I’m going to change things up today. Instead of talking about marketing, I want to share something incredibly inspirational with you. It’s quite possibly the most inspirational thing I’ve seen in years and I hope it provides just a bit of encouragement to you as well.

It’s a story about a guy like most of us: Questioning his existence … measuring himself against others … never believing in his own abilities or his worth.

One day, his passion outgrew his fears as he stepped onto a stage, a stage that took him to a place beyond his self imposed prison.

Please take a moment to watch this video now. It could change your life.

I want you to pay close attention to the faces of the judges as this guy walks out on the stage. You can almost see what they’re thinking as they pre-judge this guy based on his looks and the fact that he’s a cell phone salesman.

Turn up your computer speakers and click the link below — then read the rest of story …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxTy7KIAaA

Now, here’s the amazing conclusion to this story:

Paul Potts’ first album was released on July 16, 2007.

It has reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album had been at number one from its release until August 12, and it was certified gold on its first week for sales of almost 130,000 copies sold. The album has now sold over 250,000 copies and is heading for a platinum certification.

In Australia, the album opened at #4 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart. It has so far reached Gold Status (35,000 copies sold). Four weeks later (2 September 2007), it reached #1.

In Sweden, One Chance debuted at #1, reaching Gold Status (20,000 copies sold) the first week of its release.

In the US, the re-release of One Chance debuted at #30 on the week of September 29, 2007.

Paul Potts is now a multi-millionaire. He is adored by fans all over the globe. He’s living his most impossible dream.

Amazing what a little courage can do – isn’t it?

So what’s your impossible dream?

Is achieving your dream worth taking the risk of ridicule and failure?

If you say “Yes” – and mean it – it’s only a matter of time before you, like Paul Potts, personally experience how far a little courage can take you.

So, next time your fears about growing a highly profitable business start to creep in, just think of Paul Potts and what his little bit of courage did for him.

here’s today’s marketing thought for the day. With the growing season slowing down and the colder winter months on the very near horizon, it’s time to start thinking about reviewing the past year AND making plans for next year.

Just as a lawn needs a thorough end of season treatment to help it through the cold winter months and get it ready to be thick and rich next year, your business needs something similar. While there are many areas this ‘end of season treatment’ could cover (financial, HR, operations, etc.), I’m going to focus my comments on the marketing aspect of it.

When it comes to wrapping up the year and getting ready for next year, your biggest focus should be on setting up a few marketing systems for 2008. I promise you this, nothing will benefit your business more than a well planned out marketing system that keeps your pipeline full of qualified, interested prospects.

So, what should this marketing system entail?

Well, first and foremost it should be focused on finding interested prospects. Then, it should be able to weed through the prospects that aren’t a good fit for your business. Finally, your system should help move your qualified prospects to a paying customer.

Now, it is entirely possible to automate each one of these steps so that you’re not wasting any time on the phone or meeting with people that ‘might’ want your services. The key to this is creating materials that magnetically lead your prospects along the path.

In the coming days I’ll share with you some things to help create this magnetic system that leads your prospects down the path like they’re under the spell of the Pied Piper piping his merry tune.

But in the meantime, Halloween is just around the corner and it’s not too late to use it to create a special promotion. Put together a package of some of your services and offer it to your ‘farm’ as well as to your existing customers. Make it interesting and exciting, and present them with a great offer and I guarantee you’ll pick up a few extra jobs as a result.

I’ll be honest in that I never really understood the idea behind a day in honor of laboring. My thought is if you’re ‘laboring’ at something, it isn’t a whole lot of fun. I’d much rather have a day in honor of working hard at something you enjoy.

Which of course, is the way you should feel about running your business. If you dread getting up every single morning to go to work, here’s my suggestion: Find a new career.

Unless you’ve got your absolute ideal job, some days are going to be a drag, but for the most part you should look forward to working your business.

If you love having your own business, and setting your own schedule, and determining your own level of success, but hate a lot of the headaches that go along with it, here’s another suggestion: Implement systems.

You could and should implement systems for the following areas: financial, operational, HR, and especially marketing. Putting something in place to take care of the repetitive, important but time consuming tasks will help you get a lot more enjoyment out of your business.

If you’re looking for a way to systematize your marketing, you should definitely check out my program, ‘28 Days to Defining and Dominating Your Target Market‘. It gives you a detailed step-by-step program for doing exactly what the title says, define and dominate your target market.

You can get all the details here:

www.lawncaremarketingmagic.com/28days.htm

With the fall season upon us, it’s again to start focusing on implementing some solid marketing to ensure your business keeps growing like it should.  Don’t get caught sitting around wondering where you’re going to get the customer you need to reach the next level of success.

The mad rush at the start of the season has ended and I’m sure by now you’re into a groove.  You probably have your routes and schedules down pat and are getting comfortable with the flow of it all.

If this IS the case, that’s great.  However, don’t rest on your laurels and get complacent about working to grow your business.  As I’ve said numerous times before, you should ALWAYS be marketing your business.  You should ALWAYS be working to increase your customer base, or upsell existing customers, or reactivate old customers.  It’s ALWAYS a good time to be in marketing mode.

That being said, many business owners struggle with what to say or do in order to keep your marketing ‘fresh’ and ‘exciting’ and that’s certainly a valid concern.  However, there are enough ways to ‘liven’ things up such that that can’t be an excuse for long.

Even though we find ourselves entering the ‘dog days of summer’, there are still plenty of ways to create marketing that gets results.  Here are just a few suggestions:

• Create a special promotion or offer each month for your prospects and customers
• Use upcoming holidays as an excuse to run a promotion of special offer
• July 4th is next week, but there are some little holidays coming up within the next few months
• Now’s the time everyone takes family vacations so remind customers to tell their friends and neighbors that you can take care of things while they’re gone
• As the summer progresses, a lot of gung-ho do-it-yourselfers that wanted to do it all initially will start losing steam as the weeks pass and the temperature rises so there will be plenty of opportunities to pick up some 1/2 season contracts
• Now that you’re in a groove, spend a little time working on marketing programs you’ll be able to use year round such as a website, a monthly newsletter, or other oft overlooked yet powerful marketing systems

Again, just because the dog days of summer are upon us doesn’t mean you should let these opportunities pass you by.  Keep your marketing machine moving forward and your bottom line will thank you in no time.

Now that the year is 4+ months old, it’s a good time to evaluate where you are on reaching your goals.

So, how are you doing?  Are you making steady progress towards them?  Have you written them down and bench marked your progress up to now?

Or, perhaps you’ve already achieved some of them.  If so, have you set new goals to help you reach even higher?

Having good goals can serve as the guide posts that keep you on track and help you stay motivated.  So, if you’ve fallen off the ‘goal setting’ wagon, resolve now to get right back on and you’ll reap the rewards at the end of the year.

I heard a quote today that I’d heard many times before, but for some reason it really stuck with me today.  It was by one of my favorite marketing/business building mentors or all time, Dan Kennedy.

As a business owner, if you’ll keep these powerful words in mind as you start each and every day, you shouldn’t have any trouble building a highly recognized business that provides a comfortable living for you and your family.  Here’s the quote:

“This is NOT a society that rewards subtlety, civility, or shyness.  The self-promoters are winning ALL the games.”

That means get out there and sell yourself and the services you offer.  Don’t be satisfied with doing ‘what everyone else is doing’.  Be a relentless promoter of your business, through every means available, and soon you’ll have a solid business that is widely recognized as the industry leader in your marketplace.