I have to say that teaching classes through the University of Wyoming Enrichment Program has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Frankly, I have to state right here that I could not do it on a daily basis – it would make me nuts! But teaching a major course each quarter and a handful of smaller ones suits me to a T.

The benefit to our business has been wide and long. Here are some of the things it has given us:

1. I am far more comfortable doing public speaking. To the point that I can speak in front of almost any group, train virtually anyone, and have a great time doing it.
2. Our business credibility rises each time we inform someone that we also teach enrichment courses on our business specialty.
3. We are now getting other speaking and presentation opportunities.
4. We have received referrals from the Enrichment Department for work in our specialty, not just for presentations.
5. My husband, Kevin, has gained confidence within our profession by being with me when I teach. He has learned more of our business this way, and he has gained the ability to help the students as well.
6. It has given us a peripheral product to sell, since we create our own curriculum (it does not exist for what we teach), so the curriculum becomes a secondary product.

As far as endeavors we have pursued, this has been one of the best. It is something that I recommend  wholeheartedly to anyone who feels they have the capacity to teach topics related to their profession.

How did I stumble into this? Really, I did sort of stumble into it. I mean, it was something I WANTED to do, and had a good deal of curriculum prepared for.  I began by asking a regional educational organization. They could not provide me with a sufficient student base, so I dropped that. I sounded out another. They also could not provide a reasonable student base at that time. Finally, one day, while on the phone with a staff member at the local Chamber (of which we are a member), I asked how one went about finding teaching and presentation opportunities. She suggested the University, but I did not know how to contact them.

One week later, I got a call from the University. Turns out, THEY had called HER, asking for someone to teach Web Development! I sat down with them and discussed possibilities. That fall, I taught my first class… a 12 week, 2 hour per week class. It was an amazing experience.

It does not pay well enough to do full time. Last winter, due to getting stuck in town overnight for TWO nights, due to closed roads, we lost money on a set of four classes. We will make a little on the one we are doing now – but not enough to fully compensate for weeks of preparation and three Saturdays teaching from 9:00 to 4:00. But the fringe benefits make it all worth it.

Besides just the ways it has benefited our business, I must say, the students are the greatest. They are dedicated, smart, and enjoyable people – the same kind of people I get for clients. Associating with them has been priceless – and they are honest with me about helping me improve myself as an instructor.

If this is something that you have a desire to do, I highly recommend it. Go and find an organization that can help you become an instructor – and then do it, even if you have only one student sign up. Because the things you will gain will be immeasurable, and will impact your business long term in ways that go far beyond the money the individual class pays.

I read an article recently that talked about the Open Source movement, and why it managed to create such good software. The author said that MicroSoft could not pay people enough to produce stuff as good as a bunch of guys could produce who really believed in the project – or words to that effect.

There is a good deal of truth to that, and an application where business is concerned.  The lesson we get from it is, that pay does not determine our output. We work hardest for what we believe in most. We will stick something out if we love it and want it badly enough, even when it isn’t paying off like we want. But we won’t keep doing something, no matter how much it pays, if we can’t stand to get up in the morning and face it.

Quality of life is a term that is bandied about a lot lately. Most people translate that to mean money, but it doesn’t. Why do you think people give it all up to go homestead in Alaska? That isn’t about money!

When you love something, you can also become a powerful persuader – without even trying to be a salesperson. People tell me over and over that they can see that I am very passionate about what I do – usually they tell me that when I am not even aware that I am waxing enthusiastic about a topic. My interest in what I do compels me to both learn about it, and share it. That is more powerful than any trained salesperson, because it is real, and anyone can see that.

Combine that kind of enthusiasm with an equal degree of enthusiasm for caring about others, and you have an elixir that works better than any other marketing brew. Not that you don’t have to learn how to market well, or do the right things when you market, but just that when you top it off with a dollop of that kind of fire, you become unstoppable.

Look at the people who you know that are great business people, who had to sell their business to others early on. They have energy, enthusiasm, drive, and are perceived as an unstoppable force. It started with them having a dream to do something they felt really needed to be done.

Is your business that, to you? If it is, then keep working and learning, and the fire of your enthusiasm will eventually consume the obstacles in your path. If it is not, then figure out why, and make the adjustments so you can get up every morning with that excitement to get to work on changing your corner of the world.

