Home Tags Posts tagged with "Alicia Lyttle"

Alicia Lyttle

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Professional Looking Graphics in Minutes

E-Book Covers, Kindle Book Covers, Software Covers, Report Covers, Membership Cards, Business Cards, Product Packaging, Product Bundles, Posters and More!

I found a really cool web based tool that can make amazing graphics – without having to be any type of graphic designer. Literally, anyone can use this tool, it is that easy to use!

I personally bought this tool for my team and as I was testing it out – I realized just how cool it really was. So, I took a few minutes and created a video for you to check it out.

Click Play Below To Watch Demo Video On Exactly How To Use This Tool 

(Only 10 minutes long)

Click On The Link Below To Learn More

www.alicialyttle.com/covercreator

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pomodoro technique - getting things done

The Pomodoro Technique – A Great Way to Get Things Done

One of the most common problems that we see with people is getting things done. One of the reasons many people do not accomplish their tasks is due to the fact that they are multi-tasking and do not have set deliverables in place.  This is something that I admit, I sometimes struggle with as well.

Especially as entrepreneurs, there is something called the “shiny object” syndrome. Meaning you don't stick with something and see it to the end because something “shiny” (better or what seems better) steps into the picture and you jump over to that and abandon what you were doing before.

There is a great technique called the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is a time management method that was developed by a guy named Francesco Cirillo back in the 1980s. This technique uses a time to break down your work task into 25 minute intervals. Each interval is separated with a short break. The 25 minute intervals are called pomodoros. Funny sounding name, but it is the plural in English of the Italian word pomodorus (tomato). This name came about because this was the type of timer that Cirillo used when he was a university student.

The concept is based around the idea of having extreme focus during each interval, which will allow you to accomplish the task at hand. The breaks that are included are thought to improve mental agility.

I am using this technique right now to write and send out this blog post. 🙂

To try this technique you will need a timer. If you don't have a nifty tomato timer like Cirillo, one that we use online is http://e.ggtimer.com

Here are the steps to follow

1. Create your task list

2. Set your time for 25 minutes to accomplish your first task

3. Work on that task (and only that task) until the timer rings. If
you get sidetracked by another task, write it down to get back to it during a different interval, but immediately get back to the main task you were working on.

4. Once the timer rings, put a check mark onto a piece of paper to show that you accomplished one “set”

5. If you have less than 4 check marks (1 hour), take a break (3-5 minutes), then go back to step 1

6. If you have over 4 check marks, now it is time to take a longer break (15-30 minutes), and reset your check mark count to zero, then go back to step 1

These stages can be broken down into Planning (Step 1), Tracking (the timer), Recording (the check marks), Processing (counting the marks and accessing the proper breaktime) and Visualization (self – observation of completed tasks).

This strategy enforces Focus and Flow. If interrupted during a pomodoro, the other activity must be recorded and postponed.

Many tools have been created around this technique, but the creator (as well as myself) prefer a simple timer, paper and pencil The physical act of writing down a check mark gives a sense of accomplishment.

So, try this technique out and let us know what you think in the comments below! Personally, I think it is a great strategy to help you accomplish your tasks!

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Lorette LyttleLorette Lyttle is the “little” sister of “The Lyttle Sisters”. Lorette can’t stop thinking like a marketer everywhere she goes and loves to write about what she observes  from other businesses , personal experiences and other successful entrepreneurs and how certain strategies can be (or shouldn’t be) integrated in your business. She is also the “geeky” one of the sister clan and pulls out some techy stuff once in awhile and likes to write and share with others who will listen (since Alicia usually just nods her head at the tech talk) ! – See more at: 

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Need a work from home job but afraid of being scammed? This is one of the many concerns shared by people all over the world, who want to become freelancers but not sure where to begin. Well, this article is all about shedding light on a few of the most popular unpaid freelancing websites around. Unpaid here means that you can offer your skills to anyone around the world without paying any subscription or registration fees, at least not unless you want to. Are you ready? Let’s get started.

 

Fiverr

fi5

 

 

 

One of the most popular freelancing websites, Fiverr allows you to sell your services online at a base fee of…you guessed it…five dollars. That might seem like a small amount but with gig extras and the ability to create multiple or custom orders, that $5 can quickly turn into much bigger amounts. It is a pretty simple platform where you set up a profile and create several gigs (skills you’re offering) so that people can find you and hire you. You may also bid on jobs posted by clients, proposing an amount to do the job in the process. There is no charge to sign up for Fiverr, nor is there a subscription fee to pay, so you don’t need to pay anything to get on or maintain your account. However, for every sale you make, Fiverr takes a small percentage. In other words, Fiverr only takes money from you if you make money, and this fee is partly used to maintain the website. Sounds pretty fair, right?

