Archive for the ‘Filling the Pipeline’ Category
At this point, most people have heard of social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other sites. They have been accepted as a great way to connect with friends and as a business networking platform. But if you want to use social networking sites to propel your business to the next level, your best bet is a lesser known site called LinkedIn. It’s a social networking site that is designed just for business-minded individuals like you who don’t want to be bothered with all the useless frills and apps that come with other networking sites.
Taking Care of Business
Not only is LinkedIn preferable for business users because you don’t have to worry about all the junk, but you also don’t have to worry about all the people that are not relevant to your business. It may be a smaller site, but when it comes to your business contacts and clients, quality is far more important than quantity. Plus, if people are talking to you through LinkedIn, they’re more likely to think you’re a quality contact too. If you’re starting a viral marketing campaign, LinkedIn can be just the ticket you need to get things going. The best viral products work on already existing networks. LinkedIn is a great network to start your campaign on, especially if your products serve people in business rather than the general public.
Search Engine Happiness
LinkedIn can help get you noticed on search engines. These pages actually get pretty high SEO rankings, so taking advantage of that can put you at the top of search engines. When you sign up on LinkedIn, use a name based on your own name, or even keywords that pertain to your business. That way, if someone searches that term, your page will come up.
Find Customers
If your clients are regular everyday people, then you might not have huge success using LinkedIn to find customers. But if you cater to people who are in business themselves, then this network is a great place to find new customers. Just check your contact’s networks for people that might be interested in your services and send them a message or a contact request. Just try not to compete with the contacts you’re finding them through; that’s likely to lose you more clients than you make.
Manage Customer Relationships
In today’s market, customer service is key, particularly if you do business online. If you don’t provide people with the kind of relationship they want, they can find ten other people who are willing to. LinkedIn is a great way to communicate with your customers and help keep them happy. If they’re happy, you’ll not only keep their business, but they may just recommend it to their friends and business associates.
Promoting Your Business
When using social networks to promote your business, it helps to only use one or two instead of spreading yourself too thin. If you only pick one, LinkedIn is a great choice.
Deanna Maio, Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to attract more clients, make more sales, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Being able to connect online with your target market is a powerful marketing strategy. Using the internet as a way to reach your customers is the tactic with the shortest history, but it is a growing industry with an amazing amount of promise. Recently, Pepsi pulled out of Superbowl Sunday and opted instead to spend its money on social media advertising. However, simply writing a blog or creating a facebook status update for your business doesn’t necessarily mean you're going to be able to really reach your audience. So, instead of wasting time and resources, focus your efforts by creating an online presence that is genuine.
Step One: Determine where your patrons hang out
What websites do they visit? What magazines are they buying? What gender are they? What age range, income status or household size are your preferred customers? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself help pinpoint your clients’ likes and dislikes. Creating an online presence is no longer just about creating a “cool” website. It’s about creating a relationship that is sincere and lasting. This sort of relationship, like any relationship, takes time but is well worth the effort.
As you stare at a blank computer screen, these questions can seem daunting, but have no fear. There are many free resources available to help you. One easy way to keep your ear to ground is to read blogs. There is a blog on just about every topic under the sun. Analyze your audience by determining what blogs they frequent and then search for advertising guidelines. What verbiage is the most effective? Do they use stories to connect to the audience? What online contests or surveys seem to have the most "curb appeal" to readers? It is important to find a blog that:
- Speaks on a relevant topic
- Has a fair amount of readers
- Doesn’t have too many competing ads
Social Networking Sites
Social media has become an unstoppable force in our personal and professional lives. Many of us have facebook sites, have "tweeted" and established connections through Linkdn. If any of this sounds unfamiliar, then start there. These social media platforms are free to use and extremely user-friendly. Creating profiles on these sites will aid you tremendously in creating a greater presence online. This will allow your customers to connect with you in a more personal way, while still promoting your business, product or services. You can post links from your facebook profile to your business profile or website. The link below will show you how to create links, import video and transform your facebook presence for your business use.
http://mashable.com/2009/09/18/facebook-newsroom/
Linkedn is an amazing networking resource and Twitter allows you to share resources, stories and establish a more tangible presence because of its informal nature.
Once you've exhausted your free resources, and have a more concrete idea of "how" to relate to your customers, you should research different websites to link to. By creating links to your website, you’re creating new veins that lead customers to your business. You should only create links to websites that will give your website greater credibility. For instance, you can join your local Better Business Bureau and create a link from their website to yours. That is just one idea but there are myriad of different techniques that will increase traffic on your site. The link listed below gives a thorough overview of "who" you should build links with:
www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml
Everyone uses search engines to find a business
These search engines capture the questions that your customers are asking. Google, Yahoo, MSN and a whole slew of other search engines offer many free ways to understand that data and learn how to capitalize on it. In order to receive that data from Google, you must have a Google account. Creating an account is free and super easy. Once you have an account, you can publish and register your site with Google. By registering your site, you are asking Google to include you in its index. Once your site is indexed, you will be more easily found by customers searching for information on your business products or services.
