If you own a business of any kind, you know that without a sale, there will be no business. Too many entrepreneurs focus on the development of the business, but they don’t let their market know they exist. Read on to find out the importance of using a direct-mail sales letter to get customers to your door.

Contrary to the belief of many new business owners, your customers are not just sitting at home hoping that you will create a new product that you can buy. There are some viral exceptions to this, but for the other 99% of us, you will need to make sure that the customer knows you are out there and you won’t let them forget about you. This is where the sales letter comes in.

A sales letter is a direct conversation with your customer. It multiplies your selling efforts, by creating a sales conversation with the person in which you do not have to be present. You will need to address all of the customer’s concerns, provide them with a compelling reason to buy and a call to action. This is your time to shine and really show your customer what you will do for them.

It all starts with a compelling headline. Make sure that you are only talking to one person at a time. Use the word "you" a lot. The headline is what can make or break your sales letter. If you don’t grab their attention immediately, they will never read what you have to say. Don’t try to give your whole offer in the headline, just grab their attention and get them to keep reading. The rest of the sales letter will do the actual selling.

Make the sales letter from you personally. People pay more attention to statements that are being made from an individual instead of an entire company. That seems to impersonal to most people. Also try to include a good picture of yourself and the product that you are selling. People want to know what they are getting and who they are buying from. A picture can really help close the deal, just make sure they look professional or they can work against you.

The frequency of your letter will also make a large difference. It is better to send to a smaller list of people multiple times than it is to send to a large list once. The average customer may need up to 5 contacts with your offer before they will even consider making a buying decision. If you are selling a big ticket item, it may require many more contacts. For all of these reasons a sales letter is a very efficient way to spread your message and get more customers.

Joshua Black is the developer of the Underdog Sales Letter System. This report gives you all of tips, templates, and tricks necessary to create your own customer-grabbing sales letters in as little as 8 hours. Check it out at: http://www.sales-letter-system.com.

It’s official. Social media is here to stay. It’s not a fad like so many initially thought and it isn’t going anywhere soon. Businesses have realized that not only is it a great way to connect with current clients, but a great way to land potential clients as well. And that’s only the beginning. Social media also allows you to promote all your upcoming events and products, and even gives you front row access to editors and reporters who might write on your area of expertise. The possibilities are truly endless. But the big question now is, how can entrepreneurs best use the current social media opportunities to help increase business? Here are some tips we feel will help.

Ten tips to incorporate social media into your marketing plan:

Determine What Social Media Sites Are Best For You. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the top three, but that’s only the beginning. Determine who your target market is and then meet them where they are. It’s okay to ask by taking a survey by email or on your website asking which social media avenue your clients prefer. Once you determine that, be consistent and realize that you can’t be everywhere all the time. Pick the ones that are best for your business and really engage.

Team Up With Other Entrepreneurs.By teaming up, you allow easy access to retweets, Facebook posts, etc. Plus, it’s a great way to provide your audience with more valuable information on topics that would interest them by sharing information that is provided by the business(es) you team up with. Just make sure that your choose teammates with information that is a good fit for your audience.

Don’t Just Advertise, Build Relationships. – We’ve all seen them. The tweets and Facebook postings that we know are scheduled and we know are only trying to sell us something. We aren’t saying that you can’t promote your services or products. In fact, we encourage you to do that. But do it right. Don’t just be about landing the deal. Truly connect with your audience and show them why they would want to work with you. We know you’ve heard it a million times already, but it speaks for itself and bears repeating: Social media is meant to be “social.”

Make It a Two-Way Street. You post and you post and you post on Facebook. You’ve tweeted away on Twitter & you’ve updated your status on Linkedin. Finally you’re done. Social marketing is ready to be checked off the list. Not so fast! Realize that just like you are posting there are others out there posting and building relationships as well. Get out there and respond to others, too. When you think about it, how do you feel when someone posts on your Facebook posting or blog entry? It feels good, doesn’t it? When you see a Facebook posting that you like leave a comment – always making sure you add value and are not just promoting your business.

