5 Tips to Help You Identify WHO To Market To

If you have your own small business, it's important to decide exactly to who you will be marketing your products or services. After all, you probably don't have the time or the money to market to everyone. And even if you did, it is not recommended.

You'll want to select what is called a "target audience." This is an identifiable group of people you believe will be the best prospects for your business.

But for many small business owners, narrowing their focus to one primary group of people can be a challenging task. They want to help everyone — and very often their product or service CAN help a variety of people.

It also goes against human nature to narrow your focus in order to grow a business. Common sense seems to tell us if we want to grow our business big, we need to appeal to more people.

In reality, the opposite is true. When we narrow our focus to a particular group of people we become an expert in solving their particular problems. We get to know them very well and we can develop additional products and services to fill their needs.

So how do you decide who to market to?

Following are 5 tips:

1) Think about the type of people who can MOST benefit from what you have to offer.

2) Think about who you would most enjoy helping, or working with.

3. Think about the type of people who will be easiest to reach, AND who will be most receptive to what you are selling. These will be people who KNOW they have THE problem you can solve and are LOOKING for a solution.

4) Know that just because you select a particular group of people to focus your marketing on, does NOT mean you can't help others who may come to you. It only means you're going to focus your proactive marketing efforts on the target group you select.

5) Lastly, don't overthink it. Listen to your gut, pick a group you feel you can really help, and proceed with the development of your marketing plan. Marketing is a fluid process. The important thing is to start. You can always refine your audience and your plan later as you learn more.

Get Paid to Promote Your Business and Make Friends - Apsense

Here is an awesome and exciting community that has made me thousands. If you are like me I like joining communities that will help me make money and build friendships at the same time. The most important part is being able to sign up with no fee involved.

With Apsense, you can actually post ads, write blogs, review other businesses and services, and get paid. You can sign up to be someone's friend and others will request to be yours.

The best part is that everyone in this community helps out the other. So, if you have a business you are promoting send it to some of your friends or simply post a blog. Someone will definitely check out the website.

Here is how it worked for me, in 5 Easy Steps:

STEP 1 - I registered and set up my personal and business profile.

You can register here: http://www.apsense.com

STEP 2 - Then I explored and joined a few APSense interest groups, 

they have so many.

SETP 3 - Then I started writing some useful blogs and group 

discussions content pages.

SETP 4 - In these pages, APSense provides a special Ad Space where 

I posted advertisements for my current business.

SETP 5 - That was it! While I advertised my business, APSense 

was also paying me when people viewed my content pages.

But that's not all, they also paid me when the friends that 

I invited into my network to do the same thing that I'm doing.

Of course, this is one of the reasons why you should 

join my network at APSense.  APSense...

"The business social network that pays you while you make your

business grow." You can thank me later!

So go ahead and see for yourself.

Click Here

Good luck,
Charles

How to Be a Creative Entrepreneur

There’s a great line in Alice in Wonderland when the Queen says, “Sometimes I think of 6 impossible things before breakfast.” I think you’ll agree that this has to be creativity at its best! As a small business owner this is an ideal you really need to strive for … but how on earth can you open up your mind to get to the point where ideas just spill out?

Small business owners are expected to be creative and inventive, otherwise, how could they run their own firms? If you have a sneaky feeling that creativity is not one of your strong points what can you do to stimulate your brain and get it kicked-started?

Be Unlimited

Too many people are ‘limited thinkers’. They have their world placed squarely in a box and nothing can exist outside of that. If the newspaper reports something then it must be right. If Joe next door says that something is impossible then he must be right. As a small business owner, you cannot afford to be a ‘limited thinker’. You have to be an ‘unlimited thinker’. Get into the habit of seeing no boundaries; decide that there are no taboos. Have the belief that with a bit of focus you can find a creative solution to all of your problems. This is the foundation for a creative thought process.

Be Future-Focused

Creative ideas invariably come when you ‘look’ into the future. The feeling of propelling yourself forward and seeing the problem solved is a great motivator. Do you think you could achieve the same result if you were backward-focused? I don’t think so! Train yourself to be future-focused, always looking ahead, not a traditional thinker who tries to find answers in today’s world.

