So you’ve got this service business where you provide services just like hundreds of other service businesses in your industry.  What makes someone who needs your services choose you over any other service provider?

Probably nothing.  It really doesn’t matter what business you’re in the challenge is the same.  In fact, Jonathan Morrow recently addressed this same issue among blogs.

Do you just accept this as the way things are, or do you take steps to make your business the business of choice?

If you want a successful business you take steps to make your business the business of choice.  There is always a way to do it.  It just takes some creative thinking and listening.

Let’s see how this worked for a product you’re probably familiar with.  What would you do if you made tomato juice to get people to buy your juice?  How would you get people to buy your juice to the point that your juice is the juice of choice among tomato juice drinkers?

photo credit: strangelv

There’s a lot of competition among tomato juice.  You have the big names in canned vegetables along with the low cost house brands.  Plus it’s not exactly an exciting product.  I mean how many times have you woke up in a sweat in the middle of the night thinking, “The first thing I have to do in the morning is get some tomato juice”?  Can’t say I have ever had that experience.

Earlier I mentioned anyone can do this it just takes some creative “listening”.  Did you catch that?  Here’s why I say listening.

You are too close to your business and what you sell to know how the people most likely to buy your stuff actually talk about it.  So you have to interact with, engage, and seek out resources where you can capture your ideal prospects engaged in real conversation about what you sell.  The internet has made this eazy-peazy.

Back to our tomato juice company.  Well, they did there homework and here’s what they found:

• credible sources proclaimed people do not eat enough vegetables to maintain a healthy diet
• many people don’t like vegetables and don’t buy them
• a good number of people are already looking for ways to get more vegetables in their diet without eating bowls full of vegetables

Because there is a market of people who already believe they don’t eat enough vegetables there is a market for a vegetable juice.  Tomato juice is a vegetable juice but there are already lots of competitors in the tomato juice market.

So, why not re-position tomato juice as “vegetable” juice?  Why not add other vegetables to your tomato juice so it’s not just tomato juice?  Why not create a new category for tomato juice and call it vegetable juice (V8)?

And that, of course, is exactly how V8 boosted their sales and set themselves apart as the vegetable juice of choice.  Okay, go ahead… slap the heel of your hand against your forehead and say, “I could have had a V8″.

Obviously the creative thinking was used to develop a position for their product that set it apart as it’s own category.

So how do you use this concept in your business?

• Start listening to discover the exact language your potential buyers use
• Start listening for what your best potential buyers are already looking for
• Start listening for what they already believe
• Tie that belief to your service
• Position your service in it’s own category

Now get to work your V8 moment is waiting…

Do it Yourself

Do it with a Little Help

Do it with Guidance

A lot of business owners, entrepreneurs, and SOHO’s don’t just fear marketing they think it takes a lot of work.  While marketing does take work… most of that work revolves around understanding what your best potential buyers need to hear to buy your stuff.

After you get that right it probably takes a whole lot less work than you realize.  Andrea Stenberg recently wrote about ways to re-purpose your blog posts.  Something serious bloggers do on a regular basis.  So it’s easy to forget how something that’s a habit for me is something you don’t even think about.

Although I’m reminded of this fact when working with my individual coaching clients all the time.  They are so relieved to see how you can get so much value from just one simple thing.

The concept is simple.  For everything you do figure out ways to re-purpose and recycle it in as many ways as you can think of so you get the maximum return for your efforts.  This is leveraging.

When identifying ways to leverage remember to respect the different ways people like to consume information.  Some prefer to read, others like to listen, and most enjoy seeing things.

