The core premise of authentic self promotion is that showing up, serving, and thriving are interrelated. Promotion, or putting yourself forward, is part of showing up and is essential to having a successful business. Having a successful business is essential to being and sustaining an offer of service. In other words, you cannot serve if you do not take care of business.

Authenticity is the cornerstone of effective, sustainable self promotion because being authentic draws on a renewable resource, i.e., your core values and strengths. Put it all together, and you have authentic promotion.

Authentic self promotion is grounded in the conviction that you have something of unique value to offer the world and that you are willing to discover how to embody that offer, to show up and serve, and to thrive in the process.

Authentic self promotion reconciles values of service and integrity with the tools and practices of effective small business marketing. Authentic promotion of your small business rejects the easy dismissal of marketing and sales as shallow, manipulative, and inauthentic. Instead, authentic self promotion claims that marketing and sales are vehicles for creating enduring relationships and delivering substantial value. If you choose the path of authentic self promotion, you will learn that marketing your small business effectively will challenge you to evolve continually as a person and as a professional.

Authenticity is intimately involved with creativity, evolution, and change. It is closely allied with the notion of authorship, thus of owning and being accountable for one’s actions. Authenticity acknowledges that we are always creating or writing our life stories. Expressed in business, such authenticity will step up to the challenge of making strong, clear, valid offers to prospects who are likely to benefit from those offers.

When we do business in an authentic fashion, we understand that we will be affected and even changed by the processes of doing business. Authenticity is dynamic. When you extend yourself authentically in the world, you expect an authentic response — one that may touch you deeply and influence your future decisions. There are risks, then, in authenticity.

Egocentric business practices, on the other hand, declare, “I don’t need to answer to anyone. I have no intention of being changed or affected by you as we do business together. Either you like me or you don’t. You’ll either find me or you won’t.”

Often this egocentricity is masked by a pseudo-authenticity, one that pretends to stand for immutable values and unassailable principles but that is really a declaration of self-absorption, “My way or the highway.” A better test for authenticity is whether or not we are willing to be affected by our transactions. The authentic expression of our deepest values and most closely held principles will always open us to the risk and blessings of new possibilities.

Authentic marketing and self promotion says, “I’m here to connect with you. I expect that we will both be changed in the course of our relationship. I am willing to discover you and myself in new ways as we do business. Come on down, let’s see what we can create together.”

I propose that the very real excesses and evils of some business practices can be countered in a powerful way by independent professionals and artists who use their businesses as a vehicle for showing up, serving, and thriving. It’s about more than making a living. Though, unless you do make a living, you will not be able to express your gifts to the fullest.

Authentic self promotion is about trying on business and marketing practices and adapting them to fit your values, your resources, and your unique gifts. It’s about having enough integrity and courage to welcome the inevitable breakdowns as occasions for learning and platforms for future success. In order to be truly authentic — in other words, to authenticate our values and our standards — we must act in the world. We must show up to serve, and we must stop pretending that commerce is something the bad guys do. In this way, we will shine a light on unfamiliar or inadequate practices for the sake of devising better practices.

Are you tired of the day-to-day grind of corporate environments? Are you thinking about starting your own small business but worried about where to get your start up capital? If so, consider how grant money for small business can help you along.

But first things first. Whats this youre hearing about free money scams? A lot of people are saying that theres no such thing as grant money for small business since government does not give away money so you can start your own for-profit business. In fact, government grants are often limited to community-based projects or those that would do the general public some good like research on a cure for cancer for instance, or something simpler like a street-paving project.

But to say that grant money for small business is nonexistent is a bit going over the top. Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of funders out there, besides the government, that are willing to provide you with funds so long as your project or your idea fits their funding objectives. The only problem is that while grant money for small business is out there, especially from the government, theres often a lot of red tape involved. The key, therefore, is to remain dogged in your quest for seed money.

