Success in the New Media Marketplace is all about connecting at a deeper level.  Sites like Facebook and Twitter have changed the way we do business.  Gone are the days of static websites and salespages. The social media consumer requires a higher level of rapport and trust.  If you’re not interacting with your followers, you’re missing out on sales.

There’s a new truth in the New Media Marketplace: People buy who you are before they buy what you’re selling.  People buy based on trust.  But a static website that never changes isn’t going to go a long way towards building trust.  The new media marketplace requires a new kind of website.

Introducing iQuanSite: The World’s First New Media Marketing Site-Building Software

iQuanSite is the world’s only site-building and online marketing software built to leverage the power of New Media for your business growth for pennies on the dollar.  It’s software that takes what used to take hours for you to do and reduces it to minutes.  Believe me, I’ve built websites and blogs the old way and the iQuanSite way and I guarantee that if you’re looking for a faster, simpler, less “techie”, less-costly and far-more effective way to grow your business online… iQuanSite is for you!

Take a look at some of the things you can easily do with your iQuanSite:

Want to distribute a video to YouTube? You can.  Upload it to any blog post or marketing pro page through the New Media Video PRO module and tag it for distribution via Heyspread and poof – it instantly appears on your site and the video sharing sites you’ve selected.

Want to share your blog articles with Diigo? It’s easy-peasy!  Simply set up the power bookmark robot in your site settings and start posting.  As soon as you publish your post, it gets distributed to the top 25 social bookmarking sites – without you having to do the legwork.

Want to send the same post automatically to your subscribers or followers? Open an aWeber account and configure it to broadcast your blog posts.  Once you publish a post, it gets sent out to your list.

The iQuanSite™ software harnesses, simplifies & automates the power of New Media to create a successful Web presence for you and your business.  And best of all, it’s fully hosted and installed for you.  The iQuanSite team installs your hub site and gets it ready for you to use in minutes!  No more messing around with FTP programs and database permissions.  You just sign up for a membership, select your domain and the iQuanSite team takes care of the rest.  And they make sure that your hub site is always on the bleeding edge of New Media.

The iQuanSite Development team is dedicated to ensuring that your site-building software keeps current with the latest advances in new media tools and technologies.  And if that weren’t enough, they also work round the clock to make sure your iQuanSite is secure and is working FOR you!  With iQuanSite, your technical headaches are minimized, leaving you to focus on generating great connection content for your followers and serving your tribe.

iQuanSite Doesn’t Stop There!

You’re intelligent enough to know that getting visitors to your site is only half the battle.  Getting them to take action once they are there is what counts.  Success in the new media marketplace relies upon your ability to attract-connect-convert.  You attract a steady stream of customers to your hub site, connect with them through various on-site and off-site channels, and then convert them into raving fans and paying customers.  And this is where iQuanSite really shines.

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• Auto link cloaker built right in to protect your affiliate or tracking links
• An exclusive “Audio/Video Action Motivator” that literally moves your visitor to the page you want at the end of an audio or video finishes playing on you

The fact is: iQuan$ite is the ONLY tool to attract, connect and convert — and best of all, it does a lot of the work for you!  Saving you time and money!

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• One-click creation of sales, registration, and other *action pages*
• Instant navigation menus and keyword optimized archives
• Change your site layout and swap out your site header with the push of a button
• Insert ads, images, or any other code you want just about anywhere you want on your iQuanSite with absolutely no knowledge of HTML
• And much, much more!

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There are a few things that stand in the way of entrepreneurs and professionals like you who are REALLY serious about growing their business and reaching their goals using the iQuanSite system.

It’s true that the QuanSite software gives you incredible leverage and power for promoting yourself and your business.  It works equally well for local businesses, off-line professionals and online entrepreneurs.  Yet until the most common barriers to progress are removed, you’ll be stunted in the ability to fully capitalize on New Media as the greatest marketing power ever available to entrepreneurs in history.  One of the greatest barriers is time… many online professionals simply do not have the time to dedicate to setting up a new hub site and customizing it to match their offline branding.  And why would they want to?

