Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

OK I have to say it...

Here's the deal, people - ASK your next coach, guru, teacher, or mentor the following questions based on the subject you're enrolling to learn.

For example...

1. Speaker marketing coach:

• How many times a year do you speak FOR MONEY? 
• At what fee? 
• Who are five of your most recent paid speaking clients?

2. Book marketing coach:

• Is your book self-published or with a major publisher? 
• How many books have you sold? 
• If you claim "bestseller" status - what lists and for how long were you on the list? 
• Where is your book TODAY in amazon sales rank (less than 25,000 is good)

3. Group coaching/online course creation guru:

• How many group coaching programs or courses have you run? 
• Since when have you been filling your own groups? 
• What's your average enrollment? 
• At what price point? 
• Can you show me the sales page for three of your recent programs?

4. Infoproduct coach:

• How many infoproducts do you currently sell? 
• What's your monthly sales volume on your top 2-3 products? 
• Can you show me the sales pages for several of your products?

5. Private Coaching guru:

• How many private coaching clients do YOU currently work with? 
• What are your coaching packages and fees? 
• Do you charge by the hour? (It's a BIG red flag if they say yes!) 
• What percentage of your coaching business is repeat and referral? 
• What's the average amount of time and money that clients spend with you?

6. Marketing/business growth coach:

• How long have you been running your business? 
• Do you have other sources of income besides this business? 
• What are they? 
• What are the typical outcomes clients get from working with you? 
• Have you DONE what I want to do - or do you just teach it? 
• How many clients have you worked with? 
• What separates your successful clients from your not-so-successful ones? 
• Then check out their recommendations on Linkedin and their client testimonials on their website (how specific are they? how many? how credible? Full attribution with person's name, company, position, etc?)

There are a lot of people out there who LOOK like they have it going on - pitching their "Million Dollar" this and "Million Dollar" that...

Sad to say, a LOT of it is smoke and mirrors. Motivation, inspiration, pretty websites, great photos of smiling, jubilant bootcamp or retreat attendees, a big social media footprint, great looking videos...

But scratch the surface and the gold glitter starts to flake off in big chunks as you realize you've just been taken for a ride by a very pretty or handsome con artist and suddenly, you're out a few thousand dollars (or a lot more) with nothing to show for it except that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach that you're not any closer to achieving your goals for your business, your bank account, or your lifestyle.

Don't follow the herd - you're not a lemming or a sheep.

Find the people who are the REAL DEAL, who only preach what they themselves practice, invest wisely, and choose carefully.

That is all. Rant ends here.

And next time - we'll tackle the rant of the CLIENT who does not do. (That rant might be even juicier than this one, don't you agree?)

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

1. Most business coaching isn’t really “coaching” - it’s much more 1-on-1 consulting or training or mentoring. The traditional coaching model assumes that the client has the answers  - the coach shows up only with questions. In most business situations in which you as a speaker, author, consultant, or independent professional would be asked for “coaching” - what the prospect is really asking for is 1-on-1 access to you for both questions AND answers

2. Setting up a coaching or 1-on-1 mentoring profit center can be fast, easy and lucrative - When I started adding 1-on-1 marketing coaching services to my offerings back in 2003, I was working hourly (huge mistake). Even then, I would make between $500-$1500 per month per client. And it took me zero prep because clients were paying to tap into knowledge and expertise that I already had! Today I sell three sessions for $2,500 and 90 days for $8,500. Crazy, right?

3. Coaching is a commodity and most coaches are broke - While this is true (sadly), that doesn’t mean that you can’t break the mold. And also remember that this fact is about traditional life coaching or success coaching - NOT business coaching. According to surveys by the International Coach Federation (ICF), the median annual income for coaches is $29,100. That means that HALF of all coaches make even LESS than that! So obviously, this is NOT the private coaching model that I am recommending to you. Instead…   

4. Adding “private coaching” (really 1-on-1 consulting/mentoring) to your business model can vastly increase your earning potential as a speaker, consultant, author, and high-fee expert. Before I started my marketing coaching practice, my sole source of revenue was speaking and training. Clients and audiences would ask me, “What’s next?” and my answer was limited to “What’s the next seminar or training class you need?” Today, the answer is a scalable, high-profit series of private coaching programs. For each of the past 6 years, I’ve generated over $200,000 in private coaching income. That’s over a million dollars during that time - and that’s in addition to my other revenue streams.  