 

Upwork

 upwork

Previously known as Odesk and now merged with Elance (another freelancing site), Upwork is a bit more formal than Fiverr. That’s because you have to provide your educational background and employment history when setting up your profile on the site. Also, you don’t set up gigs on Upwork, you get hired by browsing through the thousands of jobs posted by clients from all over the world and sending proposals to the ones you like. With all that, you won’t need to pay anything to sign up or send proposals. You get a set amount of free connects that you can use to make proposals, you only pay if you want more connects than the amount you have been given, which is highly unlikely. You may also be asked to upgrade your profile to a paid account in order to receive more benefits but that is entirely up to you and doesn’t determine whether you get work or not. Like Fiverr, Upwork will only take money from you after you have gotten paid for a job and the amount is usually 10% of your sales, along with a small transaction fee to transfer your money to a Master Card.

Freelancer

freela

This is one of the oldest players in the freelancing marketplace and, subsequently, one of the largest. Freelancer is quite similar to Upwork in how you create and set up your profile. The bidding process is also similar, where you see jobs you like and send proposals. You may also bid on contests, which are posted by employers from time to time, or post a particular service that you offer. There is no fee required to sign up or send proposals; you’re only charged when you get paid for a job and the fee is 10%, regardless of whether it is an hourly or fixed price job. Additionally, if you post a service and it is purchased by a client, you will be charged 20% of the amount paid by the client. You may also choose to sign up for certain membership packages where you are charged a monthly fee for additional benefits but that is entirely up to you and does not affect your chances of landing jobs. There are quite a few other unpaid freelancing sites out there you can explore but the three listed above are among the most popular, especially if you’re just starting out in the world of freelancing. Check them out and let us know your experience. You can also share your experience with us if you’re already using a freelancing website to make money.

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Images are an integral part of doing many things on the web, from creating websites to posting social media content. However, finding high quality, relevant images can prove to be quite challenging, unless you have big bucks to spend on many of the popular stock photo sites.

Thankfully, in recent times, an increasing number of websites offering free images have sprung up, allowing web designers a wide number of image choices to use without worry. With or without attribution, you now have access to thousands of free photos that you can use in all your design exploits. Before you click your heels, however, they all do not offer the same quality. With that said, here are five of the best free stock photo sites that offer high quality images.

 

Pixabay

Screenshot (88)With over 610,000 images, Pixabay is among the top searchable online portals offering free stock photos. The images are uploaded to the site by people from all over the world and are free of copyrights, as they are released under the creative common public domain license. As a result, you are free to copy, modify, distribute and use all Pixabay images as your own, even for commercial purposes.

 

Unsplash

 

Screenshot (97)When it comes on to high resolution, Unsplash ranks right up there with the best stock photo sites. From beautiful landscapes to close-up baby shots, you can find numerous photos to match your web design need. The images are all free to use for whatever you desire, as they are released under the creative commons public domain license, but attribution is required. What’s more, the collection is continuously growing, with 10 images added every 10 days.

 

 

Gratisography

Screenshot (98)

 

Created by graphic designer and artist, Ryan McGuire, Gratisography is also a web designer’s dream. The site is loaded with not only high quality images, but also highly creative and thought-provoking photos you can use for almost any web design project. On top of that, you are free to download and use all images without attribution and for whatever purpose you intend to.

 

FreeImages

Screenshot (95)Well, the name says it all. There are hundreds of thousands of images to browse through on FreeImages and they’re all searchable to save time. What’s great about this site, is that it is not limited to landscape or people pictures, like most other stock photo sites. You can find images from a wide range of categories to meet your web design need and they are all free to use anywhere. However, you will come across images from time to time that require attribution, so pay attention.

 

Picography

Screenshot (96)With one of the smallest collections of high quality images, Picography is not one to be overlooked. It features a gallery of stunning photos taken by several professional photographers, which allows you access to a delightful collection of images that can suit almost any graphic design need. While not being searchable, its small size allows you to scroll through until you find what you are looking for. All images are free to use; no attribution required.

just-added

 

 

pexels

Pexels is another great site with some creative images! Like these other free sites, there are ads for paid stock photo sites all over.  Pay attention and it's easy to pick images that are free.  The licence for this site states that ” The pictures are free for personal and even for commercial use.  You can modify, copy and distribute the photos.  All without asking for permission or setting a link to the source. So, attribution is not required.

 

 

 

moni

One of our readers recommended this site –  >  http://monisphoto.com/ There are not a lot of photos on the site but you will definitely find some creative photos that you have not seen anywhere else!  Enjoy!