There is a perception that internet marketers who defraud people succeed because they are good marketers. They don’t. They persuade people to buy, by lying. Anyone can sell something if they only tell people what they want to hear. That doesn’t make them a good marketer, it only makes them a good liar.

A truly good marketer is one who does not compromise honesty or integrity, and who delivers value that lives up to their promises. They understand people, well enough to help them understand what is good in what they are selling. They do not manipulate. There is a difference.

If we are going to be able to distribute accurate marketing information, that myth that marketing requires dishonesty, must be done away with.

Good marketing centers on truth. If you want to market well, start with the truth, and end with it, and do not depart from it in the middle. Learn to understand people – there is truth there too. But do not focus on manipulating – rather, on communicating in a language they understand.

If this were the standard, marketers would not have the negative reputation that they do.

Offline networking is the traditional way of doing business. Some people assume that because the net is newer, that it is better. While you CAN network successfully online, and it does have its benefits, you’ll find that you can often gain more power, faster, offline. This is especially true for service businesses, and local businesses.

Offline networking has two principle benefits:

1. By bringing you into contact with your prospective customers. Trade shows, fairs, or B2B events are good places for this if they fit your target market.
2. By bringing you into association with your competitors and collaborators. This helps you develop greater expertise, gives you people to draw knowledge from, and helps you find people to work alongside. It is valuable, but only if you understand how to use it. Chamber membership, and other business groups are good places for this.

You’ll want to select a venue to meet your goals – don’t choose a business to business venue if you sell retail products for end consumers. It won’t be a good match.

In order to network effectively offline, you have to consider two basic factors:

1. Where is your target market hanging out – in other words, what kinds of events and meetings can you participate in where you’ll naturally meet your target market?
2. What kinds of networking are you comfortable with, and which ones allow you to market through your strengths?

You CAN learn to be comfortable with new types of marketing. But you’ll do best, especially to start with, if you build on your strengths first.

Offline networking can be done in some of the following ways:

1. Chamber membership – you have to BE THERE. Show up to events, get to know other people, pay to be at trade shows.
2. Business events, expos, and fairs. Choose those that bring in your target market, and that you can afford to attend.
3. Host events, throw a party, etc.
4. Volunteer to make presentations or training seminars, look for teaching opportunities, etc.
5. Beat the streets – if you do this, build relationships, do NOT go to sell!
6. Attend classes and citizen’s groups where you are likely to meet people.

One of the more important aspects of networking offline is just getting your name out there, and letting people know what you do. You have to tell them over and over, they don’t remember the first time. And you have to do it without pushing.

So look for places where you can hand out your business card, or events where you can send people home with something.

Offline networking still takes time and persistence, but has the potential to be much more powerful than online networking because it is more personal. Choose a venue that brings people to you, and you are well into the process.

If you want to build a network of friends, and if your target market haunts MySpace or FaceBook, they might work for you – but remember, these are primarily social, secondarily business, so they absolutely do not work for some kinds of businesses.

Ryze, Merchant Circle, or FastPitch might work for you if you like how they work, and if you can regularly check in and participate in forums or browse profiles for connections. They have a distinctly business focus, which works very well for B2B businesses.

One of the keys to choosing networking venues, is to choose things you enjoy doing. If you like it, you’ll do it more regularly. At the same time though, you MUST balance your day! You have to know when to read the posts, and when to skip them, and how to put business first when necessary.

Many venues offer chances for event participation. Choose the events by the same criteria – by whether your target market is likely to be there, and whether you can communicate effectively with them there.

Look for Trade Associations also – many have networking options available. Some of them do a better job of reaching CUSTOMERS, others do a better job of reaching associates. Each has its value, just make sure you are choosing it for the value that you want!

Don’t just join a bunch of groups – each takes time to set up a profile and make it work for you. You need to look them over and make sure they have a good chance of benefiting you, and chose those that will help you do so effectively. If they have a lot of fluff, and take a lot of your time, you’ll burn out. They need to be fairly efficient to use, and allow you good tools for doing what you need to do in a successful manner.

If you join a group, and it does not give you what you need, OR, you end up not using it, drop it. Otherwise it is dead weight. In order to make them work, you have to WORK them. Select carefully, between 2 and 10 venues, and then get to work.

There are any number of places that you can network online. New “social networking” sites are springing up each day, and they all have a little different focus.

