1. Contact Your Current List

The first place to start with in promoting webinar is with your current contacts. Chances are you already connect with them in several ways. Use any of these outlets to promote your webinar:

• Facebook (Try Facebook Events)
• Twitter
• LinkedIn (Try LinkedIn Events)
• E-Mail List
• Your Website
• Forums
• Pinterest

Spread your message equally over all outlets. And don’t be afraid to promote your webinar multiple times. Start the hype at least a month in advance and send out weekly reminders. This way you’ll maximize visibility of your message.

2. Use Webinar Listing Sites

There are many sites where you can list your upcoming webinar. These sites allow searches by topic, location, and price. Webinar information and registration options are available directly on the websites.

Most listing sites allow free submission and have the option to promote your webinar for a fee. Check out these sites:

1. www.webinarhero.com
2. www.webinarlistings.com
3. www.webinarbase.com
4. www.webinarboxoffice.com

3. Paid Advertising Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive

If you’re willing to dish out a little money to promote your webinar, there are excellent low-cost options available.

Facebook Advertising

On Facebook, you can target your ads based on audience demographics such as age, location, and interests. You also have control over your budget by setting a maximum, per day amount.

Your ad can link back to your squeeze page (link to “3 Little Extras For Your Webinar”) or a Facebook Event page for your webinar.

For more information on Facebook advertising, click here.

Google Adwords

Google Adwords works by selecting keywords where your ads will run. For example if your webinar is about leash training a dog, you may choose to run ads for the keyword phrase “how to leash train my dog.” When someone types this keyword phrase into Google search, your leash training webinar ad will appear in the paid advertising results.

Like Facebook advertising, you can set a per day maximum budget. Click here for more information on Google Adwords.

Twitter Advertising

With Twitter, you can promote tweets based on keyword searches or user timelines. If you choose user timeline promotion, your webinar tweet will remain at the top of your follower’s timelines for a designated amount of time. For more information on advertising with Twitter, click here.

LinkedIn Ads

For as little as $10 per day, you can advertise your webinar on LinkedIn. As with Facebook, you can define the target audience that will see your ad. Choose your audience by job title, job function, industry, geography, age, gender, company name, company size, or LinkedIn group. And control your costs by setting a pay-per-click budget. Find more information on LinkedIn advertising here.

Newsletter and E-zine Ad Buys

Newsletters and e-zines are a great place to market your webinar because the audience is extremely targeted. Additionally, the subscribers have voluntarily opted-in to receive more information on your topic. Because of this, advertising your webinar through these mediums can be extremely effective.

To find these advertisement sources, contact the list owner of a popular newsletter on or related to your webinar topic. Not all list owners accept advertisements, but you’ll never know unless you ask. Another great source for e-zine advertising is the Directory of E-zines.

You have tons of options for marketing your webinar and as in all marketing cases; you’ll need to experiment with different options to see what works best. See if any of these webinar promo tips pass your test for success and tell us about it in the comments.

But like all Internet marketing tools, there are tips and tricks to make it more effective. So let’s take a look at three mistakes to avoid when using webinar marketing:

1. Not Delivering on What You Promised

Have you ever attended a webinar that didn’t answer or sufficiently cover what was advertised?

I have, and it’s very frustrating. Not only is it a waste of time, but the webinar host loses credibility.

Don’t let this happen to you. For example, if you promise to tell people a great secret for losing 10 pounds in 10 weeks, it better be great, and it better be a secret.

Overselling on the content of a webinar before it’s even begun will lead to big disappointments once its over. Always be honest and upfront about what you will cover and follow through on your promise.

2. Covering Too Much in One Webinar

Do you think if you cover a wide variety of topics that you’ll attract more listeners? You won’t. And the ones who do listen may leave disappointed.

It’s best to select one topic and explore it in detail. This makes for a focused webinar, attracts targeted listeners and increases the chances for excellent results.  Susan does a great job with her webinars – for instance, she gives her investor audience 26 ways to finance deals, but she doesn’t overwhelm them with the ins and outs of each one.

Instead, she uses webinars to cover a single topic and invites her audience to get deeper training in her Investor Insights training club.

3. A Weak Or Non-Existent Call To Action

The number one rule in marketing is to end with a strong offer or call to action. Webinar marketing is no different. Once you have finished your presentation, make sure you tell your listeners what to do next. Even if it seems obvious this step is important to your business.

By the end of the webinar, the listeners still with you will fall into one of three categories:

• Some will be ready to buy.
• Some will have additional questions.
• Some may buy in the future, but not right now.

