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I'm a Creativity Coach. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for building business? I live in a very rural area and all my work must be done by phone and internet.

Craftydelisa,
What is a Creativity Coach? What services do you provide?

A Creativity Coach is a person that helps others over come their creative blocks.
I work with artists and creators of all kinds to help them reach their goals. I also work with people who are not professional artist to connect with their creative centers. I believe that everyone is creative is some way and that by being connected with our creative source we can improve our lives.
For example I have helped:
A woman start her crafting business and realize what she needed to do get her "Dream Life".

An aspiring writer find the courage need to write a very personal book.

A potter gain the self confidence needed to support her dream and tell her family.

It is like being a life coach but with the focus on creativity. I think that creativity is a very powerful tool for healing and self growth.

Hi Delisa,

You mentioned living in a rural area and online marketing. Here is what is working for me (I get Target Traffic & Signups).Builds ANY Home Business even on a Budget: Free Traffic Tips & Signups!! (http://www.zillionriches.buildingonabudget.com/) (Get Free Tips!!)

Best Wishes,

Thanks for the link. I will be checking it out.

Ok, Let me know if you have any questions.

Alot of my friends/colleagues that have home based business are using this with great success. Many of them used to pay for leads, but now they don't, just because of this!

Best Wishes,Edited by: Meli

networking with others who own home based businesses is a great way. that is one of the ways I have been successful at what I do.

I'm a Creativity Coach. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for building business? I live in a very rural area and all my work must be done by phone and internet.


I would suggest you to buy a domain name and a hosting service and start your own website writing interesting articles on creativity coaching and offering your services at a decent price.
Anyway ,is kind of funny a creativity coach asking for ideas !...hey, you're supposed to be creative :)
Edited by: aiyanna

Since you need to attract pre-qualified folks to your website, here are 40 ways to market to bring that traffic there.


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40 Ways To Drive Pre-Qualified Visitors To Your Website –<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
And Keep Them Coming Back

In 1998, promoting your Web site was a very easy process. You placed three lines of code called "meta tags" on the top of your home page and submitted your site to the free search engine (Yahoo) or online directories. Fast forward to the present. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – yes, they have their own names now! - have become a time consuming project; There are software programs that reportedly help you increase your rankings and an entire field has cropped up of practitioners who call themselves Search Engine Optimizers.

However, it's not enough to just drive traffic to your web site. You must make your web site “trustable” or all that traffic will disappear. The ideas below will provide you with some ways to help you both bring traffic to your site and keep your ideal clients coming back for more of your services or products.

It's also not enough to drive "any old traffic" to your site. You want pre-qualified potential buyers. When your ideal client (target market, niche) visits your web site, you want them to feel special -- to know that they have arrived at the place that will help them overcome a problem they’re having. So make them feel special. Target your marketing directly at them.

Before you spend money on software, learning about SEO, or on specialists, see which of the these less complex ways can help bring traffic and business to your site.


