Two weeks ago, during its tri-annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) disappointed many meeting participants by stating that that the timeline for accepting applications for new generic top level domains (gTLDs) would be further extended, thus delaying any offering of new gTLDs until at least the fourth quarter of 2010. This means that new small businesses will have to wait a little longer to register a useful domain name having an extension such as .web, .flowers, or .Texas.

Earlier this year, Ben Worthen, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, wrote an interesting article describing how new businesses already have to settle for very wordy web addresses with a .com or .net because all of the succinct and descriptive addresses in these TLDs are already taken.  For example, today John Smith may be forced to register a domain like “JohnSmithshoestore.com” for his business in order to get a web presence. With new gTLDs, however, John might be able to register “Johns.shoes.”

ICANN has slowed its forward momentum for new gTLDs because it believes there are technical, economic, legal, and policy issues that still need to be resolved.  Admittedly, some of these issues must be resolved rather quickly such as additional rights protection for trademark and brand owners.  Others, however, can be resolved concurrently as the process moves forward such as the scalability of the root system.  Unfortunately, ICANN has not proposed any timeline for resolving these outstanding issues.  Without any timeline to spur action, these issues could continue to linger for months.    Not only will this delay negatively impact the many start-ups hoping to offer new TLDs to the market, but it also will undermine efforts by small business owners to secure short, meaningful and memorable domain names for their businesses.

Small business owners may have to wait for new gTLDs but they don’t have to endure the delay in silence.  ICANN is currently accepting public comments on the latest version of its Draft Applicant Guidebook.  The deadline for comments is November 22, 2009.  Go online and urge ICANN to set deadlines for resolving the outstanding issues so that new gTLDs can be made available.

Statton Hammock is Sr. Director or Legal & Business Affairs at Network Solutions. He monitors ICANN policy matters and issues affecting Internet governance.

On October 5, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (”FTC”) adopted updated “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” the first revisions to the Guides since 1980.  These revised Guides will become effective on December 1, 2009.  Importantly, the updated Guides address endorsements and testimonials in “new media,” such as blogging.  Bloggers who fail to disclose that they received free products, goods or services from an advertiser may be subject to substantial penalties, although the FTC has indicated it will continue to focus its law enforcement activities on advertisers. We’ve provided here a short summary of certain key points in the FTC’s revised Guides; for the full text of the FTC’s action, see http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf

What is Covered?

The Guides cover “endorsements” – “any advertising message (including verbal statements, demonstrations, or depictions of name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual or the name or seal of an organization) that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser, even if the views expressed by that party are identical to those of the sponsoring advertiser.”

General Principles on Endorsements

Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences of the endorser, and may not convey any express or implied representation that would be deceptive if made by the advertiser.  When the advertisement represents that the endorser uses the endorsed product, the endorser must have been a bona fide user of it at the time the endorsement was given, and while the advertisement continues to run.  Liability may be assessed on advertisers for false or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsements, or for failing to disclose material connections between themselves and their endorsers.  Endorsers may also be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements.

Further, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. The revised Guidelines deleted a provision in the 1980 version of the Guides allowing advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical.”

Application to New Media

The development of consumer-generated new media poses new questions about how to distinguish between communications that are considered “endorsements” within the meaning of the Guides and those that are not.  The FTC will consider each use of these new media on a case-by-case basis for purposes of law enforcement, similar to other advertising reviewed by the FTC.

Factors the FTC will Consider in Reviewing “New Media” Endorsements

The revised Guides articulate several factors the FTC will consider in reviewing whether consumer-generated media constitute “endorsements” within the meaning of the revised Guides.  The crux of the FTC’s review is: “whether, viewed objectively, the relationship between the advertiser and the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be considered “sponsored” by the advertiser and therefore an ‘advertising message.’”  Some key factors that will be analyzed in answering this question are whether, in disseminating positive statements about a product or service, the speaker is:

• acting solely independently, in which case there is no endorsement; or
• acting on behalf of the advertiser or its agent, such that the speaker’s statement is an “endorsement” that is part of an overall marketing campaign.

