SISTER WISDOM : build a better life

1. Giveaways

Use your website, blog, or your presence in the local community to publicize a give-away. You don't have to have hundreds of people participate, and you don't have to give away anything expensive. It can be a product or service you offer, or it can be something completely different, a fruit basket or book or gift card to a local coffee shop. It doesn't really matter what, and the value could be less than $20: people still love giveaways. Even if you only have 10 or 15 people participate, that's 10 or 15 who will be excited about you and your business, and 1 winner who will talk about the prize she won.

2. Flyers on every bulletin board

Old-school, maybe, but still a cheap and effective way of promoting your business. Make your own flyers or brochures at home. Use your desktop publishing software; make them clean and simple, easy to read, uncomplicated. Print them out and visit every grocery store and coffee shop and bookstore in the vicinity. Make sure that you offer something interesting to people: you could have a detachable coupon, a funny question, a web address with the promise of discounts, or a great photo that leaves them wanting more. Make your contact information obvious and easy to remember. Be sure to check with management, too, before you put your signs up.

3. Niche social networking

Yes, yes, yes, everybody knows about social networking and has multiple accounts at all these social networking sites. That's great, but sometimes the big sites are so big that it's hard to make any waves. That's where the niche social networking sites fit in beautifully. Why? You pick the right one, and you've already got your target audience right there. All you have to do is participate, and you can start making contacts, meeting people, and promoting your business to a group that you know is already interested in the same topics. There's a great list of niche social networking sites, with lots of reviews, at Social Media Answers blog.

4. Business cards as coupons

You should have business cards with your information on them, yes. Good. Hand them out often? You should. But make them work a bit harder. You can go to a site such as VistaPrint and get 250 or so made for under $10. Go past the traditional name, address, etc., and offer a discount, deal, or promotion on the business card. Make the coupon the main information offered, and then put your contact information, website, etc., below the "big deal." People are more likely to follow through when they have something to gain.

5. Contest (photo, essay, caption)

The business you are in should determine the type of contest you sponsor so that you can relate the contest to the service and/or product you provide. You could have an essay writing contest, a photography contest, a caption-that-photo contest, a name-the-ice-cream-flavor contest. Whatever. Do something that relates to your business. Promote it with those flyers you have on bulletin boards across the area, and offer a cash prize. $50 is great, and makes it worthwhile for people to participate.

6. Local government meetings

Get to know your Mayor, Board of Aldermen, and city administration. These people know who's who in the area, and it benefits you and your business to be a familiar face to them. Don't be pushy, and understand that they are busy people. Simply start attending meetings, paying attention, and listening for ways to help. You'll find opportunities to meet the people in charge and you might also find yourself able to help out in some way.

7. Trade for promotions

Talk to other businesses, unrelated ones, about trading promotions. Neither one of you has to spend any money, but you both gain new customers. You can offer complementary discounts, e.g., "Purchase my product and get 10% off at The Other Business I'm Promoting."

8. Swap online ad space

The Internet obviously has huge potential, but getting ads can be costly. Target sites that are either local or that appeal to the niche market you're after, and ask about swapping for online ad space rather than paying cash up front. If you have a decent website or blog of your own, you can simply swap web ads. Or you can offer to swap something else, something you're good at, the products you have, whatever you can think of.

9. Talk to the Chamber of Commerce

Look up your local Chamber of Commerce and go have a friendly chat. Introduce yourself, tell them about your business, and ask how you can get help in promoting your business to the local community. That's why they exist, and they'll be happy to give you some ideas.

10. Donate to the community and non-profits

No, not buckets of cash. This is low-cost marketing. But you can donate your time, your energy, raw materials that you might have around anyway, services, and other resources that are readily available to you but, perhaps, difficult for others to get a hold of. Find out what's happening in the community and offer to help in some way that relates to your business. Find a non-profit you love and offer your business services to them for free.

11. Be an expert resource

Let your local newspapers and regional publications know who you are and what your business is, and that you're available for interviews on your area of expertise anytime. Local journalists always need good sources and experts to quote, so send a friendly letter with your contact information, and be sure to return their calls promptly.

12. Participate in your target group's events

You do know your target market, right? Well, once you know, find out what they're doing. Where do they go? What movies do they watch? Where do they eat, hang out, go on vacation? Follow them. Hang out. Get to know people. Talk. Give away business cards.

13. Submit press releases

Press releases are brief information bytes that can be picked up by any number of news publications, both online and offline. Go to ... to learn how to start submitting press releases, and then be sure to do so anytime you have something somewhat momentous to talk about.

14. Be newsworthy

But in an unassuming way. Help an old lady across the street, host the girl scout's annual campfire cook-out, bring in a great speaker for your church. Do things that people notice. Then submit a press release about it.

15. Everybody loves cookies

So make some, or get someone who loves you and can cook to make some, and then go drop them off where you think they'll have the most impact. Police station, fire house, barber shop, insurance company. Pick one or two. Add a stack of your coupon business cards to the plate and leave them with a smile.

16. Visit your city's economic development director

You'll need to make an appointment, and be specific and courteous. This person receives a lot of work and is busy; don't ramble on about your childhood and your future, simply introduce yourself and your business and ask for any help or ideas for promotion.

17. Create videos

If you're handy at all with a video camera and have a decent sense of humor, come up with some funny stuff and make brief, commercial-like videos to upload on your YouTube account, which should be linked to your business website. The videos need to relate to your business, somehow, and they need to make people laugh.

18. Patronize the same businesses

Get to know the people who work around you, whether in related or unrelated businesses. Don't view everyone as competition. Visit the same businesses on a fairly regular routine and people will begin to recognize you, and you'll start getting to know them.

