SEO: Duplicate content 101

In simple terms, duplicate content refers to any website content that has been copied from an another existing source from the internet.

It's important that you shouldn't just copy content from somewhere else as Google will penalise you for this by lowering your website ranking in search results, or worse, remove you completely.

Below are some reasons why Google penalise websites for duplicate content.

Copyright
First of all, you're breaking copyright laws by using someone else's content and placing it on your site. You need to ask permission from the author to use that content.

Spam
Web spammers are now more advanced and use programs to copy content from legitimate websites to populate their own websites. These websites are then used for malicious activity such as fraud or viruses.

The User
Providing the same content across many websites add no value for the reader and Google wants to provide the most relevant and useful information to the user.

To combat duplicate content, Google has an advanced algorithm that identifies websites that contain duplicate content. The latest change from Google in its bid to combat duplicate content was rolled out in Feb 2011 - called Panda. The Panda update aims to lower the rank of “low-quality sites” on search results and move higher quality websites near the top of the search results.

The best and easiest way to ensure your website does not lose its rankings is to continue to write new, fresh and unique content.

Creating content that your readers will share

Below are some tips on how you can create content that your readers will share with their network on social media.

1. Give helpful information.
Provide useful tips and information that people can pass on to their networks. For example, tips for management stress when on holiday, top tips for packing or best places to visit that no one knows about.

2. Connect with your network.
Post content, links or photos that will get your network connecting with you on a personal level. For example, if you are passionate about a particular charitable cause, let your fans know about it. Post news, photos, links and your supporters who will also promote your cause at the same time.

3. Entertain.
Have you ever read or watched something funny and shared this with your friends and family? No one wants to share boring content.

4. Get people talking.
Ask your fans questions and get them to post a reply. The aim of using social media is to interact and engage with your fans or followers and vice versa.

5. Give an incentive.
If you have any special offers or promotions, don't forget to add it to your social media pages and encourage your fans and followers to forward it to their friends and family.

6. Ask your fans to share.
It's as simple as just simply asking your fans to 'share'. Eg a message, photo or video. Ask them a question and ask them to share or like it if they agree.

If you would like more information on social media marketing or need assistance with TA Fastrack managing your social media pages, please call us on +61 7 3040 3588.

Using Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you understand how visitors interact with your website. Below are some of the key metrics you need to look at on Google Analytics in relation to your website

Bounce rate
The bounce rate refers to the percentage of website visitors who only looked at a single page on your website before leaving. The bounce rate is a great tool to analyse your visitor's experience on your website and whether they found the page and its content relevant and useful.

When a person enters a certain search criteria and links on your page, do they read the content and continue on to view other webpages, or do they simply leave straight away? Visitors will only stay on your website and continue to browse through other pages if they find what they are looking for and enjoy the experience. If they don't get the information they want straight away, they will leave.

A high bounce rate means that the content on your site is not relevant to the visitor. You need to make sure that your website is relevant to the search term that the visitor is using to find your site and your website has enough information to make the visitor want to stay and continue browsing through the site.

Time on page
The average time on page metric provides you with information on how long a visitor stays on the site and each page. This will help determine whether your site provides value to your visitor in terms of design, user friendliness and relevant content. The longer someone stays on your website the better. The aim is to attract the visitors and keep them there.

Pages per visit
The number of pages visited will give you an indication of whether your visitors are having a positive experience on your site. If they find the content relevant and interesting, they will continue to browse through other webpages.

If you find that visitors are not staying on a page as long as other pages, you may need to refine the content on that particular page.

For more tips on how to improve your website experience for your visitors, contact TA Fastrack on 07 3040 3588. If you need a new website design or need professional copywriting services, speak to TA Fastrack today for a quote.

The latest Google Algorithm update - Penguin

On 24 April, Google released its latest search algorithm update called Penguin. This update focused on 'webspam', which involves any practice that aims to rank a website higher in search engines, purposely using techniques that are against Google's guidelines and best practices.

The Penguin update primarily dealt with devaluing sites that were deemed to be participating in link schemes (or that had an unnatural number of links pointing to them), or websites that were ‘over-optimised’.

We recommend that you check your Google Analytics statistics, and if you notice a significant drop in traffic immediately after April 24th, then you may have been hit by the Penguin update. If you think you've been hit, speak to TA Fastrack about an SEO audit of your website to see what may have caused this penalty and provide advice on how to fix it and make sure your site is following all best practices and Google’s guidelines.

You can read more about the Penguin update here.

