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Marketing Speaker: 7 Reasons You're Wasting Your Time "Following Up"

marketing speaker marketing coach sales followup

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I read roughly 100 marketing, sales and business development books per year. My company is 10 years old, so that makes about 1,000 books so far, give or take a few dozen.

And in almost every one - you'll hear something similar to these bits of advice about sales follow-up:

"The fortune is in the follow-up"
"If you don't follow up 5-7 times, you'll lose the sale"
"Nobody ever EVER buys on the first, second, or third appointment"
"Most sales are made after the 8th contact, but most salespeople stop after the 3rd contact"

I have good news: This advice is horse doo-doo. (And it's probably making you needlessly tired, frustrated and depressed.)

I also have bad news: This advice is STINKY horse doo-doo that is costing you face time with REAL decision-makers.

Here are 7 reasons you're wasting your time with follow-up:

1. If you're exclusively focused on prospects who are actively SEEKING to solve the problem you're positioned to solve, you'll get their attention on the first or second attempt. If you don't - then you need more targeted and relevant prospects.

2. We're marketing in an era where everyone - including (and especially) your prospects - are lazy, busy, and befuddled. Life moves too fast for follow-up. You're either an immediate priority or you're invisible.

3. Leave non-prospects the hell alone. Continuing to "check in" for no good reason when you're in the invisible column gets real annoying real fast. You may even damage your chances at future sales when you're a current pest.

4. Decision makers make decisions. If you're stuck in follow-up hell, you weren't dealing with a real decision maker in the first place. Following up with someone with no check-writing authority is like trying to teach a Labrador Retriever to drive. It may be fun for a short time, but then someone is going to get bitten.

5. "Short attention span theater" rules the day. If you follow up with today's "hot prospect" next month, chances are excellent that your prospect will say, "Who are you again? We talked about what? When? I'm sorry - I'm just running to a meeting... Bye!"

6. Alpha dogs BUY - Sheep dogs BARK. Chances are that no matter what your product or service, if you're selling to a decision maker, that person has an "alpha dog" personality. They are a Driver (D on the DISC profile) and they make fast decisions with a very low threshold of patience for dickering, bureaucracy or delay. If you want to make a fast sale, the REAL buyer is your best ally to make that happen. Or not. But "following up" to drag out the process will simply turn them off.

7. If you relentlessly focus on the right prospects at the right time for the right reasons, you'll spend a whole lot less time "convincing" and "persuading" fence-sitters and a whole lot more time focusing like a laser beam on the buyers who are ready, willing, and eager to do business with you. No followup needed.

Two quick examples for you:

Dave - The No-Followup Sales Champ

When I was working for a large enterprise software firm, I sat across from one of our top inside salespeople on the days that he and I were both in the office. Those days were a rare treat because I could overhear Dave's sales calls in between my own work and meetings. Talk about free sales training - Dave was masterful.

Dave would call hand-selected leads who were, more often than not, Fortune 1000 Chief Information Officers (CIOs). His opening question after a 7-second introduction of his name and company went something like this:

"I don't know if you're currently evaluating options for enterprise software but if you are, I can offer you some insights and recommendations in less than 15 minutes to help you make a better decision, whether that's with us or not. Is ERP software on your agenda for this year?"

Yes. No. Boom. He opened conversations with about 70% of these prospects. The other 30% politely disqualified themselves and he never called them again. If you're not looking to invest in this category of software BEFORE Dave called you, nothing he said by way of "follow up" would make you dig into the corporate budget and come up with an extra 1-2 million dollars, which was our average sale.

Dave made a note in his CRM database to call them next year. Sometimes he would get the same CIO. And sometimes he would connect with the new CIO because the previous guy botched the ERP installation they bought from someone else. In any case, each annual call was a qualification call - a yes/no filter and NOT a "follow up."

Colleen - The Superachiever Coach with the No-Follow-Up Sales Letter

My pal Colleen Bracken and I started our speaking and coaching businesses within a few months of each other back in 2001. In her early days, Colleen specialized in what she called "Superachiever" coaching - working with CEOs, government leaders, and other top dogs in the corporate and non-profit world.

We worked together on crafting a "no-follow-up" sales letter. Why? Because Colleen had ZERO interest in chasing prospects and she wanted to make this clear in her sales process because she also knew that the alpha dogs she was selling to felt the same way. (See points 1-7 above!)

