For your inbound marketing to succeed, a call to action is a necessity.  Without it, how will you build your lead and future customer base?  An opt-in incentive gives your readers the option to stay informed by being added to your mailing list.

Opt-in incentive is often referred to as ‘bait’. For you to convince visitors to your website to hand over their name and email address to you, you need to give them a good reason. There is one common trait among computer users... they REALLY LOVE FREE INFORMATION and other freebies.

Online freebies are common and they leave the visitor wanting more when they are well written and present themselves as informative introductory materials. Consider such freebies as:

1. Giving away an eBook with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This will increase your ad exposure and increase web traffic to your website at the same time.
2. Holding free online classes or seminars. They could be held in your website's chat room. The idea of "live" information will definitely entice people to visit your website. You will become known as an expert on the topic.
3. Giving visitors a free entry into your contest or sweepstakes. The prizes should be something of interest or value to your visitors. Most people who enter will continually revisit your web site to get the results.
4. Letting visitors download free software such as freeware, shareware, demos etc. You could even turn part of your site into a free software directory. If you created the software, include your ad inside and let other people give it away.
5. Targeting specific groups who might worry about using the Internet with free lessons in using it on your site – senior citizens, busy workers etc. might find these convenient and alluring.
6. Offering free online services or utilities from your website.  For instance, they could be search engine submitting, copywriting, proofreading etc. The service or utility should be helpful to your target audience.
7. Giving free consulting to people who visit your website. You could offer your knowledge via e-mail or by telephone. People will consider this to be of tremendous value because consulting fees can be very expensive.
8. Offering a free start-up package that has a finite time; enough time for the customer to practice with your online product and like it enough to pay for continued use.
9. Sending out free CD-Roms, CDs, DVDs etc. that contain starter packs or teasers to encourage the customer to use your site more.
10. Offering free screensavers or templates for business cards, cards, writing paper, etc., anything that a customer can print out.

Being creative with your ideas and putting strategies in place will grow your customer base.  It is only a matter of time!

We’d love to hear from you – what has worked for you in the past?  Feel free to share your success stories with our readers.

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1. Make a decision only when it's necessary. Every decision has a right time to be made. Don't rush decision making just because you want to check it off your to-do list. Something important might change between the time you want to make a decision and the time you must make a decision.
2. Be a good listener. Too many leaders (people) stop listening, which means they stop learning. I know you're smart, you wouldn't be Chief-of something-Officer if you weren't, but that doesn't make you infallible. Respect those around you by listening to what they have to say, then select your course of action.
3. Find your passion and pursue it with all your might. Life is more about happiness than your bank account. If you think it's all about the bank account, then you're shallow and probably not a very happy person. Life is short; get happy.
4. Find a career in a growing industry. In a growing industry when they have enough work for one and a half people they hire two people. The result is the quality of work increases, which brings more value to the customer, which makes them happy so they buy more...it's a virtuous cycle. Conversely, in a declining industry when they have enough work for one and a half people they hire one person and work him/her like a mule. If that person sticks around great, if not they bring in another mule. Don't be a mule.
5. Execution is where good ideas go to die. Good ideas are easy. Most of the people I know can rattle off a couple dozen good ideas in minutes. Execution is much harder and, therefore, more valuable. Focus on a few good ideas and learn to execute them well.
6. Nurture your relationships. Success requires other people - supporters, a team, employees, etc. If the relationship is intact you can navigate through rough waters. If you destroy the relationship people will go against their own self interest to undermine your efforts. Life is a journey so take some good people with you.
7. Take measured risks and have faith in yourself. Most of what you plan won't turn out exactly as you envisioned. That's ok. Accept curves in the road as normal and stop fretting over what might have been. Golf teaches us this point well; play the ball where it lies.
8. "There is no such thing as failure; there is only success and quitting." Eleanor Roosevelt said that when she was struggling against considerable odds to establish UNICEF. I think Mike Ditka said, "Until you give up you're always in the process of winning." Good counsel from two very successful people. Refuse to give up.
9. Live within your financial means. Money is not everything but you do need it to survive. A financial cushion can bring you peace of mind, safety and independence. I've never really worried about losing my job because, for most of my life, I've had a financial cushion to fall back on in emergencies.
10. Get over yourself. I know your Momma told you that you were great and I'm sure she's right. However, as a whole the world just doesn't care all that much and an ounce of humility, especially if you're talented, goes a lot farther than a gallon of hubris.
11. Give more and expect less. This is a good way to create balance in your life and avoid resentment. If you only give when you expect to get then you're being small, selfish and immature. Give freely and you will have deep relationships with good people. Be a taker and you will soon find yourself surrounded by takers, all trying to hustle the other. Does that sound like fun to you? It doesn't to me.
12. Avoid toxic people. Enough said.
13. Have (quiet) confidence in your self because if you don't no one else will.
14. Don't enjoy telling or be in a hurry to let someone else know they're wrong. If finding fault in someone else gives you joy then you need to understand why you feel that way. Do you think you're up just because they're down? That's twisted. If someone has a fault or is mistaken about something try to find a non-threatening way to help (coach) them. Who knows, you might find that you are the one in need of coaching...Oh, I get it, that's what you were afraid of in the first place.
15. Wag more; bark less. If you approach others with a kind and loving heart you can discuss anything. If you approach others with an angry or resentful heart then a simple "good morning" can be ill received.
16. If you have to prove you're always right, then you're always wrong. 

