Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

• Imagine you're focused
• Imagine it's working 
• Imagine you've mastered marketing
• Imagine you truly enjoy selling 
• Imagine clients must qualify for you 
• Imagine you're worth premium fees
• Imagine you have unlimited prospects
• Imagine money flowing easily to you
• Imagine punching people in the face with value 
• Imagine your money worries fading away
• Imagine a clear game plan that you execute on daily
• Imagine your business doubling, then tripling
• Imagine working only when you want 
• Imagine doing only work you want to do and delegating or outsourcing everything else
• Imagine you are #1
• Imagine you're a rock star in your industry 
• Imagine you're booked solid 
• Imagine you have your pick of high-profit projects
• Imagine moving from five figures to six figures - or from six figures to multiple six figures on your way to seven!
• Imagine speaking to hundreds of people regularly 
• Imagine partnering with other experts whom you look up to as role models and now are lucky enough to call friends
• Imagine generating thousands of web visitors 
• Imagine building a huge tribe of loyal followers, fans, and subscribers 
• Imagine doing this all in 13 days, 13 weeks, 13 months, or if you're really slow and silly (like me) 13 years 
• You can do it

p.s. I know you can
Because I did
Starting 13 years ago today
Knowing what I know now, I'm confident YOU can do much (or all) of this in the next 13 months 

Do your future self a favor: 
Start.
Right.
Now.

1. Whatever it is you're working on - it's NOT what you think it is
2. And it's BIGGER than you think it is
3. Your job is not to work alone - lone wolves starve to death
4. Your job is to build containers for collaboration
5. You need three groups of people... 
6. You need your posse (partners, colleagues, team)
7. You need your tribe (followers, fans, customers, clients)
8. You need your dream team (advisors, coaches, mentors)
9. And you must avoid one group at all costs... 
10. Keep away from the herd (sheep, lemmings, tire kickers, goofballs)
11. "Yes" is almost never a good first answer
12. Focus like a maniac on what matters most
13. Turn off email - Yes, really
14. Live out of your calendar, not your inbox
15. Be kinder than you need to be
16. Let go to move faster
17. Stop letting fear make your decisions for you
18. Learn to love the verb DECIDE... 
19. Make more decisions
20. Make faster decisions
21. 90% of your decisions can always be changed later
22. The magic word to get most anything you want: ASK!
23. Charge premium fees...
24. Good clients will follow
25. Bad clients will fall away
26. Stop asking for permission...
27. Why? Because you already have it
28. You don't need to see the whole staircase - just the first step
29. Action eliminates fear
30. Overdeliver like crazy
31. It's better to have a capacity problem than a sales problem
32. Customer loyalty goes both ways
33. The saddest referral is one that was earned but never given (See #22)
34. If it doesn't matter to your customer, it doesn't matter
35. Forget features and benefits
36. Focus exclusively on outcomes, results, and payoffs
37. Learn to speak prospect language about prospect problems
38. If you want to sell fire extinguishers, first show the fire
39. If you don't risk turning some people off, you'll never turn anybody on
40. Diversify while still specializing
41. If you can prove what you do works, you win
42. People never argue against their own opinions, data, and feelings
43. When selling an idea, show up with a bucket, not a microphone
44. There is no "sales gene"...
45. Everyone can sell once they find their own voice 
46. Marketing comes down to four words: Offer value, Invite engagement
47. Imagine that it's easy
48. Good things come to those who bust their ass and never give up
49. Your success day in and day out, year in and year out depends on two things... 
50. How fast you're willing to learn (relearn, unlearn)
51. How much you're willing to grow (personally, professionally, emotionally)
52. Every prospect qualifies - they just might not qualify for YOU
53. If the first version of your product/service isn't embarrassing, you waited too long to launch it
54. Happy people are that way because they want to be
55. Miserable people are that way because they want to be
56. Please secure your own mask before assisting others
57. If you're a great starter, learn to finish
58. Are you willing to do what you have to do so you get to do what you want to do?
59. If you ain't got people skills, I don't care how smart you are - you're dead
60. Stop acting like a numbnutz and your life will improve
61. Different isn't better
62. Better is better
63. Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened
64. Get out of the office - yes you - yes right now. That's where life happens
65. Happiness is to have family that you treat like friends and friends that you treat like family
66. Everyone needs allies, advocates, brothers, sisters, and co-conspirators in mischief and merry-making
67. Getting what you want is easy - Deciding what you want is the hard part
68. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, writers gotta write, dancers gotta dance... 
69. So what are you waiting for? 
70. Don't carry home-made business cards...
71. Don't build a free template website...
72. Professionals use professional tools
73. Get serious, get help, or get out
74. If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy - remember that
75. Once a day, do something brave
76. Once a day, do something kind
77. Once a day, do something smart

