Tag Archives: market

Are You A Marketing Slouch?

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If you’re not exactly doing cartwheels about how much your business has been growing then you might be interested in taking this test to see if you’re a dreaded Marketing Slouch or a happy Marketing Superstar. Chances are, if you’re not happy then you can stand to make a few changes in your biz. I’m here to shed some light!

Give yourself 1 point for every YES.

1. When people ask you what you do for a living, do people’s eyebrows go up (interest) versus down (confusion)?

2. After hearing your elevator speech, has anyone asked for your card to call you for a consultation?

3. Are you out networking with your perfect target client at least 1x a week?

4. Do you often get business from the places you network at?

5. Does your website talk more about your client’s problems or you?

If you scored between 0-2 You’re a Dreaded Marketing Slouch- Pick up the slack and you’ll see results right away, I promise!

If you scored between 3-4 You’re on your way to becoming a Marketing Superstar. Fine tune a few of your tactics and you’ll get the clients lining up!

If you scored a perfect 5, you are a certified Marketing Superstar. Congratulations! Your results probably tell you that anyway.

When you’re wondering why you’re not attracting new leads and the only new business you’re getting is from word of mouth, think back to whether you’re a marketing slouch or not.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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The 5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Taking on a Client

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As a small business owner, I think my clients are like my bosses. I have loads of them. So if stats say that people leave their jobs because of not being able to get along with their bosses, I think it’s safe to say that it’s really important how you manage your clients. Like anything else, it starts at the beginning, BEFORE you take them on. Here are a few tips to getting awesome clients like mine.

1. What are they looking for?

Watch for clients who are focused solely on how much your product or service costs. These customers tend to be demanding and irreverent, and they’ll often not even go through with the deal.

2. Is my service the best thing for both of us?

Get to know your client to see if the partnership is a good fit.

3. Will this client be so happy that he will tell others about your service?

Do your best to make sure that each client walks away qualm-free by making sure you and the client are a good match to begin with.

4. Is what I have as good as, or better than, what they could get elsewhere?

Before agreeing to take on a client, you need to have multiple reasons, besides price, for why you are the best choice in the industry.

5. Is this client worth taking on?

This is the most important question to answer. Be certain that any new clients will benefit your company as a whole before you make a potentially costly mistake.

via The 5 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Taking on a Client.

A client relationship in my business is like a mini adoption. For a while I become my clients’ Mom (or let’s say big sister-geez!) and keep them accountable and push them in a loving way to get more done than they would on their own. Like any Mom, I want them to succeed and think I know how to help.

So listen to your virtual Mom here and take a second look at your potential clients before taking down their credit card info.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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The New Rules for Marketing

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I am old. These eyes have seen many marketing campaigns in many boardrooms over the years. One thing that doesn’t change about marketing is that it’s based on human emotions and responses. However, a lot else has changed about the world of marketing and how to effectively get your message out to your customers. Here is a look at the old vs. they new way to market.

The Old Rules

Here’s are the rules for marketing that are taught in most business courses, and are common inside most companies (many of whom are struggling):

  • Step 1. Create a product that has a broad appeal to a large number of consumers or buyers.
  • Step 2. Reach as large an audience as possible with a message that appeals to many of those potential buyers.
  • Step 3. Create a recognizable brand name that can be extended into additional product categories.

The New Rules

  • Step 1. Create a product that addresses a very specific type of consumer and buyer.
  • Step 2. Target your initial messaging at that audience in order to “convert” them into your advocates.
  • Step 3. Have those advocates define your brand name and the future of your offerings.

via The New Rules for Marketing.

“Why the change?” you ask. It’s because thanks largely to social media and new media, people are consuming information differently. There are many subsegments of very specialized clusters of consumers you can reach more effectively by becoming laser focused on your niche. So please stop printing thousands of leaflets and blanketing neighbourhoods, stop buying bus shelter ads or newspaper inserts. Get focused and targeted and intercept the world of your specific target customer instead. You’ll get a lot more mileage for it.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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The top 3 strategies for your business to survive and thrive in the new digital economy.

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facebook (Photo credit: sitmonkeysupreme)

Digital is a dirty word for some, an exciting word for other small business owners. Either way, you have to know a little bit about it and if all you know is the below three tips, you’ve got it made.

1. Get customers into YOUR marketing system – not just “fans” on someone else’s:

Make sure that your marketing process drives fans from places like Facebook into a marketing sequence that you control – like an email marketing auto-responder for prospects, then one for your customer list.

2. Make regular offers to your existing customers:

A customer is the most valuable asset a business has – not finding what else you can offer them is a near-criminal waste of business resources and disservice for your clients.

3. Automate the followup:

A simple sequence of emails educating your customer on a product or service that would complement their purchase is one of the most effective ways of making a sale.

via The top 3 strategies for your business to survive and thrive in the new digital economy..

Marketing books written 80 years ago are still relevant even in the digital age. How can that be? Well, marketing and selling are based on human emotions and reactions. That hasn’t fundamentally changed much over the years. So make sure you have a strategy that appeals to the right target with the right message and simply utilise digital means as one new channel to disseminate that message and to keep the communication with your community alive and well.

Need more chicken soup for your biz? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk!

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5 Tips to Help Your Marketing Messages Sing

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A New Guinea Singing Dog, singing.

A New Guinea Singing Dog, singing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marketing– that often feared and sometimes hated dirty word. It really only means getting in front of people who need your help desperately and telling them that you can help them. How do you do it effectively, here’s an article with some very valid points:

1. Clarify thoughts.  Can you describe your product or service clearly and succinctly? What qualities differentiate your offerings from others in the industry? How will customers benefit?

2. Energize descriptions. Pinpoint the specific advantages of products and services, and convey a sense of urgency: “Save time and money now!”

3. Create snapshots. Phrases like “family owned and operated” or “dedicated to giving back to the community” will help clients connect with your humanity and commitment.

4. Simplify sentences.  Make your thoughts easy to digest by using words that readers recognize, like “giant,” rather than chasing them to a dictionary to define “behemoth.”

5. Refine drafts. Simplify and polish every word to help the essence of your company, identity and message rise to the top.

If everyone who needed your help knew that you understood their pain immediately and deeply and could help, wouldn’t they be running after you and not the other way around? If your ‘marketing message’ could sing like that, wouldn’t you be singing a different tune?
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