BLAST Marketing

3 Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert

2010-01-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder how somebody becomes an expert? Is there a governing body with a magic wand that deems people as experts in their fields or is this something that the average business owner can do? These are questions that many business owners ask and the answer to all is that positioning yourself as an expert in your industry is much easier than most think.

By simply taking advantage of these three tips, you too can become an expert in your field.

Be Visible and Strut Your Stuff.

Experts are seen everywhere. They are master networkers and implementers and available to answer questions openly in their area of expertise. Be seen in social media forums and discussion boards, write articles, write a book and call into talk radio.

Strut Your Stuff by Educating Not Selling.

Experts have opinions, methods or a process that achieve results and they educate others. You can do this by providing classes, workshops, teleclass or guest lectures at your local universities or Chamber of Commerce. They never lead in for the sale, they understand that the business will come as a result of this action.

Use the Media to Get the Word Out.

Experts use PR as a valuable marketing strategy. They know how important it is to get their name and their personal brand out. They pitch to the media, get on talk radio, are guest on local and national TV programs and they are very visible outside of their space.

Once you successfully position yourself as an expert, you must follow the Rules of Engagement in order to sustain your image of an expert.

1. Experts are always “on” – They understand their reputation is on the line and that people depend upon and will act upon what they say. They own that responsibility.

2. Experts are busy – They are not hanging out on social media sites all day long. They are master implementers and time managers.

3. Experts are professional – They never talk down to people and position their opinions as an alternative point of view.

Master these simple three tips and abide by the rules of engagement every day and you too will become the expert in your field. With expert positioning, you are able to enhance your credibility, build trusting relationships with your target market and customers and attract new opportunities to you and your business. The goal isn’t to be seen as an expert once, but to build a reputation that lasts a lifetime.

Kellie D'Andrea , The Guru of Positioning, teaches small business how to attract and retain more customers. She is the creator of the BLAST Marketing System that teaches you how to position yourself and your business as the leading expert in your industry. To learn more and to sign up for her free 5 part mini course on becoming an empowered entrepreneur go to http://www.KellieDAndrea.com.

The $7 Report

2009-11-05T20:55:00.001-05:00

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9 Marketing Strategies to Blast Your Profits

2009-11-05T20:51:00.001-05:00

Every business owner, even the really successful ones have been guilty of making mistakes in their business. The difference between the truly successful ones and those that aren’t are that they learn from their mistakes and are not afraid to take the risks to deploy strategies to take their business to the next level. Here are nine strategies for you to start using in your business today.

1. Don’t Work Without A Plan You wouldn’t take a vacation without planning your days, activities and your budgets so why would you run your business without a plan. A solid marketing plan is the foundation to every successful business and if you want to achieve greatness, you must be thinking about how you are going to accomplish this each and every day.

2. Stay True to Your Mission and Be The Leader Every business has a brand identity. A reason they went into business and an impression that they want to leave with their customers. Do not sway from your mission. To be the leader in your market, you must be the first to try new things. Do not do what your competition is doing by mimicking their marketing and advertising. Stand apart from the masses and be unique.

3. Consistency is the KeyOnce you have a powerful message, shout it from the rooftops and shout it out often. Your message has to be repeated over and over again and in every communication the business sends out into the marketplace both internal and external – Your marketing material, your website, your employees and every client touch point should be screaming the same message every time.

4. Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up To really accelerate your business, you must build a business based upon referrals. To obtain referrals you must master the art of the follow up. You business will grow from your existing client base either engaging additional services or referring you to others. Keep in touch with them often.

5. Don’t Be A Super Hero Do not try to go at it alone. You are not a superhero and will eventually burn out quickly. Surround yourself with talented people and lead them to victory. You focus on what you do best and outsource other tasks to topic experts who can help advance your business.

6. Wow ‘Em The best activity you can focus on is to wow your customers. Create an experience that they will remember. The best customer experience is generated by the details. Those little things that make all the difference in the world and usually doesn’t cost the business owner much to do.

7. Leverage Your Systems From this point forward, you should be thinking about how you can leverage your business. Everything that you do should be able to support multiple efforts and activities. For example, if you are marketing, how can you use that same marketing in other venues. If you write an article, can you turn that content into other pieces like an ebook, a blog post or a white paper that you can give to your customers.

8. Network Every Day Business is built by the people you meet. Make a goal for yourself to network each and every day. A good system is to commit to reaching out to five new people a day to introduce yourself and to see how you can assist them with no expectation of a returned favor.

9. Build Alliances with Influencers Chances are there are other businesses that complement your offering. Align yourself with those other business owners and collaborate on how you can help each other’s business. This will give you an opportunity to reach a new market, offer new products and build your network within your industry.

Tips for Mastering Time Management

2009-11-03T18:33:00.000-05:00

A common mistake business owners make is not managing their use of time effectively. Entrepreneurs fall into the superhero syndrome very quickly and think that have enormous super powers to do everything themselves. They slowly begin to focus on tasks just because they need to get done or perhaps it is just easier to do it yourself rather than take the time to train someone. This is the time trap and needs to be avoided. There are only so many hours in a day and you need to focus your time on the task s that will yield the greatest result and outsource or delegate the tasks that don’t provide a large return.

It is all in the math. If your hourly rate is $ 150/hr and you are not a strong bookkeeper and it takes you 10 hours to keep your books it cost you $1,500 for that task. If you outsourced your bookkeeping to a professional at $ 25/hr , chances are it will only take them 5 hours since this is their specialty, and cost you only $ 125. A big difference. Not to mention the other benefit—You now have 10 additional hours to work “on” your business rather than “in” it. The strategic planning that will BLAST your business to new heights, that next great idea that will bring in a muti -million dollar client or that creative marketing message that will brand you in a class by yourself. Your time is one of your most valuable asset, protect it wisely. Many entrepreneurs struggle with this concept because often cash is tight and they believe they can save a few bucks by doing it themselves. Unfortunately, this has the exact opposite effect and can impede success. Although you may save a few dollars in the short fun and ended up successful in the end, the question you need to ask yourself is would you have gotten there quicker? Would your business have reached its goals many years earlier? A good exercise to begin is to start planning your time…. Business is all about planning.

Follow these tips:

Develop the main areas of your focus: Sales, Marketing , HR, Operations ect..

Write down your “to do” list (tasks) — this will be an active list that you will add to each day

Categorize your task into the main areas and consolidate for easy review and delegation

Prioritize the importance of the tasks on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being most important)

Identify task that can easily be outsourced with a check mark

Review your list and outsource and delegate everything with a checkmark

Outsource all administrative tasks, bookkeeping and marketing

Develop expectations and manage by exception. If your teams are hitting their goals, trust them to continue.

Remember that at least 35% of your time must be working ON your business.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?
You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST 9O Day Coaching Program and teaches biz owners how to build the business of their dreams for a life of freedom, profits and fulfillment. Interesting in growing your business, sign up for her FREE mini course “The Empowered Entrepreneur” and learn how to take the journey to freedom, profits and fulfillment at www.kelliedandrea

ABC’s of the Perfect Elevator Pitch

2009-11-03T18:29:00.001-05:00

One of the most important things a business owner can do is learn how to speak about their business to others. Being able to answer the “What do you do?” question and sum up the unique aspects of their business in a way that excites others to inquire more in a brief and concise manner. This is often called the elevator pitch for the intended time it takes you to ride an elevator. Can you answer the “what do you do?” question in 30 seconds or less and entice your audience to want to learn more? Sometimes going back to the basics is the best approach to learn a new technique. Just remember the ABC’s.

A. Audience Know your audience and the specific needs your product and/or service serve. You want to be able to drill down to your ideal customer (your niche) and be able to target their demands in your elevator pitch. Many business owners have no idea who their ideal customers are or how to drill down and target their demands, so one way to set you apart is to really understand your target audience.

B. Benefits What value or benefits are you bringing to your audience? Be concise and be specific. Many business owners are either too broad in this statement or confuse features with benefits. A benefit statement is always from the buyer’s point of view and what they receive from using your product or service. For example, increased profits by 22%, reduced risk, created 18% efficiency resulting in higher profits, etc.

C. Creative Offering Now, imagine searching for one exact fish in a very large pond and all you have is one “hook” to reel that fish in. Now next to your hook are thousands of other hooks that your competition has casted into the same pond. If you don’t know what will make that one fish bite on your hook, you will be landing your fish by luck rather than by skill. Being able to develop your marketing “hook”, specific to your fish, will require you to know exactly who your customer is and the benefits you bring to them. This will entice them to buy from you. Your creative offering should be why you are different. Many competitors are bringing the same benefits to your target market. So, why are you different?

You know your business better than anyone and you are the best suited to show your passion about what you do. Allow your passion to come through and speak from your heart. As long as you understand your audience, what specifically you do for them and in what unique way.

5 Proven Headline That Generate Response

2009-10-10T20:46:00.000-04:00

In the world of marketing, you have less than 3 seconds to grab the attention of the reader for them to take the next step towards your product. The same holds true in article marketing. A great headline can lead to sales success and a poor headline can lead to failure, therefore your headline is a critical.

Your headline is the first thing your readers will see, so make sure you make a great first impression by choosing a headline that is appealing and attractive to your potential readers. Visualize yourself standing in front of a magazine rack trying to select the right magazine to read. You first will go to your favorite name brands because you trust those sources and are familiar with them, but chances are you do not make the decision to purchase before checking out the headlines on the cover. Even after you review them, you glance at the other magaiznes and will gravitate towards the headlines that appeal to your interests at that very moment. Article marketing involves the same psychology. Even though you have subscribers to your articles, you need to entice them to click on your article to read further and your headline is the tool to do that.

There are several techniques out there, but here are 5 of my favorite (and proven) headlines:

1. The Question: “Does the recession have you worried for your future?”
The question appeals to your readers who are looking for answers and who isn’t looking for answers these days? Find out what your audience searches for and create an article that provides them the answer.

2. The How To: “How to improve your golf swing in 10 days”
These work very well because people love to learn new things. The criticle element in these types of headlines is to focus on the benefits your readers will achieve by learning your new techqniue, system or strategy.

3. The Command: “Social Media Explained”
Command headlines are a great way to attach to a current trend and can also be a wonderful way to position you as an expert. Look for your most important benefit of an emerging trend and turn into a commanding headline.

4. The List: “7 Early Warning Signs of Teenager Angst”
People love lists and they are the easist to write. Turn your headline into a list message so your readers know they are going to be given tips in an easily digested format.

5. The Testimonial: “Kellie D’Andrea BLAST Secrets- Our Sales Grew by 40%”
Testimonials are great because your clients create the message including the headline. People relate to others they feel are independent and objective and a testimonial is a great way to provide that proof and demonstrate your successes.

Once your readers know that you are offering valuable information that they are interested in, they will want to read further. Your headline is like the shinny wrapping paper and the big bow on a wonderful present. Dress it up and excite your readers to open the package and be rewarded by your wonderful gift.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the Build a Better Ezine System and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting in starting your own business, sign up for a FREE mini course “The Empowered Entrepreneur” and learn how not to make the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

3 Essential Elements to a Life of Fulfillment

2009-10-10T20:44:00.001-04:00

Leading a life of fulfillment may sound easier than it is to achieve, but the truth is that every person has within them, the abilities to live a life of purpose and fulfilment. We each know what makes us happy and what we need to do to find our right path but we are often overwhelmened with fear and social conditioning that our actions are immobilized and we find ourselves doing the same things we have always done or just doing enough to get buy. Each leading to the same result – a life of medocrity.