19. Volunteer

At church, at civic organizations, at community events, at your children's activities. Offer a morning or an evening to help out.  You'll meet people, people will talk to you, and you will be creating more contacts which is what networking is all about.

20. Be friendly and helpful

Always. Just be a nice person. Open doors. Wait your turn. Turn off your cell phone in the movie. Let other people go first. Talk to people. Smile. A little goes a long way, and people notice when someone is happy and helpful.

Image Credit

Delivery Ad image courtesy of lukethelibrarian.

Because everybody wants to be a spiffy like Wonder Dog, even if no one actually uses the word spiffy anymore.

1. Update your photo and bio.

   If your bio ends with your current status ten or five years or even six months ago, bring it up to the present. While you are updating, get a photo that looks professional: a closer, well-focused head shot with a neutral, non-busy background will look more professional than that half of your face from the 1999 family Christmas picture. You can use a photo you already have and do a little editing. Blur out the background; maybe convert the picture to black and white. You might also check into prices on getting a professional head shot.

2. Add screen shots of the sites for which you write on your own website.

   . This saves visitors the trouble of having to click to all your links, and it also saves you the risk of getting them so interested in a different site that they forget to come back to yours. If you’re not sure what a screen shot even is, go read this explanation from Wikipedia. Basically, you are taking a picture of what is on the screen, saving it as an image file, and then putting it on your website as a picture. You could put it into a writing sample of what you’ve done on that particular website, so visitors can read your work and see where it’s published all without leaving your site.

3. Provide a downloadable .pdf of your portfolio, resume, and/or writing samples.

   You have a potential client who is browsing your website while waiting for a flight. It’s just time to board when they start reading your writing samples. They notice that little “Download as PDF” button, click it, and now they have a copy they can read in flight. Providing options makes it easier for your clients to remember you and hire you.
   Most office programs provide a way to convert a document to a .pdf file, or there are several online options you can look into. Make sure the option is easy to see for your website visitors.

4. Document your areas of expertise with specific samples or clips.

   First, of course, you’ll have to list your areas of expertise. As you build up samples and clips in each area, provide links right next to the listed topic on which you are (becoming) an expert. This makes it easy for clients who want writing on a particular subject to go straight to your relevant writing samples, rather than browsing through your entire portfolio.

5. Have a professional header and logo made.

   If you got some graphic designing skill, make it yourself. Think simple and streamlined. Do a little internet searching if, like me, your graphic design skills are at a negative level. I have found several very affordable options and have been very pleased with the results. Having a uniform header and logo for your website makes you look professional, and it also makes it easy for others to link to your site in an aesthetically pleasing way.

6. Make your design/theme simple with muted or neutral colors.

   I give this advice with a big caveat: some very professional themes and designs incorporate brighter colors and more complex color schemes. But if you’re not sure what you are doing, of if your aesthetic sense is somewhat, uh, underdeveloped, err on the side of caution. A classic black and white theme promotes your writing skill, whereas a complicated, multi-color scheme might just prove distracting to potential clients. Obviously personal taste is involved, and the kind of clients you are pursuing matter, so take this advice with a big grain of salt. Sea salt. White sea salt.

7. Provide a table or spreadsheet with your rates.

   Make this downloadable as well, so clients can have it as a reference. It doesn’t have to be a complicated table, just a simple spread of the services you offered lined up with what you charge. If you have pricing options (by project, by hour, by page), then lay those out clearly as well.

8. Use your sidebar for shameless self-promotion, but in a classy way.

   If you have a sidebar, that is… Gather a collection of quotes from your satisfied clients, positive reviews, and a few of the best lines you have written. Convert part of your CV and areas of expertise into little factoids, then load up all those goodies into a rotating quote collection or other display format. It’s like a little snack bar of how talented you are.

9. Record an audio or video introduction of yourself and what you do.

   A caveat with this one as well: only do this if you can do it well. If you are a work at home freelancer and can’t find a quiet time or place to record, skip it. If, however, you have a friend who is handy with YouTube videos or podcasts and you can come up with a brief, smart script and a good place to record, do it. This could be the first thing visitors see when they come to your website, and a little click on the play button will let them “meet” you. It might be the extra effort that makes you stand out from the other freelance writers out there.

10. Offer a contact form, not just a mailto: command.

    This is a pet peeve of mine. I’m not always on the same computer, and when I want to contact someone who offers only a mailto: option, I have to copy the email address from the command line, open up my own mail server, and send the email. Offer a contact form option so that visitors only have to take one step to get in touch with you. If they are using a public computer or don’t have a default mail server set up on their own, clicking a mailto: command is far more annoying than it is useful.

I originally wrote this post for Writers Unbound, several months ago. Editing it to post on this website has added a few significant items to my list of updates for my portfolio website. Time to get to tweaking...

WAHM Articles is a niche article database; I've only been a member for a week and only have two articles on the site, but I've been chosen for the weekly Author Spotlight. That's a warm fuzzy feeling.

Or you can go straight to my articles there. Thank you, Denise.

If you are a WAHM, this site is a great resource. The articles cover everything from Affiliate Marketing to Homeschooling to Love and Romance, Press Releases, and Time Management. If you are a writer specializing in WAHM topics, this is a database worth being part of. It reaches a targeted audience; if that's the same target you're after, half the work is already done.

You can read the submission guidelines, or start reading articles.

It's not a service or a tangible item: it's the idea that entices people. Your real product is the reason that people buy your book or t-shirt or recipes. People want the idea that the item or service represents. Do you know what that idea is? Because that is your real product, and that can be repackaged and sold in many different forms. Read the rest of this entry »

Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You, translated into business terms:

Market unto others as you would have them market unto you.

What does that mean? Seth Godin, author of New York Times Best Seller "Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable" (among others), put it this way Read the rest of this entry »