Some indication of “acting on behalf of the advertiser or its agent” include:

• whether the speaker is compensated by the advertiser or its agent;
• whether the product or service in question was provided for free by the advertiser;
• the terms of any agreement;
• the length of the relationship;
• the previous receipt of products or services from the same or similar advertisers, or the likelihood of future receipt of such products or services; and
• the value of the items or services received.

The FTC has indicated that a consumer who purchases a product with his or her own money and praises it on a personal blog will not be deemed to be providing an endorsement.  However, a blogger who is paid to speak about an advertiser’s product will be covered by the FTC’s endorsement Guides.  Further, if a consumer received a single unsolicited item from a manufacturer and wrote positively about it on a blog, the review is unlikely to be considered an endorsement, because of the absence of a course of dealing with that advertiser that would suggest that the consumer is disseminating a “sponsored” advertising message.  In contrast, a blogger who regularly receives free samples of products for families of young children and discusses those products on his or her blog would be required to disclose that he or she received for free the recommended items.  Also, the receipt of a single, high priced item could constitute a material connection between an advertiser and an endorser that would be required to be disclosed..

Endorsers are responsible for disclosing material connections with advertisers.  Some industry groups (such as the Word of Mouth Marketing Association) already require these disclosures in their codes of ethics.  Advertisers who sponsor endorsers must establish procedures to advise endorsers that they should make the necessary disclosure and monitor endorsers’ conduct.

Liability

An advertiser may be liable under Section 5 of the FTC Act for a blogger’s misleading statements if the advertiser initiated the process that led to these endorsements being made. Moreover, both the advertiser and the blogger are subject to liability for misleading or unsubstantiated representations made in the course of the blogger’s endorsements. The FTC indicates that its law enforcement activities will continue to focus on advertisers.  However, endorsements by bloggers are now covered by the Guide and bloggers should be careful to review the revised Guide and the examples provided by the FTC.

We would like to take this moment to make it clear that the incident reported on Friday is solely related to Network Solutions e-commerce customers.  Customers of Network Solutions that have other products such as domains, email accounts, hosting and online marketing were not impacted by this event.  Also customers’ transactions that occur (or occurred previously) at Networksolutions.com were not impacted by this.

We are working hard to support our e-commerce customers that have been impacted by this incident.   More details about the free notification service that we are providing to our impacted customers and the free credit monitoring we are offering for a year for their US based customers can be found here.

Yesterday Network Solutions issued an E-Commerce Data Security alert to merchants who might have been affected by an unauthorized code on servers supporting some of its ecommerce merchants’ websites. The code has been promptly removed and all of the ecommerce servers are checked regularly. No servers supporting Networksolutions.com customers were affected. We deeply regret this grave situation and are doing whatever it takes to proactively reach out to affected merchants and have been working round the clock since the announcement went out yesterday. Social media tools have become Network Solutions’ friend in need in this crisis situation and there is just no other faster mechanism to respond to customer enquiries in a timely manner. Some of the things we are doing to best communicate with our customers during this situation include:

Feedback forum for customers to ask questions and clarify concerns: A dedicated online forum www.careandprotect.com has been created to facilitate conversations between affected merchants and Network Solutions. Our team has been diligently responding to questions raised on the forum in real-time and creating blog posts each time a particular issue/concern appears to become a dominant theme.

Social Media Monitoring Tools to listen and participate in the Conversation We are lucky we have had a Social media strategy in place to connect with customers and the community . This has helped us listen to the customers and participate in the conversation. Radian6 is a tool that we use along with Twitter Search , Google Alerts , Backtype and others.

Twitter response from real Network Solutions personnel Vs. automated responses: We believe it is our duty to respond to any concerns or questions being raised on Twitter. Even though it may be hard to help within 140 characters, we are ensuring we respond immediately to tweets that need attention. Instead of an automated RSS response, we are taking shifts to monitor Twitter and provide a response almost instantaneously.

Proactively reached out to media/bloggers: We ensured that while our customers were informed first and foremost, we also reached out to the media and blogging community to help us get the information out. Thanks to the following for helping us keep our customer informed

Brian Kreb’s Washington Post’s Blog Security Fix

Chad Kettner Domain Name News

Steve Ragan The Tech Herald

Dan Goodin  The Register

Larry Walsh Channel Insider

Robert McMillan CSO Blog : Network World

Here is a quote from Channel Insider

It should come as no surprise that hackers targeted Network Solutions, since it support so many business clients and provides online payment processing services. While everyone knows about the massive breaches against TJX (94 million credit cards) and Hannaford Supermarkets (4 million), the payment processors themselves are increasingly under attack.

