It seems like every week I learn about some new online tool that can automate some part of my business, enhance my marketing, make research easier or help me reach more of my target market.

It’s truly amazing what’s out there, and how many small and solo business owners have no idea that these tools exist. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day operation of our businesses and put research, strategy and systems development on the “I’ll get around to it next week” list.

Well here are a few tools that are worth checking out now. See how you can put them to work for you right away. All are either free or low cost.

Keyword research: My favorite tool is NichebotClassic. Open an account and keep your best keywords in an “account basket”. Keyword research is crucial for every business. You need to know what keyword phrases are the right ones for each web page, online article or blog post, and what your potential clients are searching for on the web, which will help you develop and position new products.

Tele-classes: Book a teleconference line for free at FreeConference for up to 150 attendees. Tele-classes are a great way to connect and share information with prospects and clients anywhere. There are many ways you can use tele-conferences to grow your business.

Automated phone calls: Use an customized automated voice message to alert customers of special events and offers or to invite them to an event. Even set up a virtual receptionist at VoiceShot.

Social Bookmarking: make bookmarking your web pages and blog to social bookmarking sites much easier and less time consuming at SocialMarker. It’s free.

Video submissions: Submit your video to multiple video sites all at once and be able to track how many viewer you get on multiple sites at TubeMogul.

Search Engine Optimization: Want free traffic from the search engines? Here’s a free tool that will help you see how you can improve the SEO on you web pages- SEOQuake.

Track your online reputation-this is great if you want to monitor what people are saying about you and your business. TrackUR

Check your website traffic ranking: Alexa. At the top, click on Traffic Rankings and enter your URL in the search box. Your Alexa ranking tells other business and potential clients how busy and popular your website is.

Get your website graded compared to others, and learn how to improve your website at WebsiteGrader. This tool doesn’t always work properly, buy hey, it’s free.

See how your website looks in different browsers with BrowserShots. You may find that your web pages look great in Internet Explorer, but not so great in Firefox, for example. It’s important that they look great in all major browsers so that you don’t loose visitors. This is also a free tool.

Just a few cool tools. I’ve got many more I’ll share with you in the future. Do you know of a cool tool? Please include it with your comment or join my free marketing forum at:

http://greatmarketingideas.ning.com/  and share it there.

There are a few Internet “gurus” who I really respect. They are generous human beings who truly care about offering really valuable information and content that the average business owner can comprehend.

Unfortunately many others are simply in the business of writing compelling sales copy that is crafted to convince you that only they have the new secret e-book or program that will help you skip all the hard work and will take you to thousands of dollars a month in just a few weeks.

Today I read a sales page that put down all the top Internet marketers for smokescreening everyone. Then the sales page went on to promote a program that would make the buyer thousands in the first month through the same old methods like products with re-sell licenses, private label rights products and re-packaging and selling material that is no longer in the public domain.

These marketing pitches can be hypnotic and distracting to anyone hungering for knowledge about marketing online as they try to build their small business. Don’t fall into the trap.  Yes you need to learn the basics of how to market online and which marketing activities are really going to create results in your niche and industry. Then you need to spend your time implementing those marketing activities relentlessly rather than looking for the next idea.

There needs to be a balance between learning, keeping up with trends and working on your business. My suggestion–set aside a small block of time each week to learn and don’t fall prey to following every link that comes through your inbox the rest of the week.

Create an e-mail folder called “check this out” and put all the stuff you want to check out in that folder until the allotted time.

This will save you a ton of time, a lot of frustration and confusion and will open up more time for you to focus on building your business.

Recently I’ve heard painful accounts from start ups as well as established small business owners about how they are afraid.

They’re afraid because they feel that they have no money to grow, or they’re
overwhelmed or confused about how to get out from under the load of work that is keeping them stuck from breaking through to the next level. Is any of this true for you?

Are you truly ready for strategies, tools and ideas that could easily catapult you to
a healthy 6 figures a year? Some people say they’re ready, but they don’t have that burning desire to do the hard work.

If you’re truly motivated and looking for help, I’d like to give you a boost by introducing
you to some of the best proven strategies I know of that will help you reach 6 figures in personal income as soon as possible. It’s time to feel energizedand motivated.

Time to change and shake things up.

I’m opening the vault to release 5 audios that cover these topics:

==> Bootstrapping: What You Need to Know to Save Money on Marketing and Advertising

==> How to Promote and Market Your Small Business Websit to Make 6 Figures a Year

==> How to Build Your Expert Status So Ideal Clients Come to You

==> How to Move from Self-Employed to Financially Independent Entrepreneur 

==> How to Dramatically Increase Sales by Re-Purposing and Re-Packaging Your Products and Services   

This 5 audio package along with the written versions of each is available for download to my subscribers and blog readers for a short time only .

http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com/6-figure-audios.htm

BONUS: The first 50 people will also get a copy of 

**Create Your Own E-book Without Ever Writing a Word**

This 80 page e-book, written by a very successful Internet Marketer, will show you how to quickly create a revenue-generating e-book, even if you hate to write.

http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com/6-figure-audios.htm

Warmly,
Janis

; Add to Onlywire  

Does this chart look like your business model?

