Marketing Your Real Estate Business with Flyers and Post Cards

One thing you should use to promote your business is flyers. One of the key things about flyers is you don't want to waste any part of it. If you're buying houses, put that on one side and if you are also renting or selling houses, you want to put that on the other side. Don't waste any of the flyer.

Where can you put flyers? Place them at laundry mats, convenience stores, anywhere you go. You can also use sources like Val-Pak, Advo and grocery store inserts or contact newspapers and ask about inserting a flyer there. You can also look in your local Sunday paper at all of the sale papers and along the edge is the contact information for who publishes the advertisements. Simply contact them and see how much it'll cost to get your flyer into their insert with all of the other national advertisers. You can target certain areas and regions. Be creative! Use anything to make your flyer unique. Use pictures and be different.

You can also create a flyer on card stock (7pt High Bulk) and place a form where someone can fill it out and drop back in the mail where it will automatically be sent to you with a business reply mail permit. You can contact your local GMF (General Mail Facility) and meet with them to get a business reply permit. Now when you hand out or mail your flyer, the person can simply fill out your form for more information and drop it in their mailbox and it will be sent to you automatically. You simply deposit some money with the GMF and then they'll let you know as your balance gets near zero. Remember, when advertising, you have to be consistent. Don't think you are going to get all of the leads you need after one ad in the paper.

Another way you can market your business is through postcards. There are a lot of different types of postcards. You can mail them out to properties that are under code enforcement, in foreclosure, heir property, out of town owners or Section 8 landlords, to name a few. That is public information which you can get at your local Section 8 Office. Get a mailing list of Section 8 property owners; sometimes those are don't wanted landlords. Get a list of the out of town owners from the tax assessor's office. You can get a list of foreclosures from a listing service.

On postcards, be sure to use bright colors. Sometimes you can use oversized postcards. Postcards are cheaper to mail than a letter and they're already open. You don't have to worry about whether they have opened your mail. You can print your own. If you have a copier, get 8-1/2 by 11 cardstock, print and get a paper cutter. That is a lot cheaper than paying somebody, unless you want to use full color, which also pulls very well; so you might want to try that as well. You could also pay someone else to do the dirty work creating the postcards so you can do more productive things.

You can also market multiple items, properties and services on one postcard by using a voice mail service. You can list several items the person may be interested in and give an extension for each item so when they call they simply enter the extension and receive a pre-recorded message about that subject.


About the Author

For more articles and a 10 part e-course on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! plus over 50 training audios, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access

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High Powered Ways to Success in a Home Business

If you're not learning and growing in your online business daily, your business is not getting nourished and will die out.

The quickening pace of our times has people signing up for a program, throwing some advertising online and sitting back and waiting for thousands of dollars to instantly roll in.

Some are able to do this, maybe they have more time or money to accomplish it, however to become an online entrepreneur and gain long term success on the Internet, you'll be growing in two fundamental areas.

Here are 2 primary areas that need your attention for you to have success online:
First you will see, hopefully, awareness about yourself. You can't have a business and avoid seeing your strengths and weaknesses.

The other area is that you will get good at an integral part of your business. No need to learn a bunch of things all at once. Get good at one type of marketing, and then as that can be put on autopilot, focus on learning another.

Sports makes for great analogies, so even if you're not into sports, follow along with me here for a moment.

In sports there is a season and a lot of games. If you lose a game, you take a good look at what it was you did, and see how you can do better. It's all about growing and moving forward.

So you might look to see if you broke away from the fundamental things you always did. In sports and in your business, the basics are what always win out.

It might be that you went forward that day with a weak, negative attitude, or that you put making money over the care and attention of a new customer.

Now, is it going to be your way or the world wide web way? Take a look:

Building a successful Internet home business is not about the quick fix. Things will work; they might not be in the timeline you have demanded.

Because of a lack of discipline, and listening to the wrong voice in our heads, the fear and doubt voice, people are much more likely to fall prey to business opportunities that make some crazy promise to them. The promise might be dollars overnight, or it might mean a million visitors of traffic to your web site in two hours.