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">If your web site sells high-end services or products, but the site itself looks like you took MS Word and threw something up "just because,” people will leave your site, no matter what you're selling. There are many hosting programs that will help you create a first professional looking web site. Not a programmer? Look for hosting packages that include wizards or content management programs to help you create a more professional looking site. (Although I do recommend hiring a professional as your best choice.). Heck, I can show you how to create a simple website, a first website, in 48 hours for less than $125! Click here to learn more http://www.ElevatingYourBusinessU.com (http://www.elevatingyourbusinessu.com/) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Remember that the most important part of your web site is "above the fold." It's first section of your site someone sees when they visit. So grab their attention with emotional headlines that tells them they've come to the right place and you're the best company to solve their problem. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">OK. If you've created a web site and have no way for your visitors to become part of your community and learn from you, you are better off NOT creating a site. What good is all that traffic if they leave your site and forget you exist? The answer is to place a subscription box above the fold for your visitors to join your newsletter. Include an offering of a free report, assessment, audio, ecourse or something else that will help them learn something new and get more importantly, something that helps them learn more about you and your company, too. Oh, forget about providing a link on the page that makes visitors click to subscribe to your newsletter. Remember, the more clicks someone has to make to do something, the greater the chances that they will move on. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Don't create an online newsletter (ezine) unless you're willing to send it out at least once a month. Never any less. Best is once a week or every other week. If you're not a writer, stick to black &amp; white newsletters and write a short tip and use an article you obtain for free at article banks. Hate to write? Learn how you can get free articles at http://www.ArticleBanks.com (http://www.articlebanks.com/) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Swap Ads: Find another ezine published who has the same ideal clients as yours and see if you can place an ad for your ezine in their ezine for free, and they would then place an ad in your ezine for free. Just make sure that the person who owns the other ezine isn't your direct competition. Instead, look for companies that compliment your service or product. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Ask your webmaster to name each of your pages using a keywords that describe what’s on the page. The keyword is the most important word on the page. They're words the search engines will use to find that page. Example: www.YourDomainName/WhatIsOnThePage.html (http://www.yourdomainname/WhatIsOnThePage.html) If you’re ready to learn more about Search Engine Marketing, email me. I’m considering teaching a class on the subject. I’ll put you on the announcement list as soon as I choose a date for the program mailto:maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM _Class (maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM_Class )</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Offer added values that make sense to your business and ideal client. This can include articles or tips, affiliate programs, ebooks, resources, and books. For books, be sure to choose a source company that provides you with additional income if someone purchases a book from that site. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Add a “add to favorites or bookmark this site” script to some of your pages. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Add a "Recommend This Site" on your web site. If someone visits your site and knows someone else who may appreciate it, this feature will e-mail the page's link to a recipient. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">If you have pages on your site that you update monthly (like an articles page or recommended links page) say so on the page. Even offer an email list especially for those who want to be kept updated when you update the page. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Provide a subscription box to your online newsletter on all your pages, or at least your most viewed web site pages. You never know which page someone will find when they conduct a search on their favorite search engine. They may find you on a page inside your website and they’ll never know that you have a newsletter unless you tell them.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">On large Web sites, create a "What's New Page" or, even better, design a "Site Map" (a listing of what's on the most important areas of your web site) for your visitors. You can see a sample site map page here www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com/sitemap/ (http://www.elevatingyourbusiness.com/sitemap/) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Make it easy for everyone who visits your site to contact you. Way too many web sites have forms or email addresses posted but when you click on them, they don’t work! OR get this. Some website have graphics instead of email addresses. When you try to click on the link to email them, nothing happens! These are either lazy or unknowledgeable business owners. I say that because there are ways to protect your email address from spammers and harvesters; it just takes a little more work and knowledge. I recommend that you create an email address just for your web site and have a contact form created so that potential clients can contact you. Have the form encrypted, making it harder for the "harvesters" to gather your email information and if you start getting spam, change your email address and the encryption on the form. Learn more about how to encrypt email addresses here http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/index2.html </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Search engines look for certain things - titles, heading, meta tags - so it is crucial to make sure your site is "search-engine friendly." </LI>
1. Title tags: Title tags should be 60 or so characters and include keywords.
2. Header tags are numbered from 1 to 7: some search engines recognize header tags, so make sure you use these tags for each of the titles on your page.
3. Keyword <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:PersonName w:st="on">Meta</st1:PersonName> tags: Add no more than 15 to 20 keywords to keep the search engines from flagging your site for keyword spamming. Prioritize your words. The best way to submit to search engines is to submit to each engine individually.
4. Use keywords in the text area of each page. They are especially important at the beginning of sentences and closer to the top of the page.
5. To learn more about meta tags, titles and other Search Engine Marketing tips email me and I’ll put you on the announcement list for my next SEM teleseminar mailto:maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM _Class (maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM_Class )