By comparison, the Network Solutions breach is relatively small. In 2005, CardSystems Solutions, a processor of Visa and MasterCard payments, suffered a massive breach that exposed more than 40 million credit card numbers. In January, Heartland Payment Systems disclosed that a network breach may have exposed more than 100 million credit cards.

This does not take away the importance we give to this issue. We assure you that we are doing what’s best for our customers who might be affected by this data security issue and are working round the clock to ensure all their concerns are addressed.  In closing we would like to assure the customers of Network Soutions that this issue is contained to our Ecommerce merchants and is not in anyway related to customers of other products.

Here they are:

Tinu Abayomi Paul

Leveraged Promotion, a website promotion company. Their specialty is bringing companies with an existing offline presence the local, national or international exposure they need to increase profitability, leveraging the cost-effective tools available on the web. You can reach her at http://AskTinu.com.

Her last project was a contribution to Rok Hrastnik’s comprehensive guide to RSS, “Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS”. You can find more of her daily tips on RSS, Blogs, Google tools, and more, at her main blog, Free Traffic Tips.

Jared Goralnick
Jared Goralnick’s passion is to help businesses save time through more efficient usage of technology. In 2002, he founded SET Consulting, a productivity training, development, and design firm, which he continues to manage.  Some of SET’s clients include the FBI, NIST, CRS, NTT Communications, and HP.  In 2008, Jared launched AwayFind, a web service that addresses the problem of email overload.

In addition to a building a passionate online following of users, AwayFind received international attention in NPR, The Guardian, and blogs large and small.  In 2009, he started Bootstrap Maryland, a community organization focused on building lean technology businesses in the greater Washington DC region.  You can find Jared blogging online at Technotheory.com or speaking about workplace productivity and communication around the globe.

Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a full service marketing communications provider offering copywriting, business communications, blog, book and article writing, and marketing and branding consulting services. She brings with her over 15 years of experience working in the marketing field for some of the largest corporations in the world (including divisions of AT&T, HSBC, Household International and more).

Susan is a published author with three books available in book stores and online (Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon through Palgrave Macmillan, Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps through Entrepreneur Press, and Google Blogger for Dummies through Wiley). Her fourth book, Building Brand Value the Playboy Way, will hit book stores (through Palgrave Macmillan) in Fall 2009.

Susan frequently writes about marketing for various publications. She is a featured columnist on Entrepreneur.com where she writes about marketing communications, and you can find some of her marketing-related articles on websites such as WomenEntrepreneur.com, MSNBC.com, FoxBusiness.com, BusinessWeek.com, WashingtonPost.com, TheStreet.com, SmartMoney.com, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Small Business, and more.

Susan is also an active blogger authoring the KeySplash Creative Conversations blog about branding, marketing and advertising for her company, KeySplash Creative, Inc., as well as one of the leading blogs for women working in the field of business, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a contributing author at Corporate-Eye.com where she writes about corporate branding, and she writes about small business marketing for Cox Communications’ Kudzu.com Business Success Center where she authors the Everyday Marketing blog. Additionally, she is the Guide to Web Logs for About.com (a New York Times company).

Becky Carroll
Becky is founder of Customers Rock!, a consultancy focused on engaging customers through conversation, social media, and WOW customer experiences. Becky’s clients have included companies such as EA, HP, Fujitsu, and Ford in addition to numerous small businesses and non-profits. She is the author of the business blog Customers Rock!  and teaches the class “Marketing via New Media” at UCSD. Becky is a regular personality on the nationally-syndicated Big Biz Talk Radio show, a contributing author on the recently-released Age of Conversation business books, and a sought-after speaker on social media and customer loyalty.

Previously, Becky served as Director of Social Media for Brickfish and as a Senior Consultant with Peppers and Rogers Group. She also worked at HP for 14 years, including her role as Director of Marketing, UK.

