Upcoming Show

My next show will air on Tuesday, February 7th and I will be speaking with Michele Scism.

Michele Scism is a leading authority on social media and online marketing and the Founder of both DecisiveMinds.com and The Global Social Media Managers Association. Her clients call her “The Results Lady” because as a business strategist she uses her signature “Take Action Get Profits” system to help entrepreneurs turn their passion into expert status and then profits.

Michele’s knowledge in the areas of online marketing and social media marketing have been recognized during recent interviews on several web TV shows, including being interviewed by Kristi Frank from Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, as well as multiple Talk Radio shows and tele-classes. Whether you want freedom and flexibility, more time to be with your family, more money, or the feeling of satisfaction you get from creating a successful business, Michele is there with her expert business knowledge, strategies and accountability skills to help you get the results of your dreams.

For more information on Michele and her exciting programs, visit www.decisiveminds.com.

About The Show

Join me for my presentation of “Maximize Your Follow Up to Build Better Relationships and Make More Sales” during the Client Allure Virtual Retreat.  The Virtual Retreat is from February 13 – March 8, 2012.

During my presentation you will learn:

• The easiest, quickest ways to build an effective follow up system
• What exactly you should be sending, mailing, emailing and saying
• How to delegate and automate the majority of it so it all gets done
• Then learn Kat’s 3 Simple Step System to attract even more prospects & clients in this (or any) economy
• Focused, clear action steps that you can implement now to get more clients, referrals and repeat customers
• Empowered and smarter thinking about the way you run your business

This is a FREE event, but you still need to register HERE

It can be easy to start up a business and yes you need to have motivation and determination in order to be successful. But the biggest thing you need to have on your side is the correct training on HOW to be a business owner.

Getting the entrepreneurial training you need should be your #1 priority but hardly any new small business owner ever thinks about that. That’s why most of them go out of business frankly. They don’t learn what it takes and what’s involved besides providing your products and services on how to be a successful business owner.

Here are six steps to starting up a new business by yourself on a limited budget (or jumpstarting the business you’ve got!):

1. Choose a business model and industry where it’s proven to be able to make money almost regardless of what the economy is doing – there are tons of these, especially if you’re looking at online business models and businesses.
2. Do something you’re passionate about so that you are excited to get out of bed in the morning to get to work and provide your service or promote your products (this is second to finding something that will make money…for a reason!). There more than likely is a way to make money at your biggest passion but you may not see it or you don’t see the easiest ways that me or another business coach could identify pretty quickly.
3. Set up effective systems and the right business structures FIRST in order to be able to leverage and maximize your time and money. This way you can do unlimited amounts of marketing without getting scared of the flow of customers and prospects coming in. Setting up systems and structures allows you not to have to worry about this but you may not see what systems need setting up, that’s the problem.
4. Outsource the things you don’t like to do or aren’t good at doing RIGHT OFF THE BAT or as soon as humanly possible and you will be more efficient and able to make more money faster.
5. Provide clear, frequent, consistent and value-added messages to your prospects and target market in order to build solid relationships with people who will buy. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see business owners make is that they forget to keep in touch with the people and customers who get into their database. Database marketing is one of the most important types of marketing you need to do.
6. Develop an effective, results-oriented, low budget marketing strategy to reach new prospects that you will easily be able to implement and make sure you WORK IT! A plan does you no good unless you follow it so get someone to hold you accountable if you need to but make it happen.
   

Want help figuring out what you can do for a business or how to tweak and monetize more the one you have? I’d love to talk with you in a complimentary business strategy session to help you design a business that better fits the type of lifestyle you want to live so you can live a happier life!

© Copyright 2012 K. Sawa Marketing International Inc.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? To publish this article in your ezine or website please include the following blurb: Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author, Speaker and International JumpStart Your Biz Coach who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and their personal life. She offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself business-building products. She’s been featured on various news talk shows and radio shows including Oprah and Friends XM Radio. Go online now to get started with her F.ree Entrepreneur’s Success Kit at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com/gifts!

