Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

Many of my marketing mentor clients want to boost their online presence - in the words of my pal Henry DeVries, they want “more blogs, more buzz, and more business.”

So how - exactly - do you generate more buzz around your online platform?

One of the easiest ways is to host conversations and dialogue on your blog by proactively inviting your readers, subscribers, and visitors to leave comments.

There are two paths to doing this - and one is a whole lot more effective than the other. But either one is better than doing nothing at all. More on that in a moment...

How to Generate a Ton More Blog Comments in 10 Seconds

Approach #1: Ask! (General)

End each of your blog posts with an invitation to comment. Don’t just ask “What do you think?” - you have to be more explicit and TELL people to use the comment feature on your blog - and then tell them what to do to get there.

Example #1:

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

Approach #2: Ask! (Specific)

One of my favorite clients, Integrity-Based Leadership expert Richard Melancon, recommends taking this one step further. Rather than asking broadly for comments at the end of your blog posts, Richard is a fan of asking very specific questions directly related to the content of the blog ideas you just shared.  

Example #2:

For my recent post, “I’ve Quit and Here’s Why” I took Richard’s advice and used the following at the end of the post:

What have YOU changed up in the last 3-6 months to STOP doing what doesn't matter and start DOING more of what matters most? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your specific changes and how they've freed up more time or made you more money...

Example #3:

On my previous post, “17 Keys to a Great Sale and a Great Date,” I used this:

What do you think? What parallels do you see between dating and selling? How have your best sales conversations unfolded? Please share your advice, insights, and experiences in the COMMENTS area below...

Big difference, right?

There’s no right and wrong here - you may want to try both approaches and see which one generates more comments, more dialogue, and more good conversation with your fans, followers, and readers. The proof is in the pudding.

As for me... well, you can see what I’ve decided to do below.

What do you think about inviting blog comments in a general way or a specific way? Have you gotten better results with one or the other? Please share your own blog commenting philosophy in the COMMENTS area below and...

I’ve quit.

Yup - done, finished, over.

“Quit what?” you ask?

I’ve quit blogging.

OK, that’s not quite true...

But I’ve quit blogging daily.

It was an experiment.

And it worked.

And it didn’t.

Here’s the deal - for most of last year, this website averaged between 5,000-6,000 visits per month. Not great, but not terrible either.

At the beginning of this year, I committed to an experiment - namely blogging every weekday.

Yup, 5 posts a week. Week in and week out. I stuck to the schedule and didn’t miss a day in 26 weeks. 6 full months.

The result?

It worked great.

Almost immediately (OK, it took 8 weeks, but that’s close enough) my web traffic went from an average of 5,000-6,000 visits up to an average of 10,000-11,000 visits. One month, we even generated 15,000 visits - triple the old number. I'll explain that "we" later in this post...

My opt-in rate doubled (for everything - my free ebook, blog subscriptions, my free teleseminars.)

My SEO went up - I moved from page 2 and page 3 of Google results for certain keywords to page 1.

The second result?

I found out what really worked to drive more traffic, more leads, and more business.

And it wasn’t the blog...

It was three things:

1. My new book. Specifically, the marketing plan for my book, which turned out to also become the marketing plan for the website and the marketing plan for my speaking and mentoring programs. Woo hoo - who'd a thunk it?

Lesson: If you “lean in” and commit to the marketing for ONE flagship product, service, or program like I did with my book - you will start to generate momentum that carries over into everything else that you are doing.

2. Email marketing. Plain and simple, the more marketing emails I sent, the more web visits I got. Accident? No, of course not. Most of my emails contained links back to the website for the latest blog posts, the occasional teleseminar invitation or a new program announcement.

Lesson: The more email you send that contains high-value content, advice, insights, and recommendations (aka email that’s too good to delete), the more stickiness you’ll generate for your fans and followers. 

3. FLOP - Namely, “Featuring and Leveraging Other People.” I wrote about this concept in detail here and it has also been a tremendous driver of new traffic and new friendships, new clients, and new projects. Inbound FLOP is me shining the spotlight on others. And outbound FLOP is me participating in other people’s book launches, surveys, guest blogging, and so on.

Lesson: It’s not all about YOU. It IS all about how YOU can serve and promote other experts in your field who have a complementary skill set, message, or service offering. Welcome to the new collaborative economy. They win when you win. And you win when they win.

Sooooo... I’m still blogging.

But I’ve scaled down to once or twice a week.

And I’ve scaled UP the other activities listed above.

Because that’s what generates results.

What have YOU changed up in the last 3-6 months to STOP doing what doesn't matter and start DOING more of what matters most? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your specific changes and how they've freed up more time or made you more money... 

