Add More Hours to Your Day – The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
March 1, 2010
The most common problem among many small business owners is “time poverty.” Putting in a lot of extra hours could help a little, but it’s not the answer. Neither is trying to do two things at once. Some ideas that may help:
* Become an expert at what you do. Study the workflows of people who are very efficient and copy them. You will often find that they are extremely well organized. Learn from experts in your field.
* Prioritize. What is the most important thing on your list? Concentrate on that alone until you are finished.
* Be open to new ideas. Consultant Brian Tracy says some overwhelmed people think they already know all they need to know on a subject. Never stop learning.
* Face up to mistakes. Saying you made a mistake is a sign of maturity and personal strength.
* Become an expert on time management. Then practice every day until you master time management skills.
Read Getting Things Done by David Allen. This book was released in 2001 and remains a best seller as it fuels global demand for Mr. Allen’s workshops and personal coaching. Amazingly, he has established an industry around a simple approach to getting things done.
What Is the Difference Between a Tri-fold Brochure, Case Study and a White Paper?
January 23, 2010
I have never been a big fan of tri-fold brochures that attempt to convince me that I should buy a particular product or sign up for a certain service. These marketing materials tend not to be persuasive enough due to the fact that information has been crammed into a limited space. The customer benefits are not always obvious, contrary to emotional appeal – nice images, unusual fonts and unique paper may catch my attention, but not for long.
White papers appeal more to me as they provide logic through facts, statistics and quotes from end users or industry experts. They are not flashy, but usually filled with facts. For me, they are much more informative. I consider writing a good white paper a real art form as the author has to be a good researcher, persuasive essayist and a marketer all at once. At the same time, a good balance between the right amount of facts, images, quotes and often industry terms has to be achieved. Case studies tend to focus on customer stories and testimonials whereas white papers add a touch of credibility through unbiased information.
High quality content is becoming increasingly important as people crave useful information and have access to growing number of information channels before making buying decisions. All marketing materials should educate; therefore, business people, especially marketers, need to become avid readers and dedicated students to continuously improve their skills. I am planning to master the art of writing effective white papers in 2010 to deliver quality leads for my own business and customers. I encourage you to do the same. Good content leads to good customers.
Good place to start: White Paper Success Summit 2010, a live online event that will empower participants to attract quality leads and grow their business with educational white papers. I am planning to attend as the list of instructors is impressive. I would love to win a free ticket or two and you can too (until January 25th, 2010) – read more on the Content Marketing Revolution blog and stop by Michael Stelzner’s website.
Why Your Company Needs a Social Media Marketing System in 2010
January 23, 2010
One-way, top-down communication does not work as well as in former days. Today, companies must create conversations with customers and deliver useful content at the moment their prospects, clients or constituents need it. Many firms will need to reinvent their marketing in 2010.
Marketers can’t push products on people. They have to think like journalists and create a dialogue with their audience to earn a prospect’s trust. Free or low-cost applications such as blogs and podcasts, in addition to social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, have changed the old rules. In addition, free social networking applications can be used for managing your company’s reputation, conducting market research, monitoring your competitors’ efforts and collaborating with your colleagues. Twitter can also serve as a platform for your company’s customer service.
Ideal clients can now be reached with targeted messages that cost a fraction of the old expensive advertising campaigns. In addition, social media marketing and PR efforts often allow instant feedback and measurable results, so businesses can immediately see which marketing strategies are working for them and which ones are not. Read more
To Tweet Or Not To Tweet?
November 28, 2009
Some small businesses are hesitant to embrace social media. Blogging seems time consuming, Facebook scary or unknown. At the same time, old marketing strategies don’t seem to work any more.
Business owners may not always realize that they need to re-visit their marketing plan to create and adopt a marketing system to get results. The same principle can be applied to Social Media – do your research, learn from others and create a well thought-out Social Media Marketing Plan to implement your Social Media Marketing System and benefit from social networking.
During last couple of months I have been helping my clients research social networking opportunities for their organizations. They have been using Twitter and Facebook to listen and learn before they plan and create their own Social Media Marketing Systems. This is what we’ve learned:
- Make Twitter a part of your marketing strategy – Social Media Marketing System. Do your research and determine whether your business could use free social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook for market research, customer service and/or for reaching your target market.
- Improve your professional skills, products and services by paying attention to what your competitors, potential clients and current customers are raving or complaining about.
- Learn how to educate and inform your target audience, share information about the articles, products and opportunities that your followers/fans may find useful.
- Person handling tweets/posts/fan pages for your organization should be familiar with the web and web-based tools.
