1. Never operate as a sole proprietorship. Even if your accountants tells you to “keep it simple” or you are too small to incorporate or you don’t make enough money, don’t listen! You are only receiving one niche of advice from a tax perspective and even it is may be correct from a tax point of view only (because you do not make enough profits to save on SE taxes) you are missing out on the marketing, legal and financial input also. For example, from a marketing point of view you are coming from a point of weakness if you are attempt to position yourself as the owner operator of a sole proprietorship vs the President of your own corporation. Plus you severely limit your ability to gain access to business credit when you do not separate your personal and business credit.
2. Never use the online business checking account balance as the only financial tool to give you feedback on how to run your business. Most people run a small business the same way their run their personal lives, by using their online PERSONAL checking account balance to make personal financial decisions. There is no comprehensive personal budget. Your business should have a tax and bookkeeping system with update software to tell you exactly where your profit and loss is at (even if you have not made a sale). Ask yourself, are you running a real business or just a hobby?
3. Separate your personal and business credit. This is an absolute must in today’s tight credit markets. This involves learning how to manage your business vendor and cash lines of credit, your personal credit score and working with D&B® and Corporate Experian® to develop a business credit profile quickly. Otherwise, your business may stand “financially naked” in front of the world with our you knowing it. How much business will that cost you? Can you afford not to master this subject?
4. Master the leverage of joint ventures to grow your business. You must learn the highest form of leverage to bring in clients at the lowest cost to keep you in business the first 3-6 months in business. Bring in new customers or clients are very expensive unless you know how to leverage properly other people’s money and get them to properly endorse you to their list. Most small business owners run out and place ads to attract new customers and wonder why they run out of money within 90 days. Study this subject. Learn the tools you must have to leverage other people’s money to grow!
   
5. Find a company that can provide a turnkey solution to help you start you business so you can focus on making a profit. After all, making a profit is the #1 reason to start a business. If you spend 14 hours per day attempting to do everything on your own to save a few dollars, you may quickly find yourself out of business because you had no time to acquire new clients or customers to grow your business.

About the Author:

Scott Letourneau is the founder and CEO of Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc. Over the past 13 years NCP has assisted more than 5,500 business owners form LLCs and corporations to get their business off to a fast start to profits™! Questions? Call NCP at 1-888-627-7007. www.nvinc.com

When it comes to growing your internet business, new tools and resources are available all the time. What I will tell you up front is that the majority are looking for the latest technology, graphics, or tools to help make more money online. Many times it is not the cool new tools or strategies, it comes down to the basic fundamentals for success. First, let’s address a few of the fundamentals to improve your results: That is the ability to sell in print. If your headlines, subheadlines and copy are ineffective, no mater how good your videos or graphics are you will get little or no results. Find a great copywriter and buy their books or programs, such as Bill Glazer, Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, John , Mike Dillard and many others. Invest in tools and resources to improve this skill. Even if you outsource your writing, the better you have a basic knowledge the better.

Model the best websites that convert at the highest level. Notice how they set up their headlines, subhead lines, the color and font they use. The spacing of the lines. What does the copy say on the opt in button to get your free report or videos. When I say model, model exactly. Most of your websites do not look like the pros. An opt in page to build your list. Many call it a landing page. Your goal is to always build your list. You probably opt in less and less frequently when on others websites because you do not want to be blasted with emails.

Advanced Internet Strategies to Grow Your Business! You must be more and more compelling and add more value before someone will even part with their email address these days much less do business with you. Here is a great example of a powerful opt in page, and leading to another opt in page for a book being promoted by Harvey Mackay: I noticed on this link, how Alex Mandossian’s audio played to get people to opt in for the book offer for Harvey MacKay. http://footinthedoorbooktour.com/ It is brilliant how he directs you to opt in, refer a friend, and print out the page…all little distinctions that can add to building your list. These are tools you can copy, all which effects the results. Once you opt in notice the great video by Harvey Mackay and how he lays out the bonuses you will
see on the other side. It is very hard to resist opting in. You want to have a similar standard for your website, a similar pattern.

