5 Critical Components to a Successful Marketing Plan

Businesses that are successful usually have a marketing plan and most would tell you that while executing the plan has its challenges, developing the plan and deciding what to do and how to do it was the longest part of the process. Your marketing plan should be a clear, concise, and a well thought out document that guides you through your marketing activities starting with your overall objective and how you intend to accomplish that objective. Whether your company provides products or services, is off line or on line, your marketing plan is essential to your success but must focus on five critical components to be a success.

I. Position your product

In the BLAST marketing system, positioning is the most critical element to consider when putting together your marketing plan. It involves creating the image and identity in the minds of your customers each time they experience your product and building the infrastructure around it to support it. In product positioning, there are two basic focuses: Offering what the customer wants with the most profitable market opportunity and taken actions to differentiate product from that of their competition in such a way that customers will develop a preference for your product over the competition. When you put the right product at the right price and in front of the right customer, you have mastered positioning. The goal of any marketing plan is to create a strategy that will boost your profits including a persuasive message targeted towards your customer and a promise that your product actually delivers – this statement will become your brand promise.

For example:

Fed Ex, “When it simply has to get there overnight”

Domino’s Pizza “Pizza in 30 minutes or less”

II. Tap into your mastermind group

Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage other people’s information is exponentially better. To help define your marketing plan, tap into your brain trust for ideas, market and competitive perspectives. In a mastermind group, each group member will come with different experiences, perspectives and ideas that will most likely be your next big money making idea. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a group of people all focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a mastermind group. The powerful result of a mastermind group is that there is a synergy of energy, excitement and idea sharing that partipants bring to the group therefore raising the bar by challenging and encouraging other members to create and implement their goals.


III. Listen to your customers

The best way to find out what is in your customer’s head is to simply ask them. Whether you new business or an established one, understanding your target market is an important element to your marketing plan. It is important to get your customer’s perspective to your product, its price, quality and anything else that influences their purchasing decision. Try handing out samples, conducting surveys or test marketing your product. The information that you get back will be invaluable and well worth the investment of offering a few free samples. The feedback that you will get from your customers or potential customers will help you evaluate the integrity of your product, its ability to support your brand promise, the pricing model and its quality. Even if you are new, test your product in your target market by conducting what is called market test to see how your product will be received. This is a great way to introduce you, get valuable feedback and testimonials for your product launch.

IV. Create a simple plan

Now that you have given some thought to what you want your product to represent, identify your target market and tested your product to see what works and what doesn’t, it is now to sit down and draft your marketing plan. So many business owners get stuck at this point either thinking they don’t need a plan or are intimidated about creating one. Every business, both small and large, will benefit greatly from a well thought out planning process and a key component to every success business is a good marketing plan that answers the basic questions: who, what, why, where, when an how much. Creating a marketing plan is critical component to on-going success and is not something that should be ignored. This plan does not have to be comprehensive.

It can be a simple plan that addresses the following:
· Your overall market
· Your specific niche
· Your target audience within your niche
· Your brand promise
· Your competition
· Your benefits and competitive differences
· Your pricing model
· Your marketing budget
· Your marketing activities
· Your marketing calendar of events
· Your success measures


V. Track results

A successful marketing plan is tracked and measured. In order to measure your performance and determine if your plan is successful, you must identify how you will be measuring the success of your plan. Some examples: Return on investment (how much did I spend vs. how much I got back; Returned coupons, web hits, open clicks, Increased calls? How will you define a successful marketing activity? What is the result you are looking for?

©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.

Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Oh My!

Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”, “Twitter, Facebook and Linked In, Oh My”.
These days, I imagine if Dorothy was lost in the internet jungle that is what she would be saying
as she skipped down the yellow brick road trying to figure out social networking sites.

Similar to a cocktail party or event, social networking is the act of meeting and engaging with people with one slight difference, it is in a virtual environment. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Friend Finder, You Tube and much, much more, exist to create an environment for individuals who share a common interest to meet and discuss those interests. It also provides an environment to share information, photos and news as it is happening. From a business perspective, it provides a new media to engage customers, monitor customer feedback and provide a centralized online meeting area to engage and market too all at once. Social media and networking sites are not a fad and will eventually be a integral part of business, customer service, marketing and sales and if you are not involved in it now, you need to get started right away! Here are some tips to getting started with social networking.

