Discover Your Path
Posts tagged as:
Google has upped their game again, now allowing people working out of their homes, to be listed in google maps without an address. They’ve renamed their business feature to google places and now allow you to list a service area.
With this change there’s no reason not to be listed with google. Get out there and be found!
Click here if you can’t view the video
{ 0 comments }
There are some easy things I do to blow the big guys out of the water when it comes to connecting with people and converting relationships into sales.
Click here if you can’t view the video
{ 0 comments }
I get really excited when a business I’m working with gets to launch. There’s excitement and a bit of fear that surrounds an event like this.
Will people show up for a grand opening (retail)?
Will they buy what I’m selling?
Will they like it and want more?
Will they tell their friends?
All these questions hang in the air but none of them can diminish the hopes and hard work a new business owner has invested in their business.
This picture is of two big samples of spices from Bob and Cindy Jones. I’ve been working with them over the past few months to get their new shop, Savory Spice, open and profitable, in Raleigh, NC.
Instead of a big radio and TV blitz, they’re doing a big grass roots campaign and getting out to where the people are. They’re not hoping for people to see their ads, but instead, are out there interacting directly with their future customers. They’re people, not a faceless company with a fancy spot on the radio.
That’s what grass roots is all about. Being real.
Not only is their campaign less expensive, but it’s far more effective. They’ll meet people in their neighborhood and get to know them by name. They’ll be able connect with them again when they come back for another spice. After tasting this sample, there’s no doubt they’ll be back.
If you want to squash doubts about the success of your business, get out there and do what it takes to be real. Stop hiding behind ineffective advertising and do the hard work of connecting one-on-one.
{ 0 comments }
I just got off the phone with a financial coach who has been full time in his business for about 12 months. We’ve talked on and off over the past few months about growing his business to the point where it actually supports him. At that point he can do what he loves to do ever day…and get paid for it!
There’s a problem, however.
This coach doesn’t have any clients.
I’m about to dive into a three-step formula for finding clients. Keep in mind that your formula must fit both your market as well as your unique personality style. There’s nothing I can give you in a blog that will be 100% specific. But, I bet we can get close, so let’s dive in.
You must have not only a good website, but a killer website. In Become a Coach I say you can have a simple website, and that’s still true, but it’s so easy to move beyond and have a great website. It’s not costly, but you should bring in an expert if you’ve never done it in the past.
Social media is great for becoming known, building relationships, and interacting with others. It’s a fun way for people to contact you and ultimately hire you, but it’s long-term. You can turn social media on and you likely won’t have a reliable stream of clients for another six or twelve months.
I’m not concerned about finding a client tomorrow by the way. I’m always focused on finding clients to work with six to twelve months from now. But you need a client now, so get your website looking good.
Have an about page where you talk like a real person. Don’t be too professional here; you’ll turn people off. We do business with people, not large, faceless companies.
Create a blog and keep up with it. You need to be consistent. Once a week is the least I would consider posting. If you can’t post that often, don’t start or you’ll look bad, like you’ve abandoned your website.
The more you write, the better. I hope you notice how this tips fits in with the firste. It’s important that your marketing strategies link back to each other. There’s little sense in spending time in an area that doesn’t also get you benefit in another area.
The more you post to your website, the more traffic you’ll get. It’s common sense, really. Give people content they can share. You won’t hit it out of the park every time, but post good content often. If your blog is a part of your homepage you’ll always have updated content to point visitors towards. Google also loves that by the way.
In addition to your website, contribute to other people’s blogs. When you leave comments, your name is always linked to your website, so be sure those comments are good and insightful. You could receive a lot of traffic by doing this. Before you do, grab your avatar so your picture is always displayed with your comments. Be sure to use your picture and not your logo.
Send letters to your local paper. Send reporters interesting story ideas that have nothing to do with you. Position yourself to be interviewed by local, regional, and then national media.
Write a great weekly newsletter and promote it. When you get permission to be in someone’s mail box, you’ll be top of mind and they’ll call when they’re ready to work with someone they trust. It could be this week or it might be two years from now, so stay in touch.
Is there anything holding you back from writing a book? You’ll have a revenue-generating marketing tool that will also help you get booked for speaking engagements. If it’s overwhelming, start with an info-product and get it out there. You won’t have much work to do to when you transform it into a physical product. Become a Coach was an ebook for two years before it went to print.