 

 

There are quite a few other free stock photo sites available on the internet but if you don’t have the time to do your own search, this short list will prove more than helpful. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so go ahead…dive in and get creative.

 

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Whether you’re a social media manager or brand manager, making a mark on Twitter can be hard work. Thankfully, there are a number of tools that can help you get the most of your Twitter marketing efforts without taking up too much of your time.

However, there are numerous Twitter tools, some of which do the same thing, so you may end up feeling confused. Not to worry, though, here are five of the best Twitter tools that are used by experts to get the best out of the social media network

HootSuite

hootsuite

If you manage several different pages across various social media platforms, HootSuite will work wonders for you and it is not only for business purposes. It allows you to manage, update and streamline all your pages from one dashboard. As it relates to Twitter, you can post directly to pages, schedule tweets as far ahead in the future as you want, and even send private messages. Additionally, you can create virtual organization assignments on HootSuite to make it easier to collaborate with team members on marketing campaigns and other projects, and there are several analytical tools to help you create reports about campaigns.

HootSuite is entirely free to use if you’re managing five pages or less, but you will need to purchase a pro package if you want to manage an unlimited number of pages and unlock a number of other cool features.

Click Here For Free 30 Day Trial 

Bit.ly

bitlyFor various reasons, you may need to shorten a URL, especially since Twitter only supports 140 characters per tweet. However, Bit.ly provides much more than a quick and easy way to shorten any URL. It also allows you to share those links across multiple Twitter accounts and track how well they are performing. You can also get analytical information on Bit.ly links shared through other Twitter tools, such as TweetDeck.

Bit.ly is free to use; once you sign up, you get a dashboard that you can link all of your Twitter accounts to. Furthermore, you can use the tool to create your own custom shortened domain name to match with your brand name and personality, making it easier for people to recognize your links.

Click Here To Learn More About Bit.ly

TweetDeck

tweetdeckSimilar to HootSuite in that it allows you to post directly to multiple Twitter accounts and schedule tweets, TweetDeck packs a powerful punch as a desktop app or browser tool. On top of that it is a great tool for people who want to make their tweets longer than 140 characters. It does that by creating a shortened URL which can be clicked on to read the rest of a tweet that extends beyond 140 characters.

If you use multiple computers, you don’t have to worry about downloading TweetDeck on them all; simply use the web version, which can be easily accessed across all your computers with no fall off in efficiency. It is free to use too.

Click Here to Learn More About TweetDeck

SocialOomph

socialoomphThis is another cool tool that can be used to enhance your productivity and efficiency as a social media manager handling multiple Twitter accounts. Like TweetDeck and HootSuite, you can use SocialOOmph to schedule tweets and monitor activity on each page. However, it offers additional features that can prove useful, including the ability to track the performance of keywords, view mentions and retweets, and save drafts for future use/reuse. You can also use it to clear your message inbox or to remove all tweets from your account if needs be.

SocialOomph is free to use for up to five Twitter accounts. You will need to upgrade if you’re managing more profiles or want access to other cool features.

Click Here to Learn More About SocialOomph 

Mention

mentionWith Mention, you can keep tabs on anything relevant to your Twitter marketing needs, so you can leverage your own efforts. Similar to Google alerts, you can use it to monitor content on the internet related to influencers, your competitors, and your own brand footprint. If you need to find people online to partner with as part of your marketing strategy, Mention can help you to do that. You will be sent alerts on any article or activity posted to websites and other social media networks, so you always know what’s up.

In addition, you can generate reports on how well a tweet is doing, the impact of a keyword or hashtag, and also reports on content matching yours. Mention is also free to use but there are premium packages which provide you with more features.

Click Here To Learn More About Mention

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If you’re into social media or online marketing, then you would be aware of the importance of images. Whether still or moving, high quality graphics are one of the essential elements in any marketing strategy.

But, not everyone can afford to buy expensive software, such as Photoshop, or hire professional graphic designers to create suitable pictures and videos to use for visual marketing. Creating stunning graphics, although desirable, can cost a pretty penny, especially if you’re just starting out. Luckily, there are a number of free graphic design tools available both on and offline, which are not only easy to use but can give you professional results with just a few clicks of a mouse. Here are five of the top free graphic design tools you can use to improve your visual marketing efforts:

Canva

Possibly one of the easiest graphic design tools to use, Canva is an online, template-based web design tool that you can use for a plethora of projects. From impressive email headers to eye-catching infographics, you can create endless web designs using Canva – and it’s all drag and drop. Not only are you able to try out different templates, you also have numerous fonts, styles, image adjustments, and color adjusters to choose from, allowing you to create truly unique web graphics.

