How to Choose a Niche

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Download your

How to Choose a Niche

Study Guide and MP3 Below

- Do you really need a niche?

– Which one do you choose?

- Will a niche limit your practice?

If you’ve heard that you must choose a niche, wonder why it’s such a big deal, are overwhelmed by the idea and don’t know where to start, then this program is for you!

In this program you will learn-

- What is a niche and how it differs from a specialty

- 11 strategies for choosing a niche

- How to successfully “own” your niche

- How a niche can be your key to professional success and financial freedom

Use the link below to download your Study Guide and MP3 audio program to follow along and take notes.

Enjoy!

David Steele

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admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:48:46 +0000

Packaging Yourself for Success

Below are two articles to supplement our audio program-

- How to Uniquely Package & Market Your Services by Frankie Doiron

- Packaging Yourself for Success by David Steele

How to Uniquely Package & Market Your Services

by Frankie Doiron

I’d like to begin by sharing this definition of Marketing. It is by an anonymous source:

If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying, "Circus is coming to Fairgrounds Sunday," that's Advertising.

If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him through town, that's a Promotion.

If the elephant walks through the Mayor's flower bed, that's Publicity.

If you can get the Mayor to laugh about it, that's Public Relations.

And, if you planned the whole thing, that's Marketing!

The American Marketing Association uses the following description: “The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

From this definition, we see that:

• Marketing involves 2 parties

• It is an ongoing process of delivering what the consumer wants – it’s “dynamic.” This means that the market tends to change—what customers want today is not necessarily what they want tomorrow. For example, sales of beef are declining in the United States because consumers have become health oriented.

• The more a marketer understands the target consumer, the more he can anticipate their needs and offer solutions, in the form of products or services to meet those needs.

• This process involves both planning and implementing (executing) the plan.

I know from experience that marketing can be exciting, but many entrepreneurs cringe at the thought of 'marketing' their services. The two main reasons that service professionals and entrepreneurs say they hate marketing and selling is because:

1. They try to market without having a clear vision of their target and service offering; and,

2. They believe that self-promotion is pushy and self-centered and it makes them uncomfortable.

Let’s look at the first reason: not having a clear vision of the target and service offering. We’ll define the service offerings later on.

In terms of not having a clear vision of the target: when you don’t know who your audience is and don’t know what you want to communicate to them, it is pretty difficult to craft a compelling and effective marketing message. Imagine manufacturing orthopaedic shoes and placing advertising on MTV…you’d be wasting your time and money, AND you’d be the laughing stock of the shoe industry!

Even though today’s topic isn’t about defining your target markets and niche, suffice to say you can’t market effectively to your target until you understand who they are, where they are and what they want. What is their pain? What is the solution that you offer? What are the benefits of your services? What motivates them to action? And you need to articulate this in a way that will be immediately understood by your target.

Let’s look at the second reason many entrepreneurs say they hate marketing: the belief that self-promotion is pushy.

The marketing vs. the selling concept.

Two approaches to marketing exist. The traditional selling concept emphasizes selling existing products. The philosophy here is that if a product is not selling, more aggressive measures must be taken to sell it—for example, price cutting, advertising more, or hiring more aggressive (and sometimes obnoxious) sales-people.

The marketing concept, in contrast, focuses on getting consumers what they seek, regardless of whether this entails coming up with entirely new products. It is a client –centric approach.

Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of feeling uncomfortable with marketing because they are not experienced marketers – they don’t understand the principles of marketing. For some, ‘marketing’ is a bad word, often confused with ‘selling’. It conjures up images of aggressive salespeople, who push their products on an unreceptive audience. In truth, marketing is a science and in its most simplistic terms it is about understanding the psychology of the consumer and leveraging that knowledge to deliver exactly what he wants. That’s why the marketing ‘best practices’ of major corporations work – they are tested and proven concepts.

Another reason many entrepreneurs aren’t comfortable with marketing is they don’t place a high enough value on their services. Whether you are a music teacher, a yoga instructor, a dentist, a coach, a chiropractor, or a spa owner, why is valuing what you do SO important?

People hire you because they want and need your services. You help people affect positive CHANGE in their lives! Hopefully you make them feel good. For every one person you help, hundreds more can be positively affected.

So VALUE what you do! Remember, you make a difference.

To put it in different terms, as an entrepreneur it is important to differentiate your Goal from your Role — just like Mother Teresa!

Her goal, as Mother Teresa described it, was to offer "free service to the poor and the unwanted, irrespective of caste, creed, nationality or race."

But her ‘Role” was not to continue working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, where she could only help hundreds of people, it was to market herself and bring worldwide awareness to her work so she could achieve her goal on a larger scale.

The Missionaries of Charity, which began as a small Order with 12 members in Calcutta, today has more than 4,000 nuns who help hundreds of thousands of needy people each year, in more than 100 countries.

Mother Teresa understood that her ‘goal’ was different from her ‘role’.

What is your ‘goal’?

Define the noble vision or mission for your practice – what do you want to achieve? What do you want to be known for? What other expertise do you bring to the table that makes your service offering special? Tip: you can often find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) – what set’s you apart from the competition – in your goal or mission statement.

If you own a spa is your goal to provide a haven for stressed women, a place where they can safely and comfortably recuperate and rejuvenate from their hectic lives and return with a renewed sense of peace and strength?

If you are a dentist is your mission to help improve the quality of life for your patients, to enhance their lifestyles and to radically increase feelings of self-confidence, self worth and self-esteem?

These are noble goals!

