Is There Majesty in What You Do?

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Years ago a man walked past a construction site in New York City where a new building was being built.

Curious, he peered through a cut-out in the wall and saw some workers nearby.  He entered the site and approached the workers.

“Tell me”, he asked of a man laying bricks, “What are you doing?”  The man shot back, “What’s it look like I’m doing?  I’m a bricklayer!”

He approached another worker.  “Tell me”, he asked of a man sawing wood, ‘What are you doing?”  That man said, “What’s it look like — I’m a carpenter!”.

Turning to leave, he approached a young worker who had one of the dirtiest and least impressive jobs on the site — mixing mortar.

cathedral“Tell me”, he asked of the young man, “What are you doing?” The young man took a moment.  Then he said, “What does it look like?  I’m building a cathedral, sir!”.

KEY POINT:
It’s so easy to miss the ‘majesty’ and ‘meaning’ of what you do FOR your clients — especially so if you focus more on HOW you do what you do than what it means to your clients.

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Plan Your Actions / Work Your Plan

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If there’s one word that suggests a business that does marketing by design, not accident it would be . . . CONSISTENCY!

Amateur marketers may do something to market their business, products or services that is really effective. But they won’t do it consistently. The pro’s do!

Take a simple thing like a KITSIMFIL (keep-in-touch, stay-in-mind, fall-in-love) campaign.

All this takes is a commitment to communicate regularly, relevantly and respectfully with someone who may either do business with you or, refer / introduce you to someone who could.

Simple? Easy? Perhaps. It’s certainly not complicated. But it does require commitment.

KEY POINT:

Your marketing methods need to be planned in advance and implemented consistently and conscientiously. THAT . . . is the ‘secret sauce’ to marketing that is effective.

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Mixing Media Means Money

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Media is the ‘means’ of carrying your message to your market.  Increasingly, online media includes not only your website but the media it contains.

Take VIDEO.  It’s engaging.  It’s consistent.  It’s inviting of the response you want from visitors.  Here’s a good example from the email solution provider called Bronto:

bronto

Using video to provide testimonials — in  lieu of text — is a powerful way to get your message across.

KEY POINT:
in the 1960’s Marshall McLuhan wrote “The Medium is The Message”.  Digital media — like video on your website — brings new meaning to that statement and new opportunities for you

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What Experience Is Your Business Giving Off?

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Marketers LOVE messages. Avis had “We Try Harder”. Wendy’s had “Where’s the BEEF?”

But sometimes, in fact, more often than not . . . your ‘message’ isn’t some really well-crafted message that appears in the media.

Nope! It’s the ‘message’ communicated by what Jan Carlson, CEO of SAS Airlines called the “Moments of Truth” . . . moments where customers, clients, or patients come into contact with your business or practice.

Ivan Meisner, founder of BNI just posted about such a ‘Moment’ . . . and, truth be told, he didn’t get what you might call a ‘warm fuzzy’ from a recent contact with an insoucient front desk clerk at a Marriott Hotel.  I learned about Ivan’s horrific treatment through a post on Linkedin.  It was a repost of Ivan’s from his blog.  There were a lot of people retweeting and reposting his sad ‘experience’.

Think Marriott Hotels should be happy?  I don’t think so!

KEY POINT:
The messages customers get or, your staff gives out . . . can make you or break you — especially in this day and age of social media and twittering customers who believe in sharing their good (and, bad) experiences of your business with the rest of the world online!

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Demographic Profiling

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Demographic Profile
If you’ve ever read a book on marketing, you know that sooner or later it suggests you profile your ‘ideal client’ by using what is referred to as ‘demographic’ characteristics.  Basically, that’s actually what it sounds like — a picture (graphic) of the kind of people (Demo) that you’d like as clients . . . based on characteristics they share in common.

Characteristic categories include ‘age’, ‘gender’, ‘occupation’, ‘geographic location’ and so on.

Why Bother?
The value of a demographic profile comes when the characteristics begin to reveal your target market in a way that helps you promote your services to them.  For example, if ‘businessowner’ is one of your common characteristics, that suggests opportunities for how to best connect with them — perhaps through a local business organization such as a Chamber of Commerce, a civic organization such as Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, etc.

KEY POINT:
A demographic profile is a key step in understanding not only WHO you want as a client, but WHERE they may be found and HOW you can best reach them.  Work on making your profile as detailed as possible and you’ll find it is very helpful in marketing your services.

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I’m Sorry, You Do WHAT?

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If you attend a lot of business meetings, you’re probably meeting a lot of people. Meeting a new person means asking (or, being asked), “What do you do?”.

Most of the time, the other person’s response when I ask this question leaves me wondering:

  1. “What do you do, really?”
  2. “Who (do I know who) can best appreciate your doing that?”

