Everyone's an Entrepreneur, why not you? Which excuse are you hiding behind? I'm not creative - Everyone is, look at your dreams, your personality I don't have money - Almost all start without money I'm not talented enough - Determination trumps talent I'm not capable - You're the only one who is. It's too risky - Doing nothing is much more risky It's too much pressure - No more than not being in control of your future That's been done before - Execution not originality leads to success That's never been done - Pioneering something can pay off I can't focus - Sure you can, it just takes some practice I can't make decisions - You do everyday, what to eat, what to wear, where to go I make decisions to quickly - Timely decisions are important My parents weren't and it worked for them - Perhaps but it won't in the future My parents were and it didn't work - Your opportunities are better My ideas are horrible - Horrible ideas can be successful too I have ideas but I don't know what to do - You're already well on your way

Where do most of your customers come from? It's a question you should obviously know and I'm sure you do. However have you ever sat down and looked at all the ways in which customers reach your business?  You should list all the ways, then see which ones come to the top as being the best for providing new customers. If the Internet is not in your top two then something is wrong. Over the next 12 months you need to develop a plan to increase your Internet leads to the point of being your #1 source. I wrote a two part article on Internet marketing for small business that addresses some of the reasons why. Internet Leads Jumped to #1 Recently website inquires surpassed trade shows as our #1 source of leads.  This is a trend that's been 10 years in the making.  Slowly, year after year, our Internet leads increased and its now to the point where our website will provide more leads this year than trade shows.  It's not just an "economy" issue either. How about you what are you top sources of leads? Leave a comment below, I would love to hear about them. Photo Credit

There are over 1.7 Billion people accessing the Internet today.  Of that a mere 1% account for most contributions.  Are you part of that 1%?  There are two things that are a given a) Internet use will continue to increase b) The Internet is the dominant social, economical and political tool of our lifetime. Why You Need To Be A Part Of The 1% With such far reaching opportunity you need to be creating a strategy to leverage the use of the Internet.  Participation is one of the key aspects and ultimately will help you separate yourself from your competition.  Most (90%) Internet users are considered "Lurkers", that is they simply consume content as opposed to creating it.   The huge mistake that happens today is that most assume the Internet is overcrowded and therefore there are no opportunities left.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  For all practical purposes the modern day Internet with browsers and all truly became consumable in the mid 90's.  That's less than 15 years!  Think about it, you have access to the greatest, most powerful tool that's only in its infancy.  Right now there are only 1% of the users driving the bus, steering the direction of content.  You must realize the opportunity that's before you. Start contributing today.  Leave comments, start a blog, post videos, make a podcast, do something to start getting comfortable with contributing to the Internet. It's just getting started and your fortunate to be in the perfect position in history to take advantage of it. Do you consider yourself to be in the 1%?  Leave a comment below and get started today ;) photo credit

"Attract more leads to your website today! " "Order now! Guaranteed to increase your website traffic!" " Triple your website traffic in 30 days!" I get so tired of these offers, it reminds me of the "half naked girls" tactic.  Every year I travel all around the world to attend boat shows for my company. Without fail every show I go to has one ingenious company that has figured out the tactic to drawing a crowd - half naked girls. By strategically placing women in bathing suits on the boat the crowds grow. It always amuses me to see the crowds gather around, I can't help but think how someone from that company must be saying "look at the crowds, what a great idea this is". The problem is that while there may be a crowd gathered around a) they aren't there to see the product and b) they couldn't afford it.  The tactic is attracting the wrong crowd.  This same principal holds true when it comes to attracting traffic to your website. The quickest sign to me that you have no idea what you are doing is by making one of these hollow, senseless, traffic increasing claims. Gathering a crowd for a crowds sake is not what your business is looking for. Attracting more website traffic is not your goal.  Attracting more qualified website traffic is. One hundred interested, motivated and qualified leads are much more important than boosting your traffic stats. The reality is most sites already get enough traffic, it's conversion to that next step in the sales process that they need to work on. However that's not to say that you shouldn't continually be working on ways of cultivating more qualified traffic to your site. Magnetize More Qualified Leads To Your Website So how do you go about building qualified traffic?  The tools that you want to focus on are many of the Internet Marketing ideas we cover at this website. Here's a list of 9 specific ways you can increase traffic.

If someone leaves a comment on your website should you answer them? What about if they give you a tip on Twitter, should you acknowledge it? Seems obvious that you should, but there are so many businesses that don't. Conversation isn't a one way street, that's just talking. If you are going to treat your Internet Marketing channels as a one way then you are setting your business up for failure. This is a common mistake I see many people making right now.  Many are concerned with pushing content out that they aren't taking the time to engage their audience, which after all is one of the corner stone reasons of all these online tools. Take The Time To Ask Questions When people leave a comment on any of your channels, take the time to answer them. Even better is to engage them. One of the ideas I picked up recently from Andrew Swenson was not just answering the comments but asking a question back. Great idea, thanks! By taking the time to engage others you can not only personalize the interaction, it will allow you to learn, share and develop a relationship.  These relationships are what will ultimately give you the permission to tell them more about your company. Not only that, but by engaging your customers you can learn how to better meet their needs. This is where small business has a huge advantage. The ability to get to know their customers more intimately than bigger competitors.  In fact it's what every big business is trying to do these days, act smaller. Don't just talk - listen, ask and engage.  It's what will help separate you from those that are traveling in one wrong direction. Which online tools do you find most useful for starting conversations with your customers? photo credit