I just got off the phone with one of my business partners and have the sickest feeling in my gut.

One our corporate clients just informed us of a MAJOR meltdown. Their webserver got hacked BIG TIME - they lost EVERYTHING... Website, email, databases, web-based applications, the whole sha'bang! (their site was built by someone else before they became "big time" and will take days to recover)

Thank goodness we keep a back-up of their subscriber database, original copies of their ezines and corporate email announcements which can be re-uploaded within minutes. I think the CEO would really stroke-out if the "list" was gone. (I know I would!)

The reason I'm telling you this is so that YOU will remember to make back-ups too. So schedule time TODAY to back-up your vital information and prepare your disaster recovery plan. Don't be a victim!

All the best,


Donna Payne, "The Web Goddess", Creator of the Money & Time-Saving "QuickStart Web Workbook."

Our Next QUICK-START WEB WORKBOOK preview teleclass is THURSDAY, May 11, 2006, 8:00 pm Eastern (NY) time.

TOPIC: "How to Finally Get That *WEB SITE* Started!" With me, Donna Payne.

Are you still struggling to get your website started? You're not alone. But did you know there are many proven methods to build your site? Let Donna herself share her personal, proven strategies for building a client capturing website for people in YOUR target market. We'll cover both low cost and Cadillac methods, and weigh all your options. Register here.

LIVE! Web review *HOT SEAT*
THURSDAY, May 18, 2006, 8:00 pm Eastern (NY) time.

TOPIC: "Can this Website be Saved!" With me, Donna Payne.

Here's your opportunity to get a review for free! Submit your site AND/OR register here, and I'll select one or two from those submitted.

This time of year, as we make plans and surge forward with fresh new goals and projects, it’s easy to slip into marketing overwhelm. But instead, you can set up your marketing year to build momentum and mojo instead.

Here are some tips I cooked up that will help you fire up 2006 to be the Year You Seriously Built Platform.

1. Realize that you don't have to do it all. To get known in the world, you don't have to pursue every marketing vehicle, just the right ones. So target like mad. And don’t be afraid to choose new markets to target in the coming year, based on what you REALLY want to accomplish. Ask yourself if the market you’re working with gave you what you wanted last year. And if they didn’t, let them go.

2. Learn what impresses your market and deliver it. Some niches can rely purely on on-line promo, because that's where their people live and breathe. But others need the 'seal of approval' of major media. Figure out precisely what will make you THE source for them to turn to. What will win them over?

3. Determine what you need to do … precisely. Break your marketing
plan or to-do list down into all the areas you need to work on.
(There's an overall list in the back of my Get Known Now Home Study Course.) And choose only those marketing venues that really apply to your surgically chosen market… and no more! For instance, if they don’t hang out on line, don’t promote to them there. Get a magazine column or be a radio guest.

4. Make a comprehensive, dated task list. Setting dates works.
Once you know what you have to do, use a Task management system
like the one in MS Outlook. It forces you to give each task a
date... then it reminds you when the task is due. Repeatedly!

5. Pick a focus of the week. If you can't keep momentum going on
your promo efforts, pick a weak area and focus on it for a week
or even a month. Break down your entire marketing plan over the next twelve months, and dig into a small chunk each month.

6. Do five promo tasks per day. Promotion Expert John Kremer
says do five small promo tasks every day like clockwork. Track your
progress in the appropriate section of your promo binder or on Excel
sheets. That kind of continuity really builds up over time, so tasks you’d forgotten about in the beginning of the year, start paying off later in the year. That gives you real marketing momentum.

7. Have a promo-support buddy. Email a supportive friend
every day with your list of marketing tasks. Just writing it down
will help you stay focused. Then follow up at day’s end (and return the favor, of course.)

8. Give each tasks a certain amount of time and no more. Our brain is conditioned to perform at a pre-determined speed which we set .. so simply decide you will spend one hour on a certain promotion task, and no more. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how doable large tasks become in this framework.

9. Keep a wall of fame. Whenever you get an interview, article published, or some other platform goodie, post it on a wall of your office, preferably in a frame. It builds mojo, and convinces your subconscious to keep the momentum going.

10. Have a monthly or weekly Platform Challenge day. Use Instant Messenger (free at msn.com) and spend a day getting promo tasks done with a fellow marketer. Check on by IM every hour or so, or get on the phone and share the momentum. Pick a shared focus, like blogs or booking speaking gigs, and make goals for the day. In fact … I'll have some of our coming up in the next month you can join me for!

Dear Donna,

I guess the main thing I'm struggling with (and we are probably all in the same boat more or less) is not getting overwhelmed with everything there is to do.

I tend to want to do it all and I want to keep my sites looking good and I want to do the marketing and create more products and run my business and keep the admin up to date etc etc etc.

And while I'm just starting up it's hard to outsource in the way I hope to be able to do in a year or so.

I'm bursting with ideas and though I'm taking action I wish I could do it all faster!

Maybe you could give some tips on how to manage site marketing on a daily/weekly basis. I would love to hear your views because I am all over the place :(  I have done a little PR, a lot of article writing, a blog, an ezine - keeping it all going is hard!

Kind regards,
Janice

Dear Janice,

I’ve been to “Overwhelmed land” before and don’t ever want to go back!

In addition to Suzanne's article above, here's my 2 cents...

• A marketing calendar
• A partner/collaborator/mastermind group
• Persistence! Don't ever stop!

The two most useful items that have helped me are my calendar in Outlook and the 120 day dry-erase calendar by At-a-Glance.  Here I keep my website and marketing schedules. 

I also belong to 4 different mastermind groups and have learned, or offered SO much.  As most of us know, being a solo-preneur can be so alienating, and of course that leads to overwhelm.  Reach out, get plugged in, find someone else’s business strategies to model yours after. 

Me personally? I’ve found my best creative and writing time is between 5 and 7 am.  The house is quiet, the kids are asleep, the deer are grazing outside my window… and the day is fresh and new.  Find YOUR creative/productive time and schedule it into your calendar. AND STICK TO IT! :)

(Marketing Calendar is a must for every kind of business:  death is certain if you do not FOLLOW IT!)

Side Note:
One area I noticed where you’re right on track Janice is WRITING ARTICLES.  Take it a step further and recycle them, get more mileage, and do less work!  Write once and publish endlessly!

For example the article I write each week not only gets sent to my subscribers, but also to EzineArticles.com.  And I’ll post it on my website in my article archive and Blog. You can compile articles on a particular subject into an ebook or workbook – WOW! Already written - in your words - and ready to produce in a snap!

Now it’s YOUR turn! Simple adjustments can make all the difference in the world. Take time with your marketing calendar, you’ll be glad you did!

Dp

Do YOU have a favorite marketing tip? Please share it!
I'd love to know if you have had success that's changed your practice for the better. Please email it to Donna@thewebcoach.net, subject line: "marketing success".

©2006 Donna Payne

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Online Entrepreneur Donna Payne Is the Chief Web & Marketing Goddess of TheWebCoach.net, WebsiteU & Payne Publishing, all resources for direct response marketing for Coaches, Consultants & Solo-preneurs. http://thewebcoach.net

Recently Revised, V 4.1 QuickStart Web Workbook

If you haven't begun to build your website yet, I invite you to download a complimentary copy of the "QuickStart Web Workbook" written specifically with Coaches in mind.

Many of my clients have said that they wish they’d had this workbook BEFORE they began their website projects. So, it’s my gift to you – no strings attached!

Get your copy here: http://www.thewebcoach.net/q_thanks.htm

ps. Be sure to sign up for the teleclass mentioned earlier in this ezine.

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