It’s becoming harder and harder to bring traffic to your website. All the search engines are much competitive and flooded with new websites every day. Quality traffic to your niche market is key to your success. The first lesson: Are you marketing to a niche market? If your key words are broad that may be the reason you are not converting or making any money. Here are the big four: Videos that teach, add value and give strategies are very good for traffic. You can go to individual sites like YouTube or engage a service like Traffic Geyser to do it for you. If you feel uncomfortable being on video, do a Camtasia video on your screen or a PowerPoint video to teach. Go to Google, click on videos and search “Scott Letourneau” you will find examples of how to do PowerPoint videos. Articles. It’s best to write your own. Write 1-2 a week and submit through ezine articles or article marketer.com which will get them out to many sites. You must have a great headline, teach in the article and have a great offer to go to your web link in the Johnson box (the end after your article). Most get too busy and do not submit articles on a weekly basis. This is imperative to your long term traffic strategies.

Joint Ventures. This is the most powerful marketing strategy available today. Imagine someone promoting you to their data base where they have invested millions of dollars to acquire clients at no cost to you. The key is to offer value and have the tools in place to help someone else make more money first, increase their conversions first…This means you have to ask better questions and offer solutions to help conversions. You need to have an outline in case they want to interview you, a bio ready, an email to send to their list and questions to ask you. You must make it simple. Several times per year I have the pleasure of speaking at the World Internet Summit along with many of the top internet marketers in the world. I get exposed to many discussions and conversations as to what is working and what is not working. There are two sides to that. What you the consumer want to buy and what is working in their business. They are related in many ways. Just to be clear up front, a large part of your success is to be very honest with what your customer wants or needs. There is a very important pattern in selling. Most people are poor because they want to buy simple solutions to complex problems. Rich people realize there are complex solutions to complex problems.

Scott Letourneau is the founder and CEO of Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc. Over the past 13 years NCP has assisted more than 5,000 business owners form LLCs and corporations to get their business off to a fast start to profits™! Questions? Call NCP at 1-888-627-7007. www.nvinc.com

Go to http://www.TheUltimateJointVentureBootCamp.com to find out how you can master this ultimate form of leverage in Las Vegas on January 29, 30 and 31st!

Join me and my team of trainers and coaches for three business life-changing days in Las Vegas as we mentor you in the most powerful marketing strategy to put massive profits in your business.

Is this event for you?

The Ultimate Joint Venture Boot Camp is a ONE-TIME only event designed to explode your business!

Is your business struggling? Do you need more clients, more sales in your business? What approach will you choose? The most expensive approach; traditional advertising and marketing? ….

If money is tight for you, will you become another statistic? As you know 95% fail within 5 years! You can NOT afford for your marketing action NOT to work. Instead of doing the same old, same old that is NOT working…give yourself, your family and your future a real chance.

Learn a simple and most powerful form of leverage to grow your business, Joint Ventures (strategic alliances and host beneficiary relationships).

When is the last time you took three solid days to master one strategy? Especially one most important to grow your business when money is tight? A couple of years, five years ago, maybe never?

The definition of insanity? You know it! It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results! Step out of your comfort zone and make a decision to invest perhaps the most important three days of your business career at The Ultimate Joint Venture Bootcamp!

Master the highest form of leverage and also rejuvenate yourself and your business so you are not just another sad statistic in 2010!

• Ready for “VERY Advanced System for Joint Venture Training” – We are going where no one has gone before to give you the Joint Venture Blue Print;
• Open to implementing joint venture SYSTEMS…yes, SYSTEMS, for making big money (get ready to pay a lot in taxes in 2011!);
• Accustomed to earning six figures (or even seven figures), or very sincerely interested in doing whatever it takes to get to that level ASAP with less headaches;
• Aware of the New Financial World in which we currently operate, and what you must do differently to excel;
• Absent “conflicting financial beliefs” about generating huge profits for you and your business;
• Eager for “MAXIMUM speed,” changing and adapting, accelerating goal achievement.

Are you Leveraging Your Marketing Dollars? What Does it Really Cost You to Bring in a New Customer? Example: You are doing a direct mail lead generation campaign.  Let’s say the mailing cost you $2,000 per thousand. Let’s say you get a 4% response (actually a very good response with direct mail). That’s 80 leadst. Each one of those leads (not clients yet) cost you $25. Let’s say you convert 10% of your leads to clients. This means you did not convert 90% of your prospects! You actually “wasted” $1,600 on those leads. This of course comes out of profits!

Perhaps you are looking to recoup the money you have already spent on past prospects you could not convert to clients? Would you like to finally get a return on investment for the money already spent and written off as cost of advertising? What if you could do that with very little effort or additionally expense?

Do you think there may be other businesses barely hanging on for dear life, which have spent thousands, if not hundreds of thousands in the past on marketing and have a lot of leads and were not able to convert them to clients and profits for their company? What if you could come in and save the day, and offer to help!

