Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, some clients have, on occasion, accused me of being "all about the money" and ignoring or downplaying the other (very) important parts of their business.

The bottom line is that of all the professional speakers, consultants, and professional services firms I've helped with their marketing strategy, tactics, and tools - 100% of them came to me with NOT ENOUGH focus on the money side of their business. Thus, their struggle.

Yes, I focus on the money... and so should YOU because money does bring you some very valuable advantages.

These include:

Power Bill Gates can do more good in the world than I can because he has a $37 billion charitable foundation. Money enhances your ability to help others.

Security When you attain financial independence, your money worries are gone for good, an enviable position to be in. Millions of Americans worry about money.

Comfort Money insulates you from hunger and homelessness, and ensures access to basic services such as heat, electricity, potable water, and health care— stuff we take for granted but millions worldwide lack.

Luxury For those who desire it, wealth allows you to indulge yourself, whether living in a mansion on the ocean, driving a Porsche, or dining on the finest caviar.

Freedom With enough money, you choose what you do, where and when you do it, and who you do it with…and never have to work at a job you hate because you need the cash.

I rarely - and I mean RARELY - promote products and programs presented by strangers. You'll only hear from me about top-notch folks whom I personally know or whose materials I've personally used and benefitted from.

Allyson Lewis' brand new "7 Minute Life" Productivity Tools is one such resource you really have to take a look at.

Have you ever felt like you were...

• Working harder than ever, but not accomplishing anything that made you feel truly purposeful, proactive, and productive
• Doing 'what you needed to do' for your family, friends and employer/clients, but weren't fulfilled
• Spending most of your time 'putting out fires' and not accomplishing the really important things
• Working hard for 'someday' when you'll be able to do what you want with the ones you love  -- feeling like there had to be more?

My friend, professional speaker and productivity expert Allyson Lewis felt that way too. But when someone introduced her to a new way of thinking many years ago, her life began a radical and wonderful change in just 7 minutes. And, yours can too!

Allyson Lewis’ work is about making things possible. With The 7 Minute Life™ System you get the motivation AND information to take you to the next level. This is a highly accessible resource you can immediately benefit from. 

Allyson developed a simple, yet powerful process for prioritizing, organizing and simplifying your life - to get more of what you really want in life and make more of a meaningful contribution to those around you!

Now, she's put some of the key processes and techniques she uses into a series of short videos so that you can become more productive and feel more purposeful in just 7 days! And, best of all, she's allowing me to give these videos to you for FREE!

Anyway, enough about what I think - pop over to the free videos on the site and decide for yourself if this is (finally) the "go-to" productivity resource you've been looking for to make "getting things done" easy, effortless, and enjoyable.

I know that's what it is for me!

Guest post by Chris Di Fonzo

It's true, where to seat a prince for dinner as a guest in my home, never became relevant.  Still, those professional etiquette workshops "the man" made me take had value.  Shake hands, even if someone is visibly sick?  Yes!  Lift your glass when being toasted?  Nope.  Arrive late for calls and meetings?  Obvious.

Then what gives?  Lateness, lack of follow up, and lack of formality are prolific today, even among enterprise consultants, salespeople, managers, and executives.  The worst thing about perpetually more casual behavior in business is it's a death spiral.  Business culture is organic, not static, and our daily interactions either raise the bar or push it down.

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and creative independents, this is as opportunity to differentiate ourselves.  I'm calling myself out and asking you to join me.  Let's set the example by bringing back (a little) decorum.

Three basics to get us going:

1.     Say what you're going to do, and do it.  A simple formula – Learn it and live it.  Your word matters; treat it like a contract.  Think before making commitments.  Once made, follow through.

2.     Thank people.  Walt Disney was known for handwriting thank you notes daily.   Try it for your most important ones, it feels great and people remember.  Always formally thank customers and people who refer you business.  Failure to appropriately thank others is lazy and tragic.  (Self-disclosure: A little behind on thank you notes myself; I'm going to start catching up today.)

3.     Learn names and use them.  A dollar for every time you’ve heard, "I'm not good with names;" you’re a zillionaire.  Excuse, copout, laziness.  Make it a point to learn people's names and use them, it's fundamental.  The first rule to remembering names (and anything) is intent to remember.  When we care enough to remember, it's amazing how easy it usually is.