Make It Exciting. We see this often: business owners on Twitter who get on for 20-minute increments and during that time we are inundated with retweets. They will throw in an occasional tip or two, but basically it’s just 20 minutes of nonsense. Now we love a good retweet, but we don’t enjoy this at all. When you are marketing your business via social media, make sure that you engage with others and make it exciting. Give some good information and tips – don’t just retweet to be seen. Provide great value and your followers will not only enjoy your messages, but when they are looking to refer someone who needs your services, you will be on the top of the list.

Learn From Others. One of the best things about being in business these days is that you have the opportunity to follow the pros and see what they are doing right. They eagerly give out tips, videos, etc. Make it a point to follow those who you respect and can learn from. Sit back and take notes. But more importantly, take the action steps necessary to make these points work. It’s more than learning from them, you need to actually do what they recommend as well.

Contribute to Other Networks. Another great aspect of social media is getting your message out to more than just your audience. Offer to guest post for other networks in your area of expertise. You never know who may see your posts and become a client.

Create An Expert Status. Why do people follow you? Many times it is because they see you as the best at what you do and they want to learn from you. Therefore it’s important to always give solid tips and advice to really show your expertise. Create high quality blog postings, tips lists and posts to share with your audience. It may take extra time to create high quality work, but the effort will be well worth it in the end.

Spruce Up Your Page. Social media has come a long way in a short time. No more are you limited to a tiny avatar of your logo. Most of the social networking sites today allow you to fully customize your page with images, backgrounds and more. Spend the time to create a page that will draw in your audience and make them want to come back daily.

Be respectful. One of the things that most business owners value most is time. It’s important when you are on Facebook, Twitter and the other networks, that you be respectful of others’ time. A few ways you can do that: Don’t Expect An Instant Response. Sending an Instant Message (IM) to a colleague or respected leader is fine, but recognize that they may not be able to chat with you immediately. Often times that person has allocated a certain amount of time to be on the site. If they are constantly on an IM, they can’t get what they need done. We’re not saying you can’t IM, but be respectful when you do.

Don’t Take Advantage. Social media is a relationship builder and gives us instant access to industry leaders. However, be careful not to take advantage of someone’s goodwill by asking a zillion questions. Most business owners enjoy helping others, however, to provide personalized coaching is a different story. Always respect the person you are communicating with and we bet you’ll find you get way more back than you ever imagined.

See how easy social media is. When done right it can bring amazing results for your business. Not only will you establish yourself as an expert, but you will be promoting your products and services regularly. Make it a commitment to master social media marketing and we promise you next year at this time, you’ll be so glad you did.

Jill Hart, Founder of Christian Work-at-Home Moms http://www.cwahm.com and Diana Ennen, President of Virtual Word Publishing, http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com have teamed up to write So You Want to Be a Work at Home Mom: A Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business http://www.soyouwanttobeawahm.com. Start or expand your business today with their help. Article is free to be reprinted as long as bio remains.

I ran across this article over the weekend and it made me smile.  Wanted to share with all of the other work at home moms out there.  I know it rang proud and true for my household and shares a lot of fun tips to include your children in your work life.

I’ve been working from home since my youngest daughter was born. It’s been a great adventure and I’m so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids and bring some income to the family budget. I love it.

The key to making this work for our family has been having our daughters work with me in my businesses from the beginning. Now I know, that sounds impossible. And obviously a newborn can’t stick labels on my mailing etc. But as soon as my kids could walk and talk I started training them to be little entrepreneurs and helpers, beginning first with helping me around the house so that I could get the business work done.

Here are a few quick steps you can take with your little ones to start them on the road to success in helping you with your business and even toward helping them get their own home business started when they’re older.

1. While they’re still in your arms, use a sling or a backpack to carry baby with you while you work. Talk about what you’re doing and how they can help you when they’re older. The key at this age is have them WITH you as much as possible and then use nap time to get those things done that might be impossible to do with a young one strapped to you.