- Make it your goal to become an “informer” who has the potential to be a “trust agent” – someone who is an expert and has an ability to influence other people.
- You only have 140 characters for one tweet, use them wisely.
- Avoid words and phrases that may attract unwanted followers/fans.
- 100 loyal followers/fans/subscribers who look forward to reading your tweets/posts may be worth more than 1,000 random followers.
- Learn to use Twitter/Facebook/Blogs as your company’s online reputation management tool.
- Don’t waste your time if you don’t have a social networking strategy.
Are You Fatigued by Facebook and Twitter?
October 15, 2009
Facebook gave us a way to find old classmates and renew friendships, find clients and share ideas.
Email has given us a way to quickly conduct business or send silly stuff to co-workers and friends.
So now we have IM, text messaging, friends on Facebook, and constant communication by 140 characters or less on Twitter.
All of this messaging is great as it is supposed to bring us closer to our friends and find new ones, but if we aren’t careful, these interactions can harm our real-life relationships. Columnist Elizabeth Bernstein quite recently said that she is experiencing Facebook fatigue because loved ones are sending so many photos of their children or parties, forwarding funky quizzes, and posting dozens of jokes. And they are tweeting about their whereabouts and what they are doing at the present moment.
To improve our daily interactions, Bernstein says: Before posting an item, ask yourself if it’s something you would want one of your contacts to send to you. Reward people by responding to interesting messages.
While private blogs can be platforms for political ranting, it can be considered poor form on Facebook to constantly post your political opinions.
Grow Your Business With Proven Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies
October 12, 2009
Word of Mouth Marketing, the oldest form of marketing is gaining ground again. How can business owners beat the current recession with Word of Mouth Marketing?
Educate and Nurture Your Current Customers
Don’t put all emphasis on new customer acquisition, but affirm your current customers,
find ways to develop loyalty programs that increase the lifetime value of your customers. Reward
clients with your time, attention and little extras – they will become enthusiastic promoters for your products and services.
Get Known as an Expert in a Niche Community
Are you creating compelling stories (ideas, articles, informative presentations or videos) that are picked up and shared person-to-person via social networking sites or within niche communities? If not, observe successful entrepreneurs in your niche and find out how they have become experts and what has contributed to their success. Participate in discussions, create conversations and relationships that help you become an expert and share your ideas.
Offer Pleasant Surprises to Create Viral Marketing
Surprising your clients is worth your time, since it gives you an opportunity to exceed their expectations and satisfied customers will be back. It is not hard to come up with a special offer or free complimentary service, you can always add something remarkable to your product. The level of expectations changes fast these days, you have to be creative and continuously find new ways to “over deliver” so that your customers keep having new reasons to talk about you. Get to know your customers, their habits and buying patterns, develop a system to pleasantly surprise them.
Become and Stay Referable
Never stop learning how to be better and more efficient at what you do. Give your customers every reason to drum up more business for you and find out why or why not people refer you. Always welcome opportunities to meet and help other small business owners. Be interested in their business and volunteer activities. You will learn from them, also share your expertise and they will refer you as they get to know, like and trust you. You and your business will be on their mind as people in their network need products or services that you offer. Find time in your busy day to send thank you cards and notes to people who have made a difference in your life. Make it effortless for your loyal clients to provide information about you, your products and services (make sure they have your business cards and promotional materials, etc.) If you become and stay referable, you don’t have to try to sell your business to others, it will come to you.
Improve Your Communication Skills While Travelling and Meeting New People
October 7, 2009
Warning for Tourists
I have been traveling quite a bit lately. I embrace these opportunities as there is always so much to learn from people who live in different parts of the world – frugality and resourcefulness from citizens of countries that have to get by with much less than people in the U.S, relaxed and easygoing attitude from a young man who lives in Brazil, efficient time management from German professionals and eloquence from British gentlemen.
I have witnessed different approaches to marketing and politics as well – pre-election Germany had a different feel than pre-election Estonia. Overall, it looked like Europeans had taken a low key approach,
people and governments are tightening their belts.
Just like people in different countries have different needs, so do small businesses. Product and service customization as well as getting to know your customer are both equally important, or you’ll miss the mark. We have so much to learn from each encounter with potential and current customers.
Top 10 Challenges Professional Service Providers Must Overcome to Generate New Clients and Revenues
September 5, 2009
I would like to share my fellow Duct Tape Marketing Coach Bill Doerr’s advice:
Challenge 1
“Not seeing enough people”
Probable Cause/s:
* insufficient level of marketing-related activities
Corrective Strategy:
Be sure you’re engaging in appropriate activities at an adequate level for the client acquisition and revenue-generation goals you have. Seems obvious and may correct any deficiency right there. As one respondent said, “Get of your office and go see some people!”. Sage advice.
