Vol. II, Issue 5 – 13 February 2007
Editor & Publisher: Tracey Dooley

Welcome, to 208 new subscribers! Please help us grow together and forward this issue to any friends, peers and associates you think would benefit. Thanks!

In this month's success-packed edition:

• Publisher's Preamble
• Announcement
• Buoyant Marketing Growth Set for 2007
• Using Online Marketing to Your Advantage
• Attract More Customers by Making Time For the ‘M’ Word
• About the Word Doctor
• Special Offer
• Is Your Website Illegal Now?
• Resource
• Residual Income Made Easy
• Business-building Marketplace

Goodness, we’re already into February!

As usual, I have one million and one things to do. What I always make time for, though, is something that has made a HUGE difference to my business...

The Most Important Thing You Can Do for Business

It’s the much-maligned activity: marketing. It doesn’t matter how insignificant it seems, but by doing some marketing every day I am able to keep in front of my current and potential clients.

If you think you don’t need to do any marketing, or you can’t find the time for it, then this month’s main feature should hit the right chord.

Ooo, before I forget, I’ve been chosen as one of the finalists in the Xchangeteam Freelancer of the Year Awards. Whoopee-woo! I would like to thank all who nominated me for this prestigious award. Without you, I wouldn't even be a successful freelance copywriter and editor, let alone a finalist in this prestigious award. I can’t even begin to get across how excited and honoured I feel...

Finally, please let me know what you think of my new blog: http://marketingmoment.wordpress.com.

I’m going to put this month’s reader Q&A up there, as this newsletter is bulging at the seams (read below and you’ll see what I mean). ;-)

Have a wonderfully successful February!

Tracey

PS Have YOU sent in your free subscriber ad yet? Quick! There are only 1-2 free slots per issue. Send yours here. Please make sure you keep it to a maximum of 5 lines, 65 characters per line (including your URL or email address). Copy deadline for the next issue is 12 February.

PPS Please add 'tracey [at] mediaminister [dot] co [dot] uk' to your whitelist or address book in your email program, so that you always receive your issues!

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I have one mentoring slot open for March, but I suspect it will fill up fairly quickly, due to the nature of this time of year (all those New Year's resolutions!). So please contact me as soon as you can to get on the calendar.

Or click here to learn about the programme:

http://mediaminister.co.uk/PowerfullyEffectiveMarketing.htm

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The Q4 2006 Bellwether Report, the quarterly survey of marketing spend published in January this year, reveals that latest Q4 data signals a stabilisation of marketing budgets.

Contrasting with the sharp downgrades seen earlier in 2006 this reflects improving business conditions. In fact, budget setting across the entire marketing spectrum will be the most buoyant in seven years for 2007-08.

Source: Creative Match, 17 January 2007

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WHAT: Using online marketing to your advantage.
WHEN: Tuesday 21 February, 4.30pm GMT.
WHERE: At your place! Over the phone.
WHY: To be more successful online.

One of the best things about the internet is that small businesses and one-man bands can compete alongside much larger outfits. It also provides a level playing field and a massive worldwide reach.

Add to that the fact that marketing over the internet is one of THE cheapest ways to generate more business, and you should be laughing all the way to the bank.

But what if you haven’t yet made it online? Or you have but it’s not working as you thought it would?

Whether you are just starting out, or want to learn new tricks, this 60-minute TeleClass will give you the insider tips and secrets to lucratively market online.

To book your place or to find out more, please visit: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/teleclass.htm.

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Most people dread the ‘M’ word. Some will do anything – making a cup of tea for the tenth time in ten minutes,
cleaning the keyboard – to avoid it. But if you find time for it, it can mean big business. Here are 10 tips for capitalising on marketing...

A lot of business people – in particular solopreneurs – perceive marketing to be something only big multinationals with big marketing departments do. Others see it as a bit of a luxury – either in terms of time investment or the overall business spend. Both couldn’t be further from reality.

Marketing is something that ALL businesses – no matter how small – absolutely must invest in. No questions asked. Especially in today’s overcrowded trading environment.

Money and time spent today on marketing your products, services, talents or whatever you are selling will, without a doubt, give you a ROI greater than any other form of investment. Truly.

Take one single print ad. Make sure it’s crafted really well. Add a good offer and a great headline. Publish it where your target market will see it. Within days this ad could – with an initial outlay of just a couple of hundred quid – bring a return of 1,000% or more.

So why aren’t more solopreneurs and SMEs making time for the “marketing stuff”?

If you look closely enough at any successful business outfit – from Pizza Express to the family run café down the road – you’ll notice one common denominator: they all market consistently.

Without marketing, there are no customers. Without customers, there is no business.

Take it from me; marketing does NOT have to be time- consuming or difficult – IF you approach it correctly. It needn’t be a struggle, either; I am one of the most disorganised people on the planet, but I have a system that works. And works well.

Here are some tips to help you get your marketing machine revved up and raring to go!

1. Ideally, you would spend at least 40% of your working week on marketing. So block out some slots in your calendar for this purpose and treat them as if they were appointments set in stone. Fill those slots with anything marketing related, including networking, new product creation and sales follow-up. The key here is to do devote SOME time each week to a marketing activity. That might be a few hours per week, a few days per week, or simply an hour or so every day. Whatever, just do some marketing activity on a consistent basis, rather than taking a cram-it- all-in-at-the-last-minute approach. Even the most sophisticated marketing plan won't work too well if it's only undertaken sporadically.