There is something to be said about learning, taking that knowledge and turning it into experience by taking action. You want to be desirous to get smart in your business, you don't want to be desperate. You are not looking for instant success, unless you are looking to go out of business.

Practice the fundamentals for your online home business by sticking with your opportunity. You don't people in the off-line world buying into a franchise and then two months later, getting out and buying into the next thing. They are in for the long haul, and it should be the same for you online too.

You know what helps you get to the bank besides your car? Your Understanding. Take a look:

Online is all about the promotion of your business website. Here is the key: do it consistent, keep it simple, and affordable. Easily maintained marketing techniques that you learn and get better with will make you a success.

Understand this and you are far ahead of the pack. Stick with the basics; take action daily in your home-based business. Do it with desire, keep that desire in the uppermost part of your mind. If you're only looking for the quick fix, you are playing the score and not the game.

Play the game, and play it with all of your desire. Take a new action today that makes your life and your online business better than it was yesterday.


About the Author

Steve Tash has 15 years in Relationship marketing, owning businesses online, and in the Entertainment and Fashion industries. Discover his best system to creating automated wealth online at: http://www.Job-Kill.com

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Top 5 Celebrities Exposed For Having Fake Qualifications

Theres a reason that inventing fake qualifications is advised against. Aside from the obvious ethical issues, if youre caught, youre in real trouble and could face sacking and a reputation of lying that will never pass. My experience of this is all from senior travel recruitment though, and it would be far worse if you were in the public eye. All the following have faced the accusation of lying on a CV to reach their celebrity position

5. Paul McKenna - Celebrity Hypnotist

Paul McKenna, the former radio DJ and TV hypnotist now runs a self help empire with an estimated 10,000,000 is somewhat unique in this list as he was completely unaware of the fake qualification he held. He took legal action against the Mirror for their comments that the entry requirement for his doctorate at La Selle University, Louisiana, was answering the question Do you have $2,615, sir? and won, with the judge accepting that McKenna was unaware that the degree was a scam, and had not tried to deceive the public with his fake qualifications.

The worth of the case is questionable though, with McKenna racking up 1,500,000 legal fees for a settlement believed to be between 20,000 and 50,000 - as well as highlighting his qualifications as bogus. McKenna has since earned what he calls a proper doctorate from a UK business school, which will pass the scrutiny of any qualification checks.

4. Marilee Jones - Author and Former Dean of Admissions at MIT

Marilee Jones was the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-wrote Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond before it emerged that she herself had cheated the admission process in getting a job at MIT in the first place. In 2007, it became public knowledge that she had lied on her CV with fake qualifications when she first joined MIT in 1979 as an entry-level admissions officer.

When she resigned her position with a statement on the colleges website, she wrote: I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago, and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since. It just goes to show that lying on your CV can catch you up at any time - in this case, nearly 3 decades later.

3. Robert Irvine - Celebrity Chef

Its surprising that this British chef was better known in America than the UK, but perhaps his lies would have been easily picked up over here. After working on the hugely popular Dinner Impossible programme on Americas Food Network, the St. Petersburg Times exposed a series of tall tales he had spread both anecdotally and by lying on his CV. Amongst the most damning was the claim he had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, refuted by the academic establishment after a qualifications check. He also claimed he worked on the wedding cake for Princess Diana and Prince Charles - which turned out to be a massive exaggeration: They made the cake at the school where I was. Irvines involvement? Picking fruit and things like that.

All this came to light in late 2007, and by New Year, the Food Network had announced that they would not be renewing the contract of the chef, but would continue to show re-runs and the new series which had already been filmed.

2. Gillian McKeith - Celebrity Dietician

Gillian McKeith had a wildly popular television show in which she forced overweight people to reassess their lifestyles and diet. She also has a multi-million pound selection of health products and books, but after an expose by various websites, and a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, she is no longer allowed to call herself Doctor on any of her promotional materials, thanks to obtaining the doctorate via a correspondence course from a non-accredited American college, according to The Guardians Bad Science section.

