Attracting the RIGHT clients with EXCELLENCE in marketing
One of the most powerful ways you can attract potential new clients, customers, patients or members to your tribe is by using a pretty known… but underused strategy.
In the recent SEO benchmark report from Marketingsherpa, the research showed that the most effective strategy for putting new prospects into a business sales funnel is also the hardest for most companies to undertake.
And if you are thinking “if it’s so hard, why should we bother – unless it WORKS?” – then you are correct.
Nothing within your marketing planning should be considered in actual tactics without the ability to track and measure its effectiveness. And, this is not only on the “back-end” (web analytics, sales funnel, conversion metrics, etc) – but also in terms of up-front work, resource planning, budgeting and the like.
This also includes small businesses that have been around for a while, and think that THEIR current marketing strategies and tactics are the only way. You should consider changing up your game. I spoke to a legal professional a few weeks back, and he could not snap out of his “attorney/professional mindset”. I told him – “become a marketer first”. He didn’t get it.
So, to become more successful in attracting the right prospects, be clear on your demographics, your messaging and your media. Then, start carving off pieces and designate resources as per your MARKETING CALENDAR. What specific content and publishing strategies will help to inform, educate and SELL (see the 80/20 rule) across the weeks, months and years ahead? (And, don’t forget your email marketing – a powerful ally to build strong sales via a ‘virtual’ sales team, 24×7).
What’s this ONE THING to attract more quality buyers to your business world?
Rich people are better than you, because...
How many times growing up did I wonder what rich people did to make themselves “better” than the rest? Well, plenty of times, but not at first.
It didn’t start until I came to the USA. In my home country (Norway), there was little talk about money in the day-to-day. It was always about “living”. (I later understood better the expression: ‘work to live, or live to work’). In many countries outside of the US, folks work to live (not the other way around) and to enjoy themselves, family & friends. In truth, we all want that. But – it seems like the more capitalistic societies (USA to be sure) focus more on money, wealth and abundance from cash flow.
Overall, there seems to be a lot of “hatred” (whether real or fabricated) for “RICH PEOPLE”. In America, there are about 3% of the population who are considered the super-rich, super-affluent. They make bigger money and give away more money than anybody else. In fact, they get so much attention that the OBAMA administration wants to increase taxes for the rich. It seems the rich can not just continue to help build foundations of this economy without being scrutinized at every turn. It’s as if the rich are not only better than you, but they have to be penalized for it.
So, why are the rich better than you?
Personal Success Predictor #1 Here
The word success is defined in many ways.
And, why is that? Because, to each and every person – “success” means different things.
A young woman that wishes to become a super-mom will consider herself successful when she reaches milestones and goals she set along the way. To her, working at home, cooking, working with her children, her house, her garden, etc may be EXACTLY what success is to her. It has nothing to do with money, but all to do with attitudes and aspirations of attaining those levels she set.
A child that wants to become a fireman, policeman or public servant in some fashion – and achieves the goals set – is considered a success by their measure.
A college student that wants to become the best Wall-Street broker or money management investor the world has seen will consider himself / herself successful when goals are met along the way, including “lots of money” (specific?) in the bank, and with investment profiles that grow each and every year into retirement – giving back to society and leaving wealth for the family coming after.
But, what’s one thing that all of the cases must consider for total success? I bet you can’t guess it?
Learn From The Master, Mr. Bob
Are you a writer? Are you a speaker or consultant? Are you somebody who has been thinking about a particular topic and how to get your message out there? In a new way – as a published author?
Are you a business professional that knows your craft, but struggling in a competitive market with no real differentiation in the marketplace?
If you have not considered writing a book and getting it published, either by a major publishing house or via self-publishing tools that you can use yourself – well, you are doing yourself a dis-service.
It may be time to go back and study a little more first.
You should consider learning from the old-school folks. One author you may have heard of can help you.
Erect (Express) Yourself!
In today’s age – do you think having a business card will help or hurt (meaning, ‘no impact) your business networking and sales opportunities?
In the last month, how many business cards have you received that went straight into the waste basket?
And, how many business cards you gave ended up receiving email in return? (that you didn’t want, effectively – spam)
Finally – out of all those business cards – did any single card, person or company stand out that made you remember them, and in the best case, call them back?
Then, view this video.
It may just be the most highly anticipated business card on the planet, and the way he builds your anticipation, makes it so.
