Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

As a marketing coach for business owners, entrepreneurs and solo professionals, I'm often asked some variation of the following questions:

• What's more important - a focused marketing plan or consistent marketing activity?
• Do I need to change my marketing strategy? 
• What should I be doing more of - and less of - to get more clients? 
• How do I know the kind of marketing that will work for what I offer? 
• How can I stop spinning my wheels and do a FEW simple things consistently to generate leads, prospects and sales?

Here's my answer in very sophisticated and technical marketing lingo:

"Wow, man... I dunno."

Now before you dismiss me as a complete marketing moron, let me put that insightful statement into some context for you.

If you don't know where you are, who you're marketing to, what they want, what they're willing to pay for, and how to position yourself as the "Ah - at last!!" solution they've been looking for, then all these questions will do is: 

• Confuse you
• Scare you
• Piss you off

And the bottom line is that it's tough to be a successful entrepreneur when you're running around confused, scared and pissed off all the time. 

So stop it. 

The first thing you need to decide is - which do YOU need more of? A revised and refocused master plan? Or some healthy ass-kicking to DO what you ALREADY know you need to do?

Follow the Teddy Roosevelt principle of "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." What does that mean?

That means you need to STOP GETTING READY TO GET READY until...

• You get your next professional certification...
• You finish writing your book...
• Your kids are a little older...
• You build your updated website...
• You have a few more clients...
• You start making more money...

Hello?

Can you SMELL the stinky pile of rotten excuses suffocating you with their disgusting stench?

DO YOU NEED A ROCK SOLID MARKETING/BUSINESS STRATEGY? 

The short answer is a screaming YES with racing stripes and flames coming out the tailpipes.

Do you need a 60-page marketing/business plan with charts and graphs and financial projections for the next 5 years? No you do not. 

You need some flip charts, markers, paper, plenty of wall space and at least half a day to map out: 

• Your business and marketing objectives and strategies
• Your current and future revenue streams
• Your thought leadership strategies (speaking, publishing, social media)
• Your business systems and processes
• Your current and future staffing and outsourcing game plan
• Simple templates and scripts to operationalize your plan
• Your pricing structure including new ways to monetize your expertise
• Your marketing action plan with daily, weekly and monthly tasks 

I do this with my clients all the time - it's called a VIP Coaching Day and the process and the output look something like the flipcharts and action notes you'll see smack in the middle of this page.

DO YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON AND EXECUTE YOUR ACTION ITEMS?

The short answer is a screaming YES with racing stripes and flames coming out the tailpipes.

Do you need a 1,000% laser focus with a non-stop implementation mindset? No you do not. That's not realistic and it's never going to happen. 

You need a calendar, just a little bit of focus, some serious accountability for a short period of time, and your to-do list (which probably contains some long-overdue "big ideas" which you've simply never gotten around to doing even though they might be the exact things you need to FINISH so that you get out of your rut, find your groove and grow your business significantly!)

What kinds of to-do items might you tackle on such a focused day of implementation?

• Rewrite the home page of your website
• Record a series of videos or audios that showcase your services
• Do some writing to better articulate your fabulousness
• Create a few simple tools to help you generate more leads
• Clean up your office or empty your inbox to streamline your daily work
• Develop (or refresh) your consulting or service/project offerings
• Optimize your social media profiles so that more prospects find (and contact!) you
• Draft the outline for your book, product, or signature program
• Map out your proactive referral and networking strategy (who, what, where, when)

I do this with my clients all the time too. It's called a DO IT DAY and you can find out more about them here. Sign up for the next one - I'd be honored to do a little ass-kicking with YOU over a single focused day... and cheer you on as you cross the finish line on what YOU need to get done. 

What do you think? Use the COMMENTS area below to talk about your experiences with strategy vs. implementation for YOUR business...

Had a high-output day today after hearing my friend, personal productivity and goal achievement expert Michael Gidlewski present a seminar yesterday.

By the time you're done reading this post, you will get the secrets to create your OWN high-payoff productivity burst any time you wish.

But it takes more than wishing - it takes resolve and action. 

One hint - It is simple but not easy. 

Back to today. What made it so special? Imagine having a day where...

