Nope, you’re not seeing things and we’re not crazy. Making a pie is just like starting a business and we’re going to explain how:

Determine the need for pie.

When you decide to make a pie, it’s because you’ve determined that there’s a need for a pie. Maybe it’s Thanksgiving or another special occasion, or maybe your child or spouse just REALLY wants one. The same applies when you decide to start a business: you’ve determined that there’s a need for the product or service that you’ll be offering and you commit to doing something about it.

Featured Resource this week - Copy Doodles

Handwriting and hand-drawn enhancements have been used for years in advertising and marketing because they are a proven way to grab attention and increase response and readability. There is NOTHING out there that matches the quality, expertise and level of support you get when you become a CopyDoodles member.  Their extensive library of direct-response marketing graphics features thousands of hand-drawn CopyDoodles, which can be easily downloaded to your computer and placed on any of the online or offline marketing pieces you are working on in a snap.

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Entrepreneurs are the backbone of every company ever created, and according to Chris Kuenne and John Danner, entrepreneurship professors at Princeton University, the personality those business starters have is the most important factor in determining their success.

Together, they studied the motivation and self-identity of 450 entrepreneurs whose companies made at least $3 million in annual revenue and had been around for at least 3 years. Through their work, they discovered that these entrepreneurs all had one of four personalities:

Featured Resource this week -

 One Click Upsell

If you sell products, services or entry to events, using Infusionsoft's order forms, and you are not leading the new buyer to an immediate up sell, YOU ARE LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE!!!

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In the last installment of our 6-Part List Building Series, we’re going to explain how you can use other people’s lists to build your own. And no, this does not mean buying email lists… that’s always a bad idea! However, collaborating with other businesses to promote each other, a technique known as co-marketing, is a great way to gain subscribers.

PRO tip: Always, yes ALWAYS, have a call-to-action so ‘other people’s customers’ can opt-in on YOUR list for something free or paid. That’s the secret to using other people’s lists to grow your own.

So here are five ways to collaborate with another business and use their list to build your own:

Effective leaders come in all shapes and sizes. There are loud, bold leaders who make headlines seemingly on a daily basis and there are quiet leaders who are content to let others bask in the limelight. Despite their differences in approach, one thing many of these effective leaders have in common is a set of behaviors that help them achieve success and then sustain it no matter what path they walk. Here are 7 of those behaviors:

If you thought direct mail was dead, think again. It is still a powerful marketing tool, especially when paired with an email campaign, and can help you gain more valuable customers. So, in this week’s installment of our 6-Part List-Building Series, we put together five tips for using direct mail to build your email list:

Many people say seven is a lucky number. There were seven wonders of the ancient world and there are seven rows on the periodic table. Even ladybugs have gotten into the act with seven spots on their backs. Seven is also a great number when it comes to communication, which is the focus of our series for July (the seventh month, by the way). To kick things off, we’ll take a look at your employees, more specifically, how to keep them happy.

The calendar year may be slowly winding down, but that doesn’t mean your business is. Your year has probably seen its share of ups and downs, where certain aspects of the plans you laid out back in January have exceeded your wildest expectations, while other things… well, they didn’t quite go the way you imagined.

Now that Q4 is drawing near, you’ll want to finish the year strong. How will you do that? You need a plan. More specifically, you need a great one that includes certain key elements.

A good plan starts around a very basic idea. It says: “I’m going to accomplish this goal in this amount of time.” For a business, this plan might mean you want to increase sales in the next quarter. However without a comprehensive plan that details what you’re going to do to get those sales, you run the risk of never reaching your goal. A good plan should also include a timetable and milestones so you know you’re heading in the right direction.

It’s no secret that Q4 is rapidly approaching. What that means to you and to your business will vary depending on what industry you’re in, but regardless of how important Q4 is to you, there’s no point in letting an entire quarter of the year go to waste. Even if it’s not normally a time for huge sales and a major marketing push, it doesn’t mean you have to go into your shell. Here are some things you should be doing before Q4 lands in your lap.

Communication is something we do so instinctively that we often take it for granted. We shouldn’t. One of the keys to being successful in business is not only communicating, but communicating effectively. That’s doubly true when it comes to your employees. You’ll find all sorts of books and articles on what to say to them, but just as important is what you DON’T say.

Featured Resource this week -

Change the RULES of Mobile Marketing.

Before now, mobile marketing was severely limited. You could only send a single text in response to a single incoming text message. This caused people using mobile marketing to settle for less than effective marketing strategies.

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Do you want to be more productive? Sure, who wouldn’t? It’s not just a nice goal either. It’s a matter of survival. Like many small businesses owners, you don’t have the luxury of unlimited resources, so you have to maximize what assets you do have if you want to stay competitive.

You have to be willing to put in the work, of course. Boosts in productivity don’t come without a little sweat. But you have to work smarter, not just harder. Here are 7 ways to get more for your efforts.

Featured Resource this week -

Sherrie at SLS Event Planning and Consulting LLC, organizes, sets up, and manages various corporate, public, and private events and meetings.

We’ve known Sherrie a long time and have confidence and respect for her amazing event planning skills, so please give her our regards when you call.

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