| In This Week's Issue: You've heard all the jive about
Blogging - now figure out if it's something you should
persue in your business.
The Next Level
the ezine for for solopreneurs
from TrinityJacobs and Erin Banister
Please pass on The Next Level to your network.
To leave list or change email address, see
bottom of email.
Word count for this issue: 768
Approximate time to read: 4 minutes
--------------------------------------------
SPEC*IAL NOTICE!!!
--------------------------------------------
Happy Virtual Assistant's Day! May 19, 2006
is the new official International Virtual
Assistant's Day! Learn more about this n'ew
holiday by visiting http://www.oivac.com/vaday.htm
In light of this great day, I'd like to thank
my two VAs, Jen and Jenn - without whom I'd
be very lost! You ladies are great!
--------------------------------------------
Links
--------------------------------------------
This weeks' The Next Level URL:
http://www.TrinityJacobs.com/newsletter/TNL052006.html
F*REE E-course: Prepare for a VA:
http://www.PrepareForAVA.com
Behind the Scenes Blog - Tips, Tricks, articles and pertinent
info for the solopreneur
http://www.trinityjacobs.com/blog/
--------------------------------------------
Is Blogging Right for your Business?
--------------------------------------------
When we hear some *new and improved* marketing technique,
we all want to jump on the bandwagon. Technorati.com estimates
that there is a blog created every second, and ProBlogger.com
estimates that many of those blogs die within three months.
Why do those blogs die? Maybe the owner didn’t have sufficient
time to keep it up. The owner may have chosen a topic that was
far too narrow and ran out of things to talk about; or they may
have chosen one that was far too wide and couldn’t get focus.
--------------------------------------------
Blogging is perceived as ‘easy’
--------------------------------------------
Many people who choose to blog begin doing so because it’s so
easy, and so cheap, to get started. Blogging is a credible
marketing vehicle – it is a great way for the search engines
to stay keen on looking at your website, it provides valuable
information to your clients and prospects, and can even make
money through affiliate income.
How do you know if blogging is right for you?
Find out below...
--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
Wouldn't you like to increase the money flow to your
business without going against your values?
(Is there a system that can really make your business
profitable, without asking you to compromise your
heart and spirit?)
Introducing the unique guidebook: Unveiling the Heart
of Your Business, How money marketing and sales can
deepen your heart, heal the world, and still add to
your bottom line. It's practical without being
overwhelming, and spiritual without the woo-woo, and
it moves you along a clear path that hundreds of other
business owners have already walked. It was written
expressly to solve the problem "How do you stay (or
become!) profitable without losing your spirituality
or sense of ethics."
One reader wrote in: "Dear Mark, I just finished
chapter 6 of your book, and I am stunned. Your work is
evolutionary.
I've been in marketing for more than 20 years and I've
never seen such authentic, eye-opening inspiration for
getting in touch with your business ~ and encouraging
it to grow from its heart (and yours). It's a
completely different way of looking at things. Thank
you, thank you, thank you!" - Sharon Desjarlais
Come get three free chapters and see for yourself:
http://www.heartofbusiness.com/thecore
--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
continued from above
--------------------------------------------
How do you know if blogging is right for you?
--------------------------------------------
1. Will your target market respond to a blog?
If your market doesn’t know what a blog is, doesn’t
care what a blog is, or doesn’t have the time to learn
– don’t even attempt a blog. Seriously. Of course we need
to educate our customers, but using technology for
technology’s sake is just a little too self-absorbed. Let’s
keep it real.
2. Do you have the time to devote to the upkeep of a
blog?
If you can’t post at least once a week – whether it’s a long
post or a short article, you won’t get return readers. Readers
want to depend on your information, and if you can’t post at
least once a week your ROI will suffer tremendously.
3. Can you define a blog niche for yourself?
You need to have a content niche – and something that’s wide
enough for you to be able to post on regularly, and narrow enough
where your readers won’t think you’re jumping all over the place.
You can’t depend on free-reprint articles for your blog – your
readers want to hear from you! (Believe me, I’ve been down that
road, it doesn’t work no matter how hard I wanted it to) If you
can’t devote time to finding and developing great content, then
blogging isn’t for you.
4. Do you know (or are you willing to learn) how to market
your blog?
As with any other venture, blogs can be very lucrative, but you
need to know how to market them. While, yes, business blogs are
a marketing tool, no one will be able to find a blog without
proper marketing. So, learn what you need to do in order to
properly market your blog to get readers.
5. Do you know (or are you willing to learn) all the techno-
logical needs of your blog?
Chances are going into blogging you aren’t going to know what half
the terms mean. If you can’t invest the time, make sure you have
someone available to help you who can (or already knows it). If
you’re not savvy on the platform before jumping into it, you will
spend a considerable amount of time learning.
As you can see, blogging isn’t as easy as many will lead you to
think. Many customers won’t respond to blogging, because it’s not
part of their worldview. For those customers that will respond to
it you need to ensure that you’re able to give them the content
they want – or they’ll go somewhere else for it. The beauty in
blogging is the possibility to inform subscribers and ‘wanderers
of the internet’ about you, your expertise, and your passions –
with the simple click of a button.
