EntrePalooza - June 27, 2008 - Sacramento, CA

Come for the Speakers....Stay for the Networking!

We're excited to bring you speakers who have NEVER spoken in the Sacramento area ever!

We GUARANTEE this will be an event worth attending - for the content and the company!

Speaker Profile

Kathleen Ronald - The Queen of Business Networking

Speaktacular.com - coming to us from Southern California!


Kathleen Ronald, “the Queen of Business Networking,” is an unparalleled networker, an internationally renowned speaker-trainer, and the founder of Speaktacular. Kathleen has more than 25 years of experience providing custom, inspirational keynotes and training seminars to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and professional associations. Author of the soon-to-be-released Networking Bible, Queen Kathleen excels at helping people shed the cookie-cutter approach to prospecting and develop personal, authentic strategies that “build their net worth by building their network.”

“You network computers, but you connect with people,” Kathleen asserts. With a lifelong reputation for uniting people and building communities, she has founded two successful groups, Fortune 10/10 (a women’s investment group) and WOW (Women of Wealth) Ventures, and co-founded WIN (Women in Networking).

Thousands of people who are high-tech, low-tech, or no-tech-at-all have reaped the powerful benefits of Kathleen’s Speaktacular presentations. Her audiences consistently rank her number one at conferences and conventions. With an electrifying, comedic style all her own, she delivers empowering programs that not only motivate but also produce bottom-line results.

First-year revenue increases of 20 to 50% are typical for companies and solopreneurs who hire Kathleen as a culture-change consultant to redefine their ideas of what is possible.

Passionately involved in many communities, Kathleen gives of herself generously, often taking on volunteer roles, charitable work, and corporate board positions. She recently served as vice president for the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.

A dynamo on and offstage, a highly sought-after business consultant, a marketing whiz, a record-breaking sales champion—and a recent cancer victor—Kathleen tells it like it is, with unabashed conviction and contagious enthusiasm.

--Kat Out !

Article from my coach David Neagle

Here’s an article that my coach David Neagle wrote in his ezine this week so if some of you already subscribe to it then you’ll see it twice but it hit a cord with me because this is something that I constantly have to remind myself about each and every day in order to keep plugging along with all the projects I’ve got on my plate.

Is It Possible To Collapse Time?

I recently had question from a client who only has a few weeks to reach a goal they set for themselves. Based on their past knowledge and experience they are having trouble believing they can actually create that goal in the time allotted.

Parkinsons Law states: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion so starting from this point when we have a goal to Be, Do or Have something we very often set out on a linear path for its completion. This has been the way people all over the world have done things for a very long time however it uses the perception of time as and obstacle rather than and ally. We then create the pressure to complete the task at hand by attempting to force it in a perceived space that it may or may not fit into.

So what determines whether your goal fits into your time slot? Nothing more than how you perceive it. We all have experienced doing something we dislike and having time drag by excruciating minute after minute but on the other hand when we are in love and in our bliss doing something time speeds up and passes very quickly.

When we sleep and completely shut down our conscious mind time passes as hours were seconds. So this time really only exists to the amount we consciously focus on it. With the correct use of our mind we speed it up or slow it down or just leap over 8 hours at a crack. The only time a person has a long night is when they wake up. This gives you an idea of we control the perception of time. Now what about goals? Can we do the same with them? Yes, absolutely! The questions remains how, right?

Well look at your goal this way, whatever the goal is ask yourself why do you have the rules in place that you do to achieve the goal in the time frame you placed it in? The only correct answer is that its because thats what you believe has to happen in order to manifest that goal. What if you removed those rules? What if you could go from here to there as easy as leaping over sleep time? Could you? Is that possible? It really is.

Let me explain it like this then I will let you play with the idea yourself for a while. Rules or the rules we create for anything are based on perception and they only exist until somebody breaks the rule. Time only exists because people found a way to measure it thus they created a rule but its still all perception. There is no past or future only the now.

If you remove your rules for time and for goals you have stepped into unlimited possibilities where you then can receive a totally different way to accomplish something. If you can get the idea the way is also present if you cant see the way its because your rules are still in place. Remove your rules and you will see your way! Think on this and soon you will great magic in it. If you mind fights it just let that pass and allow the truth to flow to the surface.