Although there are numerous recommendations out there to help you create a fulfilling life, I believe that there are three essential elements that must exist in everyone’s life in order to truly be happy.

1. Willingness to Explore New Opportunities
It is human nature to be curious and to want more – it is the American Dream. Open yourself up to new opportunities and watch your life change. Don’t be afraid to dance to your own music and to try new things. These are the experiences that make up life; embrace them and you will be one step further to fulfillment.

2. Trusting and Meaningful Relationships
As human beings, we have a natural instinct to be social and to connect with others. Those that are happy and fulfilled surround themselves with friends, family and associates whom they have a relationship with. These relationships can only be formed by creating an environment of trust and integrity; a give and take balance that generates mutual interest, empathy and understanding. Reach out to belong and connect with others to create a large circle of people who inspire you and you will be one step further to fulfillment.

3. Doing Work You Love
How many times do you find yourself miserable or making comments about hating your work? Than you are not doing the work you are meant to be doing. When you are working in a career that you love, you know! You are energized, inspired and excited each and every day and you eventually get to the point where calling it work just seems wrong. Take a moment to reflect on when the last time you felt good – were you doing a specific task? Was there something you really, really enjoyed? That is the work you should be doing. Find a career that uses those skills and makes you feel great and you will be one step further to fulfillment.

Leading a life of fulfillment requires commitment and focus towards improvement. It requires the courage to overcome fears and to challanege yourself to take action. It is an ongoing process that will be tested often but by surrounding yourself with people who you love and trust, experieincing new things and finding work that inspires you, you will be well on your way to your destination.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the 94 Day Challenge, a Goal Coaching System designed to hold you accountable for results. She also publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Learn about the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

BLAST Tool: Need an 800 number, check out Grasshopper

2009-09-23T21:14:00.000-04:00

All of you know that when I come across a great product, I will stand up and let everyone know about it. BLAST Tool #1 is Grasshopper. I personally use this service and came to learn about them when they were still GotVMail. For my Ice Cream Cake delivery service, I use Grasshopper to give my small business a professional edge with an automated phone system that I and all my employees can access at anytime and on anyphone. Here is their story.
Grasshopperbegan in 2003 as GotVMail Communications after identifying the need for an easy-to-use virtual phone system for entrepreneurs that would provide them with a solution to 800 numbers, multiple extensions, professional voice over and seamless execution without breaking the bank.

In, May 2009, they changed their name to Grasshopper. Why the change? Quite simply, the name “Grasshopper” evokes the power to propel forward. And that’s exactly what their service does for entrepreneurs like you: gives you the tools to propel your small business forward.
As small business owners, you most likely eat, sleep, and breathe your small business. That’s why Grasshopper went above and beyond to deliver the most powerful new tool for entrepreneurs – an upgraded virtual phone system.

Grasshopper lets entrepreneurs start and grow their small businesses anywhere, using any phone. With a virtual phone system from Grasshopper, callers can reach you wherever you are—on your cell, in the office, or at home. With Grasshopper, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to sound professional and stay connected.

Whether you’re a freelancer or a growing company with multiple employees, Grasshopper works for you. Create extensions for all of your employees, regardless of where they’re located. Forward calls, receive faxes by email, and get voicemails on your mobile device without installing a single app. Grasshopper puts the power of your virtual phone system right at your fingertips. With our easy online interface, you can set up your account, tag or search messages, and view calls by geographic location and more.

For only $49 a month, there's no reason not to get Grasshopper and get connected today. For special discount or to learn more, click here

Recession Escape Plan – 7 Strategies to Make the Recession Irrelevant

2009-09-23T21:11:00.000-04:00

According to Bill Glazer, of GKIC the number one mistake businesses make is that they assume everyone knows their business and knows them when the reality is, if you are not consistently in front of your customers and prospects – they won’t remember who you are or what you do! In today’s environment, competition is fierce and you want to deploy new strategies that will help you survive and thrive in this recession and beyond.

Here are Bill’s 7 strategies to move your business forward in these tough times and in future years. Give some of these a try and watch your business soar:

1. Sell to Someone Different
Expand your boundaries to sell to a new market. With the internet, it is easy to take your local business global. For example, a retailer can put a catalogue of their merchandise on line and now sell it globally. Look for other niches and choice multiple niches that offer you a quick way to more money.

2. Sell Differently
The industry has changed so change the way you are selling. In a recession, people are looking for it to be “okay” to spend money so figure out a way to make it okay. For example, an exclusive travel company in the past would never offer “try before you buy” packages because it wasn’t their business model. Now they do and because they made it okay to buy – their customers continue to purchase from them.

3. Sell Something Different
Take a look at your resources and see if there is something you can add to your product or service line. For example, can you create special packages, training classes or group tours? For example, a local restaurant now offers customer day trips and wine schools to add to their product line.

4. Create More Value
In a recession, it is more important than ever to create additional value for your customers. What can you add to your offering that would bring additional value to your customers? For example, I usually block out xx of days for my coaching clients and to add value, I have increased the number of days available to them. I also make myself available for quick chats and email question – all included in my normal fees.

5. Strategic Status
Be the expert, the authority, the specialist and the must have advisor to your customers. People want to work with the best and want to be associated with the best so maintain your positioning in your field and be at the top of your game. Integrity goes a long way in a recession and your customers will remember.

6. Association
Napoleon Hill introduced us to mastermind groups in his book “Think and Grow Rich”. The basic concept is that you are only as good as the people you know. You want to associate with those who will propel you forward, not hold you back. Take a look at your groups, vendors, employees and friends and decide who you should associate with in business, who will challenge you to grow.

7. Use Direct Response Marketing Systems
Direct marketing allows you to reach to your customers in a variety of different ways. Being outrageous is a proven technique that Bill teaches and his concept is on the premise that if doesn’t matter how much advertising and direct mail you do if it doesn’t get opened and read, it is worthless. People like outrageous because they are bored, overwhelmed, like to be amused and respond to something different. For example, In Bill Glazer’s book “Outrageous” – he talks about a postcard he sent out with a picture of him on a donkey with the headline “Who do you think is the biggest ass?

For additional examples, check out Bill’s book here and if you are interested in exploring these themes in your own business with a proven business coach, contact me at info@kelliedandrea.com.

Gain the Ultimate Edge by Working With a Business Coach

2009-09-04T06:33:00.003-04:00

As business around the world has become increasingly competitivethe demand for innovation, quicker service turnaround and compressed pricing models, has created an environment where business owners must be creative, develop new solutions and manage stressful transitions. They must remain focused on moving their business forward without eroding into their profits, keeping their customers happy and their employees motivated. This great demand for immediate results is a classic precursor to seeking a small business coach.

A small business coach is an independent and objective partner who provides one-on-one interaction, guidance and motivation to a business owner or executive who is looking for feedback and guidance on how to reach a desired goal. A coach is similar to having a partner who holds you accountable, keep you on track, and keep you progressing forward. Coaching is effective for business owners who know what they want to get done, are open to feedback and change but aren’t sure the path to take to get there. A small business coach will work with their clients to help them find the answers and offer them the support and motivation to take the necessary steps.

Some additional benefits of working with a strong business coach are as follows:

·Objective Point of View: One of the biggest benefits of working with a business coach is that they are independent and not linked to the organization; they are linked to only you and where you want to go. Sometimes those that are closest to you cannot provide a truly objective assessment of your situation and won’t be able to guide the business owner effectively. According to an ICF survey, 28% of those surveyed commented that an independent point of view was the most valuable result.

·Idea Sharing, Creativity and Brainstorming: Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage a coach’s knowledge and experience is exponentially better. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a coach who is focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a business coaching. 28% of those surveyed commented that brainstorming was the most valuable result.

· Sustained Improvement: Working with a business coach focuses around a goal or a series of goals that will provide a foundation for continuous improvement. A coach helps you leverage your strengths and to become more effective at process and communication improvements and holds you accountable for the results. According to an ICF survey, 15% of those surveyed commented that being accountable to the coach was the most valuable result.

· Motivation: A successful coach will be able to ignite the passion inside and to help you create the positive change necessary to move forward towards your goals. It is a motivational process that brings you through a series of discussions to help find that passion and focus. According to an ICF survey, 15% of those surveyed commented that an encouragement and motivation was the most valuable result.

Business coaching is one of the most effective ways of achieving growth, change and development in both people and organizations. It involves a process and a sounding board for decision making and helps give you more clarity and focus in your day to day operations. Lastly, it will improve your interpersonal skills and your ability to handle tension between business, family and personal needs. When a business owner feels like they are on an island by themselves, a business coach will motivate them to build the raft to get them to safety.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “BLAST 90 Day Coaching Program”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. For a limited time she is offering a FREE 5 part mini course on entrepreneurship offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

BLAST Marketing Tip # 2: Give Something Away

2009-09-04T06:27:00.002-04:00

Do you know the old saying “there is no such thing as a free lunch”, well the same holds true for marketing but in this case, you offer a free gift to entice people to your business in exchange for the opportunity to “Wow” them with your services. People love free stuff! Byoffering a small taste of what it is like to do business with you gratis, you are reducing any perceived risk that potential customer may have. It is sort of a “try before you buy” approach and Internet marketers and retailers have been doing this for years.

How many times have you seen a free e-book or video series in exchange for your email address? or How many times were you given a sample of the newest flavor at your local ice cream store in exchange for you trying their product?

In all of my businesses, both on line and off line, I often give away something to sweeten the pot. For example, in our Ice Cream Cake Business, we would give away free cake cutting knives and calendars – each with our logo, phone number and website address. In my Coaching Business, I give away a free 5 part mini series on starting your own business and a free report 23 mistakes entrepreneurs make.

People these days still remember the simple gestures. Next time your customer comes to you, throw in a little something extra and watch your revenue soar from referrals and repeat business!

Sometimes it takes a little Faith

2009-08-25T18:13:00.001-04:00

Most times when the word faith is used, people immediately go to religion and often assume it has nothing to do with business. Yet faith is defined as an inner attitude, conviction or trust related to a higher power. In Christian theology, faith is the divinely inspired human response to God, so in contrast couldn’t faith in business be the trust and inspired response in yourself, your people and your process?

I can hear John Hiatt’s song “Have a little faith” playing in my head “When the road is dark and you can no longer see, let my love throw a spark and have a little faith in me”. To me, faith is believing in something without having empirical evidence. It is taking a leap, a risk and feeling confident that you won’t fall or if you fall, you can get right back up. It is a powerful tool in business because if you believe in everything that you have built including your people, process, products and even your customers, your business will soar without you touching and being involved in every single aspect of your business.

But having faith requires hard work and true commitment since it will be tested frequently and in the most trying of times. It will be tested when our perfect plans don’t end up being perfect, when our well rehearsed presentation don’t go well, when our workshops and teleseminars only have a few attendees or when we are having trouble converting our leads to sales. It is very easy to get distracted and start to believe the worst, but that is where faith comes in.
True faith exist in the face of adversity and is real when everything on the surface is pointing you down the path of least resistance and preparing you to give up on your dream. It is the one thing that holds you together when you have to leave your business to attend to other matters and it is one of the biggest drivers to keeping you motivated and on the path to your dreams.
So how do you hold on to your faith to forge ahead and drive your results?