1. Claire Verity - Celebrity Nanny

The celebrity nanny on Bringing up Baby - Channel 4s childcare programme was found to have methods 100 years out of date, no children of her own and a series of fake qualifications, following an investigation by The Times. Her controversial childcare tips included leaving babies to cry, limiting cuddling time to 10 minutes a day, and leaving babies outside to air - advice the NSPCC have stated is outdated and potentially harmful. Her advice that babies sleep alone in separate rooms is also said to contradict guidance on preventing cot death.

With this advice dismissed as damaging from so many sources, its no surprise to learn that the professional bodies she claimed to have obtained qualifications from were keen to wash their hands of her. ASET, where she claimed to have diplomas in child daycare and preschool practice said there was no trace of her in their database, Goal who supposedly provided her diploma in childcare denied any knowledge of her and her agent admitted she had not taken the postnatal depression or care of multiple baby qualifications that Channel 4 had said she had. Maternity Nurse Training - where she claimed to have certificates in maternity practice, sleep training and paediatrics stated she was never enrolled with them, and went as far as to comment that they do not in any way endorse the methods employed by Ms Verity in her work.

After asking her to prove her qualifications, and none forthcoming 12 weeks after the claims were made, Channel 4 announced it assumed Verity had lied on her CV and would no longer be working with her, but claimed that only one series of the show was ever planned anyway.

So for Gods sake if you insist on using fake qualifications, just make sure you dont get famous! Lying on your CV will always catch up with you, even if the initial qualification checks are lax, whether youre looking for travel recruitment or if youre a world famous TV personality


About the Author

Gail Kenny is the managing director of Gail Kenny Executive Search, a headhunting recruitment agency specialising in senior travel recruitment. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the travel management, and businesses looking for such candidates.

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Branding Your Business

In todays image-conscious world, branding has never been more important. If you are able to tap into the Zeitgeist, you will be well on your way to success.

Walk down any high street and take note of ten household brands. What style have they chosen for their logos? What image does the logo project? Your business may never need to appear on the high street, but imagine if your brand is eventually just as powerful and recognisable to the casual onlooker.

Creating a logo and a name for a business are closely connected and should really be decided upon at the same time. Remember, your business name and logo will become your brand.

One important tip: avoid at all costs a logo that looks in any way like male genitals - this is surprisingly easy to do by accident, and it won't win you many customers!

There's always a rush associated with launching a new business, often because there has already been a financial outlay and you need to get to market as soon as possible to recoup, or because you fear that someone else might be about to launch a similar business. Either way, you simply cannot rush the creation of your logo.

Do not be tempted to use one of the pre-designed (copyright-free) logos you can find in computer design software. Even if it is only supposed to be a temporary measure, people who see this logo may recognise it as not your own creation; even if they don't, they will probably think that it looks a little tacky.

Don't forget, the people you will be meeting during the creation of your business will be people or companies that you are hoping to have a long-term relationship with, such as your suppliers, customers, solicitors, accountants, investors and the bank. Of all the people that you will be dealing with, these should be the most important in terms of creating the right impression. Don't sell yourself short so early on. Pay the fee and have a designer create your logo; they may not be particularly cheap, but good designers are worth their weight in gold.

When considering a design or briefing a designer it is important not to insist on too many boundaries. Although you might have a very clear idea about how the brand should look and even the colours or fonts to be used, make it clear that you would like to see any other ideas the designer might have. The results will be strange, exciting, worrying and sometimes amusing, but what this exercise shows is how brands elicit powerful reactions in people. Use focus groups and informal market surveys to see how people feel about your logo. The more people you can find to comment on the designs for your logo, the better. It will quickly become apparent which one will work best to project the image that you want.