In your call to action, be sure to specifically address each of these three categories individually:

Call the buyers out by name (“If you are ready to buy now”) and then tell them exactly what to do next (“you can visit www.example.com/buynow to purchase my product”). In this way, you’ll be sure to give everyone the information needed to take the next step.

Give the answer seekers a way to contact you (email, Facebook or Twitter) and the not ready to buy audience a link to your newsletter or blog.

Webinar marketing allows you flexibility in your topics, presentation and number of speakers, but all successful webinars have three things in common: They deliver on what you promised, stay focused and end with a strong offer or call to action.

Stay tuned for more tips on how to market with webinars this month on the Divas blog.

Here’s a general look at the different types of insurance you need to consider as an entrepreneur. We highly recommend that you consult an attorney and an insurance professional. And don’t just do it once and forget it. It’s important to review your coverage, as your needs change over time. Regulations and other factors can affect how much insurance you need. Make it a point to schedule a once-a-year review with your insurance pro and attorney to ensure you’re properly covered.

Liability Insurance

If you’re in business, things are going to come up that can get you sued. It’s important to think ahead of any of these situations and get general liability insurance. For some professions, it’s required. Depending on your specific business, this can be a minimal cost for maximum just-in-case protection. We recommend talking with your attorney and insurance professional to determine your general liability needs. You can also check with industry associations for guidance.

Employees? You Need Insurance

It depends on what your business is, but if you have employees, you may be required to provide unemployment or worker’s comp insurance. Check with your state insurance department and your attorney for what’s required.

Home-Based? Don’t Count on Your Homeowner’s Policy

Don’t depend on your homeowner’s policy for coverage in the case you work out of your home. Your losses may not be covered if something were to happen to your home office or product inventory, for instance. It’s a good idea to review this policy with your insurance agent and find out if there are riders or separate policies for your business.

Got an Office? Get Renter’s Insurance

If you lease office space, your lease probably requires you to hold a fire insurance policy. The point of this policy is that if the building were to be damaged by fire, your loss of equipment and inventory wouldn’t be covered. This is a very inexpensive policy and well worth the money.

Life Insurance – Important for Your Business

Susan covered this on her blog last year and she goes into detail on the worst case scenario for your business and loved ones – what happens if you die? The important issue here is that you need an exit plan for your business. Some businesses are easier to just stop, but if you have investors, partners, etc., you need a plan for how you will handle unforeseen circumstances such as death or disability. Every scenario is different, and this is an important one for you to discuss with your attorney and insurance professional.

Next Steps: The Small Business Association has some great resources on insurance for entrepreneurs. Take a look at their resource center here.

We want to remind you that we’re not tax professionals, but divapreneurs who have been there and learned that good records matter. Consult your tax pro for more tips on what records you need to keep for your business.

Here are five steps to making the record keeping easier and the tax filing a little less stressful.

Separate your business expenses from your personal expenses.

It’s tempting to use the same checking account and credit cards for all of your expenses, but when it comes to keeping records, this can be a nightmare.

Start smart and separate those accounts and expenses. You’ll make your life easier and keep better records with this one simple move.

Get in a scanning habit.

A scanner can help you eliminate the paper clutter and lose fewer receipts. Set up a time each day or week to deal with the pieces of paper. You can spend five minutes scanning and labeling and then be done. Be sure you have a place to keep up with them – envelope in your glove box or small expandable file for your purse. Make it a habit to store them in this place until you can sit down and scan.

Always make a note on the receipt.

Make a note on the back of the receipt for what this purchase was for. If you receive a digital receipt in your email, specify a folder or label for these receipts so you don’t accidentally delete them.

Get online storage for your records.

No one wants to keep old paper lying around. Once you’re in the scanning habit, set up a cloud folder so you can always access your financial records. You don’t want to store everything on your hard drive because it could crash. Get a backup account with a service like DropBox. You can store on your local drive and backup to this cloud drive. It’s a one-time setup and well worth the time. And don’t worry, these accounts are secure. Just be sure to store your information somewhere safe.

Get a bookkeeper.

Bookkeepers are worth their weight in gold. They don’t cost a fortune and can help you make a big difference come tax time. We recommend making this one of your first outsourced hires. For a few hours’ pay a week, you can find more money to deduct at tax time by simply having someone keep good records. When looking for a bookkeeper, find someone with skills in organizing, tracking and documenting financial transactions.

Here’s to a better tax year through better record keeping.

Before we get started, please remember that we are not attorneys or tax professionals. The following is intended to be a general guide to get you asking the right questions; not professional advice. We ask that you reach out to these very important professionals for your unique situation.

The Home Office – Is It a Deduction?