Anita Campbell
Anita Campbell has been an entrepreneur at heart her entire life. A lawyer by training, she has a wide range of interests, as reflected in her varied background in banking, information technology, human resources, marketing and eCommerce.

Today she is the CEO of her own business, Small Business Trends LLC, a media and information company. In that role she closely follows trends in the small business market and trends in technology.

Before starting her entrepreneurial journey she held various executive positions in the corporate world. Most recently she was a senior executive with Bell & Howell Company, including serving as CEO of a technology subsidiary of Bell & Howell.

A respected speaker and emerging trends resource, Ms. Campbell’s expertise has been noted or her opinion quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, CIO Magazine, Entrepreneur Radio, BusinessTVChannel.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer, San Francisco Chronicle, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Akron Beacon Journal, Boston Globe, CRM Buyer, and countless trade publications, websites, podcasts and more.

Christopher Carfi
Christopher Carfi is an entrepreneur and CEO of Cerado, Inc. Cerado was founded in 2002 to provide software and services that enable businesses, organizations and associations to better connect and understand their customer and member communities. His blog, The Social Customer Manifesto, is a “Top 25″ marketing blog, and has won numerous other awards including “Top CRM Blog” in 2005 and 2007. He is also an active contributor to the ProjectVRM, based at the Berkman Center at Harvard University, which focuses on improving customer-vendor relationships and is creating tools to equip individuals with tools of both independence and engagement.

Prior to co-founding Cerado, Chris was a product marketing executive at Extricity, a provider of B2B integration services. He also spent nearly a decade at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a manager at Andersen’s Center for Strategic Technology in Palo Alto, California.   He serves on the Network Solutions’ Social Web Advisory Board.

Chris grew up in Chicago, holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Northwestern University, and currently lives in the Bay Area with his family.

Looking forward to their input

We are looking forward to having each one of these incredible people provide their insight and opinion to continue improving and bringing you the best online experience.

Network Solutions is listening. Listening to our customers. Listening to YOU.

Change is here and today on Monday June 29, 2009 we would love for you to be a part of our sneak preview.

We are overhauling our brand and this not just a cosmetic change. We have heard loud and clear what you want and we are aligning our offerings to your needs regardless of what stage you are in the business life cycle.

Change We Have Been Waiting For

We’ve evolved the website structure and navigation to provide a more logical flow of information and a more customized experience so users can find what they are looking for.  We’ve also reorganized and simplified our offerings to meet the specific needs of the customer.

OK, So how can I participate in this sneak preview of the new website and offer my feedback?
http://preview.networksolutions.com/

You can head there RIGHT NOW to see the preview.

Share your thoughts and get a SPECIAL OFFER as a “Thank You” for your feedback

In exchange for taking the time out of your day to offer your thoughts on how we are doing and input on how we can make the experience better, we will send you a coupon for a $35 credit towards the purchase of Network Solutions products and services, while supplies last*.

So head on RIGHT NOW. We look forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit: Customers Rock

Network Solutions is listening. Listening to our customers. Listening to YOU.

Change is coming and on Monday June 29, 2009 we would love for you to be a part of our sneak preview.

We are overhauling our brand and this not just a cosmetic change. We have heard loud and clear what you want and we are aligning our offerings to your needs regardless of what stage you are in the business life cycle.

Change We Have Been Waiting For

We’ve evolved the website structure and navigation to provide a more logical flow of information and a more customized experience so users can find what they are looking for.  We’ve also reorganized and simplified our offerings to meet the specific needs of the customer.

OK, So how can I participate in this sneak preview of the new website and offer my feedback?
http://preview.networksolutions.com/

You can head there on Monday 6/29 to see the preview.

Share your thoughts and get a SPECIAL OFFER as a “Thank You” for your feedback

In exchange for taking the time out of your day to offer your thoughts on how we are doing and input on how we can make the experience better, we will send you a coupon for a $35 credit towards the purchase of Network Solutions products and services, while supplies last*.

So head on over there next week. We look forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit: Customers Rock

Debbie Weil Author of the The Corporate Blogging Book – a Tech Titan herself did a nice interview of Garrett on her Blog. Frank Gruber another Tech Titan posted the event recap here.

