Motivation to stay focused is hard to come by when there are so many things that demand our attention.

Overwhelm by too many ideas or projects is not healthy and can lead to doing very little or to doing too many things at once.  Obviously it doesn’t do our business any good to do nothing, but when we try doing too much, we may fall prey to not paying enough attention to the most important thing at hand and make careless mistakes decreasing productivity.  Here are 5 tips that will help you keep centered:

Create a Business Plan
If you don’t already have one, it is crucial to begin putting one together.  A business plan is a summary of how your business will be organized and a list of activities that the you need to complete. It will include everything from how you expect to make a profit to the type of marketing you intend to do. It is map to help you get from point A to B, and so on and is your key to increased success and focus.

Set Goals, and Write Them Down
By setting goals, you are defining the direction in which you want to take your business. By writing them down, you are making them more concrete and maximizing the likelihood that you will stay motivated in carrying them out.

Prioritize Your Tasks
Write a to-do list, then prioritize your tasks according to what is most important or by when they need to be accomplished. Use a colored pen or highlighter to mark the things that need to be done ASAP.  By using this method your eyes will be drawn to the items that need the most attention first.

Stay Away From Distractions
It is easy to lose track of time when reading email, Facebook, or other things online that distract you.  Try to limit your internet during work hours for tasks specific to work.  If you have to, set a timer for a reasonable amount of time a couple times a day to check and take care of important email.  But by all means, wait until your breaks or lunch time to read the things not pertinent to your priority list.

Outsource When Possible
When looking over your to-do list, are there projects or tasks that can be handled by someone else? By delegating tasks to others, you will have more free time to work on things that require your attention.

By utilizing these simple methods, you will increase your motivation to stay focused, increase your productivity, and achieve much more success!  Tell us what methods do you use to stay focused in the comment section below.

Marketing your business without a specific system to follow is like going on a long trip without a map or GPS.

Just like determining the routes to your destination ahead of time, creating a business plan beforehand will guide you in many areas, including your promotional efforts.

Knowing the direction of your business has an enormous effect on your marketing plan, how you intend to grow and keep your clients, and what type of promotion will add value or be a waste of time.  Through deciding what your business is and who it serves, you’ll attain the best success.

Brainstorming on paper ideas and goals for your business as well as types of people you would like to target your products or services to are integral pieces of the puzzle you need prior to designing your marketing campaigns. This initial effort of creating specific steps to follow will guide you and help you stay focused.

There are numerous marketing materials and techniques to choose from, but be wise and select only a few methods that most closely reach the audience you are targeting. Some ideas are obtaining business cards and fliers, speaking on a radio show or webinar, or networking with other business owners that offer complementary products or services. Test and track each one you are applying to see how they are working. When necessary refer back your business plan for guidance.

By planning ahead and utilizing these tools, you will discern which marketing ideas will work best with your business and branding and you’ll be better equipped to succeed.  Please tell us what has worked best for you in the comments below.

Creating a brand is an extremely important part of your business, as this is how people recognize you.

Branding is not only just a familiar symbol people see, but it signifies who you are and what you do. Encompassing so much, coming up with your business identity is not necessarily an easy task. Consider these questions before you begin:

• Who am I and what do I stand for?
• Who am I trying to help and what do they need?
• Does my product or service fulfill those needs? How?
• Is there enough interest in what I have to offer? If so, how can I offer it differently then the next guy?

By thinking these things through, you will identify your thoughts and feelings about your business. You will narrow down your ideas as well as your target market and determine what makes the most sense. Having a clearer view of the whole picture will make it easier to convey your brand to others.

Writing a mission statement will also help you create your brand. Your mission statement is a written description of your business and what you plan to do. For example, if you are a daycare, your mission statement might read like this, “We are a leader in child education and family solutions, which impact and inspire lifelong learning.”

After you have written your mission statement, read it and make note of things that come to mind. The objective is to put into action what you have stated within it. Given the above example, it is obvious that you want to be known for combining stimulating teaching methods for children and know-how to their families that promote lasting educational value.

Now that you have that part figured out, determine how you need to incorporate it into your slogan and logo. Possible slogans could be, “Planning fun and innovative learning activities with lasting results,” or “Quality educational experiences for lifelong learning.” When it comes to your logo, you may want to have something in bright colors or a whimsical design to communicate the fact that your business is about integrating creativity and fun for children.

After you have produced your brand, begin establishing yourself as an expert in your field by designing information products such as tip or how-to articles and videos, or by planning fun events and workshops that your target audience can attend to get a taste for what you have to offer. As potential clients gain understanding of you, they will be compelled to see you as their go-to business and will have confidence in you when in need of your service or product not only to bring in new business, but in retaining repeat business.

