3 Signs of a Savvy Entrepreneur

In my line of work, I meet lots of entrepreneurs and business owners. Some are very successful, and others are still getting there. I can always spot a savvy entrepreneur thanks to these three signs.

1) They are proud of what they do …and it shows- Savvy entrepreneurs never cover their mouth and mumble when someone asks "What do you do?" Instead, they smile real big and tell them! They always use their business name in their email signatures and jump at the chance of sharing their expertise. They realize that providing a service that is valuable to people is not enough-you have to market that service!

2) They are focused-Even serial entrepreneurs share this characteristic. Savvy entrepreneurs take one project at a time and carry it out to its full extent. They are focused on their business and are willing to give it their 100%. They don’t scatter their efforts. They give their full attention to whatever project is on hand.

3) They are students-The best entrepreneurs are also constant students. They love learning! They shun the know-it-all attitude and embrace learning as a way of life. I, myself, continue to take classes, hire coaches, and participate in seminars that I feel will be valuable to me and my clients. Savvy entrepreneurs invest in themselves and constantly hone their skills.

Posted in Leaders with Intuition, Training, Coaching, Mentoring, Seminars | 4 Comments »

5 Tips to Use Google Search Like a Pro

1) Use quotations. When looking for an explicit phrase, put it in quotations. Instead of typing small business marketing, try enclosing the phrase within double quotes.

Example- "Small Business Marketing" 

2) Search a Specific Site:  Want to search a particular site for a phrase but the site doesn’t have a built-in search box? You can use Google by simply typing in "site:somesite.com."

Example: "how to manage a business" site:www.AfterTheLaunch.com 

3) Searching Specific Document Types: Looking for just images or power point presentations? Anytime you are searching for a specific document type, use "filetype:" to modify your search results.

Example: "small business marketing" filetype:ppt

4) Check Local Time- To check the local time of a city, simple type in time in x city

Example: Time in London

5) Search Patents- Have an idea for an invention but no clue if someone already had it first? Search Google Patents.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Managing Your Business, Web Entrepreneur Community | No Comments »

5 Things I Bet You Didn’t Know About Email Marketing

Email marketing used to be a marketer’s dream, but thanks to spammers and viagra ads, click through rates are at an all time low. But don’t despair if your business uses newsletters or eZines to get information across to your clients. Here are five tips to keep in mind when sending emails.

1) In that initial moment, when one decides whether to hit "open" or "delete," the two largest components are 1) your subject line and 2) the "from" address. It is the first thing people notice and if it reads like spam-they will spam it. So keep your subject line short and use the recipient’s name whenever possible. The "from" address should always show your name. If you ever receive an email from After The Launch-it will be from me, "Shama Hyder."

2) Use alt-text tags to improve clickthroughs for recipients who have HTML images automatically disabled. Gmail is infamous for this! Provide as much description as you can about the services-this will encourage a higher click through rate.

3) Open rates are HIGHEST on Monday and go down from there. They peak back up slightly on Saturday. Saturday emails usually work best if you are offering "weekend products" such restaurant coupons or suggesting entertainment venues.

4) Keep the subject line short and punchy (35 characters or less). Click through rates are 78% higher when using short subject lines compared to long descriptive subject lines. (Statistics courtesy of Mailer Mailer, LLC).

5) Keep a clean list. Remove any email address from your list which has bounced more than once. This will save all your future emails from ending up in the junk folder.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Managing Your Business, Marketing Tools for Your Service Business, Marketing Your Business | 5 Comments »