Do you work out of your home? That question lends toward tax deduction, but it’s a tricky one. Here’s a litmus test for determining the home office deduction: Your home office must be exclusively used for business and as your primary place of business in order to qualify.

It’s not considered a home office if you also use it as a play room or guest room. One of the best tips we can give you is to take photos of your space in the case of an audit. You also want to determine what portion of your rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, maintenance, professional cleaning and interest apply to the home office. Your tax professional can help you with this, but it’s important to keep good records of these expenses.

More on the home office deduction is available here.

Meals and Entertainment Expenses – What’s Allowed?

You eat a lot of lunches out for your line of work. You entertain clients on occasion. It would be nice to claim these expensed on your taxes, right? You can if you do it right and keep good records. Here’s the general rule of thumb: You can deduct 50% of means and entertainment costs. However, these costs can be tax red flags. Be sure you keep a good record of the where, when, why and business purpose of each expense. Write it on the back of the receipt and scan to your computer for simple record keeping.

More on deducting food and entertainment expenses is available here.

Auto Expenses and Taxes – What Can You Deduct?

When you’re self-employed, if you use your vehicle for business, you can typically take some deductions. Most entrepreneurs take the mileage deduction, which calls for simpler records. All you have to do is keep records of how many miles you drive for business and then take a deduction at the end of the year. The mileage rate varies and you can find it here.

You can deduct actual expenses, and this can be a higher amount. However, you’ll have to keep extensive records and determine which portion of the expenses apply to the business use. Consult your tax professional on which option is right for you. Here’s a little IRS explanation on the matter.

Traveling for Business – What Are the Rules?

You may attend professional conferences, go see clients and make other trips for your business. These expenses are deductible, but the IRS has limits on how much per day and has a few rules you must consult when taking this deduction. For instance, you can deduct the cost of airline tickets, lodging, cab fare, meals and tips (within IRS limits, which depend on where you go), parking, etc. The important part here is that you keep good records, and the IRS has a tutorial on it for you at this link.

Professional Memberships – Can You Deduct?

Yep, you can. You’re allows to deduct your professional association dues including professional development courses and conferences that apply to your business. The IRS does have a limitation on these dues when it comes to startups or fees that include political contributions or lobbying costs. These must be disclosed and the association should be able to provide you a breakdown.

Here’s a look at the professional memberships and development deductions rules.

These are just a few common deductions you should take advantage of as a small business owner. Be sure to talk with your tax professional early to see what else you can knock off those taxes.

But to protect ourselves, we do want you to understand that this advice is not meant to replace that of an attorney or tax professional. With that said, let’s get started on why these professionals are essential to your success as divapreneur.

Our three tips center on making three smart decisions early on – incorporate, get everything in writing and consult a tax professional.

Divas, Incorporated

The main reason to consider making your business a corporation is that it becomes its own entity. You can protect your personal property and assets when you incorporate, in the event something happens to you or the business goes south (death, disability, bankruptcy).

To become a corporation, you’ll need to follow the rules of your state. It’s also important to select the right type of corporation for the tax benefits. You can see a guide to becoming a limited liability corporation here and here.

We recommend you consult an attorney for your unique business situation. He/she will help you avoid personal liability in the event you get sued. This is a smart move for just about any entrepreneur, even if you think no one will ever have a reason to sue you.

Get It in Writing, Sister

Behind protecting your lovely assets, it’s cool to trust your friends, family and potential business partners and associates. But it’s smart to get it all in writing – always. The reasoning is that if it’s in writing, it cuts out the he said, she said.

You also want to make sure you keep adequate records of everything. Taking a few extra steps to get it in writing and proper records can save you tons of money and heartache.

Consult a Tax Professional

The old saying goes, “there’s nothing certain in life except death and taxes.” Don’t let your taxes become the death of you (or let them cause premature wrinkles). Start out smart and consult a tax professional about the records you need to keep, the business decisions you need to make each year to avoid overpaying and on how to keep your nose clean should the tax guys come looking for you.

Additionally, a bookkeeper may be the first person you put on your payroll besides a CPA and attorney. He/she can help you organize, track and properly document your finances. Smart outsourcing like this can help you get ahead faster because you can focus on growing your business.

Start smart with records and financials and you’ll hit a lot less bumps in the road.

What do all of these mailing activities have in common?

They take time.

Although direct mail can be a great way to market your online business, there is a downside: organizing a direct mail package can be time-consuming.

Thankfully, there is a low cost solution: www.click2mail.com.