Once you have clearly defined your goal, understand that your ROLE is to MARKET your services so you can attain that goal. Because if you don’t market….you likely won’t be able to achieve your goal – and then everybody loses!

When you value what you do, when you understand your mission or goal, your ONLY JOB is to MARKET your service. That becomes the most important role you have. And then you will be able to do it:

24/7
Without embarrassment
Shamelessly
With pride

Let’s talk about the Benefits of Packaging or Bundling products or services because they provide a huge leverage in your business and your marketing efforts. Think of the Fast Food industry, where meals are bundled – you get the fries, burger and drink at a better price than the ala carte menu. For the customer, this is a greater perceived value and an incentive to purchase the ‘combo’ rather than the individual item.

Assembling multiple products or services to sell in a package not only increases your
overall sales but it also…

Gives you the ability to sell slow moving merchandise
Automatically up-sells your customers without having to ask for it;
Enables clients to ‘test’ products or services they might otherwise not use;
Lowers your marketing costs because it allows you to move multiple types of
products or services through one advertisement or promotion;
In a joint venture it exposes your products or services to a new list of prospects; and
Promotes a higher perceived value to your customer;

Before you can develop Packages there are some basic steps you need to take:

1. Assess your target’s needs and wants. Get into the heads of your prospects. What do they want? BTW, people will often buy what they want and not what they need! Are there key life or holiday events (like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, engagement, wedding, birth of a child, etc.) that could trigger the desire for a particular service or product? What is the hook or angle? For example Valentine’s Day is for lovers, but if you are a relationship coach targeting singles, should you scrap Valentines as an opportunity to connect with your target?

No! Think about the hook: singles dislike valentines because they don’t have a partner and that bothers them! Leverage that feeling and spin it. What about planning a singles mingle event on Feb 14th with the theme: Valentine’s is the start of a New Year for finding love. Promote your upcoming workshop and offer a tip sheet for Dating Skills. Think bigger and more conceptually or intuitively.

2. Take inventory of all existing and potential services Categorize them by level of importance – that means is it in alignment with your business goals, does it solve or address your target’s problem or need, and does it generate reasonable revenue for the effort required? Remember the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule – 20 % of your efforts are always responsible for 80 of the results, so focus on the 20% that works.

Years ago I developed a concept called The Marketing Tree TM as a way to categorize a client’s services and products based on whether the offering was core, secondary and tertiary.

The concept of The Marketing Tree TM is simple:

Visualize a huge oak tree…the roots of the tree represent your noble mission or goals. Let’s go back to my earlier example of the spa owner whose vision is to provide a relaxing haven for stressed women. That goal anchors and focuses her business.

Next, look at the core service she provides – this is the trunk of her marketing tree – the Spa services, such as facials, massage, different types of baths, manicures, pedicures, etc. This is her main service offering.

Now let’s look at the secondary service offerings, which are the main branches of the tree:

She sells some of her private label spa products like creams and oils;
She is also a meditation practitioner and offers meditation training;
She rents out studio space to a yoga teacher who offers yoga classes to the spa clients, but who also brings in her own clients – and they purchase spa services
She offers hair and make-up for wedding parties

Next let’s look at the tertiary services she offers to her clients, which are the smaller branches of the tree:

She has established referral systems with:

a dermatologist and refers clients who want treatments like derma abrasions, laser hair removal and botox injections;
a weight loss coach
she sells Cds – music that is soothing, as well as her own guided meditation CD

The idea is to focus on your core business and then define any supporting services that are a great fit because they provide your clients with additional services or products that they want…or don’t know they want until they see you offer it!

For service providers like coaches, consultants, accountants, dentists, etc., your supplementary offerings may take the form of a newsletter or a special report. Maybe you offer a Tax Tips CD in January.

3. Take inventory of your skills and expertise. Are there ancillary services or products you could provide based on your past experience, that meets your target’s needs? One of my clients is an organizer who spent many years as an administrator of a retirement home. She recognized that many people didn’t understand the ins and outs of transitioning into a retirement home, so she developed a guide that provided a lot of valuable information to the elderly and their adult children who were often responsible for organizing the move. Because of her past expertise, she has been able to grow this niche into a very lucrative segment of her business. And she gets a lot of referrals from Retirement homes who provide her guide to their prospective clients.

In my situation my coaching practice focuses on relationships, but because I have such a strong marketing and business background, approximately 30% of my business is coaching entrepreneurs to help them develop their marketing plan and structure their service offerings.

So mine your own skills and expertise to see if there is some unique way to incorporate your previous expertise into your current business.

4. Assess Joint Venture Opportunities or cross promotions with companies who share the same target market as you do and who offer complimentary services or products. One of my clients is a small designer and manufacturer of high end costume jewellery. Her main product line is wedding jewellery and accessories for the bride and bridal party. She routinely creates JV alliances with wedding planners, hair salons, makeup artists and wedding apparel retailers to cross promote products. She has shared booth space at wedding shows with a violinist. Because of those alliances her business has increased 300% in the past 6 months. She is now in prime wedding season and expects an even greater increase this year.

The end result of your assessment is that you will have a 360 degree view of your business. Now you are ready to develop different package offers.

Look at your Marketing Tree. Begin by thinking about the problems that your customers often experience and the potential solutions that you can offer to help solve the problem. Next think of something else you may be able to add to the package that costs you little, or nothing, but adds great value.

Ask yourself these questions:

What are the opportunities for Packages?

Who is the Target?

What is the Need?

What is the Offer?

