April 10, 20193Comments

online-business-secrets-relationship-marketing-1 You’ve probably heard that people buy from someone that they know, like, and trust. It makes sense, after all. Would you buy from someone that you don’t know, like or trust?

But if you’re an online entrepreneur, how do potential customers get to know, like, or trust you? They aren’t meeting you in person, so you need to create an online relationship.

Creating an online relationship would seem hard when you’re trying to attract a large number of customers. How do you have time to meet with people individually? The truth is that you often don’t. If you’re selling high-priced products or services, you may bring people to a 1-on-1 sales meeting, but many online sales are completed without that personal touch. People buy from a sales page on your website or a link in your email.

There are secrets to creating relationships with people online. If you master these, your sales will increase, sometimes dramatically.

In addition, some of the relationships you create will turn into partnerships. These partnerships can bring you many subscribers and customers at a time because people trust a recommendation from someone they trust. (And you can recommend their products to your subscribers in return — maybe even get a commission for doing so!)

Here — in no special order — are 13 secrets to creating relationships. Please leave a comment if you have a question, want to add a secret that has worked for you, or have a comment. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Trends for online marketing in 2017 and beyond

Events/webinars

Social Media

Success

WordPress/blogging

January 30, 20178Comments

How are you going to compete with all the marketing noise out there?

As I’m sure you know, the Internet is a busy place. Think about all the social media notifications you get, for example. What makes one stand out over the others?

And then think about how you can be the one that people remember! Be the turquoise when everyone else is gray!

Have you ever signed up for a free online report, gotten on someone’s email list as a result, but when you starting getting emails, you had no idea who they were from? That happens to me quite a lot and I end up unsubscribing.

How can you be memorable?

I have a coaching client who teaches mortgage loan officers how to be memorable so they can get more leads and close more mortgage loans. She creates quirky images that are very memorable. And her techniques are designed to keep her customers “top of mind.”

Here are some trends for online marketing that will help you be memorable, leading to more engagement and more sales.

1. Engage regularly

by Ellen Finkelstein

Believe in yourself & engage your readers

General Internet Marketing

September 24, 20111Comments

Internet marketing for social entrepreneurs & solopreneurs-engage your audience I’ve now heard from 2 marketers about the importance of showing your personality and talking about your personal life as a way to connect with your readers.

I don’t do this very much, because I’m always so focused on quality content that my readers and subscribers can use.

But maybe I should. Anything that helps people feel connected with you is a good idea.

Believe in yourself

So, I want to talk about a 5-minute presentation I recently gave at the Presentation Summit conference in Austin, Texas.

I wasn’t scheduled to speak, but the organizer offered an opportunity for anyone in the audience to speak for 5 minutes at the end of the conference. There was about 1-1/2 hours to prepare something.

I took the opportunity, although there was a risk that it wouldn’t go well, with so little time to prepare. Luckily, I had some content ready. I put slides from 2 existing presentations together and ran through my talk 3-4 times before presenting. Here’s the first slide.

I got very positive feedback–although you never know if that type of feedback is honest. I’m hoping that it will lead to future offers to speak or train.

Sometimes in marketing you have to work on yourself first. You need to believe that you have something valuable to offer. That might involve taking a leap of self-confidence. But then, you can convince others.

Let your personality shine through

In your marketing, talk about your own journey. For social entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, this is especially important. People want to connect with you personally. It might be hard to open up and you might have to search for a relevant way to talk about yourself so that it’s meaningful and useful to your readers, but the rewards can be great. Your readers will start to feel like they know you and want to continue the connection.

What personal story do you have that could help others? Leave a comment!

by Ellen Finkelstein