Readers often ask about the kind of results they should expect from joining a service club, such as Rotary, Lions, or Kiwanis. If you go to meetings regularly, exchange cards with people, follow up with other members after meetings, keep in touch with them, and still don’t get any clients from there, is it worthwhile being a member? Read more (members only)

The best way to go about choosing your market niche depends a lot on the products and services you are selling. For self-employed professionals who market their own services, the formula for a solid niche is: target market + specialty + desire + affinity. Read more (members only)

It’s a common problem for ezine publishers to have their ezines blocked by ISP’s, email providers, corporate firewalls, or personal spam filters installed by the subscriber. If your subscribers “whitelist” your publication, you’ll stand a better chance of it being delivered. But how can you get more subscribers to do this? Read more (members only)

Pay-per-click advertising can be a useful method of increasing traffic to your website, but you need to make sure that you are earning more from each click than you are paying for it. The sales conversion rate of your website multiplied by the amount of your average sale must equal more than your cost per click. If it doesn’t, you are losing money. Read more (members only)

The most important question to ask yourself before writing an article for marketing purposes is exactly how you want that article to position you. For example, if you are a relationship coach with expertise in dating, resolving conflicts, and clear communication, and you like to work with baby boomer singles and couples, Read more (members only)

When visitors to your website email you with questions about your services, they might be legitimate prospects. But they may also be window shoppers, tire kickers, or looky-loos. Before you invest too much effort in trying to close a sale, you should try to pre-qualify these online prospects. Read more (members only)

The most important question to ask yourself when looking for places to network is, “where do my clients hang out?” The second most important question is, “where do my potential referral sources hang out?” Read more (members only)

As a home-based business owner myself, I’ve had to deal with this situation many times. When you need to meet with clients in person regularly, renting an office (or sharing one) is a necessary part of doing business. But if you only see your clients in person once in a while, here are some meeting venues you might consider. Read more (members only)

Working from home has so many benefits that many entrepreneurs don’t consider the drawbacks. For the first month or two, you may really enjoy the improved concentration and productivity most people find when they work alone. But after a while, you may find yourself missing the interaction you used to get at work. Read more (members only)

Bartering can be a very useful strategy, especially when your business is young. By arranging trades for certain products and services, you can obtain what you can’t afford to buy, save money, and avoid incurring extra debt. Read more (members only)

Blogs and ezines are both useful tools for using your writing to market on the web. There are many similarities between the two, but there are also differences. They are delivered in different ways, often differ in their content, and are created using different tools. Here are the chief differences between the two forms. Read more (members only)

Don’t let your clients manage your business. Instead, you need to manage your clients. Often, this problem begins when a client makes an impossible request, and you drop everything to deliver what he or she needs. The client thinks you are a star, and gives you more business. Read more (members only)