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!

What's the difference between a professional practice (or company or trade association) that feeds on the bottom vs. YOUR business model which should aim to serve the top of your market? 

Here are 17 things to consider:

1. High fees are paid by clients and customers who are doing well, not those who are struggling

2. Referrals come from those who are proud of the fees they pay you, not ashamed to be low-balling their way through business

3. High-end clients tend to be believers - low-end clients tend to be skeptics

4. Top clients are easier to please because they have a partner mindframe whereas low-end clients are almost impossible to please because they have a peddler mindframe

5. Paying higher fees also means that your top-of-market clients pay you higher respect, pay your advice more attention, and invest more resources in their implementation of your ideas

6. There is always a way to raise your game, boost your value prop, and charge higher fees. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have $500,000 sports cars or $35,000 watches

7. There’s no profit in a business model that challenges other poverty-mindset entrepreneurs in a race to the bottom

8. You can always design a “lower-level entry point” to a high-end offering (Example: the $125 Tiffany bracelet.) However, it is almost impossible to “level up” from commodity status. In other words, Wal-Mart would have a tough time attracting high-end jewelry buyers

9. Are you attracting referrals to goofballs or people who don’t see the value of what you offer? Like attracts like. It’s very possible your current clients and customers simply don’t travel in the right circles  

10. If you’ve heard yourself say, “My clients won’t pay any more than they’re already paying” or “I can’t raise my prices because I’ll price myself out of the market” - then you may need a. Better clients, b. A new market, or c. Both!

11. High-end clients expect great work. It is energizing, engaging and fun for you and your team to rise to that challenge

12. Low-end clients expect perfect work. Even though they have no idea what they want, change what they want based on whims, and are a moving target of conflicted priorities. It is demoralizing, exhausting, and depressing for you and your team to put up with these micro-managing, neurotic control freaks

13. High-end clients value relationships and once they’re in with you, they’ll come back for more. Why? Because if they switch, they would essentially be admitting to themselves that they overpaid or made a wrong decision, which is more expensive to their ego than to their pocketbook. Bottom line: High-end clients always look for reasons to stay

14. Low-end clients only care about transactions. The next coupon or email or offer will lure them away for the next bargain. They’re forever playing “Let’s Make a Deal” and the fact that they bought from you once REDUCES the chance they’ll buy from you again. Bottom line: Low-end clients always look for reasons to leave

15. High-end clients will approach you with new ideas, ask for more innovative services, help you develop new products and programs that they WANT to buy and that people at their same level would value. They generate their own product- and idea-generating R&D department to help your business grow.

16. Low-end clients will pressure you to give less, offer “lite” versions, and generally dumb-down and dilute your core offerings to match their small thinking and tiny budgets. Don’t fall for it.

17. Companies that serve low-end clients are dependent on massive numbers of small transactions from one-time buyers and price shoppers. Companies that serve high-end clients thrive on small numbers of much larger, deeper, richer, and longer-lasting relationships with clients, customers, and friends who stay longer, buy more, come back more often, and refer like crazy.

So it’s your call - serve the top or serve the bottom.

Just be careful what you wish for and understand what you’re targeting -- and what you’re in for when you hit 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... 

Guest post by Jay Baer, author of Youtility

Today, companies must compete for attention against consumers’ friends and family members. Each day as people log on to Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest they see a variety of messages in their newsfeed or timeline, some of these messages are from their friends and family and some are from companies on social media. How can marketers compete in this environment successfully?

Friend of mine awareness and Youtility are the answer. Friend-of-mine awareness is predicated on the reality that companies are competing against real people for the attention of other real people. To succeed, your prospective customers must consider you a friend. And if, like their friends, you provide them real value, if you practice Youtility rather than simply offer a series of coupons and come-ons, they will reward your company with loyalty and advocacy, the same ways we reward our friends.

Youtility is marketing upside down. I call this Youtility, not “utility,” because a utility is a faceless commodity. Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. Youtility is massively useful information, provided for free, that creates long term trust and kinship between your company and your customers.

As marketers, we’ve always tried to build loyalty with people, and now we must build loyalty with information. Social media marketing has changed the landscape of marketing by putting us in the mix with photos from our block party, our cousin’s baby and other companies trying to reach people as well. What you have is an intermingled mixture of information that matters to you because of personal relationships, and information that matters to you because of commercial relationships. It’s not just Facebook, either. Twitter works the same way, as do YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, e-mail, blogs, and podcasts, too. For the first time, companies have to compete on the very same turf as our family and friends, using the very same tools and technologies and media and messaging as consumers.