Presented by a guy that is not very well liked (it appears from the comments in the video) for the way he displays it.
This imbalance in the Universe can help you
As a reader of this blog, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed that, while posts mostly focus on business (small), the touch-points across a multitude of ‘spheres’ are depicted throughout thousands of posts.
These spheres connect you through business, life, personal, family, friends, groups and time/space philosophies. That’s because we are all connected in this way. And, if you are solely thinking or acting on one specific plane (for example, just thinking about money) – you have not grasped the full beauty of your own power in this world.
And, if you are armed with laws / rules and knowledge that our universe accepts and responds to well, you’ll be so far ahead of the curve, everybody else will be wondering what you are doing.
One of these laws were discovered (but not fully explained) over a 100 years ago, in 1897.
It’s a law, if followed, understood and applied – that will affect EVERYTHING YOU DO – and in a POSITIVE manner.
You’ll get more money, fame, wisdom … whatever you choose to focus on.
Authors! Self Publish!
If writing, publishing and producing content is your passion, you’ve got it made. And, especially in the 21st century.
There are so many tools and strategies you can employ to make it happen. I’ll share some of the critical self-publishing tools here.
Amazon itself is a very well known brand, and since the advent of the Kindle e-reader, millions are not only accessing electronic content, but viewing and reading it via their Kindle product, as well as the cloud reader.
However, Amazon is not the only game in town, there are many ways to get your book made public, and in formats that the industry recognizes.
You CAN become a best selling author (15,000 sold on AMAZON for example) by doing it yourself. You can even use out of print books, novels and “refresh” them for public consumption and delight.
Pretty amazing how far we’ve gotten, huh? Please see what tools you can use next.
SEO is DEAD? (a different view...)
Ok, I give up.
I have not written about this topic before. The idea that “SEO is dead“, that is.
But, I saw a post today, and for the umpteenth (that’s a real number!) time in one of the forums where the good Internet crowd is discussing the viability of SEO and it’s use.
Is it here to stay, or is it more like a rotting tree? Should a webmaster and marketing teams not place as much weight on it? Or, perhaps the hardcore stance some say: “don’t bother with SEO”.
The main focus of conversation this week was around Social Media (you know, Twitter, Facebook, etc) and that it has taken over, and has minimized the importance or value of SEO (search engine optimization).
So here’ my take, and it’s OFFICIAL, ok?
“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.”
Ideas for a "different" business slogan
Do you need to create a new slogan for your business?
Here is how to create an “Aphrodisiac Business Slogan”
A great business slogan is one that elicits a desired response from your ideal customer, nothing more, and definitely nothing less.
In just a few words your businesses slogan should invoke a specific audience to perform a specific action or feel a certain way.
Here the 3 questions to consider when constructing that perfect slogan…
Eat more from the table of "abundance"! (Zig Ziglar said "wimpy sales people have skinny kids", but you you don't have to work THAT hard...)
For any (small) business, the steady pursuit of leads and opportunities to build their sales pipeline is top of mind for the owners and employees. The concern varies of course. Employees with a steady paycheck may not see the sales and marketing activities, or understand what the management team is doing in that area.
But, for management – it’s always on their mind.
And, the struggle of balancing the company account checkbook and making sure everybody gets paid (employees, partners, vendors, government) can make for many sleepless nights.
If you are in your own business as a ‘solo-preneur’ – you know what I’m talking about! It’s about your own livelihood, and man – it hurts to sweat at 3am…
What then is the SECRET to creating a solid plate of qualified leads from prospects you don’t have to chase down? Do you really need to cold-call?
Let’s take a look at the BEST way to leverage your talents and insights in current day.
Should you clean your email list?
Just got this email message the other day. And, it seemed urgent too:
“NOTICE: We are Doing a House Cleaning of Our eMail List!
If you would like to remain on the ______________ Group eMail list, please click the confirmation link below. If you don’t respond to this email you will be taken off the list.
We are doing this to improve our database of eMails, and to make sure eMails aren’t going to people that no longer want to receive them.”
Do you think this is a smart and necessary action for your email list and subscribers?
Yes? _______
No? _______
Maybe? _______
Looking for the next exit to a better place?
We all have the same time in a day.
The 24 hours is the same for billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – and the less affluent.