,

<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Search engines do not find your site unless you submit your site's information to them. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in">My best recommendation is that you submit to search engines individually (this is the way I do it and it works great, but is time consuming)! </LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in">Some people prefer to use a free service to submit their sites to search engines. If you do this, I highly recommend that you open a free e-mail address to use when you do "anything" for free on the World Wide Web. </LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in">You can pay for a program that will assist you to submit and critique your site.</LI>
<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in">You can also hire a Search Engine Optimization expert to handle your search engine submission.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Visit these search engine information sites and learn more about search engines: http://www.searchenginewatch.com (http://www.searchenginewatch.com/) and http://www.searchengineguide.com (http://www.searchengineguide.com/)</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Find easy and secure ways for your clients to pay you. A shopping cart and a secure way to accept checks and/or credit cards is your best bet. Just using PayPal as a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> party merchant account is not enough. Some people want something different. Instead, look into having two 3<SUP>rd</SUP> party merchant account or a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> party merchant account and your own merchant account as alternatives. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Check your links regularly to make sure they all work. Use a free link checker like Xenu, which I've been using for years. It's available at http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html. (http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Provide bulletin boards (forums) or blogs to build relationships and community. You’ll find resources for both at www.TheResourceQueen.com (http://www.theresourcequeen.com/) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Conduct periodic contests and announce the winners in your newsletters. This will get you new subscribers because your readers will tell their friends about the contest. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Offer a free e-book or e-report on your site. Its size doesn’t matter if you’re providing it for free and it’s specifically for your ideal client. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Write articles, post them to your site, and submit them to article banks. Learn more about these banks at http://www.ArticleBanks.com (http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/articlebanks.html)</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Build a strong, solid business foundation. Design a business plan, marketing plan, ideal client profile, and 30-second elevator speech. Why? First and foremost, these tools will help you recession proof your business. Secondly, you'll be very clear and focused on your business and its message and your web site will reflect that. Third, the words you place on your foundation pieces could be used on your web site and you'll have consistency in your message. Read articles about plans, ideal clients, and elevator speeches at http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/index2.html </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Design some quizzes or surveys. Statistics show that visitors love online quizzes and assessment tools. Make sure that you have a way to capture email addresses and provide the visitor with the results of the form, too. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Participate in online forums or bulletin boards as an expert, moderator, or member. You get to "quietly" promote your business in your 3 or 4 line signature. For bulletin board resources, visit http://www.TheResourceQueen.com (http://www.theresourcequeen.com/) </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Place your web site address on all your printed literature -- business cards, brochures, newsletters, letterhead, ads - everything!! but only if you have a web site that is viewable. Don't follow this suggestion if your web site is under construction! Instead of helping your business, you'll annoy folks who come to visit your site. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Promote your web address in your signature for e-mails and change your signature regularly to highlight something new you're promoting. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Teach classes or speak to groups about subjects relating to your service or products. Bring a sign-up sheet for your newsletter to the event.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Attend networking events locally to bring people to your site. Be careful when networking online. It can start getting addictive. Make sure that all your online marketing produces results. If not, use an idea that will leverage your time better. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">“Permission Market” by gathering, in writing, the e-mail addresses of students, or an audience, as part of your evaluation forms. Create index cards so that you can invite your friends, networking partners or associates to join your list. Keep any papers involved in this process for at least a year or two so if you have to prove that you have not “spammed” someone, you’ll have the back-up. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">When your web site is launched, updated, or you write a free e-book, send a press release to the media, your clients, friends and associates.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">If this list of promotion ideas seems overwhelming, visit your favorite search engine to conduct a search for Search Engine Optimizers and Consultants or ask others who they use and recommend.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">If you want people to register to gain access to free information on your site, know that freebie seekers don’t like doing this, which is great for you! Who goes into business just to give away the shop? But if you do it right, your ideal client will be happy to join your newsletter. If you want to increase the odds that people register for your free content, offer valuable information and don’t create a form that asks for their life story. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Tailor your site to the disabled and those with very slow computers. When placing a graphic on a page, Include "alt" image tags with a written description of what the picture represents. When possible, use keywords in the description, too. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Include a site map. Site maps help some search engines to find you. At the very least, they help your visitors learn more about you and your services which, in turn, means they'll stay on your site longer. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Scrolling: Ever gone to a website and had to scroll to the left to right because someone made the page too wide? Most likely you scrolled your way to another site. People don't mind scrolling up and down for good information or products. But they never like to scroll left and right on a page. No way, no how!</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Pay per click (PPC) This is a whole other field of advertising on the web that is worth looking into. Google and Overture are the most well know in the PPC field.</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; COLOR: black; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Blogging. The search engines like blogs because they like pages that are updated often. To learn more about blogging, http://www.theresourcequeen.com/favorites/websitetools.html</LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Attend networking events and provide some sort of postcard advertisement that will bring others to your web site. Maybe give out a sample. Or a gift card. Or even a notice of a free audio they can download from your site. </LI>


<LI =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in">Promote your newsletter or services in Craig's List under Small Biz Ads</LI>

Do I use all of the above? EGADS No! However, if you visit my website you’ll see plenty of the suggestions you’ve just read. Main thing is that it’s extremely important to market to your ideal client and not all of these suggestions may “hit YOUR target market.” The choice is yours to choose (and monitor) which forms of marketing online will bring your "ideal clients" to your website. If what you’ve done work, so be it. If it doesn’t work, I’ve give you plenty of other ideas!



Remember, <B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">it's not just traffic that's important to bring your website. Anyone can figure out ways to bring traffic. What you want is to attract quality visitor. What you want to do is attract your ideal clients to your website[/I][/B] and it’s the relationship you build with them that counts. Because those relationships will turn readers into clients. And since we are all FOR PROFIT businesses that’s really what we all want. More great clients and the cash that comes with having them!

