If you’ve ever felt invisible in business, been deflated by lacklustre marketing results or struggle to spark a 2-way conversation with your target market…

– take a look-see at this:   

My biz girlfriend Gina Bell invited me to write an article for the newest issue of Rebelations Magazine!

The “Visibility Boom” issue is devoted to helping you get noticed, get clients and get your business growing!

Inside this top-notch resource for innovators, trendsetters and entrepreneurial go-getters you’ll enjoy 17 other rebelicious articles AND a special feature that will have you creating your own Visibility Boom in no time!

Imagine hearing your ideal clients say…“I see you everywhere!” and “I want to work with you!”

I’m biased for sure but I’m certain – this is a must-have resource for any aspiring woman in business!

And what I know about Gina Bell is she’s a “don’t just do it REALLY do it” kind of gal so fasten your seat belts and hold on tight – you’re going to looooove this magazine!

And the best part – it’s totally FREE!

Be among the first to join the Rebelution and jump inside the newest issue of the digital magazine at:

http://smartsimplemarketing.com/rebelations

You know I only share top notch stuff, right? This is one of the most valuable resources I’ve seen recently so don’t miss out! Get your copy and post a comment below to let me know what you think!

Wil and I just spent the last 3 days working "on our business" instead of "in our business." There is a huge advantage to that and I want to tell you why our first trip to InfusionCon was an exceptional one. First, what is InfusionCon?

InfusionCon is Infusionsoft's software user conference. Infusionsoft is a sales and marketing automation software that is designed exclusively for small businesses. (If you click on the links you can learn all about both.

So, what made it such a fabulous event? I know that's what you came here for, so let me get right into the 3 BIG reasons why I look forward to attending this event every year.

Education: I learned so much from the many presenters who attended. One of my favorites was Pam Slim, who wrote Escape From Cubicle Nation. She really highlighted the importance of recognizing what the root cause is for our entrepreneurial journey. LOVE is the root, she stated. What she focused on is the BIG WHY that we have for running our business in the first place. We all created our business for a very specific reason. No matter what it is, whether it is to fill a gap in a particular market, to design our ideal lifestyle, or to unlock the shackles of an employer.

Our BIG WHY needs to continue to burn bright inside us and fuel our success. In addition to that, the products or services that we offer cannot be crap! At the end of the day, are we truly providing a good product to those who need it? I could go on for days about the value that I received from the keynote speakers. But, I really want to share with you what I learned about using the software.

Over the past 3.5 years, we have built a database of thousands of people (over 8,600 subscribers). A key point that I gleaned about working with our database is to make sure that the community is solid. By solid, I mean actively engaged. With Infusionsoft, we can actually look at our database to see who is interested in the information that we offer.

For instance, did you know that contacts in your database who never open your emails can actually hurt your email deliverability? You can be automatically marked as SPAM by un-engaged community members. That was a shock to us! (Talk about "not knowing what we don't know!"). That is why it's so important to really learn how to use the tools you invest in to grow your business. Infusionsoft gives us the power to see who is involved and eliminate those that could potentially damage our email marketing. Now that we understand this, we're taking steps to resolve the challenge,

I encourage you to be fully involved with the tools that help you to run your business. Learn nitty-gritty stealth techniques that allow you to take full advantage of the products in which you invest.

Networking: This is one of my favorite activities! The cool thing about InfusionCon is that it was a "user" conference. The majority of the people that I met were focused on learning how to maximize the potential of the product. That made the networking atmosphere relaxed and easy-going. It was not like attending a traditional networking event where the purpose is to work hard to drum up business.

A bonus was bumping into good friends that I haven't seen for a while. Some were colleagues, mentors and former clients. It was so good to see so many people that I already knew and have been connected with for a while via social media. I was able to rekindle some relationships that had tapered off due to the passage of time.

Attending in person events have always been priceless investments of time and money for me. We live in a virtual world. But it's humans that are behind all of this technology. Nothing can replace the human touch. I challenge you to get involved in one or more in person events in 2012. Get out of your office and meet some new people!

Implementation: We are already starting to implement the points that we have learned from the conference. We found a few add-on products that will enhance our usage of Infusionsoft's dynamic software. We also found an RSS feed provider that is integrated with Infusionsoft. That will lead to better communication with our growing communities.

As you may know from reading the blog and past ezine articles, I am a fervent implementer. It is always my goal to help you to implement anything that I share with you. My clients who do so obtain the best results. Likewise, you will get results from implementing the many things that you learn about growing your business. Make the choice to NOT get overwhelmed when it comes to implementation. Take one project and one step at a time.

InfusionCon has really energized us as we move into the 2nd quarter of the year. We look forward to sharing with you more of the brilliant strategies that we learned and increasing the quality of the products and services we provide to you.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Find 4 in-person events that are scheduled for 2012.
2. Register for an event that is a good fit for your business. It could be one to help you get a better ROI on a tool for your business, to connect with referral partners or to mingle with prospective clients.
3. Make plans NOW to attend the event. Decide who you want to meet and what you want to get out of it.
4. If you are nervous about going to an event, get a buddy to join you. Make it FUN!