My wife doesn’t buy radio ads to try and get my attention. My friends don’t buy newspaper ads to make sure I know what’s going on this weekend. But the opposite is most definitely true. Companies are now invading the spaces and mechanisms that we’re using to connect personally. The companies that will connect are the ones that are a Youtility in the social space, providing massively useful information that people want to see.

If your company and its marketing are truly, inherently useful, your customers and prospective customer will keep you close, as they keep their friends and family close. Making your company useful without expectation of an immediate return is in direct opposition to the long standing principles of successful marketing, and that’s a good thing.

Excerpted from Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype by Jay Baer. See YoutilityBook.com for other resources.

Jay Baer’s Bio: Jay Baer is a hype-free social media and content strategist & speaker, and author of the Amazon #1 bestseller, Youtility: Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype. Jay is the founder of http://convinceandconvert.com and host of the Social Pros podcast.

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

As you may know, a wonderful team of small business experts and I are organizing the inaugural America Talks Business Conference coming up on July 25. (Conference info is here and you can still register with early bird savings here.)

One of our media partners is Entrepreneur Magazine. When I shared this news with my friend Dan Janal of PRLeads and PressReleaseSender.com, his first comment was, "Looks good. Congrats on getting Entrepreneur magazine. You are one well-connected guy!" 

I sent Dan back a note that said, "Not well-connected. Just fearless in asking."

And he closed out our email conversation with this brilliant observation: "Same thing, I guess!"

YES!!!

It is the same thing indeed.

So here are some questions for YOU: 

1. Who do YOU need to be well-connected to?

2. Who do you need to fearlessly ask for help?

3. What's stopping you from asking? 

4. What's the worst that could happen? 

5. What's the best that could happen? 

6. How much do you care about #4? 

7. How much do you want #5?

8. Is it time for YOU to do some fearless asking? 

p.s. The June 17 deadline is coming up for Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur of 2013 competition. You can't win if you don't enter. They are accepting applications for Entrepreneur of 2013, Emerging Entrepreneur of 2013 and College Entrepreneur of 2013. See if you qualify to join the ranks of other inspiring entrepreneurs: http://www.entrepreneur.com/e2013 

Guest post by DJ Waldow

Are you wondering how to add social media to your email communications?

Email and social media marketing go together like Batman and Robin.

They both can be effective on their own; however, when combined, their (super) powers can save the city and exceed your marketing goals.

Is Email Dead?

In this article I’ll show you how to combine email marketing with your social media efforts.

In a recent StrongMail survey, ”More than two-thirds of business leaders (68%) say they plan to integrate social media with their email marketing efforts."

As a guy who lives, breathes, eats and sometimes dreams email marketing, I was thrilled to see email getting some mainstream love.

You may be thinking, “Hey, isn’t email dead?”

Think again. I mean, sure, there are certainly case studies of companies forgoing email and replacing it with social media. I’d argue that these are exceptions, certainly not the norm.

This blog post and infographic on the value of email by SmarterTools will quickly dispel the “email is dead” myth.

Need one more proof point that email is not dead? How many times have you checked your email this week? Today? Since you started reading this blog post? Okay. Now that we are all in agreement, let’s continue...

Read the rest of this article here...

Guest post by Mark S A Smith

Image source: BellaDomainMedia.com

When you’re an expert on a topic, people want to learn from you, and if they can, they want it for free.

They’ll say, “I want to pick your brain. Let me buy you lunch.”

Worst case, they’ll take you to a fast food restaurant and buy you a $5 meal and get thousands worth of advice.

Best case, they’ll take you to a great restaurant, spend $100 and get thousands worth of advice.

While it’s great to meet new people, here’s how can you say, “No, I won’t have lunch with you just so you can get an hour of free consulting” without sounding like a jerk.

1. Just Say, “No”

If you don’t want to discuss your expertise with them, reply with “Sure, but I have ‘no talking about work’ policy at lunch.”

2. Just Say, “Yes, but…”

Or say, “I’d love to have lunch with you. But, if you are looking for input on your project, I charge a consultation fee even if we’re dining. Otherwise, I never discuss work over food. What day works for you?”

3. I Will, If You First…

Get them to do something that shows commitment and shortcuts the process before you accept their invitation.

Say, “Sure! I’m happy to meet with you if you’ll first…” Have them send you an email describing their biggest challenge. Or have them fill out your assessment form. Or, if you’re a content creator, have them first take one of your mini courses.

Guess how many people call to follow up? Very few. Those that do are serious. Those that don’t, aren’t. Do this, and you don’t waste your time on those who aren’t committed.

