Allright.. I am back from Las Vegas after a very successful event, The 2007 Authority Summit. We had more than hundred people at the event, and some big name speakers, including Howie Schwartz, Mike Filsaime, Dave Lakhani, David Bullock, Mike Stewart and Elsom Eldridge. It was a fantastic event, if I do say so myself. This was the first large scale conference I ever organized and it went very well. In fact, I've been invited to organize two more live events next year.

We learned some fantastic new strategies for dominating the web; I'll be sharing more of these over the next few weeks. I just wanted to pop in and say hello as it's been while since I wrote you. I'm back in my office now and ready to share some very cool strategies for getting more traffic to your website, including topics such as viral marketing, conversation domination, and bending the web.

David Bullock gave a phenomenal presentation on the importance of tracking. My favorite phrase of his: traffic plus tracking equals transactions. Mike Stewart's presentation was on using Audio and Video in Wordpress- he made it so simple and easy that I can't wait to try it out on this site.

One of the biggest reminders I got from the Summit was about the concept of leverage. The event reminded me about using all the contacts, all the influence, and all the connections I possibly can to promote my message and my business. I have spent many years waiting to be invited to the table; I determined recently that I need to step up and not wait to be asked.

I think this is such an important lesson for all of us entrepreneurs, as we might be missing out on powerful points of leverage because we wait to be asked instead of stepping up to claim.

What about you? What in your business could you step up and claim?

What would you gain by doing so?

To read more about the Authority Summit, visit Jack Humphrey's blog

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Part of being successful in business is being able to make profitable connections. I think about this as being related to deliberately crafting opportunities to meet new people, and, also, taking the opportunities as they arise.

Building profitable connections means that you meet people who enrich your life and your business (remember, these are connected!) as you do the same for them.

Building profitable connections allows you to find people who can help you reach your goals, as you help them reach theirs.

If your business could use a boost, start by improving the quality of your personal and professional connections. Aside from the new ideas and new opportunities, this could also lead to some new profits.

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If you, like me, work primarily virtually (meaning by web, telephone and email), you may be missing out on some opportunities to make profitable connections. I realize, more and more often, that having partners or connections is vital to our success as small business owners.

I can't tell you how many hours I've wasted trying to figure something out when I couldn't find anyone to ask. Some of the emails I get point to frustration in terms of how much work it takes to build a successful business, both on and offline.

Since the hallmarks of Web 2.0 are community and interactivity, I decided to do something about the isolation we all occasionally feel. 

I've decided to offer a forum on this site. My intentions for this would be that the forum becomes a place to meet each other, ask questions, and make profitable connections.

If you visit: http://www.SalesandMarketingCoach.com/forum, you'll find a brand new forum just waiting to be posted on. This forum will be available for your use- whether you want to ask a question, or when you have some wisdom to share.

One of the best elements of this forum is that I've opened up a section to allow you post for services you want, and services you offer. My hope is to make this a valuable source of new referrals into, and out from, your business. No more struggling to find the best help- it will all (eventually) be right here.

I know it can be awkward to start up conversations, but I hope you'll at least register and say hello. It may take a little bit of time to get going, but I think the benefits will be great- for all of us.

See you there! 

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To gain the most leverage, you want to find ways to automate the more routine tasks of your business. Yes, you can- and probably should- outsource these…but, after a time, even these tasks will become too routine for your assistant, and his/her time will be better spent in other ways. Your answer? Find ways to automate these super-routine tasks. If you fulfill a lot of product orders, see if there are ways to streamline the process so it can run with well without too much human intervention. If you find yourself answering the same kinds of questions over and over, consider turning these into a "frequently asked questions" page (FAQ), a streaming audio presentation, or even a CD & manual. I use a phone service which automatically emails my phone messages to me. This saves me the time and hassle of having to go into the messaging system- I can just click and listen from my computer. In my voicemail, I may refer people to my website- inviting them to email me for fastest response. This saves me time in talking on the phone. I also have a FAQ sheet for new clients which keeps me from having to repeat the same procedures and logistical information over and over. How about you? How can you automate your business processes even further so you can create more leverage?

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Just having returned from the ocean and all the accompanying sand, surf, and sun… as well as the sales on t-shirts, towels… and the yummy funnel cake, ice cream and popcorn available for sale on the boardwalk… I'm reminded of the importance of repetition in your marketing. I visited Ocean City, Maryland for just a short 4 day stay and was looking at the businesses there with a marketer's eye. What I noticed was this: approximately every 3-4 blocks, a restaurant or store or one-food stall would repeat itself. So, essentially, every 4 blocks repeated over and over again. This reminded me of the importance of repetition in marketing- each business on the boardwalk was making sure that, by their numerous locations, you could go in and buy taffy, cotton candy, fries, popcorn, t-shirts, jewelry- anything you wanted- as the desire struck you. (Just for the record, I never bought all of these at once.) Repetition is a leverage point in marketing because there is a greater effect each time you repeat your marketing message- these messages can be additive and cumulative over time. Clearly, this process works for the merchants of Ocean City, and it could work for you. Define your most effective marketing channels and then repeat your message and offers frequently.

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