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Strategy Calls! - The Strategic Alliance of Online Businesses - is a new group on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54338290656&ref=mf 

formed for the purpose of being a forum of opportunity for online businesses to network with each other, and to offer tele-seminars, courses and conferences that may be of interest to the online business owner.

In online marketing, this is known as the JV or joint venture.

As was recently pointed out in the astute online marketer, Rich Schefren's recent article on the subject,
http://www.strategicprofits.com/blog/1-plus-1-equals-3/, many marketers have treated the JV as an email campaign, but a joint venture relationship, or a strategic alliance, is what you make it to be.

Traditionally, the ability of a firm to price higher than competitors is called differentiation. A product or a service which offers something unique,or is or greater value than the competition, could then merit a sustainable higher price.

But a firm may also choose to offer a differentiated product or service at a similar price to competitors in order to increase market share and volume.

It is, of course, of no value in achieving competitive advantage unless it is of value to the user, so that the user has preference for those products or services over those of competitors. Focused differentiation through strategic alliances lead to a perceived added value to a particular product or segment, which may also warrant a price premium.

The aim with strategic alliances is to achieve higher market share, and therefore higher volume, than competitors by offering better products or services at the same price; or enhanced margins by pricing slightly higher.

It is much more difficult for a competitor to imitate a basis of differentiation linked to a mix of activities or features rather than just a product or a service, if the mix is a good one, then this is highly likely to benefit many of the businesses online.

Strategy Calls! - The Strategic Alliance of Online Businesses - encourages businesses of all kinds to join this group to

*network
*find possible partners to form strategic alliances or enhanced joint ventures with
*receive information on the subject
*listen to experts being interview from the comfort of your home or office
*receive information on upcoming networking conferences and seminars.

The Strategy Calls!  website, to be located at http://StrategyCalling.com,  is under construction and a schedule of calls is forthcoming and will be available very soon.

Strategy Calls! Please join us!

Angela Wickenberg
Founder

It's an auspicious time for us all in business and especially those of us who have waken up to the enormous opportunities online.

While there are many great challenges in the economy and for business owners, many have spoken of the gold rush of opportunity that is on the Internet today. And this is so true! Never has there been so much opportunity and so many resources, literally available at our fingertips!

But for many, this has escaped them. This is because as small business owners, we tend to try to do it all ourselves. All of the successful businessmen have told us, time and again:

"Make offers more attractive for potential buyers!"

"Know your strengths and weaknesses and delegate your weaknesses, or form a joint venture!"

"Take what is working and exploit that to the fullest!"

"Take MASSIVE ACTION!"

So how are you going to do this if you have no resources, no time or no money? Strategic alliances or joint ventures are the answer to this.

Please leave comments or message me with your thoughts.

Strategy Calls.com also invites you to answer the questions below:

1) Is there a particular aspect of strategic alliances that you feel you do not grasp, or in other words, that you would like to learn about?

2) Have you tried joint venture relationships before and what are your experiences from this/them?

3) If negative, what went wrong? What was missing?

4) If positive, what was right? And has the relationship continued?

5) Is there something that particularly frightens you about strategic alliances/joint ventures?

6) Would you like help creating a joint venture or strategic alliance?

7) Please state in what area you need assistance.

Would you like to be a case study?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Strategy Calls!

Angela Wickenberg

P.S. Please join us!   http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54338290656

Facebook blocked Google Friend Connect upon it's beta release last week.  They claim that Google developed and released Google Friend Connect, which uses the Facebook application, without asking them.  Google Friend Connect shares the personal data of Facebook members without asking the members themselves for permission.
 
Facebook Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, who was interviewed from Tokyo, says that Facebook's intention is to solve the differences they have with Google, who, he says, is a large player on the market and does lot of good things.

Angela

P.S. Don't forget to join our new Strategy Group on Facebook, Strategy Calls!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54338290656

http://www.surefiremarketing.com/4hourweek/call/

Even though the call was free - I strongly suggest
you make time to download and listen to it.

