Debbie LaChusa

I just finished reading an article about how several big name Super Bowl advertisers (Doritos and the NFL) have put their trust in consumer-produced spots. These companies are paying $2.6 million for a 30-second spot during the big game (that's $86,667 a minute!) and they're letting their customers create their commercials. Last year 90.1 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. That's a lot of viewers to take a chance on.

Why are they doing it? It's all based on a movement in the marketing and advertising industry called consumer- or user-generated content. Blogs are one example of user-generated content. You Tube is another. Just check out YouTube and you'll find that consumers are already creating their own ads for the brands they love, or hate. Big brands are simply tapping into what's already occurring as a natural phenomenon. Fearing they've lost touch with their audience, they are turning over the reins to their marketing campaigns to their audience. Their hope? To reconnect. To engage. To build brand loyalty.

Will it work? Or, will it backfire? I guess no one really knows for sure until Super Bowl Sunday comes and goes. And the Monday morning quarterbacks start assessing the success of not only the big game, but the widely anticipated commercials as well.

What do you think? Do you think consumer-generated content is more than a passing fad? Is it the future of marketing and advertising? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "Marketing With A Cause ... An MMmm-Good Story"

I'm sharing a story in this week's podcast ... ripped from the headlines as they say!

It's a story about marketing with a cause. Something that happened right in my own neighborhood. Brought to you by a small local business. A business I'm sure also has a small marketing budget. But they ran with a simple idea, combined it with some goodwill and they sold me, along with a bunch of other people.

Listen to see how you can apply their smart thinking to your business.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 6:20 minutes)

I am excited to announce that I just added 2 New Bonuses to my Winter Extreme Marketing Makeover Program!

BONUS #1) A Bonus Tele-coaching Session with Special Guest Wayne Kelly, The Radio Guy!

Wayne is a Media coach and a Top 40 Radio DJ with a very successful radio show. And he's just agreed to join us for a bonus session on March 23rd. Learn how YOU can get on the radio to promote your business, from the guy who knows how it's done. It will be an hour you won't forget! And, a great way to cap off the Winter Extreme Marketing Makeover Program! You can learn more about Wayne on his web site at On Air Publicity.

BONUS #2) My brand new 2007 Edition of The 10stepmarketing System Step-by-Step Guidebook.

With 40 additional pages of great step-by-step marketing advice. All new sections on Advertising and Online Marketing, plus updates to the entire workbook. I'm just wrapping up my final edits and you will receive a copy of this all new Ebook when it is published this month.

It all starts on February 16th. You get to makeover your entire marketing program, and get these two extra bonuses, all for one low price!

You can learn all about the Winter Extreme Marketing Makeover Program and register today at www.ExtremeMarketingMakeover.com

Like everyone else who gathered around a television set yesterday, I too was there just as much to witness the commercials as the game. Granted I probably would have been more into the game had my San Diego Chargers made it that far, but alas, it was not to be ... THIS year!

As the game began, I was anxious to view the highly promoted consumer generated spots to see if they stood up to the hype. And, of course, to see what breakthrough creative marketing would be deemed worthy of a $2.6 million advertising investment.

As I watched and listened, and watched and listened to the reactions of the "non-marketing folks" with me, I must admit that overall I was disappointed. But more than that, I realized that Super Bowl advertising has completely graduated from marketing to entertainment.

Even the spots we found funny (the Doritos "crash" spot had the whole room busting a gut), and the spots that almost made us cry (the banished GM robot plunging off the bridge) didn't do much to connect me to the brand. To make me feel compelled to go out and purchase.

And in the end, isn't that what marketing is all about? Creating a connection with your audience. And connecting with a compelling message that makes them not only laugh or cry, but makes them seriously consider going out and buying what you're selling.

I have to say, I think the Super Bowl has officially become a venue for adver-tainment, not marketing. What do you think?

Nintendo is not a brand I love. I've never been a fan of video games. As a fitness enthusiast, the idea of kids sitting around for hours on end, exercising nothing but their thumbs doesn't sit well with me. Still, my 14-year-old son Jake loves to play video games and has since he was little. He has plenty of grandparents and aunts and uncles who have been more than happy to feed his habit for birthdays and Christmas.