Be a Writer

Once you open your mind to the joys of creating the ideas will quickly start flowing, as if someone has opened the floodgates! Just like flood water, unless you catch it the ideas are lost forever. Capture all your ideas by carrying a small pocket notebook with you. As soon as an idea pops into your mind, write it down. It doesn’t matter how outlandish it is, you can look at it in the cold light of day later on.

The fact you are responding to the ideas by noting them will further encourage you to be even more creative – good deeds encourage more good deeds!

Be Clutter-Free

If you are naturally an untidy person, then get out of the habit! A cluttered office will lead to a cluttered mind. You cannot expect your brain to work efficiently when all it’s doing is constantly reminding you how untidy your office is. To be creative remove all the clutter from your life and free your mind.

Be Action-Oriented

All of these points are great, but if you don’t take any action with your ideas, then you may as well not have bothered. An idea is nothing but a thought unless you take a specific action to help bring it to life. Periodically review your notebook and see if there are any hidden gems or ideas which can be quickly actioned. A lot of your ideas may not suit you at all but in there somewhere is probably an idea, if acted upon, could change you or your business. Commit fully to moving forward on as many of your ideas as you can.

Don’t be afraid to break down the boundary walls. As John Stuart Mill said, “That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.”

Let me close with one question - can you be creative enough to be dismissed as a dreamer? No? Then get practicing!

How to Get the Most out of Your Next Conference

Success in your career depends upon how well you manage your professional development. A prime source of this development comes from being a member of a professional association that relates to your career. As a member, you can attend conferences where you advance your skills and meet people who can help you.

Some people, however, treat conferences as paid vacations. They party, they skip sessions, and they return home with little more than a stack of receipts. That costs them (or their business) money and contributes nothing to professional growth.

Here’s how to get the most out of your next conference.

1) Start With a Plan

First, make a list of your goals for attending the conference. For example, this could include the information that you want to gain, the relationships that you want to deepen, the people you want to meet, and the things that you want to buy. Also, make a list of questions that you want to have answered while you’re at the conference. This list will help you focus on your personal agenda during the conference and will maximize your chances of returning with something of value.

Then, scan through the program to select those sessions that will help you the most. These could be on topics that teach skills leading to a promotion, help open new opportunities at work, or answer important questions about your career. If many valuable sessions are scheduled at the same time, then select your first and second choices. You may find that one of the sessions has been canceled or filled out (sold out).

Highlight your top priority sessions so you can sign up or arrive early. These sessions generally have such great value that they justify attending the conference, and you want to make sure that you’re there when they start.

If your boss must approve attending a conference, use your plan to justify your request. Be sure to include explanations of how the information, relationships, and participation at the conference will enhance your value to your company. Wise leaders always support someone who relates a request to the benefits that come from it.

2) Work on the Plan

While at the conference keep your list of goals and questions in mind. Begin each day by checking your list and identifying those goals that you can achieve during that day. For example, some sessions may provide information that answers some of your questions.

At the end of the day review your list and check off those goals that you accomplished. If you discover new opportunities, then add them to your list of goals. And if you find yourself stuck on reaching a goal, seek out a senior member whom you can ask for advice on how to achieve it.

3) Meet People

Often the greatest benefit of attending a conference will be the relationships that you start while there. These relationships can become sources of information, friendship, and job opportunities.

Thus, make it a point to meet new people. Instead of spending all of your time with friends or colleagues, go off on your own. Join other people for meals. Sit next to them during the sessions. Start conversations while walking between sessions. And be sure to ask for a business card. Then you can add that person’s contact information to your contact database.

I encourage you to introduce yourself to the speakers. They were invited to speak at the conference because of their expertise in your profession. Thus, they can become valuable resources for information, assistance, and referrals. The best time to meet speakers is right after they finish their presentation. Introduce yourself, offer a brief compliment on the presentation, and ask for a business card. Of course, if you meet them again at the conference, use this as an opportunity to talk further.

4) Apply What You Gained

When you return home, set aside an hour or so to review the notes that you took while at the conference. You may want to schedule this on your calendar before you leave for the conference.