To print a copy of this article, click here http://elevatingyourbusiness.com/amx.php?adminid=1954&amp;tid=13538


© 2008 Maria Marsala, founder of Elevating Your Business, and a Business Strategist, Speaker and Author draws on her Wall Street tradingexperience and 30-plus years of business success to help business owners nationwide. Her specialty is helping business owners build bigger, better businesses by streamlining the parts of business they choose to ignore—planning, administration, marketing. Maria’s written more than 200 business and Internet articles and has appeared on TV &amp; radio shows on both coasts. Her most recent venture is the CD series “Corporate Secrets for Small Business Success”, a self-coaching system in a box. Visit us at http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com (http://www.elevatingyourbusiness.com/) and http://www.BusinessAndMarketingPlan.com (http://www.businessandmarketingplan.com/)

I'm a Creativity Coach. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for building business? I live in a very rural area and all my work must be done by phone and internet.


I would suggest you to buy a domain name and a hosting service and start your own website writing interesting articles on creativity coaching and offering your services at a decent price.
Anyway ,is kind of funny a creativity coach asking for ideas !...hey, you're supposed to be creative :)


I do have a domain name and website. I do write articles and offer services.

While I can easily help others come up with ideas for things. I have a hard time doing for myself. I'm also just learning about marketing. Having these problems is more of a self esteem issue than a business issue.

Delisa:

I think you are on the right track. Since you are advertising on wahm forums, maybe you could offer something that specifically speaks to wahms, such as how creativity will help them create a work from home business - oh, or creativity for kids (affordable and fun ideas to do with your school age kids who are home for the summer)...

Love the idea of the teleclasses!

Those are good ideas. Thanks.

Hi!
I live in a rual area as well. One traffic light and post office. I live in a development that is limited to 1 house per 5 acres. So,I 'm very limited inmycommunity and I have to rely on the internet and telephone.I'm learning internet marketing skills which will help you to grow your business. It's only 10 bucks and its unlimited learning. We teach you about developing sig files, id leads, writing articles, etc. The more you learn the more you and your business grows. I'm more confident with using the telephone and building web sites, etc. Check us out.
http://997MakeMoneyNow.com/pages/800.htm (http://997makemoneynow.com/pages/800.htm)

Build a site where you can accept consultation online, just like I do, I'm a business and screenwriting coach. Don't forget to give free calls and bonuses to them also. ;)

Since you mentioned the internet, good job starting to promote your services. Does your town have a local forum that almost everyone in your town is able to access? You can post there and advertise your business.

And don't forget to ask your clients to recommend your business to other people they know. Word-of-mouth advertising helps a lot.

If this can be done, you can try inserting your flyers in newspapers delivered personally to residents in your town. Even if you can't reach everyone personally, your flyers will.

Good luck with your business!

Thanks for all the tips.

One thing that I do know is that you must build a list of contacts. The best way to do this is to build a mini site directed at your niche market. This site only has one purpose(unlike your main site)and that is to generate leads. You offer them a free product to sign up for, preferably something that solves a problem for them.

The free product could be an e-course, e-book, tool kitor report,etc.

I know a lot of coaches and trainers that do this, and it works well for them. I'm building one myself.

You also might want to focus your niche a bit more. Creative Coach covers a lot. Maybe consider focusing on a specific type of creative client.

I hope this helps!

I do have a website and I'm working on some free products. The hardest part for me is getting traffic to the site and creating a site that works well while being free and easy.

Also this is an older post and I have progressed a bit since I posted it. The ideas you have suggested are good ideas and things that all of us trying to work for ourselves should try. I think having a lot of ideas posted here is good. And your posting does help.

It is funny that I can take a client through this creative process with no problem, bet when it comes to my own work, I struggle. I have to keep to my own program. lol.

As far as getting traffic, I've found one thing that works is to do article marketing. Submit a few articles to the free directories and newsletters, making sure to include a link in the resource box along with your name.

Does anyone else do this?

I have tried associated content and helium. I haven't tried other sites though.

Craftydelisa: I am lurking from the WAHMs who write board...I'm in the midst of developing my own network, and have joined with another group - we'regrowing nicely. We're a group of WAHMS whose business is all virtual, knowledge-based - no sales of any type. My profession is grant writing. We have web designers, virtual assistants, content writers, etc. The group's goal is to referwork to eachother.
My particular goal, in addition to that, is to helppeopleturn their nonprofit dreams into realityand that's another reason why your post caught my eye. I think we might be able topartner together in some way.
I like the concept of what you do and think your skill set might be an interesting addition to the group. The reason I say that is that we have started thinking about helping each other by doing periodic brainstorming sessions to help members who are struggling with blocks - whether lack of knowledge, lack of ideas, lack of creativity..

I'm a huge believer in the power of the network and until I finally got in the midst of a group of fellow wahms, I really felt lost and lonely, honestly.

If you want to talk more about it,I'm at lwmurphytx@aol.com. We are very selective and only looking for women who feela lot of drive to succeed and want to be part of a community of similar-minded wahms and contribute frequently to the group. That said, I think the diverse perspective you would bring by being a creativity coach would add something to the mix.

