21 Ways to Promote Your Business

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Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

We Met Over an Airbed...

Hello again

Today, I've a little story for you. Imagine this:

You are struggling to build your business beyond what seems to be its natural limits.

You work hard on and in your business, but let’s imagine your business is supplying inflated beds. That’s airbeds with the air already in…

Do you know what it’s like blowing up an inflatable bed? For ages, little seems to happen; it feels like the air is going nowhere, then it starts to take shape and you begin to feel rewarded for all that huffing and puffing. Then, just when you think you’re really winning, the bed is full and each and every puff gets harder than the last. Meanwhile, the bed gets no bigger…

Now you meet a partner, and he or she points out that you could be inflating a double airbed with all the effort you’re putting into trying to grow the single one. What’s more, they can add their puffs, too. In fact, they have access to a pump, if only you can supply a few more beds….

Now you have a business that’s potentially ten, a hundred, even a thousand times the size it was – and you’re doing far less huffing and puffing, too. In fact, you’ve probably automated, systematised and standardised to such an extent by now, its as though you’re doing virtually no work at all – you just keep getting richer!

And you’re the world’s number-one inflated airbed supplier, with partners all around the world.

All because you met a partner with a pump…

That ‘pump’ could be any skill or asset you don’t possess. And your airbeds could be anything they don’t have. But together? Together, the world is at your feet.

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. To meet the owner of your potential 'pump' you will have to take some action. How about going to the next networking event, seminar or conference and just making a real effort to meet people? Go Here!

Networking

Hello again

I'm very grateful to Mark Byford for the following article which I've adapted from his blog on MySpace:


I'm going to use the term networking in the loosest possible sense here as I believe if you look at networking the way most people perceive it, you’ll see why most people give up on it.

It always intrigues me how people think it should just happen. Ask yourself this: if you go to work for somebody does the job just happen or do you work at the job to make it happen? The word work means ''to do'' so you might think that if you work you will get results. Well, be assured, if you don't, you will not even be in the running.

I belong to all sorts of networking groups both on and off-line; I attend every possible networking event that is ever put on, and my reckoning is that if you're in it, you can win it.


Let's cover seven basic networking rules before we get ahead of ourselves:


Rule 1) Know your products and your company inside out


Rule 2) Carry enough business cards for the entire event


Rule 3) Don't be ‘Billy no mates’! Get in there and talk to people


Rule 4) Look the part, dress up, smell great. People may like it


Rule 5) Always carry your samples


Rule 6) Listen to what others have to say and then tell them about you


Rule 7) Get their cards


Understand this above all else: everyone attends networking events for one reason – to get more business. Well, the problem with that is that people don’t like passing work on to strangers. That’s a simple fact, so here is what you need to do:

Go to the event, be it Chamber of Commerce, BNI, B4B, BRE, FSB or any other serious professional networking organisation, and just NETWORK! Don't try to sell anybody the idea or product – you can do all that in good time.

Meet them, greet them, talk to them, listen to them but most of all don't push what you have to say down their throats. Have a good time, enjoy the day and work the room, not spending much more than 3 minutes with any one person. Ask each of them if they have a business card in case you need to contact them in the future, and give them two of yours. They will often say ‘Oh, you gave me two cards by mistake’. Just say, ‘It's no mistake; the other is for a friend of yours that you may feel needs to speak to me’, and then just smile.

When you get back from the event the fun starts. Send everybody an email saying how great it was to meet them and how you’d like to get together and find out more about their business, so that when you’re out networking in future you can pass their details on to people you meet.

So you send the emails out. For those that don't reply, call them and ask them ‘Do I have the correct email address for you? Only I note I haven't received a reply from you’. They will then suddenly remember to reply. Now you have a book full of appointments to go and see people – maybe five to ten a week, every week, if not more.

When you meet them tell them how great it is to see them again and how you’re really looking forward to the meeting. Be relaxed, enjoy your time with them and make this a real one to one. Don't be pushy: some of the nicest people I have dealt with in the world are the best salesmen; they’re just not pushy. One of my closest friends now started as a cardboard box salesman who visited me to sort out my packaging requirements, we have been the best of friends ever since that day ten years ago.