However, my opinion of the Nintendo brand changed this Christmas. You see, my son received a Nintendo Wii. If you're not familiar with the Wii, it is a "virtual reality" type video game system where you actually have to get up and move your body to play.

My twin sister was the first one to tell me how fun it was to play. And, she's not into video games either. So after my son kept pleading with me to try it, I finally did.

We virtual bowled, golfed, played tennis and baseball. We had to use all of the same body motions as if we were playing the actual sport. But, instead of being on a field or court somewhere, we were in our upstairs game room. And I admit, it was FUN! In fact, we've played several times since.

Nintendo is one smart company. They have finally come out with a product that answers all of the criticism that video games are contributing to the obesity and unhealthiness of today's youth. It's a product that even parents can feel good about. It makes kids happy because it's an innovative video game system. And it makes parents happy because it's getting their kids off their butts and moving. The Nintendo Wii has been selling like hotcakes since before Christmas and retailers STILL can't keep up with demand. In fact, I just read that their third-quarter sales were up 40% from a year earlier!

If you're not familiar with the Nintendo Wii, you can see what it is and watch some of their entertaining television commercials here.

How can you apply this type of innovative thinking to your business?

Marketing is the profession I chose in college. Yes, I am one of the few people who is actually working in the field she studied in school!

Why did I choose marketing? Why do I still enjoy it after 21 years?

Here are the Top 10 Reasons I Love Marketing.

(1) It's never boring.
No two days are ever the same. Because no two projects are ever the same. And, because no two clients are ever the same. So even if I am doing the same task there are always enough variables to keep in interesting.

(2) It's creative.
Marketing is about generating ideas. It's about creating ways to make more, get more and sell more. It's a creative industry, filled with creative, idea-generating people. And I LOVE creating!

(3) I get to learn about all kinds of businesses.
Over the past 21 years I have created and implemented marketing plans for clients in every industry imaginable. I've marketed fitness, new cars, new homes, resale homes, newspapers, websites, hotels, restaurants, products, and the list goes on. In the process, I get to learn about each of these businesses and it's fascinating.

(4) It involves writing and I love to write.
Writing is one of my favorite creative outlets. To have the opportunity to do it every day in my work is pure joy!

(5) It enables me to have my own business.
When I decided I wanted to be home more with my kids, I was able to successfully open my own business because I knew how to market. And, it continues to allow me to successfully open new business ventures.

(6) It lends itself to freelance and independent work.
Marketing isn't just something you can do in a 9 to 5 job. There are many freelance and independent work opportunities available. Because of this I was able to easily transition from a full-time marketing job to my own business.

(7) I get to meet all kinds of interesting people.
From clients, to the media, to production vendors, to partners, to podcast interviewees, I have had the opportunity to meet so many interesting people over the past 21 years. And, I continue to meet new ones every single day. It's awesome!

(8) It's always changing so it keeps me on my toes.
It seems they are always inventing new ways to market. In the past two years alone I've had to completely learn about Internet Marketing, Blogging and Podcasting - things I knew nothing about before. I'm telling you, it keeps my brain young!

(9) There are so many facets to a marketing career.
Over the past 21 years, I've worked in advertising agencies in production, media and account services. I've been a marketing director on the client side. I've run my own virtual marketing agency, DLC Marketing. And, I've had the opportunity to create and build 10stepmarketing, Twin Connections and now 6FigureWorkAtHomeMom.

(10) It has supported me well over the past 21 years!
While I admit I didn't make much my first few years out of college (talk about living on peanuts!), for the most part, marketing has allowed me to make a good living doing work I enjoy.

What about you? Do you LOVE what you do? If so, I'd love to hear why. Post a comment and share.

On Valentine's Day I attended a "Get Motivated" seminar. It was a day-long event with an all-star line-up of speakers including Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, and Marty Shottenheimer and Ladainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers. The speakers were all inspiring and motivating, but there were several moments that stood out to me above everything else.