If not, I wish you the best in your venture - it sounds interesting!

Lucy

Lucy, I sent you an email.

hai, to every forum members
this is jack
actually in point of view these service business is a theme to work for the people and not for the organisation
for more information please visit our site........
===================
jackjill

http://auctions.fastrealestate.net"&gt;foreclosures (%3cSPAN%20style=)Edited by: jackjill

I'm a Creativity Coach. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for building business? I live in a very rural area and all my work must be done by phone and internet.


I am a life coach and use the Law of Attraction. I am currently teaching a class at the COmmunity College and getting a group together every week to discuss and help each other out.

I am planning to do a workshop or two this Summer on the Oregon coast.

There are a few ideas I hope they help you on your journey to help others. Yo could also make a you tube video and get that out to the masses.

Be sure to check out my LOA blog below

I have been taking the 30 day challenge. It has helped me improve my website and get more traffic.

I still have lame dial up and can't do videos. No clients, no webcam, no high speed internet, ect.....

Thanks for all ideas &amp; tips

enjoy your DVDs and videos on your iPod by browsing Convert DVD to iPod for Mac (http://www.macdvdtoipod.com/dvd-to-ipod-suite-mac.html).Mac dvd to iPod (http://www.macdvdtoipod.com/) is an excellent DVD to iPod conversion tool that is designed for Mac OS users to convert DVD to iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and other iPod players, By using DVD to iPod Converter for Mac (http://www.macdvdtoipod.com/dvd-to-ipod-converter-mac.html) you can easily convert your favorite DVDs to iPod Touch,iPod Classic and iPod Nano,
want to convert your funny videos to you iPod, take a look at iPod Video Converter for Mac (http://www.macdvdtoipod.com/ipod-video-converter-mac.html),

Wow!

So many thought-provoking ideas in this thread. Even the most experienced people are sure to get new ideas out of this one.

It just goes to show you that there's no limit to the number of ways a person can go about building a business!

your site registration does not work. I liked your tips.

Since you need to attract pre-qualified folks to your website, here are 40 ways to market to bring that traffic there.


