How cool is this?

I saw one of these on a car and I was kind of scared to flag the car down and ask about it - although, I'm sure that's what the owner had in mind when she put it on! It was for Avon, it said something like askmeaboutavon.com, and that stuck in my head for literally WEEKS. I said, I HAVE to get one of those! I tried searching for it online but nothing I typed in would bring me the correct results, I kept getting those huge magnetic backed signs instead. Last night I finally found them! They're called I.D. IT! Plates and they're out of Canada where they're actually assembled by hand and polished to a gold or matte finish for durability. They look SHARP! I like these so much better than bumper stickers or even the magnetic signs because they just look classy and I like that they only show your URL so there's that mystery aspect to them! You know the person looking at it in traffic is going to have it stuck in their head until they get to a computer and go to your website and wham! you got them, a potential customer. For less than $50 - with FREE delivery even, and think of how many people will read it as you go through your normal day, sitting in traffic, parked in the mall parking lot, even passing on the street - you can't BUY that kind of exposure anywhere else.

I'm ordering one today - okay, I'm ordering one on Friday when I get paid, lol, cuz after all, I'm broke! But seriously, I love these and I can't wait to get mine. It will actually make my car look BETTER!

Go to I.D. It! Plates and read more about them.

broke entrepreneurs

Ready, Fire, Aim!

While looking for something to share with you today, I stumbled upon this article by Brian Armstrong of Start Breaking Free, that I thought just really great! It represents a trap that so many of us get stuck in while trying to become entrepreneurs. I know I certainly recognized myself while reading it. Read on and enjoy!

Ready, Fire, Aim! by Brian Armstrong
Many successful entrepreneurs have been known to act even though they didn't feel 100% prepared. I believe this is one of the most important skills to launching a successful startup. Once you have an idea, take the first step toward completing it now, and figure out the details later. Those who have to wait until all their ducks are in a row will be stuck waiting forever.

I will tell you a secret: the ducks will never all be in a row!

The minute you get that last duck in line, another one will pop out. It's called a startup company, because you have to do just that: startup. Even if you aren't quite ready.

It's imperative you go ahead and do your best with what you have now. At some point you will have to exit the learning stage and enter the doing stage. Don't get caught in the "analysis paralysis" of continuing to learn more and more. At some point you'll have to just pull the trigger, whether you have every possible contingency covered or not.

After pulling the trigger is when the real learning will start, because then you can see where your shot actually went. It is no longer theory or discussion, it is actually happening. Only then, after actually taking the first shot, can you begin to correct your aim.


When doing my first startup, I was full of uncertainty and doubt. What did I know? I had read a little bit about incorporating, but I couldn't afford any actual legal advice. I didn't know how to pay business taxes. I didn't know if anyone would buy my product. I didn't know how to find customers. But after reading a little bit, I just decided to go for it, ready or not. The effect was dramatic because experience was the best teacher I could have had.

Sure, I made a few mistakes (and I still do when launching a startup today), but it wasn't anything I couldn't recover from. One of the best benefits of using "ready, fire, aim" is that you find out quickly whether your plan will work!

It's time to realize and accept the fact that you will not be entirely prepared when you startup your first business. So what? Do it anyway. No one is entirely prepared the first time. But they have the courage to act in spite of their fear. That is what makes them a success today.

Please visit Brian's great blog on becoming an entrepreneur at StartBreakingFree.com!

broke entrepreneurs

Consider Email Marketing to build Client Lists

Here's an idea that entrepreneurs should investigate more - email marketing as a powerful way to promote your products. Now I'm not talking about that unsolicited
spam that fills up everyone's mailbox , I'm talking solely about using email lists that have been built by the customer voluntarily submitting their email address. This marketing campaign begins with what is called an Opt-In list, and that's exactly what people are doing when they come to your website and enter their name and/or email in the sign up, they are opting to receive email communications from you thereforth.

Your Opt-In list can easily be built by offering a free newsletter about your industry to your website visitors. Use a simple CGI code to place a subscription box on your website that will capture names and email addresses of your subscribers. Avoid problems by making it a double opt-in, meaning that the subscriber must confirm their subscription before they join your list, that keeps jokesters from ruining your list by sitting and filling it with fake email addresses, or using it to spam their friends. Keep the newsletter relevant to your business, as that is what your visitors will want to hear about. If you're selling handmade dolls, put together a regular newsletter of Doll Making News featuring information about doll shows or resources for dollmaking materials. Within the newsletter, you can place an ad and link back to your website, and offer a discount or special for the subscribers, be creative and make it interesting so they'll look forward to seeing it in their Inbox regularly.

Email marketing is a powerful and effective tool that can take several forms.

1. The free newsletter, which will not only inform and entertain your customers, but gives you the opportunity to advertise directly to each of them.
   
   
2. The "More Information, Please" mailer, which could help you close many sales. Provide a link on your website, or in your publication, for readers to click on if they would like more information. When they do, you are being invited to deliver a more personal presentation to the visitor, which gives you a chance to give complete information about the product or service, roll out the most effective sales pitch, and include your call to action at the end. Do this is in a short sequence of mailers and it is very effective in closing sales or, if you have an affiliate business, getting the click through to your sponsor’s site.
   
   
3. Email can also be used to quickly and efficiently broadcast announcements to your entire list about new products and services that you think will meet their needs.

There are 2 tools you need:

1. An autoresponder
2. Email signature file

Your domain name provider will usually provide email services that include Autoresponders that are easy to set up and configure by a control panel. If this is not available through the company from which you purchased your domain, then most hosting companies provide email services, even if you did not buy the domain from them. There may be some user level programming involved but it is pretty straightforward and proper Help documentation should get you up and running quickly! Don't let the name scare you, it really is quite simple. You set up the message you want delivered, set the parameters such as schedule and frequency, point it to your email list, and you're done. The server goes on autopilot and does all of the mailing for you and even reports back on invalid addresses or Unregister requests.


Which brings me to my final point - you should be always be succintly clear in your sign up agreement of what it is you are offering and what you plan to do with their email address. If in addition to the newsletter, you want to send them special offers from time to time, state that in the agreement. If the offers will be from your company, or you have a network of partners that you'd like to share the list with, again, let the visitor know what they can expect to receive in their email box. And if they change their mind after getting a few issues, or decide that it no longer serves their needs, alway provide an Unregister link within EACH newsletter mailing, so that they can quickly and conveniently click and have their name removed from any additional mailings. The last thing you want to do is annoy and alienate your clients by continuing to send them unwanted mailings - they could return to your business in the future, or refer a friend - but not if you leave a bad impression!

broke entrepreneurs