Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

LinkedIn is the new cold call. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you... 

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I continually study the field, read a ton of books, and attend seminars and workshops from my fellow marketing enthusiasts.

And I'd like to respectfully disagree with that analogy.

LinkedIn is way better, smarter, faster, and more effective than a cold call. In fact, I'd slant the analogy a different way altogether:

LinkedIn is the new email with a red velvet rope around it, a priority seal, and a much more attractive return address envelope!

First let's explore those three points and then you'll see an example of LinkedIn in action PLUS here are some sample social media scripts you can use that have gotten awesome results for our clients in our marketing mastermind and private mentoring programs. 

3 Reasons LinkedIn Beats Email

1. Red Velvet Rope - This is a term popularized in the marketing arena by Michael Port. It means there's an exclusive, members-only feel to your marketing. It's not for everyone - and not everyone qualifies. You need to be "in the club." When you reach out to a fellow Group member on LinkedIn, you both are in the club and there's a strong element of peer-to-peer belonging that encourages community, communication, and responsiveness. Can't say that about a cold call or a plain old email!

2. Priority Seal - Most executives and business owners feel overwhelmed by email. When they're not tackling the email monster (click here if you'd like to master your email!), they are wall-to-wall with meetings, phone calls, and their daily dose of dealing with crises. LinkedIn messages DO trigger an email notification but you have the choice of responding via email or via LinkedIn -- and LinkedIn messages (for most of us) are few and far between so they give the impression of being more important, more filtered, and more personally relevant. Think of it as a FedEx envelope arriving in your daily mail. Sure, you can ignore it - you can toss it - you might not get to it for a few days. But chances are greater that you will because of curiosity - a basic trait of human nature.

3. More Attractive Return Address Envelope - LinkedIn messages tend to be shorter than emails - and a shorter note merits a shorter response. You've just given your prospects, clients, and connections a huge "out" because they do NOT need - and probably would not even consider - sending you a long, involved response. If you send a short, succinct note to reconnect with a past client - they'll respond with a short, succinct note and you'll probably use LinkedIn to make plans to connect in a longer format offline (phone call, lunch, coffee, in-person meeting). Yours will be a fast, easy and appealing note to respond to - so your chances of getting a prompt response just went up considerably!

LinkedIn in Action and Results

This story was submitted by my motivational speaker colleague Jim Clemmer to the excellent SpeakerNetNews:

Using LinkedIn to (Re)Connect and Build Business — Jim Clemmer

I have been using LinkedIn to reconnect with old contacts and to connect with anyone signing up for my newsletter. I do this with the LinkedIn for Outlook utility showing if anyone sending me an email (or completing any website form that is emailed to me) has a LinkedIn account. As my connection numbers build, more website visitors, book readers, and subscribers are now asking to connect with me. We’ve also done a few email blasts to our database asking for connections to those who have LinkedIn accounts. Over the last two years we can directly trace a few hundred thousand dollars in speaking/workshop or long term/ongoing consulting fees that started with these (re)connections.

3 LinkedIn Secrets from Jim's Success:

1. As my friend and Speaker Hall of Fame member Dr. Alan Zimmerman likes to say, "your business comes from your business." (He's a guy who enjoys a 92% repeat and referral rate from his client base so he's walking that talk.) Note that Jim Clemmer is also generating his success not ONLY from new connections - but from RE-connections. Try it for yourself and see what conversations you can generate with the folks who already know you, love you, and have given you money in the past.

2. You gotta ask for the connection. Note that Jim's strategy also involved email blasts to his list proactively asking them to connect on LinkedIn. And not just once - but several times over the past 2 years. Remember to make your social media scripts appealing, relevant, and NOT focused on you - but focused on the value you'd like to deliver to your connections.

3. It takes time and there are both direct and indirect benefits. Notice that Jim said, "over the last two years" - not the last 2 weeks or 2 months. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Notice also that he said he could DIRECTLY trace several hundred thousand dollars of new business. That's great - and in addition, Jim has likely generated that much money or more INDIRECTLY, meaning that people didn't hire him FROM LinkedIn but BECAUSE they saw something he contributed, received a connection update, or otherwise "bumped into" Jim's name, content, ideas, website, blog or network - and were prompted to engage with him.

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!

Buyers who lie should be deeply ashamed.

Salespeople and marketers have a bad rep for lying and deception but in my experience (both in my own speaking and consulting practice and via the hundreds of other consultants, entrepreneurs and independent professionals who tell me THEIR horror stories), PROSPECTS are much, much worse liars.

Somehow (for buyers) they think it's perfectly OK.

In reality, it's an unconscionable breach of professionalism.

For me personally, this has become VERY unusual because I've learned to be relentless in nailing down commitments.

Except once in a while, a buyer totally blindsides me. This is the story of how that happened and how YOU can avoid it happening to YOU. 

You will also get my voicemail and email templates and scripts to circle back with elusive "closed" prospects multiple times. 