PicMonkey

If you lack the technical know-how needed to properly use Photoshop or other high-end picture-editing software, you’re going to love PicMonkey. This free online tool provides a range of features that you can use to resize, modify, crop, and color-adjust your photos quickly and easily. You also have the option of using various fonts with your photos, along with powerful features to help you create truly stunning images.

Pixlr

Another free online image editor, Pixlr is another powerful tool for people who want to do basic retouching, resizing and cropping of photos. You can open pictures from online sources using Pixlr or upload your own and make use of over 600 overlays, borders and effects that can help you produce the perfect picture anywhere between subtle and dramatic. In addition, the software is now available as a mobile app, compatible with both Android and iOS devices, so you can edit your pictures on the go.

Inkscape

Primarily focusing on the scalable vector graphics (SVG) format, Inkscape is a viable option to high-end image retouching and illustrating software. It requires some amount of technical know-how to get the best of its features, including the ability to clone objects, trace bitmap images, and import native Illustrator files. However, it maintains a level of simplicity that makes it easy to understand how to create a range of graphic output for web design and printing purposes. Inkscape can be downloaded on Windows and Mac platforms, as well as Linux computers.

Paint.net

Own a Windows computer? Then this free editing software might just be what you’re looking for. Not to be confused with the free Paint software Microsoft ships with its operating systems, Paint.net provides you with a wide range of picture editing tools to create highly professional-looking graphic designs for your visual marketing needs. The tool focuses on editing rather than creating images from scratch, but offers a stunning range of effects and features that can help you create the look you want. Benefit from the ability to use layers, image adjustments, and blending options to create truly stunning images that will rival those that have been given the Photoshop treatment.

Now that you’re aware of a few of the top free graphic design tools, there is no excuse for using crappy images in your visual marketing projects. Check out one of these free tools today and get creative.

 

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Engagement in your Facebook groups is so important to keeping them alive and active.  Here are some of our recommendations for keeping your group active.

1. Post often.  A active group should have a minimum of 3 posts a day.  Once your group s active it will continuously show up in the notification feed of the members and be considered an “hot” or “active” group by members.

2. Have rules.  A great group should have rules.  Unless the purpose of the group is to post links to products, there should be a rule of no promotions of products.  It's so annoying to be in groups where people just post links to the MLM's they are in or the affiliate product they are promoting that day.  Don't tolerate garbage posting, promotions, etc.

3. Have moderators.  Delete posts, people and spam!  You will be the groups #1 moderator – but find other active members who would love the power of being a moderator.  Set out clear expectations of what you would like moderators to do, and let the group know who the moderators are and why they are there.

4. Deliver Value.  Whatever the mission is of your group, please make sure you deliver value to them. Don't use it as a place to just promote your stuff, people will leave!  Use it as a place of knowledge exchange and value!  

5. Encourage engagement.  When people post in the group, reply to their comments, like their comments, ask questions, create a poll… in the video below I will show you how to create a poll in your Facebook group.  Watch it!

 

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I use a really great tool to create my facebook timeline cover photos for free.  the tool can be found at picmonkey.com and in the video below I will show you how to use it!  

Have fun and create some cool timeline cover photos/banners.  the fanpage I used in the example ( my Ovarian Cancer page ) can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/ovariancancersurvivor

Here's your Video:

 

tags: facebook timeline cover photos free

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Get To The Centers Of Influence – A Taxi Ride In Jamaica

centers of influenceWhat do CDs have to do with reaching the centers of influence?

I was in taxi in Jamaica and listening to the music that was playing. It was all the top reggae hits, then there were commercials. I listened to the first commercial and it was advertising a party that upcoming weekend – “Kissans Birthday Bash” – one of the top local DJ were going to be there, open bar and food to purchase – the biggest party of the year!

Sounded like fun…

So, then I was still in  the taxi, people getting in and out (in Jamaica, they pack the taxi until its full with people almost on each others laps). Anyway, after a few more songs, I heard the same commercial again, but with a little variation, advertising “Kissans Birthday Bash”.

Finally, right before I exited the taxi, I heard it yet again – “Kissans Birthday Bash”, biggest party of the year. So I asked my friend, why was every commercial about this party and how can the guy afford to pay the radio station to advertise that much?

He laughed at my questions and explained the promotion strategy…

Where we were in Jamaica most people don't have cars and the taxi's run all day up and down the roads packed with people. The people in the taxi's normally have the same daily route to work. So, the guy who was promoting the party wanted to use the taxi's to spread the message about the party – they knew the huge reach of people that go in and out of the taxi's on a daily basis.

