What is Motivation? Is It a Part of Your Success?

Motivation is the reason for people’s actions, desires and needs. It is the reason you act a certain way or the cause behind repeating certain behaviors and actions.

Here’s the official definition, according to Dictionary.com:

1. The act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way:

I don’t understand what her motivation was for quitting her job.

2. The state or condition of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something:

We know that these students have strong motivation to learn.

3. Something that motivates; inducement; incentive:

Clearly, the company’s long-term motivation is profit.

Motivation means the inspiration behind the behavior, to induce by persuading or influencing, to cause you to do something, or the impetus or driving force behind doing something.

If you’re like most people, you’ve been told you need to get motivated in order do something. It could be your mom telling you to get a job in high school or your friends in college encouraging you to get motivated to study. Or even telling yourself to get motivated to follow your passion and start a business.

Motivation is often your WHY. It’s why you do something. It’s the reason behind the goal. Your motivation can be very high the entire time you are reaching for a goal or it can wane and keep you stuck. But when you hit a slump, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. You can get motivated again.

Is motivation something you naturally have or is it something that you have to learn? It’s both. At birth you are motivated to be cared for, fed, dry and held. You are motivated to learn to talk, walk and become an independent individual. As we get older motivation often comes from something we desire such getting in shape so we feel more desirable or to master certain skills to obtain our dream job.

Why We Need Motivation

Sometimes it’s hard to get started or hard to continue when we are reaching for a goal. It can often be hard to reach the finish line. But no matter what stage you’re at, you need motivation to complete it.

Motivation is important for a variety of reasons.

• It’s what gets things started. Without it anything you choose to do takes more effort and will end up being less successful. Without it you might not even get started on what you choose to do. Motivation is the desire to start and work towards an end goal with the right attitude to be successful.
• Motivation fuels you to continue. It keeps you going. You have to nurture your motivation, sometime reevaluating what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. But as long as you keep your motivation strong, you will succeed.
• Motivation can keep you going when things get difficult, expensive or complications occur.
• Motivation can change. Your reason for accomplishing your goal might change as you go along. Maybe you started out with one reason but it changes halfway through or even again at the end.
• Motivation keeps you going. When you have a long way to go you can get tired, burnt out or disappointed along the way. But by having a strong motivating factor you can keep going and know it will be worth it in the end.

Motivation can be many different things to different people. Having more money is a motivation. Improving your health is an excellent motivation. Improving your lifestyle for your family or even starting or expanding your business can both be great motivational factors. No matter what your motivating factor is it’s important to remember to keep your momentum and motivation high and fresh.

What is motivation for you and helps you to achieve success?

Get Motivated for Success

An entrepreneurs work is never done. If you are anything like me, you have a list a mile long of things that you want, need, and intend to do in your personal life and for your business. These things keep piling up over time waiting for when you are less busy, less tired, have more money, and so forth. We often put off doing the very things we know will make us happier, healthier and more in tune with ourselves. Entrepreneurs in particular seem to have ongoing issues with accomplishing tasks that will grow their businesses more quickly.

If you’re tired of putting off the things you want to accomplish that will make you happier and healthier, the following 10 ideas can help you get motivated and make the changes you want in your life.