I had the great pleasure of once again meeting Nigel Morris – one of the members of General Atlantic and on the Board of Network Solutions.  Nigel is also one of the co-founders of Capital One. In fact Network Solutions is represented by 4 people on the Washingtonian Tech Titan’s list.

Nigel Morris : Member of the Network Solutions’ Board of Directors

Raul Fernandez : Member of the Network Solutions’ Board of Directors

Jill Foster : Editor – WomenGrowBusiness.com and

Shashi Bellamkonda – Social Media Swami (me )

Another distinction in the list is that 5 of the fantastic contributors to WomenGrowBusiness ( a community blog for Women Entrepreneurs ) are on the list and I consider that a great honor for Network Solutions.

Shireen Mitchell

Allyson Kapin

Marissa Levin

Jill Foster

I saw several folks from last time and enjoyed a great conversation with them.  Here is a list of a few of the people I met, its not exhaustive and I may have left off some good people so forgive and give me hell by commenting here if you are not listed
My good friends Shana Glickfield (dcconcierge.com) , Jen Consalvo, Leslie Ann, Nick O’Neil, Frank Gruber. I missed meeting Sanju Bansal whose name I hear all the time. Sid Banerjee – we almost said hello.

Eva Barboni Joetrippi.com

Pete Snyder Founder and CEO of NMS : New Media Strategies  ( Another Washingtonian Tech Titan himself ).  Of course his able employee Leslie Ann is like a Fairy God mother to the local community – she is young but can still have that title.

Ed Black President and CEO of CCIA ( Computers and Communications Industry Association) a Washingtonian Tech Titan himself. I had a great conversation with Heather Greenfield and Gina Steinhauser also with the CCIA. I must narrate this story. I was carrying a bag with all me cameras and equipment and Paul Bremer was taking a picture. Seeing me holding the bag Gina offered to hold it while the picture was being taken. I thought the courtesy was awesome particularly having read in that day’s Washington Post about how many commuters were ill- mannered and did not offer their seats to people who need them the most. Ed  Black you have some great employees.

Paul Bremer from InflectionPoint Media connected me with another Washingtonian Tech  Titan and CEO of Genius Rocket Mark Walsh. I met Linda Jeffries from the Newseum , Eliis Jeffries from the Washingtonian. Caroline McGurk of NBC Universal looks after the partner Sales for iVillage.com and i should connect her with Jill Foster for WomenGrowBusiness.com.

Dendy Young from McClean Capital is another Washingtonian Tech Titan I met. Nigel Morris introduced me to Alan. G Merten President of George Mason University . Jack Crupi CTO of Jack Be another Washingtonian Tech Titan spoke about how their company does “mash=ups” for enterprises.   Shireen Mitchell at once saw the connection and wondered if Network Solutions could use them.

I spoke a long time with Haroon Mokhtarzada CEO of Webs.com and David Stegon of Bisnow snapped a shot of us two conversing. Pay back came for me with me taking a picture of David. I was thrilled to be on Bisnow the next day ( Thanks David). Craig Newmark mentioned some of the Tech Titans on his blog . Sacha Cohen from Rosetta Stone and of course MIKE RUCKI of http://www.onfrozenblog.com

Other folks who have blogged and written about this:

http://ctovision.com/2009/05/my-thoughts-on-the-washingtons-tech-titans-list/

http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/behind-washington-dc-top-100-tech-titans-list/

http://www.socialmedian.com/story/4897066/washingtonian-names-unites-dc-100-tech-titans

http://vimeo.com/4877975

http://newmediastrategies.net/pressroom/entry/washingtonian-magazine-names-new-media-strategies-ceo-pete-snyder-top-100-t/

Here are some of the pictures I took.

I met Kevin Reeth CEO of Outright ( Small Business Book keeping software) at the SXSW Small Business brunch organized by Pam O’ Hara and Michelle Riggins of Batch Blue a Small Business CRM Tool company and Network Solutions. About 40 people came together  at South By South West (SXSW) and networked and the feedback from many  attendees is that they made some good contacts.

