Design

Marketing is the most important thing you can do in business after developing a great and indispensable product or service. Marketing will be one of your major expenses in many cases if you're a service oriented business. If you produce a product, it will be a close second.

Many people don't understand the value of marketing and consider it an afterthought that's why they end up with sleepless nights worrying about slow periods, lack of sales and rising competition later on. They were not educated in the basic principles of marketing. What I'm about to show you is the basic formula for selling your product or service.

If you don't have enough customers to cover your expenses, you're not effectively marketing your business. If you're business is over five years old and you don't have a customer list that you communicate with each month, you're not marketing effectively.

So here is a simple five step formula for effective marketing:

1. Identify

Figure out the intended market for your product. Identify the ideal customer in as detailed a description as possible. What do they read? What products or services do they buy that are related to your own?

2. Qualify

Your advertising will not promote your product or service. Your ad will focus on the most pressing problem that your service or product solves. The objective of you qualification advertising is to bring in qualified leads. The point of marketing is to find the prospects who need what you have or are willing to be persuaded to listen to what you have to offer.

3. Verify

You now verify your leads by making an offer. You make your pitch to the problems and or benefits that your prospects will think are important. If a prospect sees, the rewards are greater than the risks associated with commitment they will buy. If they don't, you need to move them into the next step.

4. Edify

If the prospect has not purchased your products after the closing process, it's time to educate them on a consistent basis. Teach them about the issues surrounding their issues and problems (those associated with your product or service, of course.). You can offer free information and surveys to these prospects to keep them acquainted with your brand. Send them your newsletter.

5. Multiply

As you build a list of customers, you'll continue to build a growing list of prospects. As you continue to add more customers, you'll need to add more related products and services. The beauty of the process is that it will be much easier to sell new products to your customer list than to your prospect list. Just keep the processes going.

Dennis Morales Francis is a consultant and coach for business professionals and wellness practitioners. His website, offers its members online coaching on building Internet income and automating their marketing on and off the web. Dennis is the author of "Double My Revenues In 12 Months or Less".

Go to http://www.doublemyrevenues.com/money.html to learn how to put $120,000 a year in your pocket by pressing a button on your PC. You don't want to miss this E-Tutorial.

So, you need to build your first web site.

Good news! I'm not going to tell you how to build it.

Millions of people could give you millions of paths to reach your goal. You could hire a designer, you could use a free service, you could sweat it out on your own.

The choices are confusing. How do you choose which path is for you?

The choice isn't about how much money you want to spend, though money does come into it.

The choice isn't about how much technical experience you have, though technology comes into it, too.

The choice only comes from inside you, from within your goal of the site you want to build.

The right path to your desired goal is encoded in the goal itself. You won't be able to read that code until you understand your goal. Once the goal is clear, your subconscious mind will unlock the code and direct you to exactly what you need.

This will help you cut through the countless opportunities to find the one that matches your personal needs.

So, where do you begin?

Get clear about your goal.

Grab a pad of paper (or a text editor) and start jotting it down. Write it in the present tense, in only positive terms. Set a future date at the top as though the goal were a journal entry.

For example, "(Future date) My web site is now up and running, providing products and services that benefit the world. It was so easy to build, and it's so easy to use and maintain. Internet users swarm to my site because of the great content, products, and services I offer."

Notice that I didn't say, "My web site is not difficult to use." I said that it's easy. I didn't say that my web site will benefit the world. I stated firmly and clearly that it already does so.

That goal is written in positive, active language. Yours should be, too.

Next, it's time to invest one of your most important assets into your goal statement. No, we're not talking money. We're talking emotion.

To find the right opportunities for your goal, you need to start feeling the way you'd feel as though your goal had already been achieved.

Feeling this way aligns you with the best opportunities for your needs. It lets the unwise opportunities fall away.

Rewrite your goal again, adding words that convey the positive emotions of happiness, excitement, and gratitude.

"I am so happy and grateful now that my web site is up and running! I'm so grateful that it was so easy to build. I feel so good providing products and services that benefit the world. I love updating my site, making it clear, fun, and informative. I am overjoyed that Internet users swarm to my site for my great information, products, and services."

For your own goal statement, add specific detail and emotional words -- and make sure you feel grateful as you do. Gratitude is the key to finding what you need.

If your site is a part of your business, make sure that your web site goal matches your business goals and purpose as well.

Now that you've got your goal in hand, is your web site going to magically appear?

No. It still has to be built! But your positive goal statement created a target that you and the Universe are now aimed toward. Your positive emotions have put you into accord with the right opportunities for you.

As you move forward, keep your goal at the front of your mind. Listen to those little nudges that come from within. And act on them.

By building your goal on paper before you build your site online, your web-design choices become a natural expression of your dream. Dream big, listen for your hunches, and move forward with confidence into the web-building world.