Online entrepreneurs need to leverage their strengths, magnify their persona and create a powerful personal brand in order to successfully leverage Social Media… not mess around with HTML code and graphic design.

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Happy New Year!  2010 is off to an interesting start for me.  A day before New Year’s Eve, I happened to see a tweet by John Mayer proposing a week long hiatus from Twitter, Facebook, texting and mobile e-mail.  When I first saw the tweet, I thought of all the reasons I couldn’t partake but it was appealing to me.  In fact, I know that I tweeted a half-hearted committed response… I’d link to it on Twitter for you but… I’m off Twitter this week.

Turns out, I decided to jump right in with both feet on January 1st.  I didn’t even get out any last Happy New Year tweets and text messages.  My cousin sent me a text message early on New Year’s day, long before the cut off time, and I didn’t reply via text.  I was already in digital cleanse mode.

It’s been an interesting experience so far but I guess I should outline my current digital habits for you so you can judge for yourself whether or not I’ll gain any benefit from disconnecting for a while:

- My family communicates by text message: My brother’s and sister’s text me exclusively.  I rarely receive calls from them… it’s always a text message.  If I don’t reply to their text message, they send me a message on Facebook or IM me on Yahoo or MSN.

- I Tweet / Facebook for work: Clients communicate with me via DM on Twitter.  I also do brand monitoring on Twitter.  So I’m changing my game plan for the week.  Any tweets initiated by me will obviously not go out.  Any DM’s that are sent to me will be replied to via regular e-mail or Instant Message (since that oddly isn’t part of the restricted activities) or phone.  And brand monitoring… I’ll still keep an eye on it via e-mail.  I follow certain keywords and receive e-mail notifications so while it will be a little challenging to get used to a different way of thinking, it’s only for 7 days and three of those were the Holiday Weekend.  I made it through my first full work day without minimal impact.

- My extended family and friends stay in touch via Facebook: I have friends all over the world and instead of adding them to my own e-mail client, I keep in touch with them via Facebook.  I like being able to keep up on their lives and see pictures and connect with them almost instantly.  They’ll still be there at the end of the Cleanse and I can have a great time catching up with them when I’m back.

So all in all, I thought the digital cleanse was going to be a little more challenging to stick to.  I think it would have been had the guidelines banned the use of e-mail from desktop or laptop computers or banned Instant Messaging.  Or even if the definition of social networking sites included blogs (of which I have several that I update frequently and which I’m choosing to NOT include in the restricted sites).  And I’m bending the rules a bit by continuing to monitor my brand - though I’m not visiting Twitter to do so and am relying on e-mail to do the bulk of the monitoring for me.  Had any of those been part of the guidelines, then I may have found it a little harder to disconnect.  As it stands, I haven’t missed it as much as I thought I would and it’s nice to have a little less “noise” clamoring for my attention.

If you would like to participate in the Cleanse yourself, here are the guidelines as posted by John Mayer on his blog:

The cleanse will begin at 9am on January 1. This gives everyone a chance to text and tweet their new year’s well wishes, and theoretically begins upon waking up the morning of January 1. The cleanse will end at 9am on January 8.

Guidelines:

*email only from laptop or desktop computers
*cell phones can only be used to make calls, and no text messages or e-mails are allowed - if you receive a text, you must reply in voice over the phone. E-mails must be returned from a laptop or desktop computer.
*no use of Twitter or any other social networking site - this includes reading as well as posting.
*no visiting of any entertainment or gossip sites. (No need to detail which ones - you know what they are.)

If you do participate, be sure to drop me a line below and let me know how it works out for you, whether you found it difficult or challenging or whether it was a welcome change.  So far, four days into the digital cleanse, I’m finding it a welcome change.  I’ll let you know on the flip side whether I still feel that way.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and clients!  I hope you’re having a great day with friends and family.  Enjoying good eats and a well deserved break from your business.  If you’ve automated your business, then chances are today you’re still able to keep the business running without you. If you’re still working toward automating and building a business that can run independently of your involvement, then I hope you’ll be taking a few hours off today to share in the family festivities.