Back story: 3 questions to lock in commitment

This prospect (an association executive director) gave me a verbal agreement to hire me over the phone - as in answering point blank my questions:

1. "So are you still looking at other options or are we closing this deal right now on the phone?"
2. "Who else needs to sign off on this before we make it final?"
3. "Are you sure that you're ready to sign the agreement?"

Answers were:

1. "We're closing the deal right now"
2. "Nobody else - I hire the speakers and my marketing person will be in touch with you to get everything we need for the website and the program book"
3. "Yes we have a deal."

Within 30 minutes of hanging up the phone, I emailed her the agreement, the invoice and my "Welcome Kit" email.

This was followed by WEEKS of radio silence, unanswered emails, unanswered voice mails and then an email from her this morning which says, "We decided to go with a local California speaker"

In the rest of this post, you'll get my follow-up sequence which will make YOU money if you use it. So the good of the many outweighs the good of the few... or the one. 

This is a classic case of "The operation was a success. Unfortunately, the patient died."

How to circle back with a "closed" sale with dignity  

Here's my recommended timeline for you when you get a verbal YES commitment from a prospect (which should be as good as a signed agreement but let's face it - it's FAR from it!) and they disappear on you. 

1. Phone call with prospect. 

2. Ask qualifying/closing questions

3. Send agreement/invoice paperwork. 

4. If they go radio silent, EMAIL #1 is 6-7 days later and you simply resend your original email with all attachments and this added note at the top:

Susie,
Just resending the below in case it got lost in the shuffle last week. Please confirm receipt because I want to make sure this lands safely in your hands. Thanks! 

5. Follow-up phone message (either at the same time as the email or a day or two before or after):

Susie,
Just wanted to make sure our agreement landed safely in your email inbox. Please do give me a call back at xxx-xxx-xxxx just to confirm you received it. I'm looking forward to our work together.

6. If no response, Wave 2 comes 3-4 days after that and sounds like: 

Susie,
We're both flying at 100mph. Please do get back to me with a quick reply and let me know if we're still a go as you indicated on the phone. If yes, we'll start preparations as soon as you return the paperwork. Looking forward to our collaboration. 

7. Again, it's your preference whether you leave a 2nd voice mail message a few days before or after or simultaneous with the email above. Whichever you choose, the second voice mail sounds like: 

Susie,
If you've had a change of heart about your decision, please let me know. If you'd like to discuss these arrangements, please let me know that too. Thank you in advance for your reply so I can plan around your event accordingly. Give me a ring when you get a moment at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thank you, Susie and talk to you soon. 

8. Next email is 2-3 days later and is simply a written version of the above "change of heart" voice mail message. 

9. The final note is something like this: 

Susie,
Circling back with you about next steps. Please let me know which of these multiple choice answers is most reflective of current reality (which I lose track of regularly!!)

a. I am swamped but still want to move ahead with what we agreed to  
b. Our needs have changed and I want to discuss a different approach 
c. The deal is off in spite of the verbal commitment I made
d. Hey Newman - drop dead and never darken my doorstep again. Buzz off!!

Thank you in advance for hitting reply with your quick answer.

10. In my particular case, my prospect at great long last sent me this note:

Hi David,

Thank you for following up. I apologize for the delay in responding. I didn't want to re-connect with you until we had resolved several critical, conference-related details.

We have decided to go with a local, Southern California keynote speaker for the XXXXX 2014 Conference in San Diego. Upon reflection, it makes better business sense for us to employ local resources whenever possible.

I truly appreciate your time spent discussing XXXX 2014 with me. Thank you, too, for your diligence in following up.

We will be back to the East Coast within the next few years, and we will touch base with you again.

Take care ~ 

Susie Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire Prospect [Not her real name]

11. I hate liars and lying. (I admit it - it's one of my hot buttons.) So this is the reply I sent. I've added the decoding in green for your benefit: 

=====

Susie,

Totally understand. [Every email where I'm stunned and have no idea what planet the person is from starts with these 2 words. It's much nicer than "Are you freaking nuts?"]

Just one final question for you. [The old Columbo TV detective strategy]

Is your local speaker a better fit content-wise or just budget-wise? [Did you lie to me for money or for a better reason?]

If it's strictly a budget issue, I wish you had come back to me first because we could have worked out a travel-inclusive fee arrangement that would still be within your budget. [I'm a nice guy and was - and still am - willing to work with you despite the fact that you reneged on the deal after I verbally confirmed it with you THREE different times on the phone]

Is this worth revisiting since you and I had a confirmed verbal agreement to book the conference? [You should be ashamed for going back on your word without so much as a courtesy email or phone call to let me know the deal was falling apart and/or to ask for my help in saving it]

=====

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

Here are my Top Five Business Books of the Week - but these are not just any old business books.

They are...

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.

