How should you decide where to network?

Deciding where and how to network is not always an easy task, especially in times when marketing and sales budgets are tight. Here are some do's and do not's for networking:

Do -

1. Evaluate networking groups before you decide to invest your marketing dollars and join. Some groups allow you to go several times before they ask for a formal commitment, while others just charge a higher fee for meetings. Attend a couple of meetings to see if the organization is a good fit for your business.
2. Once you join, get involved. Okay, this is probably easier said than done when it comes to busy schedules, but the best way to meet people and build those relationships is to get involved and join a committee.
3. Attend meetings. I've found a lot of business owners will join a group and then never attend meetings. If you can't make the time commitment, don't waste your marketing dollars.
4. Create a plan before you attend a networking event. Go to any networking event with a plan on who you would like to meet and then just be yourself and have fun.
5. Select organizations that would have membership from companies that are your target market. For example, if you are an environmental consulting firm, don't spend a lot of your networking dollars on joining environmental consulting organizations (it's important to keep up on industry trends though so don't completely overlook your industry groups). Instead, attend networking meetings for commercial realtors or bankers.
6. Be creative. I love to play golf and I know a lot of other business owners who do too. It's a great way to build relationships and network.
   
7. Follow-up with the people you meet. You can use Outlook or any other CRM Software like ACT! to keep track of prospects and build relationships.

Do Not -

Spend all your time at a networking event hawking others and handing out your business cards with the sole idea of getting business. Instead, use the time to build relationships and listen to others.

Make It Easy for Prospects to Contact You

I was recently reading in Website Magazine and found the article "10 Steps to Generate More Leads" very interesting and helpful. I was especially struck by the topic of - making it easy for prospects to contact you.

How often do you visit a web site and realize it's not that easy to find the company's contact information? A good number of business owners seem to be hiding this information on obscure pages, making it very difficult for someone to reach them. I'm not sure if they realize this, but they are sending the message, "I don't really want to talk with you or hear you complain about my product or service."

After reading the article I mentioned, I decided our web site didn't make it easy for people to reach us. Don't get me wrong. We have a Contact Us page, and it's visible in our navigation. People can easily click on that link and send us an email or submit a form for more information.

But what would happen if we put a form at the bottom of every page that talks about our services so our visitors don't have to go searching for it if they want to know more? Would they be more apt to request additional information or a quote?

Even better... what would happen if we made the action steps obvious to our site visitors? Instead of using a button that says "submit," what might happen if the button said something like, "Achieve Better Results" or another unique call to action? Maybe our visitors would be so intrigued, they would take action.

The point of all this is to get you thinking about how functional and friendly your web site is for your visitors. We're in the process of redeveloping our site and will be including a lot of features we believe will be of great value to our visitors, like a free job board. As we are going through the redevelopment process, we'll be looking to make sure our site truly says "Welcome. Come in and stay a while."

If you would like help with redesigning your web site, we'd be happy to give you a no-cost evaluation along with a detailed cost proposal on how you can grow your presence on the world wide web. For more information on our web design services, visit:

http://eaglesoars-marketing.com/our-services/marketing/web-design

Family/Work Balance: Dream with Your Family

In today's world, businesses opportunities are popping up everywhere and are in many daily conversations. There is a dream within these opportunities to be caught, a hope to regain the loss of time with your family and to put a stop to your downward spiraling financial crisis. The dream is real and the dream is attainable. However, these dreams will take sacrifice, at first, and you will need to be persistent and persevere.

If you have chosen to reach out and grab the dream to make it your own, you will realize that your dream may seem so far away. Perhaps your family will get easily discouraged because they do not understand or see the same dream you do.

There is a Biblical truth that states "Where there is no vision the people will perish." A clear vision or dream is critical in having success in your family or business. However, when it's solely your dream, your family may not always be in agreement with the way you make tough decisions. Here are a few tips to help your family understand why you make the decisions you do.

1. Articulate your dream with your family. Your family needs to know why you are doing what you are doing. If you are fortunate enough to have a family that likes to work as a team, sit down and come up with your dream as a family. This way, everyone in the household will know what the long term goal is for you as a family. For instance, if your dream, as a family, is to have more time together in the long run, then your son will know why you choose to go to a seminar pertaining to your business instead of going to his basketball game. He may not like it, but he understands that you are working as you are to fulfill the family dream. One thing to remember is to have balance in your decision making. Don't always choose work instead of family, but sometimes it will take sacrifice.

