Co-Promotion is Effective Marketing

In this challenging economy, we all wonder what we can do to give our business a marketing boost without investing a lot of money into advertising. You may want to consider co-promotions.

Co-promotion is simple - you promote someone else’s business and they, in turn, promote yours.

We have used co-promotion to foster mutually-beneficial business relationships across the country. As small business owners, we understand the value of preserving capital. Co-promotion is a creative and inexpensive way to promote your business. It has worked for us and it can work for you too.

Here are our top five co-promotional initiatives that you can use to amp up your business – and they are free.

• Link-sharing with Like-minded Businesses – list your link on our website and list our link on yours.
• Newsletter Spotlight– highlight each other’s business in company newsletters.Coupons - offer a coupon that adds value to another business. We offered a coupon for a free half-hour of career development coaching for all attendees at business networking event.
• Coupons - offer a coupon that adds value to another business. We offered a coupon for a free half-hour of career development coaching for all attendees at business networking event.
• Gift with Purchase – offer a gift from your business inside another business' product. We offered a free coaching download with the sale of a nationally distributed product.
• Email Promotions: trade email promotions by forwarding to each other's contact lists. This can instantly double the reach of your emails promotions.

You may have used some other co-promotion strategies. Let us know what has worked for your business. And, if you are interested in co-promoting with DKS , we are always open to new ideas.

You’ve Got Talent! Assess Your Career Strengths with Free Online Tools

When you are making a change, especially a career change, you need to get a good firm grip on what makes you the fabulous, talented person that you are.

Are you kidding, you say?

I’ve got a good firm grip on my faults, but my strengths? That’s hard.

Acquiring a solid understanding of your strengths doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can be fun. As career coaches, we spend a lot of time with women just like you teasing out a detailed list of all their skills, strengths, and talents. Then, we begin the process of developing a career path that is energized by their strongest abilities and passions. However, you can begin to discover your strengths on your own with a number of free, online tools. In fact, we often suggest to clients that they use these online assessments to supplement our work together.

One popular online tool is the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator – the gold standard in the industry for assessing strengths and, even better, how those strengths map into different careers. Monster.com, that job search powerhouse, created a quiz based on the Myers Briggs called Discover Your Perfect Career Quiz that you can do in less than 10 minutes.

Click on: http://resources.monster.com/tools/quizzes/perfectcareer/

Another fabulous source for learning about your strengths is the University of Pennsylvania’s Authentic Happiness website. Those happiness gurus at UPenn have developed a number of scientifically validated surveys, questionnaires and scales to provide you with insight into your character strengths and emotions. You need to complete a short registration (for free) to have access to their questionnaires. Try their Brief Strengths test as a way to get started.

Click on: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Still want more?

How about this. If you’ve ever wondered if you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur, try this scientifically validated test called Can you be an entrepreneur? It provides you with information about which parts of your personality are suited to starting your own business. It takes about 15 minutes, and you will get an interesting snapshot of your results for free. The detailed report costs $14.95.

Click on: http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=694

We meet with so many smart, poised, articulate and accomplished women who look at us completely puzzled when we ask them to list their strengths. (However, they can rattle off a list of weaknesses in seconds.) We tell them that to move forward you must begin from a positive place and acknowledge the strengths, skills and talents that you already have. So, whether you turn to the web, an old friend, or a career coach, you need to assess, catalogue, and write down a list of all of your skills, strengths and talents. Then, carry the list with you to your next interview!