?

    Unlike other advertising mediums, it’s new so it grabs their attention. Some types of advertising can begin to lose their potency when users become accustomed to them. Their eyes barely glance at the ad before they move on. Social media advertising is still new and therefore it’s effective for many types of businesses whether it’s for your business or not as to be determined by experimenting with the different platforms. What works on LinkedIn may not work on Facebook or vice versa. So let’s talk about how you can target your ads.

    Targeted AdsAdvertising with Social Media

    One of the great things about social media is that it has the unique ability to market directly to highly targeted prospects. For example, Facebook makes the following statement, “While most online advertising provides about 38% targeting accuracy, Facebook, on average, delivers 89%. On Facebook, you’ll only pay to reach the right people who’ll love your business.”

    This is because Facebook and other social marketing sites allow you to segment your audience. You can create ads based on your prospect’s location, age and gender, interests, and connections. I have found this to be a great way to build our audience and our client’s audiences with the right prospects. For example, you can advertise specifically to people to have them join a Facebook event. In some cases you can also find people who are similar to your best customers and create ads specifically for them. 

    Social media advertising is also generally less expensive than many other advertising opportunities and tactics. You reach more people and get more response from those people. Social media advertising also provides analytics, whereas some advertising methods do not provide this and make advertising efforts a guessing game. 

    Without analytics, you just don’t know if your ad worked or not. With any type of advertising for an internet business, analytics are essential and a clear-cut way to identify which ads are working and how well. You stay in control over your budget and your results.

    If you have an advertising budget and strategy, consider adding social media marketing to that plan. You may be surprised at the results. It could change the way your business approaches advertising. Trying something new or shaking up your current ad campaigns can be a great way to expand your current client base.

    At Strategize Your Success we offer coaching and consulting for those needing help in devising a marketing plan or strategically planning your advertising on social media.
    Contact us today! 
    https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/coaching-consulting

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  • The Basics of Online Marketing

    The Basics of Online MarketingWant to grow your offline business, start a business, or market your services? Online marketing is the way to go. It helps you reach a broader audience, sell, connect, and much more. While internet marketing may seem complicated, once you understand the fundamentals you can build on that knowledge as your needs grow and change. Let’s take a look at the basics of online marketing.

     

    Your Website

     

    The foundation for your business online is a website. You must have an online presence these days to succeed on the internet. It only makes sense. Now your “website” can take several different forms. It can be a blog, a brochure site, or even a storefront.

    The type of website you build depends largely on your business model. There are a lot of options so if it becomes too overwhelming we suggest you get the advice from an online marketing coach or a company that does website design. You can also use the web to do research on your own but this method might take you longer.

     

    SEO – Search Engine Optimization

     

    Great, you have a website. Now what? Now you need people to visit your website and you accomplish that with what’s called “SEO.” It’s a strategy that embraces keywords and keyword phrases to attract the attention of the search engines, which in turn helps your prospects find you.  This is what all online businesses strive for. You want to be found on at least the first two pages on any web search. After that it’s difficult to get the attention of people doing the search for your specific keywords.

    The Basics of Online Marketing 

    For example, if someone wants to buy a new big screen television they might type “Big Screen Television Reviews” into their search engine of choice, Google for example. If you’ve optimized your site for that keyword phrase, they may find your site and stop by for a visit. If your site is built for conversion then you have a good chance at getting that person to stay and possibly purchase from you and not your competition.

     

    Email Marketing

     

    What does a visitor do once they’ve stopped by your website? How do you ensure you are able to connect with them, motivate them to visit again, or trigger a purchase? You get their email address. Then you have the ability to connect with them on a consistent basis and build a relationship, sell products or services, and provide value. There are different ways to gather email addresses. You might offer a free report or book that is delivered digitally. You might ask them to become a free member or to subscribe to your newsletter. We recommend using AWeber as an option. 

     

    Social Marketing

     

    The Basics of Online MarketingSocial marketing involves connecting with your prospects on social sites like a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest. The key is to provide value in the form of thoughtful commentary, information, and sometimes by entertaining. You build a relationship of trust and authority which in turn motivates visits to your website and/or purchases.

     

    All of these elements are tactics that can work effectively together. For example, you can promote your newsletter on your Facebook page. The key to making them all work well together is to create an online marketing strategy. Online marketing is a powerful way to build any type of business. Learn the fundamentals and thrive! 