Let’s take something you probably already do and see how that might work.  Let’s say you get the opportunity to speak at a local event.  Here’s what you could do to get the most value from that speaking engagement:

1. Record your live event then either sell the recording or use it as a gift for people who connect with you.
2. Create notes for a hand-out to give people at the live event and then either use those notes with your product for sale, or include them with your gift.
3. Have your speech transcribed from your audio recording then offer attendees the opportunity to get the transcription in exchange for connecting with you.
4. Turn your transcription into an ebook.  You can either sell your ebook or give it away.  When you combine your ebook with the audio, and notes the value increases.
5. Transform your ebook into a number of articles and submit those articles to local publications, as well as, online article directories.
6. Submit audio recordings of your articles to online podcast directories.  Remember to include an offer at the end that invites listeners to get free information and connect with you.
7. Create a video from your articles and audios, and submit your videos to online video directories.
8. Combine your audios, videos, notes, and ebook into a product to either sell or use as an offer to connect with you.
9. Share your free content with other business owners who sell to the same people you do so they can give it as a gift to their customers.

See how easy it is to do just one thing and leverage that work so it works over and over again for you?

The next step is automation.  If you limit yourself to one-on-one interactions you’ll work yourself to death and sell yourself short.  To prevent that simply set-up ways for people to connect with you 24/7/365.  A web page is an easy way to do that.

Then help them stay connected with you by offering your free gift in exchange for their name and email address.  This information is simply collected via a form that’s connected to an auto-responder.  There are so many good things to say about automation I’ll leave that for an entirely different post another day.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Wow, who would have thought something as seemingly trivial as a font change could unleash a torrent of complaints.  But that’s exactly what happened to Swedish furniture maker IKEA.

Unlike most large companies with either indifferent or down right hostile customers IKEA has fans.  So many fans in fact, they have an online community with forums where users can talk about their furniture, products, stores, and share ideas.

According to IKEA they have the most frequently printed catalog in the world.  Previously IKEA used the font Futura in their catalog, BUT someone in the company decided to change the font to Verdana.

Now at the risk of setting off a fire storm I’d like to at least put in a good word for the poor person behind the decision.  Verdana is a preferred font choice for text that will be viewed on line because most viewers find it easier to read than many other fonts.

However, what was overlooked was how this seemingly itsy bitsy teensy weensy change would impact IKEA’s beloved fans.  They love the company so much and feel so much ownership they felt insulted when the company to decided to change their experience without asking them.  Uh-oh!

Now the rest of us would be jumping up and down doing the happy dance if we had such a fan club.  What we can learn from this example is the power of relationship marketing and why it’s so important to think relationships first sales second in our marketing efforts.

We want our clients to feel a part of our business too.  Even it that means they get mad at us for changing something seemingly insignificant in our business.  If we can generate that kind of emotion over a little change then we know we’ve done the best job we could do developing a relationship with our clients.

Kudos to IKEA I admire what you’ve been able to accomplishment.  I’ve no doubt you’ll get yourself out of this sticky wicket all the better for it.

For the rest of us I wonder what about our business creates a feeling of relationship with us… And more importantly what could we do to better create relationships?

Any examples that particularly stand out for you of a business doing a good job developing relationships with their clients and potential clients?

photo credit: MShades

The short answer is there should be no difference whatsoever.  The confusion comes from what you experience and what you may be hearing now.  So let’s sort this all out.

Most business owners, entrepreneurs, and SOHO’s aren’t clear about what marketing is supposed to do.  Marketing has one objective.  That objective is to create relationships.  Boy do I wish I had understood that from the beginning.

Marketing is really about making friends.  Therefore, all good marketing is relationship marketing.  You read the “good” part didn’t you?

Just like when most people hear the word “salesperson” they immediately think about the worst of the worst… the same is true when it comes to how many business owners think about marketing.  You immediately think of the examples of marketing communications that do little more than scream you need to buy and you need to buy now.

The world is not made up of zombies haunting the streets in search of what you sell.  Even the people who do want to buy your stuff will not respond to in-your-face marketing tactics and techniques.  Instead most people are either looking for INFORMATION, or they are open to information about something that could be of interest to them.

Bottom line when it comes to marketing you want to evaluate the way you approach creating those relationships through your marketing communications.

Think about why you develop relationships with some people and not others.  Do you share a common interest or desire?  Do you have a common goal or challenge?  Probably.

You’ve also probably met a lot of people in your life that could have developed into relationships yet they didn’t go anywhere.  Did you do anything beyond the introduction to sustain the relationship?  Were there opportunities for interaction and engagement?  Hmmm, pretty obvious why things just kind of went nowhere.