1. Act as if something is already true. For example, is your goal to get healthier? Then each day, pop out of bed, immediately get dressed in your workout clothes and head out for some form of exercise. This trick puts you in the right mindset and gives you a mental boost. If your goal is to build your list, do one small thing every single day to get you closer to having a list the size that you are working towards.
2. Visualize. Use images to focus on what succeeding at your goal looks like. Images are often how the brain remembers things and it works better than words. Use pictures of motivating quotes and pictures of the end result that you’re trying to accomplish. I like to visualize people opening my emails and reading my blog posts in anticipation of what I have to share with them.
3. If weight loss or improved health is your goal, take a before picture of yourself. Looking at this image often can keep you moving forward. Put the image on your screensaver as a reminder of why you want to change.
4. Use post-it notes everywhere to remind you of your mission and goals. Use them to stay motivated about why you are doing something. Of course, you can apply this concept electronically by including a motivational quote in your email or social media signature. Use this same concept to stay motivated by recording your recent accomplishments.
5. Make a “me” list of the three new behaviors, traits or qualities you like about yourself every day. It has to be new; don’t repeat anything previously written down. The purpose of doing this is to force your mind into the habit of finding the positive. My new behaviors have included using PLR as a source of new content, finding new sites where I can publish this content, and asking my current readers to share what I am doing with their own circles of influence.
6. Get an accountability partner. This works especially well if you like to please others more than yourself. Think about it. How many promises have you made to yourself, then just as quickly broken them? Now how many have you made to someone else and kept them? Having a mentor to guide you and keep on your case is an effective way to keep motivated.
7. Create a list of motivations. Write down people, places and emotions that you experience and encounter that have a positive effect on you. This can keep you motivated by extending the positive feeling you get when surrounded by these people and things, making you want to keep going.
8. Create a list of defined, specific goals. Motivation needs a target. It’s hard to get motivated with vague, undefined goals (lose weight). Break them down into smaller goals that you can take bites out of regularly, like walk 2 miles a day or write a new blog post once a week.
9. Organize your goal by what’s most important to you. Which goals would you be motivated the most to accomplish? Are those goals attainable based on your current available time, financial status and other resources? Focus on the goal that needs to happen first before moving to the next level. Sometimes your goals will build off each other.
10. Focus on improving only one or two areas at a time to prevent you from feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelm can quickly squash your motivation. Being overwhelmed can tempt you to abandon your goals because they seem too far out of reach. Make a list of actionable steps to take toward your goal by creating a to-do list of daily tasks or objectives that need to be accomplished.

I have found that writing down everything I wish to accomplish is the best way for me to get motivated for success. What are some strategies you have developed to help you get motivated?

Shel Horowitz is someone I have admired for many years. I love how he introduces himself on his Wikipedia page…”an American author, international speaker, and marketing consultant. He has been an early and consistent popularizer of the idea that businesses can succeed by embracing principles of honesty, integrity, and environmental responsibility. More recently, he has been an active proponent of the role of business in turning hunger and poverty into sufficiency, war into peace, and catastrophic climate change into planetary balance while making a profit“. I had the opportunity to speak with him as a part of my podcast series and I know you will learn much from the conversation that transpired.

We discussed the importance of sustaining a green business, something most of us do not think about on a daily basis. I shared that I seldom use a printer in my online business, and Shel commented on how he is now getting away from printing as well. This began our discussion on topics of interest and concern to everyone on the planet.

Shel’s mother was a civil rights worker in New York during the 1950s, and he was born into an environment where activism and the idea that people can and should make a difference was both accepted and encouraged. His first unofficial activism came around the age of three out of a need for self-preservation. You must listen to the replay to hear all of the details.

He began as a freelance writer and editor and this led to a business of writing for others. He now helps people think about their marketing strategically and consults with businesses on how they can make the world better while still making a profit. He and his wife, the novelist D. Dina Friedman live in a solarized farm house in Massachusetts that was built in 1743.

I asked Shel how entrepreneurs can get involved and be more aware of keeping our planet healthy. He shared his thoughts on how we can all do simple things each day, such as batching your errands and choosing to ride a bicycle or walk once in awhile that will make a huge difference for decades to come.

Shel has written a number of books and has a new one coming out soon. Visit his sites and check out his books that are available on Amazon here. And if you order a book directly from him, Shel will be happy to autograph it to you personally.

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Strategies or Tactics?