Every once in a while something occurs pretty often that really bugs me and of course I’m inclined to speak my mind.

You see I’ve been doing some very ‘Interactive Follow Up’ lately which is one very important key aspect of your marketing (or it should be). I’ve been making phone calls. My team and I actually have been calling many people I’ve met in the last few months or more, reconnecting with them (even some of you reading this now); something I don’t see small business owners taking the time to do at all – follow up calls.

I can tell you that ‘Interactive Follow Up’ is so important for you to make time to do in this busy, fast-paced world in order to stand out among your competitors. Most of your competitors are just sending emails or mail or facebooking but hardly anyone takes the time to reach out and make a phone connection – that’s when you become more memorable!

The issue is that when you do try to reach out like we have been doing…..no one hardly returns your phone calls or messages. Does that happen to you too?

Well as the caller, its disappointing right? One thing you can do is make sure you don’t talk about your products or services on that follow up call. Your goal should be to connect on a more personal basis to find out if or how you can support each other. Most people I see that do their follow up calls make this mistake and try to sell, sell, sell or push stuff and that’s what turns us off.

As the person who gets called, I get that you’re busy but do you want more business or not? If you don’t return phone calls, not just from me but from a lot of other people who try to connect with you (even sales people) you are just leaving money on the table in my opinion.

Let me give you 4 simple yet powerful reasons why you DEFINITELY and ALWAYS want to return all business phone calls:

• The person calling could be your very next customer!
• The person calling could refer to you your very next customer if you take the time to engage with them on what your needs are too at some point in the relationship building process.
• The person calling could have a big influence in the area, industry or in some other way that if you ignore them, it could prove not to be a good thing for your reputation
• The person calling could know someone or something that you need to know to help you grow your business

Have you thought about that?

Yes even a sales person that calls….if you engage with them, how do you know if they might not be interested in what you’re doing enough to be able to refer someone to you or help you in one way or another. However unless you investigate and return that call and take time to build that relationship instead of burn a bridge possibly how will you know what was possible?

I say never be too busy or egotistical to return your calls. Someone may have worked up a lot of courage on their part to even call you in the first place, the least you can do is call them back and see if or how you can support each other.

For more information on how to JumpStart your small business with creative marketing and business building ideas and a clear plan to reach your unique target market find out how to talk with me in a complimentary Strategy Session, go fill out the questionnaire at www.AskKat.biz. Let’s plot out YOUR Big Picture Strategy now before it’s too late!

© Copyright 2012 K. Sawa Marketing International Inc.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? To publish this article in your ezine or website please include the following blurb: Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author, Speaker and International JumpStart Your Biz Coach who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and their personal life. She offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself business-building products. She’s been featured on various news talk shows and radio shows including Oprah and Friends XM Radio. Go online now to get started with her F.ree Entrepreneur’s Success Kit at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com/gifts!

This spring she is putting together the sophomore edition of THE JOY RIDE and is looking for featured writers in the following areas (please remember the focus of the magazine- to encourage women to live a more joyful and purposeful life, discover and honor the truths within them and most importantly, live each day with a strong sense of purpose):

• Finances (something beyond the everyday budgeting advice)
• Alternative healing (beyond massage)
• Relationships- friendships, romantic, nuclear family, etc.
• Dating, marriage and divorce
• Life stages- such as ‘sandwich generation’, empty nest, early motherhood, etc.
• Hobbies
• Sex and intimacy
• Home life
• Travel and adventure
• Faith and spirituality
• Fashion and style

Articles should be between 500 and 1000 words and have to be your original work (can be posted elsewhere). Julie can’t promise that all submissions will be included in the spring edition, but you won’t be included at all if you don’t send them to her at Julie@thejoysource.com.

And feel free to share the magazine with your contacts. We’d love to get this out there to every woman! http://issuu.com/joysource/docs/joy_ride_oct11_magazine

Upcoming Show

My next show will air on Tuesday, January 24th and I will be speaking with Nisha Jackson

Nisha Jackson is the CEO of Financially Brilliant Women’s Institute, LLC. She is a sought after Money Management & Business Strategist.  She specializes in helping women and youth who struggle to move forward from past hurts, breakthrough the barriers keeping them from achieving financial success.