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40 Ways To Drive Pre-Qualified Visitors To Your Website –</span>
And Keep Them Coming Back</span>
</font></span>
In 1998, promoting your Web site was a very easy process. </span>You placed three lines of code called "meta tags" on the top of your home page and submitted your site to the free search engine (Yahoo) or online directories. </span>Fast forward to the present. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – yes, they have their own names now! - have become a time consuming project; There are software programs that reportedly help you increase your rankings and an entire field has cropped up of practitioners who call themselves Search Engine Optimizers. </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>
However, it's not enough to just drive traffic to your web site. You must make your web site “trustable” or all that traffic will disappear. The ideas below will provide you with some ways to help you both bring traffic to your site and keep your ideal clients coming back for more of your services or products. </font></font></span>
</font></span>
It's also not enough to drive "any old traffic" to your site. </span>You want pre-qualified potential buyers. </span>When your ideal client (target market, niche) visits your web site, you want them to feel special -- to know that they have arrived at the place that will help them overcome a problem they’re having. </span>So make them feel special. </span>Target your marketing directly at them. </font></font></span>
</font></span>
Before you spend money on software, learning about SEO, or on specialists, see which of the these less complex ways can help bring traffic and business to your site. </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">If your web site sells high-end services or products, but the site itself looks like you took MS Word and threw something up "just because,” people will leave your site, no matter what you're selling. There are many hosting programs that will help you create a first professional looking web site. </span>Not a programmer? Look for hosting packages that include wizards or content management programs to help you create a more professional looking site. (Although I do recommend hiring a professional as your best choice.). Heck, I can show you how to create a simple website, a first website, in 48 hours for less than $125! </span>Click here to learn more </font>http://www.ElevatingYourBusinessU.com</font> (http://www.elevatingyourbusinessu.com/) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Remember that the most important part of your web site is "above the fold." It's first section of your site someone sees when they visit. So grab their attention with emotional headlines that tells them they've come to the right place and you're the best company to solve their problem. </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">OK. </span>If you've created a web site and have no way for your visitors to become part of your community and learn from you, you are better off NOT creating a site. What good is all that traffic if they leave your site and forget you exist? </span>The answer is to place a subscription box above the fold for your visitors to join your newsletter. Include an offering of a free report, assessment, audio, ecourse or something else that will help them learn something new and get more importantly, something that helps them learn more about you and your company, too. Oh, forget about providing a link on the page that makes visitors click to subscribe to your newsletter. </span>Remember, the more clicks someone has to make to do something, the greater the chances that they will move on. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;"></span>Don't create an online newsletter (ezine) unless you're willing to send it out at least once a month. Never any less. Best is once a week or every other week. If you're not a writer, stick to black &amp; white newsletters and write a short tip and use an article you obtain for free at article banks. Hate to write? </span>Learn how you can get free articles at </font></font>http://www.ArticleBanks.com</font> (http://www.articlebanks.com/) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Swap Ads: Find another ezine published who has the same ideal clients as yours and see if you can place an ad for your ezine in their ezine for free, and they would then place an ad in your ezine for free. </span>Just make sure that the person who owns the other ezine isn't your direct competition. </span>Instead, look for companies that compliment your service or product. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Ask your webmaster to name each of your pages using a keywords that describe what’s on the page. </span>The keyword is the most important word on the page. They're words the search engines will use to find that page. Example: </font>www.YourDomainName/WhatIsOnThePage.html</font></span> (http://www.yourdomainname/WhatIsOnThePage.html) </span>If you’re </span>ready to learn more about Search Engine Marketing, email me. </span>I’m considering teaching a class on the subject. I’ll put you on the announcement list as soon as I choose a date for the program </font></font>mailto:maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM _Class</font> (maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM_Class )</span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Offer added values that make sense to your business and ideal client. This can include articles or tips, affiliate programs, ebooks, resources, and books. For books, be sure to choose a source company that provides you with additional income if someone purchases a book from that site. </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Add a “add to favorites or bookmark this site” script to some of your pages. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Add a "Recommend This Site" on your web site. If someone visits your site and knows someone else who may appreciate it, this feature will e-mail the page's link to a recipient. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">If you have pages on your site that you update monthly (like an articles page or recommended links page) say so on the page. </span>Even offer an email list especially for those who want to be kept updated when you update the page. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Provide a subscription box to your online newsletter on all your pages, or at least your most viewed web site pages. </span>You never know which page someone will find when they conduct a search on their favorite search engine. </span>They may find you on a page inside your website and they’ll never know that you have a newsletter unless you tell them.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">On large Web sites, create a "What's New Page" or, even better, design a "Site Map" (a listing of what's on the most important areas of your web site) for your visitors. </span>You can see a sample site map page here </font>www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com/sitemap/</font> (http://www.elevatingyourbusiness.com/sitemap/) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Make it easy for everyone who visits your site to contact you. Way too many web sites have forms or email addresses posted but when you click on them, they don’t work! </span>OR get this. Some website have graphics instead of email addresses. </span>When you try to click on the link to email them, nothing happens! </span>These are either lazy or unknowledgeable business owners. I say that because there are ways to protect your email address from spammers and harvesters; it just takes a little more work and knowledge. I recommend that you create an email address just for your web site and have a contact form created so that potential clients can contact you. </span>Have the form encrypted, making it harder for the "harvesters" to gather your email information and if you start getting spam, change your email address and the encryption on the form. </span>Learn more about how to encrypt email addresses here </font>http://www.CoachMaria.com/articles/index2.html</font> (http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/index2.html) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Search engines look for certain things </span>- titles, heading, meta tags - so it is crucial to make sure your site is "search-engine friendly." </font></font></span>
1.</font> </span></span></span>Title tags: Title tags should be 60 or so characters and include keywords. </font></font></span>
2.</font> </span></span></span>Header tags are numbered from 1 to 7: some search engines recognize header tags, so make sure you use these tags for each of the titles on your page. </span></font></font></span>
3.</font> </span></span></span>Keyword <st1:personname w:st="on">Meta</st1:personname> tags: Add no more than 15 to 20 keywords to keep the search engines from flagging your site for keyword spamming. Prioritize your words. The best way to submit to search engines is to submit to each engine individually. </font></font></span>
4.</font> </span></span></span>Use keywords in the text area of each page. They are especially important at the beginning of sentences and closer to the top of the page. </span></font></font></span>
5.</font> </span></span></span>To learn more about meta tags, titles and other Search Engine Marketing tips email me and I’ll put you on the announcement list for my next SEM teleseminar </font>mailto:maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM _Class</font> (maria@elevatingyourbusiness.com?subject=SEM_Class )</span>
</font></span>
, </font></font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Search engines do not find your site unless you submit your site's information to them. </font></font></span>