5. You do NOT need to be a certified coach and work through hundreds of hours of training to offer 1-on-1 private coaching programs - All you need is a well-packaged program, a systematic and repeatable process, and some structure for how you want to deliver value in a highly-personalized 1-on-1 relationship with your very best clients who will happily pay premium fees for direct access to you and the expertise you already have.  

6. People WANT to take you home. If you’re a successful speaker, consultant, author, or high-fee expert, buying private coaching from you can be a huge ego-boost for high-achieving executives and entrepreneurs. If your private coaching program is systematized, well-marketed, and well-documented - it will be extremely well-received by clients. Yet so many folks can't quite crack the code of how to add private 1-on-1 coaching to their professional practice…

7. It’s both easier - and harder - than it looks. Read this post for a cautionary tale about a completely unethical and incompetent way to offer private coaching programs. That is NOT the path I recommend. Rather, you need to sit back and strategically decide how to create, promote and profit from private coaching programs you can build around the expertise you ALREADY have. If you want some fast-track help to make the planning, implementation, and monetization way easier, faster, and more profitable, book a free strategy call with one of our coaches.

p.s. Want to apply for your Speaker Strategy Call to see how you can USE some of these ideas right away? Apply for your call here.

In honor of this sugar-filled yet frightful holiday, here are 17 things that should scare the heck out of YOU and any small business owner, entrepreneur, or independent professional...

1. Prospects who lie. And they all lie all the time.
2. Business partnerships. No, no, noooooo!!! Don’t do it. EVER.
3. Arrogance
4. Complacency
5. Inertia (Yours and your prospects and clients too)
6. Not having a sales process - or not sticking to the one you have
7. Nightmare clients from hell
8. Tire-kickers, price shoppers, and broke-ass losers
9. Social media overload
10. Making payroll every two weeks - even if it’s only paying yourself
11. Hiring, firing, and everything in between
12. Prospects who ask for free consulting
13. Not hiring a great IP attorney to protect your brand/ logo/ trademarks
14. Waking up in a cold sweat realizing your REAL job is sales
15. Prospects seeing your products, services, and programs as a commodity
16. Not outsourcing and delegating everything you possibly can
17. Collecting great marketing ideas - but never implementing them (Aaarghhhhh!!)

What would YOU add to this list?

Please leave a comment below and let's discuss...

Old is the New "NEW" - meaning, when it comes to marketing, everything old is profitable again! 

If you've been doing business (online or not) since the 1990's, today's marketing landscape should be eerily familiar... 

Check out these "retro" tactics - they're BACK and BIGGER and BETTER than ever... 

1. Online advertising - Google AdWords was the Granddaddy of them all... Remember when you could just buy some banner ads and the leads would pour in? (Yah, me neither. It was ALWAYS more complicated than that!!) Modern update: Advertising on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter (and yes, Google of course) is creating a whole new online ad boom - just like the good old days!

Why? Because they're proven, they work (if you know what you're doing), and they can make you a LOT of money. 

2. Pop-up ads and pop-up offers - long the scourge of the Internet, pop-ups (and pop-under, pop-over, PopTart and every other sneaky variation) were rampant in the 1990's and early 2000's. Until the pop-up blocker industry came along, made millions of dollars, wiped the evil pop-up off the face of the earth... until today when pop-ups are back, bigger and better than ever.

Why? Because they're proven, they work (if you know what you're doing), and they can make you a LOT of money. 

3. Teleseminars - 10 years ago, you couldn't spit without hitting some business guru offering free teleseminars to showcase his or her products, services, or programs. Or offering paid teleseminars to generate a lot of revenue quickly. Fast forward to today, yes we have webinars, Google Hangouts, and virtual training - but guess what? Old school teleseminars are back, bigger than ever.

Why? Because they're proven, they work (if you know what you're doing), and they can make you a LOT of money. 

p.s. I don't know much about online advertising or pop-ups, but you can grab a boatload of actionable information on teleseminars (both Teleseminars as Marketing - and Teleseminars as Revenue) in this free "Teleseminar Domination" video series. Enjoy!