What is the hook?

Who can I partner with?

How and where will I market the package?

Can you take a service offering and put a different spin on it rather than offer it up in a conventional way? This is especially true for providers of hourly based services – we’ll talk about that in a few minutes.

Let’s go back to the earlier example of the spa owner. Most of her core services are offered ala carte. In October, had she done this evaluation she might have developed a Gift Package for women. Her target audience however would be men who wanted to provide a special high end gift for their wives and girlfriends at Christmas.

As an example she might call it “12 Months of Pampering the Goddess in You” and she advertises it in her local paper and provides information brochures at the local gym.

She has answered all of the aforementioned questions.

In developing this package she would consider several points:

1. How to structure the package so that the client gets maximum exposure throughout the year to the full range of services and products offered at her Spa? Perhaps these are the high margin items that people usually don’t buy, but once they are introduced to the product or service will make repeat purchases.

For example each month’s package might include a mini-facial, a full body massage, a manicure and pedicure as the core offering. In addition, every month might include one different product or service. This client would be exposed to 12 products or services over the course of the 12 months – some of which she might never have tried before. For example if she offers a $15 would add that treatment as an extra in subsequent months

2. How to price the package so that clients immediately see the value of the offer. The higher the perceived value of the bundle the more compelling it is and the more willing people will be to buy it.

As an aside, it is important to note that when clients buy packages they often don’t use all of the products or services that they paid for. This can definitely increase your margins.

3. How to leverage some of the relationships she has with her JV partners. An example might be to offer an introductory yoga class in the January package, with a coupon for a 15% reduction on any yoga programs in 2007. The JV partner would not charge for the intro class and provide a referral fee to the spa owner for every coupon redeemed. Maybe the gym, where she promoted her brochures, offers a special trial membership.

For businesses that bill by the hour you can use packaging of your services with intellectual property to crack the billable hours ceiling. Here are a few ways to start tapping into this opportunity:

1. Package your process. Sell a process rather than your time –clients will pay to access your previously developed materials. Examples are workbooks, forms, assessments, surveys, self-paced programs, and train-the-trainer packages. You could bundle the materials with a fixed number of ‘training’ hours.

2. Give a class. When you assemble a group of people to learn together, you can earn more per hour than working with them separately. Classes can be given at your office, or a rented facility, on the phone, or on the web. Your market for classes is not just your clients — think about what you could teach your colleagues as well. You could offer a special rate for attendees. If you charge $100/hour for your services, offer 3 hours for $250.

3. Give a free presentation to a group. Service groups or organizations often welcome speakers who can present information to their members during meetings or lunch and learns. A free presentation, bundled with an offer – it could be a discount, a complimentary assessment, or even an offer to provide a free report on a relevant subject, can work well to acquire new clients and increase your email database. Again you could offer a special rate for attendees – maybe an introductory session rate that is 50% off your regular fee.

4. Record a tape, CD, or video. The simplest way to make recordings is to capture your live classes or speaking engagements on audio or video. Make your unedited recordings available immediately on the web or by phone. More polished recordings can be made with the help of a local studio or editor, or you can learn to do this yourself with the right equipment. Bundle the recording and your special 3 hour rate – it’s a terrific offer!

5. Write a white paper, workbook, or booklet. Short publications like these are easily within your reach, even if you don't consider yourself a writer. A simple 20-page booklet might have as few as 4000 words in it. If you've written four articles to promote your business, you've probably already written this much. These are perfect formats for e-books, which cost you nothing to print. Again…think about the opportunities to bundle the report with something else.
I recently did a $20.00 Tele-Class for Singles and I offered them $15 discount on any of my 2007 workshops, plus they received a mini-guide on flirting that has a retail value of $9.95. Pretty good deal, huh?

6. Market other people's products. If you don't yet have your own product, don't let it stop you. You can begin earning passive income by selling other people's books and tapes, becoming a re-seller for software or assessment tools, licensing someone else's process, or joining affiliate programs.

Any of these products can be marketed in conversations with prospects and clients, in your standard marketing kit, in mailings or newsletters, and on your web site.

In conclusion, keep in mind that you have numerous opportunities to cross promote, to bundle, to upsell your services and products. You just need to understand your client and your business. The only limitation is thinking too small.

How to "Package" Yourself for Success
by David Steele

I notice that most highly successful practitioners have "packaged" their services in various ways to create effective marketing and revenue streams. Examples include:

Publishing a book, e-book, or workbook/manual
Offering workshops
Teaching classes
Creating a self-assessment tool
Giving presentations
Writing a column
Publishing a newsletter
Designing a niche coaching system
Using a name and/or logo for differentiation/branding
Producing related events to attract clients

"Packaging" is a powerful way to make your services tangible to the public and your prospective clients (see my article 10 Ways To Make Your Services Tangible)

Some forms of packaging, such as writing a book, creating a workshop or class, producing related events, etc, do more than exchange your time for dollars, and can generate significant sources of income independent your physical presence, allowing you to put your knowledge and creativity to work for you "making money while you sleep."