4. Send Them to Your Website or Blog

Say, “I’ve got a really full schedule for the next month, so why not check out my blog (or website) that answers many of the questions that I get when people invite me to lunch. So, take a look, and send me a list of questions, and we can then schedule something next month.”

5. First, Buy My Book

If you’re an author, say, “I recommend that you first read my book. I specifically wrote it to answer the most common questions that I get. Whatever advice I have to give on [your topic], it’s in there. And it’s cheaper than lunch. So, jot down your questions as you read it, then call me and we can schedule lunch.”

6. Bring a $100 Bill

Say, “Brain picking isn’t free and I don’t eat cheap food. Bring a $100 bill and buy me lunch at a nice restaurant. If you’re not happy with the value of my advice, keep the hundred.”

One of my colleagues does this and he always keeps the hundred.

If they object, say, “I tell you what. I’ll give you three free pieces of advice right now that will make you more successful. Your first free success lesson: never do free consulting. Your second free lesson: free advice isn’t acted on like paid advice. Your third lesson: if you don’t get value in exchange, there is no real value generated.”

And I invite you to pick my brain with free instant access to the questions I get frequently asked when people invite me to lunch. Go to http://CompetitionProof.com now to learn great ideas to sell more, keep more margin, and keep your competitors out of you accounts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_S_A_Smith

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

I asked one of my favorite marketing coaching clients, "How's your DIP?"

She responded, "Dip? We're talking party recipes now?"

"No, no - remember the acronym I shared with you last time? DIP stands for Dollars In Play." She remembered.

Then she asked me to hang on as she shuffled through some notes and papers.

"Where are you looking for these numbers?" And she said that she keeps a scratch pad by her keyboard and has a more detailed tracking document that she updates every couple of weeks on her computer. 

"Oh my goodness, there's your problem right there. You have to keep this info right in front of your face all day long." 

REALLY in front of your face. My suggestion - make a poster using something as simple as a piece of flipchart paper and two different size Post-It notes: the Jumbo size and the smaller 3x3 square size.  

Here's what a DIP (Dollars in Play) wall chart looks like: 

Here's how it works:

1. Two categories: one called "In Play" and the other one for less serious prospects ("Jokers") You can see in the photo above, I've had a little fun and made a silly cartoon joker card. These are folks who are in my pipeline but (in my estimation) less serious, less committed, and less capable of making the financial commitment to hire me.

2. Post your prospects' full names, the service/product/program you discussed with them, the dollar value, and the source. For example, Jane Doe came from a referral from Frank. We have not talked yet, so there's no dollar value. Nat Cole came from Linkedin and we talked about a $1500 1-on-1 marketing consulting package.  Sam Smith is hiring me for a $6500 speech in October. (All prospect names have been changed for the purposes of this blog post and photo - could you tell?)

3. Real time updates. Sometimes I'll even grab my pad of 3x3 Post-Its and write someone's name down WHILE I'm on the phone with them, walk over to the wall chart and stick their name on it. Can't tell you how satisfying this physical act can be. 

4. Fluid movement. Don't be afraid to upgrade a joker to the serious column and don't be afraid to take a (formerly) serious prospect and move them into the Joker column. The factors to consider are their commitment level based on email and phone communication, their level of responsiveness, and how rapidly you are moving them from point to point in your sales process.   

5. Reminders rule. If you see someone on your chart whom you have not spoken with or heard from in a few weeks, you probably need to get back in touch. Ideally, you never have a prospect who is just "floating" out there without a firm decision call on their calendar. But it happens. The chart reminds you to close those loops and corral your prospecting mustangs back onto your sales ranch.  

6. Relentless removal. Remember the old sales adage, "Some will. Some won't. Who cares? Next!" That's the point of the chart. Up or out. If you're not going to buy, I'm going to cut you loose and throw you back in the ocean. The SECOND most fun you'll have with this chart (after slapping a brand new prospect's name onto the chart) is grabbing a prospect who said no - or who has disappeared on you despite your best efforts to hold them to their commitments - and RIP their name off the chart and tear it into tiny little pieces and chuck it in the trash.  

7. Do the math. Feel the power. The point of tracking your sales pipeline in this manner is so that you have a real-time sense of "Dollars in Play." Every so often, you should glance over at your chart and add up the numbers that you see in the "In Play" column ONLY. (Don't add the jokers because that's why they're in the joker column - instead, do everything you can to move your jokers into the "In play" column or remove them altogether!)

In the photo above, you would have a "Dollars in Play" number of $21,000. For prospects who are considering mutliple options (for example, Mindy Kaling is holding a proposal with a $7500 option and a $2500 option), you should count the higher number.