Review your notes, identifying the main ideas. Then convert each of these ideas into action on your list of things to do. Once you finish the list add a completion date and assign a priority. Recognize that this step converts everything that you learned, collected, and gained during the conference into tangible benefits for yourself and your company.

If you are an employee, I recommend writing a report for your management. Document the key ideas that you gained and describe how they can be applied to your work. If you’re independent, you may still want to write such a report for yourself because this formalizes what you gained from the conference.

5) Be Grateful

When you return home, write thank you notes to the people who helped you at the conference. This simple courtesy sets you apart as an exceptional person. I especially recommend writing notes to:

1) The leaders in the association. They worked hard to organize the event.
2) Members of the staff who helped you. These people can help you get the most out of your membership.
3) The speakers. This could start relationships with experts and celebrities in your profession.
4) New friends. This makes you memorable when you meet again at the next conference.

Use a conference to immerse yourself in society and the technology of your profession. And then apply what you gained to advance your career.

Work From Home Business - How To make Money online

There are so many reasons why I work from home; I would like to cover a few in detail. I started working from home because I’m going to college online and I wanted to make some extra money on the side. I didn’t realize my online home business would turn out to be as successful as it is. When I first thought about the idea of working from home six months ago; I just didn’t think it would turn into a full-time job. I now spend more time on my website than I do on my schoolwork. Don’t worry!! I’m still on schedule to graduate in July of ’06 with over a 3.0-grade point average in Human Resource Management. I just never thought how fun it would be to start a website and find ways to make it profitable; believe me, it hasn’t been easy. The best part about owning your own home business is the sense of pride and gratification you get from something you have created. A lot of us have and are still working at a job we can’t stand; we find ourselves not performing up to our capabilities for various reasons. Before I decided to go back to school almost two years ago; I was working as a car salesman for one of the most successful Honda dealerships on the East Coast. The money was fantastic but I didn’t like the atmosphere. I found myself coming to work every day thinking about other things; when you’re not focused on your job, your performance slips. Even if you’re a great employee, not having focus will drop you performance output just enough to make you unhappy. I left that job to go back to school and it was the best move I’ve ever made. While going to school online I sat around and decided to think of ways to make money online. I knew it could be done; I just didn’t know how hard it would be to find the right program. I researched quite a few programs and spent some money; let me rephrase that last statement; I wasted some money. There are so many home business scams out there promising whoever signs up with them will get rich overnight; well, there’s no such thing.

Another reason I work from home is the ability to learn from and meet new people; if you start your own home business; you better be prepared to work with others; the only way to make it in this business is by learning from those who are already successful. I’ve been in this business for only six months and I consider myself pretty good at this home business game; I say game because that’s the way you should treat it. For Pete’s sake, you’re working from home, you don’t have a boss who’s nagging you, and you make your own hours, it doesn’t get any better than that. You have to treat this like it’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to you; if you don’t, you’ll get burned out. Online home business strategies are changing consistently; if you don’t have fun with it, you’re in for a hurting. Don’t get upset if you have a bad month or get behind on your website maintenance; sometimes it’s good to take a break and get re-energized. This business is a marathon; no one makes it happen overnight. Like I said before; this is supposed to be fun. Once you find yourself losing interest; take a step back and regroup. The more fun you have the more you’ll want to work and learn. The more work and fun you put into your online business, the more successful you will be.

I mentioned before how important it’s to learn from others; I got lucky because I found a great mentor within three months of my online home business research. Erich Winnecke is one of the leaders in the field of Online Home Businesses. I let him know my school situation, and how I wanted to make some extra cash. Erich got back to me with some unbelievable ideas and how to accomplish them. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am today without his help. When trying to find a mentor be sure to remember these people are not here to do the work for you. They make a lot of money because they work hard and spend a lot of time making their websites more profitable. Just try to latch onto them and learn. They won’t do the work for you, but if you show them you are hungry, they will feed you the information you need to get started or improve your home business.