The thought of creating a package or product can be intimidating, but I have found doing so to be quite natural and organic. Here are some steps to getting started:

Do your practice development homework; you should have your niche well defined and some solid experience in practice.
Identify what is compelling to your target audience. What do they really want/need? What turns them on? What causes them to take action and enroll?
What do you see others doing that attracts you? Look around at similar and complementary helping professionals and get ideas from the ones that you would like to emulate.
Record yourself working with your clients; what questions do you ask, interventions do you use, unique concepts/tools/language do you find yourself creating for your niche? Use a tape recorder or write these down over time.
Review the results of the above four steps and review the 10 examples above. What jumps out at you as the place to start? It may be to start branding yourself as the "Dating Coach For Nerds", or to sponsor wellness events, or start writing a column that you can develop into a book. Go with your strength and preference; writing, public speaking and sponsoring events all draw on different strengths.
Research the alternatives and your market; What and who else is out there? Decide on an approach that is exciting to you and fresh for your target audience.
Use bite-sized pieces; don't make the mistake of trying to cover/include too much. Break your product up into easily covered steps and consider creating a series of products.
Test market; start with people you know in your niche (friends, colleagues, family, former clients) and ask them to participate at no charge in exchange for giving you experience and feedback.
Refine; there is a lot of "noise" out there, so work to find effective language for your titles and concepts, make sure your book/newsletter/class/workshop is well organized, clear, fresh, and compelling to your target audience. Test various versions to find the most effective one that will differentiate your product from the others.
Collaborate; find like-minded colleagues to play with and support each other for mutual benefit, teach other practitioners so they and their clients can benefit from your work. Few are successful alone.
Celebrate! You have given a gift to the world! By creating a product you have taken your knowledge, experience and creativity, and created a legacy that can continue your work beyond your lifetime.

COOL RESOURCE FOR YOU

Here's an example of packaging our services…………

Private Practice Marketing on a Budget!

Because the most effective ways to get clients and
build your private practice don't cost anything!

Jeff and David have created affordable "kits" to give you the information and tools you need to get clients and build your ideal practice.

Check out what one happy owner of these kits has to say about Private Practice Marketing on a Budget:

"I am still finishing the last couple of CDs of Private Practice Marketing on a Budget. I have gained so much information, and strategies that I am using. Since implementing these strategies, I have been publishing articles, been adopted by a major local radio station as their “relationship expert.” I am also about to publish my first book on relationships. Thanks for everything that you and Jeff offer in these programs. Being able to listen to the programs when I have time is very helpful. My car CD player is filled with 6 of your CDs at any given time. I am a true music enthusiast, but building my business with Jeff and David is even more fun!" – Krista Bloom, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Counselor and Coach – www.healingcouch.com

Kit #1: How to Fill Your Practice by Creating Unlimited Prospects

Kit #2: How to Fill Your Practice by Converting Prospects to Clients

Kit #3: Leveraging Technology to Boost Your Practice

Kit #4: How to Have Fun, Play Large, and Retire Smiling

Click here to get your copies today!

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Practice Building
Audio Programs

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have a computer with speakers and a sound card.

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How to Package Yourself for Success

with Frankie Doiron

Article- How to Package Yourself for Success

Soft Topic Copywriting: How to Market to the Heart of Your Client

Article- You Can Only Market With Words and the Words Must Tell A Story

Developing Passive Income

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- Top Five Ways to Develop Passive Income

How to Have Fun, Play Large, and Retire Smiling

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- How to Have Fun, Play Large, and Retire Smiling

Blogging for Fun, Prospects, and Profits

with Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad

Article- Seven Secrets for a Successful Business Blog

How to Fill Your Practice Using an Audio CD

with David Steele

Article- How to Fill Your Practice Using an Audio CD

How to Create and Conduct a TeleSeminar to Market Your Practice

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- Giving TeleSeminars: The Top 7 Benefits

How to Get Paid What You are Worth

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- How to Set Your Fees with Confidence

How to Survive & Thrive in Private Practice

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- Top 5 Secrets to a Successful Practice

Hot, New, Creative Ways to Get Clients

with David Steele and Jeff Herring and Annie Jennings

Article- Our Top Seven Creative Ways to Get Clients

How to Create and Maintain Your Own Website

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

For supplementary article-
How to Create and Maintain Your Own Website click here

How to Create an Audio CD

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

For supplementary article-
How to Create an Audio CD click here

How to Get On Radio

with Jeff Herring and DJ Sara Michaels

For supplementary article-
7 Reasons Radio Rocks! click here

Websites Made Simple and Affordable

with Marc Beneteau and Rebekah Darcy Mulhare of BestCommerceTools.com

7 Steps to Designing an Effective E-Book

with Ellen Violette

Article- 7 Compelling Reasons to Write Your First E-Book

Automated Client Magnets: How to Design and Market an Effective E-Program

with David Steele and Jeff Herring

Article- Using Auto-Responders to Market Your Practice

Internet Marketing: A Three Prong Attack on a 7 Figure Income

with Tom Antion

Article- 101 Uses for a Dead Web Designer plus David and Jeff's Top 7 Requirements for a Web Designer

How to Supercharge Your Practice with Public Speaking

with Tom Antion

Article- Why Use Humor in Your Presentations

How to Write Articles That Will Get Published: Turning Your Words Into Prospects, Publicity, and Profits

with Jeff Herring

Article- If You Can Write a 10 Item Grocery List, You Can Turn Your Words into Prospects, Publicity and Profits

Knowledge Bank

We provide this catalogue of information for your convenience. You may recognize some of the information below from your copy of How To Build Your Ideal Practice In 90 Days or from the e-mailed "Updates."

Some of the following information was either not included in earlier editions of How To Build Your Ideal Practice In 90 Days, or is supplementary material not included in any edition.