When it comes to grants, the first place that people often turn to is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, which is where all listings of government grants approved by Congress are announced. But the problem with this resource is that there are only very few grant money for small business programs available. And we all know that to increase our chances of getting grant money for small business, we need to increase the number of our resources as well. So, we cant just depend on only one resource, the CFDA, for your grant.

A variety of local sources may provide you with the grant money for small business you need. Heres all you need to know:

Dig Deep

Grant money for small business is often buried within other programs used as incentives to attract, retain, or grow small businesses such as enterprise and empowerment zones. As good starting points, consider incubators, universities, small business development centers, and business information centers, as well as your local chamber of commerce and professional organizations.

Consider Contracts

Government money can sometimes come in the form of contracts. If you can demonstrate that your company can execute a budget line item, if you can shape part of your idea to what the government wants done for a particular project say something educational or construction-oriented if you can fill a need, you can compete, says Francie Ward, CEO of the Business Owners Idea Caf at BusinessOwnersIdeaCafe.com.

Competitions Can Yield Cash

If your application for grant money for small business and presentation pass muster, there are organizations that will give you the cash you need. While its true that there are many grant opportunities out there, it doesnt mean that all of that will just somehow miraculously fall on your lap without you having to lift a single finger. The truth is you will need to worka lot. And you will need to shine. If you compete with other grant seekers, your chances of getting that grant money for small business will increase.

Getting noticed on the Internet – Digital Marketing for Small Business

The Internet has grown from a small network of academics needing a way to trade research into a world-spanning, ubiquitous marketplace and repository for nearly every possible kind of information and knowledge. How does a small business avoid being washed away in the constant tide of buying, selling and marketers hawking every conceivable item (and some difficult to conceive…)?

The Internet provides advantages for both customer and proprietor in that one can search for exactly what is desired, without the bother of endless phone calls, driving to malls, or poring over mail-order catalogs. A quick keyword or 3, and hundreds of results vie for attention on the screen. Making sure your company is one of those results near the top is a combination of factors: specificity in product offerings, Search Engine Optimization of web content and linking to and from related topics and sites.

The only way to get noticed on the Internet is to have a listing or presence, whether a dedicated website, ads on relevant sites, or by word-of-mouth. Oftentimes ads on online journals, informative sites, or e-zines (online magazines) are cheaper than space in a print publication, as well as being available to a wider audience than a dedicated website may be. Rates are often available for daily, weekly, or monthly terms, increasing flexibility and allowing a tight budget more leeway. Word-of-mouth advertising can be very cheap, but the returns may be difficult to quantify. Sponsoring web shows such as podcasts or webcasts can be a great and cheap way to gain word-of-mouth exposure. Many times, a podcaster will be so thrilled to gain sponsorship that rates can be negotiated for very little, but make sure to approach a podcaster that has a show related somehow to your business. Don’t overlook resources like Google’s Adwords either, as they can be slightly pricier than similar options like banner ads, but they are shown to be far more effective than pop-ups, banners, or pay-per-click ads due to their specific targeting.

When a potential customer decides to look up a product that you sell, is he or she going to find your site or listing? Being specific in the terms used on your site or listing is key, as keywords are what drive the search engines like Google and Yahoo. If your company sells shoes, it’s not enough to put the word “shoes” on your site–it has to be anticipatory to the searches that potential customers are doing. Most customers have an idea of what they are looking for when doing a search, so instead of “shoes,” a customer will search for “imported Italian leather shoes.” Specific focusing of terminology and product listings are involved in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as SEO is driven by specific keywords and their repetition or location on a page. If the term “Italian Leather Shoes” is used 15 times on a website, it will pop up higher on the rating listings than one with the same words, but only as a page heading or title. It would be easy to go overboard on this if it were the only criteria, but it is only one of many different methods search engines use to list websites by relevance. Our article on Search Engine Optimization, located here, is a great reference to optimizing your site for maximum Search Engine Performance.

