Let’s face it, most businesses either don’t do enough marketing, or worse, they are ineffective or actually turn prospective buyers off and chase them away. This is the “common cold” of the business world! Without a proven marketing system in place, you will always be chasing leads – and end up putting yourself on sale just to close the deal! In the three months between October 21, 2008 and Jan 31 2009 my company, Mighty Ventures, SYSTEMATICALLY created 7,989 new leads… using JUST ONE STRATEGY! That’s an average of 89 new leads PER DAY!

Learning to create great leads and brand yourself and your business is crucial at any time. No matter where you are in your business acceleration, it’s time to solve this puzzle and kick your marketing and recognition into high gear with a few proven steps to generate short-term marketing results NOW.

Here’s the bottom line: EVERYONE is an expert in something. Whether it’s business acceleration, which is what we do at Mighty Ventures, or product launches, parenting, caring for elders – whatever. The question is, are you MONETIZING your expertise? Are you generating revenue from it? If not, why not?

I think everyone, even if you have a corporate day job, should be extracting, packaging and offering their expertise to the world. It’s a great way to add value to others by sharing your wisdom, it’s fulfilling because that wisdom and those lessons of experience can now benefit others, and it’s satisfying because people will pay for your unique expertise and information.  And let’s face it, in today’s economy and job-cutting world, branding yourself and your personal expertise is a sure way to remain sought after and marketable!

Not sure what you’re unique expertise is? Tune in on Friday for Part 2 – Figuring it out.

You can learn more about these tips and a rock solid plan to get 1,000 new leads this month – and every month – at my Results Now Webinar.

To your continued success!

Christine Comaford, CEO Freedom Fighter
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.NY Times Best Selling Authorhttp://www.ResultsNowWebinar.com

Probably the most important comparison I can make between surfing and business is HELP!  Surfing is NOT the kind of thing you should do alone.  Even the masters usually don’t go into the water without a buddy.  Why?  Again, it’s that unpredictable piece to things.  There’s simply no way to have eyes in the back of your head.  And that’s exactly what mentors, advisors, an advisory board and accountability partners do for our businesses as well.  They lend us another point of view – another way to look at things and navigate the next big wave or unexpected current. 

This leads right into my favorite similarity…. WATCH OUT!  I don’t just mean be careful of the undertow or the other surfers who want to bogart your wave.  I mean sty aware of EVERYTHING around you.  Don’t be so busy and focused on your goals that you miss a rare and unexpected opportunity that appears out of nowhere.  

The bottom line is this.  No matter what you learn in life or what your metaphors are, make sure that you follow the signposts and keep your eyes open.  Opportunities to build and experience amazing success are all around you.  Be daring and courageous, but rely on those who have gone ahead of you to help you chart a careful course through dangerous tides.

If you haven’t done it already, and you want to find out where your own building blocks are strong and solid – or missing — head over to http://www.StrategySessionNow.com and take the self assessment.  You will absolutely learn REAL strategies for success and wealth building, and if you’re really lucky, you might win a free strategy session with either myself or one of my Mighty Team.

Christine Comaford, Business Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author

http://www.StrategySessionNow.com    

Maybe you’ve experienced this too? You’re so overwhelmed, trying to do everything yourself that you never quite seem to get around to doing the things that are most important for your business. Or there are so many things going on at once, that you’re not sure which one to focus on first? Or my favorite – Big Shiny Object syndrome.  As an entrepreneur, I’m sure you have tons of ideas all the time about different things you can do in your business… which often leads to tons and tons of half-finished products that never produce RESULTS!

The bottom line is this: If you do not set up a concrete, step-by-step ACTION plan and get a great mentor, you will surely lose focus and find yourself diverted from your goals again and again. So the START of a remedy to being the jack of all things and the master of NONE (especially your success) is to find an amazing mentor and biz-building support system to keep you focused and on track. And if you don’t have a rockin’ step-by-step success plan outlined and nailed down, you’ll find yourself all over the map – and end up lost. 