Just Believe

David

I know David has two more stops on his X-Country Tour where he’s doing Free Live Seminars so make sure you click on to his site and go to his events page and try to make one of those or join me in July in Las Vegas for his Experience the Reality of Success 4 day workshop – it will truly change your life!

Kat Out --

Q & A with Katrina

Many of you have written in questions in the last few months and I wanted to answer some of them on the Blog.

Question: How do you know what to write about in your emails every week or month, if you don't have a product that people use all the time and where do you get your graphics?

Answer: Well this is different for every client I speak to however it all comes down to "what does your client base and/or prospective customer care about in regards to your product or service?" or "what is related somewhat to what you do or sell that you can write about or borrow content from others (or online) about that can tie into what you do or sell and what they care about?". If you don't know what they care about then you need to survey them or contact them and ask them to find out. I get most of my graphics from Google Images, they have an image for almost anything you can think up; the rest are photos I take - you always want to have a digital camera with you - you never know when you'll have a good photo opportunity! (Oh, and/or do my JumpStart Your Ezine Set Up Service!)

Question: How do I keep a prospect interested after the initial consultation or exposure, what methods of follow up, etc.?

Answer: I can't believe I'm getting asked this question since I preach FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP all the time but ok - maybe this person doesn't read my stuff often enough?? So, yes, consistent follow up, personal follow up and an ongoing variety of follow up is the key - you've got to stay ON TOP OF MIND with your prospect or leads or someone else will! It's different for everyone however I typically will suggest you make at least 8 touches of some kind within the first 2-3 months of meeting a new contact. This includes email follow up notes, handwritten notes, cover letters and sales flyer mailings, postcards, email newsletters (only if they opt-in!), phone calls, face-to-face visits, etc. Yes this is a lot and yes often times this costs money but do you want results or what? You can't just add them to a quarterly mailing list and send them one email and think they're going to remember who you are and do business with you??? That's naive and never base your marketing decisions on what YOU like or don't like either. If you hate junk mail and never send it because YOU hate it - then GET OVER IT! You might be passing up the ONE thing that WORKS for your target audience! (Do my 1on1 Planning Meeting - it will give you clarity, a clear plan and definite action steps to get moving now with what to do exactly!)


Do you have a question you want an answer to?? Submit it online to me right now!

-Katrina Out !

EntrePalooza - June 27, 2008 - Sacramento, CA

Come for the Speakers....Stay for the Networking!

We're excited to bring you speakers who have NEVER spoken in the Sacramento area ever!

We GUARANTEE this will be an event worth attending - for the content and the company!

Speaker Profile

Wayne Kelly - the On Air Publicity Guy!

OnAirPublicity.com - coming to us from Canada!
Wayne Kelly is the Radio Guy who teaches authors, motivational speakers and life coaches how to get booked as a HOT radio guest in 30 days or less!

Wayne is the morning man at KBS Radio , broadcasting to Trail, Nelson, Castlegar, Rossland, and Creston in British Columbia, Canada.

Whether talking with Lionel Richie or Richard Simmons about fame or talking with an inventor of self closing toilet lids or a singing psychic, Wayne has the unique ability to make his guests feel comfortable enough to talk freely.

Visit the EntrePalooza Site -Speaker Section for more about Wayne Kelly and this exciting upcoming event !

I'm back !!

Hi! I'm back from my 3 trips in 3 weeks - yahoo!! I'm so excited to be home and Zeke is excited too - boy did I miss him!! (my dog for those of you who are new). My last trip was in Maui for those of you following my travels. - I was there for my friend's wedding (a destination wedding!) on the beach and of course stayed a few days extra for some much needed R&R.

I swam with the turtles, danced on a dinner cruise, attended a wedding on the beach, layed out in the rain (partially) and shopped til I dropped - it was fun.

Have you taken a vacation yet this year? I highly recommend it - at least get one on the calendar before this year is half gone already will ya? It's important for the growth of your business because it gives you back your SANITY!

I know you entrepreneurs out there keep thinking there's too much to do, no time to take a vacation but of course that's the case - there will ALWAYS BE TOO MUCH TO DO - but you've got to live life too right?

-Katrina Out !

"Why Are You Doing Everything Yourself?"

I know for some of you 'control freaks' out there this one's gonna be tough for you. But read on! You might find how EASY this can be, really.