In my latest podcast I discuss the importance of strategies over tactics as you build your online business. The examples I shared were based on my recent post on Business Strategies and Tactics that you will want to read and comment on as you continue your study of entrepreneurship. I see too many people getting bogged down with the tedious activities that could easily be accomplished by outsourcing or delegating them to others. It’s important to plan your strategy and then decide which of the tactics you will need to execute personally to make the best use of your time. Here are some comparisons and differences between strategies and tactics…

• Future Goals…Immediate Needs
• Planning…Doing
• What Can Be…What Is
• Large Scale…Smaller Scale
• Big Picture…Day to Day
• Why You Do Something…How You Do It
• Your Specific Goal…Your Plan for Attaining the Goal
• You must do it…Easy to outsource or delegate

My latest book is about the strategy that continues to work well for me and for many of my more active students. It is titled Book. Blog. Broadcast: The Trifecta of Entrepreneurial Success. Check out my published book titles here.

During this podcast I also discuss how information products play a huge part in my overall business plan as an online entrepreneur. I no longer teach my own course on this topic and prefer to recommend a new training from Alice Seba and Ron Douglas called Info Product Mastery. I was one of the first to enroll when they opened the virtual doors and can’t wait to up my game in this area. Having information products on a variety of topics available for sale 24/7/365 makes it possible for you to earn while you sleep, play, and spend time doing the things you love.

These open calls are your opportunity to connect with me and ask me your most burning questions when it comes to online marketing and entrepreneurship. Be sure to read my regular emails so that you may take advantage of this live mentoring as you build your online business.

I have also introduced a new feature during these calls. I will always have the latest course or program at my Surprise! link. Check it out and see what I am recommending this week.

Are you already a part my list community and receiving my daily email updates? If not, please give me your first name and primary email address in the form on the right-hand side of this site. If you are brand new to my podcasts, you will be interested to know that this specific training call, as well as all of the calls in my podcast series is intended to teach you and other new online entrepreneurs how to take your business to the next level quickly and effectively, and as a way for me to share my exact methods, techniques, Case Studies, secrets, and advice on creating a profitable and lucrative online business using the ‘multiple income streams’ approach. People on six continents have now discovered that starting an Internet business is the very fastest way to achieve both time and financial freedom, as well as to great success in all areas of your life, and you need help to get there quickly. That’s why I started this online marketing tips podcast for my community.

You will see that each podcast session is first recorded live as a teleseminar, and then repurposed into a podcast to extend my reach to the world. Please join my list (opt in on the right) to be included on these calls, and be sure to introduce yourself and share your site for optimal exposure for years to come! Also, check out my Podcast Show Notes site to see how you can subscribe at no cost to both of my podcasts, and please leave me a review on one or both of them if you are so inclined.

Want to get started earning income online right away? You may now pick up my popular training on winning affiliate contests and other online marketing tips for only seven dollars at Affiliate Contest Secrets. Use the discount code CONTEST to bring the price down to $7. This training has been completely updated for 2015 with the latest information, strategies, and Case Studies for you to use in your own business.

Please be sure to leave your comments below so that I may get to know you better and to serve you as you continue your journey as an online entrepreneur. Getting started with an online business will change your life forever and your success is my reward!

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You may have heard the phrase “list building” as it pertains to starting an online business. First, allow me to explain exactly what listing building is. Your list consists of the first names and email addresses of the people who have come to you to learn more about your niche topic. If you have experience in the offline world, the list would be referred to as the database of your prospects, customers, and clients. By filling in their contact information in the subscription form you have set up on your blog or website, these visitors have given you permission to send their email messages about the products and services you have to offer until they choose to unsubscribe and opt out of your list at some point in the future. This is “permission based marketing” in accordance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, signed into law by then President George W. Bush.

The importance of building this list (and by “building” I mean both growing the number of subscribers as well as serving those already subscribed) every day cannot be overstated. When you have the ability to stay in contact and to communicate with your prospects, and eventually with your customers you are truly leveraging the power of the internet. Whether I am sending out an email to them while sitting on a bench near the beach in Santa Barbara or writing to them from an internet cafe in Amsterdam, the result is the same; almost instantaneous communication with the people in my global community.