Click below to grab your FREE videos...

The Challenge

Too often, professional services firms:

• Do marketing “by accident” or don’t do outbound marketing effectively
• Hope that “prospects will call us when they need us”
• Never know where their next lead is coming from
• Don’t market using their best asset – thought leadership
• Throw too many dollars into a “marketing black hole”

The Opportunity

Independent research with over 700 professional services firms proves that the #1 source of new business is “Making warm calls to existing clients” – and #2 and #3 are “Speaking at conferences and trade shows” and “Running our own seminars and events” yet if yours is like the majority of firms, you haven’t yet cracked the code on how to make this work for YOUR people to attract YOUR clients.

More research shows that 52-72% of B2B professional services BUYERS are willing to switch to new service providers across a spectrum of specialties. (Wellesley Hills Group, What’s Working in Lead Generation professional services market study)

Meaning: You’re always ONE good presentation away from closing new business.

The Payoff

Speakers, consultants and authors can often do a MUCH better job in the following areas:

• Design and deliver a client-magnet presentation

• Generate leads without being salesy

• Use Before-During-After marketing to stay top of mind

• Maximize profits on a shoestring marketing budget

• Generate more leads, better prospects and bigger sales using irresistible offers and high-integrity techniques

...and in my experience working with clients like this, it does NOT take a huge amount of work; small, targeted shifts in your packaging, promotion, messaging, and followup makes all the difference (which we nail down for you in this program) and then the floodgates open for your speaking success!

Last Word: Marketing Skills vs. Presentation Skills

A decent presentation built for marketing and sales results will outperform a brilliant presentation built for a “standing ovation” or praise from your local Toastmaster’s club or high marks from a presentation skills coach.

Bottom line: I don’t care if you become a great speaker. I do very much care that you become a good speaker who consistently generates more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales each time you present in front of a roomful of potential buyers.

What do you think? Fire off some thoughts, comments, or questions in the COMMENTS section below. Let's talk about this one...

Guest post by Charlie Poznek 

When I first started my online business, I had no idea what a business coach was, let alone why I needed one.  I was much more concerned with the technical aspects of building a website, launching a podcast, and figuring out what social media was all about.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that hiring a business coach would’ve saved me hours each week, and not just when it came to learning to format my Twitter profile.  

I learned that a business coach is crucial to speeding up the learning curve, connecting with your target market, and avoiding expensive mistakes that new online business owners tend to make.  In essence, hiring a coach will get you in the game faster, keep you there longer, and let you focus on building your brand and connecting with customers.

So how do you find the business coach of your dreams?

1. Clarify your values

What matters most to you in your business, and as a human being? For me, giving back is a huge part of why I do what I do.  When looking for a coach, it was important to me to work with someone who shared that value.  I didn’t care if they were the most well-respected business coach in the world; if their values didn’t match mine, I didn’t want to work with them.

Your values don’t necessarily have to be personal or moral in nature - they might include your working style, or what’s most important to you in a professional relationship.  

For example, do you value someone who gives it to you straight, or someone who is more nurturing?  Are you a go-with-the-flow type of person, or do you prefer to have everything planned out?

Figure out which values are most important to you in a working relationship before beginning your search for the perfect coach or mentor.

2. Set expectations 

What do you expect to get out of working with a business coach?

Would you like a coach who…

• will answer frantic phone calls in the middle of the night?
• meets with you for hours at a time?
• conducts sessions strictly over Skype?
• follows up with you even after you’ve completed your sessions?

Start to think about your expectations of the relationship, including how much time you want to spend working with your coach and what you expect them to teach you.  Some people may want a good listener, while others may want to be told exactly what to do and how to do it. What’s your preference?

You should also consider how you want to work with your coach:

Would you prefer…

• One-on-one power sessions?
• Mastermind groups?
• Live webinars?
• Weekly phone calls?

If you’d rather be face to face than on the phone, look for a local coach who can meet with you in person.  If you’re busy with a full time job and can barely squeeze in a weekly webinar, find a coach who can work around your schedule.

