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:    

Stumbling into a marketing pitfall can happen even to the most seasoned entrepreneur. The key to avoiding these traps is knowledge. You must know what they are and where they are in order to keep your business out of harms way. Listen to this week's episode to learn 5 pitfalls to avoid as you strive to increase your success as a small business owner.

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If you don't have a polished, professional, client focused site now, or your current site is out of date, you likely have wondered how to go about go about creating a quick and easy, money making website.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

Fortunately, such tactics are not necessary to enjoy a profitable business. And that is certainly NOT the Smart Simple Marketing way. To me, marketing is simply a matter of sharing solutions with people who are already looking for them.

You and I both face a number of problems each day, both in our personal and professional lives. And of course, we are always on the lookout for solutions to those problems. We seek solutions that are simple, easy and provide a return on our investment.

So as long as you're showing up when and where your ideal clients are looking for the solutions you offer (aka marketing), you will have a never-ending stream of great clients to work with.

What you don't want to do is shoot yourself in the foot by making common mistakes that will undermine your efforts. Take a moment to take stock of what you're doing to grow your business and make sure that you aren't making one of these critical errors:     

1. Spending too little time on your marketing - Focusing on your marketing only when you remember to do so (or worse yet, when you need more clients) is a really bad way to approach growing your business. Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Commit to doing something specific EVERY day to grow your business and achieve your goals. All of all the effort you put forth will add up to BIG results.
2. Not choosing a target market - Marketing to "everyone" because "everyone" needs what you have to offer is going to exhaust and frustrate you. Even IF everyone needs what you offer (which I don't think is really true), you don't have the time, budget or energy to market to them, let alone work with them all. So, FOCUS your energy on marketing ONLY to your target audience. You'll get much better results and take a lot of pressure off yourself.
3. Trying to do too much - You don't have to pursue 19 different marketing strategies to be successful. And you shouldn't because you can't juggle that many projects anyway. Choose 2-3 strategies that really fit your audience and your goals, and stick with them.
4. Giving up too soon - You can't try something for one day or one week and then throw it aside because you didn't get the results you wanted. There is no magic wand you can wave to instantly transform your business. If you choose a particular strategy, stick with it for at least 3 months and see it through. THEN you can make an informed decision about whether to continue with it, tweak it or ditch it.
5. Not following up promptly - All the effort you put forth to market your business is for naught if you don't follow-up on the leads you get. Make it a point to follow-up on ALL interest promptly (within 24-48 hours). This shows your prospect that you are diligent, committed and serious, which significantly boosts your credibility.

If you find that you are making one of these mistakes (or all of them), don't beat yourself up. At one point or another every entrepreneur, even those you admire greatly, have fallen victim to these pitfalls.

Instead, be honest about where you're falling short and make the decision to do something about it. All of these problem areas we've highlighted can easily be addressed with a simple mindset shift, a commitment to change and a focus on follow through.

If you would like some help taking the first step, I will gladly walk you step-by-step through the process of creating a simple Money Map. Having this tool in hand will keep you focused and help you makeover your less than stellar marketing habits. Get INSTANT access to this powerful marketing tool at http://www.createyourmoneymap.com.

In "6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012," Sydni Craig-Hart and Jennifer Ford Berry are offering a free, one hour training program to learn how to transition from employee to business owner.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) January 27, 2012 - Expert marketing coach and consultant, Sydni Craig-Hart, and master organizer and author, Jennifer Ford Berry, are teaming together to provide a simple step-by-step system for transitioning from being an employee to an empowered small business owner.

In “6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012,” attendees will receive 60 minutes of specific, actionable information that they can use to start their own profitable, successful business in 2012. The training is ideal for professionals with expert-level skills in an area they are passionate about, who want to step out on their own.

This live training will cover the top six keys that Craig-Hart and Ford Berry have used themselves to create multiple six-figure businesses in the past five years. The teleclass is targeted at answering the big questions that potential small business owners have, including, “How do I develop the self confidence to step forward on my own?”, "How do I market myself effectively and get clients?" and “How do I keep everything organized in my already busy life?”     

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!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the multiple ways you can market your business? Or like you're shying away from some opportunities or methods that others seem to flock to? There's a simple solution to this problem. When you focus on your strengths, you'll find it easier than ever to draw clients to you like a magnet. In this week's episode I share exactly how you can stay in your power zone for more profitable marketing results!

What does this have to do with growing your business? The same principle applies! Especially if you are just getting started in your business, or working your way out of a slump. Staying in your power zone will ensure that it's easier to complete your essential marketing tasks,and you'll get much better results. Your marketing will be more genuine and reflect the best you have to offer. Your ideal clients will take notice, reach out and want to work with you.

What does this look like in real life? Its means focusing on these three things:

• What you enjoy doing - Are you a gregarious, outgoing person by nature? Then networking and speaking are great ways for you to create more visibility for your work and attract new clients. If you love to write, you might focus on consistently (i.e. weekly) sending an email newsletter, writing a blog post and contributing other types of content to major outlets. Keep in mind, no one marketing strategy is the "end all," "be all". And no one strategy is going to make or break your business. Make your marketing and business development fun, by focusing on the activities you actually enjoy. This isn't supposed to be hard.
• What you're good at doing - The same principle applies here. Use your natural talents and abilities to grow your business. You'll be much more comfortable and consistently enjoy better results. We are all naturally more confident when we are working in our comfort zone. So use that to your advantage. People are drawn to confident individuals like a magnet, so how you show up will go a LONG way towards helping you to fill your practice with ideal clients.
• What has already generated the best results - This means you have to review your past client list and really analyze where your leads came from. You may be pleasantly surprised! This analysis is guaranteed to save you time, money and energy because you can see exactly what marketing activities have generated the best results and thus, focus your attention on ONLY those key areas. This will eliminate that feeling of "I'm spinning my wheels!," will decrease your stress and significantly increase your profits. Keep track of where EACH lead comes from, even if you just use a simple spreadsheet. Remember, you don't need to do 92 different things to grow your business. You only need to do the top 2-3 that work the best, and do them consistently.

That's IT! Being open to new ideas and technology is critical to your long-term success. But that does not mean you should jump on every marketing bandwagon that goes by. And it doesn't mean you have to implement a particular strategy, just because it seems that everyone else is.

You shouldn't force a marketing idea unless you can enjoy doing it, are naturally gifted at it or if it has generated results for you in the past. Trying to convince yourself to do things that don't fit into one of these three categories is a waste of your time! It drains your energy, puts unnecessary pressure on you and makes your business difficult. Instead of struggling, it's time to step out into your POWER Zone, commit to consistency and enjoy growing your business.

Make this easy on yourself! How will you step into your marketing POWER zone? Share your thoughts with me in the comments!

YOUR "TAKE ACTION" PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:

1. Set aside 30 minutes to look at the marketing activities that you enjoy most. Pick the top 3. Schedule a recurring appointment on your calendar to work your plan each week.
2. Evaluate your skills and strengths. How can you translate those into marketing activities that will get bigger and better results for your business? How can you leverage the opportunities that are already in front of you?
3. Review your revenue report for the last six months. Where have the majority of your clients come from? Focus on these marketing efforts to repeat your success.