How would you like to learn the latest techniques for marketing your business on the internet?

Or new strategies for getting the most out of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter perhaps?

Maybe you’re keen to learn how to run professional webinars and, better still, how to get people to attend your webinars.

The next World Internet Summit is being held in Melbourne, Australia from February 9th-12th. Come along and you can discover the latest techniques along with some age-old formulas and principles to help your business succeed.

Plus, it’s a great place to mingle with other like-minded people and make new friends. If you’re going along, please make sure you say hello to me.

Click here now for more details and to register.

World Internet Summit – Australia is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!

It’s that time of year again … the time when we take stock of the year that was and set our goals and intentions for the year ahead. And quite likely, as a business owner, this is a time of year when you revise your business plan and systems and start planning projects for the next 12 months.

I’m very happy to say that last week I finished planning my projects for the year ahead. Now comes the fun part … implementing them! Planning is futile if it’s not accompanied by focused action.

One of colleagues asked me the other day how I plan my projects. So I thought, as well as sharing my technique with her, I’d share it with you too.

To start, I make myself comfortable with lots of paper and coloured pens. Some people like to use their computer, others a white-board. Everyone’s different and it’s important to do what suits your needs best. But personally, it’s paper and coloured pens that work best. With a white-board, but that comes in later.

Next, I start by listing all the projects I want to accomplish within the next year – or six months or whatever. For me, I tend to work on a yearly basis.

This also includes things such as updating existing sites, revamping existing products and so on.

Then I prioritise them – I rewrite each project in the order that I’ll be working on it. It’s extremely important not to spread yourself too thin. If you have five projects you want to complete, working on all five at once can be more challenging and distracting, often taking longer to achieve any real results.

But by working on just one project at a time you can give it 100% of your focus and then, once that’s completed, move on to project #2.

So that’s my MASTER PLAN – an overall plan that is purposely kept very simple.

The next step is to start the process again, but this time just focus on whichever project you prioritised as #1. Now it’s time to break that down into each individual task that you need to do to complete this project, again prioritised into Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, and so on.

You can also put dates alongside these projects and/or steps to help keep you on track, particularly if any of these projects have set deadlines. Sometimes you may find that giving yourself a deadline helps you stay motivated too.

By being detailed in my planning and having everything I need to do to complete a project outlined, I find it much easier to focus on what needs to be done. For example, when I start my work day tomorrow I don’t have to spend any time thinking about what I need to do … and don’t need to worry about forgetting tasks. It’s all written down for me.

I simply go to my list for Project #1 and start with the first thing on the list. When that’s done, I cross it off and move on to Step 2.

Now, remember I said earlier that it’s best to work on just one project at a time? That’s the ideal way to work, but it’s not always possible. Sometimes you may need to be working on two or more projects at once. And this can still be effective, particularly if you have a good team working with you – this team could be staff, partners or contractors.

In that case, what I find best is to divide my available time into the required number of time-slots and commit to a different project in each time-slot. For me, I work on Project 1 on Monday and Wednesday and Project 2 on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday is dedicated to marketing sites and general planning.

And although I try to not ‘work’ on the weekend, I must admit, I am often so keen to progress with whatever I’m working on that I can’t help myself.  So the weekends are spent working on whatever I happen to feel like. 

This is a quick summary of the system that works best for me. Please feel welcome to start using the same technique for your own planning and adapt it to suit what works best for you.

Planning Tips For The Year Ahead is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Nearly four years ago I was introduced to the idea of ‘interviewing experts’ by the legendary Australian copywriter, Brett McFall, either as a way of creating products to sell or just to create content to add value to existing products and services.

Not only was I introduced to the idea, but I was lucky enough to be taught HOW to interview experts … from sourcing and contacting experts, what questions to ask and how to ask them, to how to record the interview and then edit it professionally and turn it into a product.

These skills and knowledge have been incredibly valuable to me – and my business – over the last four years, and I know many who have listened to some of these interviews have also found them valuable.

Andy Sacker also learnt these skills and has gone on to earn thousands of dollars from the sales of his interviews. What’s more, he’s just published his first book – How To Make Money Interviewing Experts.

This isn’t an eBook – it’s a physical, paperback book, full of step-by-step instructions on how to follow in Andy’s footsteps and interview experts for yourself.

Whether you’re looking for an extra stream of income, a way to help spread the knowledge about your chosen industry,  or a good method of providing more content for your clients (and potential clients), I encourage you to consider this media.

You can purchase a copy of Andy’s book here.

How To Make Money Interviewing Experts is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

When you’re in business for yourself, unless you have a clear plan it can be so easy to change from one idea to the next … from one ‘shiny object’ or latest money-making-winner to the next. In doing so, you might get lucky. But more than likely, this lack of focus will hold you back and prevent you from earning the profits, recognition and reputation a more focused approach could achieve.

There will always be opportunities presented along the way. Some are good, others not so good. But either way, you’re likely to hold yourself back if you are darting all over the place in one direction, then another.

This is one reason why a business plan is so important. Depending on your business, it may not be necessary for you to have a  100 page, fully formatted professional business plan. Even just a pile of hand-written notes or a Word document on your computer may be enough.