Get yourself out of a slump and back on the road to success

We've all been there, when you're feeling unmotivated and seemingly incapable of doing the tasks that need to be done.

Here are some tips for getting yourself out of a slump and getting back on track:

1. Write it all out - what do you want, what changes are you looking to make, what is your big dream.
2. Pick one goal - drill it down to just one goal, make it easy to achieve, now is not the time to challenge yourself too much.
3. Break it down into steps - write out all the little steps it will take to achieve this goal, and then number them in order of what needs to be done first.
4. Get organised - what do you need to get it done efficiently, de-clutter your space.
5. Delegate if possible - recruit others to the cause, or outsource to specialists.
6. Give yourself a time frame in which to get it done, and try to stick to it.
7. Re-read your goal and tasks several times a day to keep you focussed. If you find yourself slipping off into the land of YouTube or Facebook, then it is time to read your goal and tasks again.
8. Look at the other areas in your life that have been pushed off to the side and start to integrate them back into your daily routine. This might be as simple as walking the dog, or getting your receipts filed. 
9. Congratulate yourself on a job well-done. Every time you achieve something, even the small stuff, give yourself a pat on the back.

Get customers for life

What is the purpose of a business? Every time I ask this question during a business seminar, the immediate answer that I get back is, “To make a profit.”

The Real Purpose of a Business
But this answer is wrong. The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.

If a business successfully creates and keeps customers in a cost-effective way, it will make a profit while continuing to survive and thrive. If, for any reason, a business fails to attract or sustain a sufficient number of customers, it will experience losses. Too many losses will lead to the demise of the enterprise.

Why Businesses Fail
According to Dun and Bradstreet, the single, most important reason for the failure of businesses in America is lack of sales. And, of course, this refers to resales as well as initial sales.

So your company’s job is to create and keep a customer, and your job is exactly the same. Remember, no matter what your official title is, you are a salesperson for yourself and your company. And the best way to increase your value as a salesperson is to build your customer base.

Why Businesses Succeed
The two most important words to keep in mind in developing a successful customer base are Positioning and Differentiation.

Positioning refers to the way your customers think and talk about you and your company when you are not there. The position that you hold in the customer’s mind determines all of his reactions and interactions with you. Your position determines whether or not your customer buys, whether he buys again and whether he refers others to you. Everything that you do with regard to your customer affects the way your customer thinks about you.

The Key to Competitive Advantage
Differentiation refers to your ability to separate yourself and your product or service from that of your competitors. And it is the key to building and maintaining a competitive advantage. This is the advantage that you and your company have over your competitors in the same marketplace - the unique and special benefits that no one else can give your customer.

Select Your Customers Carefully
When you begin to think about acquiring and keeping customers for life, you need to think about the particular types of customers for whom your competitive advantage is so important that they would be poorly served by using anyone else’s product. You need to then emphasize again and again that the special features and benefits you offer are so important that they should not even think of going somewhere else. If, for any reason, you fail to do this, you may lose the customer and all the work you’ve done in building that relationship in the first place.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, determine exactly what your current positioning is today with your customers. How do they think about you and what do they say? How could you improve your positioning?

Second, determine your exact competitive advantage, your area of superiority in what you do. How can you increase in your area of excellence and then convey it better to your customers?

Email marketing - how to improve enewsletter open rates

Below are some simple tips on how you can improve email marketing opening rates.

From field and email address
Send your email from a recognisable 'from' email address and person. If your recipients don't recognise your email or person it's coming from, they will delete it or report it as spam. We recommend sending the enewsletters from a name, followed by your company name, eg Bob Smith | ABC Company.

Attention grabbing subject line
Your email recipients will scan a subject line to determine whether it's relevant or of interest to them. You can test subject lines to determine what holds the most interest for your email subscribers. Avoid using words or symbols (such as multiple exclamation marks), as this may trigger spam filters.

Ask to be added to your subscribers' address book
Some email providers will automatically send your emails to the spam/junk folder if your email address is not included in the address book or trusted senders list. To avoid your email being sent to the junk folder, ask your email subscribers to add your email to their address book.

Send emails to people who genuinely want to receive your email
Check your sign-up process. Does it clearly state that they will receive emails from you?

Improve email deliverability
One way to improve email deliverability is to remove any recipients who have complained from your mailing list. Delete bounced emails (wrong email addresses) from your list and improve your reputation.

For more tips on email marketing, speak to TA Fastrack today on 1300 659 289 or visit www.tafastrack.com.au.

Are you communicating with your clients?

