As you may know, my new book is coming soon... and I need your help...
If you pre-order the book today, you will get over $747 in business-building bonuses RIGHT NOW and LATER, you'll also get a minty-fresh book jam-packed with savvy marketing, sales and business development strategies, tactics and tools. (You'll be among the first to take delivery of the book the moment it is released - on or about June 5.)
I'd love your help in climbing the amazon charts today - even before the book is released. Is it a good book? Obviously I think so... but fortunately, I'm not alone! Here are just a few other people's opinions...
===== "One of the most practical marketing books you will ever read - so what are you waiting for?" -- John Jantsch, author of "Duct Tape Marketing"
"Do It! Marketing is a complete system for effective marketing. It is a fun read and the ideas, tactics, strategies and exercises it provides will set you apart from your competition." -- Mark Sanborn, author of "Fred 2.0" and "You Don't Need a Title to be a Leader"
"A terrific book packed with a gazillion smart ideas you can use immediately to supercharge your marketing. But beyond all those great ideas, Do It! Marketing shares key concepts and simple systems that will bring you more business with much less struggle." -- C.J. Hayden, author of "Get Clients Now!" =====
When you pre-order today, you'll get more than $747 in instant-access bonus material from some of America's TOP business experts. Everything is waiting for you here: http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus
-- David
p.s. Why should you buy today even though the book won't be out till June? Because in addition to the $747 in bonuses you'll get immediately when you pre-order today, you will also be invited to a series of private teleseminars, you'll get pre-order only bonus ebooks such as the Do It! Marketing Manifesto I'm creating for 800-CEO-READ, and more pre-order only gifts and surprises. As you know, I'm incredibly generous with folks like YOU who are fabulous enough to support my work and I tend to OVER-deliver like crazy. So pre-order the book today and then pop over to http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus to claim all your goodies.
Wanted to share it with YOU first because, heck, you deserve to see it before a whole bunch of corporate dudes get their hands on this info, take it into meetings, and debate it for months before deciding not to implement any of it... Ya dig?
The lesson? Action creates traction... so GO, GO, GO!!!
Top 10 Marketing Secrets
There is NO secret - it's just hard work, good luck, and a great team
Social isn't marketing. Social is social. Marketing is marketing. Doing one and expecting the others' result is probably the #1 cause of heartaches, headaches and disappointment.
It's all about the basics - always has been, always will be. Now more than ever.
B2B and B2C are different animals - yes, really. Thus, genius in one can make for a train wreck in the other.
Marketing's main client is sales. Boom!
There is no industry or market sector where thought leadership isn't going to make a huge difference to your success. HUGE.
We've been saying this for a decade but still so few are doing it: stop "spreading messages" and focus more on starting conversations. Real, open, 2-way conversations with the public, the media, consumers, clients, influencers, and friends (real ones, not the ones on Facebook).
The more you rely on third-party platforms like Facebook, the less stable and more endangered your brand becomes. Build traffic on your own properties where you have 100% control of what's visible and what's not, who can see what and when and for how long, and how content and community are built and nurtured.
Good, creative, smart advertising has always worked. It's not about where you see it - it's about what you see. And how much it makes you think, smile and act.
Stop following the herd - we need more leaders. Stop reading Top 10 lists like this one - and start writing your own. Stop blathering on about your products and services - and start telling real stories about real customers making real improvements in their real lives because you were there.
What do YOU think? Agree? Disagree? Comment? Rant? Rave? Awesome... go ahead and use the COMMENTS area below and let's hear from YOU...
You're about to get 10 blogging lessons from my black Labrador retriever, Woofie, who turns 10 soon. (FYI her birthday is April 29 and she loves getting birthday notes by email. And she replies to every one!)
What makes Woofie such an authority on blogging? Well, it's simple really - she gets a TON of traffic. Every month, I get emails from GoDaddy, where her website is hosted, to the effect that her website bandwidth (5GB/month) has been exceeded. Sometimes by a factor of two or three!
Put simply: there's a chance that this dog's blog is more popular than yours.
So to help you fix that, here are Woofie's guidelines for blogging.
Post regularly. Woofie posts updates once a year - usually on or before her birthday. It's regularly scheduled. You should post more often than that - but the point is the word REGULARLY.