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AUTORESPONDERS
- AUTORESPONDER PRIMER
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CREATING EFFECTIVE MARKETING MATERIALS
- HOW TO USE AN AUDIO CD TO FILL YOUR PRACTICE
- TOP FIVE TIPS FOR MARKETING THAT GETS RESULTS
- FEATURES VS. BENEFITS: 10 TYPES OF BROCHURE/WEB SITE CONTENT
- CALLS TO ACTION: 3 WAYS TO ENGAGE YOUR PROSPECTS
- HOW TO CREATE AND USE A CALL TO ACTION
- EFFECTIVE WEBSITE DESIGN
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- THREE KEY QUESTIONS FOR ATTRACTING YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS
- HOW TO ADD AUDIO TO YOUR E-MAILS OR WEBSITE
- HOW TO WRITE GOODNIGHT IT"S TIME TO SLEEP TITLES VS. I GOTTA HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW TITLES
DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS
- THE ONE-PAGE BUSINESS PLAN
- HOW TO CREATE AN AUDIO CD
DEVELOPING YOUR NICHE
- OWNING YOUR NICHE BY BUILDING A NICHE COMMUNITY
- ANSWERING YOUR CALL
EXTERNAL MARKETING
- GIVING TELESEMINARS: THE TOP 7 BENEFITS
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- GETTING SLIGHTLY FAMOUS
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GETTING CLIENTS
- OUR TOP 7 CREATIVE & EXCITING WAYS to GET CLIENTS
  - CONVERTING PROSPECTS TO CLIENTS
  - SEVEN PIPELINES FOR CREATING ENDLESS REFERRALS
  - RADICAL THOUGHTS ON CONVERTING PROSPECTS TO CLIENTS
  - GETTING CLIENTS: BLUEBIRDS VS. BOULDERS
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  - GETTING CLIENTS: TOP FIVE CRITICAL DISTINCTIONS FOR HELPING PROFESSIONALS
- PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
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  - BASICS OF TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS
  - TOP TEN REASONS TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS
- PUBLIC SPEAKING
  - HOW TO MAKE SIX FIGURES AS AN EXPERT WHO SPEAKS
  - WHY USE HUMOR IN YOUR PRESENTATIONS
  For free and low cost practice-building resources, check out our Resource Bank,

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:11:48 +0000

Resources for Private Practice Professionals

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Assessment Generator
Great resource for easily generating your own customized on-line quizzes, response forms, intake forms, surveys, etc, or use their templates. Hosted on their site, easily linked to your website and autoresponder. Provide value, attract prospects, build mailing list, collect data, increase traffic.

Self Assessment Center
Resource for on-line assessments of many types, some free.

Free Quiz Maker for your website, blog, Facebook, etc

Audio

Free audio recording and editing software-

Audacity for Windows or Mac
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Record streaming audio to your computer

CastingWords.com transcribes audio for 75 cents per minute

Cabbagetreesolutions.com transcribes audio for 50 cents per minute

Record your conference calls and tele-seminars-

FreeConferencePro, up to 200 callers, recording, telephone access replay, custom audio message for callers, online control panel, lots of other cool features- free!

Basement Ventures

Easily add audio to your website-

SwiffRecorder Free software for creating flash player for putting audio and video on your website

Free music clips for your website, powerpoint presentations, etc.
Flashkit.com

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Will your business survive a PC Disaster? Carbonite Online Backup protects your important files. Start your free trial!

Best collection of free software Need a software program of any kind? Look here first!

OpenOffice – Free office suite. Contains a word processor, database program, spreadsheet, presentation program and drawing software. Handles creation of PDFs and reads MS Office file formats

Computer troubleshooting, reference, resources.
Lockergnome
Everythingcomputers.com
PCpitstop

Free downloads, shareware, etc, for just about any need or want for your computer.
Gizmo's Freeware
www.simtel.net
www.downloads.com
www.thefreesite.com

SPAM Solutions
Spam Arrest -Radical solution, 100% effective!
K9 -Best free version
MailWasher -Free for one POP account
McAfee's Spam Killer -Best retail software solution

Research Unrecognized Startup Applications
A useful tool for troubleshooting and selecting your needed startup applications and eliminating undesired ones. In Windows, you can review and choose your startup applications by selecting
Start > Run > msconfig > Startup.

Annoyances.org Great site for problem-solving Windows OS questions and problems

E-commerce

Accept credit cards in just minutes with PayPal

PayDotCom allows you to sell digital and physical products as well as services online. Free to set up, includes affiliate tracking. Works with Paypal.

2Checkout.com is another resource for selling digital and physical products as well as services online.

ClickBank to immediately accept credit cards online for your digital products

Download Defender works with ClickBank and Paypal to prevent unauthorized downloads of digital products from your website

Alternatives for Accepting Credit Cards

Acteva provides quick, easy and secure online registration and payment processing from your website. There's no risk and no up-front cost and you can start collecting event or class fees immediately. Increase sales and attendance for your event or class while decreasing administrative headaches.

Legal

Professional Liability Insurance for Coaches- www.lifecoachinsurance.com

On-line ISBN application for ISBN number for your book-

On-line application for trademark

ISSN number for your newsletter

Market Research

The ASK Database Highly recommended! Easily generate surveys, questionnaires, exit surveys, ASK campaigns, etc. We use it!

Compete.com Analyze the effectiveness of your website, compare and track your competition

MajikWidget.com Create polls and other interactive "widgets" for your web site or blog

Quickly and easily create polls and surveys for free at Survey Monkey

Free Online Polls for your website, blog, Facebook, etc

WhosTalking.com is a a social media search engine. Enter your name, brand, or key words to find current mentions on Web sites, blogs, social media posts, basically anything online.

