Sometimes it takes a little Faith

Most times when the word faith is used, people immediately go to religion and often assume it has nothing to do with business. Yet faith is defined as an inner attitude, conviction or trust related to a higher power. In Christian theology, faith is the divinely inspired human response to God, so in contrast couldn’t faith in business be the trust and inspired response in yourself, your people and your process?

I can hear John Hiatt’s song “Have a little faith” playing in my head “When the road is dark and you can no longer see, let my love throw a spark and have a little faith in me”. To me, faith is believing in something without having empirical evidence. It is taking a leap, a risk and feeling confident that you won’t fall or if you fall, you can get right back up. It is a powerful tool in business because if you believe in everything that you have built including your people, process, products and even your customers, your business will soar without you touching and being involved in every single aspect of your business.

But having faith requires hard work and true commitment since it will be tested frequently and in the most trying of times. It will be tested when our perfect plans don’t end up being perfect, when our well rehearsed presentation don’t go well, when our workshops and teleseminars only have a few attendees or when we are having trouble converting our leads to sales. It is very easy to get distracted and start to believe the worst, but that is where faith comes in.
True faith exist in the face of adversity and is real when everything on the surface is pointing you down the path of least resistance and preparing you to give up on your dream. It is the one thing that holds you together when you have to leave your business to attend to other matters and it is one of the biggest drivers to keeping you motivated and on the path to your dreams.
So how do you hold on to your faith to forge ahead and drive your results?

Here are some tips:

1) Know that your faith will be tested over and over again. To have true belief in something, you must not waiver and must hold on to that truth. For example, if you really believe that your product will revolutionize the market but you are having trouble with investors and manufacturers, keep the faith in your product and yourself and you will find the solution.

2) Be clear about what you want. When you become uncertain and lose your faith, doubt moves in and as a negative emotion can take over your world. Remain focused on your goal and on your objectives and stake claim to what you want. The universe has a way of helping you reach your goals, you just need to be able to identify what it is you want and be specific.

3) Surround yourself with positive influences. In times of adversity or when you start to feel that doubt and uncertainty is testing your faith, reach out to your support group and allow their faith to re –energize yours. Be honest and open and allow these individuals to be your guides, advocates and strength. These are your dream champions and will carry you all the way to your goal.

4) Accept failure as part of growth. Failure is inevitable and every successful person has failed one time or another. It is part of the process of growing and enriching our lives. Learn to accept failure and treat it as a learning experience and an opportunity to improve.

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Boost Your Business with Power Presentations System”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. For a limited time she is offering a FREE 5 part mini course on entrepreneurship offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

BLAST Marketing Tip # 1: Know Your Target Market

Nothing is more important than knowing your target market. By knowing your target market you are able to drill down and offer solutions specific for their demands. The more you can drill down and create a niche, the more successful your marketing messages. For example, if you say your target market is women, you are not drilling down specifically enough, but if you say my target market is women who operate a small business out of their home, you are more targeted. You can even go down one layer further – women who operate a small coaching business out of their home. The more specific you can get, the better.

Knowing your target market allows you to have a laser focus on your customer and provides you an opportunity to sell directly to them rather than to large groups. Imagine searching for one exact fish in a very large pond and all you have is one “hook” to reel that fish in. Now next to your hook are thousands of other hooks that your competition has casted into the same pond. If you don’t know what will make that one fish bite on your hook, you will be landing your fish by luck rather than by skill. Most certainly over a longer period of time. Being able to develop your marketing “hook”, specific to your fish will require you to know exactly who you customer or fish is and entice them to buy from you.

Kellie D'Andrea & Associates - Our Brand. Our Mission

Kellie D’Andrea & Associates helps motivated entrepreneurs, professionals and businesses transform to new levels of performance and results by mastering the “emotional"side of business – communication, marketing, & team performance. Kellie D’Andrea, owner and C.E.O (Chief Emotions Officer) provides simple and practical ways to attract more prosperity with techniques designed to master communication, achieve goals and create a culture of accountability and results.