2. Visualize your dream. After you have a dream, make something visual to keep in front of you and your family. If your family dream is to build a dream house, then get pictures out of magazines or books and make a poster that you can hang in the hallway or somewhere you and your family can see all the time. It will act as a refresher and help keep everyone focused on what's ahead. Visit the poster early and often. Especially, when things are frustrating and not going as you would like to see them go. When you have a tough decision to make, keep focused on the dream.

3. Set up checks and balances. As you and your family are working towards a common goal, you need to make sure you are keeping each other in check. Setting up check and balances will be great way to do this. Communication is a vital part in accomplishing this task. For instance, have a "no reservation conversation" once a week. What I mean is this: over dinner one night a week, allow everyone to voice their opinion on how things are going. This will allow your kids the opportunity to say, "Hey Dad, you aren't spending enough time with me. Can you please come to my game this week?" The important side to this is to be open and to be flexible with your time. If everyone is okay and things are going well, then continue to do what you are doing. If there are disagreements or unhappiness within the family, get it taken care of and forget about the business for a time. Obviously, you will need to take care of the immediate, urgent things, but spend time with your family first.

At the end of the day, your family has to take priority. No business or dream is worth the sacrifice of the relationships you build within your family. Your family will be with you one way or the other. No money or success can buy a healthy family relationship. Stay focused on your family first, then as a family, stay focused on your family dream.

Elizabeth and her husband Eric Shoop are the owners of First Kids Furniture. Not only do they sell unique furniture for kids, they also provide some great resources for parents! They're also the visionaries for Build On The Rock Ministries.

Now's the time to start planning for 2010!

Right now is the perfect time to start taking a look at how well your marketing strategies performed for your business this past year and plan for 2010. In a tight economy, it's important to invest in marketing. It helps you gain market share as others cut back on their marketing budgets and also makes sure you've got a consistent flow of new business coming to you.

For a limited time, we're offering a discount on our marketing plan tune-ups. Normally priced at $199, we're providing this service at a super savings price of $149. Planning is a critical step in the success of any business. By taking advantage of this offer, you are getting the expertise of a proven marketing expert at a fraction of the cost of large marketing executives.

Why do we offer this at such a low price? Our services are designed to help the owners of small businesses. We know you don't have mega marketing budgets so we make our services affordable. Despite the low price, you're getting great value. We start the process with our proprietary questionnaire and end with giving you an expert report of our recommendations. As a bonus, we also give you a copy of your very own "Set Your Sights™ New Business Tracking Form" and your "Quarterly Marketing Report Form" so you can track your results!

So don't miss out on this limited-time offer. Go to our web site and click on the page for Marketing Planning or go directly to http://eaglesoars-marketing.com/our-services/marketing/marketing-plans

Marketing firm is accepting nominations to donate web design services to a Christian or fledgling non-profit organization

Eagle Soars Marketing will be accepting nominations and using their talents and expertise to design a web site for a Christian or fledgling non-profit organization. To be considered, qualifying organizations must complet and submit a Nomination Form to the company on or before December 31, 2009.

"Eagle Soars Marketing is a large supporter of cause-related marketing and has made a commitment to helping small non-profit organizations gain greater awareness within their communities," states Eagle Soars' owner, Anne Lazo. "In fact, we believe so strongly in non-profits that when we work with our business clients we find ways in which we can help them partner with area non-profits."

Lazo further states, "We understand the burdens the smaller non-profits are now facing for contributions and we want to do our part to help. While we can't give away a free web site to every non-profit, we can provide an opportunity for one organization to become more visible on the world wide web."

This will be the first year Eagle Soars Marketing will accept nominations from Christian non-profits and those non-profits that have incorporated within the past year. Within 30 days after the nomination closing date, the submissions will be reviwed, scored and the winner will be selected. Since the company will continue to offer this program once each year, starting on October 1st and ending on December 31st, those organizations not selected in this round will be considered in subsequent evaluation rounds.

For the selected organization, the offer will include the professional design of one free web site. Domain name registration and hosting is not included. For more details and to download the nomination form, qualifying organizations should visit the Eagle Soars Marketing web site at www.eaglesoars-marketing.com. Completed nomination forms should be faxed to Eagle Soars Marketing no later than December 31, 2009. The final selection will be made by January 30, 2010.