That same time period doesn’t change for anybody… it is a universal law. If you travel to another country – the timezone may change, but it’s still 24 hours.
You may choose to look at it with more detail (24 hrs * 60 minutes * 60 seconds = 24 hrs * 3600 seconds = 86400 seconds) – but you cannot expand or shrink time.
Since that is true – what do you choose to do with it?
What makes one persons time more ‘valuable’ than the other?
I can tell you what its NOT.
Do you really need another great idea?
I woke up this morning with a great idea!
Wow, I think this is the “ONE”!
Not only will this change my business, my life and my family – but it can literally change the world. No, wait – I can change history with this! Human mankind will never be the same!
Oh…
But wait! There’s more. Even though I’ve had many ideas before, I know that I’ll be excited about it tomorrow too. And, the next day and next week, it’s that profound. I need to call my lawyer, and make sure I get the NDA’s lined up, ’cause this is SO UNIQUE.
Aha…
Question: How did you go about quantifying the ultimate outcome of your new idea – and everything in-between?
While being excited, inspired and fired up is admirable, there is just this ONE LITTLE THING called…
Learn to be different, weird - and your marketing / brand may just take off...
Positioning and promoting your product/service for YOUR market is a highly beneficial strategy. The outcome can and will be significant.
Determining the exact audience of your product that is a match for that target, is a winning model. With your solution and offer, you are answering the (hopefully) hungry desires from your market. And, they will respond to your offers a 100 times faster and better, and with conviction — because you can help them (and care).
See, the old ‘mass marketing’ model born in the industrial revolution is disappearing.
The idea that you are or can be different, serving a changing breed of consumers makes you unique, and therefore valuable. Seth Godin calls this being ‘weird‘. It’s another word for ‘different and unique’. Something remarkable. (somebody would actually make a remark about you/your business, naturally)
I guess in one way, nothing has changed over the many years of history in business and humankind.
How can you make changes to accommodate this ‘new’ way of thinking?
The word planning is built deep into our lives, and our world. From before birth, when you were ‘planned’ 
But, building a plan for your business with steps to reach goals are a must also. However, we all get busy and often avoid lengthy (boring?) business planning. It sometimes may just feel too overwhelming, and one person ends up late in the office with all the work.
So.. how about creating a process that makes sure you get all the necessary things checked, very fast — and with a plan that still works?
You can do that, and your team will love it too.
“Go out and buy yourself a five-cent pencil and a ten-cent
notebook and begin to write down some million dollar ideas for
yourself.” – B. Grinde
Product - Price - Place - Promotion is the 4P's of marketing. What else is there?
What’s the most important part of a business success?
The product, the service, the management or the marketing?
What do you think?
Time and time again, the answer is clear: MARKETING.(and, in every area of your business, not just advertising)…
You, the owner and executive that help create, plan and work to grow your business, existing or new – must review your entire business plan from time to time.
Are you on target as per your initial goal setting? This means making sure that anything that may have been missed, not followed up on or not implemented correctly is adjusted. And, the plan itself may need to be updated. A plan set in stone with so many variables in today’s business is being too “perfect”. And, I’m not talking about sending a rocket into space.
Often, I find that the basics of marketing has not been attended to. That’s not uncommon, considering most professional business practices focus on their products, services, operations / customer service — forgetting about the all important marketing opportunities as a process, not a one-time event.
The markets change, your competitors change, and the economy changes. Your customers require you to update as well. You should use this checklist to make sure you have captured all that you can. Today’s hectic business environment requires you to do it.
Facing the cold hard truth in 2012 may require some dramatic changes. Here's the list.
It’s an amazingly cool time RIGHT NOW as we enter into 2012, wouldn’t you say?
Think about all the awesome things that happened last year — to you and your business — and in your world in general. Nice!
Yes, think about the positive, good things that made you take new turns, make new choices and how they impacted you. Take just a moment and highlight these in your mind. Smile… and say thanks. The Christmas holiday is not about the gifts. It’s about gratitude and reflection.
Everybody, “from 1 to 92″.
Yes, that is a phrase from The Christmas Song created in 1944 – Mel Torme’s classic. That holiday ballad is heard often on many channels now.
The song and many renditions of it makes you feel good. It brings back memories, inspires you for the future. It creates good vibrations all around.