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Shortly after lunchtime my to-do list mind kidnaps me and I tend to scurry about from one short task to another. The mix of phone calls and emails clutters my cerebral-closet. Staying focused is a bear by late afternoon. It’s NOT my most productive time. By 4:00 I miss my morning and my writing world.

Many people can’t concentrate until the responsibilities of their day are met and the house is quiet. The night is their muse. To them, nighttime is built for dreaming, scheming and reflection on what might have been or what could be. It is a perfect time to write.

I read about a writer (can’t remember and couldn’t locate her name) that said she didn’t consider a story finished until she had a chance to edit it at different times of the day. She needed to see the story from all perspectives. I believe “All her selves,” is what she said. She was a full-time writer, unlike most of us.

My advice is to spend one week writing in the morning and one week writing in the evening. See what feels best and what produces the best work. Similarly, spend a week writing in the morning and editing in the evening and then reverse the approach. Learn by experimenting. Once you’ve settled on an approach, you’ll have more confidence in your ability to produce your best work.

Confidence is a requirement to motivation and success so nurturing your own (confidence) is important work.

Steve

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1. Movies and Books. The formula for a good movie or book is the same. They introduce a likable or sympathetic lead character, introduce danger or threat, which can be in the form of a person, a situation, or both, and then resolve the conflict just when you think all is lost. Use books and movies as an inspiration to write and shoot your own video. What would you do different if you were the lead character? What did you learn about management from watching The Godfather?
2. Traveling is one of the best ways to find your muse. Changing your location changes your thought patterns. New places and new people can alter and refresh the way you see the world.
3. YouTube and Flickr are both loaded with visual stimulation. You can quickly find amazing images of people doing extraordinary things, or just dumb stuff, to tickle your imagination into producing your next great video or blog.
4. If you like technology visit websites like CNET's, Fast Company's, Wired Magazine's or the TechCrunch blog and write or create a video about what you found interesting. If you like current events, visit The Wall Street Journal, CNN or USA Today's websites. Every subject has a few sites that do a great job of compiling and reporting current trends and noteworthy topics.
5. Speaking of trends: Trends are posted automatically on Yahoo and Twitter. See what all the hubbub is about, do a little research and then shoot a video or write a blog post adding your (informed) two-cents to the conversation.
6. Look in the mirror. I know, it sounds strange. It works. Sit in front of the mirror for a few minutes and let the self-reflection bring you to deeper thoughts than most of us have as we sit in front of our computers or ramble through our days. Then write about those thoughts.

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1. How do you find anything? If you’re like a billion other people, you “Google” it. Do the same thing for topics you want to shoot a video about or blog about. You can type anything into Google and get more than 1,000,000 results, all pertaining to your topic. Scan through the results until you find something that sparks your imagination.
2. Delicious is one of the post popular sites on the web. Delicious describes itself as the “world’s leading social bookmarking service.” It’s packed full of the most popular bookmarks and blogs on the web as selected by its members. If you want to know what people are talking about, what they’re interested in, then visit Delicious the next time you’re looking for video or blog ideas.
3. Blogs. There are blogs about seemingly everything. I particularly like to read about video production and blogging. I incorporate the tips I pick up into the work I do and, then, if it works well, shoot a short video or write a blog post about my experience.
4. People. I’ve always been a people watcher. At Starbucks, at the mall, at the airport, it doesn’t matter, I watch people because they fascinate me. Observe parents, waiters, firemen practicing their craft long enough and I guarantee you an idea for a video or a blog will pop into your head.
5. Exercise. When I feel like something is brewing inside my head but just doesn’t seem to want to come out, or I find myself not taking decisive action, I take my dog for a long walk. You’ll be surprised how 30-45 minutes of exercise will relax your mind and release your creativity.
6. I have a couple books that list Quotes by topic and by author, there’s also several websites that do the same. Read through the quotes by topic or author and soon you’ll have all the inspiration you need to produce a new video or write an insightful blog post.

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