1. Get Started: The best way to get started is to simply sign up and follow along.

a. If you are joining Twitter – select a few people to follow and watch what is being said, who is following who and when you are comfortable, join in the conversation. To help you get started, follow me www.twitter.com/keldandrea.

b. For Facebook, sign up and look for “friends”. Chances are there are tons of people you know and Facebook will help you find them and begin making connections on your behalf. The great thing is, you get the option to accept a friend invitation or you can just ignore it and nobody will know. To help get you started on Facebook, send me a friend request www.facebook.com/kellie.dandrea.

c. For Linked In, sign up and “connect” with business associates, family and friends by sending an invitation to connect. Since this is a professional networking site, you will keep your tone and your messages professional. Search for business associates and send them an invitation to connect. Connect with me www.linkedin.com/in/kdandrea.


2. Write a great profile and include a picture: Social networking is about connecting and networking. Make sure you include you picture and write a powerful profile. Each social networking site has its own requirement for how much you can write, so write as much as you can and make it interesting. Include items that people can relate to and so that people can engage with you in conversation, but be cautious. Same rules apply when meeting strangers, don’t disclose too much personal information and always use your common sense.

3. Get involved. If you sit in the corner at a party and do not speak to anyone, you’re not networking. Most of these sites center around one theme “What are you doing now” and depending upon the site, you have limited number of characters to include in a text message to answer that question. Comment on other people’s thoughts, messages and ideas. Ask a question and see what answers you get back. Look at the photos, the web links and the blog posts that people are pointing too and provide your feedback. Join groups and participate in Q & A forums.

4. Make the Time Commitment. Networking and relationships are built over time, so you will need to make a commitment to invest in growing your network. This is not something you can do seldom and requires a level of commitment to truly maximize the results, but beware, social media is addictive and can take all your time if you let it. Schedule a few hours a day in intervals to participate.

5. Post Often and Frequently. How often should I post? This is a question that I get asked often and my answer is, all depends. On Twitter, it is expected that you send short messages about what you are doing a few times a day, but that is not the same expectation for Facebook and LinkedIn. I usually post a few times a week on Facebook and on Linked In. I post to Question & Answer forums frequently and I always supply comments and feedback to people I am connected with on all sites.


©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.

Add More of You to Your Content

By now you are probably familiar with email marketing and may even be familiar with an
ezine (pronounced e –zeen from the root electronic or e – magazine), and may even be
using these marketing techniques in your business already. Some marketers may tell you that ezines are dead, a thing of the past. I would tell you that ezines are one of the most cost effective and strategic marketing techniques out on the market today.

So why aren’t more entrepreneurs grabbing onto to this wonderful idea and running with. Most likely, because of the fear that they need technical expertise or will need to hire a graphic designer not to mention a lawyer to understand SPAM laws. With all that, online marketing and ezine publishing may appear that it is going to cost you a lot of money so why bother?

Because you do not need technical expertise, a graphic designer or a lawyer specifically to manage SPAM not to mention the most important reason why – your competitors? Right now, many of your competitors are setting up an online marketing system or are thinking about it. Here is your opportunity to beat them to the punch, own your market and reach far more customers than you could through traditional methods. Online marketing is not something you should ignore, it is something you should embrace and has the potential to boost your business and profits very easily and without technical or graphical expertise.

The single most important item in successful ezine publishing is your ability to produce useful, informative and entertaining content for your readers on a consistent and frequent basis. From the words of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams”, “If you build it, they will come”, or in our case “If you write it, they will come”. People have a natural tendency to seek out information and a need to learn about new things. By offering valuable content, you are filling this need and developing a relationship with each of your readers and you will eventually develop a following.

Here are some tips to help you successfully connect with your readers.

1) Write your articles with your readers in mind. When you write, you should write from the customers’ perspective and be able to answer the question, what will my reader get from this article and how will it benefit them.

2) Try reaching your readers through personality – yours and theirs. To create emotional ties, you need to appeal to your readers on an emotional level, something they can relate to. Add a piece of yourself to your ezine and make it real. You want your readers to feel a sense of kinship to you and to feel they are just like you. In order to that, show a bit of your personality, humbleness and humor.

3) Be Real and Authentic. It is okay to share something about yourself and to share your opinions. No matter what your beliefs, politics or views are, it is okay to share a little bit with your readers so they can get a sense of who you are. Just make sure not to use caution when discussing strong topics such as religion and politics and be sensitive that not all may share your views. Let your readers know that it is okay for some readers to be different and still connect with you.

4) Show you care. Ask your readers for their opinions, ideas and views. Share the results of a survey in your next ezine issue and write an interested article based upon the results. Not only does this fuel ideas for new content, it helps you keep a pulse on what your readers are looking for.


©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.

