TEN Things To Do To Guarantee You Do Well In Tough Times.

(1) Have a positive/upbeat attitude. Its incredibly important to be positive and think long term. You can’ let the economy beat you down, or it will effect every area of your life. I recommend you don’t look at the news, or your stock accounts as often. Instead, think about how fortunate you are to have a business, which offers solid, reliable, products or services that are wanted and needed.Let customers know you value them and desire their business. Your attitude determines the altitude of your business, always!

(2) Realize that your marketing expense is necessary insurance to let potential customers know about you. When marketing remember…. show case your benefits. Explain how and why you are better than the competition, use the advantages of the internet to broadcast and troll for new customers.

(3) Start a Loyalty Shopping Dollars program to retain existing customers. Be the company that right now is giving away FREE products for a predetermined time just for being a valued customer. This is a huge edge over your competition and needs to be advertised.

(4) Historically in tough economic times, having staple products like (soap, shampoo, laundry detergent) i.e. necessities do better then most competing industries, so you have a recession proof business.

(5) Also, in bad times like in 1991, and 2001, when the stock market was hit hard, These staple products did well. The down times create a tremendous opportunity. Everyone you know now needs to beef up their retirement accounts, job security etc is in doubt. Spend more time then ever to develop your business now, as the dividends will benefit you for a lifetime.

(6) Set the pace for your business with new growth. If you are adding new customers consistently let your existing customers know it. Developing new client relationships, they are the rewards of positive marketing and work hard, let your customers know this.

(7) Take advantage of all the new marketing ideas online. Start a newsletter, and grow your customer base with information they will find helpful in solving their challenges. Offer incentives to earn their business.

(8) Appreciate where you came from, and strive to make your company SOLID. Watch out so you aren’t incurring debt. See your business prospering, growing, free of new debt, and thriving.

(9) Create a customer referral program. If you reward your existing clients with incentives you can capitalize on their circles of influence which will only strengthen your business.

(10) Expose yourself to Successful Leaders in other business arenas each week. One way to do that is to join a mastermind group. Iron sharpens iron and will inspire you to greater levels of success when you share and cultivate meaningful mentorship.

Tags:
Business Success,
Home Business,
Marketing,
Small Business

Source: Business Success

Copywriting is a great job that can weather a difficult economy well. This is because businesses always need to advertise their products despite the condition of the economy. A good businessman knows that cutting the advertising budget will only hurt sales in the long run, therefore they continue to employ copywriters in difficult economic times.

Freelance copywriting combines the security of copywriting with the benefits of freelancing. These include the ability to dictate your own work schedule, your paycheck, and you can work from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. You can also make more money as a freelancer because you don’t have to deal with a parent company or advertising agency. You get to determine how much work you do and you get to keep all of your profit. This gives you greater control over your career and success.

Freelance copywriting operates on a project-per-project system. Meaning that copywriters work for clients on a contracted basis for a single project. The contract lays out what is expected from the copywriter and compensation for the work. Most projects have a timetable in which they have to be completed. The copywriter only has to complete the project inside the given deadline, other than that they can work whenever they want. They aren’t tied to a strict work schedule. But they must also manage their time well because missed deadlines severely hurt freelancing careers. Here are some helpful pointers if you’re considering becoming a freelance copywriter:

Go Online

Freelance copywriters can start finding work with online freelance marketplaces such as www.elance.com. You can create a profile, bid on projects, and post some of your best work as a display to potential clients. You can also have jobs that may interest you automatically emailed to your inbox.

You should construct a website. A website can host some of your work and act as a shop front window to potential clients. Your site needs to be easily read, neat, and professional looking. A sloppy site won’t get you any clients.

Network Yourself

You need to get your name into the market and industry. Otherwise you will have a very difficult time getting clients. Go to seminars and get to know other copywriters. Do some free projects in order to build a client base. You can also partner with other copywriters on larger projects. These things will help build a stable place for your business to grow.

Educate Yourself

No matter how skilled you currently are, you should always work to educate yourself and improve the quality of your copy. Since your writing is the foundation to your business, you should work extra hard to keep yourself competitive. There are plenty of online tutorials that help teach freelancing strategies. There are also different coaching course options by successful copywriters. These allow you to learn from the best copywriters out there and incorporate their success into your business. Check out some books by Dan Kennedy as well, he is a foremost expert in the field and his books can help you greatly.

You should also write everyday. Stephen King once compared working-out at the gym to writing: the more you do it the stronger you become. Therefore you should write everyday, this will help your writing improve immensely.

Hopefully you found this article helpful. Freelance copywriting is a great career with a lot of freedom and benefits. If you think freelance copywriting sounds good, then you should do some more research to see if it is right for you.

Source: marketing

Learning how to design your own website is very beneficial. The biggest benefit is that you can design a website for your personal or your professional use. Small business owners simply must have their own website, as this enables customers, or potential customers, to look over the products and services you offer from the comfort and convenience of their computer.

If you would like to have your own blog, there are lots of websites out there that can host it for you with many different design templates. The problem is, you won’t be able to make many changes to it. If you can design your own website, you will have virtually unlimited choices. You can design each stage of your site to showcase your individual style and put your creativity in the spotlight.

Beyond the obvious reasons for knowing how to design your own website, there are also many others. One of these is the fact that knowing how to design your own site, also means that you know how to design for others. In today’s world most people are looking for an opportunity to express themself through the means of a personal website. There is a lot of money to be had for those who are able to design websites for others.

Now that you have mastered the basics, consider the skills you want the world to see. This site will be the main way you sell yourself to potential clients. The site needs to show what you can do, and clearly demonstrate your marketing savvy. Additional sites can be set up to demonstrate complete mastery of a topic, or to show off specialized skills that will appeal to mainly subsets of your audience.

After you have a good example, or a few good examples, of your work you’ll want to set up a pricing structure. It’s a good idea when you’re starting out and don’t have many references to set a low price point. This will draw in new clients who can help establish you as a business and can offer references to future, higher paying, clients.

Keep in mind that the goal when starting a business like this is to not only make money but to have fun as well. Learning to design your own website should be a treat in and of itself. Finding a way to capitalize on the information you gather and the skills you learn while doing so are simply an added bonus.

There are many good reasons to learn how to design your own website. Whether your intent is business or personal use, having a presence on the Internet is almost imperative nowadays. If you’re already a small business owner, then your new website is a great opportunity to showcase your products or services. A blog for personal expression is a very popular way of maintaining an online presence and connecting with friends. But whether your new website is for business or personal, a really practical result of the process is that you now have the skills to do the same for others, which could turn into another business by itself.

- Tem Balanco

Source: Design Templates