Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

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...

Top 5 Tips for Twitter:

1. Listen and learn. As with other social media, the most important first step is to listen to the conversations. See what people are talking about in your industry on Twitter. The daily thoughts of so many people can be an incredibly rich source of new ideas for products and services.
2. Publish valuable news and information. Only after you've listened and understand the style and etiquette of Twitter communications should you consider creating an account and posting content. An easy starting point is to publish regular news and updates that you already distribute via other channels.
3. Distribute promotions. Some companies are finding that Twitter is an effective channel for sending out promotional messages. Timely sales and coupons are easy to distribute on Twitter, and the fast nature of the Twitterverse means that people can respond to the promotions quickly. Note: Keep offers and promotions to LESS than 20% of your tweets, otherwise you'll come off like a sleazy peddler rather than a trusted partner. 
4. Create or extend your brand personality. Ultimately, Twitter is far more valuable for distributing your brand personality than it is for merely delivering your content. Social media is social. Be a person first. 
5. Engage in conversations and customer service. Twitter is about conversations, not monologues. Twitter is about talking with people, not merely at them. Engage, thank, respond and reciprocate.
    

Top 5 Tips for LinkedIn:

1. Use LinkedIn Groups & stimulate new leads daily with value-first outreach.
2. Ask questions & build your credibility using LinkedIn status updates.
3. Create powerful events and promote them to relevant groups.
4. Run an advanced search to find buyers, prospects, and advocates in your target market.
5. Once you find leads, send personalized messages and connect 1-to-1 as real people, not as “targets.”
    

Top 5 Tips for Facebook:

1. Define your target market. Every online effort that will actually get you results starts with knowing exactly who your perfect clients are.
2. Connect with people in your target market. For every action you take on Facebook, ask yourself how doing this helps you connect and network with people in your target market.
3. Get and stay active. Facebook marketing will only work for you if you are active. Don't engage in "drive-by" activity and expect long-term results.
4. Share valuable tips and ideas. A big part of your Facebook marketing should be promoting and sharing your expertise – not pitching and peddling your wares
5. Start a Facebook business page. Start one if you don't have one yet. It's a great forum for discussion, answering questions, and building community.
    

Your Simple Social Media Marketing Plan:

Here is exactly what you need to do - step by step - to help you and your organization maximize the basics in your social media gameplan:

• Calendarize your social media tactics in less than 30 minutes a day
• Organize your social media priorities behind one of three main purposes (sharing resources, building relationships, engaging in reciprocity)
• Operationalize your social media game plan with time-saving tools such as TweetAdder, BufferApp, and ping.fm
• Leverage and grow the impact of all your social media efforts and assets

Remember – if you start small, stick to your plan and your calendar, learn as you go, and adjust your game plan based on your results, your social media strategies WILL pay off for you and for your organization!

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, social media gameplan, top 5 social media tips, marketing for speakers, marketing for authors

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on effectively using social media WITHOUT going bonkers...

Do you sell to chief executives, presidents, and corporate bigwigs? 

If so, chances are good you're doing it wrong. Here's why... and later in this post, you'll get some tools to start doing much MUCH better FAST...

The reason you're not getting the appointments you want or capturing the interest you need from senior executives and CEOs is that you're selling functional ideas to strategic people.

The last thing - and I mean DEAD LAST thing - that any chief executive cares about is the "how" of solving a particular problem.

You've seen the cliche in a hundred different movies of the top dog barking at an underling in the board room - "I don't care HOW you do it. Just get it done."

But when it comes to selling, we sellers and marketers are soooo in love with our "How."

What you need to focus on is the "Why" and then immediately jump to results and outcomes. 

But not just ANY results and outcomes - the results and outcomes that your CEO prospects are publicly, permanently and strategically committed to achieving. 

Not sure exactly what results or outcomes your top executive prospects care about? 

Don't guess... educate yourself. 