If you take the time and make the effort to place the activity of list building at the top of your to-do list of tasks to accomplish for your online business each day, you will be rewarded with both personal and financial satisfaction for many years to come. Also, you will have your finger on the pulse of what is truly important to your prospects as they communicate back to you as to what they want and need from you in regards to your topic.

By now you may be asking how you can best go about building your existing list. I’ll share a few ideas with you that continue to work well for me and for my students. Here are some to get you started:

• Offer a free giveaway, also referred to as an “ethical bribe” that is irresistible. What information do you possess on your topic that will be seen as highly desirable and a must-have by your readers? Observe your own behavior as you surf the internet in search of excellent information on topics of interest to you; when you come across someone’s site that you are not yet familiar with and who has not been recommended to you as a source of information, how does their free report or other giveaway make you feel about exchanging your name and email address in order to receive it?
• Share your blog posts far and wide. Social media works extremely well for this purpose. I like to manually share my posts on my Facebook wall and within the groups I manage or are a part of, as well as on LinkedIn and Twitter. I also use a blog post sharing site called Just Retweet to submit my posts to be shared by fellow bloggers in my own or in complimentary niches.
• Send a short description of your post, and the link to it (known as the perma-link) to your list and contacts. No matter how large your list grows, it is always a smart idea to remind them that you are still actively blogging on your topic.
• Repurpose everything you write and speak about into new blog posts and more. I may record an audio training (my Ask Connie Anything calls become new podcasts regularly) and turn that into a post, or combine several posts on the same topic together to create a short report. If I am speaking at my own or someone else’s event, even my PowerPoint presentation becomes the basis of many new posts over time.

As you can see, building a list through writing and sharing information and ideas on your topic on your WordPress blog and elsewhere is an excellent marketing strategy for online entrepreneurs.

Business Strategies and Tactics

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners do not spend much, if any time planning for their business success. The biggest reason, in my opinion, is that they are not aware how easy this can be when they are willing to take the time and make the effort to plan out what they wish to achieve. Most people, when they hear the words Strategic Planning or Tactical Planning, get a glazed-over look on their faces. Actually, these can be rather simple tasks to manage if you understand a few things about them.

Over the past ten years I have worked personally with hundreds of people as they build and grow their online businesses. Time and again I see that many of these online entrepreneurs tend to remain focused on the tactics of what needs to be done rather than concentrating on the strategies needed in order to be successful.

I define strategies as higher thinking plans and goals and tactics as the tasks you do in order to achieve them. In other words, your strategies allow you to expand over time, whereas your tactics are ones that can be accomplished by delegating to others many times. Focus on strategy and you will not get bogged down with the details.

Some of the Differences Between Strategy and Tactics…

• Future Goals…Immediate Needs
• Planning…Doing
• What Can Be…What Is
• Large Scale…Smaller Scale
• Big Picture…Day to Day
• Why You Do Something…How You Do It
• Your Specific Goal…Your Plan for Attaining the Goal
• You must do it…Easy to outsource or delegate

Strategies and tactics must work in tandem, as without that approach your business cannot efficiently achieve goals.  If you have strategy without tactics you have big thinkers and no action. If you have tactics without strategy, you have disorder.

Business people will use  the term “strategy” to describe the organization’s topmost goal in its marketplace, whether the organization is a start-up company, a huge multinational firm, a university or an online business. Without a clear strategy it may be next to impossible to create and sustain a business that will meet your goals and expectations over time.

What is your strategy for taking your business to the next level as an online entrepreneur? What are some of the tactics that will get you there in record time?

Here are 10 easy, free, or inexpensive, traffic techniques you can use right now.

Traffic to your website will evolve as you create and perfect each of the ten ideas below. They are not in any particular order. You can choose which one you want to focus on, but pay close attention to the sections that mention anything to do with content. One of your best marketing techniques comes with content on your website, and within email marketing.

• SEO

Search Engine Optimization involves using strategies and methods to ensure that your website is most attractive to your target audience. SEO includes everything you put on your webpage, and anything you do off your webpage to help improve your page rank and ultimately get more traffic. Technically, it includes all activities that are free and not paid advertisements. This is called, on page SEO and off page SEO.