Who hasn't purchased from (or at least heard of) Amazon.com? It's one of the most profitable, successful ecommerce sites in the world. More importantly, the site is now providing an opportunity for YOU to monetize your expertise, attract new clients and customers and create massive visibility for your work.

This week, I'm interviewing my friend, Kathleen Gage, The Street Smarts Marketer, on her insider tips to making your first Kindle product a best-seller overnight. Click the PLAY button to listen to the audio now!

Here's the nitty gritty:    

Whether you want to admit it or not, prospective clients ARE going to look for you online and you need to be in control of what they find.

The foundation of your online presence is, of course, your website.

If you don't have a polished, professional, client focused site now, or your current site is out of date, you likely have wondered how to go about go about creating a quick and easy, money making website.     

I am all for having a custom designed site that reflects your brand and has all the "bells and whistles" needed to make it an effective marketing tool.

But, I also recognize that for some folks, creating THAT kind of website seems completely overwhelming.

If that sounds familiar, you'll appreciate these two resources I recently discovered that can help:

• http://FreeBlogFactory.com/
• http://OnePagerApp.com/

In both cases, you can setup a polished, professional (albeit somewhat minimalist) website in just a few hours. You won't necessarily have all the extra cool features you could have, but it is a place to get started.

NOTE: I have not personally used either of these sites, but if I was starting from scratch I would strongly consider using either resource as a place to get started. Just make sure you maintain control of your hosting account by using a company such as HostGator or Bluehost.

If you are feeling really ambitious, you might check out my friend Christina Hill's Website Creation Workshop, where she'll walk you through creating your own customized WordPress website. WordPress is THE platform to use if you are serious about leveraging the Internet to increase your income.

You can learn more about Christina's workshop at:

http://smartsimplemarketing.com/recommends/wordpress-workshop

The bottom line is this: There is NO, I mean NO excuse for you to NOT have a polished presence for your busines online. I know you are a serious business owner. I know you are committed to your work. Please don't undermine that by not paying attention to your online "digital business card".

My grandmother used to say (actually, she still says it), "better to let them think you're stupid than to open your mouth and confirm it". The same princple applies here. Better to control what your prospective clients are finding about you and your business online, than to have them wondering if you are really a serious entrepreneur.

'Nuff said.

Blogging about your business is an excellent way to drive traffic to your website and attract high-quality leads. You can get even more mileage out of your blog posts, and create massive online visibility for your work, by re-purposing your content into other formats. This strategy will have you showing up EVERYWHERE and standing heads taller than your "competitors" (I prefer to think of them as colleagues) when a prospect goes online looking for the solutions you have to offer. Click on the play button above to listen in as Denise Wakeman, Founder of The Blog Squad, explains how!

If you are a new user like me or considering getting an iPhone, I wanted to share a few nifty tricks I've discovered on how to grow my business using my trusty device:

Sydni Craig-Hart, founder of Smart Simple Marketing, announced that they will be hosting weekly expert conversations with professionals who will help small business owners implement simple, profitable marketing strategies in 2012. These "Take 10" ten minute coffee breaks will be offered free on the company blog and podcast channel.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) January 05, 2012 - Smart Simple Marketing, a San Francisco Bay Area marketing coaching firm, will be featuring industry experts over the course of 2012 to offer free, ten minute "coffee break" interviews. These interviews will provide expert marketing advice to small business owners and service professionals who want to increase their profits and get new clients this year.

Sydni Craig-Hart, the founder, said, "Small business owners are looking for actionable and practical ideas that they can put into place right away to get new clients or increase their profits. They don't always have 45 minutes or an hour to spend learning from their mentors. This is a way to get simple, practical, actionable information into their hands FAST!"     

Some of the things the speakers will share:

I strongly believe that every business should have a blog because it allows your target market to get to know you, like you and trust you, which then encourages them to seek out your expertise. Hence, I often recommend this strategy to my clients and students to help them create more visibility for their work.

Often one of the first questions new bloggers ask is, where do I set up my blog for the best results? Excellent questions. There are many, many options available and which one you choose really depends upon your personal preferences and level of comfort with online technology.

My friend Denise Wakeman published an awesome article recently on this very topic AND included a handy comparison chart to help you make your decision. Check it out and let me know what you think!

http://www.buildabetterblog.com/2011/06/how-to-choose-a-blogging-platform-comparison-chart.html

I've met a number of fabulous business people through Meetup and attracted a few new ideal clients as well. After learning more about Meetup, what if you decide you want to step up your networking a notch and attend an event? And instead of just attending a Meetup, what if you decide you want to host your own?

I have just the resource for you! Check out this article published by Mashable.com: