Welcome to Episode 93 of Praestabilis: Excellence in Marketing

Welcome Aboard for Episode 93 of the podcast! This time I’m sharing my thoughts on “Being in Service to Others, Moving the Free Line, and Sharing Resources with Your Prospects, Customers, and Clients!”

My online business is based upon the premise that being in service to others is the most important part of entrepreneurship.

You may notice that I offer many items that are completely free of charge. Yes, I’m sharing them through my affiliate link so you’ll be cookied in through me for future purchases and sales, but there’s more to it than that. I want you to opt in and download some valuable items from some people I know well, respect, and continue to learn from.

Start by asking yourself some questions:

* Am I already familiar with this person or brand?

* What is it exactly that they are giving to me for free?

* After I opt in for the free item(s), what’s their upsell?

* Once I check/confirm my email address, what’s next?

* [Most Important] Is what they are sharing with me AFTER I request the free item in alignment with what I originally requested?

We all know so much on a variety of topics and this is based, in part, on the fact that before we started our business we already had experience and knowledge and an interest in many things, most of which was unrelated but relevant to the business we started and are in the process of building right now. This is true whether you are college age or older. Wherever you are in your journey, you’ve dealt with people and situations that will make a difference for you, now and going forward.

I began my life as an entrepreneur by going to Rotary, primarily as a way to meet people in the new city where I had moved after resigning from my classroom teaching job and giving away my real estate clients.

My opportunity to speak as a result of visiting a Rotary Club close to where I had been living previously to coming online. Although I wasn’t prepared and not scheduled to speak that day, I stepped up to the challenge and spoke about something I knew – the current real estate market as we were inching closer to an economic downturn and recession.

Soon, I realized that speaking, writing, and being active in the community would help me to grow my business, as well as change my mindset and open my mind to the world of small business and entrepreneurship.

When I began marketing for small businesses, I encouraged the owners to become an expert by first speaking about and then writing about what they knew about their specific industry. Then, I helped them to connect with people who would benefit from learning from them.

Put in your ten thousand hours of practice and this will move you closer to expert status.

I started my first blog for my new business in 2006. The name of it was Ebook Writing and Marketing Secrets, and within two years that blog became my primary site – where I continue to blog all these years later – at Connie Ragen Green.

During the next several years, two mentors, Raymond Aaron and Alex Mandossian told me that I was the “huge profits with a tiny list” person and should blog about how I was becoming known for making excellent and ever increasing income with such a tiny number – relatively speaking – of people on my email list.

I took their advice and soon after my “Huge Profits Tiny List” blog was created. Initially begun for the sole purpose of sharing my strategies on earning income with a small list, I continued to expand upon these principles and in July of 2010 my first book,