Here are some tips:

1) Know that your faith will be tested over and over again. To have true belief in something, you must not waiver and must hold on to that truth. For example, if you really believe that your product will revolutionize the market but you are having trouble with investors and manufacturers, keep the faith in your product and yourself and you will find the solution.

2) Be clear about what you want. When you become uncertain and lose your faith, doubt moves in and as a negative emotion can take over your world. Remain focused on your goal and on your objectives and stake claim to what you want. The universe has a way of helping you reach your goals, you just need to be able to identify what it is you want and be specific.

3) Surround yourself with positive influences. In times of adversity or when you start to feel that doubt and uncertainty is testing your faith, reach out to your support group and allow their faith to re –energize yours. Be honest and open and allow these individuals to be your guides, advocates and strength. These are your dream champions and will carry you all the way to your goal.

4) Accept failure as part of growth. Failure is inevitable and every successful person has failed one time or another. It is part of the process of growing and enriching our lives. Learn to accept failure and treat it as a learning experience and an opportunity to improve.

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Boost Your Business with Power Presentations System”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. For a limited time she is offering a FREE 5 part mini course on entrepreneurship offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

BLAST Marketing Tip # 1: Know Your Target Market

2009-08-22T20:42:00.000-04:00

Nothing is more important than knowing your target market. By knowing your target market you are able to drill down and offer solutions specific for their demands. The more you can drill down and create a niche, the more successful your marketing messages. For example, if you say your target market is women, you are not drilling down specifically enough, but if you say my target market is women who operate a small business out of their home, you are more targeted. You can even go down one layer further – women who operate a small coaching business out of their home. The more specific you can get, the better.

Knowing your target market allows you to have a laser focus on your customer and provides you an opportunity to sell directly to them rather than to large groups. Imagine searching for one exact fish in a very large pond and all you have is one “hook” to reel that fish in. Now next to your hook are thousands of other hooks that your competition has casted into the same pond. If you don’t know what will make that one fish bite on your hook, you will be landing your fish by luck rather than by skill. Most certainly over a longer period of time. Being able to develop your marketing “hook”, specific to your fish will require you to know exactly who you customer or fish is and entice them to buy from you.

Kellie D'Andrea & Associates - Our Brand. Our Mission

2009-08-14T17:24:00.002-04:00

Kellie D’Andrea & Associates helps motivated entrepreneurs, professionals and businesses transform to new levels of performance and results by mastering the “emotional"side of business – communication, marketing, & team performance. Kellie D’Andrea, owner and C.E.O (Chief Emotions Officer) provides simple and practical ways to attract more prosperity with techniques designed to master communication, achieve goals and create a culture of accountability and results.

An example is a client that I helped reposition the business as a leading industry expert. Like most business owners, the company failed to have its’ own identity and connection in the marketplace. The entire business brand was centered around the personal involvement of the owners who were looking to start removing themselves from the day to day operations of the business. We successfully launched a complete communication and branding strategy that not only repositioned the company as a market leader, resulted in the company increasing its revenues by 32% that year and being invited to bid on opportunities that it never would have in the past. That company still uses my services and now we are working on developing high performance teams and a professional development program that enhances employee retention. We were able to work together to create and execute a branding strategy and develop a human resource plan that will continue to support the brand message and build the business. Now they are on their way towards increasing their market share even more!

Additionally since I am passionate about development, I have created a mentor program that teams like-minded individuals together to create mini mastermind groups. This personalized coaching has helped not only these business owners, but all of their employees begin the journey to reaching their personal and professional goals.

Dream It - Build It - Share It

The Proof in the 5 ‘P's’ Method to Positioning.

2009-08-14T17:09:00.001-04:00

One of the strongest marketing tools you have is your customers so why not use them to help get your message out and help build your business. A strong testimonial will allow you to instantaneously enhance your credibility, differentiate yourself and improve your close rate.
A testimony is a written or verbal statement about a customer experience that person has had by working with you or your product. To really be impactful they must be prepared in a way that prospective customers can relate to. Buyers make decisions based upon an emotional connection and being able to identify with someone’s situation and desire for the same result, will improve your conversion rate significantly. A well prepared client testimonial can make the difference between a successful sale and lost opportunity.

A successful testimonial should consist of the following attributes:

· Situation analysis - what were the challenges being faced and what brought them to the need to seek out a solution?

· Solution – what was the solution they decided on and why? What was different about what you were offering compared to your competitors?

· Outcome – What was the result or outcome? The more specific this statement can be, the more impactful the testimonial.

Very often you will see testimonials that consists of intangible statements “Company ABC was a pleasure to work with” or “Company ABC has great service delivery”. These types of statements may be nice to hear but are not effective in the process. The strongest testimonials include the three statements above, for example:

“I have been struggling with a way to reduce my advertising spending for years and bought the “Build a Better Ezine System” and have reduced my spending by 50%”

See how much more impactful example 2 is compared to the “feel good” testimonial.

Testimonials can be found in a number of different forms:

· Statements on website, sales pages and landing pages.
· Whitepapers
· Case studies
· Letters of recommendations
· Verbal recommendations
· Video testimonials

No matter what the form, if the structure includes the three elements above, you testimonial will be successful in enhancing your credibility, setting yourself apart from your competition and increasing your conversion rate.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Build a Better Ezine System” and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting in starting a business, grab FREE 5 part mini course offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

What is List Building?

2009-08-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

There is so much talk these days about list building it may be difficult to translate what exactly is list building and how it could benefit your business. In today’s marketing environment, having a list of clients and prospect is important to every business and should be an integral part of any marketing strategy, especially those who want to use online marketing efforts. But how many people really understand what is meant by a “list” in online marketing terms? And what is list building? A simple yet accurate definition would be that list building is a process of developing a database of like minded people online who would be interested in the kind of products or services that your business offers. In other words, your list is your first and main market where you can hope to achieve the most success in selling.

The premise behind list building is that you have more than one opportunity to sell to a potential customer because they have given you permission to do so by opting in to receive your ongoing communications.

Once you have a person on your list, you can keep sending them information on your products and services and continue to educate them on your specials and discounts that you may be offering from time to time. The more frequently a person is exposed to information about your site and the products available there, the more familiar your business will appear to them, although perhaps only subconsciously, the more inclined they will be to buy from you when they need what you are offering.

Research has shown that less than 2% of people buy anything from an online business the first time they come across it. Do not let this figure depress you. In fact it is a positive. More people are buying more goods and services online everyday and online businesses are the least affected by the economic slow-down and recession. So, if more is being sold online each day, but less than 2% of the sales are made on the first contact, that means that subsequent contact and long terms relationships are where the money lies for the online business. So, the critical factor to getting your business profitable is to be able to gain the trust of complete strangers who will never meet you. It is not as tough as it sounds. If you have a list and keep sending information to the people on it– a new product development, a special price, a contest or some tidbits about you and your life - they will become familiar with you and will begin to trust you. Soon your name will be associated with the product they are interested in and they will eventually buy from you when the need arises.

The goal is to provide valuable content to your list. If you continue to market and sell them, chances are they will ask to be removed from your list. People seek out information, tips and strategies that will help them improve their lives and if you can be that conduit and continue to educate and be a valuable resource, your list will continue to grow.
Be prepared to start small, a list will not grow overnight. As in any relationship, it will need time to develop. And remember the more valuable information you can provide to your targeted list the more effectively you will be able to continue to grow your list and eventually sell your products and services.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates
Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

4 Proven Benefits of Successful Joint Ventures

2009-08-12T17:48:00.000-04:00

In today’s economy and competitive environment successful businesses are reaping the benefits of one of the oldest strategies – partnering. On line marketers have been using this strategy for years to catapult their sales to unbelievable heights and now, Joint Ventures are making a comeback in the bricks and mortar world of business.

A joint venture is when two or more business, individuals or projects come together to co‐market an opportunity, project or product to each other’s client list and new prospects. It allows you to leverage the relationships and goodwill already established by your partner to the benefit of both parties. So in layman terms, a joint venture is when you join forces with another business to make some money!

With joint ventures, you want to identify people who are selling into your target market with a non competitive product or service but who are working deals with the same individuals who make the decisions on your products or services. Develop a proposal that is mutually beneficial for both parties and a marketing strategy and hit the road with your co-branded offer.

Did you ever hear the old saying “you are only as good as the people you know”. This holds true for forming successful joint venture partnerships. People want to surround themselves with successful, positive and magnetic people and businesses with a strong brand so it is critical to align with a business with comparable values and goals.

Although this one of the quickest way to enhance your market presence and boost your profits, there are many other benefits to forming a partnership with another business in your space.

Benefit # 1: New Client Acquisition

Joint ventures are a great way to acquire new leads and new clients at no additional cost. By having new subscribers, you are able to continuing building a relationship with these people and even if they don’t buy from you right away, chances are they will eventually. Not a bad way to build a prospecting list without incurring any fees. Some new online marketers may benefit greatly from giving away all profits from their first joint venture just to build their list for future opportunities.

Benefit # 2: Enhanced Credibility

You gain instant rockstar status and enhanced credibility. One of the keys to an effective partnership is selecting the right partner. If you joint venture partner is reputable, trustworthy and has already established a great following, their followers will trust you based upon that recommendation. This is why your “list” is sacred. Do not partner with just anyone, make sure you select someone who is worthy of your list and make sure that you are worthy of theirs.

Benefit #3: Increase Breadth of Services

Joint ventures are a great way to offer your clients and prospects additional products. By jointly co‐branding a product, you and your partner are able to bring new solutions to your current client list increasing your breadth of services you offer. The more solutions you can bring to your customers, the more valuable you are to your customers.

Benefit #4: Improved Conversion Rate

You will enhance your conversion rate. One of the goals when you get your list is to convert those prospects into buying customers. With a joint venture partner, you will increase your conversion rate. Your joint venture partner will be endorsing you and your product and by that testimony alone, will convert more of their leads into sales in their own list. Since they already have an established relationship, their subscribers trust their endorsements and you can leverage that trust by offering a high quality product that will benefit the joint venture partner’s subscriber list.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Build a Better Ezine System”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Learn how to become the empowered entrepreneur with a FREE 5 part mini course offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

“Positioning – Marketing’s Fifth “P”

2009-08-12T17:45:00.002-04:00

Every marketer, business student and entrepreneur has been taught the 4 “P’s’ of classic marketing – Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place as the marketing mix model designed to be used by business to define their marketing strategy. The marketing mix has been around since the beginning of time and used as a tool to identify customer’s wants and needs and how to address the competitive landscape. But what about the 5th “P” in the marketing mix – Positioning?

Positioning is the bridge that connects the other 4 “P’s” together around a central theme and creates the brand equity that is so critical to the success and growth of any business and therefore the most important component to the marketing mix. Many companies approach their client base with a “one size – fits all” approach to their product or service but in today’s environment, this approach will not work. Each customer that you service in your business is unique and has different wants and different needs. Although your product may cover a wide range of attributes that may service the majority of those customers, a successful marketer knows how to use positioning as tool to customize a solution for all. Here are 5 things that you need to position to be successful:

1) Yourself – business is based upon relationships and people want to work with credible individuals, not big corporate entities. Use personal branding techniques to position yourself as an expert in your field with credibility and integrity, will yield increased sales. People will buy from people they trust.