When I finally gave in to delegating from my extremely 'do-it-myself' mentality at first I admit it was a bit hard. I was always double checking things and everyone around me to make sure they were doing it 'right'. I probably drove my first VA (Virtual Assistant) absolutely NUTS!

However my coach at the time, Ali Brown, kept showing me how important it was to become really successful in my business, and to make a six or seven figure income, that I needed to surround myself with experts and a support team of people who could take on all the things in my business (and my life!) that:

• I didn't like to do
• I didn't want to do
• I didn't know how to do or
• That someone could do BETTER AND FASTER than me!

So, one day I put together a list of things like this and to my surprise the list was quite long! It was kind of a 'wish list' so to speak that if I could wish for someone else to do these things, then it would free me up to do the things I LOVE TO DO which is brainstorm and consult with clients on new ideas they can implement to get them more business!

Plus I had a TON OF IDEAS to implement in my own business too - but there was never enough time in the day/week to get to ANY of them! This bummed me out. I knew that it would take me years to implement all the great ideas I had if I continued to do it all myself.

I just saw an article that Ali Brown wrote (and I'm not including it here but I'm giving her credit for this part!), she's an expert at this delegation and virtual team building stuff, and she mentions there are 5 things you MUST DO to overcome being a CONTROL FREAK:

-- First, you have to change your MINDSET
-- Second, you have to know WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT
-- Third, you have to hire the RIGHT PEOPLE
-- Fourth, you have to have SYSTEMS
-- Fifth, you have to have TRUST

Here is my main list of tasks that I typically will delegate to a VA, copywriter, web designer or some other support team member of mine - it's fabulous - you should try it!

• Bookkeeping: tracking expenses, sales and tax records
• Internet research to get me better SEO, more traffic, etc.
• Article Marketing all my current articles, shuffling them around, refreshing them
• Maintaining my customer mailing lists on an easy to use database
• Creating extra pages on my website as needed
• Handling recordings of teleclasses, burning CD's, mailings, etc.
• Handling bounced emials from Constant Contact, updating with new
• Formatting e-books and other online products
• Designing PowerPoint presentations
• Sending out ebirthday greetings to clients
• Handwriting follow up notes and mailing out postcards
• Data entry of all new contacts
• Transcribing teleclasses
• Posting on blogs, forums and social/biz networking sites
• Developing my Networking Calendar every month
• Managing my shopping cart account and merchant account as needed
• Creating Google Alerts
• Proofreading
• Updating my YouTube page, videos and adding technology to my website
• Submitting press releases online or locally

So, what's on your plate that you shouldn't be doing, hate doing or aren't really that good at doing that you should DELEGATE???

• And don't forget about the personal tasks too like housekeeping, landscaping/mowing, shopping, cooking, making travel plans, errand running, etc. - you can pay someone to do ALL OF THIS you know?
  
• Ask yourself "What is YOUR time worth?" and free it up to do BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS!
  

I do know many Virtual Assistants personally and know who is taking on new clients that I could refer so if you email me back I'm happy to give you a personal referral!

Otherwise there are a few places online you can submit a request (be very specific on what you need them to do!) to hire or interview a VA, such as AssistU.com an online VA directory.

For more information on HOW to build your Virtual Team you can do a 1-on-1 Planning Meeting with me and we'll cover that and sooooo much more OR you can check out a friend of mine, Melanie Benson Strick's Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp! She's got a great program specifically for this!

- Katrina Out !

Just like a Mad Scientist !

I've literally been like a little MAD SCIENTIST working away in my office creating a bunch of new smaller products I'm going to be launching very soon.

There's 20 of these small products in total, all on specific yet different topic regarding marketing or growing your business so that you can learn one by one, topic by topic.

Then I'm also working on a redesign of my own website! I'm so excited, it's needed a boost for a while now and for both of these huge projects I couldn't do it alone; I'm so thankful I have a bunch of VA's to delegate stuff to and help me pull it all together!

--Katrina Out !

My coach David Neagle is going on a 3 city tour! If not, check it out. I hope he comes to a city near you because he's LETTING YOU COME HEAR HIM SPEAK FOR FREE!! OMG!

Go to David's Events page from his home page now at www.David Neagle.com for all the details and to see if he's coming to YOU!
--Katrina Out !

Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference

Hi! Well, I just returned Monday from Nashville where I attended the Glazer-Kennedy Marketing and Money-Making SuperConference! Here's a photo of me with the ONLY GUITAR I could find however!!