___________

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!

Entrepreneurs who START a business typically exhibit these traits:

1. Independent - they want to be their own boss.
2. Self-Reliant - they want to know they're 100% responsible for their own results
3. Hard-working - they're not afraid of hard work, long hours, and the toughest boss they'll ever have (see #1 above!)

Entrepreneurs who SUCCEED in business typically exhibit these traits:

1. Dream big but dream focused. They want to create something that is substantial and that makes a real contribution. But they are also focused enough and disciplined enough to distinguish between opportunities and distractions.
2. Lifelong student. They're willing to learn, experiment and try new things. They regularly challenge their own assumptions and explore outside their comfort zone.
3. Willing to ask for help, delegate, and outsource. Most entrepreneurs are better at helping than being helped. But if you’re not willing to ask for help or delegate to others, you severely limit your growth.
4. Will break through obstacles. Entrepreneurs always get stuck. Whether in dire straits financially, facing a tough new competitor, or dealing with internal headaches, the entrepreneurial journey is almost always turbulent. Successful entrepreneurs expect this and have learned to "secure their own oxygen mask before assisting others."
5. Resilient. They face disappointment with courage. And more important, they bounce back. Again and again and again. And again!!
6. Have patience. Things rarely work out for entrepreneurs as quickly as they'd like. Successful entrepreneurs have come to understand that sometimes the "shortcut" is the long way.

Like you, I get a lot of offers every day.

Not just “offers” to buy things - those are easy to say no to. Rather, I’m talking about offers to read something, download something, review something, offers to get introduced to people, offers to speak, offers to connect.

The key to success - and to moving swiftly through these hundreds of micro-decisions we all face daily - is to say no fast.

Naturally, that also means you need to develop the ability to say yes fast.

But no is harder.

Saying no triggers all sorts of irrational thoughts in your brain, like:

• I’m missing out
• I’m being a jerk
• I'm letting them down
• They’ll think I’m rude
• They’ll hire a competitor
• And on and on and on...

None of those are true.

And most choices are reversible.

But the key to success in marketing - and in business - and in life, really - is to develop this one muscle: your DECISION muscle:

• Do I stay or do I go?
• Do I opt in or opt out?
• Do I connect or do I pass?
• Do I read or do I delete?
• Do I say yes or no?

If you want to exercise this muscle right now (with completely no pressure and no consequence), then pop down to the COMMENTS section of this blog and post the word YES or NO. Super simple. It’ll take you 10 seconds.

Next level up from that exercise - go to your email inbox. Look at the first 20 messages. Don’t READ anything.

Just decide what to do with the email.

If it’s junk, delete it.

If it’s important, file it.

If you’re not sure… A-ha! Gotcha!!

THAT is the muscle you need to develop.

The certainty muscle - the confidence muscle - the ability not only to MAKE decisions but to TRUST your own decisions. 

• In or out?
• Yes or no?
• Black or white?
• Boxers or briefs?
• Chocolate or strawberry?
• Hardback or Kindle (couldn't resist!)
• You get the idea...

As soon as you STOP “thinking” and start “deciding” - everything in your business gets easier.

You start getting unstuck.

You start building momentum.

You start implementing, moving, and acting.

And in marketing - it’s ACTION that gives you TRACTION.

So go ahead… Say yes. Say no.

Decide! Act!! Do!!!

That’s the key to your entrepreneurial success.

Let me know how I can help. (Or don’t! See how this works?)

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on saying no fast and trusting your decisions...

Unless you're brand new to me and this blog... you know that my new Do It! Marketing book is about to be released. 

You may also know that we hit Amazon #1 bestseller status not once - but TWICE already - and the book isn't even out yet. 

What you may not know is that I had help. Amazing help from amazing people. Gurus and friends and colleagues and people I consider my personal and professional heroes. 

Some helped a little. Some helped a lot. Some helped WAY above and beyond my wildest dreams... 

If you're interested in marketing success, business success, and life success - well, there are a lot of so-called experts out there.

Many are called. Few are chosen.

I've made the choosing easy for you...

Here are 37 super-smart, generous, prolific, sometimes contrarian, and always fascinating people worth following...

p.s. The best thing about them - none of them would CALL themselves a "guru" - they simply consider themselves lucky to be sharing their insights with others who can benefit.

Here they are in no particular order (although each of them is truly #1)

1. Jay Baer - http://www.convinceandconvert.com
2. Stephanie Chandler - http://www.stephaniechandler.com
3. Corey Perlman - http://www.ebootcamp.com
4. Melinda Emerson - http://succeedasyourownboss.com
5. Chris Murray - http://www.chrismurrayeditor.com
6. Henry DeVries - http://www.marketingwithabook.com
7. C. J. Hayden - http://www.getclientsnow.com 
8. Scott Ginsberg - http://hellomynameisscott.com
9. Dan Janal - http://www.prleadsplus.com
10. Art Sobczak - http://businessbyphone.com
11. Mary Foley - http://maryfoley.com
12. Gene Marks - http://genemarks.com
13. Viveka Von Rosen - http://linkedintobusiness.com
14. Brian Tracy - http://briantracy.com
15. Geoff Ramm - http://www.geofframm.com 
16. John Jantsch - http://www.ducttapemarketing.com
17. Joe Calloway - http://joecalloway.com
18. Jay Conrad Levinson - http://www.gmarketing.com
19. Jim Meisenheimer - http://www.meisenheimer.com
20. Mark Sanborn - http://www.marksanborn.com
21. Marshall Goldsmith - http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com
22. David A. Fields - http://www.davidafields.com
23. Pamela Slim - http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com
24. Mark Hunter - http://thesaleshunter.com
25. Bob Bly - http://www.bly.com
26. Sean Carroll - http://www.seancarrollspeaker.com
27. Bob Burg - http://www.burg.com
28. Jeffrey Hayzlett - http://hayzlett.com
29. Sam Richter - http://samrichter.com
30. Howard Lewinter - http://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com
31. Stephen Lahey - http://smallbusinesstalent.com
32. Jose Palomino - http://www.valueprop.com
33. Karyn Greenstreet - http://www.passionforbusiness.com
34. Avish Parashar - http://www.dinghappens.com
35. Michael Dalton Johnson - http://www.salesdog.com
36. Greg Williams - http://www.themasternegotiator.com
37. Marnie Swedberg - http://www.marniesfriends.com

Bookmark this blog post - stay connected with these people - implement their big ideas - and you WILL profit, prosper, and succeed.

What do YOU think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your advice, insights and recommendations on the people who have made the biggest impact on YOUR professional success...

"You'll Do It When You're Tired"

Hmmmm... that may be the dumbest prediction you've ever heard...

You'll do what, exactly? 

In a word: Succeed.

You know - get "it" done...

That pet project of yours, that book, that event, that special thing you've been working on, talking about, noodling, doodling, and planning for YEARS...  

Tired? Tired of what, exactly? 