An example is a client that I helped reposition the business as a leading industry expert. Like most business owners, the company failed to have its’ own identity and connection in the marketplace. The entire business brand was centered around the personal involvement of the owners who were looking to start removing themselves from the day to day operations of the business. We successfully launched a complete communication and branding strategy that not only repositioned the company as a market leader, resulted in the company increasing its revenues by 32% that year and being invited to bid on opportunities that it never would have in the past. That company still uses my services and now we are working on developing high performance teams and a professional development program that enhances employee retention. We were able to work together to create and execute a branding strategy and develop a human resource plan that will continue to support the brand message and build the business. Now they are on their way towards increasing their market share even more!

Additionally since I am passionate about development, I have created a mentor program that teams like-minded individuals together to create mini mastermind groups. This personalized coaching has helped not only these business owners, but all of their employees begin the journey to reaching their personal and professional goals.

Dream It - Build It - Share It

The Proof in the 5 ‘P's’ Method to Positioning.

One of the strongest marketing tools you have is your customers so why not use them to help get your message out and help build your business. A strong testimonial will allow you to instantaneously enhance your credibility, differentiate yourself and improve your close rate.
A testimony is a written or verbal statement about a customer experience that person has had by working with you or your product. To really be impactful they must be prepared in a way that prospective customers can relate to. Buyers make decisions based upon an emotional connection and being able to identify with someone’s situation and desire for the same result, will improve your conversion rate significantly. A well prepared client testimonial can make the difference between a successful sale and lost opportunity.

A successful testimonial should consist of the following attributes:

· Situation analysis - what were the challenges being faced and what brought them to the need to seek out a solution?

· Solution – what was the solution they decided on and why? What was different about what you were offering compared to your competitors?

· Outcome – What was the result or outcome? The more specific this statement can be, the more impactful the testimonial.

Very often you will see testimonials that consists of intangible statements “Company ABC was a pleasure to work with” or “Company ABC has great service delivery”. These types of statements may be nice to hear but are not effective in the process. The strongest testimonials include the three statements above, for example:

“I have been struggling with a way to reduce my advertising spending for years and bought the “Build a Better Ezine System” and have reduced my spending by 50%”

See how much more impactful example 2 is compared to the “feel good” testimonial.

Testimonials can be found in a number of different forms:

· Statements on website, sales pages and landing pages.
· Whitepapers
· Case studies
· Letters of recommendations
· Verbal recommendations
· Video testimonials

No matter what the form, if the structure includes the three elements above, you testimonial will be successful in enhancing your credibility, setting yourself apart from your competition and increasing your conversion rate.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Build a Better Ezine System” and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting in starting a business, grab FREE 5 part mini course offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

What is List Building?

There is so much talk these days about list building it may be difficult to translate what exactly is list building and how it could benefit your business. In today’s marketing environment, having a list of clients and prospect is important to every business and should be an integral part of any marketing strategy, especially those who want to use online marketing efforts. But how many people really understand what is meant by a “list” in online marketing terms? And what is list building? A simple yet accurate definition would be that list building is a process of developing a database of like minded people online who would be interested in the kind of products or services that your business offers. In other words, your list is your first and main market where you can hope to achieve the most success in selling.

The premise behind list building is that you have more than one opportunity to sell to a potential customer because they have given you permission to do so by opting in to receive your ongoing communications.

Once you have a person on your list, you can keep sending them information on your products and services and continue to educate them on your specials and discounts that you may be offering from time to time. The more frequently a person is exposed to information about your site and the products available there, the more familiar your business will appear to them, although perhaps only subconsciously, the more inclined they will be to buy from you when they need what you are offering.

Research has shown that less than 2% of people buy anything from an online business the first time they come across it. Do not let this figure depress you. In fact it is a positive. More people are buying more goods and services online everyday and online businesses are the least affected by the economic slow-down and recession. So, if more is being sold online each day, but less than 2% of the sales are made on the first contact, that means that subsequent contact and long terms relationships are where the money lies for the online business. So, the critical factor to getting your business profitable is to be able to gain the trust of complete strangers who will never meet you. It is not as tough as it sounds. If you have a list and keep sending information to the people on it– a new product development, a special price, a contest or some tidbits about you and your life - they will become familiar with you and will begin to trust you. Soon your name will be associated with the product they are interested in and they will eventually buy from you when the need arises.