Miscellaneous

National Association for the Self-Employed; Great source for access to health/life insurance, business/tax info, etc.

Healthcare Providers Service Organization; Great source professional liability insurance, health/life insurance, etc.

HowStuffWorks.com; informative, entertaining, you never know when you need it!

WiFi Hotspot Finder

Fun Laser Speech Tool

Newsletter

PhpList Free software for managing your newsletter list

SendFree.com Free autoresponder (includes ads)

Aweber Autoresponder System for opt in, subscription management, and broadcasting your newsletter or e-program

Customized Newsletter Services for custom-designed newsletter with your professional or company name in the masthead, your photo, logo, and professional bio/marketing message on the front page

Favorite daily newsletter; Early To Rise

Passive Income

***Got a website? Check out this free, easy way to generate passive income from EACH and EVERY visitor! Pay per Play

Google Ads On Your Website; Google's Adsense Program

Amazon.com; Join the Amazon.com Affiliate Program

Affiliate Program Alternatives

Do-it-yourself Affiliate Program

Clickbank.com

Practice Management

Group Coaching Manager Great tool for implementing and automating a high quality group program. Check it out!

MindBloom helps you help your coaching clients track their progress, stay motivated, etc. Free 14 day trial

The Coaches Console Save time and money by automating your practice- highly recommended!

Finding Affordable Help-

VirtualAssistant.org recruits, trains, supervises, provides security measures, etc for as low as $6.67 per hour.

Elance Find a virtual assistant from India, brochure/logo/web design, editor, just about any help you need for your business projects

TaskUs.com Virtual assistance, $10.00-$15.00 per hour, they assign your tasks to providers all over the world and guarantee the results

Odesk.com similar to elance,post your job and find providers from all over the world. Good source for web design and technical work, providers all over the world work very affordably (I hired someone from India based upon referral to put together a Wordpress website for $6.67 per hour)

Craigslist has international websites in English speaking countries of people looking for work and you can post your jobs. This link is for Manila in the Philippines, a top source for affordable, English speaking outsource help averaging $150.00 per month part time, $350.00 per month full time.

Online Jobs affordable, English speaking outsource help from the Philippines averaging $150.00 per month part time, $350.00 per month full time.

Free voicemail and fax-to-e-mail You get your own voicemail and fax number and receive messages and faxes to your e-mail as attachments or on the web- FREE

Online Scheduling System – No more telephone tag!

Appointment Scheduling System Automatically syncs with Outlook and Google Calendar, makes scheduling and tracking appointments easy! Free 30 day trial, nominal yearly cost ($29.95 per year as of this writing)
To see how I use this system visit www.meetwithdavid.com

Free resources for sending files too large for e-mail attachments
www.yousendit.com 100 MB files, 100 downloads per file
www.sendthisfile.com no limit on file size, three downloads per file

Client Compass Complete business management software for private practice professionals. The Best!

Public Relations

Free daily PR leads- www.helpareporter.com

Free release distribution-
www.24-7pressrelease.com
www.free-press-release.com
www.prlog.org
www.pr.com

PR info and strategies

Trash Proof Press Releases (free PDF)

Designing Press Releases-

Get Famous!Work with Get Slightly Famous author Steven Van Yoder and his marketing firm. Affordable individual and group programs available.

Clip & Copy Free licensing rights to reprint news articles, track industry trends in your niche, get notified when your name (or competitors) appear in the news, etc.

Google Alerts Get notified when your name, brand, niche, key words, or anything else you want to track shows up on the internet

WhosTalking.com is a a social media search engine. Enter your name, brand, or key words to find current mentions on Web sites, blogs, social media posts, basically anything online. The results are shown in chronological order. Like Google Alerts on steroids.

Best PR newsletter and source of leading-edge PR info- Subscribe here Highly recommended!

Publishing

CastingWords.com transcribes audio for 75 cents per minute

Cabbagetreesolutions.com transcribes audio for 50 cents per minute

FREE article writing templates make writing articles easy

iDictate.com will transcribe your audio programs for 1.25 cents per word and up

Article Submission Sites

Automated Article Submission- Submityourarticle.com automatically submits to thousands of publishers, saving you tremendous time and effort at a very low price.

Highly recommended! I use service and it is well worth it.

***Here's a FREE cool and unique content marketing service for articles, audio and video- FreeIQ.com

Manual Submission Article Directories

FreeCoachingArticles.com
Phantomwriters.com
Ezinearticles.com
Webpronews.com
Webnewswire.com
Webwire.com
Ezineplug.com
Pressbox.co.uk
Przoom.com
Prweb.com
Prleap.com
Prfree.com
I-newswire.com
Certificate.net
Freezinesite.com
Contentdesk.com
Clickpress.com
Businesstoolchest.com
Articleblast.com
ArticleMarketer.com
Articlewarehouse.com
Articlealley.com
Articleshaven.com
Articlecity.com
Articlefinders.com
Articleworld.net
Articletyphoon.com
Articledepot.co.uk
Ideamarketers.com
Httparticles.com
Goarticles.com
Constant-content.com
Valuablecontent.com
Theezine.net
Article-content-king.com
Freezinesite.com
Expertarticles.com
Ezadsuccess.com
Goarticles.com
Ideamarketers.com
Makingprofit.com
Marketing-seek.com
Mediapeak.com
Netterweb.com
Opportunityupdate.com
Salesvault.com
Selfgrowth.com
Zinos.com
ArticlesOn.com
AllWomenCentral.com
Free-Journal-Articles.com – This article directory is the only one that gives you half of the revenue from Google AdSense on your article pages. A nice stream of passive income for you.