Click2Mail.com is an economical way to cut the time it takes to design, address and send direct mail. Oh, and did I mention it’s completely FREE to sign up? Here are a few of the benefits…

1. Design Your Direct Mail Package

You can write and design your direct mail package right from your Click2mail.com account. The service gives you the following template choices:

• Postcards
• Letters
• Flyers
• Booklets
• Reply Mail
• Certified Mail

For all options, you can pick the paper size, color, and layout. You’ll also have the option of writing your letter directly in the text editor, or uploading a document from your computer.

2. Get A List

One of the most crucial aspects of a successful direct mail campaign is a good list. In fact, up to 40% of your direct mail success depends on using the right list.

A “list” is literally the list of people you send your mailing to. List brokers collect data on customers and group them together based on past purchases and demographics.

Think about it: if you sold baby clothes, would you want to waste your time and money sending a direct mail letter to a single, childless man? Probably not.

By purchasing the correct list, you would send your direct mail package only to new and expecting mothers.

Many direct mail marketers will use a list broker to either purchase or rent a list. Another option? Find a list right from your Click2mail.com account.

According to their website:

“At Click2Mail.com, you can easily, quickly, and cost-effectively locates a consumer, business, or saturation list and search it a number of ways to narrow it down to the exact audience you want to reach.”

Click2mail.com also offers additional list purchasing benefits such as a minimum list order of only 100 records, same-day order fulfillment, and 24-hour access to mailing lists.

With the click of a button, your direct mail package will be automatically addressed to all the contacts on your purchased list.

What if you already have a good list of contacts? You can upload a list and perform a mail merge all from your Click2mail.com account.

3. Post and Send Your Mail

If you’ve ever spent time addressing and licking more than ten envelopes, you know how the hours can slip away quickly. But Click2mail.com does all the work for you.

No more licking, printing labels or driving to the post office with a heaping pile of mail. And if you’ve sent your mail first class, www.click2mail.com offers mail-tracking right from your user account.

The bottom line is: direct mail doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. And online services like Click2mail.com are proof.

When you use testimonials, you can. And by placing testimonials strategically into a direct mail sales letter, you’re almost guaranteed to increase response rates.

But using testimonials effectively takes a little more work than slapping a few satisfied customer quotes at the end of your sales letter. So, let’s take a look at some tips for effectively utilizing testimonials in order to amplify sales and increase direct mail response rates.

What is a Testimonial?

A testimonial is simply a quote from a customer that demonstrates satisfaction with a product or service they have purchased. You can use testimonial to add credibility to your website, brochures and especially direct mail.

A Few Important Tips

As long as the testimonial is positive and genuine, including it should add extra punch and power to your direct mail letter. However, there are several ways you can transform a good testimonial into a great testimonial.

1. ALWAYS use real testimonials

It can be very tempting to create your own testimonial and slap a fake name next to it. Avoid this at all costs. First and foremost, it’s unethical. Second, by not going out and asking your customer’s why they like your product, you’re selling yourself short.

Testimonials help you define benefits you probably never even considered. By speaking to your customers, you’re likely to find gems of information to market around – especially in your sales letters.

Don’t forget to get a signed release from a customer before using their name and/or picture in your marketing materials.

2. Use Full Attribution

Because you will be using genuine testimonials, it’s important to use a full name at a minimum. Using less than a full name may cause readers to believe your testimonials are not real.

Notice how I said use a full name at a minimum? That’s because the more attribution information you include, the more believable your testimonial will be. The more believable it is, the better your prospect will feel about purchasing what you sell.

Ask the customer who gave the testimonial if you can include the following:

• Full name
• City and state
• Age (if relevant to the product you sell)
• Profession and company name (if relevant to the product you sell)

Take a look at these two examples of a testimonial for a commercial oven. Which do you think is more believable?

Example 1

“I love this product! It’s helped my business in so many ways, I can’t even begin to explain!” –John

Example 2

“I love this product! It’s helped my business in so many ways, I can’t even begin to explain!” –

John Baker, Atlanta, Georgia
Head Chef at Yum Bakery

3. Long is better than short

As I mentioned above, testimonials can be as short as one line. Here are some examples:

“…fantastic!” –Sara Jones of Chicago, IL

“…amazing!” – Leo Markus of Madison, WI

Although short testimonials are good, using longer, more specific customer stories will pack more punch.

Remember, you are using testimonials to convince your prospect that your product/service is worth their money. One-word testimonials don’t do a great job of convincing.

Instead, get rid of those ellipses (…) and include the rest of your satisfied customer’s sentence. Ellipses can create a perception that you are leaving something out. The more detail and information your testimonial includes, the more effective it will be.

It may take a little extra work to gather and review testimonials. But when used correctly, they can provide that extra oomph you need to drive direct mail response rates through the roof.