Our story is that Network Solutions and Outright.com are now partners and Network Solutions will provide free a domain and website for one year when users sign up for Outright.com’s free bookkeeping service. I signed up for the Outright bookkeeping online immediately. Outright is easy to use and you sign-up online. I gave my CPA a surprise by having a Schedule C tax form generated for him when I did my taxes. Outright has a way to connect with Freshbooks ( an invoicing tool that I use) and I recommend it for small business.

Now there is another reason to sign up for Outright.com. We figured if you are starting a business, moonlighting a bit, you need the tools to establish your web presence. So go on right now to Outright.com and sign-up for the free online bookkeeping  and take advantage of the free domain and website offer.

Help me spread the message to all the entrepreneurs out there and I am looking forward to community ideas and feedback on educational workshops that Network Solutions and Outright.com can hold to help people looking to start a business. Cheers!

“You can only choose one. Which one do you want,” she asked.

The boy chose the one that directly in front of him. The one he could easily reach out to and take without any fear. He was eager to tear open the pages of whatever adventure awaited beneath the cover.

“That one?  Are you sure?”

He nodded and they were off. I don’t know if he ever enjoyed the comic, but I saw, for that moment, he was completely confident and excited about his choice.

Right then and there, I had my topic.

The rush hour of small business marketing.
With so many people reaching out for your prospective clients’ attention, it’s getting harder and harder to see yourself as the clear choice.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with choosing where to advertise, how to cast the widest net, and what your message will be to get their attention.  It can be frustrating with every niche item salesman suggesting what bit of swag will be sure to lure in that potential client, the local print shop touting the latest sale on brochures and postcards, networking events crowded with the same people over and over again, and yet have you noticed what you want…seems to be right where you need it?

I’m not advocating you ditch any of the tools above, but simply recognize them for what they are. They are tools and avenues to get you to the next prospective client.  But if these avenues are backed up with rush hour like traffic fighting for attention, why would you take them? Because they are safe bets? Because everyone is doing it? Because you are a bit afraid to feel like you wasted your all ready limited resources on an unproven tactic?

But what if you take these choices and you end up with a closet full of key chains, boxes of never seen brochures, and networking events where you end up collecting the same business cards from the same people just on different days?  Isn’t THAT a waste of your valuable all ready limited resource?

Be where you’ll get the most eyes.
Instead of trying to create tactics and plans that brings them to you, try getting out and going to them.  Seriously, go where your future long term customers will be. It could feel awkward at first, but if you’re the first person to tap the well of uninterrupted visibility then you’ve got nothing to loose.

The best example I’ve seen of this was just yesterday at an office where I am doing some contracting.  In their kitchen, right on the refrigerator door, was an advertisement for a Babysitter.  The design was clean, clear, and simple.  There was a pocket, made of folded paper, stapled to it with business cards sticking out. The business cards were even clearer than the flyer. They simply read, in a welcoming font,

“Nicole.
Babysitter.”

And below that were her phone number and email.

This wasn’t done in an off the shelf font, but it was neatly presented and easy to read. No fluff designs or overly wordy content. The business card laden flyer was close to eye level with anyone going to get their lunch.

Nicole tapped a market of an office made up of probably 60% of her chosen clients. She went right to where she would get the most eyes on her services.

Needless to say, I’ve seen Nicole’s simple business card holder refilled at least twice since the advertisement went up.

Be brave with your limited resources.
Don’t be afraid to take chances once in a while. Get out there and go after your prospective clients with the same excitement you started your business.  After all, they are your clients after all, right?  Instead of the next tried and true moderately successful “everyone’s seen it, done it, and got the t-shirt from it” tactic, get a little creative with your limited resources.

If you’re an auto detailing company, offer to wash cars in the parking lot of your local office building for free in exchange for letting people know about your services.  If you’re a business coach, give away coupons for a free session at a networking event for small business owners.  If you’re an author with a new book to peddle, go to where your reader will be and give out free sample chapters of your book with info on where to get the rest of the great, amazing best seller to be. What ever it is that you do, be bold, be creative and be fearless in whatever your marketing endeavor will be.  Failures will happen, but successes will as well.  Be more focused on the later and conscious of what caused the former.

If you’re wondering, yes, I’ve seen the aforementioned suggestions done, but those business owners wanted the clients and weren’t afraid to take a calculated risk to reap a little long term reward.

But the real question is…are you?

As all ways…stay wicked.