My friend and colleague, Kim Nishida is an expert in both communities and membership sites that help business owners connect, on multiple levels, with their clients and prospects.

She is a “profitable community advocate“, which means that she helps you not only create a online community who will benefit from your expertise and information, but to do so in a way that is profitable for you too!

If you’re considering adding a community/membership level of service to your business, there are 5 questions Kim advises you MUST ask yourself before you even THINK about getting started:

1. Do you know what a membership site is? (hint: it’s a location on the Internet that houses information exclusively accessible to members)
2. Who is your target market?
3. What do they want vs. what do they need?
4. How do they want it delivered?
5. How much time are you willing to invest? (This includes time interacting with members and managing the community itself)

Of course an overarching consideration is in how creating this community relates to your business. Because it will involve time and effort in setting it up, promoting and managing it, and if it’s not aligned with your overall business vision and mission, you WILL NOT sustain it. And you don’t want to start what you can’t finish, right?

So if you’re interested in learning more, check out Kim’s free training where she goes into more depth and provides you with the “7 steps to launching a profitable community.” You can learn more at: http://readytoevolve.com/pc/

After completing my 31 Day Blog Challenge, I received a few questions about “what’s next”, “will you keep it up”, etc. And I’ve been thinking about what’s next for me with the “joy of blogging.” I absolutely want to sustain my momentum! And so I came across this article by Neil Tallercio about “Making Money With Your Blog”.

I thought it would be valuable to share, following my blogging experience, especially for those who already understand the benefit of blogging to for traffic, list building and JV opportunities and want to know, as a solopreneur or small business owner, how to monetize it! Neil gives you a great example in her article, as well as some resources to use! I’m going to use a lot of her suggestions and will let you know what  I learn!

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Making Money With Your Blog by Neil Tallercio | http://www.mommysplace.net/

I’ve sure you’ve heard before that it’s a possibility to make money with your blog and you may be wondering how this is possible. And were they really meant for making money or just for journaling your personal thoughts? I’m not sure what they were intended for but they are great ways to make money.

I have a personal blog which is just my own private little place to go online and jot down my thoughts, but I also have my business blogs.

Back In the Beginning

To be honest with you in the beginning of my blogging experience I really wasn’t sure what I should do with my blog. I knew I wanted to make money with it, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what I could do to not only be a value to others so they would come back to my blog, but that I would still enjoy writing it.

So it was really important to me that I find a topic in which I would be excited about, and have enough to offer so that I could blog every week or so. After starting a blog that was meant to just be an add-on to my business at MommysPlace.net and struggling with the direction of that blog, I came across one of Alice Seba’s blogs, which she used to write about her experience through a traffic product.

So every couple of weeks she would update her progress through this course. She would tell us all about her successes with this product and how great it was for her business. And it made me think of how I could do something similar.

Product/Service Focused Blog

And this is when the light bulb moment went off in my head. This is when I realized what I should have been doing all along. I have been a member of an exclusive coaching program for mothers in business.

Since joining this program my business has seen great success. My income has increased more then 10 times what it was before I joined, and my traffic has increased even more then that.

I enjoy and believe in this coaching program and it happens to have an affiliate program. I often got emails from other work at home mothers who wanted to know my thoughts on this program.

Taking a cue from Alice’s blog I decided to start my own such blog. And named it Mom Masterminds Grad and it can be found at [http://www.mmgrad.com]

I use this blog for the purpose of documenting my successes with my business. My projects, new content added to my website, keyword phrases I was ranking for…etc. Basically anything that has to do with my business that was directly or indirectly because of my joining Mom Masterminds, I jot down.

Not only was this the best move I could have made for my promoting this affiliate link it also served as a great way to really see for myself the successes my business was achieving and also to keep me on track.

This is one way you could make money with a blog. There are other ways you could make money with a blog if you don’t want to devote a blog to one service or product you’re promoting.

Side Kick Blog

For instance, my blog at [http://www.telecommutingmoms.com] is a side kick to TelecommutingMoms.com and my forums. This is a blog in which I update my members on additions to the website, newsletter and forums. And also use it as a vehicle for updating members on any important telecommuting news and promoting affiliate programs.

So this blog serves more then one purpose. My main goal with this blog is to get traffic to certain sections of my website. I have a large website and it’s not always easy for people to find my information. This is a great way for me to keep certain new pages or sections of my website in the public eye and get traffic to those pages. It also serves as a way to make money with affiliate programs. And lastly it gives exposure to my forum and my newsletter.

