Investment bottelnecks removed for the mid- atlantic branch of angel investment network

Investment bottelnecks removed for the Mid- Atlantic Branch of Angel Investment Network

Read the papers today, and you’ll feel like start-ups are a rare breed in 2009. Many sources say less people are starting up companies, albeit successfully too – citing the lack of investors available as one of the top reasons. But perhaps they are not looking in the right places.

A paper in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News) recently did a story in which a start-up CEO almost seemed to feel like securing angel investment was easier in this market than before. And it makes sense, since less competition combined with more places to look for funding make this a good time for companies to secure investment.

It is true that angel investors are becoming more cautious, and one will need a strong, convincing business plan (or some already existing activity) in order to secure such funding, but this has always been the case. However, sites such as the Mid-Atlantic Investment Network help potential entrepreneurs and existing start-ups alike find more channels in which to reach these investors.

Many companies will look to raise “Seed Capital” from a wide variety of courses, including friends and family. But the Mid-Atlantic Investment Network allows members to look beyond that, with the ability to broadcast your plans to other potential investors online.

While technology remains one of the top niches in angel investment (such as the recent development by an entrepreneur in Maryland to develop software that uses facial recognition technology to determine who can see the content on-screen), other fields are also attracting entrepreneurs and angel investors these days. Our network has active investors and entrepreneurs in fields such as Real Estate, Retail, Business Services, Transportation, Health Care, Entertainment, Agriculture and more.

A wide range of investors are members, including various angel investors from within Mid-Atlantic regions such as Delaware, Maryland (including Baltimore), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc), Virginia, West Virginia and Washington D.C, but also features investors located across the country and internationally.

Join the Mid-Atlantic branch of the Angel Investment Network today and find someone to help get your business off of the ground.

Internet marketing: free advertising methods

Internet Marketing: Free Advertising Methods!

Given a solid product, a well-developed Web site, and a carefully designed marketing strategy it’s possible to make good — even excellent — sales without investing any money in promotion. More detail to www.internet-marketing-world.com that said, it does take a serious investment of time as well as marketing know-how. Although you may still want to invest in paid advertising, free advertising methods can help keep your costs down.
Give them a reason to come
Give potential customers not only a reason to visit the first time, but a reason to keep coming back. Site design marketing strategy and must work together. Whether it’s simply advertising a weekly sale item or something more involved, like inviting people to a contest in which visitors find pictures hidden within your Web site to win a prize, the site and marketing should complement each other .The site should be alive — a product sitting quietly on a page won’t get much attention. Provide content that’s original and valuable to your target market – not just rehashed newswire copy. Add a ”Send this page” script to your articles and try to have them published (with or without pay) on other sites whenever you can. Unique, relevant, and regularly-updated content will both bring you more visitors — which will in turn improve your search-engine ranking — and keep your old visitors returning. Organize your site to lead visitors toward making a purchase, enticing them to your products page with tempting suggestions in your one or two of your articles or in your sidebars. Use small banners as ”in-store ads” to attract to your products page from, for example, your feature article page. After all, even if visitors spend time at your discussion group or reading your weekly column, it’s little use to you unless they buy. Keep your advertisements to a reasonable level, though. While ad copy should be lively and seductive, trying to pass an advertorial off as unbiased information will look superficial.

Encourage word of mouth

Viral marketing is a way to encourage word of mouth. Offer free e-cards or a useful free e-book that people in your market will pass on to friends. Alternatively, selectively send out a story, tips sheet, or anything else uniquely useful that will get passed around. Something with your URL on it that comes from a familiar address has far more weight with the recipient than any email-list ad campaign from an unknown address. Have a ”Refer a Friend” scripts and offer an incentive for your visitors to actually refer their friends.

Do what you can to get into the major search engines and keep up on search-engine optimization, but don’t waste all your time on monitoring your rank. If you’ve found your market niche, your rank will almost take care of itself. Don’t neglect the specialty search engines, either — they exist for health, music, pet care, and almost everything else and offer a more targeted audience and less competition.

Drop in on them

A useful, regularly-delivered opt-in newsletter is the ideal way to remind you customers about your site. But don’t bombard them with ads or fluff —make the newsletter so useful your readers want to pass it on to their friends. Within the newsletters, give them a reason to return to your site, such as a new article, a sale, or a quiz with the answers at the site. At some point send out a survey asking customers what exactly they want, either from Web sites likes yours or products like yours. For even more mileage, offer to swap ads or articles with other newsletters.

Getting nothing for nothing

Not every marketing scheme works as well as its promoters would sometimes have you think. Generally free classifieds work only in the narrowest markets. Free sites (porthole sites) at tripod and the like can work if they contain real content and with perhaps a different slant than your main site or are used to highlight a specific product. Bulk e-mail ad-campaigns are often disappointing in results and may make you more enemies than friends. Go to www.internet-marketing-online-goldmine.com this technique, while it still brings in buyers in some markets, is working less than it used to.

Study, study, study!