The point many people miss is that people ‘buy’ people – the product or service comes second and the price only third...

Enjoy the next netWORKing event you attend – now you know what you’re doing!

Adapted from an article by Mark Byford
www.myspace.com/lairdmarkbyford

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS You can network like crazy, learn loads and secure your future at the eConfex Buy to Let Summit on 15-16 March. Read more right here!

Why Rivals Should be Allies

...and that applies to public speaking as much as anything

Hello again.

As a public speaker, especially an inexperienced and nervous one, you're quite likely to feel anxious and defensive about your position or status. Don't worry - that's quite natural and normal. If you had no nerves you'd have no adrenalin and probably no energy to perform.

Still, away from the stage you need to be more clear-headed about things.

One of the great things about business (that I wouldn't have believed before I gave up the 'day job' a year ago) is the level of cooperation you get between people who could just as easily be rivals. It's the quickest way to grow a business, bar an unfeasibly large cash injection, so it makes sense all round. Often, though, people cooperate and help each other despite having little to gain. I suppose that's because most people are, basically, nice.

So it was good to read a newsletter from David Congreave today, celebrating that fact. David created Lucid SEO, The Nettle and Networking Nightmares, so he knows a thing or two about success and cooperation.

As a public speaker you might well feel all alone and pretty vulnerable up there on the stage. Actually, there's no need if you're prepared to share the limelight, the kudos, the profits and the stress with a 'rival' who operates in the same niche as you.

Think about it, and think about the value your audience gets if they get two experts' views and ideas, two voices to make things more varied and two people essentially reinforcing the principles you're trying to espouse. It makes sense to me.

You'll be marketing to two lists, as well. And that never hurts...

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

Waiting For the Green Light

Hello again.

This is one I'm bursting to tell you about, but can't...

Not quite yet, anyway.

Remember a short while back I told you how useful it can be to be mixing with top people and with the up and coming people, for that matter, at networking events. It's given us advance notice on three major launches in the last few weeks, meaning review copies of the products and a head start with the strategies they outline.

You'll also remember I mentioned Alex Jeffries, and his imminent product launch. That launch is today, but not quite yet.

But later today, I'll be able to tell you all about his new product, his ambitious plans for it, and most importantly, its absolutely enormous value to you. And of course I'll include a link to take you straight to it.

It's going to be big, it's going to change lives and help people get where they really want to be - and you can get there from here in just a few hours' time!

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. To make sure you don't miss the announcement (I know how life can get in the way!) join Roy Everitt dotcom using the sign-up form at top right on this page. I'll email you every time I update this page, and you'll get exclusive advanced notice of some other great stuff too.

Be Ahead of the Crowd

Stick With Me!

Hello, once again.

One of the major benefits of networking to the extent Jacqui and I do, especially now we're well past the 'novice' stage, is that we often get asked to help in the launch of a new product. Because, to do that, we usually have to see a pre-launch edition of whatever we're helping to launch. So we're among the first people to see the new product.

Which is an advantage in itself, because it means we can put new products into action as soon as they're released, while everyone else is still finding out about them.

It also means I can give you advance notice of the really interesting stuff, so you're ready to grab it and get in ahead of the main wave the moment it goes on sale.

Now, a few days ago I told you about David Congreave and his new product, Lucid SEO. I met David at Coventry (actually, the hotel was in Meriden), and was immediately impressed. Another whom I met there was Alex Jeffreys, who is also very definitely going places.

Alex has been in business online for almost exactly a year and had an excellent first twelve months with his first product, 'Easy Profit Auctions'. To mark that anniversary, Alex's second product will be launched very soon. Putting into place everything he's learned in his first year (including not trying to launch a product at Thanksgiving!), Alex is confident this launch is going to be even more successful than his first, and his next twelve months will be even more lucrative than the last twelve.

Not surprisingly, Alex is determined to get everything spot-on for the big day, to the extent that he hasn't even released the name of his new product. But I can tell you it's an information product designed to help anyone who reads it and takes the lessons on board, wildly successful in Internet marketing.