The goal is to provide valuable content to your list. If you continue to market and sell them, chances are they will ask to be removed from your list. People seek out information, tips and strategies that will help them improve their lives and if you can be that conduit and continue to educate and be a valuable resource, your list will continue to grow.
Be prepared to start small, a list will not grow overnight. As in any relationship, it will need time to develop. And remember the more valuable information you can provide to your targeted list the more effectively you will be able to continue to grow your list and eventually sell your products and services.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates
Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

4 Proven Benefits of Successful Joint Ventures

In today’s economy and competitive environment successful businesses are reaping the benefits of one of the oldest strategies – partnering. On line marketers have been using this strategy for years to catapult their sales to unbelievable heights and now, Joint Ventures are making a comeback in the bricks and mortar world of business.

A joint venture is when two or more business, individuals or projects come together to co‐market an opportunity, project or product to each other’s client list and new prospects. It allows you to leverage the relationships and goodwill already established by your partner to the benefit of both parties. So in layman terms, a joint venture is when you join forces with another business to make some money!

With joint ventures, you want to identify people who are selling into your target market with a non competitive product or service but who are working deals with the same individuals who make the decisions on your products or services. Develop a proposal that is mutually beneficial for both parties and a marketing strategy and hit the road with your co-branded offer.

Did you ever hear the old saying “you are only as good as the people you know”. This holds true for forming successful joint venture partnerships. People want to surround themselves with successful, positive and magnetic people and businesses with a strong brand so it is critical to align with a business with comparable values and goals.

Although this one of the quickest way to enhance your market presence and boost your profits, there are many other benefits to forming a partnership with another business in your space.

Benefit # 1: New Client Acquisition

Joint ventures are a great way to acquire new leads and new clients at no additional cost. By having new subscribers, you are able to continuing building a relationship with these people and even if they don’t buy from you right away, chances are they will eventually. Not a bad way to build a prospecting list without incurring any fees. Some new online marketers may benefit greatly from giving away all profits from their first joint venture just to build their list for future opportunities.

Benefit # 2: Enhanced Credibility

You gain instant rockstar status and enhanced credibility. One of the keys to an effective partnership is selecting the right partner. If you joint venture partner is reputable, trustworthy and has already established a great following, their followers will trust you based upon that recommendation. This is why your “list” is sacred. Do not partner with just anyone, make sure you select someone who is worthy of your list and make sure that you are worthy of theirs.

Benefit #3: Increase Breadth of Services

Joint ventures are a great way to offer your clients and prospects additional products. By jointly co‐branding a product, you and your partner are able to bring new solutions to your current client list increasing your breadth of services you offer. The more solutions you can bring to your customers, the more valuable you are to your customers.

Benefit #4: Improved Conversion Rate

You will enhance your conversion rate. One of the goals when you get your list is to convert those prospects into buying customers. With a joint venture partner, you will increase your conversion rate. Your joint venture partner will be endorsing you and your product and by that testimony alone, will convert more of their leads into sales in their own list. Since they already have an established relationship, their subscribers trust their endorsements and you can leverage that trust by offering a high quality product that will benefit the joint venture partner’s subscriber list.


©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Build a Better Ezine System”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Learn how to become the empowered entrepreneur with a FREE 5 part mini course offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

“Positioning – Marketing’s Fifth “P”

Every marketer, business student and entrepreneur has been taught the 4 “P’s’ of classic marketing – Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place as the marketing mix model designed to be used by business to define their marketing strategy. The marketing mix has been around since the beginning of time and used as a tool to identify customer’s wants and needs and how to address the competitive landscape. But what about the 5th “P” in the marketing mix – Positioning?

Positioning is the bridge that connects the other 4 “P’s” together around a central theme and creates the brand equity that is so critical to the success and growth of any business and therefore the most important component to the marketing mix. Many companies approach their client base with a “one size – fits all” approach to their product or service but in today’s environment, this approach will not work. Each customer that you service in your business is unique and has different wants and different needs. Although your product may cover a wide range of attributes that may service the majority of those customers, a successful marketer knows how to use positioning as tool to customize a solution for all. Here are 5 things that you need to position to be successful:

1) Yourself – business is based upon relationships and people want to work with credible individuals, not big corporate entities. Use personal branding techniques to position yourself as an expert in your field with credibility and integrity, will yield increased sales. People will buy from people they trust.