Whether your clients are long-term customers, find you through the internet, through word of mouth or referral, it's very important that you collect some contact information about them, such as phone number, email or address. You can offer tips, travel information or specials on a monthly or weekly basis through email marketing. It's important to keep in touch with them constantly, as even though they might not be buying anything now, you will be at the top of their minds when they are ready to commit.

You should keep a list of your past clients, so that if you come up to a lean period, you can send an email newsletter or a flyer to them, to simply remind them about your products and services. It doesn't even need to be a hard sell. I can guarantee you that you will get a response from people who have been meaning to call you for weeks or months, but never got round to it because they were busy or forgot - until you emailed them.

So here are some action steps for you to take to ensure that you start building your database of potential and past clients.

1. Collect names and contact details of every single person who expresses an interest in your business and products and services. Set a process in place to ensure that you and your staff are capturing the vital information - from your front desk, to phone enquiries and the website.
2. Follow up and stay in touch with your customers. An email newsletter or a postcard is a very cost effective way to stay in touch with clients.
3. Start now. Make sure you start collecting that data now. You can always fine tune the process or data capture and follow up messages as you go along
4. Set goals. Just as some people measure sales and profits, we recommend that you consider 'growing the size of your database' as a goal/measurement too 

If you would like more information about our email marketing services and how you can stay in touch with your clients, speak to TA Fastrack today or email us direct on email@tafastrack.com.au. 

Be a Negative Optimist

The most important quality for success in entrepreneurship and in life is the quality of optimism. Optimists have an unrealistic expectation of success. As a result, they are willing to try far more things without becoming discouraged. In addition, because of their unrealistically positive attitude, they are willing to persist much longer than the average person. Optimism is a wonderful quality as long as you have it under control.


Taper Your Optimism
In order to be successful in business, and in any activity where your money is involved, you must temper your optimism with negativism. You must be enthusiastic about the possible upside of the investment but you must be sceptical, critical, suspicious and demanding about all the different ways that your money can be lost.

Listen to Negative Viewpoints
Seek out and listen carefully to people who are negative towards your idea. Look for negative thinkers, because their viewpoints can be invaluable and save you a fortune in time and money. I have a friend who is a lawyer. And he recommends and gives advice to many people on investments. And what he does is this. When someone comes and they want to make an investment that he's unsure about, he says, all right, I want you to come to my office and I want you to sit behind my desk. And then I'm going to come in and I'm going to present this investment to you and I want you to critique this investment as if you were me.

Help Others to Evaluate Honestly
And he says that when his clients begin critiquing the investments they're thinking about going into, when they begin becoming negative thinkers about the investments, he says they are astonished at how bad the investments really are. He said he has saved his clients millions of dollars by forcing them to be negative thinkers about their own ideas, simply by switching roles and sitting in front of the desk while they sit behind the desk.

Keep Your Mind Open
But don't be overly influenced by negative thinkers. Just take their viewpoints into consideration. There's a famous story of Mary Hudson, who started off with 200 dollars in the middle of the Depression and leased a gas station that two men had gone broke running at two different occasions. And from that she built a company called Hudson Oil, which is now the biggest independent distributor of gas and oil in the United States. From a 200 dollar investment, even though everybody told her she would fail. So remember, listen to negative thinkers, but don't necessarily accept their advice.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to get these ideas into action.

• First, view your idea as if you were an outside consultant. Ask, "What are all of the possible risks or flaws in this cause of action?"
• Second, seek out the opinions of others. Listen without responding or defending. Thank them for their input. They may save you a lot of money.

3 Ways To Tap Into The Power Of Social Media

Over 75% of Internet consumers use social media in some form or other, so if you're not using it you may be missing out on a big opportunity. Getting involved doesn't have to be complicated.

Here are three things you can do to get in the game.

Start a blog
Blogs are easy to create and maintain. You can use blogspot or wordpress to set up a blog and you won't even need to consult a web developer for help! Best of all, it’s free to set up a blog account with these sites.

The key is to create high quality content that is relevant to your target audience. Keep it consistent and keep it real. Other than that, just have fun with it! Some suggestions for blog posts include:

• Industry-specific tips and insights
• Special offers or give-aways
• Analysis of recent news items
• Product tutorials
• Humorous anecdotes
• Interviews with employees, customers or partners

Start a Facebook page
Facebook is one of the most popular sites in the world (along with Google). To get started, simply create a Facebook page where you can post updates, link to your blog articles, and receive feedback from your customers. As you post relevant content and interact with customers on your Facebook page, your fan base and your revenue will grow.