There can be many ways and, many topics in which you can make money and gain exposure to other businesses you may have, or can help in creating you as an expert in a certain field.

Just take the time to really think about what you could be writing about and then how you can make money with that as well. You can take a look at others blogs to get an idea and see what other people are looking for.

Making Money With Your Blog – Resources:

Blogs to Riches- is an e-book that details ways you can make your blog profitable. And the really cool thing with this is if you list the publisher’s link on your blog for 45 days he will give you this e-book for free! If you don’t want to wait that long you can also purchase it for a low price. Read more about Blogs to Riches – [http://www.blogstoriches.com]

Increasing Adsense – is an e-book about how to increase your adsense revenue. This e-book isn’t specifically geared towards blogs, but the information you will learn you can use with your blogs. (As well as websites and forums…anywhere you have adsense.) http://www.adsense-secrets.com

* Don’t know what adsense is? Go to http://www.google.com/adsense to learn more.

Ready To Blog?

Are you ready to take the leap into a blog? If so, it’s really very easy to set up a blog. The one resource I have used for my old blog is blogger.com and what I use for my current blogs is WordPress. Blogger is a great option for the newbie and you can host it with them. WordPress is a bit more complicated and must be hosted on your own domain, but it’s by far my most favorite option for blogs.

Submit Your Blog

After you create your blog you will want to submit it to blog directories to help get your blog out in front of the public. Some of the directories you can try are:

BlogWise – [http://www.blogwise.com]

Blog Search Engine – http://www.blogsearchengine.com

Blog Hub – http://www.bloghub.com

Blog Daisy – [http://www.blogdaisey.com]

Get Blogs – http://www.getblogs.com

Is Blogs – http://www.lsblogs.com

Feeds

Next, you need to add feeds to your blog. For adding a feed you add a little graphic to your blog. It can be a “my yahoo” feed, msn feed, or many other options.

When they click on that they can add your blog to their personal feed page. Then every time you add a new post they are alerted on their yahoo page that you have posted AND it even shows the topic of the post and how long ago it was posted.

This is one of the best resources I’ve found in keeping people coming back to your blog. They can subscribe to it so easily and they will be automatically updated whenever you have posted. It’s pretty easy to add an RSS feed to your blog. The resource I personally use is at http://www.feedburner.com

Watch Out Blogging World – Here I Come!

Now, see how simple this really can be? You can make money with a blog, gain exposure for another business or websites, can build yourself as an expert on a certain topic, can create a blog for free, get it listed for free and start an RSS feed for free! Now get out there and start blogging.

Want to learn more about Nell Taliercio, the author of this article? She is sharing the secrets that grew her business by 10fold in only one year!

First let me say, you just never know what you can do, unless you try!

I recall thinking of all the great ROI (return on investment) I was going to get from investing time, thought and effort in participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Committing to blog for 31 consecutive days would:

- give me the opportunity to teach more, share more and reach more business owners to help them grow themselves and their business

- help me to clarify my own thoughts around marketing and it’s impact on every aspect of a business owner’s business

- tactically, help with growing traffic to my website and increase awareness of my business for more solopreneurs and small business owners who are building their businesses

And it did all that AND more!

While I won’t kid you, it was tough! Sitting down and creating posts either “real time” or in advance required me to FOCUS, with a lot going on in the background. But what better focus could there be than making that commitment to share with my readers, consistently.

It also required that I expand my perspective around what my blog was designed to do — educate, communicate and increase my visibility so that I can help/serve more business owners.

That meant that I would post other bloggers information, share videos, share tips and select them all in a way that it brings value and relevant information for my readers. If you know anything about being open to sharing the talent of others and what that does for you, i.e. givers gain (thanks BNI!) then you know that by my showcasing other bloggers, they returned the gift.

So why am I sharing this with you? Because the key lessons I learned from the Ultimate 30 Day will help you, whether you are an online or brick & mortar business, in reaching more and teaching more of your prospects and clients!

Here, then, are my 3 key lessons:

1. You have a lot to share, whether you think so or not!

What tends to come easiest to us, is something WE had to learn (and likely experience) and therefore not everyone knows it. So don’t assume that just because you know it, you don’t have to teach it. Teach it anyway. It will give you an even deeper knowledge level because people will ask questions you many have never considered and that increases what you now know!

2.  Sharing is caring…

I don’t mean to get mushy here, however, sharing other people’s knowledge with your readers demonstrates that you care enough to help them learn “beyond” you. It’s natural to want to know it all and share it all so that people come to you. But your value grows exponentially when you expand THEIR knowledge by sharing more from other sources. Then you’re viewed as the “go to” resource to help people learn more and grow more. In addition, when you share someone else’s content, they will likely return the gesture. Now more people get to know who you are and what you offer. Very cool!