Now, think about how your TOP 5 is doing? (1) your health, 2) your finances, 3) your relationships, 4) your career/work and 5) your spiritual life? )
How do you feel now?
Yes, there is one thing that is still lurking right outside your door of opportunity. Do you know what it is? Do you know how you can take the reins yourself versus running yourself into the ditch?
Direct Mail Advertising & Marketing Can Be The Most Targeted Customer Attraction Campaigns You'll Make
From all the data we have gathered from how businesses operate for increased revenues (and profits) – there is no doubt that a HUGE SHIFT has happened over the just the last 5 years (2007) in terms of marketing, and the shift to ONLINE advertising and marketing (SEO, PPC, PPV, Social Media, Contextual, Retargeting, Banners, etc).
A day doesn’t go by where I don’t hear somebody slamming the Yellowpages (print edition) and that it is expensive, old-school and “doesn’t work”. The word is out on the street.
It’s true that each market is unique, and I recommend verifying data and testing (budget depending) what works. However, there is no doubt that the shift to online has been going on for a while, and CEOs and Marketing VP’s are excited about the results & trends.
Still, there are many businesses who don’t have a website. Here’s an example of how Google teamed up with Intuit to get New York small businesses online: http://www.newyorkgetonline.com/ (and that’s not the only region, more are coming.)
Billions of dollars are made using offline marketing strategies: direct response techniques / strategies and professional copywriters are used to create direct mail pieces, post cards, plain envelope letters, tear sheets, brochures, sales letters, mag-a-logs, billboards, catalogs and lots more (including online).
And, copywriting training companies like American Writers & Artists (Awai Online) can teach and show you a new way to prosperity – by becoming a direct response copywriter and marketer.
What are some of the tools that can help build your offline marketing campaigns?
Create a Mobile Marketing Strategy For Your Small Business 2012. Are you there yet?
You. Mobile. Marketing.
In 2012 we enjoy a vast array of technologies (understatement of the year) that are “on” 24x7x365.
We can browse, send/receive messages, engage with applications, rich media and ‘talk’ to the world right from our light-weight, travelling devices.
Smartphones are more than smart…they follow you, and depending on settings, they’ll know where you are, and with a social following too.
And, it’s all there to help your prospects & customers get what they need, when they need it. When somebody searches for your business, a local pizza, dentist or hair-dresser for example — you’d better show up — either naturally (SEO), paid (Adwords & mobile pay networks). And, your web site or content should be mobile and ‘call’ ready. (click to call)
It only makes sense that businesses create, update and review strategies for mobile marketing. And yes, it’s another shiny object (literally) – but that does not mean you should not consider planning and thoughtful execution of those strategies. It’s not just “try it and forget it”. It is another marketing channel, another medium to test.
Here are some insights to consider for your new mobile marketing venture.
Keep your eye on ball while working on your 2012 SEO & Google tactics
As search engines and the online user community advance and mature, a fun and important to-do, is watching how the web evolves. (Not sure who’s wagging who or what). But, it’s exciting to see the changes in terms of the content, multi-media, rich applications and user experiences now available. HTML5 is coming up fast, and Flash is taking a plunge into the dirt.
These changes are true across many devices, from web browsers to portable devices like smartphones and iPads. And, a prognosis by Morgan Stanley says that there will be more people using portable devices for the Internet in 5 years than there are desktop users.
When it comes to search engine optimization, the trade, markets & competitors change often. Google is still the leader in search, and announced they make (on average) some 500 changes to their core algorithm. The last 12 months have been brutal on many out there. It’s for a “good cause”. (Google makes more money!)
So, it’s not just about good market & technical understanding, architecture, design and content, but about ‘marketing 360′. And, do you study offline marketing and sales materials that come to your door step? (I do)
It’s no longer enough to analyze, understand and apply changes in tags.
The professional work is far beyond that (and has for a while). For example, spamming / stuffing keywords and cloaking is easily detected by search engines. And, professional SEOs know all this. They have applied themselves and evolved too. The ones that are lagging behind are catching up.
So have the search engines, and we’ll cover some recent findings and results on what you need to do in 2012 to stay current with your website optimization practices.
Are YOU One of the 99% of Online Marketers Who are Not Getting Enough *ATTENTION* To Your Website?
If YES - then Make It Easy For Google to Find You:
- An easy plan for Keyword Research
- Bonus: FREE Success Mindset Book
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