2) Audience: your customers need to understand if they are in the right place and that there is a fit for your product and services. Skillful marketers can position the audience so they belong to target market and community and customized marketing messages specific to their needs and wants.

3) Brand: creating an image or perception in the minds of your customers is one of the most powerful positioning techniques. A brand position permeates through an entire organization and is supported each and every time a customer interacts with your organization.

4) Product: refers to what the customer thinks about your product – for example; lowest price, highest quality best service, easy access ect, when they are making a purchase decision. Your product position will directly connect to your value proposition and how you differentiate yourself from your competition.

5) Offer: refers to your approach to the sales process. Successful offers focus on the outcome your client will receive not the service or product offering. Your offer should be a combination of what outcome (benefits) your customer can expect and the way (feature) they will receive your product.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Secrets to a Fulfilling Life

2009-08-04T20:58:00.002-04:00

A fulfilling life is one of meaning, purpose and balance and the one thing that everybody strives for each and every day. It is living your life and enjoying every moment to the best of your ability and finding the happiness that is all around you. It is not only about materialistic things either. Those things can give the impression of a happy life but often you will find, that with no one to share it with and experiences to remember, all the money, cars and homes will not bring do we want it, it is how do we achieve it? The secrets are as follows:

Secret #1 – An Optimistic Outlook

Optimism is a wonderful ingredient to a fulfilled life. Take a look at the good in each thing you see, hear and experience and you will immediately be given rewards in return. This isn’t always easy, but if you practice each and every day starting with the little things, it will eventually become a part of your life and remember to start with being grateful for what you already have.

Secret #2 – A Goal and Purpose in Life

Have a purpose in life and working towards that purpose is the secret to a happy life. We as human beings are programmed to set goals and using that skill to define our life purpose will put you on the road to a fulfilled life. If you examined some of the most successful people in the world, they would tell you that they know what they want, they know the price to pay for it and they make a habit at setting goals daily. Without goals you float thru life but with goals, you soar
thru the air like an arrow with focus, power and heading straight towards your target.

Secret #3 – Take Charge of Your Life

You cannot change the past so take charge of your life and change your future. You have the power to master your own fate and orientate your life towards as positive and purposeful future. You just have to decide to do so. Stop blaming other for your problems and work towards freeing yourself of negative emotions: fear, self pity, shame and anger. The more responsibility you take for yourself and your actions, the more in charge of your life you will be.

Secret #4 – Live each day as it was your last

We operate 96% of our lives on autopilot. Doing the same actions we have done each day before. The secret to a fulfilled life is breaking out of those habits and finding opportunities to
experience life everyday. When you expand your universe and venture out to other places, you open up the possibility for new experiences and new adventures. You cannot create new
experiences sitting around waiting for something to happen. You need to change your environment in order to change your results. If you continue to do the same thing, each day in the same manner, you will always get the same results. Remove the routine of your life and try something new.

Secret #5 – Experiences in the 9 critical areas

The old Chinese masters identified 9 areas in your life that need to be tended to and nurtured in order to live a healthy, happy and prosperous life, they are as follows:

*Career, Life Mission and Individuality
*Marriage, Relationships and Partnerships
*Health, Family and Community
*Wealth, Prosperity and Self Worth
*Center of Good Fortune and Gratitude
*Spirituality, Helpful People and Travel
*Children, Creativity and Entertainment
*Wisdom, Self Knowledge and Calm
*Fame, Reputation and Social Life

Those that are fulfilled have addressed their needs in all of these areas. There is no defined formula or one size fits all approach to finding balance, those that are fulfilled have more positive experiences in many areas of their life rather than just focus on only one.

Secret # 6 – Good Health

Your body is your temple and to live a fulfilled, you must experience good health so be sure to take care of yourself with proper diet, exercise and personal development. Taken care of yourself will energize you to take the necessary actions to reach all of your goals. You want to make sure you are feeding your body and feeding your mind each and every day to remain sharp, focused and motivated.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

5 Critical Components to a Successful Marketing Plan

2009-07-29T20:36:00.000-04:00

Businesses that are successful usually have a marketing plan and most would tell you that while executing the plan has its challenges, developing the plan and deciding what to do and how to do it was the longest part of the process. Your marketing plan should be a clear, concise, and a well thought out document that guides you through your marketing activities starting with your overall objective and how you intend to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or services, is off line or on line, your marketing plan is essential to your success but must focus on five critical components to be a success.

I. Position your product

In the BLAST marketing system, positioning is the most critical element to consider when putting together your marketing plan. It involves creating the image and identity in the minds of your customers each time they experience your product and building the infrastructure around it to support it. In product positioning, there are two basic focuses: Offering what the customer wants with the most profitable market opportunity and taken actions to differentiate product from that of their competition in such a way that customers will develop a preference for your product over the competition. When you put the right product at the right price and in front of the right customer, you have mastered positioning. The goal of any marketing plan is to create a strategy that will boost your profits including a persuasive message targeted towards your customer and a promise that your product actually delivers – this statement will become your brand promise.

For example:

Fed Ex, “When it simply has to get there overnight”

Domino’s Pizza “Pizza in 30 minutes or less”

II. Tap into your mastermind group

Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage other people’s information is exponentially better. To help define your marketing plan, tap into your brain trust for ideas, market and competitive perspectives. In a mastermind group, each group member will come with different experiences, perspectives and ideas that will most likely be your next big money making idea. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a group of people all focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a mastermind group. The powerful result of a mastermind group is that there is a synergy of energy, excitement and idea sharing that partipants bring to the group therefore raising the bar by challenging and encouraging other members to create and implement their goals.

III. Listen to your customers

The best way to find out what is in your customer’s head is to simply ask them. Whether you new business or an established one, understanding your target market is an important element to your marketing plan. It is important to get your customer’s perspective to your product, its price, quality and anything else that influences their purchasing decision. Try handing out samples, conducting surveys or test marketing your product. The information that you get back will be invaluable and well worth the investment of offering a few free samples. The feedback that you will get from your customers or potential customers will help you evaluate the integrity of your product, its ability to support your brand promise, the pricing model and its quality. Even if you are new, test your product in your target market by conducting what is called market test to see how your product will be received. This is a great way to introduce you, get valuable feedback and testimonials for your product launch.

IV. Create a simple plan

Now that you have given some thought to what you want your product to represent, identify your target market and tested your product to see what works and what doesn’t, it is now to sit down and draft your marketing plan. So many business owners get stuck at this point either thinking they don’t need a plan or are intimidated about creating one. Every business, both small and large, will benefit greatly from a well thought out planning process and a key component to every success business is a good marketing plan that answers the basic questions: who, what, why, where, when an how much. Creating a marketing plan is critical component to on-going success and is not something that should be ignored. This plan does not have to be comprehensive.

It can be a simple plan that addresses the following:
· Your overall market
· Your specific niche
· Your target audience within your niche
· Your brand promise
· Your competition
· Your benefits and competitive differences
· Your pricing model
· Your marketing budget
· Your marketing activities
· Your marketing calendar of events
· Your success measures

V. Track results

A successful marketing plan is tracked and measured. In order to measure your performance and determine if your plan is successful, you must identify how you will be measuring the success of your plan. Some examples: Return on investment (how much did I spend vs. how much I got back; Returned coupons, web hits, open clicks, Increased calls? How will you define a successful marketing activity? What is the result you are looking for?

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Oh My!

2009-07-24T07:45:00.002-04:00

Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”, “Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”.
These days, I imagine if Dorothy was lost in the internet jungle that is what she would be saying
as she skipped down the yellow brick road trying to figure out social networking sites.

Similar to a cocktail party or event, social networking is the act of meeting and engaging with people with one slight difference, it is in a virtual environment. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Friend Finder, You Tube and much, much more, exist to create an environment for individuals who share a common interest to meet and discuss those interests. It also provides an environment to share information, photos and news as it is happening. From a business perspective, it provides a new media to engage customers, monitor customer feedback and provide a centralized online meeting area to engage and market too all at once. Social media and networking sites are not a fad and will eventually be a integral part of business, customer service, marketing and sales and if you are not involved in it now, you need to get started right away! Here are some tips to getting started with social networking.

1. Get Started: The best way to get started is to simply sign up and follow along.

a. If you are joining Twitter – select a few people to follow and watch what is being said, who is following who and when you are comfortable, join in the conversation. To help you get started, follow me www.twitter.com/keldandrea.

b. For Facebook, sign up and look for “friends”. Chances are there are tons of people you know and Facebook will help you find them and begin making connections on your behalf. The great thing is, you get the option to accept a friend invitation or you can just ignore it and nobody will know. To help get you started on Facebook, send me a friend request www.facebook.com/kellie.dandrea.

c. For Linked In, sign up and “connect” with business associates, family and friends by sending an invitation to connect. Since this is a professional networking site, you will keep your tone and your messages professional. Search for business associates and send them an invitation to connect. Connect with me www.linkedin.com/in/kdandrea.

2. Write a great profile and include a picture: Social networking is about connecting and networking. Make sure you include you picture and write a powerful profile. Each social networking site has its own requirement for how much you can write, so write as much as you can and make it interesting. Include items that people can relate to and so that people can engage with you in conversation, but be cautious. Same rules apply when meeting strangers, don’t disclose too much personal information and always use your common sense.

3. Get involved. If you sit in the corner at a party and do not speak to anyone, you’re not networking. Most of these sites center around one theme “What are you doing now” and depending upon the site, you have limited number of characters to include in a text message to answer that question. Comment on other people’s thoughts, messages and ideas. Ask a question and see what answers you get back. Look at the photos, the web links and the blog posts that people are pointing too and provide your feedback. Join groups and participate in Q & A forums.

4. Make the Time Commitment. Networking and relationships are built over time, so you will need to make a commitment to invest in growing your network. This is not something you can do seldom and requires a level of commitment to truly maximize the results, but beware, social media is addictive and can take all your time if you let it. Schedule a few hours a day in intervals to participate.

5. Post Often and Frequently. How often should I post? This is a question that I get asked often and my answer is, all depends. On Twitter, it is expected that you send short messages about what you are doing a few times a day, but that is not the same expectation for Facebook and LinkedIn. I usually post a few times a week on Facebook and on Linked In. I post to Question & Answer forums frequently and I always supply comments and feedback to people I am connected with on all sites.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Add More of You to Your Content

2009-07-10T19:18:00.002-04:00

By now you are probably familiar with email marketing and may even be familiar with an
ezine (pronounced e –zeen from the root electronic or e – magazine), and may even be
using these marketing techniques in your business already. Some marketers may tell you that ezines are dead, a thing of the past. I would tell you that ezines are one of the most cost effective and strategic marketing techniques out on the market today.

So why aren’t more entrepreneurs grabbing onto to this wonderful idea and running with. Most likely, because of the fear that they need technical expertise or will need to hire a graphic designer not to mention a lawyer to understand SPAM laws. With all that, online marketing and ezine publishing may appear that it is going to cost you a lot of money so why bother?