When starting your own home-based business be prepared to spend some time and money on your development. I said I started this business six months ago; in actuality, I’ve been on the hunt for about three months. It took me three months to learn and the last three months implementing what I had learned; oh yeah, I’m still learning new things every day. Once you become stagnant in this business, you’ll be in trouble. What might be working today might not work tomorrow. I started out working about 8 to 10 hours a week and now I’m putting in about 40 hours a week on my website and advertisements. I can usually put in 5 hours a day during the week; I would like to put in more but my internship and schoolwork come first. The weekends are when I really put the pedal to the medal. On the weekends I usually put in 8 hours a day on my home business; yeah, I sacrifice some social activities, but I didn’t start this to be average; I started my online home business so I could open more doors and have a bright future. The more you put in the more you’ll get out of this.

If you’re just starting a home business or are having trouble keeping one going, here are a few tips. Be sure to find a mentor, be prepared to spend at least $300 a month, put in at least 8 to 10 hours of work per week, read as much information as possible, and join a forum that has to do with what you’re trying to accomplish, exchange links with other high traffic websites, build up your rankings on major search engines like Google and Yahoo, write at least 20 articles a month and get them published, and like I said before; PLEASE HAVE SOME FUN!!! Oh yeah, I almost forgot; stay away from those scam artists out there; they’re still some of us truthful good people out there who are willing to help or listen to any ideas someone might have in order to better our businesses. I’m not a genius, I’m just someone who wants to be successful in whatever I do; if I can do it, you can do it!!

Home Business Solutions for Earning a Residual Income

Starting a home business is a huge step. Maybe you want to earn an extra income, or extra spending money, or begin supporting your entire family with a home business. Either way, there are many home business solutions to choose from, and also many different ways to make money online.

Earning a Residual Income with Home Business Solutions

One way to build wealth from home is to begin building a residual income from one or more home business sources. A residual income is a money you earn on a continual basis just from one customer or one sale. The more customers you obtain, the more ongoing income you'll have each month.

For example, you sign up with an online educational company that offers ongoing training. Students who sign on with this company pay a monthly fee. You earn a residual income each time the fees are paid for each student you sign up. The educational company receives new students, and you receive ongoing commissions. It's a win-win situation for both!

Another example of a residual income is when you sell Internet-related services that require a monthly or yearly payment, such as web hosting, domain name registration, Internet marketing services or custom web design services. These are only a few examples, but the Internet offers many "work from home" opportunities such as these where you can earn money month after month, year after year.

Finding the Right Home Business Solution

Now that you realize the potential of earning a residual income, it's time to find the right home business solution for you. Consider the amount of time, effort, and money you'll be able to invest in your new home business. How much time can you dedicate to working from home? Do you work a full-time job right now? Are you on a very tight budget?

A home business will not build itself, but there are companies that will help you build your home business and even provide a website with all the resources you need. Some will even "make the sale" for you. The only drawback is that many of these home business solutions require a monetary investment. So, be sure it's the right business for you before investing.

Use Web Resources for Research

Thankfully, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips with the Internet. You can take your time and research "work from home" opportunities right from your own home any time of the day.

Find a reputable home business directory to find profitable "work from home" solutions. There are directory websites that take special time and care to list only legitimate home business solutions so you won't have to sift through the good and the bad, and take unnecessary risks. Using a dependable directory will protect you from scams and keep your investment safe.

Warning: You should never sign on with a company and invest your money unless you've thoroughly checked out the company and its background and history. Be sure that you are dealing with a well-established company beforehand.

More Ideas for Earning a Residual Income

Here are some other possible home business solutions for earning a residual income. Choose a home business that you'll enjoy, and don't be afraid to try several at once. You might be surprised at the type of businesses that are successful online!

* MLM business.
* Internet marketing groups.
* Niche business start-ups.
* Working mom groups.
* Providing clerical services for others.
* Freelancing (writers, web designers, programmers, graphic designers, and so forth).
* Selling e-books on a variety of subjects.

Once you select one or a few of these ideas, evaluate the potential and your ability to achieve each. Determine if these will fit in with your time and budget. Find others in the same fields and ask for pointers on getting started. Other successful business owners are usually very happy to help. Also, research through search engines to find out how much income others are earning with the same or similar businesses. Once you've done the research, it's time to get started.

There are many opportunities for the stay-home mom or the dad who would like to be home with the family too! The home business solutions listed above can be applied to a variety of skills and talents you may possess. Unlock your earning potential today!