“Give ‘em the Pickle”

Pickles are those special extra things you do to make people happy. It’s a
special phone call you make to your customer or a handwritten thank you note That you include with every order. It is taking the time to walk the customer down the isle to find the item that they are looking for rather than pointing them in specific direction to the back of the store. It is offering them a special promotional item or even just calling them by their name. It is the art of finding out what your customers want and making sure they get it.

The Pickle Philosophy is the brainchild of Bob Farrell of Farrell Ice Cream Parlour fame. He was a pioneer in the resteraunt industry, having created one of the first national full service chain resteraunts opening and managing over 150 locations before selling the chain to Marriott. It is Farrell’s belief that businesses are in the “people business” and that it is not what you sell that is important, it is how you take care of the people who buy your product. It is about figuring out what would make your customers happy and giving it to them. That’s the pickle.

It all started with a letter:

“Dear Mr. Farrell,

I’ve been coming to your restaurant for over three years. I always order a #2 hamburger and a chocloate shake. I always ask for an extra pickle and I always get one. Mind you, this has been going on once or twice a week for three years. I came into your restaurant the other day and I order my usual. I asked the young waitress for an extra pickle. I believe she was new because I hadn’t seen her before. She said, “Sir, I will sell you a side of pickles for $ 1.25.” I told her, “No, I just want the extra slice of pickle. I always ask for it and they always give it to me. Go ask your manager.”

She went away and came back after speaking to to the manager. The waitress looked me in the eye and said, “I’ll sell you a pickle for a nickle.” Mr. Farrel, I told her what to do with her pickle, hamburger and milkshake. I’m not coming back to your restaurant if that’s the way you’re going to run it.

The customer

Mr. Farrell was successful at responding to the customer, apologizing and asking him to come back and has taken this letter to create the war cry “Give ‘em the Pickle” so when something happens with a customer and you are not sure what to do? Give them the pickle. Do what you have to do to make things right.

This story applies to all businesses that want to put in strategies to keep the customers coming back. Focusing on providing excellent customer service at every touchpoint and building an organization whose employees are trained, motivated and informed about the company’s approach to customers will exceed the customers expectations with each and evey opporutnity. So create an enviroment for your employees to excel at customer service by following the pickle philsophy:

1) Service: Make serving others the number one priority of your business.

2) Attitude: Choice a service-oriented attitude. How you think of your customers is how you will treat them.

3) Consistency: Set high service standards and live them every day. Customers return because they had a positive expierence last time.

4) Teamwork: Commit to teamwork. Find ways to make each other look good. In the end, everything ends up in front of the customer.

When you are in doubt on how you should handle a customer, remember “Give ‘em the Pickle”!

©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/.

It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know!

In business, you often hear the statement “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” In the early 1900’s, Napoleon Hill introduced the concept of a mastermind group in his timeless classic “Think and Grow Rich.” He wrote the Mastermind Principle: “the coordination of knowledge and the effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.” Hill also wrote, “No two minds come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.” The powerful result of a mastermind group is that there is a synergy of energy and excitement that partipants bring to the group therefore raising the bar by challenging and encouraging other members to create and implement their goals. Being part of a mastermind group has proven to have many benefits to enterprenaurial success:

Idea Sharing, Creativity and Brainstorming

Information is one of the most powerful assets a person can posses and having the ability to leverage other people’s information is exponentially better. Each group member will come with different experiences, perspectives and ideas that will most likely be your next big money making idea. Having the ability to brainstorm and be creative with a group of people all focused on helping you solve a problem is one of the biggest benefits you will experience from a mastermind group.

Accountability and Responsibility

Most goals are not achieved because as business owners, we are not held accountable to anyone to achieve them. It is our business and we want to procrastinate or put task on the backburner because of other operational issues we deal with, which is our prerogative, right? The second biggest benefit of a mastermind group is that they hold you accountable to reach your goals and monitor your actions to ensure you are on the right path. They act as sounding boards, gatekeepers and test groups all the while asking you where you stand with your plan.

Motivational Support

Staying positive and motivated is a big challenge for some business owners especially after the excitement of starting a business has worn off and the business becomes work. Businesses have many different sides to it and not everything runs smoothly all the time. This can be very frustrating and cause many entrepreneurs to become unmotivated. By surrounding yourself with a mastermind group, you will receive positive encouragement no matter how you perform and the active discussions you will participate in will most likely inspire and stimulate you to move forward.

Networking and Business Relationships

A big part of being in a mastermind group is developing solid relationships with your group members. These relationships have been proven to last a lifetime and be the catalyst for millions of dollars. You will form friendships and connections that will provide you more than just business benefits; it will provide you with a sense of belonging and being part of something special.

