Internet Marketing Women

Internet Marketing Women and Entrepreneurship.

What a world it is!

You can feel excited as an entrepreneur, a little alone, part of something big, exhausted, deflated and

……then motivated, excited and back to empowered all in a single day!

It takes bravery to be an entrepreneur.

Courage.

Sometimes, raw dig-down deep courage.

A little phrase I love is “Fake it, till you Make it!” and I have to say in the beginning when I was first starting out I called myself an online entrepreneur more as a dream term than an actual reality.

But then as I look back I have seen the progress I have made, seen the fruit of my labour and feel more relaxed with being an online entrepreneur more each day now.

There are others in the online marketing world that embrace their title and are beaming lights to others about the excitement and opportunity that internet marketing and an online business brings.

So what are my dreams for other online entrepreneurs and for other Internet Marketing Women?

To connect you to those beaming lights – to inspire others and help people achieve online success.

To share what I call ‘The OnlineGems’  – the gem stones of wisdom, information and inspiration plus business steps I and others have shared with me along the way.

Now when I first began online, I read a lot – and I mean a LOT.

To be honest, I think I actually felt more comfortable reading about internet marketing than actually ‘doing’ internet marketing.

All the things I had to do seemed a little overwhelming at times.

But so must training for the Olympics – it is a long road of ups and downs – but well worth it.

I found this quote the other day

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” — Nolan Bushnell

The next week after a nice holiday at the beach, I came home feeling refreshed and ready to get into some tasks I had been procrastinating on. Then I read a short blog post by Seth Godin that ended with this sentence:

“In short: show up”

I Love it! That is it.

That is half the battle –just showing up and putting in the hard work to grow and build your online business. That is what entrepreneurs do –they show up, move forward with their ideas, do their core tasks and keep going.

So where does this leave us?

Well – a simple solution I started late last year with was a list.

It was a simple task but a necessary one.

I have to admit I am not a natural list writer or follower but it helps greatly.

Write a list of all the things you need to get done. Work out which ones you need to get done this week, today, this morning – or ones that need to be done every single day.

I have a daily checklist to remember to comment or post on facebook, twitter, read flagged articles, read my favourite blogs, edit my previous days article or writing, do some research etc etc

Work out the core tasks for your business – the ones that help your business to grow and then if you want to be one of the top internet marketing women…

Become a doer, not a dreamer and …never stop showing up.

I wish you an awesome 2011!

Cinaea D.

Who exactly is Ali Brown? One of the leading internet marketing women and the woman behind Ali International, LLC, Ali Magazine, Ali Boutique, SHINE, and the Millionaire Protégé Club.

Well, like the famous boxer who shares the same name, Ali is a fighter and doesn’t give up until the work is done.

Like many of us, Ali found working for corporate America to be challenging due to its restrictive nature, lack of rewards and/or compensation, lack of recognition for a job well done (or a job completely done well!), and the confines of an office.

When she had finally had enough she quit her job and began her quest for entrepreneurship.

Using the tools available—books on digital marketing and entrepreneurial success and a used computer– Ali Brown began to build a digital marketing empire, becoming one of, if not the absolute best internet marketing woman of all time. 

There were plenty of hard knocks in the first rounds. Ali had to invest all her resources, time, and energy into her business, but it is paying off like a champion.

When it comes to internet marketing women, Ali knocks the competition out of the ring.

Ali International, LLC was ranked as one of the top 500 fastest growing companies in 2009 by Inc. Magazine. That’s a far cry from the meager beginning of her first e-book, Boost Business With Your Own Ezine, which was initially marketed to her own clients for whom she was writing e-zines.

Ali has gained notoriety by being recognized by Forbes.com as the most recommended woman to followed on Twitter for entrepreneurs. In 2010 Ali has won awards for the Enterprising Women of the Year, the Step Up Women’s Network’s Commitment to Philanthropy, and the Stevie® Women Helping Women. Ali was also recently recognized by Ernst & Young in the Class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women of 2010.

Ali’s businesses have been featured on BusinessNewsDaily.com, More.com, WomenEntrepreneur.com, Success for Women, Entrepreneur’s Business Startups, and Personal Success magazines. She has been featured in the books The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing, Mastering Online Marketing, Small Businesses Give Big, Coach Yourself to a New Career , and Birthing the Elephant:  A Woman’s Go-for-It Guide to Starting and Growing a Successful Business.

So take heart, all you budding internet marketing women.

It can be done.

What is required is the gumption to walk away from what is familiar and comfortable, be willing to risk, learn and sacrifice, and believe in yourself.