On this call you'll discover:

*  How to kiss the email habit goodbye. (Tim only checks email
2x/day or sometimes not for weeks at a time if he's on one of
his many getaways!)

* How to create your ultimate lifestyle NOW and not waiting until
retirement. (Tim calls this "Lifestyle Design" and I promise it'll
get your more excited than you've been in a long time!)

* The management secrets of remote-control CEOs. (Or the
new "MBA" - management by absence.)

* Mastering the "low information" diet. Why most of us are drowning
in information and what to do about it.

* Outsource your life - using "geoarbitrage" to get others to work
for you at a fraction of the cost. (This is not elance.com)

* Creating automated "cash flow muses" in just 2-4 weeks to fund
your new lifestyle & much more!

http://www.surefiremarketing.com/4hourweek/call/

Don't forget to grab Tim's book at Amazon and tell a friend!

Since I have been ill, as well as all of my children, and still recoupering from what seems like a bout of viral pneumonia, I have been lying around, sleeping and dreaming quite a bit.

I recently got up the energy to read a book that I've had in my bookcase for a while: "The Alchemist", by Paulo Coelho.  I enjoyed this book; it was an easy read but it had a profound message.

It was about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids.  Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself King and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstables along the way.  What starts out as a jouney to find worldly goods turns into a journey of self-discovery.  It portrays the transformative power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.  This is alchemy in its truest expression.

Angela


There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. –Albert Einstein

The inefficiency of multi-tasking in business is well-known. 

Checking emails, making phone calls in the middle of working on a project is called continual partial attention -

when your mind has something is it constantly tracking and never turns off.

When your business needs to shift gears it takes a while to shift back - as much as 30 minutes each and every time -

for me much more time - and the cost of it can become very high.

I know this from experience;

I have called myself "the multi-tasking Queen", juggling resources and time all of my adult life. 

It took me 10 years of study at the university,

a lost job,

a broken marriage,

the birth of four children,

and 10 years of failure at business to finally learn this one.

This is my greatest AHA this year.

Continuing to multi-task when my experience has taught me that it is extremely inefficient is just downright foolish. 

I have three kids at home and since our recent move, my office in the living room,

so how will I achieve real focus and "flow" in my work and business?

Obviously, I need to make some changes - more changes.

But they are good ones - these changes -

and I start by changing my self-description on my "about us" page on this site.

To Our Mutual Success, Both Online and Offline,

Angela Wickenberg

"He's just a natural." How many times have you heard someone say that in order to explain somebody else's greatness? This "explanation" derives from the commonplace belief that certain individuals have an innate gift that the rest of us didn't get and never will.  There's just a slight problem with this belief: it's wrong!

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review by some noted researchers totally debunks the myth of "the natural."* Studies by more than 100 scientists consistently and overwhelmingly proved this astonishing truth: experts are always made, not born.

Moreover, the studies show that the greats in any field do something that the average ones don't: they achieve their greatness through hours, days, and years of always practicing deliberately. Golfing great Ben Hogan once said, "While I am practicing I am also trying to develop my powers of concentration. I never just walk up and hit the ball."**

These researchers say that when most people practice, they just focus on the things they already know how to do. That's why, for example, an average salesperson makes the same easy calls over and over—and still calls it "selling." But a great salesperson, on the other hand, deliberately works at what he or she currently can't do well. And the research shows that this continual, deliberate effort is the distinguishing factor between the good and the great.

So, what does it take to become adept at deliberate practice? We think it's not only having the right tools or techniques, it's also having the right mindset in the first place. You have to have your mind focused in order to apply the techniques you've learned.

If you find that you are:

1. Not practicing your skills regularly (like you tell yourself you are going to do)

2. Not able to perform "live" as you do when you are practicing.

3. Fearful (not your full self while prospecting).

4. Not stretching and constantly improving.

Then it is likely that you are experiencing subconscious blocks.   These subconscious blocks can fight your conscious efforts every step of the way.

This is common, and probably the main reason why most beginning sales professionals and network marketers fail.  However, there are things you can do.

Through extensive experience, we have found that the safest, fastest, and most effective way to overcome these blocks is through hypnosis. Now,