Another consideration when designing your logo should be whether it is suitable for all media. Although you may not intend to launch a website for your business, you should still find out how your logo would look at the top of a webpage. Would the logo work on a TV screen or on an enormous advertising hoarding in a big city? If your staff are going to wear uniforms, or if you plan to issue company T-shirts, is the logo transferable onto clothing? Does the logo work for you when it is very large, or very small? Ask your designer to work with a range of colours and also to create a version using only black and one other colour. Sometimes simple colours work best and if you use a whole rainbow of colours in your logo it will cost a lot more to reproduce. Full colour letterheads, business cards and adverts are considerably more expensive than two-colour versions. But don't lose sight of the main goal - you are creating a brand that you want to be stunning, instantly recognisable and with the potential to become synonymous with your business. If it costs a little extra to create the sign above the door because you simply have to have aquamarine blue, so be it.


About the Author

Dr. John James shows people the development of Franchise Business. He also helps people to look for Best Franchise Opportunities.

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Avoiding These Three Mistakes Will Ensure Trade Show Success

To ensure the success of a trade show booth, effective time management is crucially important. With numerous possible customers moving through trade shows, it is imperative that the staff of your trade show booth work in a well-organized and resourceful manner to boost sales. Preventing the following typical trade show marketing mistakes will help your trade show booth be the most profitable and productive ever.

Don't Forget to Make a Plan

Don't drive around blind, set specific goals for your trade show booth before you arrive and accomplish them before you leave. Running around without a plan of where you want to go and what you want to achieve will get you nowhere. By making a plan of your trade show goals, you will know what to focus on during the show and you will know if you were successful after the show is over.

In addition to making a plan of your goals, think about the sales leads that you want to gain from the show. Trade shows are not just about making sales during the show, they are also about building relationships for future sales. Make sure your trade show booth reflects your company as it currently exists and as it plans to be in the future.

For instance, one possible plan for a trade show booth might involve introducing existing customers to your new products or services or showing your existing products and services to new customers. If you have a plan, it is easy to design your trade show marketing materials to reflect your goal.

Don't Wait Until the Last Minute

It is vital to get a jump on sales by marketing your product or service to potential customers a good amount of time prior to the trade show. By marketing online and through direct mail, you can let your potential customers know specifics about your trade show booth, including the date, facility directions, location of your booth, and more. Add in a bonus for your customers by providing a coupon or some sort of special offer, redeemable when they visit your trade show booth.

Taking the time to plan the marketing points of your trade show booth ahead of time is critical to accomplishing your goals. Booth design, artwork, signs, personalized promotional products, and other trade show marketing materials should be ready and in place long before the day of the trade show. If you wait until the last minute to make changes, you are sure to experience plenty of confusion, expensive overtime costs, and a loss of customers and sales.

Don't Have an Insufficient Staff

Many times, the success of your trade show booth comes down to the skills and availability of your staff. Make sure you staff your trade show booth with enough people to handle the number of customers you expect. You'll lose sales if you have a line of customers waiting to speak to a staff member. People are impatient when it comes to business, if you have a long line, your potential customers will move on to the next vendor.

You want to have enough staff members, but be careful you don't overstaff your booth. Too many may intimidate your potential customers, causing them to feel that pushy sales people may jump them on when visiting your trade show booth. In addition, too many staff members versus a lack of customers will give the impression that something is not right with your product or service. Educate your staff members about every aspect of your products or services so they can confidently answer questions without the need to go to someone else for an answer.

Not making a plan for your booth, putting off trade show marketing, and having an insufficient staff are typical mistakes that result in a loss of current and future sales. By avoiding these mistakes, you'll create a winning trade show booth that will keep your customers from moving on to your competition.


About the Author

Christine OKelly is an author for Jonathan Edelman, a trade show marketing consultant with more than a decade of experience. Jonathan is the founder of Ideas 4 Now, a trade show marketing company offering products like Money Machines that drive traffic to trade show booths, and the premier trade show vendors directory Trade Show Vendors.com.

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Xocai Healthy Chocolate Business Review. Is It A Scam?

Many people are looking for a way to work from home and earn extra money.

Starting your own Home Based Business is not that hard to do. Fill out a few forms, pay out a little investment money, receive your product and start up kit, and you are rolling.