If you have a little downtime, I just downloaded free copy of Glenn Hopkin’s book: Confessions of an Online Marketer and I think you’ll enjoy too.

The book normally sells for $19.95 on Amazon.  I haven’t had time to read it all myself but plan to spend a few hours over the next couple of days pouring over it’s contents.  A quick glance through the table of contents and I can see that it would be of value to my readers so I’m sharing the download link for you here.

You’ll have to opt-in to receive the report but it’s worth it.  If you’ve ever struggled with converting prospects into customers or don’t understand how to calculate the lifetime value of your customers, then you need to read this report.

You can access it here — be sure to include the promo code free so you won’t have to pay to download the ebook.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I saw this question posted on a forum recently:

I apologize if this seems like a long winded question.  I am looking for a robust solution for my shopping cart and autoresponders.  However, I need to know how to automate upsells. When I bought a recent product, there were 5 upsells.  Please advise how to do automated upsells, preferably integrated with 1shoppingcart.  Thanks!

The sales process that is being described above is also referred to as a one time offer.  I’m sure you’ve seen the process used before.  It can be used on a salespage to give first time visitors a special incentive to purchase.  Or on a thank you page once someone has opted in to a newsletter or special report.  Or even used as part of the order process once a visitor has already committed to the purchase of a product. The process being described above the order process one time offer (or OTO) or upsell.

The Order Page Upsell or One-Time-Offer

Let’s describe the one time offer process.  I’ll describe only one upsell rather than the five noted in the question above.

I visit your salespage and decide to buy.  I click on the order button and commit to the order.  Let’s say I’m ordering an exercise DVD.  I click order and it’s added to my shopping cart and I’m taken to a new page.  I am now presented with an additional offer to add resistance bands at $19.95 to enhance my weight loss.  I can choose to add it to my order or say “No thanks” and continue with my order.  If I add it to my order, I pass straight through to the checkout page with both items in my shopping cart.  If I pass on the offer of the resistance bands, I pass through to the checkout page with only the DVD in my shopping cart.

Without any additional coding, the process above is strictly an upsell process.  Every time they buy that DVD, they are presented with the same offer of the resistance bands.  Now what if instead of just adding the resistance bands at full retail, you were to offer them at 50% discount if they order with the DVDs.  It would be a one time offer only at the point of sale, the first time they purchase.  So now, instead of being offered the resistance bands at full-price, I can add them to my order for $9.97 but only if I order today.  I will never see this offer again.  If I say yes, I pass through to the checkout page with both items in my shopping cart.  If I say no, I pass through to the checkout page with only the DVD in my shopping cart.

Seems the same, right?  Except that now instead of paying full retail, they’re paying half price for the upsell.

Let’s take the example a step further and focus on the buyer who said no to the offer of resistance bands at a 50% discount.  They’re just about to check out and change their mind and want to add the resistance bands to their order.  So they click back on their browser window to return to the previous page where they were offered the resistance bands at 50% discount and they’re presented with a different offer on the bands.  Maybe it’s only a 25% discount or no discount at all.  They will never be able to see the 50% discount offer as it is only presented to them one time.

That’s how the OTO is integrated into the upsell process.

Integrating Upsells or OTOs into 1ShoppingCart

So how does this work with 1ShoppingCart?  The upsell module in 1ShoppingCart is fairly new, having been added in the past year.  It’s not an intrusive upsell but works more like Amazon’s upsell by displaying items that are related to the item being purchased (Customers who bought this book also bought…).  But you can still integrate a more conspicuous upsell and OTO by setting up different pages on your hub site.

Let’s look at the upsell at full retail first:

The first page you would need is the salespage for the exercise DVDs.  Your buy now button would lead to a different page on your site describing the resistance bands upsell with another order button or a no thanks button.  In 1ShoppingCart, you would need to set up a product for the Exercise DVDs and a different product for the Resistance Bands.  Then you would need to set up a bundle offer in 1ShoppingCart to bundle the DVD with the resistance bands.  The product link for the bundle is attached to the Buy Now button and the buyer passes through to the check out page with both items in their shopping cart.  The No Thanks button is coded with the product link for the Exercise DVD only and the buyer passes through to the check out page.