So, if the purpose of marketing is to create relationships then our marketing must:

• Focus on what the other person wants to hear
• Provide a way to get information about that
• Allow the other person to gain a sense of who you are and what you are about
• Nurture the relationship by continuing to add value
• Provide opportunities for interaction and engagement

And above all don’t take yourself so seriously.  Some of the worst marketing efforts I’ve ever seen were created by business owners who wanted to create the illusion they were a big company when they weren’t… who insisted on using incomprehensible “corporatese” when a simple message would have worked so much better.  No matter what… people buy from people.  The people you market to need to know you are a real person who really cares about what they think… who really wants to help them.

A less than perfect sincere marketing message is a thousand times more powerful than a perfect impersonal one.

Can you think of a really bad marketing communication you’ve gotten lately?  What could the sender have changed to make the message work for you?

photo credit: pjf@cpan

No matter what service you’re selling there are different potential buyers for your services.  This is true for every product or service.  To make my point let’s look at something as mundane and simple as a can of tuna.

You can buy a can of regular tuna for under $1.  You can buy a can of white albacore tuna for about $2.  You can buy a can of organic white tuna for around $5.  Those 3 cans of tuna represent 3 entirely different groups of buyers with 3 entirely different points of view.

In your business you could say the $1 tuna buyers represent desperate buyers.  There are far more desperate buyers than other types of buyers.  These are the people who need your services the most.  They stand to gain the most from what you have to offer.

If you are like most business owners you truly want to help these buyers.  It breaks your heart to see their pain and suffering especially when you know that pain and suffering is needless.

The problem is those desperate buyers don’t see things the same way you do.  Plus they tend to seek quick fixes and instant solutions in an effort to get themselves out of desperation.

Their fears make it nearly impossible for them to invest in your services.  When they do make that scary decision to use your services (from their perspective) they rarely achieve the results they could or should because their fears prevent them from taking the actions they need to take.  When they do take actions they are likely to act in a helter-skelter unfocused way because they are desperately trying to find that instant fix.  Due to their near panic they don’t get the results they should because they aren’t focused on the right things.

The $2 tuna buyers represent the “squishy middle”.  This is a large group of potential buyers who range from nearly desperate to mostly satisfied to those looking to take things to the next level.  You can’t help the nearly desperate or the mostly satisfied because they lack the commitment to take the focused actions required to get the most from your services.  You can help those looking to take things to the next level.  You want your communications to slice those potential buyers from the “squishy middle” and move them into the last group.

The final group is the $5 tuna buyers.  These buyers represent the movers.  By most standards these buyers are already doing well; however, they know they can do better and they are looking for opportunities to get even better results than they are now.  These are your best potential buyers.  They will get the best results and the greatest value from your services because they have the commitment to follow through on the actions they need to take to get the most value and benefit from your services.

The movers and looking to move are your best potential buyers even though they represent the smallest section in your world of potential buyers.  They are the easiest to work with and the easiest to sell.  They get the most value and best results.

Because each set of buyers has an entirely different perspective your marketing communications must be tailored to the specific buyers you want.  The language they use and respond to is very different.  One of the easiest ways for you to find out how they talk about the things they want, and what they need to hear is to look at the books and magazines geared to those buyers.  A trip to your local librairy or bookstore can help you see who your marketing communications are really talking to.

You’ll notice the desperate buyers respond to things that save, promise instant fixes, and cost the least.

The “squishy middle” is only approachable from the nearly desperate and looking to move up ends because the rest are satisfied and unlikely to do anything.  They lack the motivation to take action and you can’t force it.

The movers respond to things that help them gain and grow.  They understand they need effective systems and strategies for long-term success.  They are less focused on price and more focused on the potential value they stand to gain.

So set aside some time to review your marketing communications.  Listen with new ears and see with new eyes.

Who are you talking to?

If you aren’t talking to the potential buyers you want then adapt your communications to better fit the message they need to hear to want to learn more how you could help them.

photo credit: Julien Menichini

Technically a blind spot is a distortion or absence of sight in a small area of the eye.  In practical business terms a blind spot represents the challenges, mistakes, and oversights we face in our own businesses.  We all have blind spots.