On Page SEO

Any type of process that will improve page rank and traffic that is performed on the pages of your website, such as adding content, using specific keywords in the content, using keyword tags, titles, subtitles and more is on page SEO.

10 Tips to Improve On-Page SEO

One thing you can do today to immediately improve and drive traffic, is to improve your on page SEO. When embarking on any SEO strategy remember that what works today may not work tomorrow. It’s imperative to keep up-to-date on SEO strategy so that you can keep your websites updated and attracting the freest traffic from search engines possible.

• Improve URL Structure – If you use WordPress this is easy to do, you just have to set it up right. Choose the structure that makes your URL shorter, rather than longer, using words that describe the pages topic. If it’s a keyword, that’s even better. When you choose a URL structure, ensure that as your site grows you’ll easily be able to organize the pages.

• Optimize Page Titles, Headings – A page title is usually also the URL, although it is suggested that if a title is long, you should shorten the URL. Also, within any page you will have headings, subheadings and more that are all opportunities to use keywords and descriptive words that will help search engines find you and locate your website.

• Use Keywords Thoughtfully – When you use keywords, it’s important to understand that you don’t want to overdo it. In the old days, this was called “keyword stuffing”. On any page of your site, whether it’s a page, or a blog post, you do not want to have more than a 2 percent keyword density. That means for every 100 words, you do not want more than 2 of any one keyword for which you’re trying to rank.

• Use Images Properly – When you use an image be sure to use only images that truly bring your information to life. Also, don’t put them where H1 header information goes, which should always be text. In addition, fill out the “alt” information for the image in a descriptive format. Instead of adding “flowers”, state the name of the flowers and explain why that image is important. What does it demonstrate?

• ALT Text and Tags Still Matter – As mentioned above “alt” text serves a purpose. Many people will say they don’t really matter anymore but the truth is that they do matter, for a variety of reasons. Two reasons include the disabled people, who may come to your site, and search engines use that information to rank your website.

• Use Internal Links – Linking to other relevant information on your website under blog posts, and under any information you share is a good way to help search engines find more relevant information but it’s also a great way to keep people on your site longer, both of these things help your site rank higher.

• Blog & Add Content Often – The content you create needs to be laser focused and targeted toward your audience. It also needs to be added regularly and consistently over time so that your website is being updated often which will cause the search engines to crawl your website more often, improve your authority, and also keep your audience interested.

• Make Your Website Responsive – Starting in April of 2015 Google decided that they would rank responsive websites higher than those that are not. A responsive website works on any type of device that your audience may use to access your website such as a smart phone or tablet. If you use WordPress, you can easily use a responsive theme to accomplish this.

• Improve Your Website’s Speed – If you use a self-hosted WordPress site, you can make your page-load fast. Ensure that it loads in less than 3 seconds for the best ranking, and use by your audience. You may need to talk to your web designer to accomplish this as it’s a little more advanced.

• Secure Your Website – Setting up your website so that your URL starts in HTTPS instead of just HTTP you can immediately get a higher ranking, and offer your users a much safer experience because it’s all about security. Just realizes that the S stands for security. The way you get this is to get an SSL certificate for your website, which is something you purchase from your hosting.

You don’t have to do everything mentioned above, do the ones that you can, the ones that you understand, and save the more advanced issues for later. Remember, having a website up and done is better than waiting until everything is perfect. You can improve as you go.

SEO is an important component in the strategies and tactics you use to improve the traffic coming to your website. Using one or all of these ideas will improve traffic exponentially. But, one thing to remember is that getting traffic is to your website and online marketing is a “long game” meaning this is something you’re going to do long-term. Overnight success is rare, but with persistence and a plan, you will have success eventually.

