In 1957 Drayton Bird’s situation was bleak.

He was making 7.00 a week editing a small trade journal.

Even in those dear, dead days when cigarettes cost the equivalent of 10p a packet this would not support a wife and child – even in the two-up two-down cottage with outside lavatory they lived in.

He had to do something.

At the time, Drayton was much taken by a smooth aristocratic friend who worked in advertising.

He seemed to be making pots of money without too much effort and advised Drayton to become a copywriter.

It took six months using all his reserves of servile flattery to find a willing employer.

Drayton had three qualities to offer, apart from desperation.

One – He was brought up in a northern pub with a widely varied clientele. Encountering very different kinds of people after they have had a few drinks is splendid education for life.

One minute he might be serving a pint of best mild in the vaults to Alec, whose party turn was describing how his wife had gone out one day for a loaf of bread and never returned.

The next he would be listening to a mottle-faced cotton magnate in the American Bar lamenting the Socialist government’s determination to part him from all he possessed.

Two – He could write.

You may consider this essential for the job he sought, but this is not apparent to many would-be copywriters.

An alarming number cannot spell, punctuate or write long sentences – let alone tangle with such niceties as ‘it’s’ versus ‘its’, ‘compliment’ as opposed to ‘complement’ and so on.

Three – He had read every book on advertising in Manchester Public Library – there were three – and enrolled in an evening course on the subject.

You may also see these preparations as obvious, but not all agree: when Drayton finally entered the industry, he discovered few of his colleagues had taken the trouble to study the subject, or were even clear about the purpose of advertising.

It has now been over 50 years since Drayton entered advertising.

Zoom forward over 50 years, Drayton has been named one of the top 50 individuals who’ve shaped today’s marketing. And David Ogilvy said he “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.”

A few days ago, I managed to coax Drayton away from his busy schedule for an interview, just for you.

And in this interview he reveals, for the first time, almost everything you need to do to set up a successful business.

He goes into as much details as he possibly can, given the short time available for the interview. (It runs for just over 50 minutes).

He mentions the need to study what others are doing: The successful and the unsuccessful ones. As he says, “We learn as much from the way in which people have failed as we do from the way in which people have succeeded”.

However, before you go onto listen to the main interview, here’s a couple of questions Drayton answered in a little more detail via email. Read this first and then go onto the audio portion.

This is all meat.

Rezbi:

The bottom dropped out of the economy, but it’s now picking up again. Your business went bust. All your clients’ businesses also went bust, so you can’t even write copy for them.

You have nothing except what’s between your head, and the only way you can get back into business is via the web – an online business.

You can use any means at your disposal, but you only have 200 to do it with. You can create your own product, or sell as an affiliate, or any other way you can think of based on the resources you have.

What would you do?

Drayton:

I would do the things I did in pretty much the same situation.

1. When I saw the internet was going to be huge – and that I was seen as a dinosaur – I built a website offering lots of free information about marketing. All that costs is a knowledge of WordPress – not money – and a knowledge of marketing. Again, freely available.

2. I sent out an e-mail to a list of marketing people offering helpful marketing ideas, free. I think I could offer those today without any list on the social sites. Costs you nothing.

3. I thus built a list – as you could, free. Then I offered to write copy for the people on the list.

I have done a few other things, but none cost any money

Rezbi:

Similar question to the first, except now you’ve been asked for advice.

The questioner is a 20 something graduate who left University with a degree, but no education. He’s been struggling to find work with no luck, so has decided to go into business.

Trouble is, he’s only got 200, but he can use any means, online or offline. And he’s got a year in which to get his business going and achieving some level of sustainable income.

He’s willing to do whatever it takes, including studying further to first get the required knowledge, and then starting the business. Or even side-by-side.

What advice would you give him?

Drayton:

1. The best time you will ever spend is not in trying to get going in business. It is in study.

2. It’s easy to give in to despair. Don’t. Learn. This gives you an incalculable advantage. Most people know too little.

3. Settle on something that really interests you. Most people don’t give enough thought to this

4. Be willing to give up a lot to pursue it. Few people make enough sacrifices.

5. Don’t just sit around thinking about it – most people just dream. Do it.

6. I would study:

a. New businesses that are doing well (not old successful ones)

b. How to write better – few people can do that at all well

c. How to sell face to face (get a job doing it)

d. How people are selling online

7. If I saw a business that was doing everything right, offer to work for a month free.

Sorry this is a bit vague – but the question is utterly impossible.