2. When your little ones can walk, have them help you with some simple tasks…filling up the dog food, folding washcloths, snapping beans. Always talk about how much help they are to you and how much you’ll love it when they’re ready to do this job all by themselves. Before you know it they’ll be saying, “I can do it mom!”

3. Praise them often for their efforts. They may not put the fork on the right side of the plate but it’s there and it helped. Let them know it! Make simple jobs easy for them. Put items in drawers that they can reach. For instance, a two or three year old can easily set the table with silverware, but it would really help them if they had a placemat to tell them where each piece goes and if the flatware was in a drawer at their level. You can easily make a vinyl placemat a silverware map with a sharpie. Just draw each piece on there and use the placemats at every meal letting your child set the table.

4. Let them work the business with you. In the beginning that might just be having them sit in the high chair or booster seat at the table while you work the computer and they put paperclips in Dixie cups. Or buy some tape and construction paper and have them tape away … it’s cheap and you’re using items that they’ll be using in the future to really help you with your business. As soon as they’re ready, have them put the stickers and postage stamps on your mailings, strap the packing tape on your boxes (it doesn’t have to be perfect!) sort and/or file your papers, etc. Again, the key when they’re young is working with them and encouraging them.

5. Let them work independently when they’re ready. Kids are often ready to take on bigger responsibilities before you think they are. A 10 year old can easily handle the checkbook and just imagine how great it will be for his math skills too – plus the bank checks his work!

Involve your young kids in your business from the beginning. You’ll be amazed at how the investment of time (and maybe some frustration) in the early days will pay off greatly down the road when your children can handle huge parts of your business without you because they’ve been well trained.

About the Author:  Annette Yen and her daughters have worked together in their home-based business from the beginning. You can learn more about them at their website http://www.kidspartybusiness.com/. Find out more tips for raising your kids to be entrepreneurs at http://www.showkidsthemoney.com/.

One of the great stumbling blocks that people face when trying to achieve success with their business, or any life endeavor for that matter, is creating a vision, and then turning that vision into reality.

People too often think that a lofty wish of where they want to be “someday” (even if it’s “someday soon”) is enough to take them there. But first of all anything lofty is not really a vision at all, and second, the getting there part won’t happen unless it’s a planned out and detailed plan of action.

Those that have seen the greatest success in this world have been those that were great visionaries who painted detailed pictures of what they wanted their lives, careers, and businesses too look like down to the most particular details.

But it doesn’t stop there. Unfortunately a visionary mind without a plan of action to get to that vision is simply a dreamer. Dreamers do just that – they continue to dream and dream while visionary minded people who set in place a detailed and written plan of action actually end up achieving their goals.

So which are you? Are you a dreamer or are you a visionary. Do you have your vision written down and detailed, spelling out exactly how you’re going to get there?

If not then now is the time to start. 2010 could easily be the best year of your life if you’ll turn this one little part of your life completely around.

There are many obvious examples of great visionary achievers and leaders in the business world that we’ve all heard of. Bill Gates envisioned a computer that was easy for anyone to use, and he set out to make this dream come true working endlessly in his garage, even quitting school to do so.

Others that come to mind in the business world are Sam Walton, Donald Trump, J.C. Penny, Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch, and the list goes on.

Other great visionaries like Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and the Great Founders of the United States of America were people who had a vision, and enlisted a plan to create their visions and make them come true.

But that may be a little beyond your scope of imagination to think in such grandiose ways. For you I say that each and everyday there is a small business owner that nobody has ever heard of who is closing the gap on his goals, and working feverishly toward the vision that he has created in his or her mind.

There are home business entrepreneurs… and of course network marketers who are doing the very same with their lives.

It takes imagination and hope to create a vision, and then it takes great courage and fortitude to take that vision from idea to ink and paper, and then carry out the steps that it takes to get there.

Very few of the people who read this will actually do this and succeed. It’s up to you which side of that fence that you want to be on.

David L. Feinstein, noted business coach and home business entrepreneur, is the author of various articles and books that help to empower individuals to excellence. He has become a success coach and mentor to many thousands of people who are looking for a better lifestyle and desire to achieve success. http://www.BuildingDynamicFutures.com