3. You can accomplish more than you think…

I was a little concerned about the 31 days of blogging and immediately began thinking of what I could “re-purpose” vs. create from scratch. And even then, I was nervous about “repeating” myself. And it didn’t help that I had a birthday and some travel in the midst of the 31 days! But you know what? As we all do, I rose to the occasion. You become more creative and committed when you start to see that you ARE blogging for 10 days, 20 days, etc. — consistently! It’s quite the feeling to look back and see what you’ve accomplished…so much so, that you’re committed to “not going back”. Not blogging will begin to feel unusual for me now.

So to stay in the mode of blogging, I’ve joined another blog challenge!

And now…not so concerned, know that I can do it, learned to incorporate more people to help and more tools to support me. And if you’re interested in growing your traffic, list and expertise, consider participating in a blog challenge.

The return, can be the “ultimate!”

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Do you struggle to attract and retain business? Do you yearn to be seen as an expert in the field? In an increasingly challenging market flooded with fierce competitors and extremely savvy consumers, learn how to develop a killer brand that will inspire you, attract loyal customers, and knock out the competition.

1. Identify your values: This is the most critical step and the one most often overlooked in business. Do some soul searching and get a crystal clear idea of what matters most to you as an individual and then as a company. Your values form the base of your company and should influence every decision, from what kind of toilet paper you buy to the business partners you seek.

2. Identify your mission: Once your values are identified, it’s time to write a mission statement. Ask, why does my company exist? What do we aim to do? Write it in simple language that a 12-year old can understand. Do a search on the internet for mission statements and use the most compelling ones as a template. This is the statement that should get you out of bed each morning and inspire you morning, noon, and night.

3. Identify your ideal client: Again, a critical step. Look at your mission and why your company exists at all and ask, “Whom do I serve?” The hard part is getting as specific as possible to the point of potentially turning off a lot of other people. Don’t worry. The biggest mistake you can make is trying to please everyone. This dilutes your service/product so much that you really don’t strike a nerve with anyone. No one will have a compelling enough reason to buy from you. By turning some people off, you attract others who will bond with you for life. And a final benefit to knowing the specifics of your ideal client is you then have a much better idea of where to look for them.

4. Create an emotional connection: Every potential customer wants to know one thing, “What’s in it for me?” In order to compel someone to pull out their money and buy, you need to connect them to you in an emotional way. How are you going to make their life better? What pain is your product or service going to eliminate? Watch some television and notice how the best commercials create an emotional atmosphere. Which commercials get your attention, which ones stick with you, and how do they get their message across?

5. Identify the benefits vs. the features: Know your product/services inside and out. But instead of just listing the features, describe them in terms of how the client will benefit. Remember, it’s all about creating that emotional connection with your ideal client and telling them how you can make their life better.

6. Create an experience: Why should consumers buy from you as opposed to any one of your competitors? What makes you unique? Successful companies are now in the business of creating experiences that enrich lives. Starbucks does not just sell coffee. From the music they play (and sell) to the comfortable furniture and inviting décor they offer, they create an atmosphere that people will pay for above and beyond a beverage in a cup.

7. Commit to a message: How do your values and mission tie into your image? Carefully look at what matters most to you and broadcast that to your ideal client. Once you are clear on your message, stand behind it and don’t waffle.

8. Enforce consistency: This also relates to your values and mission. Once you are clear about why you are in business, maintain your integrity, from the level of service you provide and your logo and printed materials to the way you follow-up with customers and the stamps you buy. Be conscious of every detail and match it to your values, your mission, and your message.

9. Have the courage to reinvent yourself: Even (or especially) if you have been in business for a long time, take the time to ask, who do we REALLY want to be? You might have created your business without being clear about your mission, or your mission might have changed. Or because the climate and the market constantly evolve, you might have hit the target five years ago, but have lost your edge since then. Be brave enough to ask if your current image is right. If not, this is the time to reconnect with your current mission.

10. Lastly, beware of following trends: If you want longevity, don’t fall prey to the seduction of the latest trend. Besides, if something is trendy, it’s probably already too late to jump on that bandwagon. Keep looking inward at what you stand for and forward at how your company will change lives. Build trust by showing you aren’t fickle or easily swayed by the flavor of the month.