With a clear idea of where you want to go with Internet marketing, it can be a valuable tool to expand your business into the digital realm, but be careful not to go overboard, as all marketing eventually crosses into the zone of limited return. Customers are looking for what they want–it’s up to you to make sure they run into you, and the only way they will is for you to make sure your business is at the places they are going to go.

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CRM or Customer Relations Management are essential to modern business but small business often has different needs than big business and here well look at what is essential for CRM in small business.

Every CRM system is built on the contact database. In fact its key to the entire system. The contact database allows for the entry of information on customers and prospects. It also allows for the maintenance of this information. This will include basics such as name, address, phone, and email address.

If you sell to larger customers such as other companies where you have many contacts you will want your CRM software to have to the ability to mange contacts in groups related to one customer. So for example ABC Company might have Joe, Sam, Sally, and Molly all attached to it. This allows you to easily change information for the entire group.

You will want to closely exam the reporting capability. If you put all that information into the system you want to be able to retrieve it in a format that is usable to you. Some systems come with canned reports that you may or may not be able to edit to meet your personal needs. Some also come with a module called a report writer that allows you to design your own custom reports.

A good CRM package will have good analytical ability. This will allow you to analyze the data you have collected to help answer a host of questions such as:

1. Which customer provides the highest profitability?
2. How long does it take for them to commit?
3. Which products do they purchase?
4. Which customers are loyal?
5. Which sales associates have the best sales conversion rate?
6. Are new customers more profitable?
7. What products dont move?
8. Where is more staffing needed?
9. How many calls does it take to convert a lead to a sale

Thats just a small example of what type of information youll be able to analyze.
For small business price is also an issue. You dont want to go so cheap that you get a package that isnt adequate or that you spend more time fiddling with then actually using it for what it was designed.

Then again you wont have the budget to go really big. Youll want to do your research but first you need to determine exactly what your priorities are. Then you can start to price compare too.

So to summarize:

1. Determine what it is you want the software to do.
2. Set your budget.
3. Do your research.
4. Start to compare products online.
5. Make your decision.
6. Make your purchase

One thing is for certain if your small business is going to be profitable and successful you need CRM.

To be a successful entrepreneur you are going to have to learn to deal with failure. There is no way around it. Thomas Edison tried over ten thousand different experiments before he finally demonstrated the first incandescent light bulb on October 21, 1879. Bill Gates’ first company, Traf-O-Data, was a failure. Michael Jordan was once quoted as saying: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot; And missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

In my short stint as an entrepreneur I’ve failed more times than I can count. I have also had my share of success, but its not even close to equal. The failures far outweigh the successes, and Im sure I have a lot more failure ahead of me. Im OK with that because I know that as soon as I stop failing, I have stopped trying to innovate. It’s the nature of the business of being an entrepreneur, and of success in general.

If it were easy, everyone would do it. It is naive to think that every good idea that you have will result in a successful business venture. I have yet to hear an entrepreneur say “every single idea I come up with seems to work.” More likely, you hear something like “I failed at my first five businesses before this one took off.”

Think about that for a second. Five businesses. Sometimes the number is three, sometimes it’s 20, but the important point is that most entrepreneurs don’t hit a home-run with their first company. It really does amaze me – how many people have the stones to fail five times and still start a sixth business? You have to be supremely confident and treat those previous five times as a learning experience for the sixth. And if number six fails, you have to do the same and move on to number seven.

In my opinion, the most important thing is how you deal with failure. Once you accept that it’s inevitable, you are able to learn from your mistakes and move on. It’s easy to let the failure consume you – not so much because you are pessimistic, but more so because it is hard to see something that you poured your heart and soul into be ignored or rejected. As soon as possible you need to come to the realization that your business is what they are ignoring or rejecting, NOT you. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can objectively analyze why you failed and learn the things necessary for improvement in the future.