Enewsletters and email marketing messages are a great way to reach a targeted audience and make sure the name of your business is being splashed all over the internet. Enewsletters are cost effective, and recipients subscribed to them, are generally looking forward to receiving them and therefore more receptive to the content. Writing for your target audience is easier if you visit sites they visit, consider what they need, and write content that will appeal to them. For instance, if most of your clients are female business owners, write about the struggles they might face in the personal and professional arena. Post gender-specific resources on your website such as programs that offer funding for women business owners. If you offer relevant and interesting information on your website or through your ezine, you will be viewed as more credible. Your target audience will see you as an advocate for their needs and you will gain their trust. A consumer's trust is one of the most valuable things a business can earn.
While you want your business name mentioned as many time as it can be on the internet, maintaining your integrity is paramount. If you’re really stuck for ideas on how to create a greater online presence, research what your competition is doing. While you may not want to link to the same website, blog, or social networking site, you can at least use those ideas to get the creative juices flowing.
To create a more effective and larger presence online, track everything from the effectiveness of an article, to the color of the ad, the font, the keywords you've used in your website, the amount of friends you have on facebook, the number of people reading your "tweets" and so on. Data collection programs like Google analytics and basic split testing tactics often provide all the information you need to create and perfect the online ways you use to reach your target audience. Testing and tracking optimizes your efforts and helps you hone in on those messages which have the most influence. But only you can create the material that your readers will find genuine, sincere and trustworthy.
So be the speaker they are craving to hear and create an online presence that they want to hang out with. Do this through humor, sincerity and a genuine love for your customers.
Presented by: Deanna Maio, Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to attract more clients, make more sales, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
As an entrepreneur you may hear a lot about networking and wonder what all the hubbub is about. Networking, both online and off, is a wonderful way to build connections in your industry. It's a terrific way to increase awareness, build your customer base and ultimately boost your profits. However, you probably know that already. What you may not know is that networking is also a wonderful way to motivate yourself.
Impress Them
Networking pushes you to be at your absolute best. If you’re putting forth the effort to network, you’ll want to stand out. So when you communicate with the public, strive to make your first impression peerless, by being ready, willing and able to give them an informative and inspirational pitch about your business.
Connections Count
You never know where you'll meet your next business partner, a superior customer or one of those coveted 'Paul Revere type' of individuals who spreads news faster than CNN. If you meet a 'Paul Revere' and can get them excited about your business, you’ve just launched your business into a whole new arena.
Moves You Forward
Because networking is usually a scheduled event, it accomplishes two things. It drives you to prepare before you head to the website or event. And it pushes you too put some serious thought into how you present yourself both online and off. Networking forces you to think about your business, where it’s going, what your future plans are, and how you want to be perceived.
Ideas Ignited
For most people, networking with other successful people sparks their competitive spirit. We see other successful people and think, “If they can do that, so can I.” We hear great ideas, product launches, marketing tactics and business strategies and we think, “How can I do this too? Hearing the stories of others is very motivating!
Mindset Shifts
Finally, networking both online and off (though online networking can be done in your pajamas with unruly hair and un-brushed teeth) makes us feel and act more professionally. For the most part, the simple act of being a professional makes us feel more professional. We start to feel less like a person who works at home in their pajamas and more like a business person, a CEO, and most importantly, a successful entrepreneur.
Deanna Maio, Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to attract more clients, make more sales, stop wasting time, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Imagine you went to an auto mechanic, and he told you he was going to lift the hood of your car, shine a light around, and move some parts up and down. Does this sound like a service you would pay for? Of course not. What you want to hear from the mechanic is that he will fix your car. If you're not telling clients about the results your work produces and the benefits they will get from it, they will never see the value of it.
Market the results of your work, not the process you use
If you were in my profession of business coaching, and someone asked you, "What is coaching?" you would be unlikely to enroll a client by saying, "We meet by phone for half an hour each week and talk about your goals." That's just the process - where's the value? A slightly better answer might be to say, "Coaching is a process for helping you get what you want." Now you are stating some value. But an even better answer would be not to market "coaching" at all, but instead to market higher earnings, improved selling skills, or more fulfilling work. You would respond not with a definition, but with a statement of benefits: "I help my clients learn to make more money with less effort."
Offer Results, Not Services
Instead of offering tax preparation, an accountant could invite you to "save money on taxes." Instead of selling logo design, a graphic designer could suggest "get your business noticed." Rather than proposing a company retreat, a trainer could promise "improved teamwork and cooperation." Whenever possible, market benefits your clients can place a dollar value on. You're asking them to write you a check, so if they can't see a monetary benefit, they are much less likely to do it. In a corporate environment, talk about improved productivity or employee retention. With individuals, describe the benefits of a healthier lifestyle or better relationships. People need to see your service as the answer to an essential need they have. If you allow it to be something that's just nice to have, you will either limit your market to clients with a budget for luxuries, or you'll limit your rate to only what people will pay for something that's nice but they don't really need.
Homework: Try this over the next week!