Here are links to some online and offline resources (magazines, annual lists, websites, books) that you should buy, download, read and integrate into your marketing game plan so that you can sell much more effectively to CEOs and other C-level buyers:

ARTICLES and WEB LISTINGS:

Harvard Business Review - Top 100 CEOs

Fortune Most Admired Companies

Fortune Best Companies to Work For

50 Most Powerful Women in Business

2013 NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women

BOOKS:

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

What Got You Here Won't Get You There

The NEW Secrets of CEOs: 200 Global Chief Executives on Leading

The CEO Code 

The moment YOU start talking CEO Language about CEO Problems is the moment you start to earn their attention, their trust, and - eventually - their business. 

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, sales, selling, CEO language

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on effectively selling to CEOs and corporate executives...

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, clients often ask me for branding and naming advice to help create a great company name.

Names like...

• The Cookie Machine
• The Video Advisor
• CareerNavigator
• SalesGPS
• The Coffee Hangout
• Guitars After Dark
• The Fitness Foundry

I've seen solopreneurs and companies go through the branding/naming (or re-branding/re-naming) process smoothly and efficiently in less than a week - and I've also seen train wrecks that needlessly dragged on for months. 

How to get started

First, take a look at two blog posts to help you set the stage for an easy, effortless, enjoyable naming and branding process: 

Instant Branding Toolkit

Building Your Brand Sandwich

How not to screw it up

Here are some ideas to dig into for the "how" or "do's and don'ts" of the naming process...

1. At first, sit down with your leadership team. No spouses. No customers. No low-level employees. 5 people maximum.
2. Generate ideas for your raw branding/naming "building blocks" (as outlined in my "Instant Branding Toolkit" blog post)
3. Work over the list until you have 10 strong candidates.
4. Whittle the list down by eliminating 5 of them - the process is "1 vote to eliminate." If there are no objections from the rest of the group, it's gone. If there are objections, then it is up to those individuals to argue the case for "saving" that name until the vote is unanimous either way. This voting/defending process makes things go MUCH faster. And it gets you to focus on much stronger names faster. 
5. With your top 5 candidates, do a customer survey. Not your spouse, your brother-in-law, your Uncle Marvin who used to be an ad agency exec, not your sister who is a brand manager for Tide. Actual, real, live customers. 
6. Take the top 2 scoring names from the customer survey and do an in-house survey with your own team. Use ONLY customer-facing executives. Sales reps are great. Customer service people are great. Field service people are great. Ask them two simple questions: 1. "Given what you know of our customers and prospects, which one of these two names will resonate with them the most?" 2. "Why?" 
7. Compile your results, make your decision, announce your winner, and start your transition to your new name. 

Boom - done!

Where did that lead come from?

"It came out of the blue..."

How did that customer find you?

"They found us out of the blue..."

What made them call?

"They called out of the blue..."

How many times have you heard yourself give these types of answers?

Hmmm... me too.

Until last night when I was having dinner with The Hot One™ - aka my lovely bride of 27 years.

I was telling her about a brand new client and she asked me, "How did they find you?" and I instinctively answered, "I dunno - they found me out of the blue."

By the way, this is a terrible answer for a marketing guy to give.

I should know exactly how and why my specific marketing activities attract specific clients but I must admit things have been going fast and furious around here lately so I've lost track. A good problem to have - but a problem nonetheless...

Back to dinner with The Hot One™ - she looks over at me, pauses meaningfully and says... 

"There is no blue."

Ouch. And she's right. So she made me think harder - look harder - connect the dots - to where and how this client came to me. 

This is a terrific reminder for YOU, too... 

There is no blue.

So here are 12 potential sources of "blue" -- inbound leads, prospects and referrals. You need to work harder at identifying, specifying, and inquiring about these when GOOD prospects come your way. And even more so when - like in my situation yesterday - good prospects become clients!

1. Google (or other search engines)
2. Your articles in hardcopy publications (industry magazines, trade journals, association publications)
3. Your articles posted online (guest blogs, contributed columns, niche industry websites)
4. Your social media accounts (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc.)
5. Your blog
6. Your personal network (friends, family, colleagues)
7. A referral (current client, past client, or non-client fan/influencer)
8. Directories and listings (online, offline)
9. Your speaking engagements (local, regional, national, fee or free)
10. Your videos (on your website or sites like YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
11. Your teleseminars (the ones you host or where you're the guest)
12. Your media interviews (TV, radio, print)

Become fanatical about connecting new customers and clients to specific marketing channels. 

Put a sign up on your office wall to remind you if necessary... 

There is NO blue!

Tags: Marketing speaker, marketing coach, thought leadership marketing, lead generation

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!

1. "The main ingredient of a star is the rest of the team." John Wooden
2. "Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead." Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) Founder of Aikido
3. "The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." Vince Lombardi
4. "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." Steve Jobs
5. “To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.” E. E. Cummings
6. "It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" Winnie the Pooh
7. "You cannot be afraid to be who you are. Live your values. Live your life. A woman confided to me about 'sneaking out of the office' to go to her child's play and I said, ' Stop right there! I have never snuck out of any place. I walk right down the center hall, and if somebody doesn't like it, too bad. Don't worry about me. I will deliver.' Just stand up, do what you need to do, and smile about it. Look them in the eye and say, 'If you don't like it, fire me, and I'll go find another job, because I'm talented enough and I'm committed enough." Shelly Lazarus, chairman, Ogilvy & Mather
   
8. "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat, and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while doing greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt
   
9. "No road is too long, no honours too distant, advance slowly and without losing heart, for victory belongs to the most persistent." Winston Churchill
   
10. "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he will spend his entire life believing he is stupid." Albert Einstein
    
11. "It is not my job to make mean people nice, crazy people sane, or stupid people smart. It is my job to find nice, sane, smart people, and do business with them!" Bob Loeffler, Fearless Agent
    

By the way, these quotes were originally posted in a thread of over 50 great quotations shared on the LinkedIn Group, Professionals Who Speak. Smart cookies in that group - please join us here:

What is YOUR single favorite inspiring quotation of all time?  

Please take a moment to post yours in the COMMENTS area below - it could be one of your own or from someone famous, past or present. Doesn't matter if it's more personal, more professional, for business or for life.
Let's hear YOURS...

Not only is there "no further ado"... there's no ado period. 

Here they are:

1. Social Media Strategy in 8 Steps http://bit.ly/WmdxmR 
~ Jay Baer, Convince and Convert

2. Get Booked and Stay Booked on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/WtSwqA 
~ Viveka Von Rosen, Linked into Business 

3. Eight Reasons You Need to be Blogging http://bit.ly/XLSAwO
~ Corey Perlman, eBootcamp 

4. 21 Killer Sales Questions to Close Any Deal Faster http://bit.ly/UogBwI
~ Do It! Marketing blog 

5. Top 12 Email 1-Liners to Revive a Dead Prospect http://bit.ly/ZpREDV
~ Do It! Marketing blog 

6. Proprietary Research + 10 Questions to Ask Prospects http://bit.ly/ZRETT4
~ Henry DeVries, New Client Marketing Institute

7. Seven Ways to Ensure Your Emails Get Read http://bit.ly/XtttRa
~ Tom Searcy, Hunt Big Sales (writing at Inc.com)

8. 23 things to say when you're asked for 'free consulting' http://bit.ly/Ydeqvb
~ Do It! Marketing blog 

9. 17 Ways to Drive More Traffic FAST http://bit.ly/V4nb78
~ Do It! Marketing blog  

Boom, baby! 

Have a good weekend - and if you feel inspired, please leave a COMMENT below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on any of the topics above. 

For professional services providers, entrepreneurs and thought-leading executives... the #1 dreaded question is, “How much do you charge?”

Especially when it's asked too early, out of context, and before you've established any sort of relationship with the prospect or any sort of value for the project...

In short, if you blow the answer, your prospect is gone.

Here are three things NOT to do:

1. Quote a random price out of thin air (unless you sell haircuts for $18 or oil changes for $34.95 or you do bookkeeping for $65/hr)
2. Act surprised or unprepared for the question ("Uhhh... what do you mean?")
3. Get defensive or go on a rant about how "all people care about these days is price, price, price."

Some of the answers you're about to get are evergreen, some you can adapt to your own personality, and some you may want to keep in reserve until just the right moment with just the right prospect.