In the comments below, share what process you’ve gone through in creating your brand.

Just as with any marketing method you need to learn how to promote videos to make them productive. To do this and be effective it’s important to know how YouTube works. Here are a few tips that can help create an effective marketing campaign with videos.

When uploading your YouTube video you want to pay special attention to the following:

•    Tags
•    Title
•    Description
•    Ratings
•    Number of views

These are tremendously important. They mean more exposure for the video.  Use at least one keyword in your title as well as within the description. Always put your URL first in the description. You Tube only allows 27 characters before it adds dots to it. It’s important to have the URL available on first glance.

Allow comments on the video. Comments bring people to the conversation. Be sure to reply to the comments as well. This will start the ball rolling for more views. One thing to remember is that there will always be negative remarks made. Don’t fret them. Negative comments are a great learning tool. Get into the habit of leaving comments and ratings on other videos. Find videos that relate to your niche and post comments. This will help to build a friends list also.

Once your video is live then it is important to start marketing it immediately. An easy way to do this is to write a Press Release and send it out. There are several free press release sites that you can use to do this.

Remember to embed your link into the video before placing it on your home page. This can be done by either of the following two services:

•    Linkedtube
•    Viewbix

Using the insights tab in your account will allow you to see who is visiting your video. This tab gives out tons of information such as the age, gender and country that your visitor is coming from.  You can create new videos that lean toward this group of people. This can help in generating further views.

There are plugins that allow you to create a sitemap of all your videos. The search engines will love this. It makes it easier for them to find your videos and generate appropriate rankings for them.

The next step in your marketing campaign is to submit your video to video sharing sites. This can be done manually or through sites that will submit videos for you. You still have to create your accounts but this is a onetime step and well worth the small amount of time it takes.

These are just a few tips when it comes to marketing videos. By following these simple steps you can easily gain more views and subscribers to your channel. It’s a great way to enhance the marketability of the video and make it more productive.

YouTube is one the most popular places to showcase your videos. It has grown in leaps and bounds and an account can enhance any business site. It’s a simple process that takes only a few steps. Once you have created an account the sky is the limit.

Step 1: Create your account. You will need to link your account with an email address. There are a few basics steps such as a username, zip code and birthdate that need to be entered. Once this is complete the account will be created. Remember to fill in your profile information so that people can find you easily.

Step 2: Once your account has been created you will find a tab at the top called “My Channel.” Click this tab to set up your YouTube channel.

Step 3: Inside the “My Channel” tab you will find various options. Begin with the post bulletin tab. This allows you to write a bulletin that helps you to communicate with your subscribers. This a great place to introduce yourself and your business.

Step 4: Next is the settings tab. This allows you to add tags or keywords to your channel. Use keywords that will lead people to your channel and that will enhance your business prospective.

Step 5: The themes and colors tab is the next step in creating your channel. It allows you to choose a predetermined color for the background. These are for the most part normal colors such as blue, red, yellow and green. Pink, black and gray are also available.

There is a more advanced setting that allows a seasoned user more options. You can upload a custom background and there are other color options available. You can change the font styles and sizes as well.

Step 6: Modules is the next tab. There are number of options you can choose but the top 5 that really need to be included are:

A.    Comments
B.    Subscribers
C.    Subscriptions
D.    Friends
E.    Recent Activity

These will help navigate others to your channel. It allows comments on your videos, people to subscribe to your channel, shows what videos have been recently added as well as other options.

Step 7: There is also a videos and playlist tab. Here you can pick which video to display on your channel. This can be any of your own videos or a video from someone else that you have selected. If you are promoting a particular site or attempting to brand yourself then you may wish to select a video that emphasis this.

Always remember to click on Save before continuing on to the next tab. Once this is complete you can upload your first video.

When your account is ready then click the upload button to add the first video.  When you upload you will see there are various places that need information. Be sure to put your URL in the description field first. YouTube only displays a certain number of characters and you want people to find your website. Don’t forget to add tabs or keywords so that people can find your video easily.

You can connect a number of accounts to your YouTube account. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are just the tip of the iceberg. This allows you to publish the video link to these sites immediately. This is a great way to start marketing your new video.

Don’t forget that once the video is live you need to get the embed code and put a copy of it on your blog or website. As you can see it is not that hard to set up an account and get that first video live. It’s not only easy but a great way to market your business and product to the world.