So, he approached the taxi drivers and gave them this free CD with all the top hits, so now the people in their taxi would enjoy their ride (they normally dont play music in the taxi). At the same time, when the CD was made they made their own “commercials” which were for promoting the party as well as some of their sponsors (for example a flyer place donated some flyers so they had an ad on the cd as well).

So this CD was a win-win for all parties involved…

  • The taxi driver now had a “cool” cd for his customers to enjoy their ride
  • The customers had something to listen to while on their journey
  • The party sponsors got some exposure to a huge reach of people
  • The party itself reached a huge target audience and was repeated daily for several days to the same people over and over, so the party that was taking place over the weekend was engrained in their mind

The only cost was the creation and duplication of the CDs.

This was a brilliant strategy…

How can you reach a center of influence that can spread your message far and wide?

Share your thoughts below on how you can incorporate this strategy into your business…

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Lorette LyttleLorette Lyttle is the “little” sister of “The Lyttle Sisters”. Lorette can’t stop thinking like a marketer everywhere she goes and loves to write about what she observes  from other businesses , personal experiences and other successful entrepreneurs and how certain strategies can be (or shouldn’t be) integrated in your business. She is also the “geeky” one of the sister clan and pulls out some techy stuff once in awhile and likes to write and share with others who will listen (since Alicia usually just nods her head at the tech talk) !

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Social Proof – If Everyone Else Loves It Then I Should Too…

Social Proof - 5 guys burgersHave you heard of Five Guys Burgers?

I've heard people talk about it, and how great the burgers are and I've driven by it so many times, so I finally decided to stop one day and have a burger.

First, the location is very simple and they only sell burgers, fries and hot dogs (more about that later), but it was a very welcoming environment.

The reason for this specific post is the power of social proof.

As soon as I walked in the door the entire restaurant was plastered with signs and awards on how great their burgers were! Check out the picture with some of the signs that were on their walls.

Now, when you sit down and start eating your burger, you have these signs all around you.  Do you think that will influence the way you feel about your burger? Of course!

I mean, GQ magazine voted it the best burger for $5, in NYC it was rated the #1 burger for lunch and the list goes on….

So, it will be highly unlikely you are going to sit there and say your burger is gross…everyone else loves it, so you should love it too !

Now how can you translate this into your business?

I am sure you've seen sales letters and sales pages with testimonials on them..and that is because they work! People like to know what other people are thinking and how they feel about that specific product and service. In fact, review sites are popping up more and more these days like Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com.

Studies have shown that buying decisions are heavily weighted on other peoples opinions.

So if you have testimonials from  happy clients, share them!

Post them on your blog, your website, your facebook page. Depending on your business, make sure you are on review sites like Yelp.com or TripAdvisor.com.  As long as you are providing high quality products and services, positive reviews and the power of social proof will help grow your bottom line!

Oh…and don't forget to take a trip to Five Guys Burgers….and remember, its for market research 🙂

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Lorette LyttleLorette Lyttle is the “little” sister of “The Lyttle Sisters”. Lorette can’t stop thinking like a marketer everywhere she goes and loves to write about what she observes  from other businesses , personal experiences and other successful entrepreneurs and how certain strategies can be (or shouldn’t be) integrated in your business. She is also the “geeky” one of the sister clan and pulls out some techy stuff once in awhile and likes to write and share with others who will listen (since Alicia usually just nods her head at the tech talk) ! Learn from Lorette with various posts on Marketing Mondays as well as Tuesdays Tips and Tools.

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Lorette & I  are doing as much as we can to support Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs in Jamaica!  This week I was invited to be a part of a press conference launching an event where I will be the keynote speaker – supported by NCB bank in Jamaica.  Check out the event website here: http://embracingsmes.com

 

About the Conference

A Conference for Small and Medium Enterprises wanting to excel embrace real opportunities for business growth!

Designed to steer you in the right direction, the NCB Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Conference 2013 is your gateway to a powerful future!  Let’s forge greater value-added business partnerships and access cutting-edge resources.

The Conference is designed to equip enterprising participants with tools, knowledge and linkages with potential partners to foster and sustain business growth.

Come reinforce business fundamentals, learn new market trends, establish contacts, enhance export/import opportunities, network, exchange views and ideas, as well as display products and services.

 

Powerful speakers

Opening Keynote Speaker- Alicia Lyttle, CEO – Monetized Marketing sets the tone for intensive information transfer and feedback.

Topic: Small but Social – How Small Businesses Can Win with Social Media

Alicia Lyttle has been a leader in the internet marketing industry since leaving her job 12 years ago as an environmental justice specialist in the White House. She now helps thousands around the world learn the power of the internet.

