They say credit is tight.

But what if there were a “client bank”where you could take out a loan. You could borrow lots of clients all at once.
 
You would pay interest on the loan, but once it was paid off you would keep the clients, just like you would a mortgaged house.

Seem crazy? Well something like that exists and it’s the way savvy business owners are reaping in cash even though the economy is shaky.

This “Client Bank Strategy” is called  Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliancesand it’s the most effective way to get a boatload of new leads and clients quickly

That’s why I put together a learning series called the  Breakthrough Crash Course Series, which is designed to help you learn and implement the most effective sales growth strategies available now to keep your business profitable while everyone else is worrying about stagnant growth.
The series is starting off with the most important and explosive information I can give
you that you can start implementing right now.

In this 3 part tele-course that starts November 5th,

Joint Ventures–Get Access to the Client Bank

I’ll be showing you the joint venture strategies I use that have doubled my sales each for the past 2 years and are helping my small business clients do the same.

After this course is done, they’ll be a select group of participants who choose to take action that will not be worried about the doom and gloom any longer because you’ll know exactly what they need to do.

http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com/teleclasses.htm

Will you be one of the people who takes action? Go here now for details and to register:

http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com/teleclasses.htm

Janis

Follow me on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/JanisPettit

This isn’t the kind of soul baring post I usually write, but I wanted to share these thoughts with you.

I heard a mesmerizing speaker a few days ago, Andrew Harvey. He is a Brit, an acclaimed author and a passionate “sacred activist”. To put it mildly his message was a highly charged and resounding wake up call.

He mentioned a recent meeting with the Dalai Lama whose words are carefully chosen and carry great significance. The Dalai Lama evidently characterized our present situation of global financial and environmental crises as “not a crisis, but an emergency”. He asked listeners to “strengthen their hearts” for the hard times ahead. Harvey suggests that that means we need to wake up from our denial about the mess we’ve made of things and that now, right now, is the moment of choice for each of us.

He said that we resist changing our seeking of senseless pleasures to face the truth and do something about it. Now is the time to act from the heart, our place of passion, and have the courage to change things for the better, even if it requires some sacrifice to do so.

Can any of us say honestly that this isn’t true for us? This touched me deeply because it means the world to me to be of service to others and to do so with an open heart, but I can do better. I care about the environment and those who are suffering in the world but don’t do nearly as much as I would like to do.

What does this mean to us as entrepreneurs?  We are in business for these basic reasons:

• To be profitable
• To do what we love
• To create the lifestyle we want

These are all important reasons, but it’s time we pushed ourselves out of the comfort zone and went a few steps further. First of all, we have an obligation to be of service in the world. As business owners we have extraordinary opportunities to do this.

• We can become as profitable as possible. Why? Because the more successful we are, the more we can use our money to help others, to create change, to do good in the world and make a real difference. We can spend our money with responsible businesses and invest with responsible companies. We can support those charities which are dear to our hearts.If you’re settling for just paying the bills, how can you do that? Think of Oprah and Bill Gates as examples of this idea. Yet so many people fear deep down that financial success goes against spirituality and they create roadblocks for themselves, or they’re very successful and always looking for the next toy to buy.
• We can serve our clients, employees and vendors with love, attention and respect.
• We can do business with integrity.
• We can be of service in our communities by offering our expertise to help those less fortunate
• We can be conscious of how we use resources in our business to become more eco-friendly. I’ve recently cut down on my use of paper goods and also try to print less, for example. Little things matter.
• We can use our abilities as innovators and leaders to encourage others to do the same.

We can get out of our comfort zone and commit to personal change in our business and life. We can focus more on what is beneficial to ourselves, our business, our family, our community and the earth than on what is most pleasurable. We can use this crisis as a wake up call to create a better world. We can do it one little bit at a time, one change at a time, one conscious choice at a time. This is a rare opportunity.

Please share your comments,

Janis

My colleagues and I often rant about the unfortunate amount of alluring hype that exists online about making money fast. It’s so easy to actually believe this stuff if you are a small or solo business struggling to survive, or even if you’re just tired of working so darn hard.

Make $1,000,000 in seven days! 

Yes I actually saw this on a website and undoubtedly some people were falling for it. Why would someone make a promise like that? Because they are afraid that you won’t buy from them if they don’t and because they are touching their readers’ hot button-financial freedom.  Don’t fall prey to this ridiculousness.

This is a lesson for all of us about integrity in marketing. It’s also a sad lesson about how we don’t like hearing the naked truth and we search for the easy way out.

What’s Real?

The truth is that if you started a business and thought it would be easy, you’ve definitely been misled. Many businesses fail to flourish because the real truth is:

• You’ll need to work really, really hard-especially during the first few years
• You will go through a steep learning curve that may take you outside your comfort zone
• You’ll need courage, unbelievable determination and laser like focus

Chances are you’ll face many of these roadblocks

• You will procrastinate
• You won’t know where to start
• You’ll think, dream and do research, but will fail to take action
• You’ll feel overwhelmed with ideas begging to be turned into projects
• You’ll be confused as to what to pursue next
• You’ll be bombarded with daily tasks and your to do list will never end
• You’ll sometimes make excuses, like not having the time or money you need to succeed
• You’ll sometimes think you don’t have what it takes to succeed
• You’ll sometimes fail to follow through or feel stuck
• You’ll even settle for less than you deserve sometimes, just to get the business
• You’ll skip the planning and strategy because you think you have no time.

You might be nodding your head in agreement, but using language like that would probably discourage sales.

That’s why some marketers make promises they can’t keep. However, facing the truth will set you free to reach a level of success you can’t even imagine. I know that from first hand experience and from what I’ve seen my clients experience.

We’re all human, we all face these roadblocks. Acknowledging them and seeking solutions instead of looking for a quick fix is the only way to get past them.

Depressed yet? Here’s the good news.

First of all, I’m assuming that if you’re reading this, you are determined to be your own boss and build a successful small business, no matter what it takes.

The good news is that you can overcome every one of those roadblocks with the right support and help. You are not an island. With the right mentoring,  coaching and resources from someone who has been in your shoes, experienced what you’re experiencing and moved forward to achieve success, you will be able to bust through roadblocks quickly, be held accountable, kept on track and accelerate the growth of your business in a big way.

That’s why I love being a coach and mentor. When I see someone breakthrough it’s the biggest thrill in the world. When a client starts making the money they dreamed of and they feel great about their accomplishment, well, there’s nothing like it.

If you want some powerful guidance that can move you toward a solid 6 figure income-and a rock solid step-by-step system that will get you there, go to

Maximize Your Profits Now

If you haven’t already done so, sign up for the free audio and videos. Check out the Maximize Your Profits Program and see if it’s the help you’ve been looking for. No hype. Everything there is possible because its already been done. Let this be the time to stop thinking and wishing and take action!

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.