The best advice I can give is, don’t give up. I had a minor nervous breakdown when trying to get my first job in London.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ghulam_Nabi_Rezbi

Just like computers have taken control of our lives, so have computer problems surrounded us at all levels. Computers, particularly personal computers, are not quite a new invention any more. So, to cater to their problems and errors, a lot of repair services have been made available already. In the United States, there is an almost infinite demand of such services and to match this demand there is an equally unlimited pool of small scale entrepreneurs. In such bottle neck competition, it is very hard to create your brand image and loyalty among the clients who have around millions of other options and choices. So why should they come to you whenever their computers are down? The answer is simple- you have got to distinguish yourself rather than blending into the crowd.

The question arises that how can you achieve this goal of distinguishing your computer repair business. Well, it is not that easy and it is surely not the case that in an hour or so, you could probably memorize and swallow the formula for success. It’s an ongoing process instead.

Firstly, when beginning your entrepreneurship, you really need to know what you are doing. You should have comprehensive, complete and sound knowledge about your work. Even though you might be thinking that if I didn’t have the required knowledge, why would I do such a business in the first place? However, despite this being so obvious, there are still quite a lot of computer technicians out there who are under qualified. It doesn’t mean that being a genius is something to be discouraged, but it is always advisable to have sound information that could lead your business towards success. Now to have this ‘sound information’ you need to keep yourself and your business updated with all the new information, all innovative stuff and all happenings of the technological sector. Keeping yourself up to date can act as a competitive advantage because many potential and existing customers might rely on the novel information or innovative products. It would certainly give a negative image if you are unaware of it or cannot handle or understand it far from repairing it. Even try to keep your certifications renewed and fresh and if you feel that they are not covering your span of the business, try going for some courses which might help you out.

Secondly, you need to determine what kind of service you are going to offer. Is it the cases that you would deal in all aspects of the technological infrastructure or would you go for specialization in any one area? You could probably go for offering something new which the competition isn’t giving at the moment. It doesn’t mean you should invent problems and then wait for clients who suffer from them to come to you. It basically means that you might offer other services for example after working hours service or maybe you could buy the stuff your client requires on their behalf.

So, now you have the basic knowledge about what you could do before you go and sit in a glass walled cabin and start giving orders. Two things you should be clear on are knowing your stuff and deciding whether to generalize or to specialize. Good luck!

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Chirs

There are four marketing ideas to get more exposure, drive traffic and visitors to your new business. While there are many different ways to get your business out there, these will help you get noticed quickly.

1. Write a press release announcing your new business. What is a press release? It’s a written announcement to draw media attention about a company, product, service or event. All press releases are written in the third person. Headlines are very important as they grab the reader’s attention. Avoid long sentences or paragraphs and leave out the hype. To write a proper press release, follow the 5 W’s. Who, what, where, when and why and don’t forget how. Press releases are normally one page so aim for that.

2. Put your knowledge on video. Whether it’s business tips you want to share, a technique you want to teach or a product you want to demonstrate, video is a good platform. No one should expect you to give away your top trade secrets for free, but when you share what isn’t considered common knowledge that will build trust and make people think hey, it isn’t always about the money. It’s always good to give away something for free so your business can benefit in the long haul.

3. Product review and giveaway sites can draw a lot of traffic from different people. There are a lot of product review and giveaway blogs. When marketing a new business giving away something for free is a sure-fire way to get a good jump start from the starting blocks, get the exposure and get your business in front of as many people as possible. These sites are promoted heavily by the host and by the people who enter the giveaways.

4. Add your business to Google Local Shopping. Google Local Shopping is a service for small business owners to list their products so online shoppers can find you easily within their area. In order to be listed, you first have to create a Google Merchant Center account and you can do so by logging into your existing Gmail account or create a Google account.

You will need to provide your website, business, contact (for product inquiries) and private contact information. Then you’ll have to create an online product data listing feed and upload it to your merchant center. There are a series of steps to go through and it shouldn’t be difficult. You can find all the details at the Google Merchant Center help page.