Kim Nishida works with service professionals who struggle with being their own boss, trains them to attract more clients and fine tune their business to run smoothly even when they’re not there. To get her free training program“7 Steps to Launching Your Profitable Community” visit http://readytoevolve.com/pc/

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As I work with service professionals, coaches and consultants to turn their practices into a more leveraged, high income business through workshops and seminars, I come across a few common misconceptions. Often these misconceptions can prevent people from putting on their own workshop and breaking through that income ceiling they have imposed on themselves by working one-on-one with their clients. Other times, it will not prevent a successful workshop, but it will make a difference of thousands of dollars. Do you suffer from any of these misconceptions?

• You need a big event in order to make a lot of money.

Nothing is farther from the truth. While large events have more potential for making more money, that doesn’t mean that small events can’t be very lucrative. Sometimes smaller events do even better. When you have a smaller event, chances are you have a highly targeted audience. The people that are at your event are there for a specific reason: to learn from you. Since the event is smaller, you have fewer demands on your time. That gives you more opportunities to really connect with your audience. You can answer more questions and establish genuine relationships with people who will gladly sign up for your most expensive package. After all, they know, like and trust you and the value you can bring to them and their businesses.

• My audience already paid to be there. They won’t pay for anything else.

You are actually doing your audience a disservice if you do not offer them anything else at your workshop. You just delivered high value training that your audience loved. Many of them will want to take that training and go on to the next step. They may want to take your training even deeper and want implementation guidance, or an accountability mastermind group for that lasting transformation. Others may be ready for the next topic in your series. Whatever it is, whatever you offer, you are letting them down if you do not at least present them with the opportunity to develop themselves or their business further. They want what you have to offer and they want to pay you handsomely for it. Give them that chance.

• No one would want to sponsor my event.

Well, why not? You have a highly targeted, valuable niche audience. Although it may not be huge and sure, Coke may not have any interest in sponsoring it, that doesn’t mean other companies won’t. Just think, how would you like to have access to 30-50 highly motivated ideal prospects? Ok, no drooling now, I see you get my point. So think of who else might want to have access to your audience. What non-competing company shares your same target audience? Remember, sponsorship is much more than slapping a logo on your brochures or website and hanging a banner. Be creative in thinking what you can offer your sponsors that they will love to pay for.

Now that these misconceptions are out of the way, are you more likely to do a workshop? Are you more likely to think that any workshop you do can be a lucrative venture for you? Or is there something else that holds you back from doing your own workshop? Let me know in the comments. I would love to know what you think.

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Daphne Bousquet, CMP uses her 20+ years of event planning experience to create profitable event strategies and implementation to coaches, entrepreneurs, speakers and self employed professionals that want to quickly establish themselves as the “go to” expert. Go to www.eventstrategysolutions.com for more tips and information on attracting clients and profits with your own live event.

In my mail last week, I received an interesting letter from my Acura dealer. I purchased my TL 4 years ago and am proud to say it’s paid off! Yay!

Having purchased cars for over 20 years (yeah, don’t try to do the math…smile) I’ve never had this experience before. And I thought, if we as business owners used this level of marketing transparency with our clients, wow…what that could mean!

Let me share a bit of the letter so that you see what I mean. It begins:

“Dear Ms. Makell,

Acura realizes the more transparent the auto buying experience, the more enjoyable it is for our customers.” Ok, so you’re probably saying, “duh.”

But it goes on… “As a loyal customer of Acura (I do let them change my oil, only) you can expect to receive updated quotes periodically, to keep you informed of your options. When the time is right to upgrade to a new vehicle you’ll have all the information you need.”

Ok, again, you’re probably saying, Chris, makes sense…you may be ready to “think” about a new car since your car is now in it’s 5th year and they want to be sure you think of them! Obvious, right?

Do you do this with YOUR clients? I don’t…

This is an excellent example of follow up AND ensuring client loyalty. By connecting with me to let me know that THEY know I may be ready to purchase another Acura and providing me with great pricing options, I am more likely to return to an Acura model. I can tell you Toyota didn’t do that…

So, how can you make this “marketing transparency” work for you and your business?

Consider this… After you’ve concluded a program with your clients, or they’ve purchased a product from you, create a system to follow up or check in with them. Let them know what new programs your have or new products you’re offering. This could be as simple as sending a postcard, regular card, short note to see how your client (never a “former”, once a client — always a client) is doing or how they are still getting results from their time with you. Or you can simply give them a call to say hi, I was thinking of you!

How about letting them invest in a new program or product by giving them an “incentive” price based on their past spending with you? You can also give them one month free in a new program, or buy one get one free!