Other speakers include: David Martin, General Manager, Jamaica Producers Group, Lisandra Rickards, Entrepreneur Development Trainer, Branson Center of Entrepreneurship, and Yoni Epstein, CEO at Island Outsourcers and Chairman of the Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica.

I you are a business in Jamaica – you need to be there.  Click here for the website

See you there!

 

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The Value of a Lead – Baby Formula and More Baby Formula…

Value of a lead I am a new mom and while I was pregnant I got a bunch of free samples, not sure how or what list I got on, but it was fun getting so much stuff!

The one thing that really stood out is how many samples and coupons of baby formula I received.

Now when I say that I received a lot of baby formula, I’m not exaggerating.  I would receive boxes of them!   Every time I went to anything like a  birthing class, baby care class they were always given out as samples.   When I would go to my doctors office based on  what month you are, they give you goodie bags, and in that goodie bag is formula.

In addition, I would also get boxes of formula in the mail.   When I left the hospital I got samples of more formula.  Formula was just coming out of the woodworks non-stop.  You get little travel formula, you get specialty formula, you get powdered formula, liquid formula, and all the types of different formula for all types of different needs.

In addition to just the formula you also get carrying cases and more neat little backpacks, storage bags, all kinds of fun stuff based around the different formula.

There were two companies that were fighting for my attention; one was called Enfamil and one was called Similac.   Both of them were sending me free samples on a regular basis.

Did you know the amount of money parents spends on formula during the lifespan of when the baby needs formula is $2000-$3000… that’s a lot of money.

After I learned how valuable I was (as a pregnant mother deciding on what formula to use) I fully understood the reason why they kept on giving me free samples.  These different formula companies were willing to send me formula that I’m sure cost them some money.  First of all they’re heavy to mail, that costs some significant amount of money for postage.  And they’re full supply, not your typical  sample packet but a supply that would last an extended amount of time… full sized containers.

It is obvious that they understand the value of a lead.  If they have to spend $50 or something to get me to buy their formula then it’s worth it because they know that $50 or whatever they’re spending on me, can potentially lead up to $3000 over the year.

So now of course if I choose to purchase formula, who do you think I’m going to purchase?

I’m going to purchase one of the companies that gave me free samples because I know how to use them, I’m familiar with them.  These are the only names I actually know.  I don’t even know names of any other formula that are out there.

They did a very good job courting me and getting me familiar with the different types of formula that are out there and I understand why they did it.  It's because I’m valuable, I would account for about $2000 -3000 of revenue for their business.  So it’s totally worth it for them to spend that money up front on the lead.

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I want you to look at your business and understanding the value of your leads.  What do you have into your funnel?  How much can you spend on the front end knowing that your lead is worth X amount of dollars on the back end?

Understand the value of your lead especially the lifetime value of your lead. Is it worth it for you to spend some money upfront?

This also ties into what we do with local businesses getting them on daily deal sites.  Now many businesses don’t understand the concept of getting on a daily deals site like Living Social or Groupon, it’s all about the lead and the exposure for your business.

I was talking to a dentist that we were able to get on a deals site and he said he could care less what he gets in his pocket from the deal, it doesn’t matter for him because he knows the lifetime value of that particular customer.  The same with a vet that we got on Living Social.  He said the same thing, he doesn’t care what it costs upfront because he knows that once that animal gets there he now has the animal for life.  The lifetime value of having that animal come into his veterinarian office is way more valuable than just a one time shot for buying a voucher.  So they have a solid understanding of what it means for customer acquisition as well as understanding the lifetime value of that particular customer.

So that’s just a lesson today on lifetime value of your customer and understanding the importance of lead acquisition and understanding how much your lead is worth to you in the long run. Understand your funnel and grow your business!

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Lorette LyttleLorette Lyttle is the “little” sister of “The Lyttle Sisters”. Lorette can’t stop thinking like a marketer everywhere she goes and loves to write about what she observes  from other businesses , personal experiences and other successful entrepreneurs and how certain strategies can be (or shouldn’t be) integrated in your business. She is also the “geeky” one of the sister clan and pulls out some techy stuff once in awhile and likes to write and share with others who will listen (since Alicia usually just nods her head at the tech talk) ! Learn from Lorette with various posts on Marketing Mondays as well as Tuesdays Tips and Tools.

 

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Tuesdays Tips & Tools – Organizing Business Cards

Ok so you attend networking events and you do a great job at collecting business cards.. but now what?

camcard1
Step 1: Install the app called CamCard onto your smart phone.
Step 2: Gather all your cards and scan them in!
Step 3: Put together a “reason” to reach out to them.
Step 4: Email them through Camcard or hire a telemarketer to call them.