Yes, do a host beneficiary and help them generate profit from their UNCONVERTED leads! Would any company love you for that type of support! Yes! Yes! But one problem, if it comes across as you want to solicit their list of prospects and not add value you will never have that opportunity.

This  is what www.TheUltimateJointVentureBootCamp.com is all about. It’s to help you leverage these opportunities, and teach you how to find them!

There are thousands of business owners, this very minute (you may be one of them) waiting for such an opportunity.

To generate profits from investment already spent, written off and forgotten about. Why ONLY look to spend more money on new lead generation (you should be doing that also)…Why not look to recoup your investment, get a return. Why not be a force to help other business owners in and outside your industry get a return on their investment…a force for good! You can if you approach it properly!

The ultimate form of leverage is the joint venture. There are many definitions and types of joint ventures. One of the most powerful for your business is a host beneficiary joint venture.

This is when another company, the host, will promote you to their clients at no cost to you! In other words, the host may have invested millions over the year to develop their list of clients and now they are willing and happily wanting to endorse you to their list! That makes you the beneficiary in the relationship!

You are adding tremendous value to the host because you may be doing a webinar or teleseminar and providing a great level of education to the host’s clients.

Strategies to Determine if Someone is a Fit for a Joint Venture:

In our case, we do a webinar to educate business owners how to access $150,000 of business credit (both vendor and trade lines of credit).

Now, if you have a list of business owners who are struggling in today’s economy you may be more than happy to have me provide an education webinar on this subject to your list because it adds value!

It makes you look good because you are doing webinars to educate your clients. It still amazes me how many business owners do not educate their clients through teleseminars and webinars.

There is a major bank in Las Vegas that now does monthly webinars to their clients (after I trained them on
the marketing value).

You may get to the point that you have offers every week (like we do-a good problem to have) for a host beneficiary relationship.

The key is to have criteria to determine if someone is a good fit for you to be the host or the beneficiary. It is temping to always be willing to be the beneficiary (heck, at least the host has to email his list to announce your webinar)!

Caution…even being the beneficiary takes time to prepare, especially for a webinar, to adjust your offer, update slides…and if you have 10 people on the webinar, it may not be worth while.

There are many other factors involved. Let me address a few:

Your business as the beneficiary (items you will want to find out):

• How many people will be on the webinar or teleseminar?
• Does the host have webinars or teleseminar regularly?
• Is the host a reputable company? Check them out with the Better Business Bureau, on the internet with Dun and Bradstreet…Keep in mind especially on the internet, any company of any size or length of time in business, is going to have a couple of negative comments online, the key is to find mostly positive items.
• Are you expected to make an offer at the end of your webinar or telseminar? Or are you presentingto the host’s membership group and perhaps they only want a “soft offer” like a free report or consultation to get a hold of you.
• If you are expected to sell, find out what the affiliate split may be. What is the price point their group is used to offering. If you are selling, will the host be providing a link to their shopping cart for the transaction? Are they collecting the money? If so, when do you get paid? Is there a guarantee supposed to be offered? How long is the offer good for?
• Do you have to promote the webinar to your own list? Many times a host will require this because then your list will have to opt into the webinar or telseminar which will help build the host’s list! This is not always the case, but it does come up.

Your Business as a Host:

• What is the product or service the beneficiary wants to offer to your list? Does it add value and it is a fit?
• Check out the host on the internet, Better Business Bureau and look for testimonials on their site for their product or service.
• Does the host often conduct teleseminars or webinars to their list? Do they often communicate to their list? If they do not, odds are the results will not be good.
• What price point is their list used too? What success have they had recently with offerings to their list?
• If you do a teleseminar or webinar does the host want you to make a soft offer for a bonus report or actually a hard offer and make a onetime offer to close on the teleseminar or webinar.
• Find out if they have membership groups you are presenting to vs. their clients or prospects. Many times there is a very different approach.

Strategies to Determine if Someone is a Fit for a Joint Venture with your Business!

• Make sure you make money for the host if sales are required. Make sure you follow up.
• Find out the financial arrangement. If the host is processing the money is there a financial agreement you sign that clearly lays out when you will get paid, the refund policy and expectation on delivery ·
• Who is doing the follow up? Is there a system in place for follow up to help the sales process?

As you can see there are many components to a successful joint venture or host beneficiary relationship.  The more you can automate this process and make it turnkey the more leverage you will receive and profits to your business.

Go to www.TheUltimateJointVentureBootCamp.com to find out how you can master this ultimate form of leverage in Las Vegas on January 29, 30 and 31st!