How to stand out in a crowded market

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online-business-stand-out-crowded-market-1Two people asked me questions about how to stand out in a crowded market.

“How to grab people’s attention? It is not like it used to be. Everyone and their sister is now a coach or trainer.”

“How do I differentiate in a market that has low barriers to entry and is crowded with crud?”

These people are asking the right question! It’s true that you need to figure out how to stand out and be different and I think there are 2 ways to do that.

A different question is how to promote yourself to grab people’s attention, but that’s a much larger question. I’ll discuss that a little bit at the end, but in this post, I’ll focus on how to establish yourself as unique so that the right people — your ideal, target customers and clients — will be attracted to what you have to offer.

1) You need to focus

online-business-stand-out-crowded-field-2a

When you serve everyone, no one is attracted to you. That’s because what you say doesn’t speak to people personally and individually. So you need to focus on whom you want to serve and that shouldn’t be everyone.

The process of focusing on helping a narrow slice of people is sometimes called “niching down.” It means that you want to choose the slice of people that you can best serve. This becomes your target market and it affects all of your promotion, the products you offer, your services, your keywords, and even your branding.

When you niche down, you gain the following benefits: Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Which online business model is best? There’s no one right way!

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online-business-no-one-way-1In spite of what the gurus and coaches say, there is no one way to make a good living online.

For example, I’m reading Russell Brunson’s Expert Secrets — a great book, by the way. In it, he talks about a statement that you need to have when you’re trying to sell a product. He calls it the Big Domino — if you can get people to believe that, then they’ll buy your product.

His statement is,

“The only way for you to exponentially grow your company is through sales funnels. The only way to build funnels is through ClickFunnels.”

He makes a good case for this statement.

Here’s the thing. I know people who are successful online who don’t use funnels. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Create a clear, powerful and concise message statement–your USP

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woman with bullhorn-messageYou can’t sell your services if people don’t know what you’re all about.

The same is true of products. People need to know in a few words how it will help them.

And if you aren’t unique, people won’t have a reason to buy from you instead of from someone else. They’ll also forget who you are. You need to stand out.

How do you stand out from the crowd?

Someone asked me,

“How do I put my personal message into two sentences that are clear, concise, and powerful?”

This personal message about what you do is often called a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It shows your potential clients what you’re selling and why they should choose you (why you’re unique).

There’s a formula for that

A simple formula for your USP is: Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

How to attain your goal–a 4-step process

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online-business-attain-a-goal-4-step-processWe all have goals. Do you meet the goals you set?

As the end of the year comes closer, it’s time to think about goals. Did you meet your goals for this year? Are you planning for next year?

First of all,

  • Have you clearly defined your goals?
  • Do you believe in them?
  • Do you want them enough?

So first,  define your goals and make sure you believe in them and you really, really want them.

What is it you really want? It’s good to write this down, even if you think it’s impossible. Many people never achieve their goals because they think they’re too pie in the sky, too impossible. But you MUST KNOW what you want  in order to achieve it.

Now what?

To attain a goal, you need to take action. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Create a roadmap for your business–and then follow it!

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online-business-roadmap-3This past week I coached two people on a roadmap for their business. Both of them have been floundering for a long time, trying to figure out which direction to take.

In one case, it was a plan for a product. In the other, it was a plan for a free download plus ways to promote services.

If you don’t have a roadmap, you don’t know where you’re going!

And you might be going in the wrong direction!

A roadmap is one of the most important documents that you will write for your business.

You should create a comprehensive roadmap for your entire business that describes in detail what you will do to attain your financial goals. In this roadmap, you should:

  1. Figure out your target market’s needs and wants — and write them down
  2. Write out your solution — and why it meets your target market’s needs and wants
  3. Describe how you will bring your solution to your target market — including promotional channels, technology platforms, and product/service structure

Shorter road trips are also valuable

Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein