THIS is Alignment!

, , ,

I just discovered a business called Snip-Its.

picture-12

It’s a childrens hair salon designed to make getting your child’s hair cut a truly fun adventure.

It began when Joanna Meiseles, (the granddaughter of the famous Hollywood comedy star, Jack benny!) wanted to find a way to make getting a child’s hair cut something that won’t make you want to pull your hair out at the same time.

In The Marketing Club, we constantly seek to help you align the way you do business with the expectations of the market segment/s you want to attract as clients.  That’s ALIGNMENT.

In Joanna’s case, her target demographic is a child. And what do kids love more than anything else?  Yep.  Having fun!

So Joanna has created a themed environment that, from the moment you walk into it, screams ‘FUN’!

Her staff are trained specifically to be able to understand and respond to the unique needs of younger children.  Joanna also created a cast of characters who make getting your hair cut a truly fun experience.

Does this cause Snip-Its to stand out . . . to be differentiated . . . from any plain old hair salon?

What do you think?  (Of course it does!)

Click here . . . and see for yourself what a great example of ALIGNMENT looks like when it’s done well and with a passion!

by

March 31 Marketing Webinar

,

On Tuesday, March 31 at 9 AM PDT or NOON EDT there is an online panel discussion that is #2 in a 5 part series sponsored by HP.

Tomorrow’s topic:

Creating Marketing Materials That Educate

The panelists include my good friend, John Jantsch, Founder of Duct Tape Marketing, Cliff Atkinson, Author of Beyond Bullet Points, Amy Nelson of LogoWorks, and Chanpory Rith, Publisher of Lifeclever.

picture-9

The panel maintains that now, more than ever, creating marketing materials that attract interest and build trust builds business!

CLICK HERE . . . so you can register online!

by

New Special Report Released!

,

ucds-sr-cover


“How To Build a Clientele . . . By Design, Not Accident”
is now available!

If you’re a professional (e.g. JD, CPA, CFP, ChFC, etc.) OR you’re a service professional offering a valuable, problem-solving expertise to your clients AND you want to grow your clientele better in the future than you may have done in the past . . . DOWNLOAD THIS REPORT!

by

Check Your Website

,

If you’ve ever wondered whether your website could be better . . . technically speaking, wonder no longer

Check out this site:  websitegrader.com.  

It’s a free service of Hubspot that gives you an immediate report about what’s effective about your website (or, your competitor’s!).  

But alas, it also points out where you may need to do some work to be even better.

But you’d want to know that too, right?  ‘-)

by

The Power of 3

,

I’m listening to Clark Howard, the popular radio show host whose claim to fame is to help people, “Spend Less, Save More and Avoid Getting Ripped Off!”.  

Earlier today, I was with a client whose claim to fame is help her clients create a business where the “Employees are Happy, Customers are Loyal and Competitors are Very, Very Nervous!”.  At a recent meeting with yet another client, I heard her claim . . . “We manage your books so you can manage your business”.  “Odd” I thought.  “Only two claims there”.  So I suggested a third . . . “and have a life!”.  It just seemed to work.  

untitledThere’s just something memorable about making three (3) claims about your business.  Like prunes.  Two may not be enough to do the job you want.  Four may be overkill and asking for trouble!  
‘-)

Remember this power of 3 . . . and find 3 things you offer that make you memorable and valuable to your target market.

by

The Evolution of Relationships

In a recent post on Technosailor, Aaron Brazell discussed the recent SXSW (South by Southwest) event that is a gathering for creative people in the advertising and marketing world.

What I loved about Aaron’s post was his observation about the various kinds of people who attend this annual event.

Year 1 attendees . . . they walk around like high school freshmen with wide eyes, taking in everything but definitely looking kind of lost at the same time.

Year 2 attendees . . . they’re like the sophomores —  increasingly sophisticated and full of youthful energy that isn’t overly focused.  They now understand some things they want to do and they work their buns off to ‘make the rounds’ of all the events and attend all the parties they can.  (Sounds like a frentic sprint to some nebulous finish, doesn’t it?)

Year 3 attendees . . . these are the ‘graduates’!  Here’s what Aaron wrote about them: “Year 3 . . . is less about meeting everyone and doing everything than spending time building on the relationships that matter most. This means long lunches, and maybe avoiding the “meat market” networking parties in favor of smaller, intimate settings.”

mng-lunch

Interesting.  The ‘seasoned’ people aren’t running around loose as loons . . . they’re carefully selecting which people offer them the most durable and valuable relationships . . . and they’re investing their time and attention with them.

The old expression, “You can’t be all things to all people” is evident in the way the ‘seasoned’ attendees choose to participate. 

In your business . . . being equally selective in who you choose to develop a long-term relationship with is the mark of a seasoned business owner or professional who is often known as a ‘Rainmaker’.  

I hope you take a lesson from the students who grow from gawky freshmen to sophisticated seniors.  

The best relationship builders in any business or professional practice are those who honor QUALITY over QUANTITY in their relationships with prospects, clients and centers-of-influence.

Think about it.  More importantly, do so something with this insight!

by

When The Message is The Medium

,

What makes your business memorable? Attractive? Prefer-able?