To get great tools on how to stay focused, join my Facebook Group:
Business Renegades: http://tinyurl.com/6xos94

Christine Comaford, Biz Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author of “Rules for Renegades”
http://tinyurl.com/6xos94

If you’re not sure about how to begin a networking effort, the best first step you can take is to pick up my book, “Rules for Renegades,” and read the networking chapter.  Right now, I’m in a recession-busting mode and GIVING away copies of the book at my book’s website: http://www.RulesForRenegades.com
(you pay the S&H, I’ve got the rest).

When you’re reaching out to create an advisory board, don’t hesitate to reach out to the most famous, most respected, biggest players in your industry.  Not sure how to do that?

Find out what causes the person cares about, and if you can’t get a personal intro, then write a letter and send via Fedex saying what it is about them that you admire most (charitable support, accomplishments, generosity, etc.).  Then say you’d like to ask for 5 minutes of advice and input from them, insofar as they are uniquely qualified to render it. This advice can be via phone, email, etc., but a face-to-face visit would be ideal. Promise to bring a timer with you to insure you don’t stay longer than 5 minutes. In exchange for their wisdom and guidance, share that you’ll gratefully donate five hours to their favorite charity or cause.  (Have the details/info already prepared, of course.)

Make the letter concise and compelling, and count on it to work like a charm!

To your success! Christine Comaford, Biz Accelerator and CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.

To get all of my biz building tools, be sure to join my Facebook Group:
Business Renegades. Click here to join http://tinyurl.com/6xos94    

What do you do if you are a total BEGINNER?  Listen, today is a fabulous time to stop the “rate race” and decide that you are going to be paid for your creativity and value – instead of for every hour you sit at a desk?  Why?  Because MILIONS of desk jobs are being eliminated.  But what if you have the creativity and the guts and the passion, but almost no knowledge about forming a corporation, having a board, having advisors, having stock etc. Where is a good place to start getting knowledge in this area?

The answer to that is multifaceted, but, if you need very preliminary info, you can search the web to help you get started – or even get a free coach from SCORE.org. (These are retired execs who can be super helpful.) There are also a TON of tools on my web page (http://www.MightyVentures.com) under the Cool Tools tab and definitely join my Facebook Group (search for Business Renegades).

If you are ready to really rock and build a business that will help you become financially free, then you need a coach, a community, and a business acceleration mentor. Add to that business building information in the areas of company formation, systems, marketing, sales, products and intellectual property protection, and more – and you have all of the components to form create a business model.  Then you’ll be on your way.  That’s the formula I’ve used to make over 150 entrepreneurs into millionaires, so it’s the only system I know.

Finally, if you are super committed and action-oriented, feel free to go to
http://www.strategysessionnow.com and take our strategy self assessment. You may even qualify for a private call with me or one of my strategy team members.

To your ROCKIN’ SUCCESS!
Christine Comaford, Biz Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author

http://www.StrategySessionNow.com

I got a great question on this month’s ASK call about mentoring that I wanted to share with you all.  The person asked the following:  “What is the difference between a mentor and an advisor, and what is the best way to get one (or both)?

Quite simply, a mentor is someone who spends more time with you than an advisor. For the people I mentor, I answer their questions throughout the month, have regular calls with them, critique their businesses, introduce them to helpful people for alliances and to sit on their advisory board.

Advisors generally have a more narrow area of expertise, which you will generally tap into for direct and specific purposes. If you want to expand into the financial services sector, for instance, you’d want someone on your advisory board from this field. They would help you understand what clients in that sector care about.

To your success!

Christine Comaford, Biz Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author

http://www.AskChristineNow.com

We all can benefit from advisors—they’re the friends from the trenches who’ve been on the business battlefield longer than we have. Or they’re friends who’re from a different industry or field who provide a unique perspective. Or they’re seasoned or high profile executives who lend you credibility, thus helping you secure customers, financing, or approval for an internal project.  You need advisors to bounce ideas off of, to provide a reality check, to tell you when you’re about to mess up, to confide in when you’re alone at the top of the organization or department.To get a great tool on how to create this, feel free to join my Facebook Group, Business Renegades: http://tinyurl.com/6xos94

Christine Comaford, Biz Accelerator
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc.
NY Times Best Selling Author of “Rules for Renegades”

http://tinyurl.com/6xos94