<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">My best recommendation is that you submit to search engines individually (this is the way I do it and it works great, but is time consuming)! </font></font></span>
<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Some people prefer to use a free service to submit their sites to search engines. If you do this, I highly recommend that you open a free e-mail address to use when you do "anything" for free on the World Wide Web. </font></font></span>
<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">You can pay for a program that will assist you to submit and critique your site.</font></font></span>
<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">You can also hire a Search Engine Optimization expert to handle your search engine submission.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Visit these search engine information sites and learn more about search engines: </font>http://www.searchenginewatch.com</font> (http://www.searchenginewatch.com/) and</font> http://www.searchengineguide.com</font> (http://www.searchengineguide.com/)</span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Find easy and secure ways for your clients to pay you. A shopping cart and a secure way to accept checks and/or credit cards is your best bet. </span>Just using PayPal as a 3^rd party merchant account is not enough. </span>Some people want something different. </span>Instead, look into having two 3^rd party merchant account or a 3^rd party merchant account and your own merchant account as alternatives. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Check your links regularly to make sure they all work. Use a free link checker like Xenu, which I've been using for years. </span>It's available at </font>http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html.</font> (http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Provide bulletin boards (forums) or blogs to build relationships and community. You’ll find resources for both at </font>www.TheResourceQueen.com</font> (http://www.theresourcequeen.com/) </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Conduct periodic contests and announce the winners in your newsletters. </span>This will get you new subscribers because your readers will tell their friends about the contest. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;"></span>Offer a free e-book or e-report on your site. Its size doesn’t matter if you’re providing it for free and it’s specifically for your ideal client. </span></font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Write articles, post them to your site, and submit them to article banks. Learn more about these banks at </font>http://www.ArticleBanks.com</font></span> (http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/articlebanks.html)</span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;"></span>Build a strong, solid business foundation. Design a business plan, marketing plan, ideal client profile, and 30-second elevator speech. Why? First and foremost, these tools will help you recession proof your business. Secondly, you'll be very clear and focused on your business and its message and your web site will reflect that. Third, the words you place on your foundation pieces could be used on your web site and you'll have consistency in your message. Read articles about plans, ideal clients, and elevator speeches at </span></font></font>http://www.CoachMaria.com/articles/index2.html</font> (http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/index2.html) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Design some quizzes or surveys. Statistics show that visitors love online quizzes and assessment tools. </span>Make sure that you have a way to capture email addresses and provide the visitor with the results of the form, too. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Participate in online forums or bulletin boards as an expert, moderator, or member. You get to "quietly" promote your business in your 3 or 4 line signature. For bulletin board resources, visit </font>http://www.TheResourceQueen.com</font> (http://www.theresourcequeen.com/) </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Place your web site address on all your printed literature -- business cards, brochures, newsletters, letterhead, ads - everything!! but only if you have a web site that is viewable. Don't follow this suggestion if your web site is under construction! </span>Instead of helping your business, you'll annoy folks who come to visit your site. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Promote your web address in your signature for e-mails and change your signature regularly to highlight something new you're promoting. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Teach classes or speak to groups about subjects relating to your service or products. </span>Bring a sign-up sheet for your newsletter to the event.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Attend networking events locally to bring people to your site. Be careful when networking online. It can start getting addictive. Make sure that all your online marketing produces results. If not, use an idea that will leverage your time better. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">“Permission Market” by gathering, in writing, the e-mail addresses of students, or an audience, as part of your evaluation forms. Create index cards so that you can invite your friends, networking partners or associates to join your list. </span>Keep any papers involved in this process for at least a year or two so if you have to prove that you have not “spammed” someone, you’ll have the back-up. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">When your web site is launched, updated, or you write a free e-book, send a press release to the media, your clients, friends and associates.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">If this list of promotion ideas seems overwhelming, visit your favorite search engine to conduct a search for Search Engine Optimizers and Consultants or ask others who they use and recommend.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">If you want people to register to gain access to free information on your site, know that freebie seekers don’t like doing this, which is great for you! </span>Who goes into business just to give away the shop? </span>But if you do it right, your ideal client will be happy to join your newsletter. If you want to increase the odds that people register for your free content, offer valuable information and don’t create a form that asks for their life story. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Tailor your site to the disabled and those with very slow computers. When placing a graphic on a page, Include </span>"alt" image tags with a written description of what the picture represents. When possible, use keywords in the description, too. </span></font></span></font>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Include a site map. Site maps help some search engines to find you. At the very least, they help your visitors learn more about you and your services which, in turn, means they'll stay on your site longer. </font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;"></span>S</span>crolling: </span>Ever gone to a website and had to scroll to the left to right because someone made the page too wide? Most likely you scrolled your way to another site. </span>People don't mind scrolling up and down for good information or products. But they never like to scroll left and right on a page. </span>No way, no how!</span></span></font></font>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Pay per click (PPC) </span>This is a whole other field of advertising on the web that is worth looking into. </span>Google and Overture are the most well know in the PPC field.</font></font></span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black;">Blogging. </span>The search engines like blogs because they like pages that are updated often. </span>To learn more about blogging, </font>http://www.theresourcequeen.com/favorites/websitetools.html</font> (http://www.theresourcequeen.com/favorites/websitetools.html)</span>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></span>Attend networking events and provide some sort of postcard advertisement that will bring others to your web site. </span>Maybe give out a sample. </span>Or a gift card. </span>Or even a notice of a free audio they can download from your site. </span></span></span></font></font>
</font></span>

