One of the long held sayings or teachings when starting up your own online business (especially when you still work full time)is that you will have to make sacrifices in your life to get your business off the ground.

Now, this normally comes in the form of TV time.

Many people also say to avoid the papers because they are full of negativity...and while I agree that all media has a negative slant, ignoring it altogether can be damaging for your business.

Confused?

TV is a great time vampire, sucking minutes, hours and days away from you that you will never get back. I agree that TV time should be the first to be evaluated when looking at the time you have available to work on your business.

However, your customers, clients and prospects will all be watching TV and by having an understanding of what's on TV and going on in the world will help you in your marketing and relating to your potential customers.

Remember, entering into the conversation that is already going on in your customers mind is an ideal way to get them to know, like and trust you...this in turn leads to sales.

For example.

Last Tuesday was Karen's birthday and we went to watch a film called 'It's Complicated' with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. I actually enjoyed it and was laughing out loud throughout.

Well worth a visit.

In the gym this morning one of the TV screens was showing Big Brother. Now, I have never EVER watched a Big Brother show...BUT I do know a little about each one and could give a snippet each time the series is on.

On this one is Ivana Trump who was married to Donald Trump and who's daughter I met last year in the US..Invanka.

Neil and I have also met and know George Ross, Donald Trumps right hand man and stars on the US Apprentice show as well.

Can you see what I've just done?

In the cinema example I've told a little about Karen and I (birthday) and how I enjoyed a film.

In the Big Brother example I used one of the people on the show to give you a connection I have with Invanka Trump and George Ross and a (VERY tentative) link to Donald Trump.

Now, if I didn't watch any TV or glance through the papers every now and then I wouldn't be able to do this at all.

In our Junior Soccer Coach market Neil T often relates to matches he's seen on TV, interviews he may have watched or a program about soccer/football.

Sitting mindlessly in front of the TV or filling your mind with the garbage many papers publish won't help you or your business... but not having an understanding and being aware of what's going on in the world can also hurt your business.

Selling successfully online is about the connection you have with your customers and prospects and what their relationship, or perceived relationship, is with you.

Gold Member Mike Winstanley really tapped into the conscious of the nation recently with his use of the media and the weather.

Read more about Mike from K and M Acoustics on the Two Neils Blog

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Let me know your thoughts as well.

Neil

PS We are holding a SMALL workshop in February covering all aspects of video marketing and how we use it in our business today to bring in 1000's of qualified leads and traffic to our websites.

The morning will be spent clearing up the myths about the technical side of using video (you'll be very surprised at how easy we make it); the afternoon will be spent on the marketing aspect, uses and profits of video.

Watch this space.

PPS If you want to be notified when we launch the workshop please email Karen and she'll make sure we tell you first. There's no big build up to this workshop due to the low numbers.

This is hands on practical and useable info and sessions to get you using and profiting from online video.