She mentors them to achieve financial independence through entrepreneurship,  and money management. She has dedicated the last 10 years to helping women realize their business and financial independence dreams!

For more information on Nisha and her exciting programs, visit www.LindaAllred.com.

About The Show

This is one of the most difficult things for small business owners that I see which holds them back.

There is so much you need to do these days in your business just to even keep it afloat much less make a ton of money. Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed in this new year?

If your goal isn’t to make a ton of money that’s ok but either way, you need to market more and be very focused in what you’re offering online and in person or people will find it hard to understand why or how you can help them or why they should buy your stuff.

So where do you start to create YOUR Big Picture Plan?

Here are some key elements that your plan might consist of:

• How much money you need to make this coming year?
• - Break down your annual revenue goal into monthly increments so you can then determine how many clients/customers you need to get to reach that goal.
• What new programs, products or services do you want to launch and when?
• - What needs to be in place to make sure that happens efficiently
• What personal goals do you have (vacations, time off with family each week, relationship focus, self care, etc)
• What marketing will you tweak or add this year to reach more of your ideal target market
• How many clients will you need in order to reach those money goals? Figure it out.

Now, what are the steps you need to take to reach those goals? Do you know?

Do you have those plotted out as well? This part is crucial. Some people just write down the goal but then stop there. You want to break each goal into bite size pieces or tasks that you can then do or accomplish every week, month or quarter to reach those goals and make them manageable. Hence, being focused.

Sometimes you will need to focus more on the inner workings of your business and the systems it takes to serve more customers or sell or follow up with more prospects to turn them into customers.

Other times its about focusing more on the marketing and lead generation (once you have those systems in place).

Here are my top 11 Marketing Strategies that you probably want to make sure you are focusing on this year.

• Networking in person
• Speaking in person or online/phone/radio
• Social Media marketing and networking (using my messaging system is preferred in order for this to really work for you!)
• Being a vendor/exhibitor/sponsor at live events (I teach this in my Tradeshow Networking Tool Kit)
  
• Co-promoting with other complimentary business owners (there’s a whole bunch of things you can do for free with others to promote each other)
• Phone calls (soooo important!)
• Video marketing – create tips, a video channel and more
• Blogging – good, consistent, keyword rich content drives traffic
• Offer freebies/bonuses/gifts, etc. for promos for others, launches and more
• Testimonial marketing
  
• Publicity (missed opportunity for most small business owners)
  

I shared this information in much more depth on a training call I did a couple weeks ago in my Silver Mentor Coaching Program. You can have access to that and 6 months of additional call recordings and trainings and more when you register for that program for $97 online at www.MentorSignup.com. (You can cancel anytime but go get this info at least, it can totally help you focus this year on what to do in your marketing and how!)

Did you forget to registering for my FREE Teleclass “How to Attract More Clients and Make More Money in Your Small Biz, Plain and Simple!” The bad news is that the call has already happened but the good news is you can still listen to the recording.  Just hop on over to http://katrinasawa.com/attractclients2012 and register to receive the recording.  But hurry and do it now because the call link will only be active until Tuesday, January 17th at noon pst.

What I covered on the call was:

 - How to take your business ‘idea’ into a full-fledged business in less than a week!

-  The simple 3-step system start-up biz owners need who don’t know where to start, what to do or how to get it all done.

-  What technology and marketing you MUST invest in and what you can wait to do until you get up and running (do you need a blog, website, shopping cart, social media marketing, ezine and more?)

-  2 Simple Secrets to building a large, responsive database of prospects and clients

-  The number one way to find and hire the right resources and vendors so you don’t waste a bunch of money and time.

Whether you’ve been in business for some time yet you’re working too hard still yourself for not enough money or you’re just starting out in your business wondering which things to do, implement, etc. you’re probably ready for one of the NEW classes I just launched.