Keep researching — it may take some trial and error to find the techniques that fit your product and market. Given the rapid pace of Internet development, networking is usually the most efficient way to stay on top of advancements. There are a number of sites, discussion groups, and newsletters devoted to Internet promotions that will help you keep up with marketing trends and techniques and gather new ideas. If your business strategies are sound and your product is in demand, you may well be able to make a solid profit even without a bottomless advertising budget.

It’s too early to be pompous

It’s Too Early To Be Pompous

I was on the phone this morning. This fact in itself isn’t especially interesting. It was the hour of the phone call that interrupted my morning coffee, and it was more than annoying.

The call was from a judge in conference with opposing counsel. It seems that my opposition objected to my filing a brief in what he considered to be an untimely manner. I would have to agree with him. I was late, but as the judge pointed out, there was no statute of limitations, and I wasn’t alone in my tardiness. Other attorneys have filed things late, and unless someone’s rights are prejudiced, its no big deal.

I won’t try to justify my actions. I had the darn thing done in plenty of time, but my secretary was looking at the court order which said «within 30 days,» and she assumed it meant from the date the order was entered, rather than the date the hearing was held. Although my final argument was brilliant, I’m still puzzled as to why opposing counsel didn’t want the judge to read it. After all, final arguments are only one attorney’s take on the case and have no evidentiary value on their own.

My point in telling this story is more general. I will never understand why people take themselves so seriously. This particular man is more self-righteous than the Pope, and his approach to his cases seems to be that he is personally justified in taking his position. It isn’t a function of whether his case is meritorious, it is more that because he took the case, it must be.

This attitude is far too common in this profession. It seems that some of my colleagues forget what they are supposed to be doing and focus solely on the fact that they are the ones doing it. They trade explaining and pursuing their client’s interests for grandstanding and posturing. The consequence is that the other side digs in its heels and fights back. Negotiation then becomes a distant dream.

There are cases that can’t be settled. If the clients feel that diametrical opposed outcomes are necessary, the judge simply has to decide between them. Many times, the decisions are close calls at best. In fact, more than one judge has told me that if the parties don’t reach an agreement, there’s a good chance that the judge will make a ruling that neither of them like.

It is a simple proposition. If you want the other side to understand your point, you treat it with courtesy and respect. You don’t have to agree. You just have to resist the urge to tell them how stupid you think they and their ideas are. Actually, if you can stay calm and try to be objective, you will do better for your client than you will if you act like the other side is wrong just by virtue of the fact that they are the other side. You are always better off negotiating settlement if you can. Sometimes you can’t, and you have to take your chances with the judge. When you do that, you want to make sure the judge knows what you think the evidence showed, and why you think your interpretation is the right one. Finally, and this is most important, you don’t want to harass me before I’ve had my morning coffee.

How i turned a $2,500 public speaking fee into $33,000…& how you can too

How I Turned a $2,500 Public Speaking Fee Into $33,000…& How you Can Too!

I mailed out 74 letters to student conference coordinators and received 4 paid public speaking engagements. Not bad for only a total cost of about $44.50. It’s easy to do when know what to mail, who to mail it to and when to mail it.

Getting booked to speak at these four conferences was nice, but that’s not even the best part.

One of the conferences I was booked to speak at only had a speaker budget of $2,500 for a keynote speaker. When I learned there would be 3,000 students and 400 advisors I immediately accepted their budgeted fee because I knew of the potential.

Most public speakers would simply accept the speaking fee, sign the contract then move on. Huge mistake! Remember, you are running a business and why are you in business? That’s right, to make a profit.

Smart business-people try to make as much profit as possible from every transaction. The same should be true for you as a public speaker. You should be trying to make as much profit as possible from EVERY public speaking engagement.

Let me explain exactly what I did to illustrate how I turned that $2,500 into about $33,000! Pay close attention because I want you to begin thinking this way, and if you will, I guarantee you’ll begin making a tremendous amount of extra money, rather than just relying on getting a speaking fee.

I asked the event coordinator if he would be interested in having each student receive an autographed copy of one of my books, but it wouldn’t cost him anything? Naturally he said yes! I then asked how much the registration fee was for the students to attend the conference? He said he would be setting the fee probably at $89, but it could go as high as $99. I said that if he would set the fee at $95, then each student could get a copy of my book (3,000 total students) and it wouldn’t cost him anything.

He would keep $89 per attendee for conference fees while the remaining $6 would cover book printing, shipping and handling and a small payment to me. In addition, we would set up a booth at the conference so that each student can get his/her book personally autographed. He could even promote in all of his conference promotional materials that each student who attends will receive an autographed copy of my book (which retails for $11.95). He loved the idea and said yes to the deal!

Let me share some financial numbers with you:

Cost to print each book: approx. $1.00 per book (Total $3,000)

Shipping each book: approx. $ .46 per book ($1,400 for 3,000)

Total Revenue: $18,000

Total Cost: $ 4,400

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Book PROFIT: $13,600

NOTE: You MUST have a book to do this type of deal. In my experience, conference coordinators WILL NOT do this for shirts, hats, posters, flyers, CDs etc. A book is perceived to be of more quality. I learned this the hard way. Once I created a book, deals like this began happening.