Challenge 2
Dealing with ‘high maintenance’ prospects and clients
Probable Cause/s:
* not clear about who is ‘right’ for the business or practice (i.e. who is ‘qualified’ to work you?)
* not using that profile at the ‘moment of truth’ with a prospective client or referral source
Corrective Strategy:
Define your ‘ideal client’ and don’t compromise your own standards. A number of people lamented that their willingness to take ‘anyone with an open checkbook’ often led to a client engagement that, in the end, proved frustrating for all parties. Just don’t do it! Identify specific ‘knockout’ factors and, if present, avoid engaging with those people.
Challenge 3
Prospects (and, some clients!) are asking us for ‘lower fees’ or ‘better pricing’
Probable Cause/s:
* not focusing on the value you provide vs. the fee you are charging
Corrective Strategy:
Charge a ‘fixed’ fee for your services rather than billing by the hour. Why? Understand that an hourly rate is something you need to know to be sure your pricing is profitable for your business or practice. It is NOT something your clients need to know. In fact, most don’t like hourly billing (survey your clients and you’ll confirm that one!).
What they do need to know is the answer to this question: “What’s it going to cost me . . . if I use you or, if I don’t?” Once framed that way, any ‘price’ you’ll ask for will be positioned around the VALUE you represent, not the time you have to invest in a project that will provide the client what they want. In my own experience, ‘package’ pricing invariably causes more services to be sold and better margins to be maintained than providers who bill ‘by the hour’.
Challenge 4
Losing bids to other firms (who are arguably less qualified, too!)
Probable Cause/s:
* No system for helping clients to make a decision is present
* Not skilled at using a system for helping clients to make a decision
* Not seen as a preferred provider of your services
Corrective Strategy:
The first two causes will be addressed by a systematic approach to helping someone make a decision . . . in short, ’selling’. Seen as an essential aspect of your professional advocacy role, it’s an incumbent responsibility of every professional to help clients make decisions about their services – including the decision NOT to use them. But it must be a deliberate decision, not a decision by default because it wasn’t made deliberately.
If prospects fail to perceive you as a preferred provider you are not differentiating yourself to your marketplace. To differentiate yourself, you must be both beneficial and unique. Being yourself is about as unique as it gets. So you need to learn how to demonstrate the beneficial ‘edge’ you offer that will cause you to stand out to your prospective clients.
For service providers the ’secret’ is to learn how to manage the experience your prospects have with you during the courtship phase of your relationship so they will feel, all things being equal, that you and your firm are definitely the preferred providers of your problem-solving expertise.
Challenge 5
Finding it distasteful to have to ’sell’ and/or ‘market’ our services
Probable Cause/s:
* An attitude of advocacy . . . as a fiduciary of your client’s interests is missing
Corrective Strategy:
Reframe ’selling’ as a ‘moral responsibility’ that your professionalism demands. Selling is simply ‘client-centered advocacy’. Think of a physician who ‘advocates’ a course of therapy for a patient not because they want a fee as much as they want their patient to be healthy. So too, you must see that such client-centered advocacy is a high calling and not something much lower . . . in your humble opinion. More than one respondent offered the admonition to “just get over yourself”. I hope this perspective will help you do just that.
Challenge 6
No sense that EVERYONE is responsible for marketing in the firm
Probable Cause/s:
* leadership has not communicated that marketing IS everyone’s responsibility
* There is no consequence for not bringing in clients (or, doing things that would!)
Corrective Strategy:
If you / your firm hasn’t made this expectation public . . . do so! Rewrite everyone’s position description (yes, even the receptionists’) to include behaviors that support ‘marketing’. Unless and until marketing behavior is expected and inspected, it’s likely not to happen. Better yet, post this expectation in locations where you will be re-minded of it frequently.
Challenge 7
Not having time to devote to marketing my services
Probable Cause/s:
* No need to market (see Challenge #6)
* No plan – so no marketing activities have been identified to do in the first place
* No skills – you know what to do and why but you still don’t allocate time for it
Corrective Strategy:
Create and use a ‘Marketing Activity Plan’ to ensure you’re allocating your time to what some call the ‘mission critical’ activities so the ‘mission’ of your planning will be accomplished. And brushing up on your time management skills might be a good idea, too!