Here is a portion of the letter we put together:

=====

If you know someone [perhaps someone sitting in your chair?] who is ready to embark on the short, fast, exhilarating ride to the next level of success, STRAP IN and call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX or email colleen@superachiever.net. We’ll set up your no-risk no-obligation 15-minute SuperAchiever coaching call. You’ll be amazed at what we can do in a quarter of an hour.

Finally, I need to answer your unasked question: Why should you work with me? After all, we’ve both been doing just fine without each other so far, right?

1. I’ve handpicked you as someone I specifically want to work with.

2. I’m a REAL professional coach. I’ve received my PCC certification which means that I’ve studied 250 hrs, coached for 1000 hrs and have been designated by the International Coach Federation (the world governing body of the coaching profession). Only 275 other coaches (out of 35,000 coaches worldwide) in the world have met this standard.

3. Clients I’ve worked with have had this to say about our professional relationship:

[Three of Colleen's most powerful 2-3 line testimonials from other Alpha Dogs the recipient would respect.]

Invest 15 minutes with me – no-risk, no obligation -- then decide for yourself. What’s the worst that could happen? You spend 15 minutes getting my best ideas, questions, and tools around what you’re working on right now, and we part ways.

Or... throw this letter straight into the recycling. Only you know if you’re ready for this personal, powerful, unique stuff and the breakthrough successes that come with it.

-- Colleen

[Signature block]

p.s. You're working at 100mph and so am I. For this reason, I won't bother to follow up with you. In my experience, SuperAchievers make fast decisions. So I figure I’ll be hearing from you in the next 3-5 days. Or not at all.

p.p.s. It's your move.

=====

Between this approach in her letters, emails, and personal networking, Colleen built her extremely successful leadership coaching, training and speaking business.

The moral of the story? Screw follow-up. You hate doing it. They hate receiving it.

Instead, do everything in your power to market, sell, and profit from people who are eager to open the door for you when you knock!

p.s. If you'd like some personalized help - and your very own customized marketing and sales toolkit PLUS an easy-to-implement small business marketing game plan with 1-on-1 guidance for 90 days, get all the details here.

Tags: marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing concept, marketing book, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, marketing coach, small business marketing

Marketing Concept: 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business

Guest post by Phillip Davis

Naming a business is like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If it's off, the rest of the building is off, and the misalignment becomes amplified. So if you have that gnawing sense that choosing a name for your new business is vitally important -- you're right. With 18 years in the naming and branding business, I've witnessed the good, the bad, and the really bad. Here's how you can avoid the worst of the mistakes and get off to a good start.

Mistake #1: The Committee (Getting all your clients, employees and family members involved)

We live in a democratic society and it seems like the right thing to do- involving everyone in an important decision. This approach, however, presents a few problems. The first and most obvious fact is that you will end up choosing only one name -- so you risk alienating the very people you are trying to involve. Second, you often end up with a consensus decision, resulting in a very safe and very vanilla name. A better method is to involve only the key decision makers, the fewer the better, and select only the people you feel have the company's best interests at heart. The need for personal recognition can skew results-- so you are best served by those who can park their egos at the door. Also make sure you have some right brain types in the mix. Too many left brains and the name often ends up too literal and descriptive.

Mistake #2: The Train Wreck (Taking two words and colliding them head on)

When forced to come up with a creative name, many aspiring entrepreneurs will simply take part of an adjective and weld it onto a noun. The results are names that have a certain twisted rationale to them, but look and sound awful. Someone starting a high end service franchise then becomes QualiServe. It's a bit like mixing chocolate syrup with ketchup- nothing wrong with either but they just don't go together. Other common truncations include Ameri, Tech, Corp, Tron, etc. The problem with this approach is that it’s simply forced – and it sounds that way.

Mistake #3: Where's Waldo? (Names so plain they'll never stand out in a crowd)

The first company in a category can get away with this one. Hence you have General Motors, General Electric, etc. But once you have competition, it requires differentiation. Imagine if Yahoo! had come out as GeneralInternetDirectory.com? It would be much more descriptive, but hardly memorable. And with the onslaught of new media and advertising channels, it's more important than ever to carve out your niche by displaying your uniqueness. Nothing does that better than a well conceived name.

Mistake #4: The Atlas Approach (Using a map to name your company)

In the zeal to start a new company, many businesses choose to use their city, state or region as part of their name. While this may actually help in the beginning, it often becomes a hindrance as a company grows. One client came to me with complaints he was serving more of the market than his name implied. He had aptly called it St. Pete Plumbing since he hailed from St. Petersburg, Florida. But yellow page shoppers assumed that was also his entire service area. With a little creative tinkering we changed the image of St. Pete from a city to the image of St. Pete himself, complete with wings and a plumber's wrench. The new tag line? "We work miracles!"