It’s simply letting them know that they are still top of mind for you. Clients really appreciate that!

Listen, what Acura doesn’t know is that I tend to keep my cars for an average of 9 years, but I am so impressed with this approach, that I immediately saw it’s value for my customers. I like my TL a lot — for me and I like this approach a lot — for my clients! Maybe you will too…

Add them to your toolkit to create that next breakthrough in your business!

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Business leaders can learn a lot from the way that designers solve problems and create new innovations. Successful designers find new ideas in seemingly mundane places. Here are four steps to finding something original in the ordinary:

Question. Don’t just ask the obvious questions. Look deeper and don’t be afraid to rethink basic fundamentals about your business and products.

Care. Caring doesn’t just mean giving great customer service. Get to know your customers as intimately as possible. Immerse yourself in the lives of the people you are trying to serve.

Connect. Find ways to bring together concepts, people, and products. Many great breakthroughs are “mash-ups” of existing ideas.

Commit. Give form to your idea as quickly as possible: create a prototype and begin testing it right away. This is the only way to know if you’ve touched on something truly promising.

AUGUST 26, 2010 - 4 Steps to Generating Your Next Breakthrough | Management Tip – Harvard Business Review was adapted from “The Four Phases of Design Thinking” by Warren Berger.

But more importantly, he teaches that YOU must be “decisive” in nature and how that helps your clients to make a decision to move forward with you.

If you’ve ever experienced a client who tells you “I want to think about it,” this approach will be a real eye-opener…

However, be warned, it’s only for the confident business owner who knows what they offer is of incredible value to their clients.

That’s you, right?

I’m really simplifying what Childers offers, because his talent and wealth is much more complex than that. However, I love that he aligns with Napoleon Hill in beginning the discussion around success (in life and business) with DESIRE. This is the first of his five elements of success…

As you watch the brief (2 min) video from YouTube below, pay attention to how he teaches an “inside secret” to successful speaking…see if you catch it…smile

Many solopreneurs and small business owners focus on creating a “kick-ass” elevator pitch so that they’re armed when they are at networking events or asked the age old question, “what do you do?”

One of the reasons they struggle with creating the clarity needed to create that powerful elevator pitch is because they aren’t clear on their unique marketing message.

This unique marketing message is as clarifying for you as it is for your prospect or client. It demonstrates that you know your prospect’s pain, why they’re experiencing it and how you can help them relieve the pain with your solution.

So, how do you create YOUR unique marketing message? Read on to learn three simple steps to begin crafting your message today, that will help make your elevator pitch more powerful and get your prospects take notice immediately!

Step #1 – Define your prospect’s problem…what is their pain point?

What is the pain they are facing today? Is it that they are not generating enough leads, they aren’t retaining their clients and need a simple “stay in touch” tool, or they don’t have enough energy to be more efficient and effective in their position?

How can you define the pain, SO clearly that the prospect will instantly know that you “get” them? Can you give them examples from your own experience? Can you tell them about case studies that illustrate the pain so that they can feel it, know that others experience it and have found a solution?

You have to make it as real for them as possible, because we are not always able to identify our own pain, so that we can easily find the solution.

Step #2 – Explain why they are having the pain.

Let’s use the “need to generate leads” pain point as an example. Perhaps the strategies they’ve been using are to attract local prospects. And either they aren’t finding new prospects with their current methods or they should consider shifting to an online presence.

How often do you see smart business owners networking at local meetings and yet their websites don’t even offer the ability to capture their prospects contact information? It may be obvious to you, but the prospect may not see the “gold 3 feet in front of them”.

You have the opportunity to give them clear examples as to why they are in this place of pain and demonstrate that you have some expertise by explaining the what and why of their challenge.

Step #3 – Demonstrate how you and your solution can relieve their pain.

Once you’ve identified the prospect’s pain point to the degree that they KNOW you get it and then explain the WHY of their pain, your next step is to demonstrate how you relieve the pain with your solution. This becomes a welcomed conversation. It’s as if your prospect hears you describe a headache and the reason they are having the headache and they can’t wait until you give them the aspirin to remove said headache! And if your solution provides that kind of relief, you are obligated to help them. And they are far more likely to want to work with you.

So get some paper and a pen and dedicate some time to writing out your unique marketing message based on this three-step process. It will help you identify your prospect’s pain, the situation they are in that’s causing the pain and how you and your solution can provide the “painkiller” they are searching for.

This exercise will give you your unique marketing message in the language your prospect easily hears, responds to and appreciates.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave your comments below!