Other paying article directories -
Triond.com
Savvify.com

Free Graphic Tools

Instant Banner Creator Very cool!
Gimp – Powerful graphic design program available for most operating systems
Gimpshop – Open source substitute for Photoshop
Photoplus – More free graphic software
Pixia – Another free graphic design program
WebResizer – Free online resource for modifying photos and graphics for the web

Free PDF Converter

DeskPDF: Create PDF documents for e-books, etc, affordably. Inexpensive alternative to Adobe Acrobat.

Free web-based word processor

FormatIt Formatting Utility; Automatically format your text before pasting into newsletter or autoresponder to prevent line wrapping control characters per line.

ClickBook: Easily create a booklet, poster, flyer, business card, banners, bookmarks, etc.

Spam Check Check your e-mail broadcasts for "spamminess" prior to sending and avoid getting caught in spam filters.

URLcut.com: Free resource for converting long affiliate URLs to shorter versions that won't get broken in your text e-mail broadcasts and e-zines. Great feature- you can choose your own URL!

Writers.net Find publisher, editor, agent for your book project.

National Writers Union: Find a ghostwriter, co-author, collaborator for your book project, web site, marketing materials, etc.

Free Doodlelab Online Publishing Applications

My Brochure Maker Create and print a brochure or flyer in minutes
My Newsletter Maker Create customized newsletters with graphics and photos
My Card Maker For customized greeting cards with or without your own photos
My Album Maker For photo albums in two sizes with lots of designs
My Postcard Maker Create postcards that you can email or print

Book Covers and 3D Book Cover Graphics

Book Cover Express Highly recommended!

Cover Factory software free to download and try for do-it-yourself e-book covers, graphic representations of your newsletter, audio program, etc. Converts to 3D images as well!

Do-it-yourself e-books

Killer Covers for e-books Highly recommended!

Find a Book Agent

Find and hire a Writer

Research

NetTrace and SkipEase: Find people, reverse directory, find e-mail addresses and telephone numbers, public records, links to many other "find" resources.

BetterWhoIs: Find the owner of a website or domain name.

AnyWho: On-line white pages, yellow pages, reverse directory.

Google.com Favorite search engine
TIP: use quotation marks to search for exact term to narrow results

Googlism Find out what the web is saying about you

WhosTalking.com Googlism on steroids.

FindYourSpot.com Take their quiz to discover where best to live and work

Shopping

How To Get Just About Anything At The Lowest Cost:
EBay.com

BIDDING TIPS:

Identify the auction items that you want that are about to expire and bid at the last minute.
If you bid earlier, you risk driving up the price.
Bid the maximum you are willing to spend for that item. The system will incrementally up your
bid against other bidders to that price.
Read the seller feedback before bidding and avoid sellers with no feedback (new and unknown)
or negative feedback.

I've used ebay a lot and recommend it!

Telephone

Easy Seminar is our top bridge line for conference calls and tele-seminars. In addition to large capacity, web-based control panel, high quality recording, this service includes many features the free services don't have, including hand-raising, local calling numbers, backup host number if the main number goes down, dial out from bridge, web simulcast, web pages for each event (no html knowledge necessary), download page and links for MP3 replay, and much more.. FREE 30 day trial!

Skype makes it easy to conduct video chats, VoIP telephone calls from your computer, free international calling, etc. Free Skype-Skype calls and low rates for Skype-Landline calls.

Chatter Bug- Unlimited long distance for $9.95 per month

Pingo- best international calling service we've found to date

Magic Jack Easy, affordable VoIP solution. $99.00 for 5 years, great international calling rates that also work like a calling card allowing international calls from your landline or cell phone

DimDim free web conferencing for live presentations, whiteboards and web pages, voice and video over the Internet – with no download required.

Free voicemail and fax-to-e-mail You get your own voicemail and fax number and receive messages and faxes to your e-mail as attachments or on the web- FREE

Looking up telephone area and country codes;
www.1areacodescountrycodes.com
How to Call Abroad
www.countrycallingcodes.com
Area Code Locations

Free conference calling services

FreeConferencePro
Cool Conference Live
Basement Ventures
www.instantconference.com
www.freeaudioconferencing.com
www.totallyfreeconferencecalls.com
www.freeconference.com
www.mrconference.com
www.konferex.com
www.easyconference.com
www.confreecall.com

Note about free conference calling services-

Our motto here at BYIP is "Free First," meaning don't spend money if you don't have to, especially when you're getting started. Free conference calling services are great, however prone to problems such as "All circuits busy," dropped calls, unreliable and low quality recordings, provide no customer support, etc. When you're ready for a high-quality, reliable, feature-rich, professional conference calling service, sign up for the 30 Day Free Trial at Easy Seminar.

Check out Easy Seminar's FREE Quick Start Program, a comprehensive 6-week program that teaches exactly how to grow your business with conference calls and tele-seminars.

List your teleclasses and tele-seminars with Conference Call University

Time

Time zone information and resources:
www.timeanddate.com
www.timezoneconverter.com

Atomic Clock Sync; free program for synchronizing your computer’s clock with the correct time.