Don't ask for much. Woofie doesn't sell on her blog. She doesn't beg. She doesn't collect email addresses. She offers value (if doggy cuteness has value to you) and she invites engagement (by email or social media). That's it. And it works.
Be cute and relax. Be the real you on your blog. People ask me the secret to success in presenting yourself online. My answer: it's two things. 1. Authenticity and 2. Enthusiasm. Woofie freely shares both of these traits on her blog - and so should you.
Let people come up to you first. Pretend you're a dog... you have no opposable thumbs... you can't do much. So you better be the online equivalent of an adorable little puppy who people want to stop, pet, interact with, and give treats to. Do that, and you win.
Use more photos - visuals sell. Much of Woofie's website is made up of photos of her adventures from the previous year. Photos and videos are where it's at. In the wise words of my digital marketing pal, Jay Baer of Convince and Convert, "Text is going away online. Everything is moving to pictures and video."
Be easy to reach. Woofie has a whole host of digital communications tools in her arsenal (Here's how to connect with her on Twitter, LinkedIn, email, blog, Dogbook.) The short story is she is reachable in ways that YOU want to reach her, not in ways SHE prefers to be reached (which all happen to involve bacon and/or cheese.)
Depend on other people to sell for you. In addition to having no opposable thumbs, Woofie has never made a sales call and has never sent a marketing email. She has people do it for her. Third-party endorsements, referrals, recommendations, and word of mouth from her human friends do the trick. How about you?
Make people feel better about themselves after engaging with you. Let's face it - this dog is cute. But what's beyond that to make interacting with her worthwhile? Well, if you came over to our house, you could answer that for yourself. But we're talking about online. So each interaction needs to be fun, special, and rewarding in and of itself. Want to try one? Click here to send Woofie an email and see what you get back in a reply.
It's OK to be silly. Sometimes it's even more than OK - it's required. Self-deprecating humor is the best kind. It puts people at ease and makes them feel better about themselves, too. Plus it's an indicator of expertise if you can portray yourself "as you are" - mistakes, warts, and all. The fearful, the incompetent, and the weak don't have the guts to do that. Woofie does. And you do, too.
10 kisses, one bark - keep it positive. Nobody likes to read the blog posts of a perpetual whiner, negative nelly, or always-ranting loon. Woofie has never posted anything negative. And even I, her humble human, try to keep my blog posts 90% positive, aspirational, and fun -- and only 10% critical or "calling out the crazy." It's like the old bumper sticker of doggie wisdom - "Bark Less, Wag More."
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!
Late to the party but still ready to have fun... share smart marketing ideas... and put money in YOUR pocket...
Please give a warm welcome to...
The Do It! Marketing podcast!!!
In this episode, my guest is author and professional speaker Jim Matthis.
Jim is an international Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), business strategist and best-selling author. He helps business leaders who want to reinvent their businesses in changing economic climates.
Jim is also the author of the best-selling book: “Reinvention Made Easy: Change Your Strategy, Change Your Results,” and “Reinvention 101: Bold Ideas for Reinvention.”
Jim talks with me about the business of speaking AND how executives and entrepreneurs can punch through the noise and sell more effectively - even to prospects who are lazy, busy, and befuddled!
Listen in and then share YOUR advice, insights and recommendations in the COMMENTS area below...
"The main ingredient of a star is the rest of the team." John Wooden
"Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead." Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) Founder of Aikido
"The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender." Vince Lombardi
"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
“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
"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
"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
"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
"No road is too long, no honours too distant, advance slowly and without losing heart, for victory belongs to the most persistent." Winston Churchill
"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
"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...
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...
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:
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)
Act surprised or unprepared for the question ("Uhhh... what do you mean?")
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?"
A lot. Why do you ask?
I don't think we're there yet because I don't know what you're buying
I'll answer your question in a moment but to give you a more accurate answer, may I ask you three questions first?
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?
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?
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.
If it works, it's cheap. If it doesn't, it's expensive.
Let's talk about what you're trying to accomplish first and then we'll work out some pricing options based on that.
Do you want the Ferrari version, the Lexus version, or the VW Bug?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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!
Here's a piece I submitted to CMO magazine. 
Does your dog blog? 
Here's another in my series of marketing and business book reviews - but not just any old business books.