Two reasons: 1.) It sets your internal expectation in that direction which will enhance your confidence in your subsequent conversations with Mindy. A confident seller creates confident buyers. So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. 2.) It builds your capacity for marketing optimism, which every entrepreneur needs. Plus if you're going to be relentless in removing people (See Rule #6 above), you might as well be relentlessly optimistic about the folks who earn and keep a place in your active sales pipeline.  

Now, are YOU ready for some DIP?

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

1. How can we offer a risk-free trial of our product/service?
2. What would make our work more fun?
3. Which of YOUR talents and capabilities would you like to use more of?
4. How can we do better in generating inbound leads?
5. What should we be doing more of?
6. What should we be doing less of?
7. How can we be more valuable to our clients?
8. What's the smartest decision we made in the last 3 months? 
9. What's the dumbest decision we made in the last 3 months?
10. Where are we hitting it out of the park?
11. Where are we missing the mark and need to raise our game?
12. How do we know the metrics we're tracking are the right metrics? Do we need to add, change or delete some key success factors? 
13. What are the DNA markers of a 2-year client? 5-year client? 10-year client?
14. What extra services could we offer in a super-premium version of our core product/service? 
15. What "lite" services could we offer in an entry-level version of our core product/service?
16. Do we have enough staff, capacity, and bandwidth to handle bigger, better projects? If not, how quickly can we scale with outsourcing, partnering, or subcontracting?
17. What can we simplify, eliminate, delegate, or outsource?
18. How can we work with prospects who are ahead of the curve in our area of expertise? (Advanced level program)
19. How can we work with prospects who are behind the curve in our area of expertise? (Quickstart program)
20. Are we doing too much marketing and not enough selling? 
21. Are we doing too much selling and not enough marketing? 
22. How are we making our prospects smarter - even if they DON'T buy from us? 
23. Are we articulating clearly and concisely our level of expertise, experience and empathy with our target market? 
24. Are we articulating clearly and concisely the exact types of heartaches, headaches, pains, problems, challenges and gaps that we can fix? 
25. Are we investing in thought leadership marketing strategies like speaking, publishing, and social media to elevate our expertise and stand out from the crowd? 
26. How can we zig where the competition zags? 
27. How can we show - not tell - our clients that we offer products and services that are BFS (better, faster, smarter)?
28. How can we offer depth with variety? 
29. What can we do to encourage our favorite customers to serve as our most effective salesforce?
30. How can we provide indisputable points of proof that what we do works, is cost-effective, and is better than any competitor or alternative (customer testimonials, industry recognition, videos, demonstrations, references, case studies, expert endorsements)
31. What else can we do to qualify the right prospects, disqualify the wrong prospects, and get our sales process to be shorter, sharper, and more streamlined? 
32. When we win business, do we know (exactly) why? When we lose business, do we know (exactly) why? Where has this data been captured and how are you using it to improve your odds with every new prospect day by day and week by week?
33. Have you shared this post with three people whose business might benefit? Have you bought this book that comes with over $747 of marketing bonuses? Have you noticed there are more than 33 questions in this list? <Smile>.  

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!

What makes someone interesting? Or - as they say in marketing lingo - a person of interest to others? 

It's a combination of factors, really... and here are five of them for your consideration: 

1. They are not vanilla. They're quirky, pugnacious, determined, and they don't give a rat's ass what the rest of the world thinks. (They also don't mind using terms like "rat's ass" in a blog post.) Bottom line: wolves don't lose sleep over what sheep think of them. Think Donald Trump or Bill Clinton. How vanilla are YOU?
2. They are articulate. Love 'em or hate 'em, these folks can articulate a point of view. Opinionated, loud, proud, and never dull. The sound bite "frequently wrong, never in doubt" was made for them. Think Bill O'Reilly or Rachel Maddow. How quotable are YOU?
3. They stand FOR certain things. And they stand AGAINST other things. They energize their followers, antagonize their foes, and polarize the rest of us in the middle. Sound bite: If you don't risk turning SOME people off, you'll never turn anybody on. Think Howard Stern or Sarah Palin. What stand are YOU taking?
4. They build movements larger than themselves. No matter how big, loud, rich, and famous they are - they're building something bigger than themselves and strive to make an impact beyond themselves. Think Oprah or Bill Gates. What's YOUR movement?
5. They don't seek media - they ARE the media. They are tastemakers, movers, shakers, interviewers, and relationship-builders. They don't wait for the media to come knocking - they are more likely to post videos, write articles, and interview others to feed their tribe a steady diet of top-notch content. What media did you create today?     

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!