ACTION STEP 1:

Get your book finished. Many new and experienced public speakers who have hired me for consultations have heard me say NUMEROUS times! You can’t make money like this until your book is actually done! Make it a priority to get it done!

ACTION STEP 2:

Start thinking-outside-the-box when you are booked to speak! Suggest this exact type of deal. Will it happen each time? No! But what if it did happen only one time? Would you have a problem accepting the extra money? Didn’t think so! By the way, this is the THIRD deal I’ve done THIS YEAR and I’m currently working on another right now! Do the math on the extra money!

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Here’s the rest of the story of how I took the $16,100 ($2,500 Speaking Fee + $13,600 Book Profit) to $33,000:

I’ll be speaking at 8:30 p.m. on a Friday night at the conference so I mailed to all the college coordinators within a 3-hour drive of where I’ll be speaking asking if they would be interested in a «block-booking» for their campus at a reduced rate since I’ll be in their area. In addition, there wouldn’t be any expenses. Out of the 34 colleges 4 said yes (12% return….not bad). My normal college rate is $5,500-$10,000 but I offered them a block-booking rate of $2,500 flat (meaning no expenses).

4 Colleges x $2,500 = $10,000

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I then mailed to about 20 high schools in the area with the same block-booking offer. I offered them a very low speaking fee of $1,000 flat, rather than my normal $5,500-$10,000 youth speaking fee. Two high schools said yes (10% return)!

2 High Schools x $1,000 = $2,000

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TOTAL INCOME: $28,100

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Plus, at the conference I’m keynoting I’ll be selling my other books and motivational CDs. Typically, I can count on about 10% of the audience buying additional products (I know this from tracking my results from past conferences. You should be tracking all of your results too).

3,400 Audience Members x 10% = 340 buyers

I’ll offer a great package deal at the conference to make sure it’s too good for them to pass up. I’ll give them two of my other books and a CD of my live talk for $20. Why $20? Because when people go to conferences they typically carry $20 bills in their wallets.

My total cost for each package = $5 ($1.00 per product plus shipping them to the conference)

My total profit per package = $15

340 Buyers x $15 = $5,100 PROFIT

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TOTAL INCOME PROJECTION:

Speaking Fee: $ 2,500

Book Deal: $13,600

College Talks: $10,000

High School Talks: $ 2,000

Product Sales: $ 5,100

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TOTAL: $33,200 (Can you say Cha Ching!)

YOU should be following the exact process I just described above!

Lessons from sport and alan jones

Lessons From Sport And Alan Jones

I was flicking through the newspaper on the weekend when I came across an article about Alan Jones.

The article covered a number of things, but there were a couple of things which stood out.

1. He always tries to empty his head so he is ready for the next, not the previous.

And I think that’s an important point for us as business people and entrepreneurs. Forget about the past, focus on the future.

Of course, we need to learn from our mistakes. But it’s all too easy to end up stuck in the past… thinking of the mistakes you have made… the money you lost… the things which went wrong… etc.

But where you focus your attention is where you will get results. So the only place to focus really is on what you want.

And we need to empty our minds from all of the other B.S.

Anyway, here’s the second point he made which I thought was quite powerful.

It’s about sport…

2. «It teaches you that you can’t argue with the scoreboard. It teaches you that you can’t always win, that you’ve got to learn how to lose. You learn to play by the rules, respect the other fellow and learn how to accept adversity and disappointment.»

Now doesn’t business do the same thing?

The scoreboard is how much you are making: That means no excuses, because the only thing that counts at the end of the day is the scoreboard. It doesn’t matter if you just lost that sale, if you should be doing better, the scoreboard tells the final story.

Just like in soccer, if you miss the goals by even a cm, it’s no goal vs. a big goal. And the scoreboard doesn’t argue.

And that’s why we always need to be improving ourselves.

What’s more, we can’t always win in business, can we?

Sometimes we implement a marketing campaign and it totally flops. Sometimes we have multiple losers and that’s okay.

You can’t always win. But you can always keep playing… going back for more and more to put it over the line.

And you’ve got to learn how to lose: I think the answer in the business world is to accept your losses, learn from them and move onto the next.

Adversity and disappointment come with the territory.

In fact, business can be compared to one big ball game.

But the problem is most people don’t know the rules to the single most important element to success: getting customers.

They try to cold call instead of attracting new customers via magnetic methods and they try to write pretty ads (or worse still, ads with their company name on top) instead of mastering the art of creating ads that sell.

Remember, the greatest athletes know all the tricks.

The best soccer players… rugby league players…Australian Rules players and teams have advanced plays which give them an unfair advantage over the average team or player.

Everyone knows the basics. But the key to being a true master is to take the mastery of your craft to another level.