But, it is important to know how you are going to make money doing it. Too many people get excited from the hype, how easy it is to make money, and several months later they are broke and frustrated. Honestly, I do not pay attention to all those earn big $$$ ads, because I know that you get out what you put in. I have been a Marketing Specialist on the Internet long enough to know that anyone can run an ad or put up a website promising you the next get rich quick with little work scheme. Sorry folks, get rich quick schemes are fueled by emotion and are designed to take your money!

Why am I so excited about this opportunity? Throughout my many years of Internet marketing, I have seen many good opportunities come and go. There were several that I passed on, and still regret it to this day. I am constantly approached by people that want to share the next big thing with me, and I have yet to get really excited.

With all the home based business opportunities out there, why did I choose Xocai Healthy Chocolate?

The best part about this home business opportunity is, that it came upon me purely by accident! It reminds me of a marketing line that is so true... "Nobody likes to be sold, but everybody loves to buy."

My wife Ann and I were first introduced to this product by a Medical Doctor who told Ann it has more antioxidants and health benefits than the current health juice we were drinking everyday. Excited about the notion of eating something everybody loves, and actually benefiting from it, we started taking it daily.

At the time,we had not really considered starting another Home Based Business, because we both have excellent incomes, and were just looking for a healthy natural supplement for ourselves, and our 1 year old son Zach.

I noticed a change immediately when I suddenly was sleeping through the night for the first time in years. My energy level was up and it occurred within days of adding this healthy product to my daily regimen.

To make a long story short, we started telling our friends and family about this great health product, and suddenly we were getting rave reviews and requests from people for more. Guess what? We were in business and didn't even realize it. It was that easy!

Is Xocai Healthy Chocolate a scam?

Before we got involved with Xocai (sho-sigh) Healthy Chocolate we did a lot of research. The questions we asked were, can we make money, and how much. I looked on the Rip Off Report, Scambusters and various oher scam sites for anything negative I could find about this product and it's company. I found nothing! Not even one negative report!

After reviewing the compensation plan offered by MXI, we were convinced that not only can we make money, the sky is the limit. Just like any business you are involved with, your effort will determine how much.

The Health and Nutrition Industry continues to grow.

What really excites me is that this is a new product in a huge market. As more medical research comes out everyday regarding healthy chocolate and its effects on diabetes, high blood pressure, weight loss, pregnant women, dental, the list goes on. It is obvious that in a few years it will be huge! Keep in mind, 9 out of 10 people love chocolate.

How can you make money with your own Home Chocolate Business?
The first thing you need to do is visit my website and read the material.

The material and information provided will help you understand what exactly you are getting into and why Xocai is definitely not a scam.

I know that most people are not interested in working from home because they are either scared of failure, lack basic business skills, or simply have yet to find a product or concept they feel they can market.

Doing nothing assures that you will stay right where you are. Taking action will at least open your eyes to the opportunities out there regarding your own home based business. I started mine 13 years ago and have no regrets.


About the Author

Jeffrey Taylor has been an Internet Marketing Specialist since 1995. He is a SEO (search engine optimizer) and currently owns over 4,200 revenue producing Websites. To view his Home based Business Opportunity Review go to Healthy Chocolate Business from home.

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The Sales Pitch and the Hype on How to Increase Your Residual Income

There have been a lot of sales pitch and hype with on how to increase your residual income. Majority of them can be found over the Internet. They are always full of promises about how it can be done in the shortest time. There is also the promise of instant growth in your income and profits with the littlest effort involved.

The tendency is for people to believe what is being said. One reason for this is that they all want to have loads of money, with little work and in the quickest manner. This is why many have fallen victims to those who are just full of empty promises.

What you may not know is that the first step necessary in order to increase your residual income is to dismiss some of the myths that are believed to be true during the sales pitch.

What are some of these myths?

1. All you need is your own website.

The common belief is that: by having your own website, everything else will follow easily. This is pure myth.

