What is that all about? Why did I want you to watch that video?

Because there’s a great lesson in that video that applies directly to how you present your message… the message you want your customers and clients to see, understand and come to the inescapable conclusion that you have what they need and more importantly what they want right now and that they’d be absolute fools to miss out on this opportunity to do business with your company right now if they didn’t contact you to get it.

Too many times business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs try to be subtle or understated in the way they present themselves and their message. And that’s a BIG mistake. You’ve got to be very clear and very plainly let your customers, customers and patients know exactly what you can do for them and what steps they need to take to learn more.

There is no value in hiding or disguising your message because you’re modest or because you don’t want to come across as “salesy.” Do that, and you’ll surely lose opportunities and clients.

One of the most powerful marketing and positioning tools I teach small business owners is what I refer to as the “ProfitsMakeOver Marketing™ Audio Business Card.” The purpose of this “ProfitsMakeOver Marketing™ Audio Business Card” is to provide the listener… your prospective client or prospect with a thumbnail sketch of who you are, what you do, and how you can be of benefit to them.

It should be informational (tell what you do), short (no more than 12 to 18 minutes), a
compelling way to showcase your business (make the listener say, “Wow! Makes sense. I want more information.”)

One of the biggest problems small business owners make when putting their marketing message together is trying to accomplish too many things. The result is that the main message is lost in the clutter.

When your message isn’t clear… when you don’t make a compelling case for what you do… for the benefits your prospect can get from working with you… when you focus on too many things and your prospect can’t focus on the main benefit you provide… they may miss the “moonwalking bear” – the real reason you put the “ProfitsMakeOver Marketing™ Audio Business Card” together in the first place.

Jupiter research forecasts that online retail spending will increase from $81 billion in 2005 to $95 billion in 2006, and will grow to $144 billion in 2010. If you have an offline retail business how will you survive?

If your business is in trouble, I am here to tell you right now there has never been a better time in history to implement simple, easy and cost-effective strategies that can change whether you will remain in business in 2009. Why? Because your competitors are operating out of fear in the marketplace. Take advantage of the situation instead of falling prey to the media hype.

All too often business owners are too close to the problem to find the answer or make that small tweak in their marketing mix that can skyrocket their business from barely surviving to seeing dramatic results to their bottom line profits in 30 days.

Business owners frequently tell me that they have received genuine breakthroughs as a result of receiving another opinion. The business owner was too close to concentrate on looking at and solving the problem that the business is struggling with.

Take these 3 Easy Steps to get the most out of our new ’20 Minute Onsite Business Strategy Evaluation’.

1. Write down the problem, challenge, or situation you want to discuss or that you need immediate help with in your business.

2. What you have done to solve, satisfy, or overcome the situation.

3. The results you have gotten (positive or negative) and what you think the reasons are.

Every successful thought leader has read the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill so many times that the book is close to falling apart and highlighted beyond recognition. Yet when I conducted my “ProfitsMakeover’s Street Interviews” only two people out of over 100 individuals had any idea of what I was talking about.

If you do not make the time now to watch this 5 minute video then you have only yourself to blame for the dissatisfactions in your life and in your business. If every leader has read this book I am giving you the opportunity to watch this video. If want things to change it starts with you.

Napolean Hill dedicated his life to success. This 5 minute video is dedicated to him and his message brought to you by Wiley Studios.

I must confess I an Eagles Fan for over 15 years since I am originally from PA but the Arizona Cardinals story is a lesson to learn in life and in your business.

The Cardinals born in an Irish neighborhood in Chicago 111 years ago have spread football mediocrity from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River to the Sonoran Desert.

While the Steelers had a hometown which took root in Pittsburgh, acquiring the city’s gritty, blue-collar persona, the Cardinals wandered from north to south in search of a home.

Before this season’s improbable run past Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia, the Cardinals had two playoff victories in their entire history: 1) the 1947 NFL championship game against Philadelphia 2) in a 1998 wild-card upset of the Dallas Cowboys.

Here’s the story that grabs at our heart…

The Cardinals were owned by the Bidwill family since 1932, but their lineage dates to 1898. As I understand the story… a group of men going by the name of the Morgan Athletic Club began playing football on Chicago’s South Side.

Three years later, team owner Chris O’Brien, a local painting contractor, bought some faded jerseys from the University of Chicago and, as the story goes, declared “That’s not maroon, it’s Cardinal red.”
Thus was born the nickname that would for decades be emblematic of professional football futility.

The Cardinals’ greatest success did not come until the aftermath of the war, when the 1947 team went 9-3 under coach Jimmy Conzelman and beat the Eagles for the NFL title. Sadly, Bidwill didn’t live to see the triumph. He died of pneumonia in April of that year.

The following season, the Cardinals were 11-1, but lost to Philadelphia for the crown.

Bidwill’s widow Violet inherited the team and she and her second husband, Walter Wolfner, were in charge in the troubled days that led to the move to St. Louis in 1960.

The team was losing money after 37 seasons at Comiskey and wanted to play its games at Northwestern. But Halas had an agreement from years earlier that the Cardinals would never play north of Madison Street.

So in 1960, the move from a mostly indifferent Chicago was made. Bidwill looked at Memphis, Jacksonville, Baltimore and — most of all — Phoenix. Oddly, Phoenix had nearly landed the Eagles in the mid-1980s, before the fans in Philadelphia made so much noise that the team stayed put.