The One Time Offer Checkout

Again you would need a salespage for the exercise DVDs.  Your buy now button would lead to a different page on your site describing the one time discount of 50%.  This page would need to be a true one time offer page that would drop a cookie to indicate that the buyer has seen this page.  If they try to browse back, they are prevented from seeing this page and prevented with the non-OTO page from your hub site.  So you would need to set up two different pages: one with the one time offer and one with the non-OTO offer (what they will see if they decide to bypass the original offer).  In this example, we’ll offer the resistance bands at 25% discount.

You will also need to obtain an OTO script so that your offer is truly a one-time offer.  There’s nothing that destroys trust and credible more than saying it’s a one-time offer and then failing to deliver on that promise.  You can access a free one-time offer script that I’ve used in the past by clicking here.  Or you can checkout iQuanSite.com for no mess, no coding one time offer pages that you enable with the click of a button rather than having to install a script.

In 1ShoppingCart, you would need a product set up for the exercise DVDs, a product set up for the resistance bands at 50% retail and then a product set up for the resistance bands at 25% retail.  You would also need to set up a bundle for the DVDs and Resistance Bands 50% Discount and a separate bundle for the DVDs and Resistance Bands 25% Discount.

Let’s focus on the OTO page first.  This page would describe the offer of the resistance bands at 50% discount and stress that it’s a one-time offer - if they click No thanks, they will never see this offer again.

The Buy Now button on this page would be coded to add the bundle DVDs + 50% discount to their shopping cart and pass them through to the checkout page.

The No Thanks button would be coded to add only the Exercise DVDs to their shopping cart and pass them through to the checkout page.  This buyer decides at this point that they really do want the resistance bands so they click back to add them and are taken to the non-OTO page.

The non-OTO page needs to describe why they are not seeing the original offer and the replacement offer of the 25% discount.

The Buy Now button on this page would be coded to discard the original product (exercise DVD only) in the cart and add the bundle Exercise DVDs + 25% discount and pass them through to the checkout page.  The No Thanks button would just pass them through to the checkout page.

One time offers and upsells are great persuasive triggers that can easily be incorporated into any sales process.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask them by clicking on the comments link below.

I had some down time last night and decided to give my brain a break with a couple of hours in front of the tv.  I rarely watch tv these days, preferring to spend my time reading or writing or doing just about any other than watching tv.  But every once in a while I do find myself surfing aimlessly and last night was such a night.

I won’t bore you with what I watched (it was bad enough that it bored me) but I did see something interesting: a commercial that featured a twitter handle in small print at the bottom of the screen.  I couldn’t believe it.  I turned to my partner and said “Did you see that?  That commerical had their Twitter handle.”  He missed it but it was there.  As I said, I don’t watch much tv so this may be commonplace but it was the first time I’ve seen a commercial include a Twitter ID.  And it got me to thinking that the smart retailers would take advantage of the power of Twitter over the upcoming holiday season.

Let’s face it, advertising has changed.

Today’s consumers are a different breed.  They’re more savvy and aware of the media that they have become virtually impervious to ads.  They don’t respond when someone tells them what to buy or how to spend their money.  Those advertising tactics are lost in the new media marketing world.  And while the principles of scarcity still apply to advertising and marketing, unless the tactic is being used legitimately and ethically, buyers will become blind to that tactic as well.

Today’s consumer buys based on word-of-mouth.  They want to hear about products from their friends and co-workers or they read about it online.  It’s word-of-mouth that is driving the retail industry now, more than ever, and the smarter retailers will start to make social media and Twitter part of their marketing strategy.