• Content Marketing

Content marketing is both an on page and off page SEO tactic. Creating and promoting blog posts, social media posts, videos, infographics, and memes are all great ways to improve traffic to your website. Within content marketing there is also email marketing. Email is a form of content and is a fabulous way to promote anything you do including posting a new blog post because you have the permission of your audience to do so.

It’s important to create a well thought out content marketing strategy before you even begin to think of any other type of marketing outside of the things mentioned regarding improving on and off page SEO.

Understanding your ideal customer’s buying stages will do wonders for helping you create an abundance of content that get results. You’ll need content for all aspects of your product funnel for at least two or three types of audience members that you have. Some people call these “buyer personas”.

The content you create will come in a few general categories:

Awareness – You’ll want to educate your audience and create buzz so that they know you exist. You might create a book, cheat sheets, checklists, “how to” content, or host a webinar. These things are all designed to educate the audience about your existence.

Evaluation /Consideration – Once your audience knows you exist they’re going to compare you to others. This is why you should go out of your way to learn as much as you can about both your audience and your competition. Providing case studies, an FAQ, demo videos, webinars, and even a free sample is a great way to allow your customer to evaluate your offerings.

Decision / Purchase – To get your audience member to purchase your product, you may need to provide a live demo, consultations; price estimates (services) or even a coupon or free trial. To the entire product so that they can finally choose your product or service over someone else’s, the trick is to reduce their perceived risk level.

As you consider the types of content you will need to create for each of your potential client personas, plus for all stages of the buying cycle, it’ll be hard not to think of tons of content ideas. The last two areas of the buying cycle should also be included such as finding your audience and turning them into advocates.

• Get Published

Even before the Internet, a way to prove authority and get some credibility behind you was getting published. Today, it’s far easier to get published than ever before. You can publish yourself right on Kindle easily. You can easily use Create Space to publish a print version of your book too.

There are a lot of opinions about this. Old school people are horrified at the ease of entry into the publishing world. But smart markers know the advantages of getting published with or without a publisher. Plus you can even earn extra money in the process and you don’t need anything special at all to publish on Kindle. Just use MS Word and follow the detailed instructions for formatting, and you’re good to go.

Include Hyperlinks – In your Kindle Book, include hyperlinks to products you recommend and your page. These links will direct people to your page. Note: Be sure your website is responsive so they can actually view the info. Tip: Include the links as hyperlinks and as easy to remember links too so, they can get to them on their computer if they want.

Provide Extras – Kindle books are so great because you can put links, which allows you to provide extras that print books can’t. For example, you can link to a video, or link to a special download page with worksheets, cheat sheets and other important information for your audience to use. Tip: This is a great opportunity to collect their email address to add them to your email list.

Getting published does not take a publisher, or anything but the ability to write about 5,000 to 10,000 words that make sense and help your audience in some way. What’s more, if you wanted you could outsource that task to someone else.

• Comment Marketing

There are numerous discussions going on in forums, blogs, and on social media networks like LinkedIn. Join communities and start commenting. Make sure your comments are well thought out and that your profile is fully completed and accurate. As mentioned before, you can set up a Google Alert to notify you of any discussions anyplace that you might want to comment on.

• Be a Guest

Guest blogging, interviewing, speaking, and other actions can help you get traffic to your website because people like doing business with people they feel are trustworthy. Being invited to guest blog, do an interview, or speak can be a sign that you know what you’re talking about and further establish you as an expert. A good place to start is to become a case study for someone else. Many people who sell products ask for referrals and case studies. If you’ve been successful, shout it out to the world.

• Do Reviews

Writing reviews for products you’ve purchased is a great way to recommend products to your audience but also a good way to get the attention of movers and shakers within your niche. The more you can associate your name with their name, even in something like a product review you look more like an expert and people will want to know more and click through to your website. You can also post reviews on your own website as another form of content.

• Webinars

Hosting and participating in webinars is an excellent way to build your email list, and get people visiting your website if you set up things right. Remember that you want to send traffic to your site so each time you mention the webinar, like directly to your site first where they can find more info about singing up, not the webinar site.