Speaking is the third way to immediately get your name out to your community and become known. If you aren’t visible you’ll have a tough time getting hired.
Speaking can take a number of forms but I’m mainly talking about speaking for free here. Develop 20, 30, 45, and 60-minute talks that you can give in businesses, community colleges, churches, rotary clubs, chambers of commerce, and anywhere else a group will host you. My team gave a talk once in a warehouse of an elevator company.
Record your talks on video or even just audio. Post them to your blog. Highlight them on your homepage. You can even tell your story on your About page in video.
Why not get paid to speak? At the Speak it Forward Boot Camp, we talk about giving away the ‘what’ and ‘why’ when you speak for free and going deep on the ‘how’ when you’re getting paid.
When you’re getting paid to speak, you actually get paid to market your services. We do this with our Past Due: Boot Camp. We get paid to lead it and a certain percentage of people always hire us for 1-on-1 coaching when the class is over.
An audience of one is a great start. Record yourself on video and use the content in a blog post. I do this at least once per week.
Let’s face it, you can be in business for yourself, but it’s awfully difficult to do it by yourself. I know…I tried. It didn’t work.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money either. I’ve been members of groups like the Free Agent Academy for years. I meet with a group locally twice per month. I pay $195 to hang out with ten business owners to brainstorm and it’s worth far more than I pay.
You’ll find free teleseminars and webinars all over the place. You can even subscribe to podcasts to get a regular boost of knowledge and motivation.
The most helpful thing I did when I started reaching out after my first year of flailing was to go behind the scenes with a coach. I do the same thing at coachU but in a very small group. It’s affordable and will give you the insight you need to become profitable quickly.
If you’re a coach, I know you have a great love for helping people. If you combine that with a bit of business sense, you’ll be completely unstoppable!
(Photo credits jypsygen, leedav, profstewartrk)
{ 0 comments }
Are all the ideas taken? I spoke with a client this morning and he mentioned the market was crowded already for the idea he was pursuing.
I think the real question is perhaps, what makes you remarkable? Why would people want to do business with you vs. someone else?
There are a lot of web designers out there. Why do some charge $175 and others charge $2,000 for the same service? It’s because the one on the upper end is doing something remarkable that has put them in demand.
What do you think? Have the best ideas already been taken?
{ 0 comments }
At the top of the list of things I never thought I’d see in the shower is this bottle of Bacon Pieces. Apparently it was there for nearly two weeks before I caught on.
Is my family so hungry that we need a mid-shower snack? On the outside it may appear that way, but it’s actually a container for a homemade, natural face scrub that my wife, Christine, is trying.
Does this picture describe your marketing? Is it packaged and presented well, but still out of place? Small businesses often make this mistake. We wear suits to attract a certain kind of customer when it’s not really our personality. We try to convert followers in social media for our products without building a relationship first. Some of us even advertise in the phone book when our target market isn’t looking for us there.
Remember, everything you do is marketing. When you answer the phone, you’re marketing. When you reply to an email, you’re marketing. When you cut someone off on the interstate and have your companies name in large print on the back of your car (this has actually happened multiple times to me), you’re marketing.
You can dry your marketing off with these steps. The longer you’ve been screwing it up however, the longer it will take to fix.
You have to be you. We don’t do business with large, faceless organizations any more. Be someone that your market wants to do business with. Don’t try to put on the facade of a large business if your market just wants to talk to you. Social media is a great tool in this case.
Be there when your prospects need you. If you don’t have the right offer at the right time you can kiss the sale goodbye. You also need to make sure you have the right product with the right features and benefits.
You need to have a consistent message. Your blog is considered marketing. Then why, when I visit, does it say:
Welcome to the (Your Company Here) BlogThis is the first post of our Blog.
“You cannot make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific.” – Zig Ziglar
Be very specific in your message. Can your business help everyone? Probably. Can you marketing to everyone. Most likely, no. Know who you’re speaking to and don’t change your message unless you change your market.
Bacon in the shower is remarkable. People will talk about it. This picture has been passed around a lot in our circle of friends. If people aren’t talking about you, your business won’t survive.
These five steps will help improve your marketing, but when it comes down to it, a compass is more important than a roadmap.
What about you? Is your marketing out of place?
{ 0 comments }
|
Become
|