Why bother with decorum?  Many reasons, here’s one.  You represent your company, yourself, your cause, your town, your community.  Entrepreneur is a hard road, requiring more of us, not less.  Independence is not a reason for a lack of decorum; rather a responsibility to embody it.  Whatever your perspective on business etiquette, consider applying a little more protocol, formality, and decorum.  Represent.

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Too many thought leaders, speakers, consultants, experts, coaches, authors, and entrepreneurial business owners say "David, I've got a million ideas - I'm sooo creative."

Sad truth is these folks are also the ones struggling to grow their business and establish any traction in their revenue generating activities.

Why?

Because they have a million ideas. You can't ACT on a million ideas and only action creates results!

New game plan - You need 100 ideas.

Yep, that's it. 100 rock solid, valuable, actionable, spreadable, talkable, magnetize-able ideas.

100 ideas will give you the foundation for:

• 100 blog entries
• 10 speeches, keynotes, seminars or presentations
• 3-4 books
• 100 2-minute videos
• 2-3 solid long-term development programs, coaching packages, service offerings lasting between 10-52 weeks
• 30 webinars or teleseminars
• 100 team training topics for your employees, salespeople, franchisees, or dealers
• 5-10 white papers, implementation guides, or downloadable toolkits
• 10 different in-person seminars for your clients, customers, prospects, and partners

True thought leaders don't have a wildly different message each time you hear from them. They always present variations on a theme built on a solid foundation.

What's their foundation? Their 100 ideas!

What are YOUR 100 ideas?

How can you dial DOWN the 1,000,000 in your head - and dial UP the 5-10 you probably talk about right now - to create a lasting "Thought Leadership Platform" that you can become KNOWN for?

My 100 are always evolving (subtly) but they never go away and themes and patterns recur consistently.

As a small business marketing speaker who works with professional speakers, consultants, and professional services firms, here are a handful of mine that might spark some ideas for YOU:

• Experts win on value, generalists die on price
• Effective marketing should be easy, effortless, and enjoyable
• 4 steps to marketing are Define - Organize - Implement - Track (D-O-I-T!)
• Only action creates results (headline on my home page - Marketing Speaker David Newman)
• Passion is not enough
• Plan for failure - think through failure, think ahead of failure, think around failure
• Forget about plan B - you also need plans C, D, E, F, and G!
• Smart marketers Move in, Move ahead, Move aside, and Move alone
• Your marketing materials need to be "un-chuckable"
• Who do you want to be a rock star to?
• Don't make buyers feel they're the first person to trust you

You get the point... these and about 89 more are the sum total of what I get paid to do via keynotes, seminars, strategic work sessions, coaching programs, corporate meetings, association meetings, franchise conferences, 1-on-1 mentoring, webinars, products, videos, audios, podcasts, white papers, special reports, blog entries... all that I do comes from my 100 ideas.

You can't make money if you have a million ideas.

You can - and you will - make money from your 100 ideas.

So get going... not someday, but right now!

Dozens of my readers (mostly professional speakers, consultants, and professional services firms) are complaining of declining response rates, a downturn in business, and the weak economy.

“Our direct mail isn’t pulling like it used to,” they complain.

“What can our firm do to generate more leads, better prospects, and bigger sales?”

Here’s what I have found works to turn ON your marketing efforts:

1. Take massive action. Figure out what you think you need to do to generate the level of leads and orders you need. Then do twice that amount.

2. Don’t rely on only one promotional vehicle, like direct mail or - heaven forbid - social media marketing. Do three, four, even five things: send out mailings; advertise in very narrow, well-targeted media; regularly e-mail your list; write an article; give a speech.

3. Make every communication a direct marketing communication. Offer a premium with a high perceived value. Feature your free offer in your promotion.

4. Test different offers, ideas, copy, formats, and media to see which work best. Roll out with those promotions that work. Scratch the others. If they don’t do well in a small test, doing more won’t help.

p.s. I don't subscribe to the "recession mindset." And I don't care much for the goofballs who now say we're "coming out of it." I DO very much believe what my pal, professional speaker Jim Mathis, CSP says -- the economy is not DOWN, it's DIFFERENT. And furthermore, it's NEVER coming back (not the way it was, anyway).

Welcome to the new world - and NOW is a great time for you to prepare your firm to market successfully in it!

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I have found 14 things that most of my clients (professional speakers, consultants, and professional services firms) can turn to that will keep your e‐zines and blogs timely and fresh.

Here's the list for you - and please use the COMMENTS section below to add your own great ideas... 

1. How‐To Tips. Everybody loves to read “how to’s.” A very short pithy practical tip your reader can use that day. For example, say you were writing to employers interested in OSHA regulations. You may have an article like, 10 Tips You Can Use to Pass Your Safety Inspections.

2. Dialogue with the Reader, Soliciting Feedback and Participation. I love this; it works equally well for an ezine or blog. This allows two‐way communication with your reader. You get to build a real bond with your readers. Your readers can be your best source of material. Pose questions to your readers and promise to publish the answers. For example: In one of my e‐zines I asked my readers to tell me some of their success stories, involving giving out free information. I told them that if I used their information I would give them full credit in my e‐zine.

3. Tips from Friends and Colleagues. This gives you the opportunity to “be seen” as an unbiased source of information. I love to bring in experts covering all sorts of topics. Lets be honest: you and I don’t know everything. If you can bring in experts covering a wide range of topics you become a source of information that your reader can always look to. In one of my e‐zines my friend Paul Karasik gave a great networking tip from his new book “How to Market to High Net‐Worth Households”

4. Plugs for Friends and Clients’ books, e‐books, reports, products and services. Make extra money by creating affiliate relationships, or joint ventures. Becoming an affiliate for someone can be the easiest way to make money. All you do is promote their products for a commission. Alternatively, you can promote a friends product as a favor because you believe your readers would benefit from it. (I do this regularly with a lot of my NSA speaker buddies who offer excellent programs and products to the same target market that I serve. No money changes hands. Just love and referrals.) 

5. Reader Feedback and Contributions. This gives you a chance to create a buzz, controversy and argument. There have been times I have posted information, only to be inundated by readers telling me they agree, or disagree. Either way that is good. It means people are reading.

6. Upcoming Speaking Engagements, Seminars, and Tele‐conferences. If you do any public appearances, some of your readers will want to attend. This is your chance to let them know where you will be and what you will be doing. It is also a great way to meet some of your most loyal readers. Include links to Websites where the reader can register for the event. 

7. What I’ve Done Lately. Your readers will want to see what you have been working on; it is like reality TV. It gives them a sneak peak in to your life and lets prospective new clients see your work.

8. Recommended Vendors. Sometimes you come across a service provider that has helped you out, and you feel would be a godsend to your readers, why not return the favor and promote him in your e‐zine? A copywriter friend of mine recently had a problem with his computer, and a company called Rescue.com saved his bacon.  

9. Useful and Relevant Websites. While you are cruising the net, you may find a Website others don’t know about, that you find useful. Let the world know, get the word out. For example, this ezine marketing course may be exactly what you need to get your ezine marketing back on track!!

10. Mini Book Reviews. If you read a book that you feel may be valuable to your readers let them know, post a link to Amazon and make yourself a couple of bucks if they buy.

11. News Nuggets of Interest. Clip excerpts from industry trade journals that you believe may be relevant to your readers.

12. News About Your New Books. Let your readers know about any books you might be working on.

13. Plugs for Your Own Products. This is where you get a chance to plug your own products. You do not have to feel guilty about selling your products and professional services; your readers want to know what you have to offer. Look at it as a fair trade. You give your reader valuable information, and in return he rewards you by purchasing some of your products. It is totally win/win.

14. Quotations. Many people love to read quotes. A good quote can be inspirational. If you find one you like include it in your next issue.

That's it - so now you have no more excuses NOT to crank out terrific, value-rich ezines and blogs with a lot less effort than you thought.

Got more ideas? Share them in the COMMENTS area below.  

p.s. If you'd like some personalized help - and your very own customized email and phone outreach tools, social media scripts, a killer email signature file, a polished referral blurb and more, check out the Small Biz Outreach Action Packs.