Because you do not need technical expertise, a graphic designer or a lawyer specifically to manage SPAM not to mention the most important reason why – your competitors? Right now, many of your competitors are setting up an online marketing system or are thinking about it. Here is your opportunity to beat them to the punch, own your market and reach far more customers than you could through traditional methods. Online marketing is not something you should ignore, it is something you should embrace and has the potential to boost your business and profits very easily and without technical or graphical expertise.

The single most important item in successful ezine publishing is your ability to produce useful, informative and entertaining content for your readers on a consistent and frequent basis. From the words of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams”, “If you build it, they will come”, or in our case “If you write it, they will come”. People have a natural tendency to seek out information and a need to learn about new things. By offering valuable content, you are filling this need and developing a relationship with each of your readers and you will eventually develop a following.

Here are some tips to help you successfully connect with your readers.

1) Write your articles with your readers in mind. When you write, you should write from the customers’ perspective and be able to answer the question, what will my reader get from this article and how will it benefit them.

2) Try reaching your readers through personality – yours and theirs. To create emotional ties, you need to appeal to your readers on an emotional level, something they can relate to. Add a piece of yourself to your ezine and make it real. You want your readers to feel a sense of kinship to you and to feel they are just like you. In order to that, show a bit of your personality, humbleness and humor.

3) Be Real and Authentic. It is okay to share something about yourself and to share your opinions. No matter what your beliefs, politics or views are, it is okay to share a little bit with your readers so they can get a sense of who you are. Just make sure not to use caution when discussing strong topics such as religion and politics and be sensitive that not all may share your views. Let your readers know that it is okay for some readers to be different and still connect with you.

4) Show you care. Ask your readers for their opinions, ideas and views. Share the results of a survey in your next ezine issue and write an interested article based upon the results. Not only does this fuel ideas for new content, it helps you keep a pulse on what your readers are looking for.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

“Give ‘em the Pickle”

2009-06-22T17:31:00.002-04:00

Pickles are those special extra things you do to make people happy. It’s a
special phone call you make to your customer or a handwritten thank you note That you include with every order. It is taking the time to walk the customer down the isle to find the item that they are looking for rather than pointing them in specific direction to the back of the store. It is offering them a special promotional item or even just calling them by their name. It is the art of finding out what your customers want and making sure they get it.

The Pickle Philosophy is the brainchild of Bob Farrell of Farrell Ice Cream Parlour fame. He was a pioneer in the resteraunt industry, having created one of the first national full service chain resteraunts opening and managing over 150 locations before selling the chain to Marriott. It is Farrell’s belief that businesses are in the “people business” and that it is not what you sell that is important, it is how you take care of the people who buy your product. It is about figuring out what would make your customers happy and giving it to them. That’s the pickle.

It all started with a letter:

“Dear Mr. Farrell,

I’ve been coming to your restaurant for over three years. I always order a #2 hamburger and a chocloate shake. I always ask for an extra pickle and I always get one. Mind you, this has been going on once or twice a week for three years. I came into your restaurant the other day and I order my usual. I asked the young waitress for an extra pickle. I believe she was new because I hadn’t seen her before. She said, “Sir, I will sell you a side of pickles for $ 1.25.” I told her, “No, I just want the extra slice of pickle. I always ask for it and they always give it to me. Go ask your manager.”

She went away and came back after speaking to to the manager. The waitress looked me in the eye and said, “I’ll sell you a pickle for a nickle.” Mr. Farrel, I told her what to do with her pickle, hamburger and milkshake. I’m not coming back to your restaurant if that’s the way you’re going to run it.

The customer

Mr. Farrell was successful at responding to the customer, apologizing and asking him to come back and has taken this letter to create the war cry “Give ‘em the Pickle” so when something happens with a customer and you are not sure what to do? Give them the pickle. Do what you have to do to make things right.

This story applies to all businesses that want to put in strategies to keep the customers coming back. Focusing on providing excellent customer service at every touchpoint and building an organization whose employees are trained, motivated and informed about the company’s approach to customers will exceed the customers expectations with each and evey opporutnity. So create an enviroment for your employees to excel at customer service by following the pickle philsophy:

1) Service: Make serving others the number one priority of your business.

2) Attitude: Choice a service-oriented attitude. How you think of your customers is how you will treat them.

3) Consistency: Set high service standards and live them every day. Customers return because they had a positive expierence last time.

4) Teamwork: Commit to teamwork. Find ways to make each other look good. In the end, everything ends up in front of the customer.

When you are in doubt on how you should handle a customer, remember “Give ‘em the Pickle”!

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site? You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know!

2009-06-16T15:59:00.001-04:00

In business, you often hear the statement “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” In the early 1900’s, Napoleon Hill introduced the concept of a mastermind group in his timeless classic “Think and Grow Rich.” He wrote the Mastermind Principle: “the coordination of knowledge and the effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.” Hill also wrote, “No two minds come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.” The powerful result of a mastermind group is that there is a synergy of energy and excitement that partipants bring to the group therefore raising the bar by challenging and encouraging other members to create and implement their goals. Being part of a mastermind group has proven to have many benefits to enterprenaurial success:

Idea Sharing, Creativity and Brainstorming

Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage other people’s information is exponentially better. Each group member will come with different experiences, perspectives and ideas that will most likely be your next big money making idea. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a group of people all focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a mastermind group.

Accountability and Responsibility

Most goals are not achieved because as business owners, we are not held accountable to anyone to achieve them. It is our business and we want to procrastinate or put task on the backburner because of other operational issues we deal with, which is our prerogative, right? The second biggest benefit of a mastermind group is that they hold you accountable to reach your goals and monitor your actions to ensure you are on the right path. They act as sounding boards, gatekeepers and test groups all the while asking you where you stand with your plan.

Motivational Support

Staying positive and motivated is a big challenge for some business owners especially after the excitement of starting a business has worn off and the business becomes work. Businesses have many different sides to it and not everything runs smoothly all the time. This can be very frustrating and cause many entrepreneurs to become unmotivated. By surrounding yourself with a mastermind group, you will receive positive encouragement no matter how you perform and the active discussions you will participate in will most likely inspire and stimulate you to move forward.

Networking and Business Relationships

A big part of being in a mastermind group is developing solid relationships with your group members. These relationships have been proven to last a lifetime and be the catalyst for millions of dollars. You will form friendships and connections that will provide you more than just business benefits; it will provide you with a sense of belonging and being part of something special.

Additional Resources

In a year where time is money, having access to additional resources is critical to any business owner’s success. By connecting with peers in your mastermind group, you will be provided with access to the resources that others in your group are using to achieve similar results. This will reduce the time required to find alternative solutions as well as the learning curve usually associated with implementing new solutions. Not to mention, you will save time working within a group versus trying to figure something out on your own.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

5 Things You Need to Change Now to Create Your Own Luck!

2009-06-03T21:13:00.003-04:00

Did you ever see that girl across the room that you were just mesmerized by? You know the one…..she has a beaming smile and gals and guys alike are very interested in her every word. She is not overly good looking, average to some standards, but she is attractive because of an air of confidence around her…… she is the one that you wish you were like. What you don’t realize is that you can be just like her! Have confidence, conviction and positive energy surrounding you at all times. In fact, studies show that the majority of success and good fortune is actually in your control. Those same studies show that a shift in your mindset can produce the positive results you are looking for each and every time and if you practice these tips with daily discipline for 21 days, you will form a habit of thinking positively and be one the road to designing the life of your dreams.

1. Think Positive, Think Bold!

To grow yourself and your business you need creative ideas. You need to think out of the box and get out of your comfort zone. To create powerful ideas, you need to think boldly. Bold thinking is the art of reaching out of your comfort zone and developing solutions to do things quicker, faster and cheaper or to set yourself apart from your competition with a new product, new brand or a new process. To be able to think boldly, you need quiet time away from distractions. Allow yourself time each day to shut down, no t.v, no kids and no phones and just think. Open your mind to possibilities. Our brains are pre-wired to be creative and to solve problems and if you give yourself the opportunity, you can create innovative ideas that will change your business

2. Change Your Way of Thinking.

Did you ever notice that great things usually happen when you stop trying so hard? Or if you take the time to notice the good in every situation? Every time something happens to you, you have the choice to see it negatively or positively. How you think and how you approach life has a direct link to how successful you will be. If you dwell on the negative side of experiences, you will attract more negative experiences into your life, but if you accentuate the positive side of every experience, you will open yourself to more opportunities, have more confidence the next time you encounter a similar experience and be able to respond proactively. Next time you are having a bad experience, view something positive from it. Chalk it up to a learning experience or find something good in the bad. Changing the way you think, will bring more positive experiences into your life.

3. Visualize Your Future Self.

Each of us carries a mental blueprint of ourselves and our future programmed deep into our minds. When you can bring these visions of your future self to the surface and focus in on whom, what and how you would like to be, you will begin to “act like” that person therefore achieving all of your goals. The power of visualization is well documented in the book and video “The Secret” where countless people recant stories of success using positive visualization to change their lives. Visualization helps you focus in on exactly what it is you want and keeps you motivated until you reach it. You want to start small and focus on real attributes and character traits that you future self would possess. You will slowly begin the transformation into your future self and create a positive, winning attitude along the way.

4. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.

As my teenage daughter would say “take a chill pill”. Don’t sweat the small stuff. So much about success and positive thinking come from living in the moment. If you focus too much on the small stuff and the things that can go wrong, chances are they will. And if they do, so what? This tip is hardest for those that are serial planners who need to be organized to a fault and create plans and to do list and are troubled when they don’t get to everything on their list. Avoid micromanaging every aspect of your life and let things just happen. You will be surprised at how much freedom you will experience when you don’t sweat the small stuff and that freedom creates positive energy and time to spend on pampering yourself.

5. Change Your Environment, Change Your Results

How many times have you heard a success story that started “I was just in the right place at the right time?” When you expand your universe and venture out to other places, you open up the possibility for new experiences and new adventures. You cannot create new experiences sitting around waiting for something to happen. You need to change your environment in order to change your results. If you continue to do the same thing, each day in the same manner, you will always get the same results. Remove the routine of your life and try something new. Meet new people and leave your comfort zone. The more changes you make, the more positive things will happen and the better luck you will experience.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

6 Worst Presentation Mistakes Made by Millions

2009-05-28T21:21:00.004-04:00

Each time you engage in a conversation, dialogue or speech with the intention of convincing another person to do, think or act upon anything, you are making a presentation. You
don’t have to be in front of large crowds to be giving a presentation or using visual aids such as PowerPoint to be giving a presentation. Presentations are given everyday and are one of the most powerful communication tools exist and has the ability to propel your business, career and sales to ultimate levels. Master presenters get their status by mastering the art of delivery from setting up their content, structuring the flow, controlling non verbal and verbal actions and delivering a powerful message that is engaging and memorable. They master techniques to ultimately reel their audience in and leave them wanting more so why do 99% of the presentations fail?