Other companies have struggled with the same issue. Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining was growing beyond their industry and their state. To avoid limiting their growth they became 3M, a company now known for innovation. Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC, de-emphasizing the regional nature of the original name. Both of these companies made strategic moves to avoid stifling their growth. Learn from them and you can avoid this potential bottleneck.

Mistake #5: Cliché you say? (A good name is worth a thousand words)

Once past the literal, descriptive stage, the thought process usually turns to metaphors. These can be great if they are not overly used to the point of trite. Since many companies think of themselves as the top in their industry, the world is full of names like Summit, Apex, Pinnacle, Peak, etc. While there is nothing inherently wrong with these names, they are just overworked. Look for combinations of positive words and metaphors and you will be much better served. A good example is the Fortune 1000 data storage company Iron Mountain, which conveys strength and security without sounding commonplace.

Mistake #6: Hide the Meaning (Make it so obscure, the customer will never know!)

It’s great for a name to have a special meaning or significance. It’s sets up a story that can be used to tell the company message. But if the reference is too obscure and too hard to spell and pronounce, you may never have the opportunity to speak to that customer. They will simply pass you by as irrelevant. So resist the urge to name your company after the mythical Greek god of fast service or the Latin phrase for “We’re number one!” If a name has a natural, intuitive sound and a special meaning, it can work. If it’s too complex and puzzling, it will remain a mystery to your customers. This is especially true if you are reaching out to a mass audience.

I pushed the envelope a little on this one myself, naming my branding firm Tungsten, after the metal that Thomas Edison used to create brilliant light. However, my clientele consists of knowledgeable professionals who appreciate a good metaphor and expect a branding firm to have a story behind its name. It’s also a way to differentiate my services (illuminated, bright, brilliant). So while it works for a branding firm, it would not do well as an ice cream parlor.

Mistake #7: The Campbell’s Approach (Using alphabet soup to name your firm)

This is a trend that is thankfully wearing off. Driven by the need for a matching domain name, many companies have resorted to awkwardly constructed or purposefully misspelled names. The results are company names that sound more like prescription drugs than real life businesses. Mistake #2 sometimes gets combined with this one and results in a name like KwaliTronix. (Or worse- mistakes #2 , #4 & #7, resulting in KwalTronixUSA). It’s amazing how good some names begin to sound after searching for available domain names all night. But resist the urge. Avoid using a “K” in place of a “Q” or a “Ph” in place of an “F”. This makes spelling the name, and locating you on the internet, all that much harder.

It’s not that coined or invented names cannot work, they often do. Take for example, Xerox or Kodak. But keep it mind, names like these have no intrinsic or linguistic meaning, so they rely heavily on advertising – and that gets expensive. Many of the companies that use this approach were either first in category, or had large marketing budgets. Verizon spent millions on their rebranding effort. So did Accenture. So check your pocketbook before you check into these type of names.

Mistake #8: Sit On It. (When in doubt, make no change at all)

Many business owners know they have a problem with their name and just hope it will somehow magically resolve itself. The original name for one of my clients was “Portables”, which reminded some people of the outdoor restrooms or the portable class rooms- neither one a good association. This added to the confusion when phone operators tried to explain their new concept of moving and storage. After some careful tweaking, we came up with the name PODS, an acronym for Portable On Demand Storage. The rest is quickly becoming history as they expand both nationally and internationally. Peter Warhust, President and one of the original founders states, “For the record, changing our name to PODS was one of the best moves we ever made”.

Exercise Experience, a former Florida based company, was frequently confused with a health club. In reality, they sold very high-end fitness equipment. This brings up a very key point -- it’s better to have a name that’s gives no impression than a name that gives a wrong impression. Much of the ad budget we spent on Exercise Experience was used to clarify that they sold fitness equipment. This was valuable airtime that could have been put to better use selling the equipment rather than explaining the business. Ultimately, the company folded. It’s not to say it was solely because of the name, but I believe it was a factor.

Mike Harper of Huntington Beach, CA, bought a thirty-year old janitorial and building maintenance company named Regency. We both agreed it sounded more like a downtown movie theatre than a progressive facilities management firm. After a thorough naming search, we developed the name Spruce Facilities Management. Spruce not only conveyed the environmentally friendly image of a spruce tree, (something important to the client), it also meant “to clean up”. The new tag line fell right in place – Spruce… “The Everclean Company”.