Post videos on YouTube
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, a video must be worth 1,000 pictures (and 1,000,000 words)! Plus videos get priority in search engine results and allow you to show a little personality. Start with a video on your company, resort, staff members and build your video library from there.

If you implement these social media elements in your marketing, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the raving fans waiting for you.

If you would like more information about facebook marketing or how you can maximise social media for your business, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588.

The Truth About Networking

If you're like most sellers, you detest making cold calls. Just the thought of picking up the phone and calling a stranger sends shivers down your spine. And the brutal fact that nobody ever answers the phone or returns your call, makes it even worse.

That's why so many people are out networking these days. They're looking for connections and ways to establish relationships with prospective buyers first. And referrals - oooh, how we dream of getting someone to put in a good word for us with our ideal client - especially if they work for a big company!

Several years ago, I hit the networking circuit after refocusing my business direction. It was time to expand my client base. Like everyone else, I believed the standard wisdom about the value of networking.

Since I'm not a shy, tongue-tied person, I figured it would be a snap. All I needed to do was:

• Focus on the other person; ask lots of questions and make them feel important.
• Share ideas and resources to help them achieve their objectives.
• And keep in touch so I wouldn't be quickly forgotten.

I did it all. Every single bit of it. I went to a variety of organizations and associations. I became involved in several that were really tied to my business. I got on committees and helped out during the meetings. I had a booth at a networking trade show. I even spoke to a number of the groups.

But I never saw the results I was hoping for. In fact, I barely saw any positive results for all the time I invested in networking.

As someone who thinks a lot about sales-related topics and experiments with all sorts of approaches to see what they yield, I was stymied.

Finally it hit me! If you wanted to do business with large corporations, everything that I assumed to be true about networking was a fallacy.

Here are the 4 biggest myths I uncovered:

Myth 1: Local business organizations and professional associations are great places to meet prospective contacts from big companies.

Reality: People in big companies today rarely attend these functions. Due to all the changes, turmoil and downsizing in their own organization, they have all they can do to stay on top of things.

They're literally too swamped to take time out of their busy days to attend this kind of meeting. They don't want to go to these functions and be hit up by all these vendors who are looking for an "in" to their company. They don't need the education because their own firm provides for that.

Besides, networking for big company decision-makers means meeting with their counterparts in other divisions or attending industry specific events such as trade shows.

If you take a serious look at the groups you're participating in, most all the people who attend are from small to medium sized businesses. That's great, if that's who you sell to.

But if you're trying to work with General Mills, General Electric or General Dynamics - you'll seldom, if ever, see their decision makers at these events.

Myth 2: It takes time to see the results of networking, therefore it's imperative to keep at it.

Reality: Yes, it does take time to see the results. But, if the big company decision makers aren't there - and won't be coming, then you're wasting your time. And the longer you keep at it, the more time you're wasting.

Hope is not a powerful strategy. In fact, it's downright delusional. How many times do you have to beat your head against the wall before you know it's time to stop?

Myth 3: It's important to build relationships with people before trying to talk about your products or services.

Reality: People from big companies don't have time to build relationships first. Much as you may want to, they're too busy. They don't have time to chitchat about golf or family vacations. Get down to business quickly. Focus on your value proposition or ideas that can help them grow their business or save money.

A positive relationship develops over time; it doesn't happen first. Show your value, demonstrate your worth, make a difference. Then these decision makers will really want to have you as a friend.

Myth 4: People you meet at networking meetings are highly likely to refer you to prospective buyers in large corporations.

Reality: Many people you meet at networking meetings are really, really nice. In fact, if you meet them later for coffee or breakfast, you'll have a wonderful conversation. You'll learn even more about what they do and have a chance to share your story in more depth.

And you'll find out that they're hungry for business. Just like you, they're hoping to find that elusive person who will magically fling open the doors of a corporate giant for them. They're hoping for the connection to "just the right person" and a great referral besides.

Believe me, if one of them is ever lucky enough to meet your ideal decision maker, the likelihood that he or she will put in a good word for you is slim to none. They're too busy worrying about how to get their own business.

Besides since they're just getting to know the decision maker, their referral would hold little credence.

Business Tips: Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin

Have Everything At Hand
One of the best ways for you to overcome procrastination and get more things done faster is for you to have everything you need at hand before you begin. When you are fully prepared, you are like a cocked gun or an archer with an arrow pulled back taut in the bow. You just need one small mental push to get started on your highest value tasks. 