A website is only a means to expose your business. It is just like your office. What your office needs are effective marketing strategies to have more clients.

In addition, you cannot just leave your website as it is. You need to consider putting up advertising, order forms and customer service as a part of it. You can either do it by yourself or have a professional do it for you.

When all aspects are considered, that is the time when you can sit back and wait for the profits to flow in.

2. Create your business and have other people operate it for you.

This is effective if you already have a big business running. You will definitely enlist the help of capable workers to run some of the operations in your business.

But if you are just starting and starting small, this option will not work out. Since this is your business, you have specific goals planned for it. Your goals may not be similar to the person running your business.

You have invested some of your money in that business. It is apparent that you would want to get those back and more. By running the business yourself, you can study the accountabilities involved. You can also plan the budget depending on how much you can afford.

Once the business is successful already, you can then hire people that are capable of running it smoothly and effectively for you.

3. Increasing your residual income is very simple.

This is pure hype. It is best not to believe those who are saying otherwise.

Increasing your residual income is not that easy. It is going to take a lot of time, effort and perseverance on your part. You will be faced with problems and obstacles along the way.

Moreover, there should be changes in strategies as you go along. What you are implementing now may not work later on.

The thing to remember is to do things right, sit back and be patient.

Dispelling of these myths about increasing your residual income will open your eyes to reality. It may not be as easy but there is really no other way around it. You need to go over every step and every problem the way others before you have done.


About the Author

Daegan Smith Is And Expert Online Marketer

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True Experts Don't "Take a Knee"

Propose \\pr-pz\\ : to set forth for acceptance or rejection, to put forward for consideration

If your child were running in the middle of a busy street to chase after a ball, would you propose he stop?

If your neighbors house were on fire, would you propose the Fire Department entertain the idea of driving by when they get a chance?

I realize that most of us dont hold other peoples lives in the balance as part of our normal work day, but many of us in this arena really do provide services that substantially impact (improve) organizational performance and individual quality of life. What we do is important. What we know is important . . . too important to leave our solutions at the mercy of those often least equipped to determine their value - the client.

If your client has a problem you can solve, why would you propose (set forth for acceptance or rejection) your expert advice on the course of action to take? They either need you or they dont. Youre either right or youre not. (And you either believe these two things with all your heart, or you dont.) If they need you - tell them . . . Tell them Why, tell them What, Where, Who, When and How much.

Yes, organizing all of this -- and capturing it in a document you and the client can both reference as your conversation unfolds can be helpful. But please dont consider it, dont position it, and for the love of Mike . . . Whatever you do, dont label it or call it a proposal.

(The term I use most often is Recommendation Summary. Ive been doing this work for over 20 years. Im not proposing anything - Im an expert. I know what Im doing, and I want to help you. Im telling you exactly what your problem is, and exactly what you need to do to solve it.)

If you cannot or will not follow my recommendations, Ill still try to help you - at least to the extent that Ill try to get you connected with a (perhaps lesser, but nonetheless, competent) resource to help you take the actions you are prepared to take right now. (In fact, I do this all the time with people trying to solve their Sales Problem with Training, or their Marketing Problem with a Website.)

We can still be friends, lets definitely stay connected -- and we can even go fishing after Church, if you like - but Im not about to propose you take a course of action, then sit in my office waiting on that phantom phone call . . . hoping you find it in your heart to please baby, please accept my humble submission . . . and then circle back at some undetermined date to tell me all the things in my proposal that you are and are not going to do. Just Shoot Me Now!

If youre currently living this propose & pray existence, let me offer a little soul saving, money making relief:

Take a brief stroll with me into the No Bull Zone for a moment: If the client had the knowledge and skills to actually treat your submission as a proposal - meaning, hes better equipped than you are to accept or reject a specific course of action as the best path to take . . . then what does he need you for in the first place? Are you, or are you not the expert here?

Lets be honest, a great many of our clients dont even know what questions to ask.

How can we (Why Would We) expect them to have the answers?