It’s only a matter of time before Southwest Airlines and Burlington Coat Factory and others who have successfully outgrown their original markets begin to question their positioning. Much like 3M and KFC, they may need to make a change to keep pace with their growth and image.

In the fever to start your new business or expand a current one, take time to think through some of these issues. According to the late Henry Ford, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it”. Albert Einstein took it one step further claiming, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. By tapping into your creativity and avoiding these potential pitfalls, you’ll be able to create a name that works both short and long term – one that allows for future growth. Like the original cornerstone of a building, it will support upward expansion as your company reaches new heights.

E-mail: Phil@PureTungsten.com
Author's URL: http://PureTungsten.com
Phil Davis President Tungsten Brilliant Brand Marketing

Phil’s life goal of “creating environments where people thrive” reflects his desire to assist in personal, professional and business growth. Phil founded and ran a full service ad agency for over 17 years and now works full time as a business naming and branding consultant. Phil resides with wife Michelle and four energetic offspring outside Asheville, North Carolina.

Tags: marketing strategy, marketing success, marketing concept, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, small business marketing expert, branding, marketing coach, marketing consultant, small business marketing speaker, marketing tip, brand strategy

Marketing Coach: Dumbest Marketing Question of the Week

Marketing Jackass Direct marketing advertising

I get questions. Some are smart and some are... not so smart.

This one is not QUITE worth the Marketing Jackass Award - but it's close.

And now without further ado, here it is - THE Dumbest Marketing Question of the Week (yes, it's only Wednesday but I have a high level of confidence that it won't get any worse THIS week)...

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From: Joe Blow <joe@JoeBlowCompanyShallRemainNameless.com>
To: david@doitmarketing.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 4:54 PM
Subject: David, may I borrow your mind?

David,

We all appreciate and can feel the power of social media. My question is, if I do not care about impression national wide / long time brand build, what's the best way to move products? Just simply sale it.

-- Joe
=====

First, this gent wants to "borrow my mind." That's a compliment I suppose. Some days, I'm not sure even I can use it to best advantage. Tell you what, Joe -- it's yours. Be my guest...

If I don't care about impressions nationwide - Hello? This guy sells a product. A great product. A product sold on the web. GLOBALLY. Yet the premise of his question is that he doesn't care about impressions nationwide. This is problem #1.

I don't care about long time brand build - WHAT?? So you want the slam-bam thank-you ma'am instant sort of branding, name recognition, word-of-mouth referrals, and raving fan base, right? Coming right up... How about a zero-calorie Big Mac to go with that? And some non-addictive cigarettes? This type of wishful fantasy thinking is problem #2.

What's the best way to move products? Just simply sale it? The best way to "move products" and sell more is to make impressions nationwide, become known as the "trusted brand" in your market, focus on a niche to generate a raving fan base over time, and let your customers spread the word about how ridiculously AWESOME your product is. Missing this fact ("as obvious as a ham sandwich" as Alan Weiss likes to say) is problem #3.

The second best way (and it's a FAR DISTANT second) is to invest in a LOT of direct marketing and buy a LOT of advertising.

I'm not being a smartass - really - because if you have the direct marketing and advertising budget of Bose, Gevalia, or Tempur-Pedic - be my guest. Spend hundreds of millions of dollars. But here's the rub: THAT will take YEARS too! And a whole hell of a lot more dollars.

You can do it my way. For 95% less money. Starting right now.

Your call, Joe.

What do you think? Please share your responses in the COMMENTS area below...

Tags: marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, marketing jackass, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing strategist, marketing mix

Professional Services Marketing: Low Hanging Fruit

Here is special treat for you: A 45-minute content-packed interview with marketing coach and professional services marketing expert Stacey Hylen of Business Optimizer Coach.

Simply right-click the link below and select "Save File As..." "Save Target As..." or "Download Linked File..." and save the digital audio file to your Desktop:

Download Interview Now

Stacey and I share some rock-solid ideas to help you profit from "Low-Hanging Fruit Strategies to Rapidly Increase Your Sales"

Stacey helps 6- and 7-figure entrepreneurs and professionals get more business, more profits, and more time off.