Challenge 8
Not leveraging our relationships with existing clients to find new ones
Probable Cause/s:
* Not asking for help from existing clients
* Asking but ineffectively
Corrective Strategy:
Learn to use an effective referral system with existing clients and centers-of-influence. Two possibilities to consider might be: “Referral Flood” by Duct Tape Marketing or The Preferral Prospecting System®
Challenge 9
Not developing long-term relationships for the referrals and revenues they offer
Probable Cause/s:
* No system for following-up
* No system for keeping-in-touch
* Not using such systems even if present
Corrective Strategy:
Get – and use – a system for
1. following-up, and
2. keeping-in-touch
in a manner that is as professional as you are.
While no one will argue these two functions aren’t important, many cite they either don’t know how or feel they’ll come off a ‘less than professional’. The key is not to ignore the need to do these things but to find a way to do so that won’t be offensive – to you or your marketplace.
Challenge 10
Focusing on client acquisition activities at the expense of client retention activities
Probable Cause/s:
* myopic mindset . . . “Need MORE Revenues? Get NEW Clients!”
* inability to appreciate that not all revenues are equally profitable to your firm
Corrective Strategy:
Consider that the cost of acquiring a project from a new client is much more costly (cost of sales) than generating a project from an existing client. In his book, “The Loyalty Effect” Theodore Reicheld explains that many firms don’t see a profit until an account has been with them for some time. Implication: “equal revenues with high turnover is less profitable than equal revenues with lower turnover”. Point: Keep-in-touch and stay-in-mind with your existing clients so whenever a need arises . . . you’ll be there and . . . seen as the preferred provider that you are.
BONUS!!
Doing more than expected . . . without being asked – (so here’s my little ‘extra’ for you!)
Challenge 11
Not getting people to buy or refer us when there’s no apparent reason not to do so
Probable Cause/s:
* Trust (or, a significant lack of it!)
Corrective Strategy:
For any professional or business service provider, trust is an essential element to the formation and maintenance of a productive client relationship. If trust is an issue, getting and keeping clients will be highly problematic if not impossible.
Reinvent in the Recession with Great Marketing
August 11, 2009
Do you really know who your ideal customer is? Can you picture what he/she reads, likes, wears and how your ideal client makes purchasing decisions? If you know your customers’ needs well, then you don’t need to follow them around, you can lead them with confidence and you can spread ideas that resonate with your audiences. Twitter and Facebook are great for networking, but if your customer does not even know how to spell Twitter, you may need to hang out somewhere else. You need a different marketing strategy during recession, but first you need to
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER.
Examples of companies who know their customer:
Apple - Design matters! People pay more for products if you give them a reason to do so.
REI – Offers quality and utility to people who value them. Appreciates customer feedback.
Target – Makes customers feel good by letting them trade up, differentiates its brand from low cost retailers.
BE CREATIVE, do what your best competitors do, but do it differently, stand out. Find ways to create great customer stories and create your own story that others will tell. Reward your best evangelists. Write articles about your expertise or your business or have them written, submit locally and online.
BE INNOVATIVE, find news ways to market. Start your own inexpensive podcast if you have talent or find someone who will interview you.
Here are some useful websites for aspiring podcasters as well as listeners:
Free audio recording/editing software for podcasters:
www.audacity.sourceforge.net
Check out BlogTalkRadio as well.
STAY IN TOUCH with your customers and gain new clients via newsletters, webinars or special offers. Have free videoconferences via Skype.
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Edgy Presentations Add More Power to Your Social Media Marketing
August 11, 2009
I started looking for alternative presentation tools for one of my always traveling friends and found Zoho Show . It is completely free for personal use, presenters can access their presentations from anywhere. You can export your slideshow to PowerPoint if needed, share your presentation online and track how many people have viewed it.
Presentation sharing site Slideshare is growing in popularity, users can upload Word documents, text files, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDF files as well as files created with Open Office (odt) and access them from the Slideshare site when presenting. There is a 100 MB maximum allowed upload file size limit.
OpenOffice 3 Impress is a free software for creating effective multimedia presentations. You can use 2D and 3D clip art, special effects, animation, and high-impact drawing tools. It is possible to save your slideshow as a PowerPoint file.
Google Presentations belong to the Google Docs and Spreadsheets family. One advantage that Google Presentations has over PowerPoint is the fact that all steps – the presentation creation, development, viewing and sharing can take place online.
Sliderocket is another emerging web-based tool. Users can incorporate video and publish their presentations online or embed them on their websites. Their free plan provides 250 MB of storage.
And yes, you have to learn presentation design from Garr Reynolds.
Spice up your presentations, spread your ideas!
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