Failure isn’t easy and is extremely frustrating, but it’s a necessary part of success. Don’t believe me? Ask Thomas Edison, Bill Gates or Michael Jordan! Ok, asking Thomas Edison might be a little tough, but you get the idea

Running a small business requires accurate and detail records. This can be accomplished by using a business credit card. Using a business credit card will provide the small business owner with a monthly statement, listing all business transactions in detail. This is very beneficial because it separates business expenses from personnel expenses. Business owners do not need to sort out personal expenses from business expenses or worry about losing receipts or making reimbursement errors. With such categorized statement, the business owner is able to spend more time analyzing and monitoring expenses to decrease cost where needed. This business credit card statement simplifies the process of filing a business income tax.

Using a personal credit card to make purchases will cause errors and inaccurate reporting and poor business management. To manage your business wisely, it is advisable to use a business credit card because it eliminate the mixing up of personal expenses with business expenses. The statement produced from the business credit card gives a true picture of all transactions made. With this information, business owners can have more time to analyze the statement and adjust expenses to increase profitability.

Tracking your business overhead is accomplished quite easily with the monthly small business statement. With this detailed statement, business owners are able to analyze business expenses and cut cost where needed. Staying in business and making a profit is the main concern of small business owners. Business owners who utilize the monthly statement reports know where monies are spent. They are able to make wise decisions in cutting expenses where needed.

Event though standard business credit cards have comparable features as a business credit card, 0% Apr, no annual fees, balance transfer option, cash back and rewards and more. The main difference for business credit cards is they offer a higher credit limit and is designed and developed to benefit the small business owner. Business owners are able to leverage their buying power because they usually purchase in bulk, as a group which adds up to big savings for the small business owner.

Some features of a small business credit card include, online account management, higher credit limit, itemized employees statement, personalized credit card and more. Business owners love the higher credit limit because it allows them to have a liquid cash flow to make purchases for airline tickets, gasoline, and office supply etc. and avoid undercapitalization. Maintain good credit because the small business owner is liable for any defaults associated with the business credit card. Credit card activities are reported to the main credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.

Educate yourself about the features of the business credit cards since there are differences between business credit cards and personal credit cards. Apply for the business credit card that will offer the most savings and benefits for your particular company. For example, if you have a fleet of cars then apply for the business credit card that offers the most cash back and rewards. Small business owners are generally a sole proprietorship and are personally liable for the business credit card debt. Read the terms and conditions to have a good understanding about the features offered, penalties for late payment, charging over credit limit, defaults on credit-card payments and knowing who is responsible if the credit card is lost or stolen.

iCreditOnline.com is the webs leading credit card resource site. Customers are able to compare credit card offers and apply for the card that meets their needs. This article is free to publish in its entirety and must include all links: http:www.icreditonline.com

One of the hardest presentations to make is the entrepreneurial pitch. You have a great idea for a business and you want someone to give you money to make it happen. The problem is that venture capitalists, angel investors, and even rich uncles are heavily predisposed against you. Why? Because 99% of the pitches they hear sound like sure-fire prescriptions to lose money!

If you are pitching investors to give you money for a new venture, you should subscribe to the following rules:

1. Explain exactly what your business is within the first thirty seconds. Many entrepreneurs waste valuable time giving loads of data, background and other infoall the while investors are left scratching their heads thinking What does this business actually DO?

2. Tell your audience who your customers will be. Paint a vivid, specific picture of these people.

3. Explain why your customers going to give you there hard-earned money.

4. Explain who your competitors are. (And if you say you have no competitors, that is a certain sign you are unsophisticated and deserve no investment money!)

5. Explain why you are the ONE to make this happen.

6. Give your presentation with confidence and enthusiasm. Investors want a founderCEO to be a chief salesperson; they want to see that you can convince the world of your dreamnot just them.

7. Explain what star you can hitch a ride to. Has Best Buy or Radio Shack agreed to distribute your new product? Investors feel much more comfortable knowing you have an established player willing to distribute your wares.