NOTE: Don't forget to grab your Listening Guide and Resources that Stacey mentions during our interview. Grab your copy now at...

http://businessoptimizercoach.com/dnewman/

Listen in, grab your free resources and then please leave a comment below so you can...

professional services marketing speaker

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing coach, marketing consultant, small business marketing speaker

Marketing Coach: 7 Stupid Ways to Blow Up Your Sales Process

marketing speaker, marketing coach, marketing jackass award This week's Marketing Jackass Award goes to... me.

Why? Because I just conducted one of the WORST sales calls of my life. Yes, it was that bad.

Let's count the ways so that YOU can apply these 7 lessons to YOUR sales process. And so you never have to blow it like I just did.

1. Wrong prospect. I knew it in my bones even before we got on the phone. He doesn't fit, he's missing a lot of the DNA markers of our most successful clients, he's sort of "out there."

2. Wrong process. Did he read the material I sent ahead of time? No. Did he know what business we are in? No. Did he understand how we work and what we do - and WHY? No. Is this my prospect's fault? HELL NO - it's my fault for not following my own process (and not making SURE the prospect followed it too). The only thing worse than "wrong process" is NO PROCESS. And as a marketing coach, I've been guilty of that in the past as well, but this time it was all on me that I had a process that my prospect did not follow. I should have rescheduled the moment I found this out. But I didn't.

3. Wrong budget. Why, why, WHY do I keep having sales conversations with people whose initial inquiries start with the phrase "money is tight" or "I don't have two nickels to rub together." (I've gotten both of these - verbatim - in the last 5 days). If they claim poverty on the approach, they will not suddenly become millionaires on the call. Bring up money FAST and EARLY. Not your fees but THEIR own pricing, their ROI, their average sale, their customer lifetime value. Do that and you'll set the context for your fees as an investment and you'll be able to avoid the sticker shock when you drop a number on someone before you've established commensurate VALUE for them.

4. Wrong words. Do you listen (TRULY listen) to what your prospects say in the first few minutes of your sales conversations? Can you identify when they are using the "right words" vs. the "wrong words" to indicate their readiness to move ahead, their understanding of the value that your products and services bring, and their level of sophistication as an educated consumer? If you did, you'd make more sales faster - and you'd stop wasting precious selling time with price shoppers, tire kickers and broke-ass losers.

5. Wrong questions. Do you listen just as carefully - maybe more so - to the kinds of questions your prospect asks YOU during the sales call? Can you tell from THEIR questions if they are tracking with your best clients and customers? Can you identify their underlying urgencies and priorities based on the questions that they ask? Have you ever gently redirected a "bad" question with the phrase, "The real question I'm hearing you ask is... And the answer to that question is..." Examples of bad questions include fear-based questions that fixate on guarantees, warrantees, all that could go wrong, insignificant details and irrelevant metrics.

6. Wrong bravado. When a prospect spends any significant amount of time telling me how successful they are, how financially lucrative their business is, how much money they make, and what kind of car they drive, I know we're not a fit. Here's the truth, folks: Successful people ARE successful. They don't TALK about being successful. Someone who brags like this suffers from low self-esteem - or even worse, he is a mental child who is still psychologically trying to impress their Mommy and Daddy who never loved them enough in the first place. Move on - and quick!

7. Wrong fit. Put your current prospect in an imaginary lineup with your very favorite clients and very best customers - both past and present. Does this prospect fit? Do they belong there? Are they a natural extension of your business family? If not, that should be enough to get you to hang up the phone right then and there. Like attracts like. If your prospect would stick out like a sore thumb in your lineup of current clients, that means there is something seriously wrong and you should NOT allow that prospect into the circle of the clients whom you love working with - and who love you.

Fail to heed these 7 warning signs and the best case scenario is that you'll waste a lot of precious time, energy and effort on the wrong prospects who won't do business with you anyway. And the worst case scenario is that you'll end up with a goofball client - or at the very worst, a "nightmare client from hell."

Friends don't let friends blow up their sales process.

You're welcome.

I love you.

Thoughts? Insights? Reactions? Please use the COMMENTS section below to share...

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing success, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, small business coach, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing strategist, success tips, marketing consultant, small business marketing speaker, marketing tip

Awesome Book Review: "Say Yes And!"

Avish Parashar has just released a new book titled, "Say Yes, And!" and he has a great special offer for people who buy the book by midnight tonight, Feb. 28.

The book takes a fundamental principle from improv comedy - saying "yes, and" instead of "yes, but" - and shows you how that one simple idea can help you improve your career, your business, your relationships, and your life.