Fixed Time Calculator for your conference calls

Twitter

Twitter deserves a category by itself. A free service you can use in many ways to market, build your list, provide value by sharing your expertise, etc. You can create multiple accounts- for each niche, personal use, etc. Sign up free here

Here are some Twitter resources we've found useful. Almost all are free:

Twitter Tips
TweetLater for scheduling your tweets
TwitterDMer for sending new followers a thank you message
List of Twitter Apps
Twollow to automatically follow folks who follow you
SplitTweet for managing multiple twitter accounts
TweetDeck desktop Twitter application
Birdhouse for drafting and storing your tweets until ready to send (iPhone)
Tweetie iPhone app for managing multiple twitter accounts

Weather

Weather; look up weather in your area then bookmark to easily check forecast.
www.accuweather.com

Website Construction

Learn how to easily create your own website
Wordpress Academy
(highly recommended, I'm a big fan!)

Free alerts when your website is down- Free Site Monitor

Free alert when your website is infected with malware- Dasient

Free, easy contact form for your website or blog- Kontactr.com

Free Tell-a-Friend widget here

Free Share/Bookmark button for your website, blog, ezine, etc www.addthis.com

Free service to add powerpoint presentation to your website- www.slideboom.com/

Free service to use your photos to easily add cool, jazzy video slideshow with music to your website (or send link by email)- www.animoto.com

Free services to add video to your website-

YouTube
Google Video
StreamLoad

Easily add audio to your website-

Add calendar to your website- free Google Calendar

Free button creator www.onlinebuttonsecrets.com

Instant Banner Creator for free website graphics- banners, buttons, headers, footers, animation, etc.

Free exit survey www.exitsurveygenerator.com

Free, easy websites at Google – Google Sites

Elance- Freelance Project Database Find a virtual assistant from India, brochure/logo/web design, editor, just about any help you need for your business projects

Nvu Free HTML editor / web page creator

Easy Web Page Creator also optimizes web pages for search engines

SwiffRecorder Free software for creating flash player for putting audio and video on your website

GotLogos.com professionally designed logos starting at only $25.

Web-Inspect.com a great site for getting your pages ready for the internet and the search engines.

Compete.com Analyze the effectiveness of your website, compare and track your competition. Good tool for search engine optimization

Web Site Templates(Most well under $100.00)

Website Templates (most are $5.00)

Lockedarea.com Free software for creating a password protected area of your website for members or clients

Free FTP software

Add a free search feature for your website www.Atomz.com

HTML code reference list- www.htmlcodetutorial.com

HTML Validator; HTML is easy, but unforgiving. This tool helps find mistakes when you do it yourself.
www.htmlvalidator.com

HTML Color Chart Reference

Royalty-free photos for your website, brochures, etc

Free music clips for your website, powerpoint presentations, etc.
Flashkit.com

Royalty-free music ($7.00 per song) Stock20.com

LinkPopularityCheck.com; assess popularity of your website pages.

Do-It-Yourself Web Forms (Surveys, response forms, registration forms, order forms, etc)
www.response-o-matic.com
www.responders.com
www.formsite.com
www.pages.hostedscripts.com

Free Quiz and Poll Maker for your website, blog, Facebook, etc

Good KeyWords is a free utility for identifying effective key words for good search engine placement. Includes meta-tag generator, link popularity meter, and more.

Nichebot is another good resource for researching key words.

Instructions for creating a redirect URL

Aweber Autoresponder System for your website opt-in system, subscription management, and broadcasting your newsletter or e-program

Instant Niche E-mails creates 52 unique followup autoresponder messages to build relationship and increase sales

Article Dashboard free program for creating your own article bank

Free blog hosting-

Blogger.com
Blog.com
WordPress

Free membership website hosting-

Yahoo Groups
Google Groups
Ning
Facebook Groups

Membership Website Hosting using Wordpress- Wishlist Member Highly recommended! (I use it) Video tutorial here

PhpBB Free program for creating your own online community forum or discussion board

WebResizer – Free online resource for modifying photos and graphics for the web

Writing

Bartleby.com; On-line Dictionary, Thesaurus, Quotes, Encyclopedia, Reference, and more.

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Private Practice Marketing Secrets
Mentoring Program Schedule

» Module 1- Week of June 7, 2010: Preparing to Play Large – “Creating Your Blueprint for the Practice of Your Dreams”

Module 1 Implementation Labs- Thursday, June 10th and 17th

» Module 2- Week of June 21, 2010: Owning Your Niche – “Your Uniqueness as Your Greatest Asset”

Module 2 Implementation Labs- Thursday, June 24th and July 1st

» Module 3- Week of July 5, 2010 : Pioneering Your Practice – “Nuts and Bolts of Building a Profitable Business That Fits YOU”

Module 3 Implementation Lab- Thursday, July 8th and 15th

» Module 4- Week of July 19, 2010 : Private Practice Marketing – “Packaging Your Expertise to Attract Unlimited Prospects”

Module 4 Implementation Lab- Thursday, July 22nd and 29th

» Module 5- Week of August 2, 2010: Relationship Building – “Leveraging Your Strengths to Create an Effortless Stream of Referrals”

Module 5 Implementation Lab- Thursday, August 5th and 12th

» Module 6- Week of August 16, 2010: Getting Hired – “Converting Prospects to Clients- The Key to Private Practice Success”

Module 6 Implementation Lab- Thursday, August 19th and 26th

Bonus Seminar- Thursday, September 2, 2010

Modules are accessed by recording and transcript at your convenience beginning the date listed above

Implementation Labs meet on Thursdays, 3:00pm pacific/6:00pm eastern for up to 2 hours

Proven Practice Building Strategies to Create Your Ideal Practice & Fill It with Your Ideal Clients

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