by Irene Brooks - copyright 2003

Many of us come to the internet with dreams of
instant riches. We dream of staying at home with
our children and making lots and lots of money.

The cyber-streets are paved in gold...

...so they say.

So, we come on-line, buy every how-to book
offered, join "the next biggest program" and wait
for the money to roll in while we sleep.

Then we wonder where we went wrong...

Sound familiar?

Well, if you are one of those people that are
trying to make it big on the internet or in your
own business, but you just don't know how; perhaps
now would be a good time to take a step back and
ask yourself some questions to achieve some
clarity on what you want to do. Putting your
thoughts on paper will help you clarify greatly
what you want to achieve and bring you closer to
achieving your goal.

Answer these questions honestly. Some of these
are "nuts and bolts" marketing questions and some
are questions that will require some
introspection.

Your answers can be long or short, but and there
are no right or wrong answers. These questions
are designed to help you achieve clarity around
your goals and the last question will put you on
the road to manifesting that goal.

1- What is my product or service?

Some supplemental questions would be: Who will buy
it? Is this something that I would buy myself?

2- Who is my target audience?

Be specific... What makes my target customer tick,
what is their problem, how is my product the
solution to their problem?

3a- what is unique about my website that will
attract visitors and get them to come back? (Am I
setting my website and business apart from the
rest to get the visitors...and once they're there,
what does my website do to keep them coming back
for more?)

If you have the same product as several others
have, ask yourself:

3b - what is unique about me that would make
people buy from me versus my competitors?

This is your opportunity to really explore your
strengths and build upon them. You may find
identifying your strengths a bit difficult,
because we are trained from early childhood not to
recognize or acknowledge the wonderful and unique
attributes that we have. If you have trouble
coming up with 50 wonderful and unique things
about yourself, ask the people around you, what
they like most about you.

Make sure your website reflects who you are. When
designing your website, make sure you feel
comfortable that the designer or you know what
part of your personality you want to come through
on your site. People buy from people they feel
comfortable with. Self-replicating sites rarely
create breakthrough sales.

You'll be surprised at some of the answers! How
will you utilize your strengths to reach your
target audience?

4- What is it about selling this product or
service makes me happy/excited?

If it doesn't make you happy, write a list of what
makes you happy. Don't just limit it to your
business, make a list of everything that makes you
happy, excited, expectant. How can you
incorporate what makes you happy with your
business? If your business doesn't make you
happy, is it the right business for you?

I would suggest that once you've written your
marketing material or created your website you ask
several people for their opinion. Ask them what
emotions/feelings/thoughts they got when reviewing
it. Are these the thoughts and feelings that you
were trying to get through on your site? A good
rule of thumb is to remember that people buy from
emotion, and then create the logic to fit the
emotion they feel. Is your website and marketing
writing doing that?

5- Am I utilizing the internet as a tool or as my
only means of communication? What other tools can
I explore to promote my product or service?

6- What do I want to happen with my business
and/or website??

Really take some time with this question. Imagine
if you could do anything that you want and you
COULD NOT fail...what would it be? What does this
look like? Who is there with you in your ideal
picture? Be specific, have fun!

7- What is one single daily action that I can
commit to doing to help move me closer to my goal?

Make sure this is one specific daily action that
you enjoy doing. Don't turn it into a chore.
Chose something that is joyful for you to do so
that you look forward to doing it, as well as
productive so that you will move forward.

Mentally commit to doing this one specific daily
action for 30 days and measure your progress.
Journaling works great for doing this.

Spend some time with your answers. Share any
issues that come up with your coach, mentor or an
objective person.

What light do the answers to these questions shed
for you?

Celebrate your successes, no matter how small you
think they are. Learn from your mistakes and
celebrate the lessons learned. Keep your goal and
intention before you at all times.

Through achieving clarity of where you are versus
where you want to be, you will be closer to
achieving your most precious goal.
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Irene Brooks is a Professional Life and Business Coach
who specializes in helping small business owners
and entrepreneurs the tools to uncover their
excellence in their lives and businesses. She
resides in Willow Spring, NC with her husband and
three daughters and has been a work at home mom
for the past 6 years.