8. Ask for a specific amount of money. If all you do is ask for money, then you cant complain if an investor gives you 3.25 for a cup of Starbucks coffee.

9. Tell prospects exactly what you are going to spend the money on (hint:a trip to Maui for you and your friends will not impress)

10. Dress well, act confident, and put on the air that you dont really need their money, but would be willing to accept it if they bring enough to the table to be a strategic partner for you. Sad but true regarding human nature, but people are much more likely to give you money if they feel you dont really need it.

Finally, make each pitch presentation serve as a focus group for your next presentation. When one group of investors asks you a series of questions after you pitch, write down all of those questions and make sure most of them are answered in your next pitch so that the next group doesnt have to ask them. Keep pitching and keep improving your pitch and eventually you may get funded.

Over the years countless institutes and individuals have asked the million pound question. What makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur? What traits or characteristics are inherent to a successful entrepreneur and is one born with those traits? Theres great news! Successful entrepreneurs are born every day!

Some people believe an entrepreneur is born while others believe an entrepreneur can be taught. Some believe an entrepreneur is like an artist – either you have it or do you dont. Some see entrepreneurs as leaders that are focused, disciplined, competitive, and charismatic, while others see them as huge risk takers. And all of these analogies are right to some degree.

Its true all successful entrepreneurs share a few qualities and skills that allow them to be successful. These inherent qualities can be taught; but they often seem to be an inherent driving force that sends individuals down the path of being in business or formally training to for a career in business.

Entrepreneurs see the world differently. They have the ability to see the world as a system. They have the ability to see something in its entirety and as an integrated unit, and they seem to possess the ability to see opportunity within the global picture. They are what is called a system thinker.

There are other characteristics they possess. Entrepreneurs possess an overpowering need to achieve and tend to be very competitive against themselves. They are continuously trying to outthink themselves and others and they are constantly looking for the edge. This is a process that occurs as naturally as breathing and is a driving force behind most entrepreneurs.

They have the determination and dedication to follow through with commitments and they always appear confident and in control. Youll notice they also possess a positive atmosphere. They are of the mindset I can, and I will. They are not afraid of failure because failure is not in their vocabulary nor is it an option.

They are objective but have the ability to weigh risks realistically within the big picture. They have an uncanny ability to anticipate developments which gives them the edge on many competitive situations. Entrepreneurs seem to feel right from their gut, call it instinct. They are a resourceful group that possess excellent problem solving skills and are able to diligently work through obstacles as they occur.

Entrepreneurs are excellent communicators and recognize how important clear and concise communication is to their success. They also possess a sound working knowledge of the business they are involved in.

When it comes to successful entrepreneurs its a question of what came first, the chicken or the egg. Is it inherent qualities that we are born with that lead us to be entrepreneurs or is it when we choose to become an entrepreneur that we develop the skills and qualities of success? Thats a question we shall leave to the great debaters to resolve.

What is for certain is that successful entrepreneurs are born every day and that you too can be a successful entrepreneur by developing the skills of success.

My biggest problem in becoming self-employed was me.

In order to BE a self-employed person I had to start thinking like one. I found myself reverting to that nine-to-five mentality. If I wasnt accomplishing a task every hour, then I must not really be working.

Sometimes a self-employed person has to make decisions about her business. Sometimes she is just thinking about a solution to a problem. Sometimes she just has to quiet her mind so new ideas can come. Just because youre not pounding away at the typewriter every minute doesnt mean youre not working.

Ive also learned that its okay NOT to answer the phone every time it rings. Thats what voicemail is for, and the same goes for email. At my nine-to-five job I would leave the email program open all day and answer each one as it arrived. It took me a while to realize its okay to only check email several times a day instead of constantly being interrupted. Its actually more productive than having to stop your thought process every time you have mail. At my other job, I was able to let a phone call roll over into voice mail, but it took me a while to be able to shut down the email too.