As a special promotion, if you buy the book today, February 28th, you'll get access to over $200 in free gifts, including PDF versions of two of Avish's other books and over 8 hours of MP3 recordings of some of Avish's most popular audio programs. That's over $200 in gifts in return for buying a $12.95 book.

To get the book and the free gifts, visit http://www.SayYesAnd.com

p.s. Here's my review from amazon.com:

First I have to tell you - I'm a business book junkie. I read 'em all. Big ones, little ones, famous ones, and hidden gems. All topics including sales, marketing, leadership, strategy, the how-to, the what-to, and the why-to kind.

And this books stands out.

Plain and simple, Avish Parashar packages essential wisdom, insights, and practical advice into a small concentrated form factor.

But don't be fooled - this is life-changing stuff.

One small turn in what you think and what you say CAN and WILL make a huge impact. Example after example pours out of this book and will soon spark ideas and memories in your own mind of times you took charge and created success - and other times when you chose the "Yes but" path and created your own obstacles, limits, and barriers.

Whether you are a business owner, corporate executive, sales professional, association executive, or non-profit leader, this book is for YOU. Filled with immediately actionable insights and concrete take-aways, this little book may trigger the biggest and best changes your team, your organization, and your results will ever experience.

Tell you what - STOP reading Amazon reviews of this great little book, say "YES AND I'll buy it right now." In fact, you may want to buy three - one for yourself, one for your boss, and one for the significant other in your life. Yes (and) the ideas in this book work as powerfully at home as they do at work!!

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing strategy, marketing concept, keynote speaker, passion, personal branding, marketing professional services, entrepreneurship, coaching, motivational speaker, marketing, ceo, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, success tips, speaker marketing, small business marketing, marketing tip, success, business strategy, love, clients

Marketing Coach: Your Blogging Quick-Start Guide

Want to Grow Your Business With Blogging? Here’s Your Quick-Start Guide

Guest post by Claudia Somerfield

One of the easiest and most powerful tools for growing your business is the business blog. Most marketing advisers suggest including a business blog as a sales tool. If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or thought-leading professional and want to expand your influence with blogging, here is a quick-start guide that will have you up and running in no time at all.

Start with a clear plan

A common mistake that many businesses make when they start a blog is not having a long term plan in place. This applies to various aspects of the blog.

Consider these questions:

What is the core purpose of your blog?
How do you want it to look?
What should be the writing style and tone of your blog posts?
How openly do you want to position your blog as a sales tool?
What kind of interface do you want to offer your blog readers to contact you?
How do you want people to find your blog on a web search?

Having a clear cut strategy makes your blog much more focused, consistent and professional.

The web is often referred to as a fickle medium. If your blog readers do not find your blog of value, they will not return, they will not click through to your products or services, and they will not promote it by sharing it on their social networks.

At the end of the day, your reader looks for value, and your long term plan can help determine the specific nature and scope of the value you will offer.

Select your tool

The interface that you will use to upload and publish content on your blog is known as your blogging platform. There are several popular blogging platforms that you can choose from such as Blogger, Wordpress, and TypePad. While your web developer may provide you with a "home-made" interface on your website to create and add content to your blog, it is much easier and more efficient to integrate one of the more popular platforms. Take a look at what these platforms offer, and choose the one that appeals to you the most.

Create classy content

If you want your business blog to attract readers, and if you want the blog to become an integral part of your business strategy, you will have generate high quality content. You may want to employ the services of a professional blogger or content writer for this or you can do it yourself.

In the context of a business, there is no one who knows the nuances of the business better than you. However, you will want to keep in mind that it takes consistent posting of good content on a regular basis on your blog for it to grow in value.

Many business blogs make the mistake of compromising quality of content for quantity, over-using techniques like link building and search engine optimization to get more traffic to their blogs, but across time, they fail to engage the readers or to get them to respond to their call to action.

Promote

The key to popularizing your blog is to promote it. This can be as simple as sending out email announcements every time you update your blog, sharing it on your social networks, and notifying what are known as pinging services that will update web directories with your new content.

Social bookmarking sites are another commonly used promotion tool. The most popular social bookmarking platforms that are worth your time are Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

Network

Start building relationships with other business bloggers. Promote their work on your networks. This may seem counterproductive especially if they are your competitors, but it will establish you as a fair and open networker. This will also help you study other business blogs and learn the tricks of the trade. Study how they use interesting content to get their readers attention and how they convert it either into return visits or a click through to products and services.