Emotion! Specifically, an emotional connection with your prospect.

It can be . . . ANY thing . . . you don’t quite expect but still find emotionally delightful. A pattern interruption. ANYthing, get it?

Enter Southwest Airlines.  Actually, a crew member named David.  David definitely knows how to connect with his passengers!  😉

picture-7

Long known for doing things differently, their culture supports flight attendants in taking chances, within reason of course, to ‘stand out’ from the crowd of “Me-Too” airlines.  This is an example of how to do that . . . quite effectively.

In Session 3 of The Marketing Club, we drill down into how to create ‘attractive’ messages for your business.  Messages that capture attention and attract response. But until you can attend that session, settle back and enjoy a ‘message’ that connects with these Southwest Airlines passengers . . . very nicely!

Enjoy!

by

What’s Better than a Stimulus?

I just read a post by my friend and mentor, John Jantsch — founder of Duct Tape Marketing.

He’s a regular contributor on OPEN FORUM from AMERICAN EXPRESS — a valuable small business blog.

John made several suggestions to get the economy going again:

  1. fund the SBCD and SCORE chapters in every community possible
  2. create legislation that encourages private capital being made available for entrepreneurial ventures
  3. eliminate the ‘red tape’ and bureaucratic hassles that smaller employers must navigate to hire new staff
  4. fix the healthcare access issue that cause many people to remain in positions that don’t leverage their talents

John’s thinking is pretty good. 

Here’s what I posted in return:

John, you make some good points.

Experience with the recent government intervention in the economy — from all parties — suggests that special interests will always seek to benefit at the expense of the general interest. Being a realist then, means adopting the adage that, “if it’s going to be, it’s up to ME” (Yes, Mr. or Mrs. or Miss Small Business owner — the economic backbone of the whole danged shootin’ match!)

Each person on main street or facebook or whatever . . . needs to go back to the value proposition that got us here in the first place . . . i.e. know WHO wants WHAT and HOW to give it to them.

I can’t recall a single business that failed . . . because it created and distributed value to a marketplace that cared to have it.

Maybe we need to re-mind ourselves of this more often. And, rather than wait for some kind of help from Washington, DC . . . just get on with the doing what we small business people do best . . . create value, market it effectively and profit as a result!

by

Who MOST Cares About Your Business?

,

In Session #2 of The Marketing Club, we discuss this issue in far greater depth and detail.  

But what it comes down to is this . . . “Who REALLY cares about the BENEFICICIAL DIFFERENCE you can create for them with your business product or service?”

For example, consider someone I call “The Midnight Dentist”.  dentistThis is a dentist who, upon graduation from Dental School, decided that he didn’t want to join an existing dental practice as a ‘junior associate’ and hope to (one day!) become a partner.

Only problem is, equipping a fully-equipped dental office and operatory is rather expensive.  Far more so than our ‘Dr. Midnight’ had to invest while struggling to pay off the student loans he incurred during college and dental school.

Solution?  He goes to a local dental group with a great proposition.  “Let me use your office ‘after hours’.  I’ll pay you a percentage of my billings as rent”.  The ‘daytime’ dentists realized they were making no money ‘after hours’ so they agreed.  

Then, Dr. Midnight approaches the local factories and tells the employees “I’m a dentist who specializes in people who work second shift and know what hard work is . . . and I’m open from midnight to 6 AM!”.  

Long story short, the young dentist soon had a thriving practice working with largely 2nd shift factory workers who he knew these factory workers, “. . . can never  find a dentist who’s willing to accommodate our work schedule!”  

Oh yes.  Market research?  Dr. Midnight’s father worked second shift in an auto factory in Michigan!  See, researching your ideal market pays off when you want to attract it to you!

A little odd?  OK, I’ll grant you that.  But seriously . . . look at the lesson here:  if you find a market that you’re suited to work with and you can communicate why you’re attractive to the members of that market . . . you’ll probably do very, very well!”

If you’d like to learn more about how to identify and attract your ‘ideal’ market for your business, products and services . . . come to one of our weekly webinars on the topic.  You’ll be under no obligation to do anything other than show up and, I hope, learn something of value to you.

by

Attitude -> Altitude

In a former life, I was a pilot.  And one of the lessons I learned while learning to fly an aircraft is that the ATTITUDE of my aircraft would determine the ALTITUDE I would reach.

Without getting overly technical, this ‘rule’ only works when there’s adequate forward thrust.  But I digress . . . ‘-)

How does this apply to you and your business?  Simple.  Your mental attitude also has a lot to do with the success you’ll achieve for your business.

And, just as the ‘drag’ or friction factor can compromise an aircraft’s ability to fly, an “I can’t” attitude can compromise your  businesss’ performance faster than you can say, “MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY”.

Here’s a quick video that I feel makes some good points you can use to keep your head on straight — afterall, in turbulence, when you’re the pilot, it is your responsibility to keep ‘flying the aircraft’.  I hope you remember to keep ‘running the business’ — no matter what’s going on in the economy.  

Remember . . . FLY YOUR AIRCRAFT! 

by