Clear Your Workspace
Begin by clearing off your desk or workspace so that you only have one task in front of you. If necessary, put everything on the floor or on the table behind you. Gather all the information, reports, details, papers, and work materials that you will require to complete the job. Have them at hand so you can reach them without getting up or moving. Be sure that you have all writing materials, computer disks, access codes, email addresses and everything else you need to start and continue working until the job is done. 

Make It Comfortable
Set up your work area so that it is comfortable, attractive and conducive to working for long periods. Especially, make sure that you have a comfortable chair that supports your back and allows your feet to sit flat on the floor.

The most productive people take the time to create a work area where they enjoy spending time. The cleaner and neater your work area before you begin, the easier it is for you to get started and keep going. 

Assume The Position
When you sit down, with everything in front of you, ready to go, assume the body language of high performance. Sit up straight, sit forward and away from the back of the chair. Carry yourself as though you were an efficient, effective high performing personality. Then, pick up the first item and say to yourself, "Let's get to work!" and plunge in. And once you've started, keep going until the job is finished. 

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take a good look at your desk or office, both at home and at the office. Ask yourself, "What kind of a person works in an environment like that?"

Second, resolve today to clean up your desk and office completely so that you feel effective, efficient and ready to get going each time you sit down.

3 ways to tap into the power of social media

Over 75% of Internet consumers use social media in some form or other, so if you're not using it you may be missing out on a big opportunity. Getting involved doesn't have to be complicated.

Here are three things you can do to get in the game.

Start a blog
Blogs are easy to create and maintain. You can use blogspot or wordpress to set up a blog and you won't even need to consult a web developer for help!

The key is to create high quality content that is relevant to your target audience. Keep it consistent and keep it real. Other than that, just have fun with it! Some suggestions for blog posts include:

• Industry-specific tips and insights
• Special offers or give-aways
• Analysis of recent news items
• Product tutorials
• Humorous anecdotes
• Interviews with employees, customers or partners

Start a Facebook page
Facebook is one of the most popular sites in the world (along with Google). To get started, simply create a Facebook page where you can post updates, link to your blog articles, and receive feedback from your customers. As you post relevant content and interact with customers on your Facebook page, your fan base and your revenue will grow.

Post videos on YouTube
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, a video must be worth 1,000 pictures (and 1,000,000 words)! Plus videos get priority in search engine results and allow you to show a little personality. Start with a video on your company, resort, staff members and build your video library from there.

If you implement these social media elements in your marketing, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the raving fans waiting for you.

For help on marketing or social media, speak to a marketing consultant from TA Fastrack today on email@tafastrack.com.au or call 07 3040 3588.

What Entrepreneurs Need to Know to Be Successful

When it comes to entrepreneurship, there is no clear path to success. The challenge entrepreneurs' face is to find their own means to success given their business, situation, timing, and style. A wise entrepreneur spends a good deal of time learning from the mistakes of his fellow professionals who ended up on the well-trodden path to failure. No matter what your industry, business plan, or idea, the following ten tips are basics for building a successful business.

Stay focused on the most important tasks that need to get done. Entrepreneurs multi-task daily. It is easy to get off track and spend time on tasks that won't get the business going. Decide each morning what the most important tasks are for that day. Start with these tasks and don't switch tasks until they get done.

Delegate. Entrepreneurs who succeed know what they do well, and what others do better than them. Decide what tasks should be outsourced and delegate these tasks to others. Trying to do everything or do things that aren't your specialty ruins your efficiency and the quality of your end product or service.

Keep a business journal. Write down your business thoughts and ideas. In planning stages, these ideas can be both powerful and fleeting. Make a point at the end of every week or month to review your notes for ideas and potentials that you forgot to capitalize on.

Find a support group. Part of being an entrepreneur is being bold, risky, and independent. But you are far from being alone in your endeavor. Join up with a group of entrepreneurs online or in your community for support. Many starting entrepreneurs need the same type of services (web designers, printers, etc.), so you can exchange resources and same time and energy in doing solo research.

Address your fears and doubts. People often view entrepreneurs as the bold explorers of the business world. Don't let your expectations of what it means to be an entrepreneur override your feelings. Fears and doubts are normal. Expressing this anxiety can be cathartic and help prevent it from becoming a roadblock to success.

Follow the golden rule of the business plan. Yes, create a business plan, and develop it thoroughly. Stick to it, but don't treat it like the end-all be-all plan. Often once you get your business going, you'll find that unexpected opportunities arise. Doors open once you get on your feet. Don't pass by them because your business plan dictates that you continue on a certain path. Instead, carve out some time to explore and evaluate these opportunities to determine if they should become part of (or the new focus of) your business model.