Visit other blogs and leave your opinions in the comments section. As people take note of your opinion, you will find them wanting to network with you and your blog. As with everything in life, blogging for business has a certain amount of give and take involved. The more you give, the greater your chances of taking something back.

Business blogging is proven strategy that will help your business grow. However, for a blog to be noticed and acquire a reputation among readers and clients, it takes time and dedicated effort.

Study the basics of search engine optimization and keyword research so that you are able to bolster your content with the technical strength it needs to reach the top of search results. Make your content interesting and useful.

Remember that your blog posts are not direct sales messages, but rather high-value assets with which to build a community of interested readers who are your potential customers.

As you grow your dedicated readership, you will find that your blog has become a significant source of web traffic, leads, referrals, and new business.

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About the author: Claudia is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. She recently read an article on a t-rex car that attracted her attention. Her next writing project involves a flying car.

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing success, marketing for coaches, consulting firm marketing, marketing concept, marketing agency, new media, marketing professional services, blog, done for you marketing, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing strategist, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, small business marketing, small business marketing speaker, marketing tip, content marketing, inbound marketing, becoming an expert, internet marketing

Marketing Concept: Don't Be a Jackass

small business marketing jackass award Wow.

That's all I can say.

Sometimes, a piece of marketing stupidity comes across my radar that is:

a. Almost impossible to believe

b. Too dumb not to share with you as a cautionary tale

Here's an email I just got from a video producer whom I personally KNOW* (and who shall remain nameless to protect the moronic):

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From: "jackass@VideoCoNameChanged.com"
To: David Newman <david@doitmarketing.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 3:26 PM

Hi there:

The attached is something new for 2012 which should make it easier to understand all the kinds of services we provide here at [Video Company Name Changed]. Hope this makes it easier to recommend us to others in the future. Thanks and hope all is well with you!

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Let's review what's wrong with this picture:

1. He sends a mass email to his database with the salutation "Hi there" even though this is a guy who knows me personally, has done business with several of my clients (not on my recommendation, you can be sure), and - if he had a clue as to how to work his email system - could at least have bothered to do the mass personalization required to make this note say "Hi <fname>" to call all his contacts by name.

2. I was not really having a hard time understanding "all the kinds of services we provide here at" his company. What I now DO have a REAL hard time understanding is why ANYONE would refer such a self-centered goofball to their clients and prospects.

3. "Hope this makes it easier to recommend us to others in the future." Again, I was not losing a lot of sleep over how challenging it was to recommend this guy. Solving THAT problem is a priority for HIM but not for ME (or YOU for that matter).

You know what would make it a lot easier for me to recommend this guy? If he actually provided me with some REAL VALUE. Some insights, tips, recommendations, resources, tools, and ideas to make ME more successful - not him.

4. "Thanks and hope all is well with you!" This totally inauthentic closing simply rubs salt into an already raw wound. Is this guy kidding? His whole tone, approach, and message is "ME ME ME ME" and he "hopes I'm doing OK" while fighting throat cancer, desperately scrambling to put my parents in a nursing home, and heroically trying to make ends meet in my struggling Jewish delicatessen in the middle of the Bronx. Yeah, right - I'm overcome with this idiot's genuine concern for me and my wellbeing.

The worst part of all this?

He's a phony. A fake. A fraud. And a taker. This is the worst kind of professional services provider there is. A snake in sheep's clothing. [Do snakes wear sheep's clothing? I dunno - this one sure does!!]

You know what would have been 1000 times better?

Give me some value. Give me some REASON to want to help you. Personalize your note. Or [God forbid] don't send me a mass email at all and reach out 1-on-1.

This guy has a paltry list so it's not like 1-on-1 outreach to his potential advocates, allies, friends, and referral sources would be so hard to do. FYI I don't fall into any of these categories for him (clearly!!)

You want to do better? Sure you do. So leverage your referral blurb. Create one, share it, use it in good health.

And don't be like this jackass video guy or this moronic firm I wrote about earlier.

Please, please, please - don't give me more fuel for the "Jackass Marketing" column.

* Please note the video firm in question is NOT my video firm. In fact, if you want to get a kickass corporate video or do some video shooting or editing work, I strongly recommend Rob Kates of Professional Speaker Video. HE does a great job AND he knows how to conduct business like a professional, NOT like a goofball! (Speaking of goofballs, this post is worth reading as well about creating your own 9-point Goofball Prevention Screening tool.)