Sit down with paper and pencil, at your keyboard, or with a voice recorder, and list out all of the results your clients result after working with you. Be as specific as possible. Extra credit if you call a past client and ask them what results they got after working with you! Consider financial, health, relationship, personal development, and business improvements. Extra, extra credit if you can use mathematical or measurable facts (i.e., for a business coach, "increased income 600%"; for a massage therapist, "reduced pain by 30%", etc.)
Deanna Maio, Certified Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to stop wasting time, start making more money, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Choosing a niche helps you stand out from the crowd. Another way you may be preventing yourself from getting clients is refusing to choose a niche for your business or private practice. I know, I know, you don't want to limit yourself. But the truth is that having a niche doesn't limit you; it focuses you. If a client shows up at your door, of course you can choose to work with them, regardless of whether they fit into your niche. But to be effective at marketing, you need some kind of organizing principle for your outreach activities.
The universe is too big to market to all of it
Choose a niche and become known for it. Considering the metaphor that marketing is like a water system, not having a niche is like running all over town to different water faucets instead of coming back to the same one each time. Even if you do have a bucket instead of a drinking glass, it's inefficient. And worse, you might not even be able to find the faucets in all those unfamiliar places. Not having a niche means that attracting clients is impossible. You must spend all your time pursuing clients; there's nothing that brings them to you.
What's a Niche?
Your niche can be a target market, a specialty or both. For example, your target market might be "executive women" or "high-tech companies." Your specialty could be "career transition" or "productivity improvement." Having both a target market and a specialty to define your niche is ideal, e.g. "executive women in career transition," or "productivity improvement for high-tech companies." When you identify a niche that works for you, you can become known in that niche. That way, clients start calling you. Usually, you begin by networking in your niche and ultimately graduate to writing, speaking, or teaching to establish yourself as an expert. Keep in mind that networking is not just going to a room and exchanging business cards; it's creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information.
Make Connections
You don't have to wait for word of mouth within your niche; you can create it, by actively reaching out to others who are either in your niche themselves or serve your niche by what they do. For example if your niche is helping small business owners become financially successful, certainly you want to network with entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals. But you should also get to know accountants, small business attorneys, staff at entrepreneurship centers, career counselors, psychotherapists, business bankers, newsletter editors, merchant card providers... anyone who comes in contact with your niche on a daily basis. Meet with them, call them, write to them, write for them, speak to them, and teach them.
Following the first rule of choosing a few simple things to do and doing them consistently, this is completely within your grasp if you focus on one narrowly defined niche. If you leave your niche too broad or try to "cheat" by having several niches, your client universe becomes too large and you are once again spread too thin.
Homework: Try this over the next week!
Connect with one person in your niche or target market; ask them about their pains, problems, challenges, desires, and dreams. Every time you talk with someone in your niche, it's like conducting free market research - the information you learn can be used to create new products and services, prepare marketing materials, and demonstrate in conversation that you know what they're dealing with. When you understand your niche, you'll be seen as an expert, and your phone will start ringing off the hook.
Deanna Maio, Certified Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to stop wasting time, start making more money, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
Consistency is Key
Why is it that some consultants, coaches, and other independent professionals have all the business they need, while others struggle by with only a few clients? Is there a hidden secret no one is telling you? The answer may be simpler than you think. In this special report, you will discover three things you may be doing now that can actually prevent you from getting clients, how the Persistence Effect can liberate your marketing, and one simple habit you can begin today that may bring you all the clients you will ever need.
WHEN LESS BECOMES MORE
It's easy to think there is some hidden secret to marketing your business or professional practice. There are so many books to read, classes to take, and mentors, coaches, and consultants you could hire that it makes the process seem mysterious or overwhelming. But there is a simple answer and it's the first of five secrets I'm going to share with you.
Choose a set of simple, effective things to do and do them consistently
The real key to successful marketing is picking just a few simple, effective things to do and then doing those things consistently. This is how you can build your business more quickly by doing less. Imagine that you were trying to fill a water barrel with a drinking glass. You would have to make trip after trip, going back to the faucet over and over. In marketing, this is like doing a little bit of networking, some haphazard follow-up, trying to get some publicity, giving a talk, buying a booth at a trade show, placing an ad, then writing an article... Instead, why not use a bucket to fill your barrel? You can carry more water while making fewer trips. Instead of spreading yourself thin with a dozen different marketing strategies, you could simply do some networking with consistent follow-up, give some talks and follow up with those you meet, and that would be it, just three strategies: networking, public speaking, and following up. Your barrel fills faster, and you're less tired. Trying to do too much is one of the ways you may be sabotaging your own marketing efforts. Stop-and-start marketing can actually prevent you from getting clients. It wears you out running back and forth. You never spend enough energy on any one approach to really make a difference, but instead you make yourself less efficient and effective in all areas.
Deanna Maio, Certified Business Coach & Consultant, teaches women business owners how to stop wasting time, start making more money, and create a business that acts as a vehicle for living the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to increase your income and client base in your business, visit http://www.savvygals.com/