(If they do have the answers without you - or even just think they do, Great . . . go help someone who needs and wants the help. Again, you can do this - fire the prospect - in a very nice and professional manner by connecting her with someone else who wont hurt them. And when you fire prospects in this manner, youll find that many come back soon enough - with a mindset that will allow you to truly serve them this time around.)

So What?, Now What?

This soul-sucking, heart-wrenching, money-losing pattern of submitting proposals can be largely corrected by exercising just a few key disciplines:

1. Stop calling it a proposal. Many clients will still keep calling it a proposal, of course. You dont have to correct them (though I often do), just never, ever use the term yourself. Simply making this modest shift in semantics will serve both you and your client well . . . help you stay positioned as the expert resource that you are, and help the client avoid shooting themselves in the backside.

I suspect that my Discussion Guides, Engagement Outlines, and Recommendation Summaries look a lot like key pieces of what you currently call a Proposal - especially if your documents are just a few pages or less. I cant think of a quicker way to cut my revenue in half (and my credibility by at least that much) than to take those exact documents and label them "Proposals." The Good News For You: To whatever extent Im right, the math works both ways. If you take no other suggestion I make on the issue, give this one an earnest try - simply re-label your current proposals, and determine for yourself if it really makes a difference.

2. Stop writing it yourself. Co-create your Recommendation Summaries with the client - and clearly label every version of this working document as a DRAFT.

Consider labeling later and final versions as co-authored by your Internal Champion(s). In my experience, this discipline of co-creating is particularly important -- and remarkably effective -- when working with multiple buying influences and complex sales processes. Sure, a piece of this is just good Sales Psychology 101 (capitalizing on the power of engagement, inclusion, pride of authorship, etc.) . . . but your recommendations will actually be better if co-written with the client. The Best Sales Tool on the planet is Doing Good Work. The proposal . . . uhhhh, thats Recommendation Summary now . . . is a work product - often the first tangible expression of your work that the client sees.

3. Stop expecting the document to do the selling. Do your selling before - and if necessary, after - but the document itself is a horrible stand-alone Selling Tool.

Early in the process, this living, working document can establish credibility, frame up the conversation to keep the exchange properly focused, gather information, challenge thinking, check assumptions and educate.

Later -- as more information is uncovered and the prospect begins to take equal ownership for both the document and its role in the decision making process, it can serve as a co-created Project Plan or Engagement Outline DRAFT - to be further refined with the clients active participation . . . including the business case for change, desired outcomes, budget parameters, etc.

The selling takes place in the creating (and co-creating) of these DRAFT-level documents, and firmly securing commitment (to the need, desired outcomes, and existing plans) from your Internal Champion(s) at every step along the way. The final document (what I usually refer to as a Recommendation Summary) is just that . . . a Summary - capturing the highlights from all of this previous work - and ideally submitted after the sale has really already been made.

Two Important Notes On This:

a) Im not advocating mounds of paperwork here. I (and most of those from whom Ive learned these valuable disciplines), write plenty of six and seven figure business with as little as one piece of paper from beginning to end. But if your sales process does require several rounds of discussion and this level of in-depth documentation, DO NOT do it in isolation, do it in partnership with the client.

b) Keep the final document (again, called anything but a proposal) completely separate - and positioned solely to facilitate the final steps in the buying process, in a sale already (at least intellectually and emotionally) made . . . NOT as something for the client to evaluate as an appropriate solution to their problem.

Of course its appropriate: The expert (you) -- after giving the situation the careful consideration and thorough evaluation you are uniquely qualified to provide -- says so.

4. When asked to submit a proposal . . .

� Clarify what theyre asking for - and answer as much of what they want to know in a proposal as you can -- right there on the spot.

� If they still want a written proposal, tell them youll be delighted to craft a brief one or two page Recommendation Summary reflecting your findings and outlining what you just said - or if they prefer . . .

They can write it up themselves to make sure it includes exactly everything they need and want . . . then youll review and sign it.

� If the client (or the nature of your sales environment) requires something beyond what Ive just described (and securing this piece of business is important enough to you), then by all means do it - but do follow the first three disciplines I outlined above.

