Here's another in my series of marketing and business book reviews - but not just any old business books.
Fire starters...
Game changers...
Show stoppers...
Books that will transform the way you think about your work, about your business, and - yes - about your life.
Ready? Take a look...
What do you think? Please leave a COMMENT below to share your experiences with this book, with this author, or with other game changing books that YOU recommend...
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing success, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, branding, big business, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, marketing strategist, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, business book review, brand strategy, business, best business books
Guest post by David Pierce
One of the keys to any productivity system is to actually put things into the system. Who knew?
Obvious though it may seem, many of us have trouble taking the time to enter our thoughts into our task-manager, to-do list, or organizational system.
This can happen for any number of reasons – no paper nearby, no easy way to record your ideas – but our productivity can be hurt by not inputting everything into our system so we can deal with it properly.
What should live on paper lives in our brain, and then proceeds to be forgotten and left alone. That’s a surefire road to getting yourself in trouble- or at least forgetting leaky faucets.
There’s a simple, quick solution to this problem, though – it’s called a mind dump.
A mind dump is simply a way for you to get everything out of your head and onto paper. Our brains aren’t made to remember things forever, but paper is; with an empty brain, we’re able to either focus on new things or deal with the task at hand, instead of constantly dwelling on past things taking up valuable bandwidth.
Executing a mind dump is simple: take out a pen and a paper, or fire up a new document on your computer. Then, write down everything that comes to your mind. There is no step three.
Anything and everything is fair game: what you have to do, what you’re thinking about, hopes, dreams, goals, and whatever else comes into your mind. Set a time limit – say, 20 minutes – and everything that enters your brain immediately must exit your brain and go onto your paper.
Once you’re done, you can begin to take action on the items you’ve written. On what do you need to take action? What do you need to deal with, follow up about, or file somewhere?
Things that don’t need to be further dealt with? Just get rid of them. Make sure you don’t need to think about them ever again, and be done with them.
There’s no set way for doing the best mind dump possible. The point is to reset your brain, update your productivity system, and put onto paper all the things that have been taking up the valuable (and limited) space in your brain.
Many people use “triggers” to make their mind dumps easier – a set of key words or phrases that set your mind on a particular aspect of your life, in order to let you focus on items related to it. 43 Folders has a long list of these triggers, everything from “Phone calls,” to “Furniture”, to “Weddings.”
Some people, GTD followers in particular, do a mind dump before their Weekly Review, as part of figuring out what the week ahead has in store. Others, like myself, do it once a week or so – whenever I have 20 minutes to spare. I recommend doing it at least once a week – it has a tendency to get long and unweildly otherwise.
A mind dump can also be done anywhere – another great thing about it. Open up a note on a cell phone, or write on the back of a newspaper; wherever you are, if you’ve got a free moment, clear your head.
You’ll be amazed how many things come out of your brain and into your organizational system, when you devote time and space to emptying it.
Tags: Marketing coach, marketing speaker, mind dump, productivity tips, success tips. Originally published on Lifehack.org
Please use the COMMENTS area below to share how and when YOU get things out of your head and into your system...
Tags: marketing speaker, consultant marketing, thought leadership marketing, marketing expert, productivity tips, marketing coach, success tips, marketing consultant, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, mind dump
If you're interested in marketing success, business success, and life success - well, there are a lot of so-called experts out there.
Many are called. Few are chosen.
I've made the choosing easy for you...
p.s. The best thing about them - none of them would CALL themselves a "guru" - they simply consider themselves lucky to be sharing their insights with others who can benefit.
Here they are in no particular order (although each of them is truly #1)
And here are eight more for good luck... (Yep, you get more than 29. See? Underpromise and overdeliver!)
Bookmark this blog post - stay connected with these people - implement their big ideas - and you WILL profit, prosper, and succeed.
What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on the people who have made the biggest impact on YOUR professional success...
Grab your FREE copy of the Ultimate Resource List!
And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.
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!
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing success, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, entrepreneurship, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing strategist, motivational speaker marketing, success tips, speaker marketing, marketing consultant, marketing mix, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, sales and marketing, marketing tips, success
As a marketing coach who works with thought-leading executives and entrepreneurs, I conduct between 4-7 sales conversations every single week with new prospects.
Some of these folks know me from having heard one of my marketing keynotes, seminars, or teleseminars.
Others are total strangers.
You are probably in the same boat if you're an independent professional, consultant or high-fee trusted advisor...
As a point of reference, my prospects are looking for coaching or consulting around a variety of issues like:
In all of these cases, I field questions very similar to the questions YOU must get from your prospects:
Here's the Killer Sales Question that will take your prospecting to a whole new level by getting to the REAL root cause of these types of questions...
Are you ready?
Jot this one down, 'cuz it's a keeper...
YOU: "I understand your question and you'll get my answer in a minute. But first, let me ask YOU a tough question... It sounds like you're not sure if this program will work for you. So are you having doubts about ME -- or are you having doubts about YOU?"
More often than not, this one question will turn the entire selling conversation into a much deeper, more meaningful dialogue around expectations, client responsibilities to implement, previous disappointing experiences they've had with other trusted advisors, and so on.