I know a few people who will routinely ask their Twitter followers for movie recommendations.  The “It’s Friday night and we’re going to the movies, what should I see?” type of tweet litters my stream almost weekly.  Those types of tweeters are basing their buying decision solely on the recommendation of their friends and followers.  I have another friend who saw a movie recently and posted a status update on Facebook and three or four of her friends said they wouldn’t see it based on the lines “Saw X, disappointed”  She didn’t explain what she didn’t like.  Just that it was disappointing… and turned three of her friends of the movie.

That’s the power of word of mouth advertising.

What’s the next step?  Well maybe some innovative movie theater will offer free WiFi access so that Tweeters can give and get instant feedback on a movie, though maybe a smarter idea would be to set up some kiosks in the lobby so that we’re not inundated with play-by-play’s during the movie.  Maybe the concession stand can tweet out a special code to receive a free refill or box of Junior Mints.  The possibilities are endless.

Retailers during the Holiday Season who incorporate social media into their marketing strategy can offer special VIP codes to buyers or announce sales and other discounts or even announce contests all through sites like Twitter and Facebook.  And if they’re lucky, they’ll hit onto a commercial campaign that becomes viral and spreads through the online communities like wildfire.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the webinar last night on the new FTC Endorsement Guidelines coming into effect December 1, 2009.  The replay is now available.  Just a reminder: this webinar is provided for your information only and does not constitute legal advice.  Should you have any questions regarding the specific legal ramifications of the new guidelines as they pertain to your business, please consult a lawyer specializing in Internet Law.

Part I: Understanding the FTC Endorsement Guidelines

Part II: Q&A on the New FTC Endorsement Guidelines

In addition to watching the webinar, I suggest that you review the guidelines yourself to be sure that you understand the new regulations. Download the new FTC Endorsement Guide here

The FTC has also prepared a series of videos that answer the most common questions bloggers have about the new guidelines:

What do the Endorsement Guides mean for bloggers?

How do bloggers follow the Endorsement Guides?

To learn more, visit the FTC Website directly by clicking here.

I just received an e-mail from Mark Joyner.  He’s running an experiment where you can download the ebook version of one of his best selling books.  His theory is that by giving the eBook away for free, it will increase the sales of the hard copy.  I’ll leave him to explain it but I’m hoping he shares the results of the experiment:

I’m running a rather controversial experiment that has already sent the marketing experts into a tizzy.

http://www.simpleology.com/p/theirresistibleoffer/deborah

My book The Irresistible Offer has been one of the top-selling marketing books of the last 4 years, but I think it can do better.

My theory is that by letting people download it for free it will in fact positively impact sales.

I’ve seen other people do this, but given that they did it while the book was in pre-launch or mid-launch it’s really impossible to know what kind of impact it had.

Sales for The Irresistible Offer, on the other hand, have been relatively steady and predictable so if we see a boost as a result of this it will be a good indicator that the tactic works.

If the sales suddenly come to a screeching halt, that would be evidence to the contrary.

(And may not make my publisher happy, but hey, they are great people and innovative thinkers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed me to do something so edgy.)

It’s not a perfectly scientific test, of course, but it will be very strong data given the current status of the book.

This is significant for many reasons.

Most importantly because the print publishing world (of all forms: books, CDs, DVDs, etc.) is getting increasingly anxious about the impact of digital publishing and digital piracy on their businesses.

I think digital publishing not only opens up new revenue streams for them, but also positively impacts the sales of print media.

The same may, in fact, hold true of piracy.

Take DVDs as an example.

Yes, there will be many people who will avoid purchasing something if they can download it for free. But what about all of the conversations they start with people after having viewed it?

Conversations that wouldn’t have otherwise taken place.

It’s time to settle this discussion once and for all - by letting you decide.

I invite you to take part in this experiment by downloading The Irresistible Offer for free …

http://www.simpleology.com/p/theirresistibleoffer/deborah

So go download it now - and together we’ll all find out whether piracy actually does boost sales or makes them drop like a rock.