Here’s a sneak peak of some information I shared on the call.  I’ve taken my Jumpstart Your Business in 90 Days Virtual Bootcamp that I’ve been running for 2 years now and I broke that down into TWO NEW 6-week training classes – one for newer businesses and one for existing, advanced businesses.

I’ve even reduced the length of the program, so now the price is also reduced and therefore it’s all much more manageable. Enough content for you to make some BIG shifts in what you’re doing to make more money and at reasonable pricing for your budget.

Here’s what I’ve developed – please click on and find out more about the one that applies to you and where you are in your business:

1. The Jumpstart Your New Biz Now – 6 Week Entrepreneur Basic Training & Set Up (For businesses within first 2-5 years of their business or in idea stage too) – $497

I designed this 6-week intensive coaching program to give the newer business or business in start up mode the tools, plan and steps you MUST HAVE to get started turning a profit. They don’t teach this stuff in business school, you need to learn it from someone like me who’s been there and done it and doing the type of business or worked with the type of business you want to create or expand.

This is a very affordable program since I know there are a ton of things you need to do in the first couple years of your business. I guarantee by enrolling in this program you will SAVE money on things you probably would have invested in that you DON’T NEED because so many new business owners get taken by this or that or sold into things you don’t need (yet).

First you need to get the basics in place – basic technology, lead generation systems, marketing systems and get your head on straight and clarity around what you’re selling, doing, etc.



2. 6-Figure+ Business Makeover – 6 Week Advanced Business Training & Transformation Program (For businesses over 2 years into their business and who also have a current website of some sort – otherwise do the New Biz Program above first) – $997

I designed this 6-week intensive coaching program to help give current business owners and entrepreneurs your NEXT STEPS. In this changing marketplace you need to change too and so does your business, your marketing, your operations, some systems, your technology, your mindset, your team.

If you’re tired of working so hard in your small business or you’re not making the kind of money you thought you would by now in your business then you definitely want to attend this group program. I will show you FAST and in depthly all the things you can do to monetize more of what you’re already doing plus leverage your offerings, maximize your own time and so much more so you can go GLOBAL with your business even!

To get access to the call just go to http://katrinasawa.com/attractclients2012 and register to receive the recording.  But hurry and do it now because the call link will only be active until Tuesday, January 17th at noon pst.

© Copyright 2012 K. Sawa Marketing International Inc.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? To publish this article in your ezine or website please include the following blurb: Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author, Speaker and International JumpStart Your Biz Coach who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and their personal life. She offers one-on-one coaching, group coaching and do-it-yourself business-building products. She’s been featured on various news talk shows and radio shows including Oprah and Friends XM Radio. Go online now to get started with her F.ree Entrepreneur’s Success Kit at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com/gifts!

So how do you do it?  How do you continuously attract and find new clients, build the business that excites you and make more money … all at the same time?

The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs are making right now, over and over again, are randomly investing in products and programs or people who can’t help them really with what they need to do next. They need their ‘next steps’ yet they’re being enticed with ‘bright shiny objects’ that distract them from reaching their big goals.

I’m hosting a FREE teleclass on Thursday, January 10th at 1:0oPM PST / 4:00PM EST

What I’m going to cover on this call and what you’ll be able to take away and implement immediately is:

How to take your business ‘idea’ into a full-fledged business in less than a week!

• The simple 3-step system start-up biz owners need who don’t know where to start, what to do or how to get it all done.
• What technology and marketing you MUST invest in and what you can wait to do until you get up and running (do you need a blog, website, shopping cart, social media marketing, ezine and more?)
• 2 Simple Secrets to building a large, responsive database of prospects and clients
• The number one way to find and hire the right resources and vendors so you don’t waste a bunch of money and time

This is a free call designed for entrepreneurs who want to learn how to redesign your business to fit your lifestyle and who want to make smarter business and marketing decisions so you don’t have to work so hard.

Click here to sign up or for more information.