One was during Steve Forbe's presentation. He was sharing the story of his grandfather, who started Forbes Magazine many years ago. But his story was about how his grandfather got started in the publishing business. You see, his grandfather tried and tried but could not find anyone to hire him as a reporter. He finally "put it all on the line" as Steve Forbes put it, and told a newspaper publisher that he would work for free for one month. If, after one month, he had done a good job, the publisher would agree to hire him.

After one month, his grandfather had done such a good job, the publisher did hire him. And the rest as they say, is history.

This story made me stop and think. Am I committed enough to my business that I would put it all on the line if I had to? I believe that I would, if I felt it was really necessary. Because I believe my work is my purpose. And I know my work is my passion. So I don't think I'd have any other choice but to put it on the line if I was forced to. How about you?

The "Get Motivated! seminar I attended on Valentine's Day was put on by Peter Lowe and his wife, Tamara. This is the first time I have attended but apparently they have been putting on this seminar all across the country for 25 years. Even though there was an all-star line-up of speakers, including Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Marty Shottenheimer and Ladainian Tomlinson and they were all great, it was something that Peter Lowe shared during his presentation that really stuck with me.

He was actually talking about money and saving for retirement, but the story he shared could just as easily apply to small business owners and solo-professionals and their commitment to their business. I'd like to share with you his Dollar Story.

It starts with a question. Do you know how many times you have to double a dollar to get to $1 million? The answer might surprise you. It's only 20 times. That doesn't seem too difficult to achieve. Yet most people never get there.

Peter borrowed a dollar from someone in the audience and proceeded to share what most people do when it comes to saving for their retirement. Most people he explained will diligently save and invest, doubling that dollar 10 times. But at that point, they only have $1024. They are seemingly half way to their goal of 20 doubles, but they are FAR from their goal of $1 million. It seems too far off.

But they are not really THAT far off. Think about where they will be when they have doubled that dollar 19 times. They'd have $500,000. One more double and they hit $1 million. This is the power of compounding. And it can be deceiving.

What do most people do? When they get half way to their goal and are at 10 doubles, they spend that $1024 on a new refrigerator or some other major purchase they think they have to have, putting them back to square one in their retirement savings plan. And they keep doing this over and over, never reaching their goal of $1 million.

If you think about it, many people do the very same thing in their businesses. They work diligently for one year, two years, five years. But they still feel like they are far from away from success. From where they WANT their business to be. So they give up. Usually just before they would have acheived that final doubling. When you're building a business, momentum and compounding apply, too.

So, I'd like to ask you. Are you really committed to your business? Are you going to stick it out until you get there? Or, are you likely to give up right before you make it?

This week we celebrated Valentine's Day. Probably the biggest sales day of the year for flowers, jewelry and greeting cards. So it's expected that we'll see advertising and sales on these items leading up to Valentine's Day.

But an interesting thing happened this year. I received three email promotions from business email lists I am on, offering special discounts in honor of Valentine's Day. These sales were presented with a message of "we appreciate you as a client so in honor of Valentine's Day, we're offering this discount."

I'm all for tying your marketing into trends and holidays. After all, I DID hold a sale in honor of my birthday last year. But I'm just curious how effective these kinds of holiday sales are when the product or service has nothing to do with the holiday being celebrated. I know my birthday sale was a big success. I'm curious about all of these Valentine's Day sales.

I'd love to hear if you purchased a product unrelated to Valentine's Day, because it was offered at a discount. Or, even if you didn't, if a holiday sale would be enough to push you over the buying edge on a product you were on the fence about. Or lastly, if you are one of those business owners who ran a Valentine's Day sale, I'd love to hear how effective it was. Please post a comment and share your thoughts.

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "Is Branding Important for Solo-Professionals and Small Business Owners?"

You've probably heard the term "branding." It gets thrown around a lot these days. In fact when I typed the word "branding" into Google there were nearly 70,000,000 search results!

It's a popular topic! But is it just for big businesses like Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Nike? Do solo-professionals and small business owners need to worry about branding?