Now, imagine you receive two direct mail letters with offers for the exact car you want. Let’s call them Car A and Car B. You like them equally well and the price is exactly the same.

However, the Car A letter offers a limited-time offer of 0% financing for 24 months. The Car B letter does not offer any special deal.

Which would you choose? More than likely – Car A. And you’ll likely purchase it before the limited-time offer is up.

You’ll be happy with your purchase because you think found a great deal. The company selling Car A will be happy because they’ve closed the sale. If a limited-time offer was not presented, you may have purchased Car B. Or, you may have decided to wait around for a better deal.

The Psychology of a Limited-Time Offer

Human psychology is behind the success of a limited-time offer. Here’s why:

• We procrastinate when we have to a make a purchase. We already have so many decisions to make in a single day – another one can be overwhelming. Sometimes, it just takes the extra push of a limited-time offer.
• We don’t want to miss a good deal. One of the most powerful human emotions is regret. Acting on this emotion is why urgency works in offers.
• Timelines spur decisions and purchases. If there is no timeline associated with the offer, we will wait around for a better deal.  Think about it. Have you ever bought something, only to have it go on sale a week later? We all have. And once the price was lowered, you felt a little regret regarding your purchase. That’s why we have to push the timeline or you’ll get stuck in the waiting game.
• Create a sense of urgency. Just like we said a moment ago, we are lazy purchasers. We know the products will be out there. For instance, when you go shop for tennis shoes, you expect to find the usual suspects – Nike, New Balance and Adidas. Unless we have a floppy sole, we may not be urgent in our decisions. The limited-time offer spurs that urgent decision and helps move product when it is used strategically.

A Word of Caution

If you do use a limited-time offer, be sure you live up to your end of the bargain. No one wants to do business with someone who’s deceived him or her.

Also, don’t extend the limited time offer indefinitely. It’s not good for your reputation, and it’s not good for your sales. Customers can become wary of businesses that run these “sales” for long time spans. You’ll turn them off after a while with the same tired offer.

The bottom line is: limited-time offers work. If you decide to do any kind of direct mail package, be sure to include a strong limited-time offer. It’s been proven, time and time again, to increase response rates and help your direct mail succeed

But have you ever considered a traditional advertising method such as direct mail?

In this article, we’ll cover the pros and cons of using paper direct mail to grow your online business.

But first, what is direct mail marketing? According to marketing expert Philip Kotler, direct marketing is “direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.”

So direct mail marketing is the use of mail such as letters, circulars, or flyers, to connect directly with a potential or current customer.

You may also know direct mail, as “junk mail.” We’ll talk about that in a moment…

Pros

1. Set Your Business Advertisements Apart From Your Competitors

Not many online business owners use direct mail. Instead, they tend to focus more on Internet advertising and email marketing. By using direct mail to advertise your online business, your advertisement will stand out among your competitors.

2. Send Direct, Targeted Letters to Interested Prospects

The direct mail industry is a $44.4 billion dollar industry – and there’s a good reason why.

When done properly, direct mail letters really can bring in more business than all other types of marketing and advertisements. Direct mail, by definition, is targeted mail. So you only send the advertisement to people who are already interested in your product/service.

Or, you only send the mailing to persons whose previous buying habits have proven them a likely prospect for what you’re offering.

3. Measure Results

Direct mail gives you the opportunity to reach buyers offline and drive them online when you ask them to take a specific online action. For example, they can visit a specific website URL only revealed in your advertisement, mail in a pre-paid postage card, or respond to an offer for a free gift.

Because you’re asking your prospects to contact you as a result of reading the ad, you can directly measure the response rate and success of your direct mail package.

Cons

1. Costs

Direct mail advertising can be expensive. Consider the following costs:

• Postage
• Paper and Envelops
• Printer Ink
• Copywriter
• List broker and rental – In order to find a list of good prospects, it’s of utmost importance to have or purchase a quality list. An old direct mail formula says 40 percent of your success is in the list.
• Cost of any free gift offered

2. Junk Mail Image

Let’s face it: most of the direct mail we receive ends up in the trash before it’s even opened. We call this junk mail.

More than half the battle of direct mail is getting the envelope opened. Your offer must be compelling enough to grab their attention. This is where a direct response copywriter is worth the money.

3. Requires More Work

It’s pretty easy to set up an Adwords account and start running ads. But using direct mail correctly requires hard work. From finding a list and writing a letter to coordinating the mailing and measuring response, the entire process can take several months to complete.

Every online business is different. Depending on the type of product or service you sell, direct mail may or may not be for you. But if you do decide to use direct mail for advertising your business, be sure to plan carefully before spending money and sending out those letters.