What’s so frustrating is the fact that everyone but you can see the mistakes you are making yet no one tells you about them.  Mostly because you don’t ask and also because people don’t want to hurt your feelings, or worse yet, make you mad.

If you’ve ever tried to sell your home or watched HGTV you know that most home owners don’t see the things about their home that make the home less attractive to buyers.  Sometimes it’s an easy fix to get your home buyer ready.  Other times it requires some major work.  Yet the result is worth the effort.

Now I’d like to demonstrate how this can happen in your business as well.  The easiest way to do that is to show you two successful online businesses and demonstrate the impact.  First, I’d like you to go to Yahoo and take a look around.  Even if you’re a regular Yahoo user please take a moment to visit the sight and really look around.  Try to notice things you haven’t noticed before.

Next, go to Google and take a look around.  You can’t miss the difference.  While Yahoo has all kinds of things to look at and click on Google is very sparse.

Here’s why Googles approach has worked so well for Google and Yahoo’s hasn’t worked as well for Yahoo.

When someone new comes to your business whether online or offline that person has three questions you must immediately answer or they leave never to return.  Here are those questions:

1. What is this business/website about?
2. What can this business/website do for me?
3. Is there a good reason for me to do what I can do here?

It seems pretty obvious when you think about it doesn’t it?

When you compared the Yahoo website to Google did you notice how cluttered and confusing Yahoo seemed in comparison?  There were so many different things you could do.  There is so much stuff on the page it doesn’t feel like there is a clear pathway to the information you want.  Yahoo simply looks like a whole lot more work to use than Google.

In contrast Google’s sparseness is easy to look at.  There is a simple pathway to well defined information.  Plus there is one clear action on the page, enter a search phrase in the search box.

A clear path to one action is huge.

That’s exactly what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing strategies.  You want the right people to take an action that connects that person to you and your business.  And that’s all you want.

Everything else must come later after they’ve decided there is a good reason to connect with you.

When you try to do too much, ask too much, and give too much information YOU LOSE!  Even when you are as big as yahoo.

Going back to the concept of blind spots I want you to realize you can’t see what your potential buyers see because you’re too close to your business and too invested in what you’ve done.  So get help from some outside impartial eyes and really pay attention to the feedback you get.

This is something we can help each other with right here.  If you’d like to get constructive feedback about your online presence for your business tell us about your business in the comment box and include a link to your website so others can view your site.

After you view the other person’s website come back here and give constructive feedback about your impression and recommendations for improvements.

Don’t be shy this is an opportunity to get some valuable help!

photo credit: Marcin Wichary

photo credit: kevindooley

Fairs are a big deal here in Iowa.  We have county fairs and then the big state fair.  As far as fairs go the State Fair in Des Moines is ranked one of the best.

Not only is going to the fair a must do before school starts for many local families… the fair is a fantastic place to glean some great insider marketing and sales ideas you can put to work immediately.  More than likely I’ll take at least one day to go to both the Spencer fair (one of the larger county fairs) and the state fair.  I can’t wait.  If you have time between August 13-23 come on over.  We’d love to have you.

While I love the food, the fun, and the things that can only be found at the fair just like everyone else I also love what you can discover there that will help you improve your marketing and sales.

I’ve heard some of the best sales presentations of my life at a state fair.  The really good fair booth renters are truly amazing to watch and listen to.  There are two things you’ll notice immediately.  They are genuinely excited about their product and very likeable people.  Plus they know exactly how to talk about their product in a way that makes you want to listen.

Could the same be said for you?  I’ve seen wonderful business owners with a fantastic product or service who were so uncomfortable, so terrible and awkward explaining it, that they seemed to lose their authenticity.

I’ve suffered through business owners who tried to tell me why they thought I should want their product or service who completely missed the mark.

I recommend you grab a car load of your favorite people and head out early for the local fair.  Plan to stay late so you can squeeze as many experiences as possible into your day.