There has been a lot of activity online recently regarding the new FTC guidelines that go into effect on December 1, 2009 and you may be wondering how the guidelines affect you and your business and may be struggling to sift your way through all the hype and hysteria surrounding the new guidelines.  That’s why my colleague and friend, JP Micek, is opening up the lines to a very special call he’ll be hosting tomorrow night on the FTC Guidelines and we’d like to invite you:

JP writes:

The new FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials and how they affect bloggers and marketers has been a brewing story ince late Summer 09′.  Frankly, after doing an interview on the ubject in August my “BS antenna” have been up at attention waiting the Marketplace Molesters to use this to drain money out f your pockets.  Well, the inevitable flood of “compliance” products promoted by marketers and attorneys using nothing more than scare tactics has begun and it’s time for you to be protected against them as much as the FTC.

With the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) new guidelines going into effect on December 1, 2009, scam artists, Internet gurus and even some attorneys are trying to sell bloggers, affiliate marketers and website owners like you products and services that can actually get you into more trouble with the FTC.

Whether these people are honestly trying to help, or knowingly are misleading you and millions of others in the hope of short-term profits — it doesn’t really matter.  The facts of the FTC guidelines are what matter.

Before you plunk down one single dollar on any product or service that’s promising you protection against the new FTC guidelines on endorsements and testimonials you need to attend this FR3E webinar
on Thursday, November 19th.

I promise you — no products will be recommended and no scare tactics — just the facts so you can decide what’s right for you and take action on making sure you are in compliance.

Register here:

PLAN to join us LIVE!
THURSDAY, November 19th ~ 7:00pm EDT / 4 PM PDT (US)

Please register at: http://sn.im/ftc-guidelines

See you then!

Yours in life, liberty & the pursuit,

John Paul Micek

PS: as an entrepreneur and marketer I understand the value of using fear to motivate people to action . . . WHEN it is in THEIR BEST INTEREST. But to milk people of hundreds of dollars when there is
really only one form of legal protection is criminal. It’s typical of the Marketplace Molester to leverage situations like the new FT guidelines for monetary gain. Protect yourself. Come learn the facts at Thursday’s Fr3e webinar by registering here: http://sn.im/ftc-guidelines 

One of the questions I hear often is: How do I take my business to the next level? If you’ve reached a plateau in your business or are looking to play a bigger game - attract more clients, work smarter, not harder - then the following tips will help you grow your business.

1. Join A Coaching Program or Get One-on-One Coaching:  A business coach has been the key to explosive business results for many of my clients.  Whether they join a Group Coaching program like Mark Joyner’s Business Coaching program or  coach one-on-one with a business Coach like JP Micek or Coach Deb, a business coach helps define clear business targets and focuses your attention on the short-term things you need to do to grow your business. Having a coach who can guide you, keep you on track and motivate you is invaluable.  You don’t need to do it alone.  Think of it this way: Olympic Athletes all have coaches.  You can’t achieve a high level of success without one.  You should think of your business in the same terms. If you can afford to coach one-on-one with a reputable coach, then I highly recommend it.  If you’re not at that level but still need a bit more guidance then I encourage you to check out Mark’s program.

2. Outsource: This may sound so simple but there are so many entrepreneurs who do not understand that outsourcing is the key to growing their business.  If you’re busy doing all the work in your business yourself, then you’re not going to have the time to dedicate to what you do best: serve the people you’re meant to serve.  Whether it’s offering them coaching services or creating information products or software products or other services to help them, you’re not going to have the time or the energy to help if you’re caught up in the administrative tasks of running your business.

I have a former client who started in his business doing everything himself: HTML, graphics, newsletter layout, bookkeeping, shipping and fulfillment, customer service, etc.  He did it all… poorly (let’s just say programming and graphics were not his strongest skill).  He thought he couldn’t afford to hire someone to do these tasks for him. When he finally did outsource, he quickly realized that the hours he was saving in hiring me to manage his websites (and eventually his entire business) were invaluable in terms of freeing his time to dedicate to product development and helped him build a bigger business.