The main thing is that you’re giving your business plenty of thought, thinking about your overall aim. What is the purpose of your business? What do you want to achieve? Where do you see your business, and yourself, in 5 years time?

All of these factors will determine how you act on a day-to-day basis.

Once you’re clear of the Big Picture of your business – and your life – it’s much easier to decide which opportunities you should take up along the way and which ones you can bypass.

Of course, due diligence is also required. But let’s say you are offered a brilliant discount on advertising at a local event. It will cost you $800, but most others are paying $5,000 for this same promotional opportunity. After ensuring that everything is above-board and it fits with your budget, your next questions should be, “Does this fit with my overall goals? Will it help me achieve my ‘Big Picture’. If the answer is ‘no’ then it’s probably not an opportunity you need to accept.

Remember also that a plan is not set in stone. Most likely, you’ll change your mind and get new ideas along the way. Or perhaps you’ll need to adjust your plan based on changing economics, technology or consumer trends. That’s okay too. But as long as you have a clear goal, you can focus your actions on doing what will bring you closer to those goals rather than distracting you and leading you in every other direction.

Think Of The Big Picture is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Have you ever thought about creating your own membership site?

Or a site where you can build a private, loyal community?

If so, then you should seriously do whatever it takes to get to the Membership Site Workshop being held in Brisbane, Australia, on May 28th-29th.

During this workshop you’ll learn how you can easily create your own membership site without breaking the bank. In fact, why stop at one? You can use the skills you learn to build multiple membership sites or even to provide membership site building as a service.

And the best part is … this workshop is free!

But registration is essential and seats are booking fast. Click the link below to book now so you don’t miss out!

Membership Site Workshop

Free Membership Site Training Workshop is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Below is a short snippet of the recent “Inside Secrets Of Marketing Your Business” webinar I ran with Australia’s leading advertising expert and copywriter, Brett McFall.

In this section, Brett shares one of the best ways to get your marketing noticed and grab your potential customer’s attention.

For more simple, effective but low-cost ways to market your business, watch this free video – The Truth About Why Your Marketing Sucks – now.

How To Get Your Marketing Noticed is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Two weeks ago I hosted a webinar about … webinars, of all things.

And my guest presenter was the Webinar King himself, Steven Essa.

Steven is an amazing guy – very entertaining as well as having a knack for making technology simple. He taught me how to run webinars a couple of years ago and is now teaching literally thousands of others, all over the world, how to do the same.

If you missed this webinar, press the ‘play’ arrow below to watch a short segment of that webinar – it goes for just under 5 minutes. In this segment, Steven is explaining some of the many benefits for businesses and service providers to be running webinars.

If you would like to learn more about webinars, Steven is holding a special seminar on the Gold Coast this weekend – March 26th – 27th. Best of all, you can attend for as little as a $25 donation to Steven’s favourite charity.

For full details, head over to Webinar Seminars 2 now.

Webinar Seminars 2

Why Webinars? is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

I’m so excited!

After much time spent planning, we’re ready to launch the Business Breakthrough Magic webinar series!

This is a free weekly webinar series where we’ll be show-casing a variety of guest presenters who are specialists in particular areas of business.  These specialists are going to share with you a range of tips, tools and tactics (most free or low-cost) that – when implemented correctly – will take your business soaring to the next level.

We scoured the world for these presenters and will be bringing to you some of the best of the best in their industries.

Registration is essential!

Full details and registration are available on the Business Breakthrough Magic site.

Business Breakthrough Magic Webinars is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

In order to make more money, don’t focus on the money.

Sometimes in business everything seems to be about the money. How much you’re making compared with how much you’re spending. To some extent, that’s fair enough. After all, you need to be making a profit otherwise there’s no point being in business.

But here’s a suggestion…

Try setting aside time for planning financially, to work out your budget and set your prices and so on. Then set aside regular times to review these things and make adjustments as necessary.

Then, outside of those times, forget about the money and focus on helping your customers and clients. Focus on really getting to know them and what they need, and on helping others and solving your customers’ problems.

Believe it or not, you’ll usually find that your customer relations will improve and profits will increase. All because you spent more time focusing on your customers and on truly provide products and/or services that helped them, instead of focusing on how much money you were making (or not making!)

In Order To Make More Money … Don’t Focus On The Money is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Happy 2011!

The start of a new year is always an exciting time for me. I love the thoughts of what the year ahead might bring … a time for planning for the year ahead and going after my goals – personal and business – with great gusto.

I usually take some time in the first week or two of January to really focus on my own business – reviewing, planning and setting goals.

Something that helps me with this process is a 30 Point New Year Business Checklist that I drew up about 5 years ago, just for my own use. Since then I’ve been sharing it with all my clients and, if you think it might be helpful for you, I’m happy to share it with you too.

No catch … no cost … just click the image below to download my checklist now.

No matter what sort of business you are in, I wish you a safe, healthy, prosperous and, most of all, a very happy 2011!

Time To Plan For The Year Ahead is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins