Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, blogging for business, marketing expert, marketing coaching, small business marketing expert, marketing coach, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, business blogging

I’ve quit.

Yup - done, finished, over.

“Quit what?” you ask?

I’ve quit blogging.

OK, that’s not quite true...

But I’ve quit blogging daily.

It was an experiment.

And it worked.

And it didn’t.

Here’s the deal - for most of last year, this website averaged between 5,000-6,000 visits per month. Not great, but not terrible either.

At the beginning of this year, I committed to an experiment - namely blogging every weekday.

Yup, 5 posts a week. Week in and week out. I stuck to the schedule and didn’t miss a day in 26 weeks. 6 full months.

The result?

It worked great.

Almost immediately (OK, it took 8 weeks, but that’s close enough) my web traffic went from an average of 5,000-6,000 visits up to an average of 10,000-11,000 visits. One month, we even generated 15,000 visits - triple the old number. I'll explain that "we" later in this post...

My opt-in rate doubled (for everything - my free ebook, blog subscriptions, my free teleseminars.)

My SEO went up - I moved from page 2 and page 3 of Google results for certain keywords to page 1.

The second result?

I found out what really worked to drive more traffic, more leads, and more business.

And it wasn’t the blog...

It was three things:

1. My new book. Specifically, the marketing plan for my book, which turned out to also become the marketing plan for the website and the marketing plan for my speaking and mentoring programs. Woo hoo - who'd a thunk it?

Lesson: If you “lean in” and commit to the marketing for ONE flagship product, service, or program like I did with my book - you will start to generate momentum that carries over into everything else that you are doing.

2. Email marketing. Plain and simple, the more marketing emails I sent, the more web visits I got. Accident? No, of course not. Most of my emails contained links back to the website for the latest blog posts, the occasional teleseminar invitation or a new program announcement.

Lesson: The more email you send that contains high-value content, advice, insights, and recommendations (aka email that’s too good to delete), the more stickiness you’ll generate for your fans and followers. 

3. FLOP - Namely, “Featuring and Leveraging Other People.” I wrote about this concept in detail here and it has also been a tremendous driver of new traffic and new friendships, new clients, and new projects. Inbound FLOP is me shining the spotlight on others. And outbound FLOP is me participating in other people’s book launches, surveys, guest blogging, and so on.

Lesson: It’s not all about YOU. It IS all about how YOU can serve and promote other experts in your field who have a complementary skill set, message, or service offering. Welcome to the new collaborative economy. They win when you win. And you win when they win.

Sooooo... I’m still blogging.

But I’ve scaled down to once or twice a week.

And I’ve scaled UP the other activities listed above.

Because that’s what generates results.

What have YOU changed up in the last 3-6 months to STOP doing what doesn't matter and start DOING more of what matters most? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your specific changes and how they've freed up more time or made you more money... 

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Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing strategy, marketing for coaches, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, marketing book, marketing professional services, trusted advisor marketing, blogging for business, marketing expert, marketing coaching, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, business blogging

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, trusted advisor marketing, email marketing, email marketing campaign, marketing consultant, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, email newsletter

What makes someone interesting? Or - as they say in marketing lingo - a person of interest to others? 

It's a combination of factors, really... and here are five of them for your consideration: 

1. They are not vanilla. They're quirky, pugnacious, determined, and they don't give a rat's ass what the rest of the world thinks. (They also don't mind using terms like "rat's ass" in a blog post.) Bottom line: wolves don't lose sleep over what sheep think of them. Think Donald Trump or Bill Clinton. How vanilla are YOU?
2. They are articulate. Love 'em or hate 'em, these folks can articulate a point of view. Opinionated, loud, proud, and never dull. The sound bite "frequently wrong, never in doubt" was made for them. Think Bill O'Reilly or Rachel Maddow. How quotable are YOU?
3. They stand FOR certain things. And they stand AGAINST other things. They energize their followers, antagonize their foes, and polarize the rest of us in the middle. Sound bite: If you don't risk turning SOME people off, you'll never turn anybody on. Think Howard Stern or Sarah Palin. What stand are YOU taking?
4. They build movements larger than themselves. No matter how big, loud, rich, and famous they are - they're building something bigger than themselves and strive to make an impact beyond themselves. Think Oprah or Bill Gates. What's YOUR movement?
5. They don't seek media - they ARE the media. They are tastemakers, movers, shakers, interviewers, and relationship-builders. They don't wait for the media to come knocking - they are more likely to post videos, write articles, and interview others to feed their tribe a steady diet of top-notch content. What media did you create today?     

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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 for coaches, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, trusted advisor marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, marketing expert, marketing for trainers, marketing coaching, marketing ideas, marketing coach, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, presentation skills expert, presentation design

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, business coaching, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing coaching, marketing ideas, marketing coach, motivational speaker marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, business coach

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing speaker, marketing success, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, keynote speaker, marketing professional services, professional services marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing for trainers, marketing coaching, small business coach, marketing ideas, marketing coach, success tips, speaker marketing, marketing consultant, small business marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, thought leadership, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, marketing tips

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing expert, marketing coaching, marketing coach, marketing consultant, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing

Here are the top 7 things that entrepreneurs, business owners, and independent professionals must do every single day:
 

1. Revisit your goals, milestones, and metrics for the day, week, month, and quarter (financial, marketing, sales, operations)...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - you lose sight of the big picture and get pulled off your game by distractions, trivia, and  grunt work.
    
2. Put new prospects on your radar via strategic outreach...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - your sales and marketing start to slip and you suffer from the feast-or-famine small business sales rollercoaster.
    
3. Thank your team - whether in-house, outsourced, full-time, or virtual...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - your team loses their motivation, momentum, and mojo. Once that's gone, they're halfway out the door. 
    
4. Offer value - in terms of content, your blog, a video, a resource, a referral, a favor, a gift...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - you become just more marketing noise and customers and prospects tune you out and see you as a peddler, not a partner.
    
5. Invite engagement - online, offline, in-person, by phone or Skype; ask and answer questions, solicit feedback, invite comments, send a survey...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - your business becomes isolated as you talk AT your customers and clients rather than talk WITH them. 
    
6. Recharge your batteries - just like the airlines say, "secure your own mask before assisting others"...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - entrepreneurial burnout, stress, drinking, drugs, and divorce. Don't laugh - you could be next.
    
7. Be gracious and grateful - take a moment to appreciate what you have, what you've built, and who you get to serve each day...
   
   Ramifications if not done daily - instead of becoming more and more fulfilling, your business success becomes a trap, a race, and a never-ending contest that you can never win. Stop and smell the coffee!

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on this topic and join the conversation... 

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, thought leadership marketing, trusted advisor marketing, marketing for trainers, marketing coaching, small business marketing expert, marketing ideas, marketing coach, motivational speaker marketing, marketing consultant, small business marketing, marketing for authors, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, small business marketing coach

Tags: marketing for speakers, marketing for coaches, consultant marketing, consulting firm marketing, marketing concept, thought leadership marketing, marketing professional services, trusted advisor marketing, marketing for trainers, marketing professional services firms, marketing coaching, marketing coach, marketing consultant, marketing for consultants, doit marketing, do it marketing, doitmarketing, content marketing, business blogging, conference speaker