Example: You are a Deal Site Marketer. ( This means you put businesses on Daily Deal Sites and take a percentage of the deal.) So you've been to networking events and collected a lot of business cards, but you haven't done anything with them yet!
So lets go through the steps above again:

Step 1: Install the app called CamCard onto your smart phone.

Step 2: Gather all your cards and scan them in!

Step 3: Put together a “reason” to reach out to them.

Call Script:
Hello Jenny it's Alicia Lyttle. We met at a networking event. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you – I've been super busy with all my clients and the deals we are running for them, but I haven't forgotten about you. Let chat about putting your business on a deal site and how I can help you. I have an opening on Thursday at 2, will that work for you? We will only need 10 – 15 minutes.

Step 4: Email them the script through Camcard or hire a telemarketer to call them. If I was hiring a telemarketer I would change it like this:

Telemarketer call script:
Hello Jenny it's Amy, Alicia Lyttle's assistant. You and Alicia met at a networking event. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you – I've been super busy with all of our clients and the deals we are running for them, but I haven't forgotten that Alicia wants to meet with you. So, I'd like to set up an appointment for you two to meet. She'll tell you all about how we can help you generate more clients, leads and exposure. I have an opening on Thursday at 2, will that work for you? You two will only need 10 – 15 minutes to touch base. Can I pencil you in?

Business Person: Sure that works

Assistant: Great. Write don this number please, it's our conference line, she'll meet you on that line at 2pm. I'll send you an email as well. I have your email as [email protected] – is that correct?

Business Person: Yes

Assistant: Great! I'll let Alicia know. If you need anything between now and then, let me give you our phone number and email. Our number is XXXXXX and our email is XXXXXXXXXX. People usually get so excited about running on a deal site that that have questions before meeting with Alicia, so I like to make sure you have our contact details.

Business Person: ok thanks

Assistant: Thursday at 2pm EST Chat again then, bye.

####

Pretty simple right?!

camcard2Well you are probably wondering where you will get an assistant from to call business for you … and I'm glad you are wondering because now I can talk about my favorite website again .. www.FIVERR.COM

Got to fiverr.com and do a search for the provider “blingblings” in the search box and hire them to do your calls for you!

Alright – now it's time to monetize that stack of business cards! Get busy!

 

 

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In this news story by The Telegraph in the UK, Living Social' Managing Director in the UK & Ireland, Peter Briffett gives some insight into Living Social and their strategies in working with Local Businesses.

Peter calls LivingSocial the “Future of Local Advertising.”

In this video you will learn:

– Why LivingSocial focuses on local
– Why their merchant center helps businesses to understand the value of their deal
– How LivingSocial delivers customers to local businesses
– The training culture at Living Social “Whale University”

Our Opinion

We use LivingSocial for our clients and we've seen some of the biggest benefits as being the ability to:

  1. Generating targeted qualified leads
  2. Generating new buyers/customers for their business
  3. Upfront Payments. LivingSocial pays a percentage of the total amount generated approximately 15 days after the deal has run.  This gives the business a nice upfront cash even before the clients have come in to use their ‘voucher'  ( WARNING: Businesses must manage this properly!)
  4. A spike in traffic on average of 2000%
  5. Brand Exposure
  6. A spike in interest and traffic into a retail location (if they have one)
  7. Repeat customers especially when systems are set up for them to return
  8. Increase online reviews

NOTE: We create the opportunities for our clients to leverage the power of daily deal sites.  Deal Sites are not responsible for helping businesses to take advantage of what they can deliver.  We as marketers have to do that for the businesses.

Got a question?

Call us at 866-523-2144 with your questions about working with deal sites for your business or the businesses of your clients.

 

Share the love  😆

If you found this blog post helpful, share it!  We'd love to hear your comments…. post below…

 

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Hey everyone – here's a special interview I did with David Sprague… we were talking deal sites stuff and it was amazing!  I loved it… and now I want to make sure I can share it with you!

Let me know what you think!

Alicia

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I'm addicted to Facebook Marketing.  It's fun, ever evolving and easy to teach newbies how to use it to promote their business.  I hosted a webinar for our students … and here it is for you :

During this presentation you will learn:

1. How to set up a Facebook Event – and fun tricks to take events to the next level

2. How to set up a facebook offer

3. The basics of facebook advertising

… and much more…

check it out and let me know what you think …

Oh, here's the Javacript code you'll need:

javascript:elms=document.getElementsByName(“checkableitems[]”);for (i=0;i<elms.length;i++){if (elms[i].type=”checkbox” )elms[i].click()};

Retype javascript: at the beginning coz it disappears when you paste on the URL bar in chrome.