• You get IMPORTANT stuff done
• You have more FOCUS 
• You FEEL better about what you accomplished
• And you accomplish more of what really matters to you and your business

In fact, it's very possible I accomplished more today (Friday) than in the four prior days this week combined. 

After Michael's executive workshop, I got a better handle on what my key high-payoff activities TRULY were. I then put them on my calendar in specific time slots. And the screen that was under my nose all day was my CALENDAR, not my email INBOX.

Quick tips for you: 

1. Plan your day - what MUST get done and WHEN?

2. Chunk your day down into blocks and assign specific tasks to those blocks - Phone calls, emails, client tasks, whatever it is YOU want to do that will move you closer to your GOALS.

3. Keep that damn calendar under your nose. All day. Make it your default screen. Hide, minimize or (gasp) close your email until "check email" pops up on your calendar.

4. Make note of COMPLETING your high-payoff activities. Check them off your task list or change their color on your calendar so you have a visual roadmap of achievement for your day. 

So what's the big deal? What did I get done? 

• Coaching call with one of my awesome clients in Canada
• Answered LinkedIn request for conversation with new prospect **
• Followed up with FIVE key prospects who were in various stages of follow-up mode by sending high-value article on referrals
• Wrote this blog post
• Connected with my 2 co-presenters for the Magnetic Marketing Seminar (if you're near Philadelphia, you're invited - it's FREE.)
• Followed up with an editor of a financial publication about doing a podcast and speaking at several of their banking conferences over the coming year. 
• Took care of some financial nonsense which I've been procrastinating on for 2 weeks. (I hate that stuff, thus keeping my bookkeeper and my accountant profitably busy!)
• Made one important prospecting phone call (the only thing I hate more than financial detail work is using the phone.)
• Connected with my Vistage Chair to ask him an important favor. 
• Got a solid No from a prospect on the phone and ended the prospecting/sales process with her on a strong positive note. (Did I mention how much I hate the damn phone? Gotta use it, though...) 

All together, I had EIGHT high-payoff activities on my calendar and knocked all of them out before 3pm. Changed their colors, made follow-up notes, and felt great about the results of the day.  

** NOTE: You may have noticed that my second item was to respond to a LinkedIn request that came in via email. The reason I was able to do that was because of point #5 in this post - I did a "Money Pass" through my email inbox and the new prospect inquiry from LinkedIn QUALIFIED as a high-payoff activity so I proactively added it to my day in real-time. 

The short lesson is: Live Out of Your Calendar and NOT Out of Your Inbox!!

p.s. For a smart support system and specific tools on HOW to do precisely that, check out my pal Marsha Egan's awesome program called INBOX DETOX. 

This 6-Session Weekly Bootcamp includes information, materials, and coaching on:   

• How to create your personal Brand that puts your competition to shame
• Strategically navigating the world of Social Media so that it doesn't eat up your life and your productivity while still generating leads 
• The business of Public Speaking; learn what the top speakers are doing in today's market to get gigs and build their list
• The ins and outs of the fast-changing Publishing world. Discover which method of book publishing is right for you. Then put the steps in place to successfully execute the book you've been dreaming of
• Insider secrets of a successful Product Launch. Get more product sales in a shorter period of time with these tested and proven techniques
• Find out what the masters are doing for their Market Research.  Get the edge in your business plan right from the start by implementing these easy and quick techniques

As with most well-marketed, well-delivered programs, naturally you get some nice bonuses in addition to the Early Bird pricing that is now in effect.  

Marketing Concept: The Power of "Because"

Guest post from Sales Speaker Ron Karr

Imagine you have been waiting on a long line for the cashier in a supermarket. After 20 minutes your turn is finally approaching and out of nowhere someone cuts in front of you.

What would you do?  

Depending on your personality and values, the answers would vary from being quite physical to saying, “Hey buddy, the line starts back there.”  

Now imagine the same scenario, this time the person who cuts in front of you says, “Would you mind terribly if I cut in? I need to because __________”  

The reasons after the word “because” can vary from the person needing to get back to a child or animal in a car, needing to get home for an ailing person, being late picking up his kids, being late for work, not feeling well, etc.  

