In life we have crossroads and choices to make. Doors close and windows open, but most importantly, when your heart yearns for something more…… The people that run with their dreams and have faith are the Rainmakers of the world. I was feeling suffrocated in the classroom as a Special Education Teacher in Owenton, KY. I loved my students, and they taught me lessons that I will carry on throughout my life. I put my heart and soul into teaching. I was feeling a need to help millions of children. I knew this could be accomplished by becoming an entrepreneur. In addition, the same day I was first introduced to Dani Johnson in the Appalachian Mountains, I received a pink slip! WOW…. What a sign to choose the path of entrepreneurship?

April 2008: Spring Break! My friend drove down from Michigan, and we decided to take a road trip to Charlotte, NC. My brother just recently moved to Charlotte, and I was excited to visit my FAVORITE sibling! He is the greatest brother on the planet, and the two of us stick together. (He is my only sibling!) I had the entrepreneur bug and wanted to start my own marketing firm. On Spring Break, my friend and I masterminded our plan as entrepreneurs. The road trip was amazing, and I realized that for the rest of my life ElizabethCobb.com wanted to wander the planet, help as many people as possible, and be a professional blogger/Marketing Specialist. I love the song by Carrie Underwood. It describes my journey of faith!

At the time, I didn’t even realize how amazing my journey would entail, but I was ready. I remember driving on I-40 heading West to Knoxville, and my friend sharing a story about an amazing entrepreneur. The entrepreneur was Dani Johnson. I came into contact with Dani Johnson for the first time in the Appalachian Mountains!

I became very intrigued in the conversation and listened to my friend describe Dani’s biography. My friend shared Dani’s path of being so determined to accomplish her goals. Dani COLD called in Hawaii and started her business with pennies! I envisioned the same path for myself, and immediately started researching Dani. If Dani could accomplish this amazing career, Elizabeth Cobb would follow suit.

I thank Dani Johnson for being one of my first mentors. I was privileged to contact her Corporate Office and speak directly with her Executive Assistant. Dani is preparing for her LA EVENT on August 7th & 8th. In the near future, I would be honored to interview Dani Johnson directly for ElizabethCobb.com. In the meantime, please click at the link below for her event, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family and friends!

http://www.danijohnson.com/events/first-steps-to-success

Sincerely,

Elizabeth A. Cobb
Director of Social Media
http://www.rivodeauxmarketing.com
http://www.elizabethcobb.com
http://www.twitter.com/yslanrulz
859-750-4967

A marketing plan is a written document made for achieving the overall business objective. It should be based on a solid marketing strategy. The purpose of making the marketing plan is to narrow down the general objectives to specific objectives in order to devise a detailed plan of action for each program of the company. Careful monitoring of the marketing plan is very important because it is prone to failure if not closely followed and if it impossible to implement. Often marketing plans fail due to insufficient or impossible to attain strategies. The basic content in the marketing plan are as follows: Detailed information of the products and services, budget for marketing promotions and advertisement, complete details of the marketing location, price strategy and market segmentation.

Often marketing plans fail due to lack of strategies in making the plan. Below are the basic reasons why marketing plans fail:

General plan of objective not narrowed down
The purpose of breaking down the general objective to specifics is to individualize the programs. It allows a clean and step by step implementation of the plan.

Budget not monitored
Sometimes more attention is given to the flow of cash inside the company and the cash outflow is not monitored further leading to insufficient funds for advertising, promotional activities and other marketing expenses.

Unattainable, Unrealistic Goal
An unattainable goal is impossible. Every business is based on a feasibility study in order to carefully study the products and services of the company. If the implementation of the program is unrealistic in nature it can lead to failure. Studying the products and services will provide complete and detailed information to the consumers.

Not meeting Deadlines
A marketing plan should be time bound. Deadlines for submission of project proposals, requirements, etc. should be strictly followed because every business is in competition. This will help the business move forward along with the others.

Ensuring that the events above will not happen on the marketing plan can lead to a success and implementation of the business marketing strategy. It also allows accomplishing the mission and directs the company to its goal.

Marketing is never an easy job for every business entrepreneurs. It entails hard work, patience, determination, wits and the use of proper strategies. Success in marketing entirely depends on the success of the use of the marketing strategies in the marketing plan. If you want to know the basic and easiest steps in successful marketing, you have to follow the SMART method in planning out your marketing strategies and objectives. SMART means Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and time-bound.

Simple
When you say simple, the general ideas and terms contained in the marketing plan should be simplified and narrowed down into specifics. For example, the general objectives are broken down into specific objectives. This will help the marketer to plan to tackle the specifics easily and conveniently.

Measurable
This pertains to the scope of the marketing plan. Of course everything should be measured including the time, the expenses the target number of products and services, etc. doing this will enable the plan to be measured and quantified to determine the percentage of success or the percentage of failure.

Attainable
The goal of the plan should be attainable. It is impossible to be goal directed and complete the lists in the marketing plan if the path to the goal is not clear. The objectives of the business should be attainable and possible.

Realistic
This implicates that the business objectives should be realistic in nature. There has to be some proof or evidence that success is possible in the strategies used. The best way to be sure if the projects and the objectives is realistic is to conduct a feasibility study on the products and services. That way, there is a basis for every activity planned.

Time-Bound
Meeting deadlines is very important in order to cope up with the demands of the business. This will allow control on the overall process and therefore, deliveries are made convenient and fast to ensure consumer satisfaction.

The five basic methods are the simplest and the easiest way to use in planning. It is widely used and studies have shown it to be effective in planning strategies. It ensures that everything in the plan is covered. Using these steps the proper way will surely bring success in marketing.

The internet is the best venue for marketing products and services. It offers thousands of strategies to choose in increasing sales and profit for online businesses.