Mistake # 1: Failure to Focus on the Audience

How many times have you sat thru a presentation where the entire focus was only on the person presenting? Did you feel as though you were sitting thru a “sales presentation”? You know the ones, “My company is great, we do this, and we do that and blah, blah, blah…. Most likely you tuned most of their message out. One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is focusing all of their presentation on an “introduction to my company” with historical data, statistics and overview of why they are so great” versus focusing on the audience and their reasons for inviting you to present. To avoid this mistake personalize your presentation to demonstrate that you have a complete understanding of the audience needs, objectives and decision criteria. Customize your presentation to hit on your audience’s objectives and deliver your key messages in a way that your audience feels that those key messages are just for them. Lastly, successfully connect the dots between the audience’s objectives and your own objectives with clear and concise delivery methods that create an emotional connection.

Mistake # 2: Lack of Clearly Defined Objectives

Too many times, presenters fail to successfully connect the dots between the audience’s objectives and their own objectives. They have a tendency to focus on features rather than highlighting benefits and never clearly state what they hope to get out of the presentation. If you are not clear, your audience will not know what specifically they should be focusing on. You need to develop an uncanny skill to present from a benefit position and clearly build the roadmap to the audience’s goals. As Craig Valentine states in his Free Audio Series “7 Step World Class Speaking Toolkit”, It is important to make a “Big Promise”. What specifically brings you here today, what will your audience gain from listening to you today. Lay the framework for their audience and clearly state what their audience can expect over the next 45 minutes and keep your presentation on task to support that objective.

Mistake # 3: Information Overload

One of the first questions I am always asked by every presenter is” How Many Points should I include in my presentation”? Or “How Many Slides”? Another big mistake presenters make is
they try to squeeze too much information into one presentation. Rather than your audience retaining your key messages, they will retain nothing because of information overload. There is an old wise saying “when you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out”. Selecting the right balance of information for the timeframe allocated to your presentation is a critical decision that a all presenters need to master. As a rule of thumb, most audience will not retain more than 3 key points in an hour presentation. If you are asked to present with less time, adjust your key points down. It is better to be focused and deliver concrete information and leave something out (that you can always direct them to) rather than jam too many points, facts and theories into the time that you have. Too many times a presenter will not adjust their presentation and focus on trying to communicate everything. Be sensitive to the time, adjust your material accordingly and master the art of follow up for the additional points.

Mistake #4: Putting the audience to sleep!

A presentation that is not engaging and exciting is a complete bore. Nobody wants to be subject to a boring presentation and if you do not make your exciting, chances are you’re your
audience will be angered at the fact that you wasted their time. Remember, time is our biggest asset and people do not give it away freely. Bad presenters fail to grab the audience’s attention and make that emotional connection that connects their key messages and usually leaves their audience feeling bored and unfulfilled. Master Presenters know how to use techniques that tease and make their audience wanting more, they know how to adjust the tone of their voice and to pause at the right moment. They effectively use images to reinforce the emotional element of their presentation and they use stories and provocative questions to engage the mind as the audience waits for the answer in the presentation. Master Presenters are skilled at creating an event and making an emotional connection with their audience each and every time. I often refer to Steve Jobs and his product presentations which are exciting, engaging and powerful. If you have never seen this master at work, I would recommend visiting Apple’s website and taken a look at one of his videos.

Mistake # 5: Death by PowerPoint

Misusing visual aids is a common mistake many presenters make. They try to take all their content and jam it into a slide so they don’t forget what they want to say. To make it worse, they stand up in front of the crowd and read the entire slide deck. Chances are your audience is wondering why they are being read to and are not connecting to the material and the content. Visual aids should be used to enhance a presentation, not be the presentation. The use of images can be one of the most effective ways to stimulate emotion and when used correctly, can really hit home a key message. An example would be – Suppose you want your audience to answer the question “how big is an acre of land”?, you could put statistics up on the slide that state the numerical dimensions and square feet and hope that your audience can relate to numbers, or you could put up a photo of a football field and state “it’s about the size of a football field”. The impact would be completely different! To go a step further to making an emotional connection, you could tell a simple story about the football field and make it relevant to reinforce one of your key messages. Learn how to drive the message home using images without overwhelming content and you will avoid this common mistake.

Mistake #6: No Call to Action

The last mistake focuses on failure to ask for what you want. If you were invited to do a sales presentation, ask for the business. If you were invited to introduce your company, ask for the next meeting. Every presentation must have a call to action or the audience will not know what you want them to do with the information you are providing. Give them a task to do after the presentation. This action will reinforce your key message and get them thinking about what they have just learned. Master presenters know how to leave their audience with a task to perform and always go for the close.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

5 Reasons to Publish Your Own Ezine

2009-05-13T22:56:00.005-04:00

What if you had the power to increase your marketing reach by thousands for a fraction of the expense of traditional direct mail? How about the ability to position yourself as an expert in your field simply by writing an article? This is was publishing an ezine can do for you in just a matter of weeks. An Ezine is just a fancy way of saying E-Newsletter and is one of the best marketing tools available to business owners today. Now there are a dozen of reasons why an ezine can help build your business and drive profits, but here are my top five.

1. An ezine helps you position yourself as an expert in your field.An ezine is a great medium for communicating to your clients and prospects. Through articles you establish yourself as an expert in the topics you write about and by supplying informative and great content, you can create a loyal base of readers who are all potential clients. You create credibility, expertise and trust with each article by showing your readers what you know, how much you know about that topic and providing them with insight into you as an individual. By showcasing your knowledge and expertise, not only will you attract more clients, but you will also attract other media attention resulting in your articles being published in other ezines, directories, newspapers and magazines and overall, increasing your reach beyond your current client list. If you content is good, people will want to read more from you and will find out how to subscribe to your list to get it.

2. An ezine provides you a very effective way to promote your business and to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. Staying in touch with your customers is one of the most important techniques in retaining customers. You need to remind them that you are still around and that you still have a valuable product and/or service to offer. An ezine provides you with another way to reach out with very little effort. It is noninvasive and contains valuable resources with great articles and recommendations that your customers will begin to look forward to. It is great way to keep them informed of what you have been up to and what your plans are to move the business further. Do anything to stay out in front of your competition and in front of your customers at all times.

3. An ezine provides you with a method to grow your customer and reader list to market and sell your products to over and over again. The most effective way to build your business is through creating relationship and recurring revenue. One of the biggest assets a business has is their client and prospecting list. People buy from people who they like and trust. Not only will they buy from you once, if you are providing true value in your product and/or service, they will buy from you again and again. They will become your greatest cheerleaders and sales people by promoting you and your business to everyone they know, forwarding your articles and providing you with an opportunity to start the list building process over to your new audience. The greatest thing about an ezine is that you can stop marketing one to one and begin marketing to hundreds, thousands or even millions at once. Law of averages, if you increase your reach in terms of numbers, chances are you will increase your conversion to sales.

4. An ezine allows you to grow your business outside your market and allows you to spread the word about your product and/or services.The World Wide Web has had a tremendous impact on the way business is conducted today. It has provided opportunities for the little guy to play in the same ocean as the big fish. The internet has provided boundless opportunities to expand your reach and to evolve your business beyond your local radius and beyond your four walls. A reader of my ezine, brought an opportunity to me to expand my ice cream store into a mobile cart business located into the city. Another reader forwarded my ezine to a friend who happened to own an internet gift service business. This individual contacted me and together we created http://www.sayitwithicecream.com/ a place on the web where you can order ice cream cakes for your kids away at college, business associates or family members. An ezine is the catalyst for growth. Once you connect with your readers, the connection keeps on growing and your list continues to build and your reach will go far beyond your wildest dreams.

5. An ezine is inexpensive and easy to publish. Most likely you are using traditional marketing methods to spread the word about your company including direct mail campaigns. Maybe you are sending out postcards, newsletters or product announcements and go through the process of designing your piece, creating and verifying your addresses, creating labels, stuffing envelopes and bringing to the post office for delivery. After your campaign is said and done, you have spent a lot of money on design and postage and no way to verify receipt. In some markets this is a very effective marketing technique but with the onset of e-mail marketing, there is a less expensive way to accomplish the same goal and verify receipt. Email marketing allows you to consolidate your marketing for a fraction of the cost of traditional direct mail methods and gets the word out faster. In addition, with the fancy systems out there geared towards the novice but created to capture data, you will have a complete understanding of your delivery rates and even can easily measure and track who opened your email, who forwarded your email and who bought from your email.

“Navigating the Changing Winds: 6 Master Strategies to Building Customer Loyalty”

2009-05-08T20:38:00.003-04:00

The winds – “they are a changing my friend”…. The current state of the economy, a new President, failing financial systems, fluctuating prices and high unemployment have caused many of us to pause and evaluate opportunities to reduce expenses and to optimize our performance. As our economy continues to fluctuate, controlling expenses and optimizing service levels from partners and vendors is going to become the focus for all of our customers. We all must be sensitive to these “changing winds” and enhance the experience of our customers each time we interact with them. We must go back to the basics of serving our customers and take the actions that make a difference. The simple actions – a patient ear, a please, a thank you, a quick update on status (even if you don’t’ have update to give – the fact you are reaching out to let them know you are working on their problem goes a long way) and a smile that can be heard over the phone are all simple things that we can do each and every day to stand apart from our competition.

The art of hospitality can be very profitable, but it does take some practice and effort. To succeed, you must be dedicated to customer service first, always demonstrating that you care about their issues. Although customers may not always be right, we all must agree that it is okay for them to be wrong. Treat everyone with concern and compassion. After all, our business is not about us – it’s about the people we service and that single fact is more critical now as we navigate the changing winds…

Below are 6 strategies that when applied, will evolve your customer service to the next level – customer loyalty.

Master Strategy # 1: Know your customer

Customers are not a dime a dozen…they come with a variety of different characteristics, desires, needs and expectations. It is important to know everything that you can about your customers to ensure you are offering the most value. From basic information, name, address, title and area of responsibility to wants, needs and pressures and everything in between, it is important to understand your customer to enhance communication, articulate your proposition and to develop the foundation for trust.

Master Strategy # 2: Develop a customer strategy

Companies spend a lot of time and money developing strategic plans for their business, their technology solutions, operational strategies and financial strategies but rarely develop a customer strategy. Developing a good plan to enhance each client’s individual experience will result in uncovering areas for improvement and areas where you excel that may easily translate to another client. By writing a strategy on each client and personalizing that strategy based upon what you know about your customers (Master Strategy #1), you will memorialize a systematic approach and philosophy that will be easily followed by all in your company.

Master Strategy # 3: Deliver on your promise

Customers bought your product or service based upon a promise that you or your company has made. Make sure that you always deliver on your promise and therefore maintaining trustworthiness with your customers. Customers want to purchase from companies and people they trust to deliver the product and/or service they need and with the value they expect. According to the book, Trust Based Selling, Trustworthiness consists of four factors: Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-Orientation. The combination of these factors used in the right combinations will develop a connection with your customers that will lead to a long time relationship.

Master Strategy # 4: Educate your staff

Educate your front lines with your customer knowledge. The characteristic of your customers, what they are buying, the promises that were made and train your staff on how to not only deliver customer service but how to go over and beyond the basics. They should know how to react in all situations and be empowered to respond to the customers’ requests. They should know it is okay to tell the customer that they don’t know the answers, but will find out and get right back to them. Customer service is a culture and a theme that must permeate your entire organization.