Harmony Harrison is a professional intuitive and a practitioner of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a form of energy healing. With EFT, Harmony can help you remove the energetic blocks that lie between you and your dreams. Let her show you how to clear the way so that your intention can become more powerful.

Harmony also teaches the universal laws of life for increased joy, prosperity, and spiritual fulfillment. She's an honors graduate of the FTMF program at ThoughtsAlive.com and is training to become a certified ThoughtsAlive mentor.

Visit Harmony's blog http://intuitiveharmony.wordpress.com for information about EFT, universal laws, and more.

How stressed are you really? Take this quiz to find out. Mark as many of the items below that you identify with.

_ Calgon! Take me away!

What would you give for a vacation right now? If you named a body part, then youre feeling too stressed.

_ Ive fallen and I cant get up.

Is this how you feel in the morning when the alarm goes off?

_ Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizzoh what a relief it is.

Are you experiencing stomach aches, headaches, or other physical signs of stress?

_ Take my kids, please!

Are you enjoying your children, or are you ready to sell them on eBay?

_ To the Moon, Alice!

Is your love life giving you warm fuzzies or cold pricklies?

_ I cant believe I ate the whole thing!

Are you overeating to try to feel better about yourself?

Howd you score?

1-2 Not too bad. Youre feeling kind of overwhelmed, but it looks like youre handling things fairly well. Take some extra time for yourself during the holidays to stay in balance.

3-4 Youre walking a fine line right now. Add another stressor to your life and you risk heading toward big time stress. Its time to tackle it now.

5 6 Uhhh. Youd better keep reading.

Stress Reeks Havoc

Even low levels of stress can exacerbate or possibly cause these physical illnesses: Heart Disease, Stroke, Susceptibility to Infections, Gastrointestinal Problems, Diabetes, Muscular and Joint Pain, Headaches and Migraines
As well as these psychological conditions: Memory and Concentration Difficulties, Sleep Disturbances and Depression

And, yes, some days I feel like Im suffering from all of those! Thats when my body is trying to tell me, Nicole youre way out of balance!

So, if youre just not feeling as well as you should, then really reassess your stress levels and visualize what that stress is doing to your health.

Spending Time on Yourself is NOT Selfish. Working Yourself Sick Is.

I know, I know. Youve heard it 100 times before and youll hear it another 100 times. You know why? Because its true. You need to have balance in your life. And, believe me, I battle this on this a daily basis, so I know its hard to find balance when you are driven to succeed at being a WAHM. But, even when your to do list seems insurmountable, you still need to take care of your health (both physical and emotional).

But, you know what? You can do it. Start by choosing a hobby. Scrapbooking, guitar playing, belly dancing, reading, pampering, wood working, gardening, poker. Just find something outside your work that makes you happy.

Yadda yadda. I can hear you brushing me off. Hang on a second and keep reading.

Think of the example you are setting for your children. If you have little interests outside of being a WAHM and are feeling stressed and unhappy, your children will follow in your footsteps.

Strive to treat yourself as youd hope your children would treat themselves. Youre teaching them every day how to grow up to be happy adults, but the words will mean nothing if the example isnt there. Try to have a night out with your sweetie or with some girlfriends every few weeks. They deserve a happy Mommy.

Meds: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Doctor-prescribed medication and self-medication are two methods of stress management.

Neither of these options is good or bad. Just like everything in life take it in moderation. If you enjoy an glass of wine after a long stressful day, then enjoy it guilt free. (cheers!)

If your doctor prescribes a medication that you need to get through a difficult time, then by all means you do what is best for you.

Or, if you enjoy herbal remedies, teas and aromatherapy for relaxation, then go for it!

However, one of the common effects of stress is over-medicating or self-medicating. So, if you find yourself relying heavily on alcohol or medication (either doctor prescribed or self-prescribed) or you begin taking illegal drugs, then talk to your doctor about it as soon as possible. You deserve to enjoy your life not miss out on it.

Sometimes we have to be Sneaky

Sometimes the best thing for your business is to get away from it for a bit. Seriously, I have my best inspiration when Im NOT at my computer which is a little scary since my businesses are online.

Treat yourself to 15 minutes to yourself even if you have to tell your husband youre having bathroom issues in order to get undisturbed time. (shhhh Ive done this.) I wonder how surprised my husband would be to find me sitting on the floor of the bathroom wrapped in a blanket, reading a book? I know, its too much information, but Im trying to show just how important it is to have that time to yourself. Im not promoting deception in marriage, but if you have to stretch your time in the bathroom, dont feel guilty about enjoying the freedom.

So, make an effort today to start stealing moments of happiness. Life is not a dress rehearsal, enjoy every second that you can!

Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom behind http://www.ShowMomtheMoney.com - a fun and informative resource for Work at Home Moms. She invites you to sign up for her free ShowMomtheMoney 101 Tutorial at http://www.showmomthemoney.com/free-tutorial.htm * This article was originally published in the WC http://www.showmomthemoney.com/wc.htm *