A number of tips online are provided for beginners on the marketing field to guide them in effectively building up their business. It is never enough that one knows how to use the computer and internet.

In online business, strategies and tactics are used in order to go way ahead in this field because tight competition can threaten the rise and may cause the fall of the marketing business.

Increasing marketing success can be done in a number of ways. The number one goal is to increase traffic to a marketing webpage to allow web surfers to discover available products and services. One can use advertisements to promote sites, website linking is also done, others use search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and several others. One of the most common activities online is blogging.

Information exchange
Blogging is the best way for information exchange. It allows fast and easy communication.  Blogs can differ in a number of ways- from content and length, creativity and design, informative blog topic, even nonsense topics. The advantage in blogging is that viewer reviews can be reached and followed closely through centralized hosting threads.

Strategy
Blogging today is one of the best strategies used by online business enthusiasts. As long as the blog is made public to everyone, web surfers can easily view the information contained in the website. Blogs that is complete, rich and informative in nature can give you an edge over other blogs.

Marketing tool
Marketing success is increased in blogging because products and services information are reviewed and provided. Easy communication between consumers and marketers are also feasible. Feedback exchange in a blog page allows enhancing and increasing product and service quality. Referrals are then generated from customers especially if satisfaction exceeds customer expectation. Marketing through blogs is highly effective when done in social networking sites (myspace, facebook, twitter, etc.) and this may probably cause traffic in the future thereby increasing marketing sales and profit.

Earning Online

A number ways can be done to generate money online. The most common and widely used strategy to earn online is thru blogging. Freelance blogging is the most popular online job for the internet savvy. While freelance writers are found everywhere-newspapers, magazines, television, radio, etc. the internet is still the best venue for freelance writing. Why? It provides a fast and convenient medium of information exchange. The internet has thousands of employers hiring writers to do some writing task for them. Internet freelance blogging is easy because the bloggers get to choose their topic of interest, manage their schedule and choose their employers. Writing assignments are always available for everyone to choose so there’s no need to panic in losing this freelance job.

What Are Its Advantages

Freelance blogging is uncomplicated because the information that is needed can be found all over the internet. Researching for information to be used in assigned topics is easy to scan and with just one click, the writers can get all the information they want. Hitting the right keywords will provide instant access to specific information so there is no need to read thick books or summarize it to use it on the assigned topic.

Time Management

The nice thing about freelance blogging is that it can be a part time job to earn extra income. It is easy because just by spending a minimum of 3 hours per day, extra cash is generated. There is no need to quit current jobs in order to do freelance blogging. This might be the perfect time to quit that job of yours which you have been enduring for years. Freelance writing can offer your endless possibilities because there is no limitation to what you can achieve. All it requires from you is a great English writing skill, internet access and personal computer and right attitude.

Full-time Freelance blogging needs enough time and effort as well as the right attitude. No need to worry about the pay because surely, you will be well compensated for your hard work.

The internet today is very useful in a number of ways. Generating income is highly possible when using the internet as a medium for advertisement and showcasing of products. One of the most common activities done by web surfers today is blogging. Blogging is the most useful tool in expanding marketing ideas and products. Blogging is simply writing an article, both formal and informal article is acceptable.

Many entrepreneurs today use the internet to promote their products to online users. It is the fastest way to sell and buy items. By blogging, you can use your creativity and skills in advertising your products. A lot of people browse online blogs to identify promising and affordable products and services.

For you to be able to expand your marketing, you should first create your own website. This website should contain sufficient information regarding the products or services you are offering to your consumer. By browsing for relevant tips online in order to attract viewers to your blog (like customizing your blog looks by using unique templates), you are sure to attract potential customers.

Next thing is to link your blog to other sites and to create a social network. This is very easy over the internet because information exchange over the net is very fast with just one click. With millions of people using the internet everyday, chances are, a number of viewers may log on to your website and discover your promotional ideas. Using social networking will help attract recommendations and gaining feedbacks from your viewers.

Advertising is always the biggest component for your blog success. You have to give it a press on by posting regularly articles that are unique, of high value and interest and to get it out there for people to find. Do not presume people will just come finding your marketing strategies in your blog once you start writing and making products and services promotion. You will have to submit your page into blog directories along with actively promoting your page. Adding advertisements of your blog to social networking sites or famous website will lead you to building traffic to your blog.

Today we are implementing our 20,000 unique visitors per day program with the process of working together as a team players. We are using digg.com and article marketing as the key. No cost, networking, to help others succeed in internet marketing.

We need members for a master plan to be successful online. Our plan involves Digg-ing each others articles or websites on Digg.com. Every article that gets Dugg 50 times in 24 hours appears on the front page of Digg.com and are valuable visitors to your blog or website. Sign up for my newsletter to stay informed about internet marketing and networking with top leaders in our industry!

Today I was working at the local coffee shop and meeting friends when I overheard the frustration with person typing on their laptop next to me. I heard them say quietly. Why am I not getting people to read my blog? I couldn’t resist and kindly turn around. I said, you are a blogger as well? Our conversation began and didn’t end until three hours later. My friends gave up on me.

I emphasized to my new blogger friend it’s important to build a system on how to drive traffic to your blog. I alway make sure I follow the same steps after writing my piece.

1. Sign up for a free account with pinoat.com and ping your blog.

2. It’s important to work with other bloggers and comment on there blogs. I recommend the special number of 7.

3. RSS Directories are essential and I post to 7-9 of them.

4. Join Blog forums that fit into your niche that you are writing about.

Last but most important!! Social Bookmark!! Twitter, Myspace, Facebook…………..

Structure and Consistency are the key words to drive traffic to your blog.