Make sure you walk past every vendor.  While you’re going to have a blast there are a few things I want you to do while your their:

• Notice where the people most likely to buy your stuff are gathering
• Listen closely to the way the vendors selling to those folks talk about what they’re selling
• Pay attention to how those vendors get those buyers to stop at their booth
• Gather round the vendors who are able to get your buyers to gather around them, and notice why those buyers are stopping
• Pick up the information they’re picking up to take home and study later
• Make a note of the organizations that have vendor booths, food stands, and provide help to run the fair
• Talk to a couple of the best vendors and find out what people are looking for, what’s changed recently, where their hottest market is, etc.

By the time night falls you’ll be physically exhausted BUT your mind will be alive with new ideas for new ways to improve your marketing and sales efforts.

Did direct mail just get harder?

As if it weren’t hard enough to get your letter delivered and opened… a new service is making it even harder.

Earth Class Mail  allows you to view your postal mail online.  You set up a mailing address with this service.  Then they scan the envelop and email you the image.  This allows you to trash the mail you don’t want and then get only the mail you do want delivered to your delivery point address.

While we all would like to get rid of junk mail, if you’re sending pre-approach or sales letters and this service or others like it catch on… wow, things just got one degree more difficult and… potentially very costly.  That’s why you simply can’t afford to make these simple common mistakes that get your mail trashed.

If you want your letter opened it has to look like a personal communication.  That means…

• You never want to send your letter in a company branded envelop
• The return address should not signal this is a business communication or advertisement
• No catchy advertisement phrases should appear on the outside of the envelop
• The address font should look like it was handwritten
• You should always use a regular postage stamp not metered postage.  You can request your mailer use a regular stamp even if you’re bulk mailing

In addition, it also helps to use…

• A non-standard envelop
• A colored envelop like you might use to send a greeting card
• Greeting cards to send your message
• The name of the recipient

Use these tips to make certain your mail gets opened.  That’s the first step toward ensuring your letters produce the results you want.

“Marketing tells a story that spreads.  Sales overcomes the natural resistance to say yes.”

Seth Godin

While larger businesses have marketing departments who create your story and package that story in a memorable way many marketing departments do this poorly.  Plus most entrepreneurs, business owners, and sales professionals don’t have a department to create their story.  So you enter the relationship with your prospective buyer facing a full head of resistance steam.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way.  Everyone from the sole business owner to the international conglomerate has a story.  You just haven’t discovered how to tell your story in a succinct memorable way.  But you can…

The Story that Separates You

photo credit: waferboard

Without a great story you’re just another… insurance salesman, chiropractor, equipment manufacturer, etc.  When you connect with a potential buyer they’re thinking, “Yeah, so what?  There are a hundred guys just like you lined up outside my door.  Why should I pay attention to you?”

When that same person could be thinking, “Hey, that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.  Tell me more about that.”

The story that opens your connection with potential buyers is what makes your offer more inviting and interesting.  This story is what makes you findable to the people most likely to buy your stuff.

photo credit: Collin Grady

Domino’s is just another pizza joint, yet they told a story about delivering fresh hot pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free.

photo credit: David Boyle

Fed Ex is just another delivery company, yet they crafted a story about delivering your package overnight.

You have a story that makes you unique and more valuable than the competition.  You simply need to uncover and tell your story.

The Story that Sells

Your marketing story brings them in.  Your sales story reduces their resistance.  It makes you credible and trust worthy.  It demonstrates your value to the potential buyer.  Bottom line… good stories make your job a whole lot easier.

Elements of a Good Story

A good story is short and powerful.  It can be as short as 1-3 well crafted sentences.  While it’s a lot easier to tell a long story, long stories unless extremely well crafted bore people.  As you develop your short powerful story include these elements:

• Curiosity - Incorporate unexpected things, open a loop with an incomplete thought you have to stick around to finish
• Make it about the people who buy your stuff either explicitly or implicitly
• Keep it logical - Stories have a plot.  Therefore, a person like the people who buy your stuff must have an urgent challenge or problem that is resolved as a result of the actions they took.