Master Strategy # 5: Over Promise and Over Deliver

Make sure you provide true customer service. In today’s market, service has become a buzzword thrown around by every company, but it is important to understand that customer service is now a baseline expectation and not considered an added value. Customer service is no longer a key differentiator but going over and above the call of duty, well that will set you apart. I recently heard of a story of a retail store owner, selling women’s clothing, overheard customers in her store looking for a place to eat. She not only made a recommendation but picked up the phone and called the local restaurant to make a reservation on behalf of her customer. – She went over and beyond the basics. Here is an great opportunity to over promise and over deliver. Set yourself apart from the competition and be unique. Be creative and personalize your service specific to your individual customer. One size does not fit all in this case and offering personalized customer service will assist you in developing your unique brand.

Master Strategy # 6: Make it easy for your customers to do business with you

Leave all the guess work out and make it easy for your customer to do business with you. Have your staff go through the same process and channels that your customers will so they can experience the same exact experience your customers will have. Make adjustments to your current process if needed and always put on your customer hat and understand how your services are being evaluated through the customer eyes. Is it easy to request your product or service? What if there is a problem? Is it easy to escalate an issue? Is it easy to check on a status? Is there a long wait time? Is there a consistency each time the customer calls? These are all important questions that you must understand in order to make it easy for your customers to do business with you.

By taking the time to apply some or all of these strategies, you will create a culture centered on top notch customer service. By educating your team on expectations and providing them the roadmap to deliver the serviced you expect, will not only make your customers more loyal but will make your business more profitable. Simply stated, happy customers buy more and tell more friends about their experience. Use that as an opportunity to build upon your already stellar brand!

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/

7 Pillars to Business Success

2009-04-21T21:26:00.003-04:00

Who doesn’t want to be successful in business? I don’t know one person who wakes up and claims “I want to fail today”. So why do many businesses or business systems fail? Whether you are an entrepreneur, an executive, a small business owner or an employee, there is a standard blueprint to business growth and success – 7 core strategies that are the foundation to every successful business.

1. Bold Thinking

To grow your business you need creative ideas. To create powerful ideas, you need to think boldly. Bold thinking is the art of reaching out of your comfort zone and developing solutions to do things quicker, faster and cheaper or to set yourself apart from your competition with a new product, new brand or a new process. For example, if you traditionally sell on a one to one basis, how can you sell to a group and maximize your time – a hair dresser who traditionally works with clients one at a time can host hair parties and do hair in groups. If you are in a transaction type of business, how can you reduce your transaction volume but increase your unit cost while maximizing your profits – how about increasing your fees? If you are in information marketing, how can you develop the next ebook, membership site or workshop that sets you apart from your competition? To be able to think boldly, you need quiet time away from distractions. Allow yourself time each day to shut down, no t.v, no kids and no phones and just think. Open your mind to possibilities. Our brains are pre-wired to be creative and to solve problems and if you give yourself the opportunity, you can create innovative ideas that will change your business.

2. Access to Learning and Information

New information is available every day and if you are not learning new things all the time, you and your business will not evolve and grow. I work with many businesses and to my surprise, investing in education is not a priority with some. One area where you are certain to get a return on your investment is in education. Surround yourself with a power team and share ideas and information. Don’t be afraid to reach out of your industry. Sometimes something that works in one industry can translate into a power new idea for your industry. Enroll yourself and your staff in classes and mastermind groups and read about emerging trends. Unless you are constantly learning, you may never come across the next best great thing…

3. Opportunity Discovery and Deployment

The ability to identify opportunities and more importantly, to act upon them is critical to continuing success. Too often, businesses deploy the same practices over and over again and they are so surprised then they get the same results. If you could envision a brick wall and a man running towards it and crashing up against it over and over again in an attempt to get to the other side. He continues to go towards the wall in the same manner he always had and fail to recognize the opportunity to walk around the wall or climb over it. Be open to new opportunities and willing to try new approaches.

4. Strong Support System

You cannot grow your business on your own. You need a team or a strong support system to help create and implement new ideas. One of the principles in “Good to Great”, is get the right people on the bus. As business owners, you need to consistently evaluate your support team and be comfortable with their skill, their contribution and the innovation. You also need to be resolved to the fact that your legacy people may not be the right team to get you where you want to go at the speed you want to get there anymore. They may have done a wonderful job in the past but may no longer have the skills, motivation or talent required to keep you moving.

5. Networks and Contacts

No matter what area of business or what industry you are in, your contacts, prospect lists and networks are the lifeline to business expansion and growth. Actively building your network is one of the strongest pillars and requires your attention personally. Business is based upon human interaction and connection and your ability to cultivate relationships will most likely be the source for your next great opportunity, joint venture or business idea.

6. Inspiration and Motivation

Staying focused requires motivation. As business leaders, we carry a large burden on our shoulders to create an energy that will inspire everyone in our circle to perform: Employees, vendors, clients and partners. To maintain the required energy level, we must be motivated and inspired ourselves. Surrounding yourself with positive people who build you up is one of the final pieces of our foundation. Too many times, business owners allow the opinions of others and the judgments of many, dictate their mood. You need to move away from things and individuals who do not inspire you. You need time to recharge and reflect on your core values and translate how those values impact your business. Positive energy create positive outcomes.

7. A “Can Do” Attitude

All the bold thinking, new information, opportunities, strong support system, large network and motivate on will be worthless without a can do attitude. In order to make change and be successful, you need to take action. Many business people come up with wonderful ideas but fail to take action and fail to grow their business at the speed possible and most times out of fear of failure. In business there is much failure and it is important to understand that failure is okay. Not every idea will work and it is imperative that you do not let past failures shake your can do attitude. Continue to create and implement new ideas and continue to believe in them. You need to believe that you can achieve anything and focus your energy on accomplishing your goal. That energy will turn to action and you business will evolve.

The Impact of Saying Thank You

2009-04-13T22:34:00.003-04:00

I recently wrote about a recent mishap I had when I sprained my ankle and tore a ligament in my foot. It was St. Patty's Day, so we were certain it was going to be a busy night in the emergency room. Sometimes Irish tempers and alcohol do not mix. To my surprise, the emergency room wasn't as busy as I thought, but it was busy enough. I was extremely upset and pushing through a lot of pain as I waited in the emergency room to be seen by a doctor at my local hospital. There was a wait and tempers around me were beginning to rise. I witness many people verbally attacking the receptionist in the ER and just basically being rude.

When it was my turn, I hobbled over and they quickly came to my aid with a wheel chair, ice and a smile. The receptionist turned to me and said two simple words "thank you". It was so surreal. Here they were helping me and I was the one being thanked.... I was touched. That simple gesture was so powerful and absolutely made me feel like I was appreciated.

How often do we take the time, in any situation, both good and bad, to say Thank you to our customers? How about our employees? What would their reaction be when they hear those two simple words?

In today's fast pace business climate, keeping up with basic manners almost seem impossible but taking the time to say "Thank You" to your customers can give you a competitive edge. With our economy in such turmoil these days, how about reaching out to your customers to say thank you for your business, we are here with you to the end. I recently had a client do this and the reaction from his clients was unbelievable - not to mention the retained business.

Simple tasks you can take to thank your clients:

·Simply say thank you. "Thank you for calling", "Thank you for waiting", "Thank you for doing business with us" or just "thanks"

·Send an email or even better a hand written note.

·Throw a client appreciation day and offer discounts, increased services or just a luncheon or party.

· Send a thank you gift, something small but memorable. The more personalized you can make it versus the same gift for every customer.

· Send a unique piece of literature, a poem or an article that you think would touch your customers.

· Donate to a charity in your customer's name

Gratitude is such a simple way to build your business and stand by your brand. Be the company that cares about its clients and take a moment to say Thank You to your customers and let them know how much you appreciate them. to all, will have a bigger impact.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates
Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

Are You Leveraging the Power of LinkedIn?

2009-04-07T18:01:00.004-04:00

LinkedIn is an online social network of experienced professionals from around the world with over 37 million members in over 200 countries. Executives from all the Fortune 500 companies and well know experts, authors and leaders are all LinkedIn members, so the question is, are you?

Do you remember the old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? Your professional network is one of the most valuable assets you own that will yield you a return. It is your personal network that you turn to for job inquiries, introductions to new business opportunities, collaboration on joint ventures, research on new people you meet or new companies you want to engage in business.

In the past you relied on human to human networking where you would speak to friends, family and colleagues, stating your purpose and hoping they could either assist with another introduction or at least point you in a direction towards an introduction. Your goal to find someone who may know someone who can help you make a connection typically took going through many individuals on a one to one basis and was inefficient and took valuable time.
In today’s environment of real time access to information, social media and limited personal time, LinkedIn provides you a way to find, be introduced to and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to reach out to in mass therefore saving your most precious resource – your time.

If you are looking for new business, new partners, new referrals, to stay in touch, to research candidates or partners, recruit new employees, or find a new job, than you need to be leveraging the power of LinkedIn. So what can LinkedIn do for you:

Direct Recruiting – You can find people who are potential candidates for hire, or at least find someone who knows someone who is looking.

Lead Generation – With a growing network of qualified links, you have a direct audience to use LinkedIn tools to keep them informed of what you are working on, blast emails to your network and presentations tools to generate interest.

Expert Positioning – LinkedIn provides you the ability to join groups or mini communities of like minded individuals where you can not only ask questions to collaborate with peers, but can answer questions as well. In addition, obtaining recommendations from business partners, employees and peers will provide you with a foundation to build credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Research – In LinkedIn, there is an open source to search a company’s name, location and individuals associated with this company. It is a great resource for tracking down previous employment information, other partners and who people are networked with.

Google Search – When you make your profile public in LinkedIn, search engines such as Google picks up your profile and makes it easier for people to find you. If you are in business and trying to establish a presence or build credibility, enhancing your page ranking in Google is always a good way.

Job Search – When you get the itch to start looking for a new position, people always turn to their network first. Here your network is expanded. Since you are connected to your connections and your connections have connections and so on. This provides you with the opportunity to cast out inquiries to a larger net.

LinkedIn is rapidly becoming the largest business-oriented online social network and since it is a professional audience, the focus is on business. It is about making the necessary connections to boost your business and build referrals well beyond any network you can develop using human to human networking. The time is now for you to join LinkedIn and harness the power of business connection that is easy, real time and the next wave in business networking.

Stay tuned for next month where we will share with you Tips of How to Leverage the Power of LinkedIn.

Join me on LinkedIn. And Twitter.

We Can Make a Difference.... One Person at a Time!

2009-03-30T10:35:00.004-04:00

There is no doubt things are difficult for most Americans these days, there isn't one of us that doesn't know of a family member or friend that is out of work, on the verge of losing their house or cutting back out of fear of what is next. I was recently at an industry trade show where folks were grousing about the economy and sluggish sales. Overall energy in the room was low as people were on autopilot or "just getting by".

I had the privilege of engaging in conversation with a complete stranger and when the conversation turned to him, his response was intriguing "Me and my family are focusing on performing one random act of kindness each day" He continued on to say "with all the negativity and fear that we are being exposed to everyday, me, my wife and two children have decided to take a stand and each day practice random acts of kindness with strangers in an effort to help make a difference and brighten up a person's day". Needless to say, I was humbled.

It reminded me of a story I heard some time ago:

One day a man was walking down the beach when he noticed a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he realized the figure was that of a boy picking up something and gently tossing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy asked, "what are you doing?"