2) Audience: your customers need to understand if they are in the right place and that there is a fit for your product and services. Skillful marketers can position the audience so they belong to target market and community and customized marketing messages specific to their needs and wants.


3) Brand: creating an image or perception in the minds of your customers is one of the most powerful positioning techniques. A brand position permeates through an entire organization and is supported each and every time a customer interacts with your organization.

4) Product: refers to what the customer thinks about your product – for example; lowest price, highest quality best service, easy access ect, when they are making a purchase decision. Your product position will directly connect to your value proposition and how you differentiate yourself from your competition.

5) Offer: refers to your approach to the sales process. Successful offers focus on the outcome your client will receive not the service or product offering. Your offer should be a combination of what outcome (benefits) your customer can expect and the way (feature) they will receive your product.



©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the “Boost Your Business with Power Presentations System”and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. For a limited time she is offering a FREE 5 part mini course on entrepreneurship offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.

Secrets to a Fulfilling Life

A fulfilling life is one of meaning, purpose and balance and the one thing that everybody strives for each and every day. It is living your life and enjoying every moment to the best of your ability and finding the happiness that is all around you. It is not only about materialistic things either. Those things can give the impression of a happy life but often you will find, that with no one to share it with and experiences to remember, all the money, cars and homes will not bring do we want it, it is how do we achieve it? The secrets are as follows:

Secret #1 – An Optimistic Outlook

Optimism is a wonderful ingredient to a fulfilled life. Take a look at the good in each thing you see, hear and experience and you will immediately be given rewards in return. This isn’t always easy, but if you practice each and every day starting with the little things, it will eventually become a part of your life and remember to start with being grateful for what you already have.

Secret #2 – A Goal and Purpose in Life

Have a purpose in life and working towards that purpose is the secret to a happy life. We as human beings are programmed to set goals and using that skill to define our life purpose will put you on the road to a fulfilled life. If you examined some of the most successful people in the world, they would tell you that they know what they want, they know the price to pay for it and they make a habit at setting goals daily. Without goals you float thru life but with goals, you soar
thru the air like an arrow with focus, power and heading straight towards your target.

Secret #3 – Take Charge of Your Life

You cannot change the past so take charge of your life and change your future. You have the power to master your own fate and orientate your life towards as positive and purposeful future. You just have to decide to do so. Stop blaming other for your problems and work towards freeing yourself of negative emotions: fear, self pity, shame and anger. The more responsibility you take for yourself and your actions, the more in charge of your life you will be.

Secret #4 – Live each day as it was your last

We operate 96% of our lives on autopilot. Doing the same actions we have done each day before. The secret to a fulfilled life is breaking out of those habits and finding opportunities to
experience life everyday. When you expand your universe and venture out to other places, you open up the possibility for new experiences and new adventures. You cannot create new
experiences sitting around waiting for something to happen. You need to change your environment in order to change your results. If you continue to do the same thing, each day in the same manner, you will always get the same results. Remove the routine of your life and try something new.

Secret #5 – Experiences in the 9 critical areas

The old Chinese masters identified 9 areas in your life that need to be tended to and nurtured in order to live a healthy, happy and prosperous life, they are as follows:

*Career, Life Mission and Individuality
*Marriage, Relationships and Partnerships
*Health, Family and Community
*Wealth, Prosperity and Self Worth
*Center of Good Fortune and Gratitude
*Spirituality, Helpful People and Travel
*Children, Creativity and Entertainment
*Wisdom, Self Knowledge and Calm
*Fame, Reputation and Social Life

Those that are fulfilled have addressed their needs in all of these areas. There is no defined formula or one size fits all approach to finding balance, those that are fulfilled have more positive experiences in many areas of their life rather than just focus on only one.

Secret # 6 – Good Health

Your body is your temple and to live a fulfilled, you must experience good health so be sure to take care of yourself with proper diet, exercise and personal development. Taken care of yourself will energize you to take the necessary actions to reach all of your goals. You want to make sure you are feeding your body and feeding your mind each and every day to remain sharp, focused and motivated.


©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes "The Marketing Edge" a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at http://www.kelliedandrea.com/.