• Contests & Freebie Giveaways

Hosting and participating in contests is a great way to get links to your site and up the buzz about your products and services. You can design contests in a lot of ways, but the important thing is to make the prize something only your audience would want, not something the public would want.

• Paid Traffic

There are a lot of types of paid traffic that you can use to improve your business, but the two that you’ll want to look into are pay per click, and banner ads. You can start a highly targeted Facebook PPC campaign and run banner ads with the keywords you select with Google AdWords. Don’t attempt this until you’ve done everything else.

• Joint Ventures

A JV is where two or more people who market to the same audience non-competing products and services join forces on a small project. For example, let’s say you have a new book you want to promote via webinar. You can invite other people to join in who have products that would appeal to that audience to make the webinar more beneficial to your audience.

Marketing for Non-Profits

Recently someone asked me how he could help the charities and service organizations here in town to get more awareness as to the causes and projects they are involved in, both locally and throughout the world. I am uniquely qualified to answer this question due to the work I continue to do in this area.

First, you will want to sit down with someone who represents the group you wish to help to make sure you are both on the same page. The first step in any proactive marketing plan is to assess the current state of marketing at the organization. Take a step back and discover what’s actually occurring — or not occurring — at your nonprofit. When I have done this with Rotary, for example, it was the current year’s president that I talked to first to get a feel for what is already in place. This gives you both an opportunity to discuss exactly what they would like for you to do. For two years in a row I got the word out about our annual luau fundraiser, while at other times I was sharing the overall message of the group.

Once you have established rapport with this person, take the time to meet with their entire board at the next meeting. Typically these are held monthly and you may ask to be put on the agenda to say a few words about what you will be doing. Listen carefully so that you will be aware of the people and the issues that are important to them around the help you will be providing.

Next, spend the time to learn more about the Mission and Vision of the group you will be assisting. This is usually available on their website, or in written materials they can provide for you to read. When I helped a non-profit that is involved in providing eyeglasses and eye surgery to people in third world countries as well as in the United States, I learned much about what they hope to achieve overall, both now and in the future. This made it much easier for me to craft some marketing materials that would make sense for both their immediate and long-term goals.

I also like to put in some volunteer hours with a group I know little about. Working side by side with others who are interested in the cause will help inform you as to how they can best be served. Ask two volunteers and two staff members, “What does our organization do?  How are we different?” Recently I did this with a group that serves families living with a child who has cancer. Spending time with some of the parents, children, other volunteers, office staff, and board members gave me valuable insight into what needed to be accomplished.

Look at what they are already doing and have in place. This may include:

• Organizational website
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and so forth)
• Paid advertising (Facebook ads, Google AdWords, print or online banner ads)
• Unpaid placements (Public Service Announcements)
• Communications (newsletter, e-newsletter, direct mail)
• Special events, Fundraisers, etc.
• Brochures and other printed publications

Finally, take the work you will do for charities very seriously. Even though it is typically not a paid position, you will want to give this work your best efforts so that everyone involved can see your dedication and commitment to the cause. Having a strong work ethic is also important, as that tells the world you care. This type of work may also lead to offers of paid positions, speaking engagements, and more over time. Even though these are “not for profit” organizations, the rules of business and marketing will still apply. Having someone like you work closely on their behalf will make a huge impact on everyone involved.

Becoming the “face” of the organization you are helping will make a difference for you within your community. I am regularly approached by strangers while out walking or shopping who have met me during a charity event for one group or another. This then affords me the opportunity to talk even more about the great work that group is doing.

You will learn so much about business, marketing, and public relations by helping groups to get the word out to the community. Use this as an opportunity to reach your own goals, and know that a win-win is always the best outcome.

Ask for help, stay focused and committed to the Mission of the non-profit, and stay in close communication with the group’s leaders. This could be the first step in making a name for yourself in your community that can spill over into what you are doing in your own business. Showing leadership skills and the willingness to take on challenges will serve you well for years to come.