Decide what your business hours are going to be and stick to them. It is easy to overwork, especially as an entrepreneur who's business is in the house. As an entrepreneur, there is always work to be done. Remember that there is life after work and if you don't have a life, get one. On days and weeks where you have to put in extra work, plan an award for yourself (a massage, a day-off, a night out, etc.)

Exercise regularly. Make exercise part of your business routine. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the decisions you have to make. Exercise clears your brain to make decisions and keeps you healthy so you'll have less sick days.

Keep abreast of the industry you are in. Read trade publications, talk to people in the industry, and learn as much as you can. The most informed entrepreneurs are the most successful ones. If you are still talking about the power of CDs in the age of MP3s and DVDs, you're idea is already dead, and your business will be too if you don't stay up-to-date.

Keep a sense of humour. You have made a choice not to punch a timecard or work for someone else. Times are tough and humour is the best recipe for getting through the day. Find the humor in situations and find sources of humour in your life (comics, sitcoms, and funny friends). Stay away from people who complain, whine, or give out negative vibes.

The Visual Experience

When was the last time you really looked at your business?

I mean, really looked at it? What’s the first thing you see when you drive up to the building every morning? What’s the condition of the parking area? How clean is the building exterior? Are there fingerprints and dust on the door handle? What color are the walls? What is the condition of the carpet or floor tiles?

You’ve probably walked through your business so many times that you don’t even notice what it looks like any more. It all starts to look like background. And the only things you do notice are the times when something is not where it was before. It’s the sudden changes that stand out – not the gradual, day to day fading of paint and scuffing of floors.

Marketing is all about collecting information about the people most likely to use your products and services, and then developing strategies to effectively satisfy the emotional needs of these customers and potential customers. These strategies are then used as your guiding force in designing systems for every part of your business that interfaces with your customer. From the first phone call, to taking the initial order, to the design of your products and services, to the way your employees dress and speak, to the appearance of printed material, and yes, even your company name - all of these impact your customer’s emotional experience. Your task is to make all parts of your company’s “touch points” with your customers intentional. All of them must convey a consistent message and a desirable emotional experience for your customers.


Simple things like the shapes and colors you use in your logo, business cards, marketing materials, vehicles, uniforms, packaging, building and grounds, employee dress and personal grooming, and anything else the customer sees can have a profound impact on the decision to buy or not buy. It’s all part of creating an entire buying experience for your customers that meets their needs and expectations.

Something as significant as the colors and shapes you select for your business is not a decision you can make lightly. The most important thing to remember about your colors and shapes is to make sure it evokes a favorable emotional response in the minds of your customers. How do you find that out? As you do your market research, you will learn about the unique characteristics and emotional preferences of your customers. Once you have a good feel for those preferences, you’ll know what kinds of emotions you want to stimulate in their minds. That knowledge will lead you to an effective strategy to position your business in the minds of your customers. And that includes your choice of colors and shapes. A good graphic designer with a background in marketing will know what kinds of colors and shapes appeal to different demographics. When you are selecting colors and shapes for your logo and other materials, be sure to choose something your customers will like, and not what you like or what the designer thinks is “cool.”

Take some time this week to walk through your business as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Notice every color, shape, texture, odor, and sound that exists. Think about how your customers would react if they noticed the same things. What is important to them? You’ll likely see some things that are pleasing to your customers, and some others that are not pleasing. Take lots of notes, and use those notes to plan the changes you want to make. How could you find out about the needs and preferences of your target market? Are there any business organizations specific to your customers? What other sources of information are available to you?

Designing your colors and shapes to appeal to your customers requires time and effort, but it’s worth it. The wrong colors and shapes can drive customers away, and neither you nor they will consciously know why. The right kind of visual experience for your customers will draw them in and make them feel more at ease once they arrive. It’s too important to leave it to chance

Guide to making MEETINGS work

You and your team are busy so REALISE, VISUALISE and CAPITALISE by holding regular meetings.

Meetings are a fundamental tool for travel businesses to help assess what has been happening, what is in progress and what has to be done in the future. Travel businesses need to look at meetings as a necessity to be held week to week....YES EVERY WEEK. No matter how busy you and your team think you are.

The fact is that no matter what your time constraints are you will be even busier without having regular meetings with your team. Without meetings, it can lead to problems with communications, human resources, finance, operations and business growth. 

Meetings work best when they are planned and structured to bring out the best results possible.