Listen as I answer this question and share a short branding quiz you can take to determine if your business is a brand.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 8:51 minutes)

I am happy to announce that I have just released an updated version of my small business marketing tool, The 10stepmarketing System, with 30% more content than the previous edition including new sections on advertising and Internet marketing. This small business marketing tool provides a 10-step, question-and-answer process to help solo-professionals and small business owners create a marketing plan and is available at http://www.10stepmarketingSystem.com

To celebrate the release, I am offering a bonus 10-week small business marketing teleclass series to support small business owners as they create their marketing plan. This bonus is included with all purchases made by February 23, 2006. The teleclass series is slated to begin February 26, 2007. The cost for the entire package is $99.

The 10stepmarketing System includes a step-by-step guidebook titled, “How to Successfully Market Your Business in 10 Simple Steps,” which is designed to walk solo-professionals and small business owners through the process of creating and implementing a marketing plan as if they were working with a virtual marketing coach. This guidebook was awarded a 2006 APEX Award in the "How-to" category.

I have completely updated the entire guidebook and have added 40 additional pages on how to evaluate and purchase advertising, how to create effective advertisements and basic “how-to” steps for Internet marketing techniques such as blogging, podcasting, and pay-per-click advertising. It also comes with lifetime membership to the 10stepmarketing Resource Center so small business owners have access to cost-effective products and services to help them implement their marketing plans.

To purchase the updated 10stepmarketing System and participate in the bonus, 10-week teleclass series and get a 3-Ring Binder Workbook at no extra charge, please visit http://www.10stepmarketingSystem.com before February 23, 2007.

A month ago I made a commitment to watch "The Secret to You" daily video every morning. I am an avid believer in the teachings in "The Secret" DVD and I wanted to see what would happen if I spent a few minutes every morning focusing on being grateful and being reminded of what "The Secret" teaches us.

If you're not familiar with "The Secret" I urge you to find out more. Here are two links to videos of recent tapings of the Oprah Winfrey show featuring the teachers from "The Secret." These shows will give you a taste of what "The Secret" is all about.

http://whatanicewebsite.com/oprah.wmv
http://whatanicewebsite.com/Oprah-Feb16.wmv

Now, back to my experiment. It's been a month since I made my commitment and while I admit there were a few days I didn't start my day with "The Secret to You" video, I did manage to stick to my commitment nearly every day. So what happened?

All I can say is it has been an amazing month. I have had new business come my way. I have been flooded with ideas for my businesses without even trying. I have found solutions to problems that had previously overwhelmed me, again without trying. I have easily made some decisions that had been weighing heavy on my mind for a long time (and I am at total peace with those decisions!) I have been happy, peaceful, grateful and dare I say, even walking with a bit more bounce in my step! :-)

There's something about taking time every single day to be thankful for what you have. When you do this, the Law of Attraction works to attract more things to be grateful for. But be careful. the Law of Attraction works both ways, so if you focus on what you aren't happy about, well, you'll get more things to not be happy about.

I encourage you, whether you're struggling to get more clients, make more money, pay your bills, or to simply get your business off the ground, STOP focusing on what you DON'T have or what ISN'T happening and start focusing on what you can be grateful for. Amazing things will happen!

Here's another link to the Daily Secret Video: http://thesecret.tv/secret-to-you/ Start each day with it. I dare you!

Today is my brother's birthday. He lives in another state and he's never been big on birthday presents, but I didn't want his birthday to pass without at least sending him a card. So last night I went online to Hallmark.com to send him an e-card. In a few minutes, at no cost, I was able to send him a personalized birthday card that would be waiting for him when he turned on his computer this morning. I happen to know he reads his email every morning while drinking his coffee (marketing translation: I put my message where my audience would see it).

My intention was to just send him the e-card. But while I was on Hallmark.com, I noticed a promotion that would allow me to send a gift along with the e-card. The gift they were promoting tied in perfectly with the e-card I had selected. And, it was very inexpensive. I thought, "what the heck ... why not surprise him with a little gift, too!?"

Hallmark.com made it so easy for me to go from sending a free e-card to buying something. It was a no brainer! So I did it. And I realized this was a great example of the perfect upsell. They tied the offer into what I was already committed to. They made it easy for me to add it to my order. And they took care of all the details so all I had to do was provide some information, and my credit card number and in a few days my brother will be surprised with his gift.

Are you using the power of the upsell to sell more to your current clients? Even if you are in a service business, take a look at how you can offer your clients additional services, that tie in with what they are already buying. It doesn't take any more marketing power on your end because you've already got them ready to buy. So it's an easy way to generate more profits from your current clients.

I'm going to look for ways I can do this in my business. How about you?

Weekly Marketing Success Podcast: "How to Sell With Ease: 5 Simple Steps"

Creating a successful business is a two-step process.

FIRST, you must be able to effectively market your products and services.

SECOND, you must be able to convert the prospects or leads your marketing generates, into paying clients.

If you get the marketing part down, but you can't convert, you still won't have any clients and you will continue to struggle. Unfortunately, many solo-professionals and small business owners dread the thought of having to sell. And they avoid it like the plague.

But, if you do it right, it won't feel like selling, to you OR to your prospects. And your results will improve dramatically. Listen as I share 5 simple steps you can use to help you sell with ease.

Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 6:02 minutes)

I just finished reading The Attractor Factor by Joe Vitale. Vitale is known as a metaphysician and a marketing consultant - interesting combination! He has written books for organizations such as the American Marketing Association and the American Management Association. He is also one of the teachers featured in the movie, "The Secret." And openly shares that he was at one time homeless and broke.

The Attractor Factor was originally published as an Ebook under the title "Spiritual Marketing." And while it is not a traditional marketing book by any stretch, it is filled with excellent advice for creating more success in your business and in your life. All through the practice of the Law of Attraction.

If you've been reading this blog or my 10stepmarketing Ezine for awhile you know I am a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. While it is imperative to the success that you understand some basic marketing steps, you need more than that knowledge to successfully market and grow your business. You also need the right mindset.

Most of us have limiting beliefs that affect our ability to successfully market ourselves and our businesses. On some level we may believe that we have to work really hard in order to be successful, or we may believe we don't deserve success. Whatever these deep-seeded beliefs are they serve to hold us back from true success.

The Attractor Factor is a practical hands-on book that shares a simple, 5-step process you can use to overcome these limiting beliefs so you can start achieving the success you really want. It's a quick, easy read and I highly recommend it.

Have you read The Attractor Factor? If so, I invite you to share your comments about this book.

In case you're not familiar with squeeze pages, they are websites that give you one option, and that option is to provide your email address in exchange for something. That something might be an ezine subscription, a special report, a teleclass, a podcast, an e-course, or some other form of valuable information.

Squeeze pages have become a popular list-building tactic because they allow the website owner to get email addresses from visitors who are interested in more information. As opposed to making all of your content accessible to all visitors to your website.

A year ago I made the switch to a squeeze page at www.10stepmarketing.com. My goal was the same as any other Internet marketer. To grow my email list more quickly. This in effect made the rest of my site inaccessible to browsing visitors (the other pages weren't locked, there was just no obvious navigation to them from my squeeze page.)

What happened? Well, it's interesting. I've been using two different sets of website stats and while you'd think the stats for the same web pages would be consistent, they are not.

Based on one set of stats, my opt-in rate nearly doubled when I made the switch, from an average of 30% to 59%. For the following five months it hovered around 45%-50%. Needless to say I was very happy with this. It then settled back in for the rest of 2006 at just under 30% - pretty much right back where I started before switching to a squeeze page.

My second set of stats reflects different numbers, but a similar pattern. Currently my opt-in rate based on these stats runs consistently between 10% and 15%.

But here's the kicker: At the beginning of this month, I launched my new website WITHOUT a squeeze page. And my opt-in rate so far this month is a paltry 4%! I'm going to give it a bit longer to test, but I will be interested to see if this drop holds.

While I like the idea of offering full access to my website to all visitors, one of my primary goals is to build my list. And, a squeeze page may just be the best way to do this.

Have you tested a squeeze page vs. a standard home page? If so, I'd love to hear your conclusions. Post a comment to share.