The moment someone mentions a negative previous experience with a trusted advisor of any kind, I stop the conversation dead in its tracks and ask this:
"When you say you were disappointed in your previous marketing coach, how much of that was on YOUR side of the equation, and how much of that was on THEIR side?"
NOW the real truth comes out - they'll admit that they THEMSELVES were partially (or mostly) responsible for the disappointing results.
Either they didn't implement, or they had crazy expectations, or they weren't fully committed to the relationship, or they kept some key information secret from their trusted advisor which hamstrung the work, etc., etc.
You would be amazed to discover how often bad client behavior is attributed NOT to the client, but to the trusted advisor brought in to fix the situation. It's a classic case of "shoot the messenger" mentality.
My answer? I shoot the prospect. I say, "Well, it sounds like you've been pretty badly burned in the past. We're probably not a fit since you have such a bad taste in your mouth from working with other people like me. If I had your horrible experience, I wouldn't hire me either! I don't want to waste any more of your time. Thank you for this conversation and I'm sorry that we won't be working together."
If they push back on this and they want to re-enter the sales conversation, great...
And if they don't, great! Let them go. They are not a good client for you.
That's just the plain, hard truth.
What do YOU think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on this topic...
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, sales prospecting, marketing coaching, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, marketing consultant, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, sales and marketing, small business marketing coach
You'll remember from yesterday's introduction to this Business Blogging 101 series, I mentioned the three BIG problems keeping you from doing a better job of leveraging blogging into business:
1. You are unable to write QUICKLY.
2. You are unwilling to write BRIEFLY.
3. You are inefficient at IDEA CAPTURE.
Good news for you - #1 and #2 are related and we'll solve them both for you before you're done reading this post...
Grab your FREE copy of the Social Media Traffic Boost Cheat Sheet!
And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.
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!
Tags: marketing speaker, marketing success, thought leadership marketing, web marketing, blog, trusted advisor marketing, blogging for business, marketing expert, marketing professional services firms, writing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, blogging 101, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, business blogging, marketing tips
How to Generate 10X Traffic from LinkedIn in 10 Seconds - Wow, that sure sounds like a lot of over-the-top, frothing at the mouth internet marketing hype, doesn't it?
Well - in this particular case, the technique you're about to pick up does EXACTLY that.
Here's a quick video to show you exactly how powerful this 10-second tweak on your LinkedIn profile can be...
(Hit the "full screen" icon in the lower right for a bigger, sharper video)
Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, LinkedIn, social media marketing
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What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your tips about making the most of your LinkedIn profile...
Tags: marketing for speakers, thought leadership marketing, personal branding, linkedin, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, professional speaker marketing, marketing coach, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, doit marketing, doitmarketing, social media marketing, public speaker marketing
Elevator pitches remain as critical as they have ever been - perhaps even more so given the increasingly short attention span we all seem to have. Here then is some good advice on how to create your own elevator pitch from Toby Marshall at Lead Creation.
1. A great ‘Elevator’ provides just enough information to hook the listener in and spark a conversation. It is just the beginning, not the close; think lead generation not sales.
2. It should be short—10 to 20 seconds. Our attention spans have become shorter due to fast-paced city living and Social Media.
3. Practice it by speaking out loud and standing up—never just write it and read it to yourself. Say it again and again in front of a mirror; then with colleagues or friends. Say it 20 times and you’ll then know it enough to improvise and vary it so it comes alive and doesn’t sound stale.
4. An ‘Elevator’ is not just for sales people or business owners. It’s also for people who have jobs and want better ones—that’s most of the population!
5. A great rule of thumb is to only use your ‘Elevator’ when asked the question. If you walk up to someone and start talking about yourself it’s usually a big turn off; most people would say something like “so tell me about you.”
6. Sell yourself, not your product or business. The other person needs to be interested in you before they will buy anything from you. The old adage that ‘People buy from people they like’ still rings true for B2B marketing
7. Elevators are never about closing a sale, despite the name ‘pitching’. In this Social Networking age, blatantly selling is less and less acceptable. Even at Chamber of Commerce meetings—a pure business setting—I run a mile from people who are all about themselves. Life’s too short!
8. It’s NOT your cold calling script (if you are still foolish enough to be doing cold and not ‘very warm’ calling!)
9. Use pauses to emphasize; it is not a race to get the words out. Vary your tone as speaking in a monotone bores people—it’s very common though, possibly because they themselves know the words are boring!
10. If you are in a business setting, think about how you can help the prospect achieve their goals. That may be the breakthrough you are looking for with your lead generation—thinking about the implications for them?
Note that there is nothing in the above about providing a case study. In my experience they will ask me if they are interested, once they have heard my ‘Elevator’. Also, including studies that are meaningful makes it too long, and you are likely to see their eyes start to glaze over! Just have a couple ready to go in case they ask, though.
The above rules will help you see much better results with your lead generation in all types of social and business settings; learning to change the pitch depending on who you are speaking to, and where you are speaking to them, is a huge advantage to you and your business.