You should also clearly state the goal of working with a coach.  How will you know if the coaching relationship has been successful?  

Make a list of exactly what you want help with, and what you want to achieve.  You might want something as basic as help setting up your website, or something as esoteric as defining the feeling of your brand.  Get specific so you can find the perfect person to deliver what you need.

3. Create a budget

You can spend $25 on a business coach or $25,000.  What’s your budget?

Keep in mind that the most expensive mentor in the world doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting the best mentor in the world.  

Many business coaches offer monthly packages that include weekly phone calls and email support.  Generally speaking, one-on-one coaching will be more expensive than group coaching, but you’ll receive less attention.  

An experienced, well-known business coach might charge upwards of $500/hour for his or her time.  If you fall in love with a coach and find out their price point is too high, don’t give up right away. Contact them first to see if they have a payment plan or a program that’s within your price range.

4. Schedule an interview

Once you’ve found someone who shares your values, meets your expectations, and falls within your budget, it’s time to set up an interview.

If the business coach you’re interested in is highly successful, you may feel intimidated and fall into what I like to call the “pick me!” mentality. Remember that there has to be chemistry on both sides in order for a relationship to work.  If this coach is recommended by everyone but you get a bad vibe from them, it’s not worth the investment.  

Prepare a list of questions for your interview, and be sure to take note of how you feel during the interview.  Do you feel listened to? Does the coach seem confident that they can help you?  

A good business coach will be extremely interested in hearing all the details of where you are now and where you want to go - without those details, he or she has no way of knowing if the coaching relationship will be a good fit.

Finally, make sure that you like the person you’re about to hire.  They may have all the knowledge and expertise in the world, but if you dread spending an hour on the phone with them, you’ll be wasting your money.

_______

Charlie Poznek is the Founder and CEO of The Boomer Business Owner with Charlie Poznek, a podcast that helps Baby Boomers create a spectacular life through successfully starting and running an online business.

Guest post by Ford R. Myers
President, Career Potential, LLC

People who are seriously considering engaging the services of a professional coach or consultant usually ask many questions about what the advisor “will do or should do” in order to make the coaching relationship work for the client. This is certainly reasonable and understandable.

However, there are also several “prerequisites” or standards that the client must meet for the engagement to produce optimum results.

Unfortunately, these criteria are rarely discussed during the “contracting process” between consultant and client.

There are at least six behaviors and attitudes which clients need to embrace to help make any coaching engagement successful:

1. Treat the consulting relationship as a real priority in your life (fully-invested; not an “afterthought” or a distraction)
2. Be coachable (open-minded, trusting, non-defensive, willing to go a bit outside of your comfort zone, flexible, committed to the process)
3. Show-up for appointments (in-person, via phone, on Skype)
4. Do your “homework” promptly (written exercises, reading, research)
5. Be 100% honest with your coach (candid, vulnerable, “real,” sincere, direct, unguarded)
6. Hold to your commitments and be “self-accountable” (with the support and structure of your coach)

In my work as an Executive Career Coach, I make it clear (either explicitly or implicitly) to prospective clients that “this is a two-way street.” Of course, I commit 100% to doing my part to the best of my ability.

But the client also has a vital role to play in the consulting relationship, with important commitments and responsibilities (listed above).

Discussing these items candidly before getting started in a new coaching engagement has proven to be a productive exercise, and it has been mutually beneficial.

Such a conversation “screens out” prospective clients who are not a good fit for my programs; it empowers clients to take full responsibility for their part of the work; it sets clear expectations and eliminates incorrect assumptions; and it allows me to hold my clients accountable when they inevitably experience resistance or avoidance during the coaching process. In other words, this dialogue clears the way for clients to achieve their goals more efficiently and productively – which makes everybody happy!

What do you think? Leave a comment below and...

Welcome to our carefully chosen list of thought leadership marketing tools. We use these tools here at Do It! Marketing World HQ and highly recommend them to our clients and partners.

Good news: Many of these tools are free. A few are not. Almost all come with a risk-free "try before you buy" option to make sure you love them as much as we do. Please note that if you decide to make a purchase, I may (and probably will) receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you, and in fact, MOST of these links contain special discounts, free trials, or bonuses only available through these links.