Networking can benefit you in two ways:

1. By bringing you into contact with your prospective customers. This is the benefit most people want, and which they go after aggressively – often burning out in a fit of spamming.
2. By bringing you into association with your competitors and collaborators. This helps you develop greater expertise, gives you people to draw knowledge from, and helps you find people to work alongside. It is valuable, but only if you understand how to use it.

Most of the time, those two different groups of people do NOT hang out in the same places! So you have to choose a group or venue for the right reasons, and make sure it can deliver what you are looking for.

In order to network effectively, you have to consider two basic factors:

1. Where is your target market hanging out?
2. What kinds of networking are you comfortable with, and which ones allow you to market through your strengths?

You CAN learn to be comfortable with new types of marketing. But you’ll do best, especially to start with, if you build on your strengths first.

For example, if you write well, you have a lot of options. If you like to write on a schedule, a blog may work for you. If you don’t, it might not. If you want the freedom to write when you feel like it, article marketing (a cousin to online networking), or forum participation might work best.

If you like to feel plugged in, then networking communities with a lot of minute to minute action might be good – Twitter, blogging communities, etc.

If you want to build a network of friends, and if your target market haunts MySpace or FaceBook, they might work for you – but remember, these are primarily social, secondarily business, so they absolutely do not work for some kinds of businesses.

Ryze, Merchant Circle, or FastPitch might work for you if you like how they work, and if you can regularly check in and participate in forums or browse profiles for connections. They have a distinctly business focus, which works very well for B2B businesses.

One of the keys to choosing networking venues, is to choose things you enjoy doing. If you like it, you’ll do it more regularly. At the same time though, you MUST balance your day! You have to know when to read the posts, and when to skip them, and how to put business first when necessary.

Many venues offer chances for event participation. Choose the events by the same criteria – by whether your target market is likely to be there, and whether you can communicate effectively with them there.

Look for Trade Associations also – many have networking options available. Some of them do a better job of reaching CUSTOMERS, others do a better job of reaching associates. Each has its value, just make sure you are choosing it for the value that you want!

Don’t just join a bunch of groups – each takes time to set up a profile and make it work for you. You need to look them over and make sure they have a good chance of benefiting you, and chose those that will help you do so effectively. If they have a lot of fluff, and take a lot of your time, you’ll burn out. They need to be fairly efficient to use, and allow you good tools for doing what you need to do in a successful manner.

If you join a group, and it does not give you what you need, OR, you end up not using it, drop it. Otherwise it is dead weight. In order to make them work, you have to WORK them. Select carefully, between 2 and 10 venues, and then get to work.

“Internet marketers” tout the efficacy of freebies as a means of attracting people to your business. Not only is the theory flawed, but it is, in fact, far more complex than they make it sound.

If you give a “meaningless” freebie, you’ll attract freebie seekers, who want the goods, but don’t want to buy anything. So you have to choose a freebie more carefully, making sure it brings in interested people.

One of my clients told me that she felt that our free website assessment was the most valuable thing we could offer, because it helped her see that we really could help her. In fact, 50% of the people who we give a free assessment to DO hire us. It also gets us some decent referrals from people who do not buy.

But the problem is, it is VERY hard to even give that away! The same is true of a marketing consultation. Both services are very valuable. They give someone the benefit of our knowledge, with no strings attached.

People don’t ask for it though. We can go to a trade show, and BEG people to fill out a card for a free assessment, and if we have built a relationship with them, they will. But if we advertise that free assessment as our front line approach, nobody calls. They are afraid to commit.

When a prospect calls for other reasons, the first thing we offer is the free assessment, and they take it. But they already decided to act to improve their site, and they already decided to ask us to do it.

Otherwise, we have to sell them on US, before we can even get them to take the freebie. Not too efficient!

People are scared to commit to even a free service. I think it says a lot about the state of the internet now that the word “free” has such negative connotations to honest business people. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t put a token fee on it, just to remove that feeling of mistrust! Sad, because I’d gladly give that to any business owner who needed it, because it helps them, and it helps us.

Freebies only work if you are going after gamblers, or the inexperienced. When your target market is smart people, they mistrust freebies, even when they are good ones. If you want to use one, you have to find an effective way of selling them on the freebie before you can use the freebie to sell them on your service.