The actual reason matters, but it would not mean anything if the word “because” did not precede it. The word “because” signals a justification, a reason why something should be done. In the example above, not many people would... 

Read the rest of this post on Ron's Sales Expert blog here. 

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I not only GIVE lots of presentations, I SEE lots of presentations - both at the conferences and meetings I attend and for my clients as we collaborate on improving their OWN speaking and marketing effectiveness. 

Here are the 7 deadly sins of presentation design - and then you'll get 10 keys to presentations that rock (courtesy of our friends at SlidesThatRock): 

7 Deadly Sins of Presentation Design

1. Too much text

2. Too much jargon

3. Appeal only to head, not heart

4. No new point of view, perspective, or opinion

5. Preach and teach, rather than "how and wow"

6. Quoting dead white guys - it's not a book report!

7. No call to action or "easy, effortless, enjoyable" (EEE) payoff

And now - here's some visual eye candy to help you do it better, smarter, and faster...

10 Keys to Presentations that Rock

What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your presentation advice, insights and recommendations.

Buyer persona marketing is not about knowing your customers or what they like to buy. 

It's much more than that. It's about getting inside their heads to deeply understand their emotional drives.  

Many of my small business owner and solopreneur clients claim to know their customer, yet they haven't really tapped into the potential of buyer persona marketing.

Once you finish this article, you'll own the 5 keys to unlock your very own pair of X-Ray goggles to connect with your best prospects so you can sell more, more easily and more often. 

As far as small business marketing goes, you'll be stuck in the minor leagues until you realize that in order to know your customer, you must first create an archetypical buyer, based upon all the information you can glean from your past clients, prospects, and previous conversations you've had with folks who bought - and perhaps more importantly, folks who didn't buy. 

What you need to figure out is the entire person, the whole picture.  Once you begin to understand the psychological motivations and emotional triggers that make your customers buy a certain product or service, you can much more effectively market to them in a way that will put you miles ahead of your competition.

Understanding your buyers is a bit like taking apart a mechanical apparatus to see what makes it tick. 

First, you need to know what problems your buyers are experiencing on a daily basis, or how they prioritize their time and the solutions to these problems.  Your product needs to offer an emotional relief from one or more of these problems.  In short, the buyer needs to NEED your product from an emotional standpoint, and they will then justify the purchase rationally after the fact.  Humans are capable of rationalizing just about any behavior if it triggers an emotional reward.  Bank on that with your product and let your marketing follow.

Secondly, work to identify the rewards your customers gain from purchasing your product.  This ties back into the emotional reward, but try to understand exactly what the buyer gains from your product, on a very basic level.  This will help you market to that reward and toward filling your prospect's emotional gap. 

Just as you consider the rewards, also look at what the perceived barriers to success or reaching that reward are, from the customer's standpoint.  This is the part of the process where you need to understand the thought process that each customer uses to either justify their emotional reactions or to justify not buying your product. 

When you begin to build a model to break down these barriers, your product or service literally sells itself with little to no resistance from your customer.  

Third, it is crucial to understand the buying process that your typical customer goes through.  This is to say that you need to better understand each step of their emotional and rational justification for having your product in their lives.  Do they compare other products to yours in an effort to sort out which one will offer the best reward?  If so, you need to understand the other products they are comparing yours to.  It is important to align your product and marketing solutions to their process for vetting information along with the emotional connection to the problem your product is solving for them on a day to day basis.

This leads to your fourth key - your competitive analysis. Which boils down to a simple answer to a simple question: Exactly how does your product compare against others from the standpoint of the criteria that your customers develop to help them make a decision? 

These are questions that can be answered if you truly LISTEN to your customers and understand what they are telling you. 

The fifth key is personal conversations. The fastest, easiest and most enjoyable way to figure all of this out is to ENGAGE your customer base in face-to-face real time dialogue. Yes, I'm talking about personal conversations, either on the phone or in person. Think about sitting down - at least monthly - with your clients and prospects over breakfasts, lunches, coffees. Can't make it in person? Use the phone or Skype and take them to a "virtual lunch" or "virtual coffee." Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes and you'll both benefit hugely.