Here we go...

"How Much Do You Charge?"

1. A lot. Why do you ask?
2. I don't think we're there yet because I don't know what you're buying
3. I'll answer your question in a moment but to give you a more accurate answer, may I ask you three questions first? 
4. Well, the friends and family rate might apply but we're not friends yet - do you mind if I ask you a few friendly questions that will help us answer your pricing question together?
5. It's nine million dollars until I know what you're buying. Can we spend a few minutes narrowing that down to help you lower the price?
6. I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that you don't have a $500,000 problem. The bad news is that you don't have a $10,000 problem, either... if you can help me answer some key questions, we'll both know a lot more about what your investment might look like.
7. If it works, it's cheap. If it doesn't, it's expensive. 
8. Let's talk about what you're trying to accomplish first and then we'll work out some pricing options based on that. 
9. Do you want the Ferrari version, the Lexus version, or the VW Bug?
10. A project like the one you're asking about ranges from $X to $Y. Sometimes a little more. Not usually less. Is that what you were expecting to invest?
11. There's no good answer to that question in a vacuum. Can we talk a little more about what you're hoping we can do for you? Then I'll give you some pricing options that make sense for your budget. 
12. A project of this scope only makes sense if it's already in your budget. Nobody wakes up one day and suddenly finds the money to solve these kinds of problems. If you can share the budget range you have set aside for this, I can tell you if it makes sense for us to talk any further.
13. I have a feeling that if I quote a random number right now, I'll be dead in the water. Do you mind if I ask you some questions to get a better idea of what your goals are? Then the numbers we talk about will be specific to you and your situation. 
14. Just like you need to make an educated decision about which partner or resource to hire, I need to give you an educated answer to your pricing question. And I'm feeling pretty dumb right now, since we just started talking. Mind if we have a 10-minute conversation about your situation? After that, I'll have a much better idea of what you're after and some different ways we can help. 
15. Sounds like price is the most important factor to you. In my experience, everything is expensive until you want it. Can we talk about what you want and then work our way to the pricing options based on that?
16. It's more than a cab ride to [local landmark, i.e. "the Empire State Building"] but less than [the landmark, i.e. "the building"]. If we can chat for 10 minutes about why you called, I can give you a much more specific answer. Do you have 10 minutes now or shall we look at our calendars?
17. Until I have a better idea of what you want - and whether or not we can even help - any number I give you is going to be too high. Would it be OK if we spend a few minutes discussing why you called? Then if we can help, I'll get you the pricing options you need. And if we can't, I'll refer you to some other great resources that do things we don't. Fair enough? 
     

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!

Just came across this Facebook post from someone who shall remain nameless to protect the self-absorbed.

On the surface, this will look innocent enough. 

But a treacherous marketing gaffe lies in wait... 

Another victim is about to fall prey to the Social Media disease known as... 

[Drum roll]...

Social Me... 

Check it out and let's discuss... 

While I really value having connections on Facebook, I'm noticing that I'm not as active on my personal page and decided that focusing on my Public page will be the best use of my time and allow me to really connect more with people. So I am in the process of deactivating this page - if you haven't already, please 'like' my community page so we can still connect there: [link]

What's wrong with this picture?

Let's color-code it and you'll see how NOT to confuse "Social Me" with "Social Media"...

While I really value having connections on Facebook, I'm noticing that I'm not as active on my personal page and decided that focusing on my Public page will be the best use of my time and allow me to really connect more with people. So I am in the process of deactivating this page - if you haven't already, please 'like' my community page so we can still connect there: [link]

If you were keeping score, you noticed that there were 10 - TEN! - mentions of "I, Me, My" in this two-sentence post. 

One of the games I like to play with my marketing coaching clients is to take ANY piece of copy - a sales letter, a web page, a prospecting email - and totally REMOVE ALL "I, Me, My" language and translate it 100% into YOU and YOUR language, which is much more compelling to most of your prospects, readers, and fans. 

Here goes... 

