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Breathing, Networking, Marketing... all describe mandatory activities ensuring our survival as individuals and the survival of our business; networking and marketing are like our left and right lungs... it's a fact, if we don't breathe we die within minutes, if we fail at networking and marketing properly, we soon end up in front of a bankruptcy court as another chapter 11... so it's not a question of whether we should do it or not but rather how we should do it.

With the world entering tough economic times, marketing efficiently has become even more critical. Marketing and networking should be an integral part of our breathing... our marketing and networking activities should flow as easily and effortlessly as our breathing so that people feel attracted to our offer and feel enticed to hear more about what it is we can do to help them resolve whatever problems they are experiencing.

Remember, the main goal of your networking/marketing activities is to establish a trustworthy relationship with people who will eventually become customers and even better: repeat customers. Instead of touting your products or services right off the bat, you'd better get to know people's needs first! Nothing will happen unless trust is established, unless a rapport is created, eventually developing into a long-lasting relationship; people as we know are usually more enticed to do business with someone they feel they can trust, it's only human.

With the emergence of social networking platforms and social media marketing, opportunities abound; opportunities to do things wrong too... more and more people enjoy being part of on-line groups based on common interests rather than geographies. Instead of joining the gazillions of social networking groups that already exist, why don't you create your own? Solutions exist to do that for free (i.e: Ning.com or Collectivex.com) -- social networking has become an absolute must in today's business context and if you know how to invest your time and energy wisely the ROE (return on efforts) will be paramount: chances are you will have made more friends and will have met in just a few months more partners with whom you will enjoy doing business with for many years to come than you would ever have expected and thought possible.

A common mistake made when building one's on-line presence though is to start building without a vision, without a clear purpose in mind. People need to be able to identify what you stand for and what makes you different when they visit your on-line community; you need to build a brand, a reputable one that is. Attraction is based on clarity, simplicity and authenticity. Once your objectives are clear, it's time to go to the playground and start building and that's where guerrilla marketing will come in handy; by applying its basic principles, strategies and weapons, you will be able to create a highly diverse community of passionate individuals in no time (i.e: I have built the world largest web 2.0 community of social entrepreneurs with 2100+ members in less than 4 months by simply applying the core strategies and tactics of guerrilla marketing).

Entrepreneurs, business owners, business consultants and artists alike have a unique chance to cash in big time on the relationship economy once they understand how to harness and leverage the incredible potential that social networking and social media marketing is yielding. More than ever, the Internet is reshaping how business is done in today's global economy. Web 2.0 has brought a cornucopia of collaborative tools and Web 3.0 is relying heavily on artificial intelligence and will enable new applications being invented to make our life easier so we have more time to spend on our marketing/networking activities!

Regardless of technology, the adoption of a sound and proven model of success for marketing your products or services will always remain what makes the real difference. Tough times call for drastic decisions, in every economic downturn, some people end up in front of a bankruptcy court and some people prosper.

When the going get tough, the tough get going as the saying goes, only when they know how. Predictions for the world's economies for 2008 and 2009 are not that great and that puts an emphasis on improving the effectiveness of your marketing and its efficiency. Difficult times cause problems for many businesses but as always, times of change bring great opportunities for those with the right information, the right mindset and the courage to take decisive action. More than ever, it is becoming vitally important if not a matter of survival to have access to laser-focused and inexpensive marketing tactics to recession-proof your business. Yet, it is possible to increase one's profits during tough times; Guerrilla Marketing can show you how at minimal cost. How long has it been since you had the health of your business checked? Now is probably a good time to have it assessed by a certified guerrilla marketing coach -- only 200 have been trained worldwide, contact Guerrilla Marketing International today for more information. -- Content Provided by Christophe Poizat who is a professional dreamer, a social entrepreneur, certified guerrilla marketer, mentor, business coach, speaker, author with 20+ years of international consulting experience who has lived on four continents.

Bill was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was REALLY angry.

She told him, "To make up for your thoughtlessness, tomorrow morning I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less then 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!"

The next morning Bill got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway. It wasn’t as large as she expected but she put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, confident the box probably contained a set of keys.

She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Bill has been missing since Friday.

Please pray for him.