    If you are looking for assistance with online marketing, social media or website development contact us today. We offer both coaching and consulting and our experience will save you time and money.

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  • Tools to Attract More Life into Your Online Business

    Tools to Attract More Life into Your Online BusinessBusinesses, like everything else, need a refresher once in a while. If you haven’t updated your business or added new features and benefits to your website, it may be time. Often simple steps can help you attract more life into your business.

    VideoTools to Attract More Life into Your Online Business

    The majority of business owners share an occasional video. However, by creating a video channel on YouTube or Vine you can reach a new audience and add some life to your business. You can even use short video messages on your sales and landing pages to welcome visitors and connect with them on a more personal level.

    If being in front of a camera is not your thing I understand consider taking a Power Point Presentation and make it into a video.

    Consider creating a video series and a channel to add some interest to your business.

    Membership Features

     

    Adding a membership feature to your business model and your website can help you build a community. Membership can be free and provide a number of different features and benefits.

    For example, you can use a membership to share more content or more product offers and promotions. You can use a membership to help your prospects and customers connect with each other, ask questions, and build relationships.

    You can also use it as a means to provide a little more value to those who take the time and energy to join. There are a number of plug-ins that you can use to add membership to your blog or website. On our resource page you can find a link to WordPress eMember but there is also Wishlist, Optimize Press and Member Mouse to mention a few. You will need to check out the features and cost to determine which is best for your situation.

    Tools to Attract More Life into Your Online BusinessMobile Applications

    More and more people are buying smart phones. As this trend grows, so too does the opportunity to market with mobile applications. Just about any business model can brainstorm an application that provides value and draws attention to their website and business.

    For example, a business coach might create a mobile app that helps business owners track their goals. A virtual assistant might create a ‘helpful tip of the day” application. A fitness blogger could create a fitness motivation tool. Check out this post from Mashable it lists a variety of platforms for building mobile apps.

    There’s no end to what you can create. It doesn’t have to be complicated to provide value. In fact, some of the most useful applications are the simplest. Take a look at your audience and consider how you might meet their needs with technology. You can sell the application or give it away for free and profit from the advertising. Additionally, you’ll build awareness for your business and attract more life into it.

    Content, Events and More

    Finally, you don’t have to take extreme measures to attract more life to your business. You can create a new content series, free report, or hold a webinar to build interest. Look to your audience first and evaluate how you can provide the most value and benefit.

    I hope these ideas helped you to think about ways to make changes in your online presence. If you have some other great ideas please share them in our blog comments.

    At Strategize Your Success we help our clients make change with a variety of services to simplify their online marketing.

    If you need tweaks to your WordPress site, graphic designs, more attractive handouts for your presentations or even a new look for your social media covers we can help. Check out our services!

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  • Even the Grinch Can Teach Us Something About Business

    Part II: What Holiday Movies Can Teach Us

    There’s Someone for Everyone

    So today we are looking at lesson two for business advice from a holiday movie, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This Dr. Seuss’ original book was made into a movie twice, once in 1966 and then again in 2000 with Jim Carrey.

    If you haven’t seen the 2000 version it’s pretty funny.  Here is an overview. So the Grinch (played Jim Carrie) hates Christmas and he hates the Whos (there is some history behind this). On the other side of this story we have the sweet and lovable residents of Whoville, who adore Christmas – but they have lost sight of the true meaning. So this Christmas, the Grinch, accompanied by his dog, Max, steal all their presents and decorations so he can get his revenge.

    [ez_youtube url=”http://youtu.be/Lxuqbh2tjTs” width=”540″ height=”260″ autoplay=”0″ autohide=”2″ controls=”1″]

    But there is a turn of events when the Grinch meets the sweet and innocent Cindy Lou Who, who truly likes him and tries to befriend him and the single Martha May Whovier, that the Grinch has a crush on. That’s when this story starts to get a little more complicated for the Grinch.

    In the movie, the Grinch pushes forwarded with his idea to stop Christmas and steals their presents and decorations. But nonetheless Whoville comes together as a community to celebrate the true meaning of the holiday resulting in the Grinch’s heart growing three times the size and he instead decides to save Christmas for the Whos. All ends well, with the community forgiving the Grinch.