Tags: Marketing Coach, 10 Golden Rules for Your Elevator Pitch, Marketing Speaker, Marketing for Speakers, Marketing for Experts
What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on the elevator pitch, otherwise known as your "verbal business card," "audio logo," "10-second introduction," etc.
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, entrepreneurship, professional speaker marketing, motivational speaker marketing, marketing for authors, doit marketing, doitmarketing, referrals, networking, public speaker marketing, elevator pitch
Let’s talk about YOUR product development strategy. This is about creating products with intention. And let me back up a step and define what I consider “creating a product” to be.
It could be you wanting to write a book, produce audio, video, or online assets, package a coaching or consulting program, or otherwise "productize" your expertise. It does not necessarily need to be a product you hold in your hand, although sometimes it certainly is.
Quick story. I was working with one of my clients who was a very gifted speaker who had been working a long time in her niche. She would go from keynote to keynote, seminar to seminar. Finally, she got tired of having 100% of her income tied to her personal time, attention and presence.
She said to me, "David I need products. And I have a crazy busy schedule coming up over the next 2-3 weeks with good opportunities to be in front of LOTS of potential prospects."
Mind you, she was NOT speaking to audiences of thousands – her typical audience was probably like yours – between 50 and 250 people at state and regional conferences.
She asked me, “What’s the easiest product I can create?” And we decided that the easiest product for her wasn’t a product at all – it was to package and sell access to her time and expertise. Later, products could be developed as a standalone revenue stream.
So we created a single 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Long story short, she emerged from those 2-3 weeks of speaking engagements with over $20,000 of coaching and consulting clients.
The point: your product strategy needs to fit YOU – your personal strengths, preferences, and the needs of your particular business.
If you love writing strategies, focus on writing products.
If you love coaching and consulting, develop coaching and consulting products.
If you love training, develop training products.
If you love video, develop video products.
The key to your product development game plan is to make it Easy, Effortless and Enjoyable.
_______
Want to kick your product development into high gear? Good news - the next Product Development Toolkit program launches on March 5 and we still have a few open seats remaining at Early Bird prices. Program details and registration info are online for you here.
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, marketing professional services, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing professional services firms, marketing coaching, product development, marketing coach, marketing strategist, marketing for authors, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, product development for experts
Here's the first in a series of marketing and business book reviews - but not just any old business books.
Fire starters...
Game changers...
Show stoppers...
Books that will transform the way you think about your work, about your business, and - yes - about your life.
Ready? Take a look...
What do you think? Please leave a COMMENT below to share your experiences with this book, with this author, or with other game changing books that YOU recommend...
Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing success, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing ideas, success tips, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, doit marketing, do it marketing, business book review
As a marketing speaker and marketing strategist, clients regularly ask me about the topic of company naming. And, naturally, people would like some free ideas for company naming, so for those folks, you can pop right over to this post.
I'll wait...
Oh, good - you're back!
The next question they ask is, "David, you've got a great company name in DO IT Marketing (alternatively spelled DOIT Marketing or doitmarketing which is not correct but that's OK - you're cool)... how did that name come to be?
Well... here's a confession. I'm sort of a company name change freak. Or I was very confused as a young child. Or I get bored easily.
Since 2001, when I started my entrepreneurial adventure, I've changed my branding more than is wise. Before DOIT Marketing, the company was known as UNCONSULTING.
When I changed to that name, I took the opportunity to poke some fun at myself. After announcing the change to my email subscribers and all my current and past clients, I "hacked" my own website and replaced the content with some BIG graphical billboards.
These made it look like some goon squad named UNCONSULTING had replaced all the blah-blah-blah marketing copy that you typically find on most marketing firms' websites with a wild-eyed manifesto for marketing revolutionaries.
Here is just one of about six that I created before the launch of DOIT Marketing:
People LOVED it. It was contrarian, startling, and funny.
A current example of this is the good people over at www.shitcreekconsulting.com. Also, very funny - and people share that link and tell their friends and colleagues.
The problem is - people can't tell if it's a gag or a real consulting firm...
Bummer.
So they don't buy...
BIGGER bummer.
And that was the same problem I had with UNCONSULTING. People chuckled - but they had no idea what the hell it was or why they needed it. And the clue was - they didn't need it. Why? Because I was articulating what I was the OPPOSITE of - like the Uncola - not what I was.
So we changed it to DOIT Marketing almost 5 years ago and the difference has been profound.
It says what it is - Marketing.
It gives you a feeling - action, movement, and getting things DONE.
And it's a handy acronym for a small business marketing philosophy that is systematic, approachable and repeatable:
DOIT Marketing means Define - Organize - Implement - Track.
There's even a handy dandy visual with a clear explanation of these four phases right on the DOIT Marketing professional services page here.
So the next time YOU are faced with (re-)naming your company, your products, your services or your brands, don't be clever - be smart!
What do YOU think?
Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and experiences on this topic...
Tags: marketing concept, marketing coaching, small business marketing expert, branding, marketing consultant, small business marketing, doit marketing, do it marketing, small business marketing speaker, small business marketing coach, naming
