I realized something about myself this month! I truly am a cup half full kind-of gal. Even when things happen, I can look on the bright side.

That’s huge in business. Having the ability to think positively makes a big difference in everything you do. Being able to shake something off and go on, is a real sign of a champion. And being able to appreciate all the bad with the bad, well that just rocks.

Now I’m not saying things are bad over here at Virtual Word Publishing. Quite the contrary! Things are rock’n and I’m loving it! However, I had something happen recently and it really made me stop and think and realize just how positive of a person I am. Here’s the scoop.

My lottery blues story.

As most of you know, I love to play the lottery and okay, do a little gambling every once in a while. In fact, I’m in a lottery pool with a bunch of amazing VA friends. Also, since 1997 I’ve played the lottery with my best friend here in Florida. We won in 1999. We’ve played the same two numbers all these years. I get one number, my friend gets another.   Recently, we discovered the number that she got won the month before!!! YEAH!!!! And it won big … $214,000. Needlesstosay, our day got a whole lot brighter.

But then, we discovered that unfortunately she didn’t get the ticket that day.  (I know you hear about that and think it can never happen!) An unexpected trip up north when her sister had surgery had her not get the number for three days. It’s hard to believe, and painful to think about, but 3 days while she was with her sister having an expected surgery and our numbers came in.   Ouch!! Now did I mention we’ve been doing this since 1997! Oh yeah .. did I mention $214,000? YIKES!

So here’s where I realized I’m a glass half full kind-of person. I’d be fibbing if I said it didn’t hurt. It did. And for a day or so I was dreaming of all $$$$ and all that shopping and well I was a tad bit bummed. Then I realized, I can’t do a thing about that ticket. And my good friend, we will always be good friends. It happens. I can sit and dwell on it or I can do something about it. That’s when it hit me!! I realized that I CAN control the outcome.

Here’s what I did. I challenged myself to a $100,000 challenge, which would have been my share. I challenged myself to make $100,000 EXTRA! My goal is one year.

Whether I made it or not is not what counts. What really counts is the fact that I almost immediately felt better. I immediately felt in more control and I immediately got excited again. In fact, I felt empowered again. My mindset had totally shifted!

Hopefully you don’t have a missed lottery opportunity, but what’s stopping you from achieving your goals? I’d love to hear. Let’s challenge ourselves to be the best we can be!

BTW, who wants to go on the $100,000 challenge with me? This isn’t a let’s make six figures this year! YUCK! This is, let’s have some fun and figure out how to make more money in our business. Email me if you’re game!

Now to make that extra $100,000 .. here are some marketing tips!

Marketing Tips That Work!

• If you talk about a certain product or service in your media, be sure to link directly to that page. You can also link to the website, but add in direct links as well. That allows them to buy right then. Cha Ching!
• eReleases rock! When you send out a press release, spend the money and send it out via them. Yes, it’s expensive. But it so worth it. After you send your release and get the report back on all amazing places that picked it up, (i.e., ABC News, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg, etc.) make a nice graphic of the logos and share on your social media. Remember it’s after the release runs that the magic happens.
• Once you get media coverage, have the steps down to take full advantage of it. #1 – spread the word through your social media outreach, #2 – Add to newsletter and/or blog, #3 – Add to your press page, #4 -add to your database of those interested so you can pitch again separately (and only the best pitches), etc.
• Social media tip – Boost your tips post. I found by boosting just 2 posts a week for $2.00 to $3.00 each, it worked. How do I know it worked? I got a client asking for what I talked about in the tip. They said, can you do that for me? Why yes, yes I can!
• Review your marketing each week. What worked? What didn’t? Now create a to-do list with more of those things that worked! Now how do you know what worked? Ask! When clients come to you or buy from you, it’s okay to say, “So where did you hear about us.”
• Do one joint venture a month. Look for opportunities and there are a ton of them. Target these though and make sure you can reach your target audience. Also, be prepared. Say you are getting with others for a special giveaway. That means you will have to have your website opt-in page ready, free gift done, newsletter sign-up updated, etc. And once you commit to doing one of these, right now schedule time while it’s running to invest time in its success. You need to be engaged and telling others about it.  So schedule time to be able to do that. Also, schedule in advance any social media updates you can, marketing, etc.
• Captivating subject lines, gets emails opened. Whether it’s a pitch you are sending out or your newsletter, make sure you capture their interest so they want to learn more. Target it as well when you can … if your topic is entrepreneurs, mention entrepreneurs. You want your audience to see how they fit with what you are sending.
• Use excerpts of your book as social media updates. It lets others see the value in your book and hopefully results in more book sales.
• To make more, create more. What else can you offer clients in addition to the services or products you provide? Get into the habit of monetizing these.

Marketing works! Do you have any marketing tips, email me and I can share them in our next newsletter. Also, if you ever need any marketing assistance, just let me know.

Hope you all have a great week. Let me know what I can do for you!

Diana Ennen, President
Virtual Word Publishing