    So many lessons to be learned here, one especially that I’d like to center on is, there’s really someone for everyone, especially in business. Face it, if the grumpy Grinch can capture the heart of the desirable Martha May and the forgiveness of the Whos, then there’s got to be a customer following  for you and your business. 

    Bear with me. Think about some of the products and services out there.  There are so many niche markets these days. People are selling Plankets for your plants and Duck Dynasty Chia Pets for gift giving. If they can make it, you can, too. 

    Even the Grinch Can Teach Us Something About Business

    You just need to be absolutely clear on who you are to your audience. Be decisive. If your business personality for instance is more “heart centered” then your followers will probably resonate with that if they are too. If on the other hand, your style is to the point and without fluff then so be it. The people who appreciate that type of interaction will appreciate you.  You just need to figure out your technique and style.  The clearer you are yourself the easier it becomes to build your “tribe”, as Seth Godin calls it.

    Don’t apologize for who you are. I’ve seen speakers say from the start of their presentation that they may not be for everyone. They are not apologizing but being honest by saying “this is me”. Your customers don’t want someone who is uncomfortable with themselves; they want to be led by someone who’s confident and embraces their uniqueness.

    So when the Grinch leaves Mt. Crumpet and his lonely existence he settles into the “real world” where he finds acceptance and love. You too need to be where the people are. Go find where your “ideal tribe”. If they are on social media be on social media if they are at a local chamber meeting, go and attend. 

    Also don’t let “authenticity” be an excuse for bad behavior. After all there’s a difference between being transparent and honest, and being unpleasant. Even at the end of the movie, the Grinch softens a bit – without losing his Grinch-ness.

    Remember, if the Grinch can find love and a tribe, you can, too.

    Stay tuned for next weeks, Part III installment of “What Holiday Movies Can Teach Us”.

    If you missed last week’s here is the link .

    Happy Holidays everyone!

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  • How Buddy the Elf Can Teach Us Enthusiasm

    Part I: What Holiday Movies Can Teach Us

    Enthusiasm Is Contagious

    This time of the year I love to sit and watch some of the classic holiday movies.  It’s part of my holiday tradition.  It made me think about how some of these movies relate to business. For instance, take a six-foot tall adopted elf named Buddy (played by Will Ferrell) who wants to find his birth father, make that father the grumpy James Caan, and throw them together in the midst of New York City and see what happens. Buddy wants a warm and cuddly family reunion; his father Walter wants nothing more than to make this newfound son disappear.

    [ez_youtube url=”http://youtu.be/fNMtHosai08″ width=”540″ height=”260″ autoplay=”0″ autohide=”2″ controls=”1″]

    Ah, but this is Christmas, so not only does Buddy convince his new family that syrup tastes good on everything; he also wins the heart of his stepmother, half-brother, and the skeptical Jovie, his new love. And yes, Walter eventually sees the light.

    So business owners, here’s your business lesson from Buddy the Elf: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” 

    So… what if you’re not Santa? Buddy would tell you it doesn’t matter. Enthusiasm is catchy. No one is going to be more excited about your business, your product, your podcast, your class, your blog than you are.

    Sometimes we feel a little hesitant to show our enthusiasm. It can be risky to show how much we care about something. But if we don’t show our passion, we’re not going to convince anyone else to follow or act on our recommendations.

    Think about the last time you went out to eat. If the server gave a bland endorsement for the daily special, you would likely pass on that option. But if she or he said, “I just tried it before my shift and it was delicious!” you’d be a little more likely to order it. Enthusiasm sells.

    How Buddy the Elf Can Teach Us Enthusiasm

    Here are a few tips on how to be like Buddy the Elf without sounding like a used car salesman (or an escapee from the North Pole):

    • Be honest. Don’t sell or promote something you don’t believe in. It never works – people can tell, and you’ll damage your reputation.
    • Be yourself. You may be the understated type who isn’t going to jump out of a helicopter like Richard Branson to promote your latest business venture. You don’t have to be! (One Richard Branson is enough for this world.) But do show your energy in a way that is natural for you.
    • Be realistic. If you promote every new thing that comes down the block, or have a new solution that you are putting out daily, pretty soon no one is going to listen to you because they will feel overwhelmed. So think like your ideal client and provide them with realistic promotions.

    And remember you don’t have to dress up in pointy shoes to get people to buy your new e-course. But hey… if the shoe fits… why not?

    Stay tuned for next week. Part II is coming.

    Happy holidays everyone!

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