Additional Resources

In a year where time is money, having access to additional resources is critical to any business owner’s success. By connecting with peers in your mastermind group, you will be provided with access to the resources that others in your group are using to achieve similar results. This will reduce the time required to find alternative solutions as well as the learning curve usually associated with implementing new solutions. Not to mention, you will save time working within a group versus trying to figure something out on your own.


©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/.

5 Things You Need to Change Now to Create Your Own Luck!

Did you ever see that girl across the room that you were just mesmerized by? You know the one…..she has a beaming smile and gals and guys alike are very interested in her every word. She is not overly good looking, average to some standards, but she is attractive because of an air of confidence around her…… she is the one that you wish you were like. What you don’t realize is that you can be just like her! Have confidence, conviction and positive energy surrounding you at all times. In fact, studies show that the majority of success and good fortune is actually in your control. Those same studies show that a shift in your mindset can produce the positive results you are looking for each and every time and if you practice these tips with daily discipline for 21 days, you will form a habit of thinking positively and be one the road to designing the life of your dreams.

1. Think Positive, Think Bold!

To grow yourself and your business you need creative ideas. You need to think out of the box and get out of your comfort zone. To create powerful ideas, you need to think boldly. Bold thinking is the art of reaching out of your comfort zone and developing solutions to do things quicker, faster and cheaper or to set yourself apart from your competition with a new product, new brand or a new process. To be able to think boldly, you need quiet time away from distractions. Allow yourself time each day to shut down, no t.v, no kids and no phones and just think. Open your mind to possibilities. Our brains are pre-wired to be creative and to solve problems and if you give yourself the opportunity, you can create innovative ideas that will change your business

2. Change Your Way of Thinking.

Did you ever notice that great things usually happen when you stop trying so hard? Or if you take the time to notice the good in every situation? Every time something happens to you, you have the choice to see it negatively or positively. How you think and how you approach life has a direct link to how successful you will be. If you dwell on the negative side of experiences, you will attract more negative experiences into your life, but if you accentuate the positive side of every experience, you will open yourself to more opportunities, have more confidence the next time you encounter a similar experience and be able to respond proactively. Next time you are having a bad experience, view something positive from it. Chalk it up to a learning experience or find something good in the bad. Changing the way you think, will bring more positive experiences into your life.

3. Visualize Your Future Self.

Each of us carries a mental blueprint of ourselves and our future programmed deep into our minds. When you can bring these visions of your future self to the surface and focus in on whom, what and how you would like to be, you will begin to “act like” that person therefore achieving all of your goals. The power of visualization is well documented in the book and video “The Secret” where countless people recant stories of success using positive visualization to change their lives. Visualization helps you focus in on exactly what it is you want and keeps you motivated until you reach it. You want to start small and focus on real attributes and character traits that you future self would possess. You will slowly begin the transformation into your future self and create a positive, winning attitude along the way.

4. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.

As my teenage daughter would say “take a chill pill”. Don’t sweat the small stuff. So much about success and positive thinking come from living in the moment. If you focus too much on the small stuff and the things that can go wrong, chances are they will. And if they do, so what? This tip is hardest for those that are serial planners who need to be organized to a fault and create plans and to do list and are troubled when they don’t get to everything on their list. Avoid micromanaging every aspect of your life and let things just happen. You will be surprised at how much freedom you will experience when you don’t sweat the small stuff and that freedom creates positive energy and time to spend on pampering yourself.

5. Change Your Environment, Change Your Results

How many times have you heard a success story that started “I was just in the right place at the right time?” 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. Meet new people and leave your comfort zone. The more changes you make, the more positive things will happen and the better luck you will experience.


©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/.

6 Worst Presentation Mistakes Made by Millions

Each time you engage in a conversation, dialogue or speech with the intention of convincing another person to do, think or act upon anything, you are making a presentation. You
don’t have to be in front of large crowds to be giving a presentation or using visual aids such as PowerPoint to be giving a presentation. Presentations are given everyday and are one of the most powerful communication tools exist and has the ability to propel your business, career and sales to ultimate levels. Master presenters get their status by mastering the art of delivery from setting up their content, structuring the flow, controlling non verbal and verbal actions and delivering a powerful message that is engaging and memorable. They master techniques to ultimately reel their audience in and leave them wanting more so why do 99% of the presentations fail?