Why? Because you'll learn firsthand the direct path to their own interests and emotional triggers - and you'll hear it in their OWN WORDS. Use THAT language in your marketing, and it's much more likely to resonate with others just like them!

When you begin to "sync" with your buyers at the deepest and most personal level -- and how they make buying decisions -- you're on your way to effective, attractive marketing that will draw clients and customers to you like a magnet.

What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your experiences with buyer persona marketing...

Here is special treat for you: A 68-minute content-packed interview with speaker's bureau owner and speaker success coach Shawn Ellis of Succeed Speaking and The Speakers Group.

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

Shawn and I share some rock-solid ideas to help you grow your speaking business, approach speakers bureaus in the right way at the right time and for the right reasons, separate your speaking business from the rest of the pack, and leverage your long-term value to clients way beyond your speech. 

Shawn helps speakers have more fun, reach more people and make more money.

NOTE: Don't forget to grab your Succeed Speaking Subscribers Toolbox of resources, videos and tips that Shawn and I mention during our interview. Grab your copy now at...

http://www.succeedspeaking.com/ 

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

The ad above first appeared in Business Week in 1958 – yes that’s right over 50 years ago! The moral of the ad’s story was relevant then and it is even more relevant today: build relationships before you sell.

The bad news is that we live in far more cynical times than the sellers of the 1950’s; the good news is that YOU have so many more tools available to help you address the problem.

If you're investing in "Trusted Advisor Marketing" (it goes by several other names like inbound marketing, thought leadership marketing, and content marketing)... then you've probably asked yourself: 

How (and when) will this generate a sale?

And that is the completely WRONG question to ask.

By the time you're done reading this article/ rant/ manifesto, you'll see exactly why - AND you'll be able to ask (and answer) much better questions for your business right away. 

We interrupt with a brief metaphor... Asking when trusted advisor marketing will lead to a sale is like filling up your car's gas tank and asking, "Why aren't we there yet?" 

Answer: Because filling your car with gas is a NECESSARY but NOT SUFFICIENT step to getting you to your destination (a new customer or client).

Do you have a chance of arriving now that your gas tank is full? You bet.

Did you have a chance of getting there with your tank on empty? No way. 

Let's move on... 

Insight #1 You need to sell the same way that YOU buy.

Look at your email spam or bulk email folder. Yes, you. Yes, right now. I'll wait... 

tap... tap... tap... tap... You're back. Excellent.

Did you see that spam email from the toner cartridge company? Did you catch the pitch from the SEO firm that filled out your website's "contact us" form? Did you respond to that great deal on vacation cruises? NO? 

OK now pop over to your paper mail pile on your desk. Did you check out the latest "triple play" offer from Comcast (or whatever hellacious Cable Satan runs in your neck of the woods)? How about that compelling cell phone offer from Verizon? The Wall Street Journal subscription offer under that postcard? Or how about that postcard - you know, the one from the home heating oil company? NO? 

When's the last time you gave your credit card number over to a cold caller who interrupted your family dinner? NEVER??

I'm shocked...

Because you seem pretty excited about YOUR cold calls - and sending out YOUR spam - YOUR offers - YOUR postcards - YOUR sales messages.

The problem with doing it this way? In four words...

Zero. Value. For. Prospects.

And hello? YOU don't BUY this way. What in the world makes you think your prospects DO?

Look once more at the ad above - and answer one simple question: 

Question #1: What VALUE have I ADDED to my prospect's world in order to EARN the RIGHT to INVITE them to a conversation and OFFER my solutions to their urgent, pervasive, expensive problems?

Insight #2 Referrals are great - but they are neither deaf, dumb, nor blind

The next thing you're going to tell me is that you don't NEED "trusted advisor marketing" because 99% of your business is repeat and referral business and it's always been that way and you don't see how this "newfangled marketing" is going to move the needle in closing more sales.

Do you seriously think that referrals don't check you out online before picking up the phone?