If you are new to creating videos it can be a little intimidating. Appearing in front of a camera can cause anxiety for some while others are a natural. Just remember that overcoming your fear of the camera is a must if you want to brand yourself in today’s Internet world. Speak directly to your audience and it will become easier in time.

The hardest part may be trying to figure out just what type of video you need to create. There are several options to look at when it comes to creating video content. Here are seven ideas that may help you to get started.

•    Article Videos

These are the easiest to create. Use any written article and turn it into a video. You can do this by using power point slides and adding an audio narration of the text. If in the beginning you are a little leery of adding a personal narration try using a music back ground until you become more comfortable.

•    How to Videos

These types of videos have become quite popular. The subjects for this type of video are endless. They can include topics on everything from teaching someone how to build their own website to showing someone how to make their own videos. Use this type of video to boost your own business. By creating a video of what you have to offer and how to use it, prospective customers can get a bird’s eye view and may be more apt to purchase what you have to sell.

•    Sales Page Videos

This is another great way to market your product online. Prospective customers can watch the video instead of having to spend the time to read a long text. Show them the product, its features as well as the benefits.  Let the video do the selling for you.

•    Review Videos

This is another extremely popular type of video to produce especially for affiliate marketers. You simply talk about a product you are reviewing and stress the good points as well as any negatives found. Be honest with your review as you will be building trust with potential customers. If they are happy with the product based on your review, they will come back to you for more review advice before making their next purchase.

•    Educational Videos

These types of videos can be geared towards the student to help them with their studies and learning methods. This is also a great market for teaching different languages or for teaching someone a new hobby. It can benefit many who are trying to establish a new career or start a new business. Simply create a step by step guide for people to learn from.

•    Coaching Videos

If your business is coaching, videos can be extremely helpful. Turn your coaching techniques into profitable videos that allow your customer to view a step by step guide of how to achieve their goals. It’s a great way to have a one on one with a potential customer. It allows them to see and hear what you have to offer and how you can help them succeed.

•    Commercial Videos

These types of videos are ones which show the viewer the inside of a store, a local tourist attraction in your city or they can help you promote a product. They can be recorded with your cell phone camera or a camcorder for a more professional look. Add a narration while recording the video to explain what the viewer is seeing and how it can benefit them as well.  This has the potential of being offered as a serious way to make money offline.

There are many more types of videos that can be created as well, and with a little practice your videos can stand out with the best. Create a few of these types of videos and see which ones will benefit you and your business in a profitable way.

One of the biggest issues is knowing where to start when it comes to creating your first video. It’s not necessary to have fancy tools or expensive software. You can easily create a video with software that is currently on your own computer. All you need is PowerPoint and Windows Movie Maker to create a simple video. If the PowerPoint program didn’t come with your computer there are free versions that can be found on the Internet.

•    Article Video

When first starting out you want to keep the process simple. A great place to begin is with an article video. This basically consists of you copying an article onto the slides and then turning it into a movie. Just use one slide per paragraph and add bullet points and bolding to highlight any valuable information.

Make sure the first slide is your title slide and add your URL to it. The last slide should tell your viewer what action to take next. For example: they can visit your website or click on a link etc. This is known as your call to action.

Once the slides are created it is time to save the file. You want to save all your slides as jpg files. A pop up box will appear which will ask you to save a single slide or all of them. Choose the all option and save in an easy to remember location.

•    Voice Over

To make your video more appealing you can do a voice over. Just read the article slowly into recording software. Again there are free programs for this that can be found on the Internet.

The audio and video are created as separate files. Once you have them created they can be incorporated together through Windows Movie Maker. Import the files and the audio and drag each slide down onto your story board.

The hardest part here is to match your voice to each slide.  In reality it’s not that difficult to do. Just use the play and pause button and lengthen or shorten each slide as necessary. With practice this can be achieved within minutes.

• Saving Your Video

The next step is to save your project as a movie. Just follow the instructions that appear when you click on save to your computer. This will give you a file which is ready to be uploaded to YouTube.

Just like most things there are more advanced options and design techniques that can help you create videos but to get you started this is the simplest process to follow. As you practice, your videos will get better and be as polished and professional as anyone else on the Internet.

One of the biggest mistakes people make with YouTube is not being social enough. Many marketers upload their videos and then expect to receive tons of views but too often they are disappointed. There is actually a way to increase your views, likes and rating if you treat your YouTube account with a more social flair. Here are a few tips that will help to increase your presence:

1. Start interacting on YouTube in the same manner that you do on Facebook and Twitter. It is not just about posting your content. Show people what you know and things you like. This will increase the responses from others. Always allow interaction on your videos so others can respond by leaving comments, ratings and likes.

