Dan Kennedy has helped small companies to generate hundreds of millions of dollars and he's prominent on my reading list. In fact I subscribe to his monthly newsletter, a must if you're running a small business and want to generate sales through effective marketing.

This is what Dan has to say about marketing and promotion:

While you're sitting there trying to come up with ideas for your next marketing promotion, you're losing money. You'll get that promotion done faster - and out there pulling in sales - if you get a faster start.

How do you start fast? Simply by having lots of ideas right in front of you!

There are plenty of sources for good ideas that can get you going. One of the best is the news.

Take a look at this morning's paper, and what do you see? Political gaffs ... terrorist threats ... inspirational sports stories ... devastating storms ... medical breakthroughs ... celebrity gossip ... product recalls ... concern over Social Security reform ... the ongoing financial woes of the airlines.

Do you mean to tell me you couldn't find some way to use ONE of those stories in a timely promotion for your business?

I get a ton of mail. For my residences, my office, from local businesses, national companies - and I'm on the mailing lists of over a hundred different organizations. Incredibly, I can't remember the last time a sales letter crossed my desk using any of the above news items.

Every morning, you get up and the nutty world we live in graciously, generously hands you dozens of fine opportunities to promote whatever it is that you promote by entering the conversations already in progress in your prospects' minds ... by grabbing their water cooler, coffee break, lunch counter conversations and using them for your profit.

Every day, politicians, celebrities, other newsmakers, the national media, your local media, even the weather work for you, creating endless opportunities to be interesting, captivating, compelling, and entertaining in order to command the attention of your potential customers.

Surrounded by opportunity, most business owners sleep. Meanwhile, the entire world is engaged in a conspiracy to fuel your marketing and make you into a marketing genius.

But only if you light the match!

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Dan Kennedy