What messages are you sending to your valued referrals with...

a. Your outdated website (articles from 2008 are outdated, friends. And from 2003 even more so. And design aesthetic from 1997 most of all.)

b. Your sporadically updated blog that you leave dormant for 2 (or 4 or 6) months at a clip.

c. Your abandoned Twitter account you set up because someone said "you had to" and that now has 17 followers while your competitors have 3,000 (or a whole lot more.) 

d. Your sketchy, bare bones LinkedIn profile that has 300 connections but only 2 recommendations (From 2005. From people with the same last name as you.)

e. Your "glory days" articles and TV clips and PR placements from 20 (yes I'm serious), 10, or even 5 years ago. Nothing screams "has-been" like old media.  

Make no mistake: Getting repeat and referral business is great. But don't kid yourself that this absolves you from having a top-notch web presence, social media platform, and body of knowledge that is ultra-current, super-relevant, and obviously abundant.

In fact, you are leaving yourself open for EMBARRASSMENT if your advocates hear back from their referrals and find themselves in the awkward position of having to DEFEND you to them because your web presence has fallen behind and now casts your professional expertise into doubt.

Question #2: Does my overall web presence REASSURE and REINFORCE the referrals I earn with the most current, credible and relevant marketing messages, positioning, content, resources, and value that will make my advocates LOOK BETTER - not worse - for referring me? 

Insight #3 Trusted Advisor Marketing is a 4-layer enchilada (aka You don't get to eat the delicious golden-brown cheese without first layering on the meat!!)

The first layer - at the core of the matter - is your Reputation. Your work. Your track record. If you stop there, you'll have a VERY hard time attracting NEW leads and prospects to your doorstep. "My work should speak for itself" is what a lot of very smart people say - smart people who have a hard time making their mortgage payments.  

The second layer is Amplification. Ways to make your "signal" stronger. Enter social media marketing, niche PR, article marketing, blogging, keyword research and search engine optimization. This is the key to spreading your ideas and broadcasting your expertise.

The third layer is Leverage. This is where you begin to capitalize on your "trusted advisor" assets such as articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, interviews, white papers, special reports, book excerpts, and other value-first marketing tools. You can now reach out to high-probability prospects both individually (on LinkedIn for example) and collectively (on your blog for example). This is where your job becomes putting the right bait on the right hooks in the right lakes to catch the right fish.  

The fourth layer is Gravity. Just like Jim Collins talks about the "flywheel" concept in Good to Great (it takes a long time to get it spinning but then is very hard to stop because of the power of momentum) - this is where you start to see payoffs. More leads, better prospects, bigger opportunities, more conversations, higher profile alliances, more invitations to speak, publish, guest post, contribute, teach, and (drum roll please...) more invitations to do great work at premium fees for great clients who NOW know you, like you, and trust you enough to hand over 5- and 6-figure checks because their level of confidence in your expertise is pretty damn close to 100%.

Question #3: Do you want to make more sales to strangers? (Good luck with that). Or do you really want more people to recognize, respect, and request YOU by name when they have a need, project, or problem that they instantly see has "your name written all over it"? If that's your goal, then trusted advisor marketing is for you. 

Re-read the McGraw-Hill ad above and let's do a 21st century spin on it together...

• I don't know who you are.
• I don't read your blog. 
• I don't subscribe to your newsletter.
• I don't see your name in my industry's publications.
• I don't hear my peers spreading your ideas.
• I don't come across your content in Google searches.
• I don't connect your solutions to my problems. 
• I don't feel the gravity of your credibility or credentials.
• I don't have any tangible way to gauge your expertise or experience.
• Now -- what was it you wanted to sell me? 

So here's the ultimate (and most important) question for YOU: 

How can you realistically expect to SELL anything by NOT setting the necessary pre-conditions for ANY sale with Trusted Advisor Marketing?

The answer is as simple as it is obvious: you can't. Just like you can't drive your car from Denver to Sheboygan just by filling up your gas tank. You need to get behind the wheel, plan your route, use your GPS, add more fuel along the way (and probably some beef jerky and Sno-Balls and root beer) AND put in the hours and the miles to get you to your destination.  

Nobody -- and I mean N-O-B-O-D-Y -- hires speakers, consultants or professional services firms sight unseen. You wouldn't. I wouldn't either.

And the facts prove out that today's buyers are just like YOU and ME. 

Trusted Advisor marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. And as any marathoner will tell you - the best (and only) way to run a marathon is one mile at a time. 