2. Don’t forget you can even leave a video comment! View similar videos and leave comments and likes. If you can leave comments or even start a good discussion then there is a good chance that this will get picked up and become popular.

Remember it is possible for your links in YouTube to be picked up by Google. So your goal should be to leave a few links in various places.

3. Just as with Facebook you can ask people to be your friend and you should hook up with your competitors. If you see how they interact and what videos they are producing you can pick up some invaluable advice.

You can do the same thing by subscribing to people’s channels. Leaving helpful comments and links is a sure fire method of branding yourself in your niche.

4. Another tip is to view your competitor’s stats. This is displayed underneath the video, just click on the tab that says stats and it will open to reveal lots of helpful information.

5. Use the stat information to see what tags they are using. This information will also tell you how social they are on YouTube. See how many friends and subscribers they have.

6. One of the best ways to be social is to just upload new videos on a consistent basis. Try to create at least two or three new videos each week. The more videos you have the more people will start looking at what you have to offer.

7. Get into the habit of going into YouTube once a day and finding at least one video to leave a good comment on. You will be amazed at how much your own views will increase too.

YouTube is a fantastic way to move ahead in your niche. Being social on all levels will increase your views, followers and stats and move your business in a profitable direction.

You probably hear a lot about SEO. In fact, so much attention is paid to SEO or Search Engine Optimization you may think you need a special degree to understand it all. Not to worry. Search engine optimization isn’t as complicated as it sounds.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization, SEO, is the method of making sure your website ranks in search engines. When you type words into a search engine like Google and hit “Search” you get results.

Here is an example of how it works from the consumer’s view. You are a consumer….right? As a consumer you probably only look at the first few results when you type in keywords. If the results don’t fit what you’re looking for then you change your search terms until you see website results that match what you’re looking for.

Your website visitors will do the same thing. They’ll type keywords into whatever search engine they choose to use and review the results. Ideally, you want your website to be on the first page of results. Why? Simple! It means you’re more likely to get a visit and an opportunity to wow that visitor.

So search engine optimization means making sure your website targets specific keywords so you show up on the results when people are looking for your information.

How to Optimize Your Site

There are two main categories for SEO tactics: Paid and free. You can buy or pay for advertisements from places like Google Ads. These are those ads that show up in the colored boxes or sidebars of a search engine result page.

You can also obtain free search engine results by using:

• Keyword optimized content
• Incoming links
• Internal links

No matter which you choose, the bottom line for free SEO or what’s also called organic search is to create quality content. You want to be sure to craft your content for your readers first and then you optimized for the search engines.

Quality content will be linked to. It will increase your search engine ranking. And it’ll bring visitors back again and again.

Don’t complicate things

Search engine optimization can be complicated if you’re trying to figure out the algorithms and outsmart them. Plus it can be very time consuming and you must be about your business’ bottom line! The fact is, most online businesses find great success by sticking with the basics.

SEO is an important part of your online business success. Use it but do so wisely.

Social networking is a must when you own a business. There are literally hundreds of websites for you to be a part of, but it’s important to focus on the most popular ones so you have the most success with your time online. The sites you join should include Facebook and Twitter. When you become a part of these sites and you make the most of your time, you’ll find your business will grow. It’s the perfect way to build trust with others and market your business. This task can be very cumbersome at times, so you should definitely consider outsourcing this task to a Virtual Assistant.

There are several techniques you can use to make this happen. One of the easiest ways is to have your Virtual Assistant schedule your posts for you. To schedule posts you’ll need to create an account at a platform that offers this tool. There are several for you to choose from such as TweetDeck, Hootsuite, or Social Oomph. Each gives you the ability to schedule posts into the future that will go to the account you set up.

Another option is to have your Virtual Assistant log in as you and make posts on your behalf. You can come up with templates with posts she can make or she can run it on her own replying to people you follow. You’ll want to be careful with this option as you may find people asking questions regarding your business that she may not be able to answer.

Another option is for you to have your VA write posts for you to use when you spend time online in the different social media websites. Sometimes when you have posts already written it’s a lot easier to make the best use of your time online. Pre-written posts also help you to focus on the networking part and not the marketing part.

One last technique you can use when you outsource your social media to a Virtual Assistant is to use a combination of the two suggestions above. You can have her schedule posts and write the ones you’ll post or you can have her schedule posts and post on your behalf. Think about your business and what your needs are and make it work for you.

With the importance of social networking it’s vital you find a way that works for your needs. When you use the suggestions above you’ll find that way and be able to utilize your time efficiently and effectively.