Get your amazon shopping cart ready for some racing stripes - here we go: 

1. Be the Best at What Matters Most: The Only Strategy You will Ever Need by Joe Calloway 
    
2. Create Distinction: What to Do When Great Isn't Good Enough to Grow Your Business by Scott McKain
   
   
3. Fred 2.0: New Ideas on How to Keep Delivering Extraordinary Results by Mark Sanborn
   
   
4. Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits by Jeffrey W. Hayzlett and Jim Eber 
   
   
5. People Buy You: The Real Secret to what Matters Most in Business by Jeb Blount
   

Happy Friday. 

A day worth celebrating with a free gift for you - a copy of the best book I never wrote: The Fortune Cookie Business Book.

Click here to download your copy right here, right now. 

Enjoy - and thank you for being a reader of this blog and a supporter of my work. 

(Psst... Want a hardcopy version? That can be arranged here.) 

Comments? Questions? Want to share what YOUR favorite Chinese meal is? (Mine is listed on page 187)... then please use the COMMENTS area below and...

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...

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!

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!

Guest post by Janet Aronica

Creating consistent and helpful blog content is a great way to build community and trust around your brand for your prospects.

It's how you draw the right potential customers to your website.

But cranking out daily content is challenging.

How can you keep the blog post ideas flowing? How can you keep the content fresh and prevent yourself from re-hashing the same old thing?

Here’s a brainstorm of some ideas to get you started, or just keep you going...

Multi-media and Visuals

1. Do a screencast with Screenr of your product and share it on your blog.

2. Show a step-by-step guide on how to do something in a screencast, how-to video, or show the steps in a series of photos.

3. Create a music video for your company and post it on the blog.

4. Share a cartoon or create an original one.

How-to’s and Tips

5. Write a how-to article. Give instructions with screenshots or photos on the steps someone needs to take to do something.

6. Point out common mistakes in your industry and offer solutions on how to fix or avoid them.

7. Offer a list of benefits for doing something.

8. Share a list of some things to avoid.

9. Relate your how-to content to a current event or a celebrity. Example: “Five _____ Lessons from Lady Gaga” or “What the Election Teaches Us About ____”

Use Existing Content

10. Take the contrarian position – Find someone else’s article that you agree or disagree with. Introduce your blog post with what you specifically agree or disagree with it, and support your argument with a few concise points.

11. Do a weekly or daily links-roundup of relevant news for your community.

12. Find tips in other content, create a list of those tips and give links to those articles as the sources.

13. Share an excerpt from an ebook or white paper with a call to action to download it for the rest of the information.

14. Share an excerpt from an upcoming webinar with a call to action to get the rest of the content in the webinar.

15. Share your slides from a recent presentation.

16. Share conference takeaways.

17. Do a round-up of last year’s/last month’s/last week’s most popular posts.

18. Re-interpret existing content: Collect the top motivational YouTube videos for your audience, top ebooks, top webinars or infographics.

Incorporate Other Platforms

19. Create a Slideshare presentation of new statistics related to your space and share that in a blog post. Tag the Slideshare presentation with relevant keywords for your company to leverage SEO benefits of the platform.

20. Ask a question on Twitter and share the results with a Storify embed.

21. Collect Tweets from a webinar or conference hashtag, show them off with Paper.li (as recommended by FitSmallBusiness.com) and offer your own takeaways in the blog post.

Research

22. Respond to industry research with your own perspective. Offer a fresh angle to spark conversation.

23. Do a survey with Survey Monkey among your community members and create an infographic based on the results.

24. Do a poll of your Twitter community with a Twtpoll or your Facebook community with a Facebook Question and post the results on your blog.

25. Do an in-depth case study about one company, or offer a few examples of how other companies do something successfully.

Thought Leadership

26. Record an interview with an expert in your field and post it to your blog.

27. Get experts to offer a tip and do a round-up of their recommendations.

28. Feature guest posts from industry experts.

29. Publish responses to frequently asked questions about your industry.

30. Create a list of trends to watch.

31. Compare and contrast: Different products, different approaches, different companies, different people, different places, etc.

32. Do a review of other non-competitive products or services that your community cares about.

33. Be a journalist: Be the first in your space to offer industry takeaways about breaking news.

34. Explain what a current event or topic in the news means for your industry or community. Example: “What ____ Means for ____.” “Why _____ Matters for _____.”

35. De-bunk common myths.

Make it About Your Community

36. Interview your favorite customer.

36. Post a Flickr slideshow of pictures from a recent event.

37. Run a contest and give away something relevant to your community.

38. Ask for guest posts from community members.

39. If you have company news to share, talk about it in a way that makes it about the reader. Example: If someone gets promoted, talk about how why were successful. Inspire your audience.

40. Publish a post relevant to the current season or holiday.

41. Outline the top practical use cases for your product, service etc.

Originally posted by our partners at Hubspot on the HubSpot Inbound Marketing Blog.

What do you think? How do YOU generate ideas for your blog? Use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, questions or opinions...