Phoenix officials made sure any negotiations with Bidwill were done quietly. The league approved the move to Arizona on March 15, 1988.

But the team had barely arrived in town before it began to alienate fans. Bidwill set first-season ticket prices at an average of $38, the highest in the league at the time. Although he lowered it a bit to $36 the next year, it still was tops in the NFL.

Bidwill, notorious for his old-fashioned contract beliefs and penny-pinching ways, let some of his best players — offensive tackle Lomas Brown, fullback Larry Centers and linebacker Jamir Miller — get away from that team.

Then the Cardinals had a losing record every season until 2007, when first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt’s club went 8-8.

Bill Bidwill, now 77, smiled broadly as he hoisted the Halas Trophy for the NFC; it was a rare moment of triumph for a man whose many charitable deeds went by unknown. Bidwell’s ownership has long been vilified by many NFL fans in Arizona even though he is described by many as not a ‘flashy person’.

That love-hate relationship Arizona had for Bidwill and the Cardinals is all-love now, and in a city that’s one of the hardest hit by the economy’s problems, it’s a welcome diversion.

Watch this YouTube video and what two words does each player ask? If you answered, “Pick me” then you are right. What lessons can you take into your business from these NFL players?

BUSINESS STRATEGY TIPS: Why should your customer, client or patient pick your business or service to do business with you?

What are you doing to stand out in your market?

How are you branding yourself?

How are you cost-effectively using your marketing budget?

What lead generation tools are you utilizing to bring customers in the door?

While economic times are tough and scary this is also the greatest opportunity for growth in your business because most of your competition will react with fear and some will cut their marketing campaigns by at least 50%.

It is prudent to watch expenses and trim the fat. However successful businesses know it is the marketing that is the fuel that runs a clean engine.

Miss America was losing its edge and ratings so it made drastic changes this year.

A Trip Through Pageant History: A Real Slice of Americana reveals the first pageant was held in Atlantic City, N.J. in September 1920 as a way to keep tourists in Atlantic City after the Labor Day weekend.

The information gives us a factual look at “The Firsts” of the Miss America Pageants.

Here are some other pageant “firsts”: The only way to improve results is to learn from the past and keep testing in the present. In 1920 there certainly was not nearly as much competition as there is today.

Videos get messages out faster than most mediums. Playlist: Best of the 2009 Miss America Pageant Contestants on YouTube

Description: We sent each of the girls a Flip Ultra video camera and a set of 13 questions. Here are some of their best answers. The marketing plan to send each contestant a Flip Camera I have utilized as a marketing strategy with my private clients.

Rate this video at: http://www.tlc.com/MissAmerica Miss West Virginia (Kayla Lynam) tells us about her most embarrassing moment.

People love to read about stories and even more enjoy reading “Most Embarrassing Moments”. It works to humanize the contestant and be able to connect with her. The winner in this contest is Miss West Virginia for having the most views at the time of this blog post.

There were many strategies utilized in what I have defined as the “Miss America 2009 Marketing Makeover” that will be studied so make sure to follow my articles at Ezine Articles Directory.

I want you to take time off to enjoy loved ones and family members because right after the New Year I am going to put you to work immediately.

3 Step Marketing Action Guide

Businesses should develop marketing goals and strategies on an annual basis along with a 90 day action guide. Here is your homework.

1) The week of January 5, 2009 while things are still slow and your competition is crying over not making enough sales I want you to step into overdrive by writing down a marketing plan for the first quarter of 2009.

2) What steps will you take to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing efforts during the first 90 days?

3) How will you consistently measure your marketing campaigns to allow you to course correct and revise your strategies based upon the results and performance in your business?

The best way to ensure a prosperous New Year for your business is to plan for it right now. There is no time to waste with this economy so until January 4, 2009 relax with the vision in mind that you will start fresh on January 5, 2009 with a clean slate.

I anxiously await the report from a millionaire marketer called, “The Report That Brought The Marketing World To It’s Feet” I can’t wait to get the link which leads me to the PDF. I hit 2 different buttons giving me a choice how to save target as. Good so far in that my PDF has been saved as a document·

What happens next in the internet world could mean hundreds or thousands of dollars lost… I can’t open the PDF with the code provided in the sales letter. Three more attempts and I stop trying. Your customers will not be as patient. Guaranteed!

Something goes very wrong: a break down in communication or the internet…it doesn’t matter. I could not view the information so a sale is lost. You can’t afford to have that occur in your business. What went wrong?

Marketing Product Launch Tips

1) It doesn’t matter if you are making it too hard for your customers to do business with you then you are leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
2) When a product launches or in the internet marketing world relaunches several times you’d had better have a key person on board during the entire launch who can correct the problem immediately.
3) At the very least utilize a hired represntative who can interact with your customer immediately.

Now is the time to evaluate and change things while it is a slow time of year. Make it brain dead simple. The show ‘Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader’ I have said for a long time should be renamed ‘Are You Smarter Than A First Grader’.

And unfortunately no matter how we try to make it simple for our customers we have to break it down even more. You do that by testing and retesting EVERYTHING.

I beg my fellow business owners don’t listen to the news it will only instill more fear about the economy. Your focus should be making plans how to market your business for 2009.