If you don’t have the time, or your customers aren’t ready for the
world of blogging, then don’t waste your valuable energy and resources
creating and maintaining a blog. Instead, you should focus your efforts
on things that will bring you a high return on income – and not
something as labor-intensive as a blog.
If your market will respond to a blog, then by all means go ahead and
begin one. However, if you do not have the time and energy to expend
in learning the various aspects of blogging, then you must either hire
someone to help you or wait until it’s more feasible in your business.
There are many people available (myself included) to help you in your
blogging efforts – inclusive of everything from creating and maintaining
to helping you write your blog. Finding help isn’t hard; but if you have
a lukewarm approach to blogging, the response will be the same.
--------------------------------------------
Liked the article? Questions or comments?
Visit
http://trinityjacobs.com/blog/2006/02/28/defining-expectations/
to post a comment or question;Or email me
privately at
http://www.trinityjacobs.com/contact.html
All the best,
Erin Banister
--------------------------------------------
Heighten your Knowledge
--------------------------------------------
-----Beat the Google Adwords System---------
Google AdWords is hot. In fact it may be the first
and best thing to do to get traffic to your site.
But it's not alwa as easy as I just made it sound -
AdWords has some nuances, and some people have a
rough time at first.
Well my colleague Perry Marshall has written a very
helpful e-course called "5 days to success with Google
AdWords" and there's no charge for it. You can find
out about it here:
http://snipurl.com/TJ_Adwords
--------------------------------------------
-----Making Dollars Out of Cents------------
Find yourself strapped for cash, yet needing to
market more? Heather Jacobson of ValleyVA has
compiled a book of 101 tips for the frugal
marketer titled: Making Dollars out of Cents:
101 tips for the frugal marketer. Filled with
top-knotch ideas for marketing on a budget,
Heather has created an e-book that you need
handy. Begin by downloading this F*REE preview
of 10 tips for the frugal marketer here:
http://www.trinityjacobs.com/ebooks/10tips.pdf
and then go to her site to get the full
shebang.
http://snipurl.com/InexpensiveMarketing
--------------------------------------------
-----Action Plan Marketing------------------
Robert Middleton, another marketing guru, has
written the InfoGuru Manual, the Website Toolkit,
and the Action Plan Toolkit - all of which are
sure to take your service business to the next
level. He explains what you need to do -
sequentially, I might add - in great detail,
while still 'keeping it simple'. Whether you're
a new or seasoned marketer, you'll get much more
than you asked for from any of these books.
But don't just take my word for it - browse through
his site, download the free workbooks and read
through his articles - you'll become a believer
yourself!
See for yourself at
http://snipurl.com/TJ_APM
--------------------------------------------
-----The Brain Audit------------------------
Marketing Guru Extraordinare Sean D'Souza has
created this information-packed website, filled
with information regarding everything form
copywriting to structure to design - and everything
inbetween. With over 300 articles to his credit,
you may just want to bypass the articles and go
straight to the meatiest ebook you'll find. The
Brain Audit is surprisingly short, yet filled
with information that I guarantee will help you
take your business into the stratosphere.
See for yourself at
http://www.psychotactics.com/hiddenlinkSmallBusiness.htm
--------------------------------------------
Services I Recommend
--------------------------------------------
The business below are the services I use on a day-
to-day basis in TrinityJacobs. I recommend them
without reservation. Please check them out and
see how they can help you too.
OUR EMAIL LIST SERVICE: I use an awesome service
called AWeber. Find out more about them at
http://snipurl.com/TJ_Aweber
OUR WEB HOST: I use an amazing service called
Dreamhost. For less than $150/year, you get
unlimited domains, tons of storage, and
amazing customer service. Find out more here:
http://snipurl.com/n18z
--------------------------------------------
About This eZine and About Your Subscription
--------------------------------------------
© 2006 Erin Banister, All rights reserved. You are
free to use material from The Next Level eZine in
whole or in part, as long as you include complete
attribution,including live web site link. Please
let me know where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:
"By Erin Banister of TrinityJacobs. Specializing in
marketing and administrative support for solopreneurs,
TrinityJacobs also acts as a complete Virtual Office
for many entrepreneurs. Visit www.trinityjacobs.com
to receive the F*REE report "Breaking Through
Administrivia: How to Conquer Administrative
Baggage in Solopreneurship" (Make sure the link is
live if placed in an eZine or in a web site.)
You are subscribed as: {!name} at {!email}
If you want to change your email address or
unsubscribe, please don't email me. Click the link at
the very bottom.
PREVIOUS ISSUES.
http://www.trinityjacobs.com/the-next-level.html
PRIVACY and SPAM POLICY: I never rent, trade or sell
my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever.
You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger
as a result of joining this list.
TO SUBSCRIBE FREE:
http://www.trinityjacobs.com/the-next-level.html
Just complete the simple form. Takes about 20 seconds.
And you'll get our F*REE report "Breaking Through
Administrivia"
Want to unsubscribe to The Next Level? See that link
at the very bottom of this page? Click on that and it
will take you to a web page where you can unsubscribe
with just one click.
Please don't reply to this email asking to
unsubscribe.
|