• Tired of struggling
• Tired of excuses
• Tired of missing out
• Tired of complaining how hard it is
• Tired of striving
• Tired of faking it
• Tired of wishing
• Tired of hoping
• Tired of (day)dreaming
• Tired of fantasizing
• Tired of sketching
• Tired of postponing
• Tired of obsessing
• Tired of perfectionism (perfect time, place, people, conditions)
• Tired of being safe
• Tired of disappointment
• Tired of watching others zoom by you
• Tired of sitting on the sidelines
• Tired of keeping score when you're not even in the game
• Tired of talking
• Tired of planning
• Tired of noodling
• Tired of doodling
• Tired of starting 
• Tired of choking
• Tired of quitting
• Tired of fear
• Tired of uncertainty
• Tired of self-doubt

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

Nope, this is NOT a post about that kind of soft, squishy "mission-vision" thing...

This post is about what's on your plate right now - today - right this minute. 

My friend, Jose Palomino, sent me an email this morning about some website tweaking that he's doing. He wrote, "Getting the timing right and the sliders to stop rotating after the final reveal is today's mission."

Bam - that was his ONE thing for today. Was he doing other tasks? You bet. Was he developing business, calling clients, following up on sales leads, and doing paperwork? Sure... but he also had his "mission" for the day. 

When it comes to being a small business owner, independent professional or speaker/consultant, you have a million things to do and a hundred priorities. 

Wouldn't having a SINGLE mission for the day be great? 

Well - you can. Many important tasks can be done in as little as 15 minutes -- and tackling ONE head-on might be exactly what you need to regain that most precious entrepreneurial asset - MOMENTUM.

Some examples to get you started: 

• Revise your home page copy
• Write an important email to a client or prospect
• Send an invoice you've been proscrastinating on
• Post a blog
• Submit an article to a trade journal or industry publication
• Respond to a media request
• Send out your email newsletter
• Circle back with a prospect who's on the fence
• Clean up your LinkedIn profile
• Post a long-overdue recommendation on LinkedIn
• Send a thank-you note
• Mail a book to a prospect, influencer or decision-maker
• Pick up the phone and apologize to someone important
• Ask for that referral you've been shy about pursuing
• Contact that virtual assistant you've been thinking of hiring 
• Post your internship job description with your local university
• Begin a research file or a Google Doc for your next book
• Make a list of 20 companies you'd like to do business with
• Clear off your desk (you can do this in 5 min. if you create a file folder called "Crap from Desk" and today's date!)
• Do a competitive sweep and see who's doing what in your industry so you can refresh your offerings
• Shoot a 2-minute video and post it to YouTube
• Buy my book and get $747 in bonuses right now (Shhh...)
• Erase the whiteboard in your office and create a "fresh start"
• Take yourself out to a coffee shop for a 2-hour strategic meeting with yourself, a legal pad, and a pack of Sharpies
• Take a nature walk and bring your pocket audio recorder or smart phone to capture ideas
• Reconnect with an old client, friend, or colleague
• Write an amazon book review for a book you admire in your field
• Call your tech wizard to fix a nagging technology problem you've been tolerating for way too long
• Leave a 45-second voicemail for a client just to say how much you value your relationship with them
• Visit your favorite bookstore or newsstand and buy a magazine to flip through for new business ideas

One of my favorite sales gurus is Scott Messer of Sales Evolution. Not only is Scott a good friend, he is a sales expert and master sales coach.

This post will help you solve Your Biggest, Nastiest, Stupidest, Most Expensive Sales Mistake... and give you several of Scott's brilliant sound bites to help you improve your sales success.

We're talking about a BIG sales mistake you probably made last week, will make again this week, and -- unless you heed Scott's wisdom -- will make next week again. 

All of which will cost you THOUSANDS if not TENS of thousands of dollars in lost sales. 

Scary, right? 

What is this big, nasty, pervasive, expensive sales mistake? 

Here it is: Not being a fanatic about collecting decisions from prospects.