The level of activity on this page has diminished so that the value you're getting is not at the level you deserve. Please click over to this new page [link] where you can tap into a much more active community, ask your questions, take part in value-rich discussions, get the answers you need PLUS you'll get access to valuable downloads, resources, and tools. See you on the other side!

Social Media... 

Did you notice the new score? 

Let's turn on the colors again and see how you did...

The level of activity on this page has diminished so that the value you're getting is not at the level you deserve. Please click over to this new page [link] where you can tap into a much more active community, ask your questions, take part in value-rich discussions, get the answers you need PLUS you'll get access to valuable downloads, resources, and tools. See you on the other side!

Old score (Social Me): 0-10. You lose! 

New score (Social Media): 7-0. You win!

What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations when it comes to Social Media vs. Social Me... 

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!

When it comes to marketing, there are four things that you need to focus on, four levels if you will.

The four levels of marketing are:

• Strategy
• Tactics
• Initiatives
• Action steps

When you go to a conference, when you ask your mastermind group for help, even when you start searching the web for answers and resources to grow your business, the number one source of overwhelm is when you've heard a whole bunch of strategies, a whole bunch of tactics, a whole bunch of initiatives, a whole bunch of actions steps and you don’t know the difference.

There are three reasons why this short-circuits your brain:

1. You can't do them all
2. You can't even prioritize or figure out how to start to think about them
3. You can't distinguish which is which and why or how it might work for your particular business

A strategy is a big picture area of your business. It could be a marketing-focused strategy. It could be a sales-focused strategy. It could be a financial strategy.

Let’s say you come across someone who tells you Twitter is an amazing marketing platform and you’re really missing out if your business is not on Twitter. He's using it and it fits his business beautifully, and you respect this person and you admire their successful business.

And now you’re thinking, "Oh man, it's all about Twitter, Twitter, Twitter."

"If this guy built his business on Twitter, I can probably build my business on Twitter."

Well, let's back up and analyze that as far as the four levels of marketing.

Internet marketing is the strategy. In other words, Internet marketing is the big giant umbrella over Twitter.

The tactic under that would be social media. There's a lot going on via the internet, folks, that's not social media.

For example, Search engine optimization, your website, the structure of your web presence, blogging, email marketing, dozens of internet marketing strategies. Social media happens to be one bucket under that, so social media is the tactic.

An initiative would be "I'm going to start using Twitter."

This is level three now. I'm going to start using Twitter. I'm going to start understanding it. I might read a book. I might go to some websites, I’m going to grab a copy of Twitter 101 or Using Twitter for Business, all those fabulous resources that are out there for free.

Now, the action step - here's level four, the action step always takes the form of verb, noun, date.

• Set up my Twitter account by Wednesday
• Load my first 30 tweets in Hootsuite by Friday
• Find 100 influential people to follow in my industry by next Monday

Those are action steps.

And the action step can also go on your calendar.

So it really takes it down to "What are you doing today?" What's on your priority to-do list today?

Your to-do list could be 50 things, but what are your top three most important things that you need to do based on the strategies you've selected, based on the tactics that you’ve chosen, based on the initiatives that you've designed, what are the action steps to put on your calendar and get it done?

So let’s follow this through with a complete example -- let's say you're in the insurance business.

You're selling into the insurance marketplace, insurance companies and insurance agents, general agents, insurance associations, insurance publications, and you’re looking to become a dominant resource in that world.

Your action step would be "I want to follow 300 insurance industry folks on Twitter by March 1."

Does that fit into an initiative? Yes. The initiative is aggressively grow my Twitter following targeted to the insurance industry.

Does that fit into a tactic? Yes, it does. It fits into the social media set of tactics.

Does that fall under a strategy that you decided to use? Yes, it falls under your internet marketing strategy.

So right there, just unpacking those four levels, you've gotten some insights through which you can start to filter and sort all of your old ideas, old notes, all of those conference sessions that you may have gone to, all of those tactics and tools and light bulb moments, all those nuggets and sound bites that you may have swirling around in your head or on your “someday, maybe list.”

If you start to sort them in to these four levels; strategy, tactic, initiative and action step – you’ll get a much clearer blueprint for ALL your marketing going forward this month, next month and next year.