What do you think? Please post YOUR COMMENTS below and... 

This email just came across my desk from marketing speaker and marketing coach Machen MacDonald...

====

The first 90 days of 2012 are in the bag. How did you do?  

Are you on track for hitting your annual goals?

Consider using the powerful questions below to help you and your team reflect, re-calibrate and project increasing results.

Reflecting on Q1:

1.  What was your biggest triumph in Q1?
2.  What was the smartest decision you made in Q1?
3.  What one word best sums up and describes your Q1 experience?
4.  What was the greatest lesson you learned in Q1?
5.  What was the most loving service you performed in Q1?
6.  What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in Q1?
7.  What are you most happy about completing in Q1?
8.  Who were the 3 people that had the greatest impact on your life in Q1?
9.  What was the biggest risk you took in Q1?
10. What was the biggest surprise in Q1?
11. What important relationship improved the most in Q1?
12. What compliment would you liked to have received in Q1?
13. What compliment would you liked to have given in Q1?
14. What else do you need to do or say to be complete with Q1?

Re-calibrating and Creating a Compelling Q2:

1. What would you like to be your biggest triumph in Q2?
2. What advice would you like to give yourself in Q2?
3. What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in Q2?
4. What would you be most happy about completing in Q2?
5. What major indulgence are you willing to experience in Q2?
6. What would you most like to change about yourself in Q2?
7. What are you looking forward to learning in Q2?
8. What do you think your biggest risk will be in Q2?
9. What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in Q2?
10. What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in Q2?
11. What brings you the most joy & how are you going to do or have more of that in Q2?
12. Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving & serving in Q2?
13. What one word would you like to have as your theme in Q2?

By investing just 15-20 minutes right now and really thinking through these questions you can dramatically impact the next 90 days in your life and in your business. 

Isn't it worth the small fraction of your time? 

To your continued success,

Coach Machen (530) 273-8000

ProBrilliance! Leadership Institute
machen@probrilliance.com
www.ProBrilliance.com

Guest post by Diana Urban

Some of the benefits of having a business blog is that you can generate leads from qualified prospects who visit, establish yourself as an industry thought-leader, and build business relationships in the blogosphere. This is most effectively done if you identify the persona(s) you're targeting and establish your voice when launching your blog.

The first things to consider are:

• Who are you writing for?
• What are you writing about?

Know your audience
Think about the type of person, on average, who you want to attract to your blog. Is it a 40-year-old head of manufacturing? Does he have a family? What are the pressures he faces? What is he interested in? What kinds of things does he do and read? Or perhaps your target audience is a 24 year-old professional who lives in a major city. What does he look like? What motivates him? What interests him? You should develop marketing personas for the types of prospects you want to attract to your blog so you have a mental picture of who you are writing for, and you can easily communicate this to others.

Brainstorm articles
Considering your marketing personas, brainstorm some articles you might write to appeal to your readers. Come up with 5 or 10 topics you could write about.

Keep tabs on related blogs
Find related blogs on the web; these can serve as an inspiration and to connect with fellow industry experts. Engaging with related blogs to understand:

• What are the current hot topics in your industry
• Common topics that personas in your industry enjoy reading
• Gaps in topics that you can cover in your blog

As you find blogs that are interesting, subscribe to them via RSS or email. 

Comment on related blogs
As you skim the articles, try to think of interesting and insightful comments you might be able to leave. Note that "nice article" and "I agree" are NOT interesting or insightful. If you can think of a good comment, leave it. If you can't, just move on. The goals of commenting on articles are:

• Develop a reputation in the blogosphere as a thought leader
• Generate some site traffic through any link to your website that you can leave in the comment
• Get the blogger's attention, which is useful later when you are initially promoting your blog and building links
• Get comfortable projecting your voice and joining the conversation happening on the web
• Over the course of a week or two, as you continue to read blog articles and leave comments, you should start to get a pretty good sense of what other bloggers are saying, the kind of content people in your industry like to read, current hot topics, etc.

Based on all the work you've done, you should now be able to articulate the "who" and "what" of your blog. Congratulations!!

Need help blogging? Contact us and we can help you get going and keep going with a prospect-magnet business blog.