The boy replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they will die"

"Son", the man said scanning the beach, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't possibly make a difference"

After listening politely, the boy bend down and picked up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then smiling, the boy said "I made a difference for that one!"

Most likely after reading this story, you remember hearing it before or perhaps a similar story. Sometimes we need to hear these stories over and over again to remind us that we can make a difference and change the world, one act of kindness at a time!.

5 Steps to Continuous Improvement

2009-03-11T17:09:00.002-04:00

The driving force behind Japanese culture is the philosophy of Kaizen or in translation, continuous improvement. Kaizen is a daily process of applying ideas that gradually bring you closer to an improvement and can be applied at work or in life. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen can deliver significant results through tiny actions in areas of productivity, employee morale and safety. Companies that embrace this philosophy encourage people at all levels, from the CEO down to evaluate their surroundings and work processes and implement suggestions to improve workflow, standards and process. The end result is that improvements eventually lead to better quality, better productivity and higher profits.

Below are 5 Steps to help you use Kaizen in your organization:

1. Define a Problem

If no problems existed, then there is no potential for improvement. First step is to recognize that a problem does exist. Most times the people who create the problem are not sensitive to it since they are not inconvenienced by it every day and nobody wants to admit that they created a problem. Think positive and look at a problem as an opportunity for improvement rather than an issue.

2. Create a Standard

If you don’t have a standard, how can you improve upon it or know that you are improving? There must be a standard of measure for everything in your business, whether it is a worker, machine, process or manager. There has to be a baseline measurement that exists so you continually grow to surpass that standard.

3. Develop 3 – 5 Good Ideas

Once you have identified the problem and the standard that you need to improve upon, the next step in the process is to develop 3 to 5 good ideas. Ones that pass the PCST (personal common sense test). These ideas can come from anywhere within the organization through a suggestion system where people can share their ideas. This will improve morale and let the employees buy into the process through participation. Once you have all the suggestions, select the best 3 to 5. Select the ones that are easily implemented and will yield results within 120 days.

4. Implement Ideas

Kaizen is all about action. You selected the best 3 to 5 ideas that will yield a result within 120 days because it is all about gradual and continuous improvement. Most companies have grandiose ideas and want to solve world hunger in 120 days, the approach we want you to take is to start buying a hungry man a sandwich.

5. Go back to step 1

The last step of the process is to start it over again – hence the word continuous. The goal is to pick your ideas and implement them within 120 days and then implement another set of ideas after that and again and again and again.

In Kaizen, you do not have to focus on grand ideas. In fact the best results and the best ideas are usually the smaller ones because they can be implemented easily and employees will be motivated and begin to like the winning feeling. Once they have that feeling in their gut, they will want more and more and more an eventually bring your organization to the highest level of efficiency.

©2009 Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

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You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Is Customer Service is the New Marketing?

2009-03-06T15:03:00.001-05:00

I was browsing the web and came across an advertisement for a 1 day seminar called Customer Service is the New Marketing. I was intrigued by the title since I firmly believe that customer service should be a part of your marketing strategy. As a small business owner and a marketing consultant, I have found that providing a strong customer service base at your businesses, word of mouth will take off and you customers will reward you with relaying their positive experiences to their friends, families and business associates each chance they get.

Excellent customer service is the lifeblood of any business and a very critical piece to success when facing a bad economy and many competitors. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long. Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.

Below are the ten golden rules for Excellent Customer Service:

1. Answer your phone
2. Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them
3. Listen to your customers
4. Deal with complaints
5. Be helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit in it
6. Train your staff to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable
7. Take the extra step
8. Throw in something extra
9. Keep in touch – you don’t want your customers to forget you
10. The customer IS always right, even when they are wrong

©2009 Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

5 Thoughts when Creating a Customer Service Strategy

2009-03-05T14:41:00.003-05:00

Many companies work each year on their strategic plans including how to evolve their technology solutions, their marketing positions and how to become more efficient in operations. They work diligently each year on putting together annual budgets and resource plans but how often do they put together a customer service strategy? A plan that focuses on knowing what your clients want, what their pain points are and what their needs for efficiencies are.

Some tips:

1) Know you customer at different levels

Don't just focus on one single point of contact. Each position within a client firm has different needs. go the extra mile, learn what your customers challenges are at different points within the organization. People move around, the more you know about your customers and the more people you stay in contact with, the stronger relationship you will have with your customer.

2) Establish a group who owns the high level relationship

A customer service group that focuses on the relationship rather than the day to day problem resolution or service delivery is integral to a successful customer service strategy. Set up performance metrics and a customer communication plan and hold this team accountable for the success of the relationship.

3) Develop a customer scorecard or metrics to manage and evaluate success

By establishing a set of expectations in the beginning and agreeing on how you will be measured makes it easier to track your accomplishments. By creating metrics and service standards, it is easy to highlight you positives. How many times do you get in trouble with a customer over a single mistake? Most people live in the moment and may need to be reminded of all the good.

4) Make sure your executive team reaches out

Customers want to feel special. Have a communication plan that requires the CEO or President to reach out to say hello or to check up on how the company is performing. And not just to the customer CEO, have them reach out to your day to day contact... it will make them feel special.

5) Always ask how you can improve

Markets, trends and industry change daily. Not to mention the players in your field. Always inquire about your performance and always be prepared to make changes. What worked yesterday might not work today. What was one individual preference may not be the next.. The key is to keep communicating and be very responsive to your customers changing needs.

©2009 Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

3 Ways to BLAST your Profits in your Local Market

2009-03-05T09:09:00.005-05:00

Nothing motivates people into buying your products and services like a special event or promotion geared just towards them. How many local shop owners or retailers are wasting their time away in their stores rather than "working their market". Products and services are bought based upon need, knowledge and trust. All traits of a relationship so get out there and let people know who you are and give them an opportunity to build trust in your organization or store location based upon you as an individual. You won’t regret it!

Here are 5 ideas to consider. Choose one that will work with your business and give it a try or try them all……

1. Local schools. Contact all the local schools in your area and create a promotion that is specific to them. For example, offer a % off coupon or discount for any student’s family that comes into your store. Be creative and make it worthwhile for the school, donate a % of the proceeds back or offer your product as the incentive for completing a task – a book-a-thon; completion of a test; a charity goal – whatever, just make it fun and make it beneficial for you, the students and the school. The best part about partnering with your local school is that you have an inexpensive way to advertise. Most schools have hundreds of students and communicate with the families via giving the student information to bring home. Supply them with flyers with the details of the promotion and coupon or incentive to buy something from you and “blast” FREE advertising.

2. Charity organizations. Team up with a local charity and design a program that is attractive and gives them the potential to earn a lot of money for their cause. Everybody likes to help out a charity and here is a great way to get your name out and show a side charitable side of you and your business. Your local marketing are the folks that buy from you, engaging them in a common goal will help you build trust, bring awareness to you and your brand and alert people to where your business is located. Charities have a long list of contacts and you want to make sure they contribute to the marketing of the event by sending out communications to their list in addition to alerting the media. Offer to handle that for them. Anything you can do to draw attention and to help out, will pay you back in profits in the long run. An event can be anything…be creative. A client of mine – a local ice cream store created and decorated an ice cream cake specifically for Breast Cancer Awareness and hosted an Ice Cream Social at their store and promoted the event and gave back a % of the proceeds to the charity. Send out press releases. Contact the local chamber and schools and alert them to the event, hang flyers and contact your local news anchors and “blast” FREE publicity.

3. Create a giveaway or contest. People love to win. We are a nation of competitive people and are drawn to ways that we can have fun and win a prize no matter how big or small. Create a giveaway or a contest and make it fun for everyone. A client of mine raffled off a large flat screen TV but in order to be included in the raffle you first needed to buy something but second you needed to sing when you entered the store. At first it was strange but as everyone started to laugh and enjoy themselves, others joined in and before we knew it, the word spread and “blast” NEW customers. People want to be on the winning team and they want to have a good time so create one and the customers will come.

©2009 Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing tand branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

5 Tips to Becoming a Networking Rockstar!

2009-03-04T16:32:00.006-05:00

Networking is a tool that will put you on the path towards success. Business are grown from the personal relationships we develop throughout our career and being able to reach out and build positive business connections can be the single most important step you can take in building and marketing your business. So why don't more entrepreneurs network? - Fear.

Remember as a kid being afraid to be the last one picked for kickball. Remember being afraid that when you went to a new school, you wouldn't make any friends. These memories are with us today as adults and the idea of going into a room of strangers to introduce themselves leaves a pit in the bottom of their stomach and can be classified up there with the fear of public speaking.

I have put together some tips to help overcome those fears at your next networking event because the right connections with the right people can maximize your business position and provide you with insight and opportunities that are guaranteed to boost your profits.

1. Enter the room like you just got off the red carpet!

Confidence is infectious. When you enter into a room like you are comfortable in you skin, smiling and approachable, everyone will be wondering "who is that". More importantly, if you don't end up seeking these guest out, they will seek you out. The great thing is that most people in that room do not know you, your background or what you stand for, here is a great opportunity to create the Confident You and live it at your next networking event. The positive energy you will be projecting outward will come back to you tenfold.

2. Remember to warm up before your performance.

Most likely your nerves are giving you the jitters and you just made it through the front door as confident as you could be but are struggling with how long you could hold on to it. You best course of action is to warm up with a friendly “fan”. After you enter, circle the room (which will also work off an excess nervous energy) and seek out the individual that looks just as terrified as you feel and introduce yourself. A simple question or observation will do the trick “Wow, it looks like we have some good turnout tonight”, Don’t you think? By the way, I am <>> and you are? What brings you here? Once you break the ice with one friendly fan, a renewed energy will surface and you will find yourself opening up to others and finding common interest. Remember to ask a lot of questions and be truly interested in the conversation and the connections will come.

3. Let your Roadies do the work.

As you make friends, bring them along. There is safety in numbers and friends are usually connected. Make it a priority to connect with the people they know. It will ease the fear of the unknown and provide you with something in common to talk about. Once you connect , join the organization and attend the events that your friends do. Before you know it, you have a complete social network of individuals and professionals who you will become more familiar with and more comfortable with. With each new friend, you network should grow 10 times.

4. Use the newest recording technology.

Social media sites are a great way to communicate and to stay connected during the times between your face to face events. Facebook, Linked In and Twitter are easy to use and a great way to send out blast updates on what you have been up to and to comment on others. In addition to your “offline” networking, mastering social media sites is a great way to leverage your connections, expand your network beyond your local area and build relationships one post at a time.

5. Build up your fan base -Follow up, Follow up, Follow Up.

You have connected with many people, found common interest and exchanged business cards. Make sure to follow up ASAP. A great tip is to send out your V card which houses all of your electronic information in outlook and can be sent and uploaded into your new connections outlook. If you discovered that this person can help you, make plans to keep in touch over time so you do not lose that connection. Relationships are built one day at a time through consistency, genuine interest and friendship. If you remember all the skills you developed as a child when you found a new friend than you want to use those skills with your adult friend. Always keep them updated on what you are doing, make plans for lunch and offer to help out when needed.

©2009 Kellie D’Andrea & Associates
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You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic maketing techniuqes that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entreprenuars make at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/