As soon as Alex is ready for 'proper' pre-launch, as opposed to 'pre' pre-launch, I'll be able to tell you more. Meanwhile, I get to see it first, and I can tell you it's good!

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. Getting advance copies of great new products is just one benefit of mixing with the successful and the up-and-coming. But as incidental benefits go, it's not bad. And if you're not networking, it's something else you're missing out on!

Networking Tips

Hello again

I make no apology for returning to the topic of networking, but I do apologise for extolling the virtues of networking without offering, up to now, much advice on how to go about it.

So, apology duly made, here are a few tips to make your networking easier and more productive. That's for you and for all the unlucky people you've hitherto pinned in their seats or trapped in a corner without due cause or reward.

Well, maybe you haven't, but here's the tips anyway:

1. Know what you're there for. It's fun but it's also business. If you're trying to achieve nothing in particular then that's about all you'll achieve. Which is a waste of time and probably money.
2. Know what you have to offer, and be open-minded about it. Make a mental list of your skills, talents and interests and try to be imaginative about how you might help other people.
3. Know who else is there - find out in advance, if possible. By the 'who else' I mean the people you've been admiring, hoping to meet (should be the same) or hoping to avoid, and take the appropriate action.
4. When you meet your 'hero', 'heroine' or useful contact, don't ask them for a favour (or a loan). Rather, be friendly, interested in them and what they're up to, get chatting and ask - and this is the critical bit - 'What can I do to help you in that?' or just 'What do you need to help you accomplish that?' After all, you may know someone else who can help them, even if you can't.

Networking is about giving, as much as or more than it is about receiving - at least directly. So be useful, helpful, friendly and open. What goes around truly does come around. To quote the BNI's ugly but true motto, 'Givers gain'.

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS Watch this space, or better still, subscribe to this blog, for exciting news about the best, most exciting and (if I have anything to do with it) most fun networking, masterminding* opportunity the Internet has yet seen.

PPS *'Networking' may or may not be a word (see previous posts), but 'masterminding' surely is, if not quite in this context...

The Number 1 List Building Secret

Hello again

In a conversation I had with a business partner on Friday, I was suddenly reminded that we were about to reveal to the world the number one list building secret - the method ALL the world's most successful marketers, without exception, use to build their massive lists ...

• EVEN the ones who promote SEO
• EVEN the ones who sell you Adwords guides
• EVEN those who encourage you to create your own information products
• EVEN the ones who own traffic exchanges
• EVEN the ones who say you should sell products from mini-sites
• AND EVEN the ones who say that viral marketing is the way forward

ALL use this method above all others to build their massive lists quickly and, most importantly, almost for free.

We will be using it too, very soon, to virtually guarantee fantastic results. And I'll be in a position to let you in on the secret just as soon as we go live...

Don't stay away too long, or you might miss it!

In fact, to make sure you don't miss our launch - the day when we reveal how the top gurus really make their money, and how you can copy them - subscribe to this website, using the form on the top right-hand side of the page.

Until next time,

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. I can let you in on one little secret, though - all this excitement came about as a result of ... you guessed it ... networking! And if you're not doing that, you really are missing a trick!

What's Your Net Worth?

Okay, so what is your net worth?

If you're a financier or banker, or you have money matters on your mind, you might well be thinking that's none of my business.

If you're a deep sea trawler skipper, you might think differently.

And if you're a trawler skipper who's especially aware of his or her finances, you might have read the question both ways...

But, if you owned the Internet, you'd probably be able to answer, 'As much as I'd ever want.'

All of which goes to show that we need to understand what we're being asked before we can give a useful answer. From there, we can draw all kinds of lessons about finding out what people want before we try to sell them a thing; about how communication is a two-way affair, and how the best answer in the world may be totally irrelevant to the person asking the question.

Sometimes, though, an unexpected answer to a question we've asked gives us a wonderful insight into a world we would never otherwise have known.

On a more mundane level, a product designed to solve one problem may actually be a perfect solution to another problem we didn't know existed. Apparently, chewing gum was 'discovered' by scientists trying to create synthetic rubber.