2. Split marketing tasks into smaller, more achievable chunks. For example, rather than thinking of having to build an entire 20-page website, start by working out exactly what you want visitors to do once they land on your website. Or spend a few hours searching for websites that you like the look and feel of for ideas and inspiration.

3. If the idea of ‘marketing’ makes you want to run for the hills, then why not start with something you DO like doing? You might like writing, so you could set aside some time, starting from this week, to write 1-2 articles per month. Prefer oral communication? Then work on making a speech at your local Chamber of Commerce, say.

4. Set up a marketing system that works FOR you systematically and automatically. If marketing is difficult for you, it's because you don’t have the processes in place that make it easy. Once you have a logical, automatic process in place, your marketing will get done without you having to even thinking too much about it. I set things up – such as presenting TeleClasses, sending out my newsletter and networking – as far ahead as I can so all I have to do is show up/do it! This goes back to the first tip; I don’t ever fret over what I HAVE to do next. It’s already in my calendar...

5. Don’t stop there. Once you have worked out what you will do this week, focus on next week, next month, quarter and even next year. This month my marketing activities change slightly according to where I am with my business goals and client projects. Some of the activities will be a repetition, but others will be brought in that are relevant to something I’m working on either now or for the future.

6.Try a variety of marketing approaches. Some of your prospects might not be online, for instance. Ideally, your prospective clients need to see your name over and over again before they will be ready to buy your services. You need to build that relationship.

7. Remember, the marketing cycle takes some time to go round before you will see real results. As a rule of thumb, allow 3-4 months for your initial marketing efforts to reap dividends. Therefore, if you're just starting a business, make sure that you have sufficient funds to keep you going for 3-4 months or more.

8. If you don’t like some or all of the marketing activities you have identified, then get someone to do them for you.

9. What if you don’t know where to start? Hire a marketing coach.

10. Finally, kick-start your own marketing plans by sending your ads, brochures, sales letters and other marketing pieces to a professional to critique. When I critique client websites and the like, I’ll give them a report full of professional recommendations to meet the overall objective of the piece.

By changing your marketing mindset you should find that “finding the time” doesn’t even factor in any more. Rather, your marketing will run like a well-oiled machine – and you should see results for a little effort within no time.

By Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley, Independent Copywriter & Editorial Consultant.

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Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley is an experienced copywriter and PR/marketing & editorial consultant. She has spent almost 14 years crafting compelling communications copy that successfully sells, informs or entertains.

She can remove the hassle of writing, editing and producing all your marketing communications – including general business writing, web content, sales letters, postcard campaigns, direct mail packages, brochures, ads, PR materials and more. She can ghostwrite your business articles, too.

Just let her know a little about yourself (who you are, which company you own/work for, the size of your company, your industry), which service you require, the type of copy you’re interested in (ads, mailings, etc.), and she’ll get right back to you.

Get in touch via the online form at www.mediaminister.co.uk/contact.htm or email her your full brief and any supporting documentation.

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A customised marketing plan helps you build success systematically. You’ll be building up on proven actions, as opposed to falling flat on your face when business slows down.

My Powerfully Effective Marketing (TM) can help you create and, if needed, implement a very powerful marketing strategy for reinventing and repositioning your company (or help you invent and position your business, if you are a start- up). You’ll get better results, feel more focused and thus in control, and blast away your competition to boot.

Sign up before 6 March and I’ll also write a press release for you at no extra charge.

Here is the link: http://mediaminister.co.uk/PowerfullyEffectiveMarketing.htm.

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New e-commerce rules mean that if you own or operate a UK limited company and have a website, then you must include certain regulatory information on your site and in your email footers, or face a fine.

Click here to find out exactly what you need to include: http://tinyurl.com/2swe6u.

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Bloglines is one of the slickest, easiest RSS aggregators I know of. It’s so easy to use that even I got up and running in just a few minutes.

RSS is techno babble for a special kind of file (often called a ‘feed’) that an ‘aggregator’ can latch on to (it subscribes to something, basically), so that every time a blog or anything using RSS is updated you’ll see the update in your aggregator. Bloglines will also build and power your list of blogs that you want to link back to.

The best part is that you don't even need to know what RSS is in order to subscribe to a feed. Your aggregator will figure it all out for you.

Got a resource you would like to share? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!

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To find out more just go to ==> www.mediaminister.co.uk/affiliate.htm

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READING THIS AD? YOURS COULD BE HERE, TOO! To find out more and get on board to reach entrepreneurs, business owners and consultants, just email the Word Doctor using the contact information below.

Disclaimer: Neither Tracey Dooley nor MediaMinister endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of any third-party advertisements in this e-newsletter. Rest assured, advertisers are carefully selected and sometimes personally known, which can only be a good thing for you! However, I simply can’t (and don’t) investigate the legitimacy, validity or legality of any item advertised. It therefore always makes sense to check each one out using your own diligence.

Feel free to FORWARD COMMUNIQUÉ FOR SUCCESS! in its entirety to anyone you think will find it useful. When doing do please add a note explaining why you're sending it to them, else they might think I've sent it to them without permission – thanks.

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