Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Guest post by Erin Blaskie

Does your business only have one income stream? Meaning, one way that you receive revenue from your paying clients?  

If so, please read this post as this marketing concept might very well change your business and your life!  

If you’re a one-revenue pony, you probably trade your time for money. This means that you probably sit at your desk (or on a couch or stand on a stage) and you do something in exchange for income. Maybe you provide a service or maybe you provide your insight and advice or perhaps you provide a speaking event. Whatever it is, you have one way to produce revenue.  

Now, let’s imagine that you have a cap of eight working hours in each day. I know you may have more or less but let’s just say eight for the purpose of this example.  

With eight working hours, let’s imagine that five of those hours produce you revenue whereas the other three are spent answering e-mails, creating proposals, entering expenses, etc. – all of the business stuff that no one pays you for.  

If you have five billable hours in each day, let’s figure out your earning cap. We all have one – this earning cap is the maximum we can possibly earn if we only do what we are doing right now for the rest of our working life.  

Five hours multiplied by your hourly rate is equal to your earning cap.  

Here’s an example:  

• 5 x $50/hour = $250 per day
• $250/day x 5 days/week = $1,250/week
• $1,250/week x 52 weeks/year = $65,000/year  

See?  You have an earning cap.  Most people who come to me say, “I want to earn six figures” but they have no idea whatsoever how much they would have to earn in order to actually MAKE six figures per year.  They just want that elusive figure.  So, let’s see how much someone would have to make per day if they wanted to earn $100,000/year.  

• $100,000/year / 52 weeks/year = $1,923/week
• $1,923/week / 5 days/week = $384.60/day
• $384.60/day / 5 hours/day = $76.92/hour  

You can use the equation above to figure out how much you need to earn per hour in order to hit your various revenue goals. This will help you to understand how much you really can make without trying to over extend yourself.  

Now, imagine that you had your five billable hours each day per the example above AND you had other revenue streams.  

Imagine what it would be like to see sales come in from other sources where you aren’t actively working. Imagine seeing sales come in at night, when you are spending time with your family on the weekends and while you are vacationing.  

Other revenue streams instantly boost your earning cap.  In fact, adding income streams to your business blows the roof off of your earning cap because there is NO earning cap when you have the potential to make income wherever you are, regardless of what you are doing.   

These other revenue streams can come from information product sales, affiliate revenue, group coaching and online training as well as membership sites and more.  

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About the Author: Erin Blaskie, also known as the Bizinatrix, is in a hot, passionate love affair with the Internet. Whether she is leading her team of creative, outsourcing professionals or sharing information via the web, Erin brings to the table her enormous passion for tech, geek and the Internet

Marketing used to be about “getting in front of” prospects, delivering your pitch, and making the sale.

Today, buyers increasingly distrust marketing “claims” and expect businesses to show, not tell, when demonstrating their products and services. They shun self-serving salespeople and seek businesses that focus on making a difference, not getting a sale. 

Thought leadership centers on earning trust and credibility. Thought leaders get noticed by offering something different—information, insights, and ideas, for instance.

Thought leadership positions you and your company as an industry authority, resource and trusted advisor—by establishing your reputation as a major contributor to your industry.  The exposure you and your organization will receive by focusing on thought leadership in the industry will earn your prospects' trust and credibility AND strengthen your relationships with your current customers.

(For another take on Thought Leadership Marketing, check out Jose Palomino's blog post here)

5 reasons thought leadership marketing really matters for B2B. 

1. Because Prospects Want Your Perspective, Not Your Product

As Jeff Ernst of Forrester Research puts it, “Business buyers don’t “buy” your product or service, they “buy into” your perspective and approach to solving their problems.” 

In other words, your myopic obsession with your individual product or service is a turnoff.

Thought leaders take part in conversations that are bigger than the little niche of the market they represent. You want to show you understand their whole world, not just what your product can do for them. 

2. Because the Sales Process Starts Early and Ends Late

Buyers are out to solve a problem, not a buy a solution. That process starts long before the active buying process does, Ernst notes. And the actual time to investigating the problem to searching out solutions can take months to years. 

Thought leadership helps you get in early, developing a conversation and building relationship with the buyer. This keeps you front-of-mind when you enter that mid-stage and late-stage period of the sales cycle. 

3. Because Your Buyers Use Google

These days people don’t expect to scour your website. They turn to peers on LinkedIn and Twitter, Q&A sites like Focus and Quora, and, more often than not, Google. 

You need to go where your ideal audience is. Once you’re there, your thought leadership content is one of the best ways to get their attention. Google is putting greater focus on identifying content that delivers real value.

Thought leadership is your key to getting found and spread around. 

4. Because Thought Leadership Needs Content, and Content Feeds Social Strategy and Demand Generation

B2B marketing today usually involves a mix of social marketing and demand generation. Both of these require content – compelling content.

The market has a short attention span, which means it’s on you to develop thought leadership that differentiates you from the crowd and gets you heard through the noise. 

5. Because Trust Still Matters

Cynics will tell you that trust doesn’t mean anything in today’s ad-saturated business climate.

They’re wrong, particularly when it comes to B2B marketing. 

It’s imperative that you build conversations that build trust over time, Ernst says. In B2B, where the purchase decisions get more involved and expensive, buyers want to work with brands they know they can trust.

Demonstrating thought leadership implicitly demonstrates you’re a company that can be trusted. 

Adapted in part from Jesse Noyes at Eloqua and Jeff Ernst, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

What does thought leadership mean for you? What strategies have you picked up to become a leader in your industry? Leave a comment and... 

Marketing Concept: Viral is for morons. In general, this is true - and with professional services marketing in particular, it is VERY true. 

How many times have you heard professional services marketing ideas like:

• We'll make a funny YouTube video ...and it'll go viral!
• We'll post a really controversial/ snarky/ edgy blog ...and it'll go viral!
• We'll create a really cool ebook ...and it'll go viral!

The Ugly Truth About Viral Marketing

So... What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below and...