These are four quick marketing ideas to jump start your new business so you can start seeing almost immediate results, get on the high and ride the momentum to start growing your business.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S_McIntyre

Whether you are a professional working photographer or just a weekend hobbyist, subscribing to a photo newsletter can be an interesting and invaluable tool.

If you are a working professional photographer, either artistic or commercial, a photo newsletter can help to expand your business through advertising or perhaps help to put you in contact with other local photographers looking to collaborate on work.

Perhaps you are looking for a photo assistant or want to work as one, a photo newsletter sometimes has classified ads where people can advertise for employment. It can also provide you with valuable information about what is going on in the business of photography both creatively and legally.

A photo newsletter is a good source for ideas in expanding a business and for keeping the working professional connected to the world of photography. Photo newsletters often have articles or features written by working professional photographers. These articles could be about anything from their experiences dealing with clients to how they got their business started.

There might be an article about how to price your work or perhaps an interview with one of the top most admired photographers.

Often articles found in photo newsletters are about equipment and the latest technologies in the field. One of the greatest benefits of subscribing to a photo newsletter are product reviews. Reviews are often done by professional photographers with many years of experience in the field and with working knowledge of many types of equipment.

The experience they have to offer is a great asset and can save you the unfortunate occurrence of purchasing the wrong equipment for your photographic needs. It can help you to narrow down the equipment you will need for your business or hobby.

As a hobbyist photographer, a newsletter with photos can help further knowledge of photography or perhaps give them ideas on a new aspect of photography to explore.

Reading an interview with an artist or a working commercial photographer can be inspiring. With so many advancements happening in photography, a newsletter would be a wonderful way to be kept up to date on new technological advancements.

To have a single source to turn to for information, one that can be relied upon, is a great thing nowadays. A newsletter with photos is really an invaluable tool for any photographer or anyone interested in photography.

Having a source of information that can help further your career or just to read as enjoyment is essential.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Farley

There are millions of online business opportunities even in today’s economy, probably right in front of your eyes. From an online home business, to a brick and mortar business.

There has been over a million new business launched every year. People are not just dreaming about success, they are taking action and making it happen. The ideas are all around you and with the right tools and training you can be successful too!

This is definitely a computer era, and with technology changing as fast as it does, there is a need for new and different products and services. People are always looking for new and better ways. Become the one that offers a solution for them.

Lack of Marketing Knowledge

Everyone knows that most businesses fail within the first five years. This is contributed to the lack of marketing knowledge, lack of a target market, (who needs your product or service), and wrong price for today’s economic times. By failing in all of these or just one, will cause your business to fail.

Another reason businesses fail is simply because of YOU. You give it a try, especially with an online home business, and when you do not see a profit right away, you just quit. It takes persistent action and passion to keep a business alive and succeed. If you quit, how can you expect to succeed?

Lack of education is right at the top of the of why people fail. Without the proper education on how to market your product or service, no one will even know you even exist. How do you think a doctor became a doctor? Or a lawyer became a lawyer? They are only successful because of getting the proper education.

My online home business has a online marketing university. It is the exact same program used for Fortune 500 companies. After completing the curriculum, you will be a professionally skilled marketer and will be able to sell any product or service.

Have Passion About The Business

If you can not think of a product or service that someone might need and want, then find an existing company and sell their product or service. Most all of them will let you be an affiliate with them. There are a lot of businesses out there, so make sure that you do a through search to find out if they are legit.

Pick the business that you are going to be passionate about. One that has a great product or service that you believe in for yourself. Make sure they have a great community behind them to always keep you up to date. Always check to see if they have the proper learning tools to get you started and a solid marketing education to keep you up to date on all the latest marketing strategies. Just like computers, marketing strategies change daily, so you have to be able to keep up with them.

If the company you are looking into says, You can become rich in just a few days! Run the other way, there is no such thing as get rich quick, they are all scams.

Having a business takes a lot of hard work and time in order to become successful. Was Donald Trump an over night success? No! Was Bill Gates an over night success? No! Any of todays millionaires will tell you it takes passion, action, persistence and drive.

Look around you at all the business opportunities out there, whether it be an online home business, or a brick and mortar business. Find one that fits YOU, take action and become successful online in today’s economy!

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julianne_Rowat