It’s been a long and winding journey along my 2-1/2 year road to becoming a profitable inforpreneur. Today, an article I wrote offering the most humbling and useful lessons I’ve learned along the way debuted at BizNik. I invite you to read it if you have been pondering taking a similar road to potential prosperity.
Articles on BizNik, by definition, have to be under 1,500 words. That is just enough “real estate” to hit the high points without a lot of elaboration. Here are a few anecdotes to add more meat to the matter.
Engage experts to accelerate your journey. Tips Booklet Queen Paulette Ensign and Get Known Now Branding Expert Suzanne Falter-Barns delivered extraordinary value for my investment in their coaching to create tips booklets and craft a unique selling proposition that would deliver an emotional connection for my ideal customers. Michelle Price convinced me to launch and sustain my DIY publicity blog and share DIY publicity videos over the internet. These have been powerful tools to build online buzz for my expertise and invite new ways to be of service.
Create a starter product, and add to the family as inspiration and opportunity strike to serve a distinct market need. I started by writing a 130-page workbook draft. My gut told me it wasn’t the right format or length. Paulette Ensign offered a free teleseminar about tips booklets and why they make sense in today’s information overloaded marketplace. That caused me to revisit my content and create two tips booklets that offered 147 powerful ways to build business and profit from free publicity. Then, I revisited the workbook and reduced the length by more than half.
When the Authentic Visibility Tips Booklets came off the press, I sent samples to Publicity Hound Joan Stewart. Her tips, ezine, and other resources had been great inspiration to me, and one of the ways I thanked her was by mentioning her website within the booklets. She called me upon receipt and said, “Darn good booklets. Wish I had written them myself.” Then, she asked, “Do you have an affiliate program?” I didn’t have the slightest idea what she was talking about. I asked, “What’s an affiliate program?” Joan was generous to explain. As soon as I hung up the phone, I called my webmaster and asked him to set one up. It turned out that my online shopping cart was already enabled with such a program. It was just a matter of activating it. A few weeks later, I let Joan know my affiliate program was “live.” She subsequently endorsed the Authentic Visibility Publicity Tips Booklets to her entire ezine list, bringing awareness and sales from customers across the nation to both of us.
Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. I learned that Susan Harrow, CEO of PR Secrets, was creating a mega joint venture with internet marketing and PR gurus from all across America. I took a risk and sent an email, asking her consideration to include the Authentic Visibility Publicity Toolkit in the product bundle she was creating. She reviewed my materials and invited me to participate. The end result was dramatically better buzz for my products and expertise, meaningful sales results for us both, and a winning business relationship and friendship that continues.
I’ll share a few more details tomorrow. In the meantime, consider posting articles of your own to BizNik. This site serves independent business owners and offers a welcome exchange of information to empower success. There are three levels of membership, and you can experience the bounty of benefits for free. With nothing to lose and much to gain, again it is a matter of getting in action. Action is always the key.