Do you have a product that just won't shift? Is it a great product, but without a great demand? If so, could you market it as the solution to a whole different problem - even one you didn't know was a problem?

Maybe; maybe not. But bat around some crazy ideas anyway - you never know. After all, who would have thought people would pay for a food you have to chew forever without it ever being ready to swallow, that has no nutritional value whatsoever and which, as far as I know, is totally indigestible?

Well, all over the world, people buy chewing gum.

And remember, even something that only ever sells to a small minority can make you a fortune if you can spread your marketing 'net' across the whole world.

So I wonder; what's Wrigley's net worth?

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. What? All this talk of 'nets' and not a mention of networking? Well, you ought to know by now that I think that's priceless. But rest assured, I'll get back to it!

World Internet Summit - Sold Out!

I did say the World Internet Summit at Earls Court was the place to be - and it seems too many of you listened!

Well, ok, I was hardly the only one promoting it, but whoever shifted all the other tickets, it seems we did too good a job between us. The event is actually over-sold.

Which is the kind of problem Tom Hua and Brett McFall, who are organising the event, probably dreamed of. Now, though, they have to ask everyone who's bought a ticket to confirm they'll actually be there. So, although the event is sold out, it is possible there may be a few unconfirmed seats to be snapped up at the last moment.

I'd suggest, if you haven't booked yet, that you keep an eye on the World Internet Summit Webpage to see if you might still get lucky.

Otherwise, if you have booked, you'll have an email waiting in your inbox, asking you to confirm you still want your seat.

I've confirmed my place, so I hope I'll see you there!

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS Remember, you might still be lucky. So confirm your booking or get on whatever waiting list there might be - and quick!

Back on My Soap Box

Just a relatively gentle reminder, really, of the absolute necessity to get out there and network if you want your business to grow exponentially. And if you want to meet the people who can help you to the next stage, even the next five or six stages, you have to get to the biggest events you can.

Because that's where you'll not only get the best information but also get to meet the biggest names - the people who can help make people like you rich, with nothing more than a few well-chosen words or a single deal.

So, knowing what I know about the importance of learning and networking, I'd be negligent if I didn't tell you about a massive opportunity to network like there's no tomorrow...

AND to learn from some the BIGGEST names in Internet marketing

AND to profit from some amazing bonuses - easily worth far more than the ticket price

AND to witness a live experiment in online marketing

ALL at the WORLD INTERNET SUMMIT UK, at Earls Court, London on 15-18 November.

I'll be there. Most of my JV partners will be there. You can meet Ewen Chia, Tim Brocklehurst and Sean Roach there too, along with Tracey Repchuck, Tom Hua, Brett McFall and others.

Fancy networking with those kind of people?

If you really want to make it big in Internet marketing and you can possibly make it, you must get to Earls Court on 15-18 November. In fact, just cancel any other plans you had!

Because it's not called the World Internet Summit for nothing.

Want to know more? Click here for more information

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

PS. It's a massive event; everyone who's anyone in the world of online marketing is going, so just click here to see who you'll meet. Don't delay too long, though - I've no idea what the capacity is, but I do know it's filling fast.

PPS. Excuse me getting excited, but this really is massive. I only just heard about it yesterday and I snatched up one of the remaining tickets. It's just too good to miss.

Accounting For Beginners

Well, yesterday's business (and busyness) spilled over into today, so this will be a very brief post.

Do you ever wake up in the night with a brilliant idea? No, not the ones that seem brilliant in the middle of the night but are clearly bonkers when you review them next morning; the ones that still seem to 'have legs' when you're wide awake.

How many of those have you had? Me too. How many have you actually acted upon?

No, me neither. But maybe the first stage towards acting on them is telling someone else you will act on them. Someone who'll hold you accountable if you don't.

That needs to be someone who's prepared to tell you off when you've broken a promise, not let you off with a warning.

An accountability partner is, I think, the next stage on the networking - mastermind-group road.

I'm counting on mine to help me make me make my latest 'not bonkers' idea into reality.*

It will take a while, but watch this space.

Roy Everitt, Writing For Results

* That does make sense if you read it really slowly.