Take a good look at your business, are there tasks you can outsource? For example:

• Editing and proof-reading
• Graphic design
• Shipping out orders
• Answering customer service e-mails
• Writing checks and paying bills
• Website programming and updates
• Copywriting

The most successful entrepreneurs learn the secret of outsourcing early in their business.  The sooner you start to think like an entrepreneur, the sooner you’ll reach your goals and grow your business.  Your can build a business that runs independently of you with the right support.  Sadly, too many entrepreneurs do not know the value of their time.  There’s a great report available at http://iquansite.com (scroll down to the bottom left of the page and opt in for the Insider list) that helps you calculate the value of your time.  Go there now and sign up to receive this bonus.

I’ll be honest with you, if your time is worth more than $50 an hour or more, then you shouldn’t be doing any task that you could outsource to an expert (expert web programmer, graphic artist, professional bookkeeper, etc.) for less than $50 an hour.

Here are some tips for outsourcing:

- Find great vendors: Some vendors can be difficult to work with.  There may be a language barrier or the vendor may not be as experienced as you’d like.  You have to find vendors who understand what you want and follow your instructions clearly.

- Hire a VA (Virtual Assistant): A VA is a freelance assistant that you hire to complete tasks or work from their own offices.  Types of tasks that you can outsource to a VA include: building your site, integrating it with your shopping cart, answering customer service e-mails, etc.  The average price for a competent VA ranges from $35 to $45. hour.  Some VAs specialize in Online Business Management.  You can expect to pay upwards of $50/hour plus a percentage of your profits to an Online Business Manager

- Outsource the Tasks That You Don’t Like First: Start outsourcing the frustrating tasks that take up too much of your time aren’t part of your skill set.  If you’re not a good web programmer or don’t have an eye for design or spend hours updating your books, these are the types of tasks you can and should outsource.  Focus only on the tasks you like doing and are best at.  Focus on your strengths!

Have you had any experience with a Coach or a VA that you’d like to share?  Be sure to comment below.

I went to the movies last night.  Yes I know - shocker ;-)  I saw Michael Jackson’s This Is It and all I can say is “Wow, wow, WOW!”  I feel his loss all the more now that I realize the extent of his talent.

As I sat in the theater, mesmerized by this incredible talent,  was struck by a few observations that apply to any business:

1. Know Your Business Inside & Out: MJ knew every note of his music and could hear and direct every part.  There’s a scene where he’s singing the bass line to the Bass Player, telling him exactly what he wanted to hear.

He had a hand in the selection of dancers.  And directed lighting cues and the selection of video images and more.  He knew every aspect of his business.  Even if he didn’t handle everything himself, he knew every aspect of his business.

2. Have A Clear Vision: MJ had a clear vision of what he wanted to hear and see.  He had a deep understanding of every movement that his body made and how it accented the music.  He had an even greater understanding of stillness or silence in a performance.

There’s a scene in the movie where a sizzle happens on a marquis and then opened up onto a City Scape  The director called cut because the musicians missed their cue.  MJ corrected him and said they were waiting for his cue.  The director expressed concern that they needed to start at a specific point in the video that was being projected onto the screen behind Michael.  “How will you know?” and Michael replied “I’ll just feel it”  He knew how the scene needed to unfold - he had a clear vision of what he wanted to project - the effect that he wanted the scene to have and he would find a way to work around the limitation of not being able to see the scene behind him.

MJ knew exactly how he wanted each piece of the performance to unfold and stuck to that vision.

3. Keep Your Target Market In Mind Always: MJ always thought of his audience.  Always.  Another scene in the movie illustrated this point beautifully.  He was speaking to the Keyboard Player and directing him on the sound he wanted to hear.  The keyboard player was throwing in a few embellishments and Michael tells him “I want them to hear what they hear on the record”  And in the heartfelt speech he gave to his musicians and dancers at the end of the movie, he spoke about giving his fans an experience they’ve never had.  His entire focus was on what the audience would see, hear and experience.

Do you know your business, inside and out?  Are you capable of managing and directing all aspects of your business, even if you’re not actively involved in all aspects.  Do you have a vision of where your business is heading?  And are you always keeping the needs of the people you serve in mind?  Share your thoughts below.