Mistake # 1: Failure to Focus on the Audience

How many times have you sat thru a presentation where the entire focus was only on the person presenting? Did you feel as though you were sitting thru a “sales presentation”? You know the ones, “My company is great, we do this, and we do that and blah, blah, blah…. Most likely you tuned most of their message out. One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is focusing all of their presentation on an “introduction to my company” with historical data, statistics and overview of why they are so great” versus focusing on the audience and their reasons for inviting you to present. To avoid this mistake personalize your presentation to demonstrate that you have a complete understanding of the audience needs, objectives and decision criteria. Customize your presentation to hit on your audience’s objectives and deliver your key messages in a way that your audience feels that those key messages are just for them. Lastly, successfully connect the dots between the audience’s objectives and your own objectives with clear and concise delivery methods that create an emotional connection.

Mistake # 2: Lack of Clearly Defined Objectives

Too many times, presenters fail to successfully connect the dots between the audience’s objectives and their own objectives. They have a tendency to focus on features rather than highlighting benefits and never clearly state what they hope to get out of the presentation. If you are not clear, your audience will not know what specifically they should be focusing on. You need to develop an uncanny skill to present from a benefit position and clearly build the roadmap to the audience’s goals. As Craig Valentine states in his Free Audio Series “7 Step World Class Speaking Toolkit”, It is important to make a “Big Promise”. What specifically brings you here today, what will your audience gain from listening to you today. Lay the framework for their audience and clearly state what their audience can expect over the next 45 minutes and keep your presentation on task to support that objective.

Mistake # 3: Information Overload

One of the first questions I am always asked by every presenter is” How Many Points should I include in my presentation”? Or “How Many Slides”? Another big mistake presenters make is
they try to squeeze too much information into one presentation. Rather than your audience retaining your key messages, they will retain nothing because of information overload. There is an old wise saying “when you squeeze your information in, you squeeze your audience out”. Selecting the right balance of information for the timeframe allocated to your presentation is a critical decision that a all presenters need to master. As a rule of thumb, most audience will not retain more than 3 key points in an hour presentation. If you are asked to present with less time, adjust your key points down. It is better to be focused and deliver concrete information and leave something out (that you can always direct them to) rather than jam too many points, facts and theories into the time that you have. Too many times a presenter will not adjust their presentation and focus on trying to communicate everything. Be sensitive to the time, adjust your material accordingly and master the art of follow up for the additional points.

Mistake #4: Putting the audience to sleep!

A presentation that is not engaging and exciting is a complete bore. Nobody wants to be subject to a boring presentation and if you do not make your exciting, chances are you’re your
audience will be angered at the fact that you wasted their time. Remember, time is our biggest asset and people do not give it away freely. Bad presenters fail to grab the audience’s attention and make that emotional connection that connects their key messages and usually leaves their audience feeling bored and unfulfilled. Master Presenters know how to use techniques that tease and make their audience wanting more, they know how to adjust the tone of their voice and to pause at the right moment. They effectively use images to reinforce the emotional element of their presentation and they use stories and provocative questions to engage the mind as the audience waits for the answer in the presentation. Master Presenters are skilled at creating an event and making an emotional connection with their audience each and every time. I often refer to Steve Jobs and his product presentations which are exciting, engaging and powerful. If you have never seen this master at work, I would recommend visiting Apple’s website and taken a look at one of his videos.

Mistake # 5: Death by PowerPoint

Misusing visual aids is a common mistake many presenters make. They try to take all their content and jam it into a slide so they don’t forget what they want to say. To make it worse, they stand up in front of the crowd and read the entire slide deck. Chances are your audience is wondering why they are being read to and are not connecting to the material and the content. Visual aids should be used to enhance a presentation, not be the presentation. The use of images can be one of the most effective ways to stimulate emotion and when used correctly, can really hit home a key message. An example would be – Suppose you want your audience to answer the question “how big is an acre of land”?, you could put statistics up on the slide that state the numerical dimensions and square feet and hope that your audience can relate to numbers, or you could put up a photo of a football field and state “it’s about the size of a football field”. The impact would be completely different! To go a step further to making an emotional connection, you could tell a simple story about the football field and make it relevant to reinforce one of your key messages. Learn how to drive the message home using images without overwhelming content and you will avoid this common mistake.

Mistake #6: No Call to Action

The last mistake focuses on failure to ask for what you want. If you were invited to do a sales presentation, ask for the business. If you were invited to introduce your company, ask for the next meeting. Every presentation must have a call to action or the audience will not know what you want them to do with the information you are providing. Give them a task to do after the presentation. This action will reinforce your key message and get them thinking about what they have just learned. Master presenters know how to leave their audience with a task to perform and always go for the close.

©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/.