Domino’s and Fed Ex condensed their story down into a tagline.  Yours doesn’t have to be that short.  It does need to:

• Speak to the right people
• Share the right message
• Tell your story the right way
• Connect with people at the right time
• Focus on the right reasons people want to act

Craft Your Story

Go ahead and craft your 2 most important stories, the story that separates you and the story that sells.  The story that separates you opens the connection with the other person.  The story that sells extends and solidifies the story that separates you.  Here’s how to craft those stories:

• First, just start telling your story about how you came to be in the business you’re in, and what’s most important or unique about the way you do business or what your stuff does.  Either write it out or make a recording of yourself talking.
• Next make sure your story is specific to the people most likely to buy your stuff, it speaks to something they want now, and helps them see themselves getting what they want.
• Then ruthlessly chop that story down until you have an interesting easy to understand emotionally engaging story.
• Finally,  test your story on real people.

What’s the best story that separates you or sales story you’ve ever heard?  Feel free to share it here.

What’s one of the biggest challenges you face? 

Well, if you’re like most business owners, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals one of your biggest challenges is getting enough prospects to talk to… aka leads.  Plus you have little or no money allocated to or for developing those prospects.  And that means your sales future looks pretty bleak.

photo credit: raulsantosdelacamara

Many find their sales funnel as barren as this desert!

 Retailers have it so Easy…

Don’t you kind of envy retailers?  After all they have ready buyers coming to them.  Retailers get foot traffic from people who are either:

• Looking to buy in the future
• Ready to buy right now

They have real prospects walking right in their front door eager to whip out their wallets and SPEND.  Man, if only you could have it that easy…

You can have it that Easy Too!

When do most people seek out what they want?

• When they know what they want
• When they understand what they get
• When they know what getting that does for them
• When they perceive the value of getting what they want as greater than the cost of getting it

When a potential buyer knows all those things they are a red hot can’t wait to drop my dime buyer.  The secret to attracting those red hot buyers is matching your message to what they already want… to what they’re already looking for.  When you do that you can create a steady stream of hot prospects beating a path to your door.

Newspapers are Dinosaurs and… What that Means for You

Now this might seem a little off track, but if you’ll bear with me here I’ll make it all crystal clear.  Print newspapers are in big trouble.  Their revenue is drying up.

Newspapers have never made their money from subscribers.  Nope, subscribers are just a demographic head count.  Newspapers make their money from advertisers.  But advertisers won’t spend their advertising dollars in a medium that can’t produce a return on their investment.

Now I don’t just mean the regular ads you see throughout the paper.  I also mean the dollars that come in from classified ads.  Once upon a time those lowly classified ads generated over 20 billion dollars for the newspaper industry.  But no more.

So where did all those classified ads go if they aren’t in print newspapers anymore?  Those ads have relocated to online classified ads websites like Craigslist.  There are two big reasons this information is important to you.

First, where are the people most likely to buy your stuff?  Answer - one of the easiest no cost ways to help the right people find YOU is through online classified ads websites.   Jacqui Cheng reports newspaper revenue from classified ads has been cut in half, yet online ads are on the rise.  

Second, online classified ad websites are a great way for you to get no cost high quality leads coming directly to you.  Plus it’s easy to do.  Craigslist.org is the most popular classified ads website in the U.S.  You can use this website to get local leads coming to you… and you can do it for free.  

All you need to do is:

• setup an account
• pick your state
• pick a city
• pick a category to place an ad
• write the ad
• link back to your website
• capture lead info in exchange for something they want

Before you go racing off to Craigslist or any other classified ads website though you need to get ready.  Here are the things you need to do to prepare for success:

• Read this report from the PEW Internet & American Life Project
• Pick a demographic group most likely to buy your stuff
• Write an ad that focuses on what they want
• Include an offer they can’t refuse
• Link back to your lead generation website

And that’s it!

A powerful way to get the people most likely to buy your stuff to contact you.  A powerful way to develop a steady stream of qualified potential buyers connecting with you.  A powerful way to keep your marketing and sale funnel full so you never have to wonder where you’ll find your next prospect.

For more information about how to get real prospects contacting you read here… TPISC Report.