 You too can be a champion like Ali Brown. (I can hear the Eye of the Tiger music now….)

As always, would love to hear your thoughts or comments…

- Cinaea May

Technorati Tags: ali brown, digitial marketing, internet marketing women, marketing online

I have to admit when I first started an online business it was the allure of investing my time and skills into creating a business from nothing – just from sitting at my computer at home.

A business that sent me money whilst I slept – well that would be a dream!

A business that continued to operate even whilst I walked around the house in my pyjamas?

Unheard of.

A business that I could work on whilst the kids played on the floor in front of me. A business that I could personalise and call my own.

A enterprise I could grow from the ground up and give back to others with – well that would be awesome.

Ok so when I started, like all others I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, then hit the hard work and knowledge I had a long way to go and a lot to learn.

So the learning curve has been steep and there have been times when I have thought it all to be ‘too hard’ – but there is something about being an online entrepreneur that excites me

.…maybe it is having a business that is completely different from the traditional format….

I am hooked.

I love learning about direct marketing, I love learning how to be a better writer, I love to know I am helping others, I love learning how to build and create information products.

I enjoy making new  online friendships that support my business and allow me to interact with others of a like mind.

Yes marketing online and any form of digital marketing is a challenge.

And there are basics you need to have in place for your website and business to grow.

1.       Focus for your site

2.       Fresh Content

3.       Ways to build a list

4.       Email marketing

5.       A Product or Service…and

6.       The passion and desire to serve your marketplace and ‘add value’ to others

I hope to share with you the wisdom of some of the best internet marketers I know.

How am I going to do this? Through sharing what I have observed and learnt,  and finding out their wisdom and also being able to share with you conversations I have had  with truly wonderful online marketers .

So if you are in the trenches of your online business or just contemplating whether to dive in and start one.

I would jump up and down and cheer wildly that you do.

Yes it takes work.

But anything worthwhile and wonderful does…. Doesn’t it?

Keep Going towards greater online success!,

Cinaea May

Technorati Tags: digital marketing, entrepreneurship, internet marketing women, marketing online, online business

I just saw the DVD ‘Date Night’ with Steve Carrell.  Now i am being honest i did not pick this as a movie to spend my Friday night with hubby and a glass of wine watching.

But yes I actually enjoyed it. I laughed many times and laughed until my sides hurt. You know that happy but exhausted feeling you get after laughing.

It got me thinking about how life, relationships and yes how our approach to marketing and business can get dull, plain and dry.

If marriage can get a little on the worn side without creative thinking and effort then it makes sense that your business and the way you market your service to your clients can to.

So why don’t we shake things up a bit in our marketing like on ‘Date Night’?

 Is it because we are a little nervous of failure or simply have no new ideas with which to try?

Ed Dale a well known internet marketer once said something I repeat to myself and others often – he said ‘Better to fail in the field’. And his philosophy is to fail in the field and not be bothered by it – as a matter of fact, get comfortable with it.

For you learn from failure and attempts at new things -  you are able to get better at your business as a result.

There are times when someone inspires me at a conference to try something new or believe in a new strategy of increasing traffic or some such. Or I listen to a teleseminars about emailing marketing and pick up an idea that is completely different from anything I had thought of before.

And yes if I am being completely truthful I think about that idea, agree is it a good idea, get excited about the idea, even agree it would work to improve my business.

But…in reality I do not always put the ‘out of the box idea’ into action. I have no one chasing me or giving me motivation to ‘spice things up’ in my business. It is up to me to keep new and up to date.

Today as I was setting up plans for Internet Marketing Women – a project and dream of mine for some time now, I read a quote…”

“If there is something you want to have, to be or to do and you move forward toward accomplishing that desire, you will succeed.
Success is not just about material things, it’s about you.”

I think success is creating something that is honouring to you and your life and also honouring to others. Success is not being dry. Success is going on a ‘date night’ many times in your business journey– and yes there are times when you are working on your business and things are hard, or challenging and then there are other times when things are exhilarating and passionate and exciting also.

So here is to shaking things up in your online business… – writing that sales letter you had wanted to try out. Sending out that email to your list talking about a new product – Adding a facebook button to your site – teaching yourself to add a youtube video to your article.

Whatever your online business, I wish you all the success in the world and encourage you to always be willing to shake things up a little…even if it be a small thing..

To Your Online Success,

Cinaea May

P.S. would love to hear your thoughts on how you have tried new things in your business – add your comments…

Technorati Tags: date night movie, digital marketing, internet marketing women, marketing online, online business