You now have a set of expert recommendations on the topic. They really will Solve a Costly Sales Problem for many who read this. I am an expert in the field, and believe with all my heart that you should follow my advice. If you dont, I think you will suffer (financially and emotionally).

By the same token, Im delighted to help co-create your success, and recognize that I dont have all the answers. So, if you disagree with any of the above . . . What Do You Propose?


About the Author

Stone Payton is a Sales Marketing Troubleshooter specializing in helping organizations Solve Their Sales Problem. "The Most Candid Consultant On The Planet," and the man who literally wrote the book on SPEED, Stone plys his craft at: http://www.marketmate.org and http://stonesells.blogspot.com/

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Discovering Opportunities To Make Money With Paid Surveys

It often seems like making money online is going to be easy - because of all of the advertisements that you see each and every day, proclaiming that you can make thousands of dollars each day by doing things like paid surveys. In fact, you very well can make money with paid surveys, but it is important that you do your research first, to make sure that you are actually going to be making money, and not losing money with your paid surveys.

If you want to make money with paid surveys, all it takes is the ability to discover the right opportunities. If you can discover the right opportunities, and avoid the things that aren't going to make you money, you'll find that you will indeed be able to make money doing paid surveys online.

First of all, it is important to know that while there are indeed plenty of opportunities out there to make money with paid surveys. Therefore, you need to be able to recognize the great opportunities and ignore the false ones. There are several tips to use so that you can find real chances to make money.

First, remember that sometimes it is important to pay for the good things that you have. Some paid survey sites have memberships, and once you pay the membership fees you will get trained in how to do the surveys. This can be much better than trying to figure out how to make money with the surveys without any training. Learning how to make money can be important, so membership fees can help make sure that you have the right training.

Next, membership sites are often going to allow you to have access to all of the great surveys and marketing sites that you need. You might spend hours looking on the internet for good opportunities, but if you have a paid membership you will have access to these great opportunities without having to worry about finding them for yourself. This can be the best way that you have to make sure that you make the money you need to make with paid surveys.

Make sure that you read all of the fine print when you sign up for a survey site, so that you can avoid being scammed, and then use an online payment method, such as PayPal, or a credit card. It is always a good idea to protect yourself when you are working online.

Next, you want to wade through the various offers until you find one that seems reasonable. A good rule of thumb is to ignore the offers that seem too good to be true. If the company claims that you can work one hour a day and make a thousand dollars a week, this is probably not going to be true. Remember that often paid surveys don't pay that much, so stick to companies that offer you something that seems reasonable. Think about the amount of work that they are asking you to do, and make sure that the amount you are being paid is equal to that amount, at least in your mind.

Lastly, you want to be sure that you stick with the companies that will pay you. A good way to test this is to try out several companies, and then do only a few surveys before your payday. Make sure that you get paid, and make sure that the payment amount equals what you have expected. If a company doesn't pay you, or pays you less than you have earned - no matter what reason they site for it - you should ditch that company. Never spend an entire week or pay period working hard to make as much money as possible until you know that company is going to pay you as they have said.

Remember, paying for a membership is often very important. This will help you to save time in searching for ways to make money, and it will also help you make sure that you are able to get the training that you need to do the surveys quickly and make money from them. A lifetime membership, with a one time fee, is usually a minimal amount for the trouble it will save you and can help you make sure that you will earn the money you absolutely need.

You can expect to make a little bit of money with online paid surveys, if you take your time and find companies that will pay you for your work. However, you can also expect to spend a lot of time getting these companies set up and making sure that they are legit. This should be something that you do to supplement your own income. So by finding a reputable company that can help you wade through the paid survey waters, you can focus on making the money instead of researching the best opportunities then trying to figure out what to do on your own.


About the Author

Chris Simpson is dedicated to helping people find honest and legitimate work at home and home based business opportunities to include paid online surveys. Find legitimate work at home on the internet today at: http://www.HomeNetPro.com

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