Here is a list of 12 tips for making your meetings work:

• Establish a purpose for the meetings
• Define what is going to be covered in the meetings
• Ensure there is a clear agenda of topics to be covered
• Communicate to your team what they need to contribute to the meeting beforehand.
• Make sure you allocate a time and place so that the meeting can happen week to week.
• Give every participant an open voice at the meeting; ensure that you promote quality discussion from participants.
• Make sure everyone takes notes.
• Gather ideas, concerns and brainstorm plans for action to come out of every meeting.
• Topics and ideas that have been discussed in previous meetings need to be highlighted to check progress and ensure they are followed through.
• Ensure you include time for awards, humorous topics and non business relating issues to keep your team motivated.
• Make sure you and your team are on time every time to the meeting.
• Get feedback on how the meetings can be improved week to week.

Take these tips on board to help your travel business run a little smoother and grow a little faster. Meetings will ensure pressing issues get voiced as long as there is the right environment to do so.

So in closing 'don't you have a meeting to get to'

The Golden Hour

You become what you think about most of the time. And the most important part of each day is what you think about at the beginning of that day.

Start Your Day Right

Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.

Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas

This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.

Use Your Quiet Time Effectively

Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.

Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now?

Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.

Practice Daily Visualization

Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.

Fasten Your Seatbelt

Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.

Everything Counts

No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.

Become A Living Magnet

Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.

Action Exercises

Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:

First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.

Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!

9 Keys to Developing Strategic Alliances

Forming key relationships or partnering with other businesses could be the most important thing you do to ensure your success, however, the wrong decision could be a recipe for disaster. To successfully develop worthwhile strategic alliances, consider the following nine keys points:

Select partners carefully

Make sure you attract like minded people with similar values and ethics. Today there are still many 'cowboys' in the marketplace. People who ride into town, with lots of fanfare, making lots of noise and hollow promises. However, if you are looking for a long term relationship with your clients, don't network with the cowboys or you are sure to have a stormy ride. Look at your peers and competitors and identifying those who think like you, run their businesses along the same ethical lines and basically have a good business name.

Be clear on outcomes

• Be as specific as possible. Identify exactly
• how big you want your connection to grow
• The turnover you anticipate
• the number of hours you can commit to the project
• any other commitments that may affect your financial situation
• any fears you may have about the business relationship
• identify exactly how many widgets you want to produce, when and by whom
• how much you can afford to invest and lose, should your partnership fail.

Never assume anything

Many business partnerships fail because of poor communication. Some partners think everything that needs to be discussed is covered once the dollars are finalised but this is far from reality. Clarify everything. Put everything in writing as soon as possible after your meetings. Take notes during the meeting or have the meeting and minutes recorded for you.

Set specific time lines

Many people agree in principal to something and then find that due to prior commitments or unexpected events, they cannot honour their agreement. By setting trial time frames, you can get an idea of your partner's management style, their attention to detail and their investment in the project.

Allow for exit clauses

Better to lose a partner in the early stages, than lose your good name in the marketplace. Sometimes the different styles of management and leadership create disharmony. Something that seemed like a small annoyance may become a huge irritation down the track. For example, you may form a partnership with someone who always runs at least forty minutes late for every meeting. You on the other hand are always ten minutes early,

You may initially laugh this habit away, however, after a few months of being kept waiting, you may not see the humour anymore. You may like to put in place a 'trial time frame' e.g. 'lets review this in 30 days and see how we are travelling. If things are not working out by then, we can dissolve the partnership without any hard feelings'.

This one point will ensure a clean break if one becomes required in the future.

Aim for the WIN-WIN

Brainstorm possible, best and worst case scenarios regarding this strategic alliance. What is the worst thing that can happen and can you cope with that outcome? If you can, then you have absolutely nothing to lose. If you can't cope with that outcome, you may like to review the situation or review the guidelines.

Celebrate your successes

In life, some people are so busy doing, doing, doing, that they forgot to stop and smell the roses. To maintain your and your partners motivation, it's important to record the milestones in your alliance: ie Your first order or contract, your first payment in excess of $X, etc. Acknowledge these wins regularly. If you don't give yourself recognition, why would you expect others to give it to you?

Do your homework

Prepare your business plan, do a SWOT analysis highlighting the positives and the negatives of a joint alliance. Prepare all the information that you consider your potential partner would need to know before they could comfortably make a decision about forming an alliance with you.