When you use it and if it works for you please post “works” in the comments box, so we can keep up with the latest codes.  If you are having trouble with it post a comment as well.

 

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Deal Site Profits

Deal Site Profits Presentation

Thanksgiving has passed – but today Im reflected on all I'm thankful for.
The past two years have been among the most difficult with my divorce, but on the flip side, it's also been the most rewarding with our new business “Deal Site Profits.”

Not only has the model done well for myself and my sister ( and our company ) – but we've had so many students enjoy succes with this model, that it's given me such pride to share the model.

For those of you who don't know our main business – what we do is we represent businesses (online, offline, retail) and put them on deal sites (Groupon, Living Social).
We love it! Our clients are so wonderful and thankful, we have a great relationship with the deal sites and now those that we teach the model to are doing so well with it.

When you find something that works for you, share it. As entrepreneurs we should always be looking to help improve the lives of others as well.

For those of you who have not seen our presentation on working with deal sites, click the image below to watch the video.

Deal Site Profits

Deal Site Profits Presentation

If you have your own business and are looking to build a list using the power of Deal Sites, you'll enjoy this presentation:

Deal Site List Building

DealSiteListBuilding.com

 

Enjoy!
Alicia

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icontact.com autoresponder free edition

Autoresponders… gotta love 'em!  Now, you know you need to have an autoresponder service but if you are just getting started with your online business you are probably on a tight budget and every penny counts right!?  Well, icontact autoresponder service has a free version that you can use for up to 100 customers in your database.  Once you go beyond 100 you will have to upgrade, but if your list is beyond 100, then you should be making some cash form that list and it'll start paying for itself!

Now the thing I love about icontact is that they also allow you to import your database.  So lets say that you are keeping your list of clients in an excel file (ouch!), and you are now ready to embrace automation and put them into an autoresponder account.  You are going to have a really hard time importing them into any autoresponder service, except with icontact!  So, if you have a list and need to import them into an autoreponder, this is the solution for you.

Ok, so you want to get right to it and get started right!  Well signing up is easy.

Step 1: go to www.icontactautoresponder.com This will get you right to the free edition!

icontact.com autoresponder free edition

Step 2: Fill in the information and you're in!  They don't ask you for a credit card, so sign up is easy and simple.

Step 3: Once you have signed up – click on resources and watch the tutorial videos. You will have all the information you need to get started by watching their tutorial videos, so please take the time to watch them!

Ok, that's it – start building your list and working on your autoresponder!

 

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Turning Your Knowledge Into Profits With the Amazon Kindle!

Happy New Year!

We are so excited for 2012, and really looking forward to doing some exciting new things with what we've learned in 2011!  I love looking at numbers and the number that we are going to talk about in this post is 4 million!

Did you know that Amazon Sold 4 million Kindles this holiday season!  4 million!   They said that they sold 1 million Kindles a week in December of 2011.  It was the best selling product on Amazon, but not just Amazon.com, it was also the best seller on Amazon in the U.K., Denmark,Spain and Italy!

With record Kindle sales, it's important to jump on learning how to cash in on the Kindle now. Don't wait another day..

Here are some great articles for you to read on the Kindle craze:

Forbes.com :  Who Wants To Be A Kindle Millionaire?

Amazon.com: Lee Child and Suzanne Collins join the Kindle “One Million Books Sold” Club

Amazon Announces: More Kindle Books Sold Than Books in Print

Here are some Do's and Don't when it comes to Kindle Publishing

Do's

  • Think about Keywords first (are people looking for this)
  • Create a keyword rich title and table of contents
  • Use PLR as inspiration for you e-book, don't publish PLR as is.
  • Be open to outsourcing the writing of your book (guru.com, elance.com)
  • Hire an editor and proofreader (fiverr.com, guru.com, elance.com, odesk.com)
  • Get a great ebook cover (fiverr.com, 99designs.com, elance.com, odesk.com)

 

Don't's

  • Use PLR without massively re-writing it.
  • Start writing before researching (will people buy it!)
  • Don't look at this as a ‘get rich quick deal' , if you are going to put books on the kindle, put up quality and invest the time and resources to make a great product that you are proud of.

Learn more: One of the best online classes we've held was Ty Cohen's webinar on the how to profit with the Amazon Kindle.

If you missed our class on the Kindle, you can watch the replay here: http://30dayprofits.com/replay/alicia-lorette-lyttle
and make 2012 rock with your Kindle ebooks!

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Alicia Lyttle has been a leader in the internet marketing industry for more than a decade. Since leaving her job 13 years ago as an environmental justice specialist in the White House, Alicia has helped thousands around the world learn the power of the internet.
© 2017 Alicia Lyttle