Dear Friends,

I've been thinking a lot about all of you. There are many people who write to me asking me to do pro bono work for them. While I take on a couple of people per year, I choose them carefully as time is my most precious commodity. I am at capacity for this year and next.

In my ideal world I'd like to work with artists, authors and entrepreneurs whose gifts I can't resist helping bring into the public light. My wish is to have enough paying clients to do more of this kind of work.

I also want to be able to provide products to everyone at a cost they can afford. To that end I've created a bargain bin for those of you who thought you couldn't afford to own my products due to price. Find those discontinued, damaged and remaindered items at ridiculously low prices here.

My ultimate dream is to be able to have oodles of money to give away to charities, mindfulness organizations, environmental protection agencies, art and music programs and world peace promoters. Also to give to some friend's children to travel and explore their creative talents, support art, film and writing projects and more. I wish you the fulfillment of your goals and dreams. Until then....

Warmly,

Susan

Are You Branded?

All of us have heard the word, but few of us know what the heck it means. Some of us think of burning in a symbol on a cow's hindquarters at the S Corral. We get it when it comes to burning in images Apple and Nike, but what about the rest of us? Perhaps the HBO show Entourage can help.

Vince, the "movie star" of the show is aggravated at his agent Ari and decides to take meetings with new agents who may better recognize his star potential. Each agency he visits gives him the same "Madison Avenue" dog and pony show pitch. Vince needs to brand himself, to become "a brand." In their presentations they put his head in between logos like McDonalds and Microsoft.

Are we any closer yet? Not me. So I thought I'd educate myself by downloading "The Ten Commandments of Branding," by Donald Trump. Except it wasn't written by Donald Trump, but some unknown guy who teaches at Trump University. Deception isn't good branding. But I did learn a few things.

1. Building a brand takes time.

Creating perception is a process not a one time event. The statement "It takes ten years to become an overnight success" applies here. It also takes time, effort, consistency, strategy, positioning and keeping track of all your progress. Think about how long it took amazon.com to become the go-to place online for books or Pixar to establish itself as the best animation studio in the world surpassing Disney (now they're merged--smart branding on Disney's part).

2. A brand makes the connection between the person or the company and a select offering.

What is it exactly you're giving your clients or customers that other people aren't? Choose several key benefits to doing business with you or using your product. They need to be things that really matter to your audience. Be super specific. In my neighborhood there's one place and one place only you go for good dirt--Martin Brothers. They have soil combinations to grow the best vegetables and flowers for all weather conditions. Any serious gardener knows this. They've both niched and branded themselves. We don't shop anywhere else for dirt.

3. Make it feel good.

Branding is not about the benefit of a product, service or cause but about the good fuzzies you get when you use it. When I help people develop their sound bites they often feel secure, confident and happy. The benefit is that they are prepared for any media interview which helps double or triple their business, but "the good fuzzy" is the feelings they have before, during and after a successful interview.

Once you've established yourself as a brand don't dilute it. Deepen the groove, don't broaden it. For more about branding, what it is and how you can do it, join the teleclass with me and Krishna De by sending a blank email to oprah-192259@autocontactor.com

Upcoming media interviews? Planning a PR campaign? To feel secure about your sound bites go here.

Want to Be My Client?

I have room for one more long term client at this time and have space for 3 short term ones. (NOTE: short term client fees begin at $2000 for 4 hours).

Wasabi Publicity and I have also teamed up so now I can offer a branding and publicity campaign starting at $10k/month for a year long program. If you've been wanting to work with me and your needs have been mainly for publicity, I can now help you. We're looking for people who are committed to doing PR on a long-term basis and who want to become a national name.

If you're interested please go here.

Free Teleclass: What's YOUR Brand?

Join me and Krishna De, considered by the media to be one of Europe's leading Personal Branding and Marketing Strategists on how to develop your professional brand. She was the youngest person and the first ever female to be appointed to the board of Guinness Ireland (yes, the beer co.). She has helped brand such global companies as Smirnoff, Bombay Sapphire, Burger King, Häagen Dazs and Pillsbury.

Here's what we'll cover.

• What is a brand.
• Why branding for any professional is a must.
• Branding fundamentals--a quick summary from A-Z.
• Why all businesses need to build a brand continuum.
• The biggest benefits of having a strong brand.
• The 4 key myths we need to dispel about branding.
• Ways to begin to determine the essence of your brand.
• Tips to bring your brand to life.
• Avoiding costly mistakes when seeking a branding partner.

Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Time: 10am-11am Pacific
1 hour
Cost: FREE
Register: send a blank email to oprah-192259@autocontactor.com

NOTE: You'll receive a confirmation email with the call details typically within a few hours of sending an email. If you do not, please check your spam filter and/or whitelist the name newslettereditor@prsecrets.com. Contact us within a day if you have not received this information-- after you've done the above please. (Don't wait until the day of the teleseminar!)

Limit: The first 100 people--register early.

P.S. As many of you know our autoresponder co. recently "upgraded". As a result we've had some unexpected glitches that may still irritate us all. Please bear with us while they iron out their technical difficulties.

Bargain PR Products

Find those discontinued, damaged and remaindered items at
ridiculously low prices here.

Conference Call University

List your teleclass for free with this site. They require a reciprocal link. Well worth it. This site also lists a wealth of teleseminars for expanding your knowledge and deepening your niche. http://www.CCULearning.com

Need Ideas for the Media?

Check out www.instructables.com

Come Meet Me

Anywhere in the World
What's YOUR Brand?
September 13, 2006
Time: 10am-11am Pacific
1 hour
Register: send a blank email to
oprah-192259@autocontactor.com

Anywhere in the World
Christian Work at Home Moment
March 5, 2006
6:30pm CST on KCRO 660 AM
KCRO 660 AM, Omaha or listen
anytime at http://cwahm.com/wordpress/blog/

Anywhere in the World
Q&A to Get on Oprah & Other TV Talk Shows Teleclass
1 hour
Download it at no charge at:
http://prsecrets.com/free-sign-oprahtvtalkshow.html

Anywhere in the World
Get a 6 Figure Book Advance Teleclass
1 hour
Download it at no charge at:
http://prsecrets.com/free-audio-signup-6f.html

Anywhere in the World
Become a 60 Second Sound Bite Genius
(For Pitching, Producer calls, Networking or Presentations)
1 hour
Download it at no charge at:
http://www.webmarketingmagic.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=114141

For further schedule information and course descriptions
please visit:
http://prsecrets.com/speakingkeynotesworkshops.html

NOTE: Some new classes do not yet have descriptions. Your patience is appreciated.

Quote

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.

~ Anne Sexton