You have invested in a website that you can manage all by yourself. No waiting for your developer to make updates or content edits. You can blog to your little heart's content. You are equipped with a powerful marketing tool that you can use to grow your business.

But....

• You forgot how to get in there and make changes (lack of documentation-- and training was a while ago).

• You have the blog, but don't know what you are supposed to be writing about.

• You thought that once you had a quality site- traffic would just head in your direction.

Now what should I do?

You should contact your old friend Sam here and set up an appointment for a little coaching time. Together we can regroup on your marketing strategy, motivate you to get back into the swing of things, and teach you how to write quality content on your website and blog. I want you to overcome your fear of using the website tools and focus on taking things one step at a time to get comfortable with them.

Indeed, this is a shameless plug for my services, but the fact is that there are so many business owners who are letting their websites go stale because of a few small roadblocks. Together we can work through them and get you back on track! I offer an intial 1/2 hour free- then charge $70/hour. Not a Joomla site owner- that's ok because all of the same concepts apply to utilizing your website for online marketing.

Have a Fabulous day!

In my most recent post found on Hot Blog Tips, I suggested that bloggers, writers, business owners, etc "connect with their audience." After reading that post, someone suggested that perhaps one might not know their audience.

I have a couple of responses for that:

• You have to start somewhere.
• Marketing is not an exact science -- trial and error is a given.

You have to start somewhere. Casting a general and wide net is an ok approach to marketing, but should not be your only strategy, because you don't think you know your audience.  A better approach, in my mind, is to at least determine who you "think" is your audience. In doing so, you will craft a much more pointed message.

For example: If you are selling infant toys. Are you selling to the infants- no! Are you selling to the moms? Are you selling to the grandmas? Are you selling to daycare providers? Each of these audiences should be marketed to a little differently and a catch-all approach won't do the trick.

Moms are probably looking for non-toxic toys that encourage cognitive development.

Grandmas might be looking to fill that bag of tricks at their house so when the grandchild comes over for babysitting they have something handy for entertainment purposes. Perhaps they want to buy gifts for their little angels.

Daycare providers need to show parents that they are offering quality services, which include developmental education and safety for the children. Their environment is filled with stimulating toys.

Marketing is not an exact science. Sometimes the best laid plans... Let's face it; you won't always know what will work and what will not. In addition, there will be times when your audience turns out to be completely different than whom you were initially targeting.  Is this a bad thing? Heck no! It is the reality of marketing.

So, for those of you who tell me you don't know your target audience- I say pick one and start there. The more you practice narrowing down the audience, the more you will be able to narrow down the benefits of your product or service to them. Be consistent and don't give up after one try either. Stick with the audience at hand. Set a time limit (don't ask me what that is). If you just can't seem to get the interest after such time- try something new. But- give it a good shot. A one -time deal doesn't offer you any measurable results.

Guess what? Just because you want to rank higher doesn't mean you are going to! Because you have a much bigger problem to be worried about.

I am so tired of people talking about their ranking and SEO and MetaTags and traffic. Why would I be irritated when I am an online marketing consultant you ask? Because too many people are wasting their time worrying about those things when they don't even have a handle on their business model, philosophy or goals! The bottom line for me is that - SEO is great and getting traffic to your site by manipulating the system properly is just wonderful. But, and here is the big BUT- if your message isn't clear, if the content on your site stinks, and if visitors can't find what they are looking for and you have no clear call to action- I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH TRAFFIC YOU ARE GOINT TO GET- because your conversion rates will be nonexistent.

There I said it.

It's one thing if you have all the big picture stuff in place, but for you newbies to the scene, let's make sure you know the how's and why's before throwing money at getting your site on the 1^st page of Google. OK?   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me to set up a consultation and if you use the promo code: TheBigPicture in the subject line. I will give you 1 hour of consulting/coaching for $50 (regularly $70).

Ok- Tell me what your 3 strongest business skills are. Now tell me what you are trying to learn as you grow your business. How do these areas of learning contribute to the bottom line of your business?

Far too many small business owners think they need to learn it all and become experts in everything in order to be successful or hopefully grow their business.  Why do you need to know all of these things? Well, because you should.  Hmmm.....I believe that to an extent.

Now let me tell you what I really think of the situation. I think that in order to cultivate a successful business you need a few things.

1. "You need to know a little bit about a lot of stuff." That is 100% of what I tell people about myself all the time. I know a little bit about a lot of "stuff" and do you want to know why or how? I get out of the house! I go networking! I get involved in a variety if activities! Finally, I ask a whole lot of questions.
2. You need to determine who the experts are. Then you need to align yourself with them. Go to their talks. Comment on their blogs. Follow their discussion on a variety of forums. Find out where they get their information and then call upon them when you get stuck. If they are worth their salt - they will offer advice, information and service to you.
3. You need to be willing to take risks. Yes, that's right risks. Growing a business is not easy and it's not a sure thing. Failure, setbacks or nagging problems, although not pleasant, are an opportunity to learn and you should take full advantage of that. What worked? What didn't work? How can you improve? WHO should you call for help? (Hint- go back to #2.)

The long and the short of it is that you should focus on what you do well and call on those who can fill in the gaps. Learn enough to be confident to know what you don't know. My definition of self-esteem is to acknowledge both your strengths and your weaknesses. As long as you can do both of those things, then you have a chance at success. If you think you know it all or think you ought to know it all.... You will burn out before you start.