What do you think? Is this too harsh? Not harsh enough? How would you react to the note above? Please share your thoughts in the COMMENTS area below...

p.s. If you'd like some personalized help - and your very own customized social media scripts, email and phone outreach tools, a killer email signature file and more, check out the Small Biz Outreach Action Packs.

Tags: marketing speaker, marketing success, marketing concept, referral blurb, video, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing strategist, marketing tip, referral marketing, referrals, advertising

Marketing Concept: 6 Tips for Writing "Prospect-Speak"

Guest post by Sandy Barris, Fast Marketing Plan

Marketing Concept: Start writing like people talk or even better the way your prospects talk:

1. Use plain talk when writing your marketing, advertising or PR:
Please don’t try to be your fifth grade teacher or your college English professor.

Forget everything you ever learned in school about writing.

Fancy writing (big word writing) only draws attention to itself and not to the benefits you are using to persuade.

2. Try using short sentences and vary their length:

Don’t try to stick two thoughts into one sentence.

Use two short ones instead.

3. Use simple language:

Use the familiar word to the far-fetched.

Use the concrete word to the abstract.

Use the short word to the long word.

Examples of simple language:

Instead of this: Use this

Encourage: Urge
Continue: Keep up
Supplement : add to
Acquire: get or gain
Along the lines of: like
As to: about
For the reason that : since
In order to: to
In the event of: if
In accordance with: by, under
Prior to: before
With regard to: about
Accordingly: so
Likewise: and, also
Nevertheless: but, however

You get the idea. KISS

4. Use personal references:

Examples: names, pronouns & human interest words.

The best words you can use are… "YOU" and "YOUR"

5. DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

People recognize words based on their shape, not the actual letters in the words. All caps are harder to identify immediately.

6. Use a Headline

Your Headline is your Ad for the Ad.

The headline should invoke a "reflex reaction" from the reader.

Stop them dead in their tracks.

The reader should instantly understand what you're trying to say, and have enough information to qualify or disqualify himself from reading the rest of your marketing.

But hey, if your professionaly written and perfectly edited marketing is working, making you a small fortune, ignore this and keep doing what's working.

That's your quick marketing tip for now.

Use them and profit.

About the Author: Sandy Barris is the creator of Fast Marketing Plan which provides any business owner, executive or manager a simple, fast, easy and affordable online marketing and business management tool to create unlimited and complete Marketing Plans, Marketing Calendars and Marketing Roadmaps for use by almost any type and size of business.

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, web marketing, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, copy writing, small business marketing expert, writing, professional speaker marketing, marketing ideas, marketing coach, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, small business marketing, small business marketing speaker

Marketing Concept: Execution Means DO SOMETHING!

"No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty." marketing speaker marketing coach for professional services firms
– George Eliot

"One must verify or expel his doubts, and convert them into the certainty of Yes or No."
– Thomas Carlyle

The importance of “execution” is a business and marketing concept that has gained a lot of currency. At its core, it's pretty simple...

Execution is just a big word for DO SOMETHING!!

In the old business world, the normal process for getting something done could be described as “Ready, Aim, Fire!” With the quality movement and the other management fads that came and went during the 1980’s and 1990’s, the process became a little more involved.

Perhaps “Aim, Ready, Aim, Fire!” could describe the resulting corporate mindset: Document everything you Do, and Do everything that you’ve Documented. That meant a lot of extra work and not much improvement in actual quality.

Then Tom Peters encouraged managers to adopt a new philosophy which he presented as “Ready, Fire, Aim” — execute on your ideas, and then refocus/refine later. Today, successful corporate and entrepreneurial leaders need to be innovative, brave, smart, and fast.

Perhaps our new motto needs to become “Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire!”

That means that “Ready” has to be built in - In the corporate world, it has to be built in to every department, every manager, every employee. In the startup and entrepreneurial world, "Ready" has to be built in to your venture - your ideas, your messaging, your services, your network.

"Ready" is the new status quo. And aiming is no longer a separate step.

Aiming is about creativity, scoping out the possibilities, and finding the next opportunity before the competition does. Part of being Ready is, in fact, to always be aiming!

This is the only way that “Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire!” is ever going to work without descending into havoc.

Yes or No? Fire!

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

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Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing success, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, small business marketing expert, professional speaker, professional speaker marketing, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, small business marketing speaker, marketing tip, public speaker marketing

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