This was a good conference. Are you familiar with Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer?? If not, you should be! They are expert copywriters and direct response marketers. I learned a few things yes, but I mostly went for the high powered networking. Since I'm no longer a 'local' business and marketing consultant; it's important to stay in front of the faces of my referral sources and peers - all over the country!

--Katrina Out !

EntrePalooza

ATTENTION: ALL ENTREPRENEURS, WANNA BE ENTREPRENEURS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND INDEPENDENT SALES PROFESSIONALS!!!!

• Are you trying to figure out the easiest and most affordable ways to get more clients and customers?
• Are you spending money or time on various marketing opportunities but getting very little results?
• Are you wondering why your customers aren’t buying more, coming back often or sending you referrals?
• Do you struggle with having to network or get out and meet people in order to increase your business?

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was putting on this BIG EVENT for ENTREPRENEURS. It's happening on Friday, June 27th all day at the Sheraton in Sacramento. It's called EntrePalooza!!
- this is ONE event you won't want to miss!! Go to http://www.entrepalooza.info/!

- Katrina Out !

Wanna Uplevel Your Busines?

Have you been wondering WHAT you can do or HOW you can do it to really catapult yourself into a whole different level of business or expertise? Earning a higher level of income, experiencing a higher level of respect or admiration and enjoying what comes with both of these - more balance in life and free time to enjoy your family and yourself?

Well, it takes a lot of motivation and a very 'aware' mind. I talk a lot about your mindset these days because with everything I've learned in sales, marketing, business and now, the mind - I know that these things must go hand in hand in order to really UPLEVEL your business.

I thought I would throw out a few things I've learned lately that are making and impact in my life. Granted taking them 'out of context' here so to speak might not make too much sense to some of you who maybe aren't familiar with this but when you consult with me on how to grow or restructure your business we cover almost all of these in one way or another.

1. Raise your rates - this can be difficult for some of you, and it was for me too. Afer all, I learned recently that I've been undervaluing myself even. It's taken about 3 years of coaching and masterminding for me to finally 'get this' and understand that what I offer is extremely valuable to other entrepreneurs. Many times, this is the first thing I suggest my clients do to increase their revenues and most of the time they are reluctant like I was because they simply feel like they aren't worth it. This stems back from your childhood I've found out however you CAN change this thinking but you have to become aware that it's going on.
2. Positioning - if you position yourself in a manner that makes you totally accessable for example, others might tend to take advantage of your time. However if you position yourself as an expert, a little more hard to get a hold of, you position yourself at a higer level and therefore can command a higher fee. If you have assistants who interact with customers and prospects before they might get to you or after the sale, this also positions you at a higher level. Now I'm not implying that you offer less customer service or less personal service but more automation and delegation can uplevel your positioning.
3. Move from the Law of Attraction to Awareness of Manifestation - this is something my coach David said at our last mastermind meeting and it stuck with me because I see so many clients and friends who are believers now of the Law of Attraction and believe in positive thinking but then that's as far as they get. There's so much more than that - you have to be aware of your thoughts at all times so that you can shift them in order to really manifest your dreams and desires.
4. To practice just 'being' - this is something I work on myself every day. I know that I have to BE a multi-million dollar business owner NOW if I'm ever going to actually be one. What does a multi-million dollar business owner do? What do they think about? Talk about? Write about? This is what I'm learning and implementing every day in order to reach my ultimate goals and aspirations. This is why I study those who make millions of dollars, why I spend thousands of dollars to coach with them myself, why I read their ezines, make sure I'm around them in person and why I make the changes in my business that I do. Some of the big marketers out there always say, "You want to pick someone you like or want to be like and then model them". But I've also learned that if I learn TOO MUCH at one time or from multiple people I tend to get frozen becuase many of their strategies conflict.

So, this is just a few ideas for you and maybe you need a little more clarification but that's where the learning can step in. Believe it or not, I LOVE talking to clients about this type of stuff, it's so important when you're crafting your entire marketing strategy because all of this will come into play at some point and it's better to know and work on it as you go rather than have to totally shift your focus later.

P.S. Want my help getting some clarity in your business or business idea? I can take your ideas or current business and literally figure out how to put it into OVERDRIVE within a really short amount of time. Contact me or sign up for one of my 1on1 services!

Go to my services page.

Go to my products page.
-Katrina out !

Avoid the Shotgun Approach to Marketing Your Business

Are you doing everything you should be in the marketing of your business or is there something that's slipping through the cracks that could bring you a ton more money?

Are you spending your dollars wisely or hap hazzardly to which ever sales rep walks in the door each day?

Do you have an actual marketing plan?

These are some of the questions you want to be asking yourself AND THEN - figure out how to fix this so you are making SMART MARKETING DECISIONS.

If you're like most small business owners, you get so busy working IN your business that when it's busy, you don't concentrate much on marketing and advertising. In fact many clients I've spoken with have said they often tell their advertising sales reps "just run the same ad as last month" when they call for new ad copy. They do this because they don't have time to think of what to do next.

But if you PLAN out your ads ahead of time, making sure your headlines, offers and messages are timely AND that they accurately and effectively will make your target market take notice and act on your ad then they will be much more effective and give you better results.
Or when you have clients you don't make time to market for new ones until those ones are gone; then you wonder "where did they all go? I'd better do some marketing". This isn't smart marketing either because then you'll be so desperate to get new clients you'll do anything and quick!

Preparing a marketing plan is your first step. You might need to conduct some market research to determine who your ideal client is, what their needs are, how you can meet their needs, where you can find them, how you will reach them, and the daily activities you need to do to keep your funnel full. If you know the answers to these questions then you're ahead of the game (BUT ONLY AS LONG AS YOU ARE REALISTIC WITH THOSE ANSWERS). Some of these activities may include networking, speaking, advertising, seminars, teleclasses, and e-zines. All of these are active forms of marketing that take your time, unless you can delegate some of the activities or automate them.

- Katrina Out

Developing Your Marketing Funnel

Here are just a few general suggestions to consider when developing your marketing funnel (funnel = your database and people you will be continually marketing to):

• Make sure and do at least one marketing activity each day.


• Set specific marketing & money goals each year; review and adjust quarterly.


• Always be brainstorming new ideas; write them down and keep a file, review quarterly.


• Always have marketing materials with you in your car - cards, flyers, brochures, postcards - you never know when you might be able to pass them out or put them on display!


• Always include your company contact info (and possibly a business card or promotion piece) with any invoice, card, mailer or email.


• Always follow up with each person you meet out networking within a week at most.


• Keep an organized database in your computer of everyone you know; categorizing them by hot, warm or cold prospect, client or referral source at the very least


• Develop a newsletter by mail or email to stay "on top of people's minds" so they will remember to refer you - if you don't remind them about you, they WILL forget about you!

Much of this can be outsourced nowadays with all the Virtual Assistants around, temp agencies hire out to do such tasks or hire someone else responsible if you can't get to this but know that these things NEED to get done - whether you do it or someone else it doesn't matter. We are not all SuperHeroes and we can't do it all - nor should you!

Then, to put a plan together on how to accomplish all of the things you want to do or change and what you have to do or delegate to get there - I urge you to take action with me. This is exactly what I do with my clients. I take them from where they are now to where they want to be in easy, manageable, implementable prioritized steps. It's easier than you think but often times we need someone not so close to us to help pull it out of us. I want to motivate you and help you get to where you really want to be this year - let me help you.

Click here to find out how we can work together to help you get focused and making smarter marketing decisions (oh and to make more money too of course!).

Six Ways to Keep Your Business Alive

**This week's article comes from a resource online - a friend of mine emailed me this article and it talks a lot about what I believe too - check it out! -- Kat

Six ways to keep your business alive

Your start-up is more likely to succeed if you commit to a "failure is not an option" mindset.
By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer, January 10 2007: 1:53 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starting your own company is a big challenge, but staying positive could be an even bigger struggle.

No matter what kind of business you have, if you are not committed to a "failure is not an option" mindset, you are setting yourself up for failure, says Neil Anderson, president of The Courage Group, a consulting firm for entrepreneurs.

Indeed, only two-thirds of new small businesses survive at least two years, and just 44 percent survive at least four years, according to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association.

To avoid becoming another start-up casualty, the right mental state is crucial.

So when the bills begin to pile up, and clients or customers are few and far between, don't be tempted to throw in the towel. Instead, keep your mind and mission on track.

Anderson offers these tips to help stay out of the failure trap:

Click here to read the entire article and find out the 6 ways to keep your business alive

- Katrina Out