If so you have basically put a cap on how much you can earn and how successful your business can be. Yet so many small business owners use this model because they are afraid of either.

1. They can’t afford the help.

2. No one can do things as well as they do.

There was a time when I thought like this too. But when I started listening to mentors who’d made millions I came to realize that the only way to make a huge leap forward in my business was to get outsourced help. Outsourcing tasks is easier and cheaper than ever.

The truth about being successful is that you have 2 choices.

Choice #1 - Be somewhat successful and work long hard hours

Choice #2 - Be insanely successful and work a few hours a day

Now, give this some thought… which choice stands out to you as the clear cut winner here?

If you decided on choice #1 then you may just be a glutton for punishment and enjoy spending all day on your computer while sweating it out to make sure everything is done your way.

If you liked choice #2… well good for you, because that is the choice that will allow you to make more money - but even more importantly that choice will give you the time to enjoy your money.

So, how do you go about becoming insanely successful and working just a couple hours a day?  You leverage the skills and talents of others.

Once I learned how easy and inexpensive it is to outsource, my life changed and my business soared and I want to share that knowledge with you.

And finally an expert at outsourcing, someone that has made millions by doing it, is going to reveal to you EVERYTHING there is to know about outsourcing your way to incredible success.

You see, my colleague Jeff Mills transformed his own life from flat broke to Internet Millionaire by outsourcing, and now he is exposing his secrets to you. Any small or solo business can win from these strategies and resources.

Listen, if you’re prepared to explode your small business online income while putting in less time (a LOT less time), then you owe it to yourself to have a look at Outsource Secrets Revealed today:

http://www.shopgoldmills.com/cmd.php?af=760786

To Working Less & Making More,

Janis

PS - If you still think doing everything yourself is the way to go, then consider this… at some point you simply cannot do any more.  At some point you just won’t be able to produce any more… and then where will you be?  Best case is you’ll be profitable but stuck at a plateau.  Worst case is you’ll burn out and send your business spiraling downward.

You don’t have to do this… leverage the talents and skills of others to make more while working less!

http://www.shopgoldmills.com/cmd.php?af=760786

If you are a small business start up, a micro or solo entrepreneur, you’re probably wondering where to find the money that will allow you to grow your business. Most likely, angel investors or venture funding are not a possibility. Actually most businesses start up by bootstrapping. They self-fund and find ways to ramp up with a minimal amount of money.There’s often a misperception that you can grow your business with no money. That’s not entirely true. There is a good deal of marketing you can do cost free, but you can also learn how to conserve cash and only spend on what is necessary. Think of it as a game. Make a list of the essentials that you need and go shopping.  I’ll give you an easy example of what I’m talking about. If you’re a woman, do you pay full price for designer clothes at the mall? Please! We shop around, look for sales and feel triumphant when we get a good deal. Think the same way about your business.

Here are some bootstrapping tips;

Start with a home office.

Even if you know you’ll eventually need more space, start out by creating a quiet, bright space at home until your revenues can pay for your rent. I tell business owners that when they can afford to invest 25% of their yearly revenues in rent, they can think about renting.

Phones

You can save a bundle by bootstrapping your phone equipment and service. With services like Vonnage and Skype you can get a full menu of services, including free long distance, relatively inexpensively. Also with a voice mail system, you don’t really need an answering machine. Make a list of the bells and whistles you need and find the company that will provide them at one low monthly price. Also realize that you don’t need to buy a fancy phone system either. Refurbished systems are available on the web, or you can start off with a simple phone from a local retail chain.

It also costs more if you register your phone number as a company rather than a personal line. To start out, list it in your name unless you have the type of business that potential clients look for in the phone book.

Branding

I’ve seen people spend weeks agonizing over the color or exact look of their logo and spend lots of money on endless revisions, when it would make little difference to their business growth. Shop around for both a graphic designer and web designer who have already done work that you like and who are reasonably priced. Online services like Logoworks can be a good bootstrapping resource.

Make sure your web designer can help you with search engine optimization and that they will design your site in a Content Management System, so you can easily make simple changes yourself rather than paying them to do it for you. You can save lots by learning about SEO, good copywriting and how to quickly generate traffic to your website for little or no money. That was the reason I developed this e-course, Maximize Your Website Now

Marketing

In Maximize Your Website Now I’ve introduced many ways to market cost free on the Internet. But offline you can also trade advertising for services or a percentage of sales revenues. Maybe you’re good at speaking. Find organizations whose members are in your target market and offer an information filled presentation. Be creative and you can cut your marketing dollars significantly while still getting a great ROI

Outsourcing

Rather than hire, outsource specific tasks. Outsourcing will save you from paying for underutilized employee hours. Need administrative assistants, hire a Virtual Assistant. Need someone to build links to your website, submit articles online, write press releases? Go to http://www.elance.com/ and let qualified professionals bid on your job. A great place to find outsourced help with your website is http://www.digitalpoint.com/. Go to the forums.

Sales

Rather than hire a sales person, find  joint venture partners who have already attained clients in your target market and see if they will endorse your service to their clients for a percentage of sales. Save yourself the struggle of want ads, interviews, training, monitoring, and payroll taxes.

These are just a few bootstrapping suggestions. Where else can you save money but still achieve the results you want?

Janis