A study conducted by Quiris discovered that people have an inner circle of 16 sources from whom they open e‐mails—that includes e‐zines they subscribe to, and their friends.

What does this mean to you? Simple: the competition is fierce.

You could be giving away free gold bars, but if no one reads any of your message how would anyone know about it? It is the age‐old question what came first—the chicken or the egg? The greatest message no one reads is no more effective than the worst message everyone reads. They have to read your message.

Your typical Internet user is overwhelmed with daily e‐mails, most of which they never read. Do you read all your e‐mail? 

People do not have the time to sit and read every single e‐mail they get. They read their e‐mail the way they read their normal mail, except now they have the power to use a delete button.

They quickly scan two very important lines on every e‐mail that will help them decide. They look at the “from” line, and the subject line.

Always use the same from line when emailing to your subscriber list. Your readers must get to know and trust you. Once you create a bond with your reader and gain their trust, you will make it into their inner circle.

Isn’t this how you decide which e‐mails you will read?

Your subject line is a different story; try to give your reader a reason to read your e‐mail. Offer him a benefit for reading your message. Let him know what is in it for him or her.

Tests show that if you include the readers’ first name in the subject line, you will get a noticeable bump in response.

Think of your subject line as a mini headline. One of my most successful subject lines from my e‐zine was “Do Question Headlines Work?” There was an avalanche of response to that simple subject line.

Michael Masterson has come up with a formula he uses when he writes headlines; it’s called the 4 U’s. Your headline must be useful, unique, ultra specific, and urgent. It is a nifty little checklist. The next time you are stumped for a headline, try the 4 U’s.

Here let me show you how it is done. Check the subject line for the 4U’s, for each U give it a score of 1‐4; 1 being lousy, 4 being excellent. When you’re done average out your score and see what you have. Anything lower than a 3 should probably be re‐written.

Here is a sample subject line from a small business marketing e‐zine:

8 ways to generate a ton of repeat business

Is it useful? Every businessperson or salesperson wants to know how to increase his or her referral business. Yes, it is useful, let’s give it a 4.

Is it unique? Well, not exactly so let’s give it a 2.

Is it ultra specific? You betcha, it tells you there are 8 ways, not a couple or a few but eight specific ways. So let’s give it a 4.

How about urgent? There really is no timeframe given so let’s rate this a 2. If you add these numbers up you get 12 divide that by 4 and you get 3. Not bad, but the real question is - how can YOU do even better?

In the comments section below -- Will you share your thoughts and insights into how YOU decide which emails to open and engage with? 

p.s. If you'd like some personalized help - and your very own customized marketing and sales toolkit PLUS an easy-to-implement small business marketing game plan with 1-on-1 guidance for 90 days, get all the details here.

As a motivational speaker in the area of marketing and business development, I'm often asked by CEOs and business owners about how they can be better leaders of their internal marketing efforts. 

My answer is you can't be a great marketing leader unless you're first a great leader.

Here are some guidelines that the best leaders across all disciplines have come to recognize as foundational to their leadership success and that I share with you for the benefit of your own marketing success:

1. Expect the best from people you lead.
2. Become fully aware of others' needs.
   
3. Establish high standards of excellence; communicate them
   clearly and often.
4. Create an environment where failure is not fatal.
   
5. Climb on other people's bandwagons if they're going
   anywhere near the neighborhood you want to go.
6. Employ stories, examples, analogies, and models to
   encourage success.
   
7. Use a balanced mix of positive and negative feedback in
   a constructive spirit and with specific substance.
   
8. Appeal sparingly (or not at all) to competitive or
   aggressive impulses.
   
9. Encourage and reward collaboration.
10. Build into the group an allowance for healthy conflict
    and "fights" around issues, not around personalities.
    
11. Recognize and celebrate achievement.
    
12. Take steps to keep your own level of motivation genuine
    and high

1. The first secret is to have a compelling business idea, one that is differentiated and sustainable.
2. The second secret is to be a zealot.
3. Third on my list of secrets is to have a conservative business plan.
4. Secret number four is to work effectively with others.
5. The last secret of truly successful entrepreneurship is to change and grow as your business grows.