By Dr. Vrunda Davé, Founder of The Soul Entrepreneur at www.VrundaDave.com

Are you perceived as an expert in your field? When your clients think about the problems they need help with, are you the go-to expert, the clear solution to their most pressing issues? If you’re not, then you need to start positioning yourself in the marketplace as the expert that you are. There is no better way to be seen as an expert and to get your mission out in a big way and reach more people than through the media.

Radio, in particular, has become an even more powerful medium with the creation of www.blogtalkradio.com. You can pitch yourself as an expert guest on the am/fm airwaves or on the internet.  As a result, there are hundreds of shows looking for fresh content from experts like you to present to their audience. Don’t wait to be invited as a guest. Follow these simple 5 steps and be proactive in getting your products and services in front of larger audiences of your ideal prospects and customers:

Take some time to sit, get clarity on, and write down:

1. Who you are.
2. Who you help.
3. What are your clients’ 5 biggest problems.
4. How your products/services are the solution to those problems.

This list will be crucial in developing the other steps of your media strategy. The media   will not be interested in you if you are vague in terms of what you do and who you specifically help. They want experts and specialists in specific fields, not generalists who use clichéd terminology and have no clear client base.

1. Write a 200 word biography based on your expert story.

How did you become an expert at what you do? What challenges did you face and overcome? Make it interesting and alluring to the reader so they want to hear more. How have you succeeded? What results do your clients get from working with you or buying your products? What is your greater mission?

2. Write a 1 page pitch based on your target market’s 5 biggest problems and your solutions.

Take your list from Step #1 and create your radio pitch from it. In one sentence, identify the problem and state the solution. Keep it concise and brief. You can give more information in the actual interview.

Be innovative in your solutions to your market’s biggest problems. Be contrarian to the status quo. Be honest in ways that others are not willing to be. That will make you stand out from the crowd and you will be perceived as a fascinating guest expert on any show.

3. Identify radio shows whose audience is your target market and pitch yourself as an ideal guest who beings a lot of value to that audience.

Utilize both networking and internet searches to identify radio shows and hosts who specifically speak to your target market. Email them your pitch and call to follow-up. Show them how much value you bring to their audience. Focus on how you can help their audience by giving them valuable information. DO NOT be disappointed or give up if they say no to you. Just say, “next” and move on quickly to the next show/host on your list. Be persistent and consistent and you will see results quickly!

4. Register yourself on site such as www.radioguestlist.com and www.reporterconnection.com so that the media knows that you are an expert who is available to give value to their audience. The media is looking for experts just like you! Go out there and make it easy for them to find you!

Dr. Vrunda Davé, Small Biz Marketing & Implementation Expert, mentors big vision women entrepreneurs to build highly profitable businesses around their passion, expertise, and life’s purpose.

Dr. Davé has been featured on various radio shows and has an upcoming segment on KCAL 9 and PAX/Ion TV networks. Visit www.VrundaDave.com to receive your complimentary Business Breakthrough Kit for Entrepreneurs which includes: 1) The Guide to Thrive E-Book 2) “Get More Clients, NOW” Video Training 3) Free Subscription to The Dart – Small Biz Success Program.

It’s amazing how many solopreneurs will repeatedly say how slow the economy is and yet not look at their part as to why they may not have as much business as they would like.

Case in point: There are two services I need that make my life easier and safer. One is the service of delivery of firewood for the winter.

The other is getting our chimney cleaned for the season. Not just the base but an actual sweeping of the entire chimney.

Last year we were extremely pleased with the gentleman we purchased our wood from and the gentleman who cleaned our chimney.

Prepared to make the same purchases this year with both these men we ran into one small problem – we don’t have contact information for either.

It really is this simple
A simple phone call, postcard or email from these solopreneurs would have resulted in instant business. Rather, we will have to search them out.

Which leads to the question, “Is business slow because of the economy or due to lack of systems which include keeping in contact with customers?”

Granted, there are industries in which the economy has hit hard and heavy. Yet, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who would not be struggling if they had the good sense to keep in touch with their customers.

This is true for both offline and online businesses. If business is not where you want it to be is it really that the economy is slow or is it that you have not done everything in your power to acquire business?

Quit blaming others 
It’s amazing how many solopreneurs are quick to blame outside circumstances for less than desirable revenues rather than look at their part in the situation.

A few days ago I was contacted by a gentleman I have purchased several products from over the last year. His email read, “Wanted to let you know I have XYZ. I know you have an interest in these. Are any of the products listed of interest?”

Within minutes I was sending him money for my product of choice.

Had he not contacted me he would not have made an immediate sale. A sale that resulted in a more profitable bottom-line.

Consider this; assuming your products and services are stellar, are you truly doing all you can to make sure your name is in front of your market? If you offer seasonal products or services are you making sure you contact customers before they need you to make sure you are first on their mind when it is time to purchase?

It’s your responsibility
Do you have systems in place that assure you will minimize your risk of being among the countless other men and women who are saying, “The economy, it has to be the economy as to why my business is slow.”

The fact is, you have more control over your revenue than you think. Another fact is, you must be very honest about how much responsibility you are assuming in your success.

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Today I got a huge shock when a bunch of emails ended up in my inbox. Apparently, they had gotten stuck somewhere (that’s my technical term for being on the server) and after many days of not receiving my usual number of emails, thousands began downloading within a very short period of time.

Knowing there wasn’t much I could do but get to the task at hand I began the process of filtering through the good, the bad and the ugly.

Sad to say, the majority of the over 4,000 messages were either bad or really, really ugly.

Less than 3% were worth my while. The rest were blatant promotions for things I have very little (if any) interest in and out and out garbage.

Here’s the deal, many of the promotional emails came from a small group of people. Not that promotional emails are bad, but when there’s no substance to the information or you receive dozens in a matter of days from the same person, that’s a problem.

Granted, the solution is to opt out, but until I had a boatload of emails arrive in very short order, I had no idea how bad it really is with some marketers.

My gosh. No wonder there is so much information overload and lots of emails don’t get read today.

This got me thinking about what I send out. Do I ever go overboard with promotions? For some, I likely do. For some, one promotional message would be too much. For others, they are happy with the amount I do send.

If we are in the business of marketing we do need to send out promotional messages. But we also need to be cognicent of the fact that we absolutely must provide value to our market and not always try to sell, sell, sell.

Each of us needs to take stock of what we are doing.

• Do we balance our marketing with high value?
• Do we market at all or is there a fear we will upset someone with even one message?
• Do we always think in terms of serving first, selling second?

Definitely questions worth considering.