<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></span>Promote your newsletter or services in Craig's List under </span>Small Biz Ads</span></span></font></font>
</font></span>
Do I use all of the above? EGADS No! </span>However, if you visit my website you’ll see plenty of the suggestions you’ve just read. </span>Main thing is that it’s extremely important to market to your ideal client and not all of these suggestions may “hit YOUR target market.” </span>The choice is yours to choose (and monitor) which forms of marketing online will bring your "ideal clients" to your website. </span>If what you’ve done work, so be it. </span>If it doesn’t work, I’ve give you plenty of other ideas!</font></font></span>
</font></span>
</font></span>
</font></span>
Remember, <b style=""><i style="">it's not just traffic that's important to bring your website. </span>Anyone can figure out ways to bring traffic. </span>What you want is to attract quality visitor. </span>What you want to do is attract your ideal clients to your website[/i][/b] and it’s the relationship you build with them that counts. Because those relationships will turn readers into clients. </span>And since we are all FOR PROFIT businesses that’s really what we all want. </span>More great clients and the cash that comes with having them!</font></font></span>
</font></span>
To print a copy of this article, click here </font>http://elevatingyourbusiness.com/amx.php?adminid=1954&amp;tid=13538</font> (http://elevatingyourbusiness.com/amx.php?adminid=1954&amp;tid=13538)</span>
</font></span>
</font></span>
© 2008 Maria Marsala, founder of Elevating Your Business, and a Business Strategist, Speaker and Author </span>draws on her Wall Street tradingexperience and 30-plus years of business success to help business owners nationwide. Her specialty is helping business owners build bigger, better businesses by streamlining the parts of business they choose to ignore—planning, administration, marketing. Maria’s written more than 200 business and Internet articles and has appeared on TV &amp; radio shows on both coasts. Her most recent venture is the CD series “Corporate Secrets for Small Business Success”, a self-coaching system in a box.</span> Visit us at </span></font></font>http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com</font> (http://www.elevatingyourbusiness.com/) </span>and </font></font></span>http://www.BusinessAndMarketingPlan.com</font> (http://www.businessandmarketingplan.com/)</span>
</font></span>

Great ideas everyone!!! I would also recommend networking and especially using something like Facebook. But it also sounds like you are in need of some additional marketing tips as well. The key is to get people looking for you rather than you looking for them. And to do that, I would recommend some type of affiliate program. VirualURL is a great site to start generating leads. And if you're interested in a marketing system, check outhttp://www.BailoutMyMLM.com

It's tough to start a new business especially if it's something that is different and new to people. I guess what I might try is to offer some free information/service for people to try out first then try to get them to be regular clients. Word of mouth is the way to go.

I am developing an intimacy and personal development company. I want to offer intimacy education workshops/gathering for women (niche market married women), health and wellness, and self empowerment.

I'm studying everything I can about intimacy and sexual health. My company provides excellent information on the sexual health. I've been trying to figure out how to reach the married women. I am going to network with origanizations that cater to women business owners.

I know that intimacy and sex education is a touchy subject which is why I keep starting and stopping my business.

Anybody have any ideas?

well Delisa...what have you found to work for your biz? I love to market my biz and have a ball doing so.

Implement any of the advice given yet? In a study done, they found that one of the main differences between ok salespeople and the top salespeople was "speed of implementation." Just thought you might find that interesting. Let me know how things are working for you.

Not so sure what a creative coach does. I´d love to find out.

If you are looking for a business opportunity there are 4 things you need to investigate prior to joining. I have actually written about this in one of my blogs. You can view my advice here: <a href="http://how-do-i-choose-an-mlm-business.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://how-do-i-choose-an-mlm-business.blogspot.com/
</a>
If you have any questions, fee free to contact me.

Not sure what a Creative coach does. I´d love to find out!

When looking for a business opportunity, there are 4 things you need to investigate, prior to joining. I have actually written ab article about this a few days ago. You can view the article here for some solid advice. Feel free to contact me in case you have any questions!

Click here to read the article (http://www.2wealth-2freedom.com/reviews/articles/How_Do_I_Choose_An_MLM_Business_That_Suits_Me.html ).

Women in business can change the world! Go, Sisters!!!

What you believe you can achieve. (I borrowed this and can't remember who said it. Always relevant though.)

Lots of great ideas in this thread!
Thanks!

Tamas