Youre going to have days where you feel you didnt accomplish much. Then again, youll have days where youll feel you can conquer the world and youll be amazed at how much you got done. Some days you may not finish many tasks, but youll make a decision on a problem that needed to be addressed. Or, you will have learned a valuable lesson about yourself.

And, I had to learn to stop breaking down all my tasks into pounds and cents. I tended to worry about how much I was or was not earning every day. The truth is, some days youre going to make more than other days. If I spent my day on marketing issues, even though I didnt earn any money from it that day, I would benefit from it some time in the future.

Rather than worry about what benefits I do or dont have, I realized the benefit I have in my business is that I answer only to me. Everything I do will benefit me sooner or later. Instead of my income being dependent on somebody elses budget, I can go as far as I dream.

And because Im now doing what I truly love and not what someone else tells me to, Im much happier and more content. I learned if you start THINKING like an entrepreneur, then youll actually be one.

Sales Strategies for Entrepreneurs: The #1 Way To Skyrocket Your Sales This Year

Completely grasp the power of the Best Buyer Concept and you will double your sales within the next twelve months. The concept is easy to understand, yet powerful: There’s always a smaller number of ideal buyers, compared to all the possible buyers, so ideal buyers are cheaper to market to and yet bring greater rewards.

A magazine used this strategy to double sales in 15 months flat. Here’s what they did:

They took a database of 2200 advertisers and sent promo-pieces to them each month. After learning this
strategy, they did an analysis and found that 167 of those 2200 advertisers bought 95% of the advertising in their competitor’s magazine.

This concept is called “The Dream 100 Sell,” a concept where you go after your “Dream” prospects with a vengeance. This magazine sent the 167 (best buyers) a letter every two weeks and called them four times per month.

Since these were the biggest buyers, the first four months of intensive marketing and selling brought no actual reward. In the fifth month, only ONE of these Dream clients bought advertising in the magazine.

In the sixth month, 28 of the 167 largest advertisers in the country came into the magazine all at once.
And since these are the biggest advertisers, they don’t take quarter pages and fractional ads, they take full pages and full color spreads. These 28 advertisers alone, were enough to double the sales over the previous year. The magazine went from number 15 in the industry to number one in just over a year.

Lesson learned: Market to your best buyers

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, who are my best buyers? If you sell to the business-to-consumer market, chances are, your best buyers live in the best neighborhoods.If you are a dentist, accountant, chiropractor, R.E. Broker, financial advisor, restaurant, or even a MLM professional you should consistently go after the folks who live in the best neighborhoods.

They are the wealthiest buyers who have the money and the greatest sphere of influence. If you send them an offer every single month without fail, within a year, you’ll have a great reputation among the very wealthy.

If you sell to the business-to-business market, it’s usually fairly clear that your best buyers are the biggest companies. So what are you doing, every other week, no matter what, to let these companies know who you are?

There’s no one you can’t get to as long as you constantly market to them, especially after they say they’re not interested. People will not only begin to respect your perseverance, they will actually begin to feel obligated.

This doesn’t happen right away, but even the most hard-bitten and cynical executive or prospect begins to respect you when you refuse to give up. The publication I mentioned earlier went on to double sales two more years in a row. They consistently marketed to the best buyers and much more aggressively than they did to the rest of the buyers.

A company selling to manufacturer’s used this strategy to target the 100 biggest manufacturers in the country. For the first three months no one responded to any of the calling or phoning.

But after three months executives started saying: “I just have to meet you. I’ve never had anyone continue to call me so many times after I said no.” Within 6 months they had gotten in to
see 54% of those they targeted.

The secret is to NEVER give up.

Just keep going after those companies again and again. Or if you sell to consumers, commit to sending a promotional piece every single month to those wealthy neighborhoods. Eventually, all the wealthy people in your area will know exactly who you are.

Now the question is: Who are your DREAM prospects and how committed are you to getting them as clients?