Fellow Canadians: Happy Canada Day!

If you live in Canada, I hope you’re taking Sunday off and enjoying all the festivities. Whether you’re having a cookout, enjoying some fireworks or just kicking back for the day, have fun.

We’ll probably do our usual visit to the park and barbecue back home to celebrate the day. The other day, my 5 year old asked me, “When is Canada Day?” and I told him it was in about a week. He was absolutely beside himself. He said, “Canada Day is my favorite day of the year, except for my birthday.”

Interestingly enough, his current favorite song just happens to be “Oh Canada.” He loves this song so much that even if a different song is on the radio, he’ll just sing the words to Oh Canada to the beat of whatever is playing. Even when we’re out shopping, he sings “Oh Canada” down the aisles…and it brings smiles to everyone’s faces.

I’m proud of my proud little guy!

If you need some Canada Clip Art in a hurry you can grab it at:
Canada Day Clip Art.

It’s even available for commercial use with a simple link back to the site.

FAQ Update: How Do I Turn A Virtual Service I’m Providing Into A Full-Fledged Business?

I received a question from a reader asking the following question about turning the service she provides into a business. I’ve given her a few tips to getting started online along with a few pointers for keeping a virtual service-based business from feeling like the dreaded J-O-B in the FAQ section.

Find out how you can turn a virtual service you’re already providing into a business.

If You Requested My Ten Commandments: Check Your Mailbox Soon

On Monday, as promised, I sent out 8 laminated copies of the original Ten Commandments of Being an Internet Marketing Sweetie. I also threw in a little something extra as well, but can’t say what because then it won’t be a surprise now will it? I think you’ll like it!

I received more than 8 requests (a bunch of them actually) and I couldn’t let everyone down just because they may have missed out and not read my blog post of last week soon enough. Sheesh, I’d think that this was the first place you dropped by each and every morning!

In true “sweetie” fashion, I had to send a little something to those people as well.

Be on the lookout for a little somethin’ somethin’ in your mailbox from one Sweetie to another. Just remember, I live in Canada so give it a bit of time before you shoot the email over thinking I’ve forgotten you! I haven’t, I promise.

Can You Believe We Are Almost Half Way Done?

In just a few short days we’ll be half way through 2007. Wow, time flies doesn’t it? Seems like just yesterday I was wishing everyone here a Happy New Year and talking about business goals for the year.

I’m happy to report that I’m crossing my goals off one by one and, with an exception here or there, I just might meet all of them this year. Growth and progression are good (and necessary) in your business. But, if you haven’t reached as many of your goals as you had hoped to by this point, don’t give up. Sit down and find out what it is you need to do to make things happen. Get that New Year motivation back and then use it to make the second half of the year better than the first!

If you’re on track or have exceeded your goals so far this year, way to go! Take a bit of a break and relish in your accomplishments. You deserve a pat on the back so give yourself one and enjoy the hard work you’ve invested so far this year.

And hey, even if you’re a little behind, don’t let that get you done. Take pride in what you’ve accomplished and keep doing more of it.

So what about you? How are things going at halftime 2007?

What Flavor are You & Your Business?

As an Internet Marketing Sweetie, you probably already know that even though we make money from being kind & giving. However, more importantly, we also know that we can’t be ALL things to EVERYONE and that sometimes we offend people or cause them to disagree with us.

It’s just the way human nature works.

Even if you’re in the checkout stand and it’s taking a long time because the cashier is a little slow on the go, the people behind you will still blame you and curse you. You did nothing - but people still get annoyed.

And even every time you send out an email, no matter how vanilla and politically correct you try to be, someone will get rubbed the wrong way. There is nothing you can do about it. They could be having a bad day, they could have different views than you or whatever.

So, why get hung up on these things and why have a vanilla business?

Even if vanilla might be one of the most popular ice cream flavors that appeal to the general public, people don’t really get passionate about it. Believe it or not, you don’t want to reach the most people, you want to reach the most passionate people who can’t wait to hear from you and buy stuff from you. People get passionate about New York Super Fudge Chunk, not vanilla, so don’t be afraid to be New York Super Fudge Chunk.