Scott says selling is 100% about collecting decisions.

It's not about getting yeses, it's not about closing gimmicks. It's simply about being tenacious about taking prospects down a path (aka your sales process) to help them make a clear and definitive DECISION. As in "Yes" or "No."

Not "Let me think about it" - not "I'll get back to you" - not "circle back with me next week" - not anything other than a firm date and time on the prospect's calendar for you to hear "YES" or "NO." 

How do you do this? Simple - Scott recommends that at every step of the sales process, put a date and time on the calendar for a "decision call." Here's how to ask: 

• Let's put a date and time on the calendar for us to discuss your decision
• Let's put a pushpin in the calendar for us to reconnect about your decision
• Because you and I are both so busy, let's put a date and time on the calendar so you can tell me "Yes" or "No" or to answer any final questions you may have for me

Scott recommends that you forget about your sales pipeline - forget about your number of first appointments, forget about your number of "hot leads" - there is ONE and ONLY ONE measure of how healthy your sales pipeline truly is. 

That measure is - how many decision calls are on your calendar? A decision call, by the way, needs to be not only on YOUR calendar - it needs to be on your PROSPECT'S calendar because it is their responsibility to make one AND communicate it to you on that call. 

Example: I had a prospect call me two weeks ago. Let's call him Paul (which is cool because his name is really... Paul.) 

All was going well. Then I got a little derailed when he asked for references. Ordinarily, I would set a decision call by asking him, "When will you make time to call my reference folks? Let's make a time to discuss your decision after that." 

But I goofed. I was in a hurry. I let Paul wander off with no decision date on the calendar. When I called him this morning to circle back, he told me that he had gotten "distracted" and had not called the references at all. He then said, "I'll get back to you within three weeks." 

I laughed. 

Instinctively, I said, "You'll get back to me in three weeks because you're the kind of guy who likes to take lots and lots of time to make a decision and have people like me chasing you endlessly and leaving message after message and email after email when the real answer is no." 

Yup, I said that.

Out loud.

Right to Paul's face. 

Why? Because to quote another Scott Messer sound bite - "You can't blow up a good prospect." 

Paul laughed and admitted that he did NOT, in fact, enjoy being chased endlessly. 

So I put Paul out of his misery and fired him as a prospect. Here's how that sounded: 

"Paul, I'll put you down as a "No" for now. If you'd like to revisit working together, you know where to find me." 

He was perfectly cool with that. So I knew the deal was dead.

I've used that "No for now" line in the past and GOOD prospects will jump in with "No, no, no I definitely want to work with you. I just need more time to..." and they put themselves back into the active prospect column.

What do I do then? You guessed it - we set a decision call on the calendar. 

Anyway, back to Paul... I wanted to put a nail in the coffin so I sent the following email after we hung up the phone: 

===

Paul,

Because you are no longer an active prospect, please do NOT call the folks I sent as references.  

As I'm sure you can appreciate, references are precious and I do not want to burn out my reference folks by speaking with less than 100% committed prospects. (I probably should not have given you references this early in the process anyway. My mistake.)  

Best of luck on your adventures and thank you in advance for respecting my wishes.  

-- David

===

So the lesson is - be relentless with setting your decision calls. There is no other single determining factor that's more important to your sales success.

Trust me - I make more money when I relentlessly implement Scott's "decision call" philosophy. And I make less money when I don't!

Tags: sales prospecting mistakes, big nasty dumb stupid expensive sales mistake, doit marketing, marketing speaker, marketing coach

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Use the COMMENTS area below to leave your advice, insights and recommendations on these ideas to boost your sales success...

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.) 

To check out the pre-order bonuses you'll get immediately when you buy today, visit: 
http://doitmarketing.com/book-bonus 

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

Just came across this Slideshare - it was too brilliant not to share with you. Check it out:

Please use the COMMENTS area below to share YOUR advice, insights and recommendations on packing maximum VALUE into minimum TIME...