If I don’t get a good response, it’s frustrating and wastes a great opportunity.

KEY POINT:
 Communicating what you do for a client . . . in a clear and meaningful manner . . . is no accident.

It takes work to craft a response that helps a qualified person understand, value and appreciate what you do. But don’t forget . . . it’s worth getting it right!

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It’s Value, Not Uniqueness

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The term, “Unique Selling Proposition” has been used way too much.  Especially so if you’re selling a service more than a product.

If you’re selling a tangible product, OK.  It has it’s place.  That’s where ‘New and Improved’ comes from!  But it’s more about the hard features of a tangible product than anything else.

If you’re a service provider, you want to be VALUE-able.  Being able to communicate — and deliver — the VALUE you offer is key.

Ironically, being able to communicate a meaningful value to a prospective client — is actually pretty ‘unique’.

KEY POINT:
As a service provider, where your greatest asset lies between your ears and above your shoulders, you must be able to do two important things:

  1. discern what your target market wants (and, values!), and
  2. communicate your ‘value’ clearly, concisely and effectively

Doing this will cause you be ‘stand out’ from a crowd of competitors who haven’t figured out:

  1. what their real VALUE to a client is, or
  2. how to convey it in an initial conversation so it becomes a RESPONSE-able conversation!
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Following Up is Key

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Marketing is commonly associated with finding and generating new clients. That’s important. But an equally important marketing opportunity is to keep-in-touch with prospects, clients and centers-of-influence after you initially connect with people of interest to you and your business.

Keeping-in-touch is powerful. It’s also a challenge. Two factors will make it easier for you.

First, get permission to do this. Having permission means having the attention of someone. That’s key. Without attention to your message, your marketing will fail.

Second, automate your ‘touches’. Use some kind of email autoresponder to regularly ‘drip’ information of relevance to qualified individuals who have so kindly invited you to keep-in-touch.

Together, permission and automation make keeping-in-touch a SYSTEM . . . and a system will bring you much greater success in marketing your services than if you don’t use one.

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The Referral Engine

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Why do some companies seem to get customers or clients or patients who are referred IN to them as opposed to other firms who have to seek OUT their sources of revenues using direct marketing, cold-calling and the like?

The answer? Simple. Some businesses are just more refer-able. They operate in a manner that invites and even demands their customers and clients to become evangelists for the company’s brand.

In a few weeks, Duct Tape Marketing’s founder, John Jantsch will be releasing a new book — The Referral Engine.

I have an advance copy for a review I’m writing and I am most impressed. Rather than being a book of ‘How To’ (although that is present) this book is more about how to be a business that operates in a manner that generates such exquisite experiences for people that they become the ‘raving fans’ and the ‘brand evangelists’ that drive new customers and clients into contact with the firm.
referralengine
You can get a complimentary download of Chapter 1 of John’s wonderful new book: The Referral Engine

Just click on the cover and you’ll be reading some great new insights in no time!

Enjoy!

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Duct Tape University Launches!

I just returned from a nice trip to Boulder, CO where the 2009 Annual Duct Tape Marketing Coaches ‘Gathering’ took place.

Among the many things I learned out west, was that the long-awaited Duct Tape Marketing University is now ‘officially’ launched  — Woo Hoo!

This is GREAT NEWS!

For many years, I’ve known John Jantsch, Founder of Duct Tape Marketing.  He’s one of the most prolific and incredibly brilliant people I know.  In fact, I often say that he must have cut a deal with the Devil (like Daniel Webster!) to be able to be doing everything he does and generate the volume of information on marketing for small businesses as he does each day.  He’s just incredible.

That’s why it’s also been so difficult to ‘capture his brilliance’ in a format that is highly focused and easily digested.

Until now.

Duct Tape Marketing University

At the 2009 Garthering, John announced the release of the first (of many more) programs that will be leveraging the Internet (where have you heard that before!) to provide timely, topical and extremely convenient access to money-making information that will make money for my clients.

Social Media PRO — The First Course

This is the initial offering from John’s Duct Tape Marketing University.

It’s designed to be a comprehensive course.  It is, too!

Over five (5) sessions . . . over  five (5) weeks . . . you learn how to turn the ‘sea of sewage’ — all the information that’s flowing on the Internet — into a ‘stream of value’ . . . that drives traffic to your website, and puts money in your bank account

Limited Time Offer!!

Because this is a brand new program, I’m still going through it myself.  It’s great.

While the course is ready, I’m not sure I am!  

Frankly, I’ve been one of the people who felt I should get more involved with social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

But truth be told, I felt social media sites were more of a confusing hassle that sucked away my time than put money in my bank.

Now, with Social Media PRO . . . that’s starting to change!

If you’re interested . . . check out this SPECIAL OFFER . . . I’m making to just 20 people who want to make social media make them money, not frustrated!

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