This reminds of some recent controversy sparked in the Internet Marketing community regarding a “Rich Jerk Party at the Playboy Mansion”. I’ve never mentioned the Rich Jerk on my blog before (I don’t think!), cuz he’s not my style and I’m pretty darned sure he’s not trying to appeal to me. Personally, I think he’s after the Early to Mid-Twenties Male Chocolate Crunch Crowd that I’m just not part of. And no, that’s not a Ben & Jerry’s flavor, I think that’s a flavor this “Rich Jerk” character came up with all by himself.

Frankly, I was a bit surprised that John Reese sent out a promo about this, but he included all kinds of disclaimers and illustrated why he stood behind the idea of the event. Jason Moffatt, one of the “bad boys” of Internet marketing also sparked some controversy with his more “raw” promotion of the Playboy party. He even called for some extra controversy by posting on a popular Internet marketing forum asking why all the ladies were unsubscribing from his list. Some people told him he deserved what he got because he was demeaning women. Some men said that they were married and this was inappropriate, but the vast majority were SILENT.

Out of the 10 or so people who posted on that thread (presumably before it got deleted….correct me if I’m wrong), there were many, many more that certainly had opinions. In my experience, when you do something controversial, it’s the people who hated what you did that will speak the loudest. But often, if you targeted your market well, it’s the silent majority that usually gives you the direction you need. These silent people are the ones who order what you recommend or email you privately to say, “thank you”.

You need to learn your audience and how to speak to them, in order to bring out the passionate people. Now, I’m not saying you should send out an email promoting The Rich Jerk’s party to your mailing list of craft business owners, but what can you do that ignites some excitement for your readers?

Interestingly enough, I guess the Rich Jerk Playboy Party did spark enough negativity that they did launch a more family-friendly version of the event sales page to fill the seats and that’s probably smart marketing on their part. Offline events can be a tough sell and adapting to the needs of your audience is important…but don’t totally sacrifice yourself and don’t sacrifice your original target audience. I doubt that the Rich Jerk will never show that page to his hard core fans because they won’t appreciate it. That page is for those who might want to cross over to the “other side” and just need a reason to do so.

Think what you want about it, but that is SMART marketing. Geez, I can’t believe I just said the Rick Jerk was smart. *Sigh*

How Do I Make A Virtual Service I Am Providing A Full-Fledged Business?

Q: “I’m helping a few people online do things they don’t have time for, so I’ve been told this is basically being a Virtual Assistant. What would be the first steps I need to take to actually make this a business venture?”

A: Once you take care of the legalities of setting up your business in your locality, the first I’d suggest is setting up a web presence. Design it to cater to the market you are doing business with or want to in the future. By centering your website on a specific market, designing the site will be easier, but more importantly, it helps keep you focused.

Side Note: Here’s a useful guide on starting a virtual assistant business.

Be sure to showcase your services and skills through the use of testimonials from current clients. Encourage them to include as much detail as possible about the actual work performed and anything else that stands out about you and your services. When possible, request that clients include their full name, URL and picture. These things will help add credibility to the testimonials.

Creating a website is just one of the many things you should do to turn your current service into a business, but getting online is crucial if you hope to gain more virtual work and create a presence for yourself and your skills. It is also a great place for current client to refer others to you. That’s really how a service-based business can really take off through referrals from satisfied clients.

Another thing to be cautious of is that once many people open the doors to their service based business, the work starts to feel a lot like a J-O-B. This can happen, but only if you let it.

Yes, you are working for someone else, but remember you run the show and make the decisions. Keep that in mind as your business and your workload grows and you’ll find it easier to keep from feeling overwhelmed and dreading your work every day. Don’t hesitate to charge what your time is really worth and outsource certain tasks so that you run your business instead of it running you!

Why Did She Do It?

Lots of people have asked me why did I sell my baby at InternetBasedMoms.com? Wanna know why? Listen to WAHM Talk Radio this week to find out.

How to Create a Yahoo! 360 Page

Q. How do I create a Yahoo 360 page? [Read more]

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