With that said, please dig in and take full advantage of these hand-selected resources. They will help your business thrive, scale and grow -- just as they have helped ours!

Email Marketing: ConstantContact | Aweber | PopupDomination

Shopping Cart: KickstartCart | Infusionsoft

Social Media: Tweetadder

Online Audio/E-learning: AudioAcrobat | JigsawBox | Ruzuku

Graphics: Pixabay | ReciteThis | PicMonkey | MyECoverMaker

Webinar/Screen Sharing: Screenr | StealthSeminar | AnyMeeting

Ecommerce: PayPal | Clickbank | Infusionsoft

Landing Pages: LeadPages | Unbounce | LaunchRock

Website Builder: Strikingly

Maybe 2014 will be the year that you…

1. Start thinking bigger

2. Ask for help (partners, affiliates, advocates, allies, clients)

3. Stop playing small

4. Give up your victim mindset

5. Learn to sell smarter

6. Invest in yourself

7. Stop whining

8. Be of service to more people, whether they buy or not

9. Listen more deeply

10. Stop competing and start collaborating

11. Let go and move on

12. Get smart about your money (earning, saving, spending, investing)

13. Embrace the unknown

14. Scale your business

15. Don't sweat the small stuff

16. Give more of your time to your best clients

17. Amplify your voice

18. Sharpen your vision

19. Multiply your impact

20. Get off the hamster wheel

21. Leverage more 

22. Labor less (simplify, eliminate, delegate, outsource)

23. Serve a wider audience

24. Dig deeper

25. Write more

26. Stress less

27. Spend more time with family

28. Get off the email crack

29. Manage your day smarter

30. Take 100% ownership of marketing, sales, and business development

31. Stop pitching and start solving

32. Make more videos

33. Build a community around your expertise

34. Trash your self-limiting beliefs

35. Buy this book

36. Get serious, get help, or get out

37. Upgrade your marketing materials

38. Stop tolerating bullshit in all areas of your life

39. Embrace healthy habits (food, exercise, sleep)

40. Aspire to be bigger, better, smarter, kinder

41. Show up

42. Step up

43. Stop doing work you’ve outgrown

44. Stop serving clients who no longer fit

45. Raise your sights

46. Raise your fees

47. Seek out better, smarter, more successful friends

48. Seek out better, smarter, more successful clients

49. Quit doing stupid shit (yes, you!)

50. Free your imagination

51. Sing your song

52. Make your mark

53. Write your book

54. Launch that thing you’ve been dreaming of

55. Rediscover your passion

56. Unleash your enthusiasm

57. Get the hell off Facebook

58. Mentor someone who needs your wisdom

59. Reframe your losses

60. Remember your wins

61. Write down your goals

62. Live out of your calendar, not your inbox

63. Set your GPS for greatness

64. Go for bigger fish

65. Use better bait

66. Bag the elephant

67. Be more tenacious

68. Focus like a laser

69. Stop distracting yourself

70. Get more results by doing less marketing

71. Develop a “marketing magnet” speech

72. Identify target-rich audiences

73. Deploy irresistible offers

74. Master your “enrollment conversation”

75. Start doing social media right

76. Become more comfortable being uncomfortable

77. If you’re not scared, you're probably not up to anything interesting

78. Go to more conferences

79. Cross-pollinate your best ideas

80. Join a mastermind group

81. Read more for pleasure

82. Read more for business

83. Collect smart friends

84. Feature and leverage other people

85. Keep a notebook to capture your best ideas

86. Start your podcast

87. Interview other experts

88. Interview your prospects and clients

89. Serve on a non-profit board

90. Do something artsy (music, painting, dance, theater)

91. Upgrade your wardrobe

92. Buy that new car (PDF)

93. Give more generously

94. Stop judgment and embrace openness (mind, heart, spirit)

95. Apologize even (especially?) when you don’t need to

96. Be more humble

97. Punch people in the face with value

98. Become genuinely interested in others

99. Ask more and better questions

100. Make more lists

101. Send more cookies

102. Be more grateful

103. Always over-deliver

104. Yes, this is item #104 out of 101

105. Always say please and thank you

106. Please share this post

107. Thank you for being awesome