Don't be afraid to go for it

And finally, when you have selected your partner to be, make the phone call, send the fax, email, whatever the approach - make contact. Remember, if you never ask the question, the answer is always, no! Ask for six minutes of their time. Talk fast - let your passion and enthusiasm sell your idea. After all, what's the worst thing that can happen - rejection? You can live with that. Remember, they are not rejecting you, they are rejecting your product, service or a specific opportunity. Tomorrow, they may change their mind or better still, they may introduce you to a person they consider to be your ideal strategic alliance partner. If we have courage to face the challenge and make our dreams, goals and targets greater than our fears - we can have whatever we want in life.

Dream big dreams…

Are you addicted to work?

Why are you so busy? Do you really have too much work? Is work so important to you that you'll sacrifice just about anything in your life to get the job done? Even if it's at the expense of your health and your relationships?

If you find these questions disturbing then see how you rate with these ones:

• Do you work more than 50 hours a week?
• Do you dream about work?
• Do you feel that in order to succeed you must work late most of the time?
• Are you a stranger in your own home?
• Do you constantly miss family and social events because you're always working?
• Do you schedule and undertake more than you can get done in a 40-hour work week?
• Do you get bored when you're not working?
• Is missing family and social events because of work unavoidable?
• When on holiday do you constantly check your phone messages and email?


Your Score

The greater the number of yes answers, the closer you are to fitting the profile of a workaholic. If you've answered yes to more than half of the questions, it's time to take stock before you lose your health, family and everything you hold near and dear to your heart.

Do a Stocktake


First, of all take a really good look at your job, what you do and the importance of your accomplishments. Are you appreciated for all those long hours you've put in? Does it really - I mean really - make a difference to your income? Let's face it. In today's economic environment, employees are often nothing more than expendable pawns. No amount of overtime and sacrifice will make a difference when a company has to make cutbacks.

Are You Having Fun?

Secondly, determine if you're having fun at your job, long hours notwithstanding. If you're not having fun and are popping antacids to avoid a stress-related ulcer, then you need to rethink all that hard work you're putting in. Fun must be a high priority in your life and your job should be no exception.

Gary's Story

In one of our coaching sessions, Gary told me he wanted to expand his social circle yet didn't have time because he worked from 7.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. most days. He said he'd been doing this for years and that it was 'the norm' in his profession.

As I continued to question him about why it was standard procedure to work these ridiculous hours, he realised that those colleagues who succumbed to this belief were all very unhappy individuals. Most of them were divorced just like he was and had no-one to go home to. They used work as a way to avoid the loneliness.

Gary was divorced because he didn't pay attention to his relationships. He would arrive home at 7.30 p.m. most nights and his wife wouldn't bother communicating with him. She was busy looking after their two young boys and meeting their needs. At that time of night his wife was putting the kids to bed.

Gary would read them a story if they hadn't already fallen asleep.

He was missing out on everything that was important to him.

Unfortunately Gary didn't wake up to himself in time and got caught up with being 'Mr. Important' at work. He paid a heavy price with the divorce which followed.

Bringing Up Kids

In his book "Raising Boys", Stephen Biddulph categorically states: If you routinely work a fifty five or sixty hour week, including travel times, you just won't cut it as a dad.

He says: Your sons will have problems in life and it will be down to you.

If you seriously want to make changes to your life, then take action now. If it's too hard to do by yourself, get a coach. If you've been a workaholic it can take awhile to break your old habits and to instill new behaviours. After all you've got everything to gain by working less and everything to lose by continuing the way you are.

3 tips to improve your email marketing

Look at your inbox. Chances are that it is packed with emails - all screaming for your attention. So how do you cut through all that clutter and deliver an engaging email that gets opened and produces results. Below are a few tips that will help you do exactly that.

Give subscribers what they want
The most impactful thing you can do to improve your email marketing is to send relevant and interesting emails. When your subscribers know that there is something valuable in your email, your open rates and conversion rates will dramatically increase.

So offer something of value in every email you send, such as industry research, tips and tricks, discounts etc. Not only will this establish your credibility, it will also reduce spam complaints.

Get to know your readers
In order to deliver relevant content, you need to understand what your subscribers care about. If you don't already know the answer, you can find out by conducting online surveys or by asking for specific information on your web forms. 

Once you know what individual readers want, you can segment them into groups based on their interests. This will help you send relevant messages to each person.  

Be consistent
People (and remember, your prospects are people) gravitate toward things that are familiar. Campaigns that have a consistent look and feel will be more effective in helping your prospects absorb information. That's not to say you can't get creative and mix things up, but you should maintain brand standards in design, tone, and personality, and use the same sender name and address throughout your campaigns.

For more information about email marketing, or if you would like to try the fastrack email system for free, visit www.tafastrack.com.au.