photo credit: Logan Antill

Marketing is the initial connection starting a conversation.  As a business owner you’ve probably felt exactly the way John Jantsch states, “I sure love to work with spreadsheets and do people’s taxes, holy crap, I’ve got to learn how to market.”  Yep, that’s the stark realization.

No matter how much you love doing what you do you don’t get to do it until you attract clients.  Now many of you are repulsed by the idea of marketing your services.  You think as a professional it’s beneath you, or you shouldn’t have to because people should just come to you because of your expertise.

As the bank account dwindles you face the fact that you have to market yourself, or you’ll have to go work for someone else.  Someone who’ll do the marketing for you.  The reason you’re marketing averse is because you’re focusing on what marketing isn’t.  Marketing isn’t:

• hypey communications that mislead people
• shouting louder than the competition about how great you are
• tricking people

Now there are definitely examples of people who market themselves exactly as I’ve described what marketing isn’t.  They do it because they don’t understand marketing.  They buy into a marketing scheme sold by some huskster.  And they’re desperate.

True marketing is:

• talking to potential prospects about their problem(s)
• quietly entering the conversation already in their heads
• genuinely giving and caring first

Does that change your perception?  I hope so.  You see everyone markets it’s how they do it that makes the difference.  Even when you do it well you can’t expect your marketing to do all the work for you and sell your services.  At some point you have to hold a one-on-one human to human genuine conversation with the other person.

I know that’s probably your next fear.  But that’s because you don’t understand that selling is really nothing more than a genuine conversation between you and the other person where you’re seeking to understand if you can help them and how.

photo credit: jsc*

Theoretically all franchise restaurants are identical in food quality, service and cleanliness. Of course, you know that isn’t true. I say, “thank goodness that isn’t true.” Because if it were true I’d be missing out on a great experience.

I live in Iowa, and if there is one thing you can say about Iowa it’s food is important around here. Food is at the epicenter of nearly every social encounter in the state. Our state fair is touted as the best in the world in part because of the food experience that can only be had at our fair, but that’s another story entirely.

If you’re ever hungry for real food, great food, food prepared with love and care come to Iowa. In a small town near where I live there’s a Subway restaurant. Don’t cringe it isn’t like any Subway you’ve ever been to. You see the Subway in Denison, Iowa is owned and operated by “Subway Dave”. I can’t go to any other Subway anywhere because it’s a complete and utter disappointment when compared to “Subway Dave’s” Subway restaurant.

Dave took it to heart when the franchisor told him Subways mean fresh, friendly, and fanatically clean. Perhaps Dave is just a better listener or Subway needs to say it louder to all their franchisees. The aroma of fresh baked bread can be smelled clear down the street.

It literally sparkles with cleanliness when you open the door. And Dave, well Dave knows my name. Dave knows what my family likes. Dave always greets me with a smile and acts like he really cares that he gets to make our family sandwiches.

When Dave and his crew make you a sandwich they do so with care. You’ll never see Dave or his crew slap a sandwich together smashing your sandwich and throwing it at you with a sneer. Nope, Dave really cares!

Dave owns a position in my mind. When I think sandwich I think fast, fresh, and friendly Subway that can only be gotten from “Subway Dave”. I don’t just like Dave’s sandwiches…I LIKE DAVE! I appreciate how wonderful his sandwiches are and I appreciate how much Dave cares about his sandwiches and his clients. Dave earned this position the first time I entered his restaurant at his first location. And Dave is smart enough to make sure he never loses that position.

I know you don’t own a restaurant, but there’s an important lesson here for you to take to the bank in your service business. It doesn’t matter how large or how small your business. It doesn’t matter if you have a connection with a big company or not. You can carve out a position in your client’s and prospects minds. And once you do you can own that position.

When you own a position, provided it’s a positive position, it’s like money in the bank. Julie McManus wrote an article about her airline struggles recently we can all relate to. The airlines own a very negative position in our minds. You don’t want that position.

When you own a position it means you own a space in your clients mind. If I say cola most of you will think Coke because Coke owns that space in your mind. However, when I say Subway I only think of the restaurant owned by “Subway Dave” my experience is no other Subway even comes close to measuring up so they don’t exist. Wouldn’t you like your clients to feel that way about you?

What category can you own in your prospect’s and client’s mind? This is what is special or unique about you and how you do business. Why do your clients choose you over all the other options? If you can’t answer that now then identify what you can do that’s unique, special, and valuable to your clients?

Position yourself to win and then never surrender your position. Positioning is important and it shouldn’t change. It’s related to your values and beliefs. It’s related to your prospects values and beliefs. You have a position now although it may not be a strong one. Make it strong and make it clear in everything you do and say.

photo credit: CJ Sorg

I can’t wait.  It’s the first week of the month and that means I can expect my favorite newsletter to arrive in my mailbox by Friday of this week.  Secretly every day this week I’ll anticipate the arrival of the mail hoping it might show up early.

The day it arrives I put everything aside and rip open the envelop with gleeful anticipation.  It’s like having a mystery box arrive in my mailbox filled with unexpected goodies.  Who knows what treasures I’ll find inside!  I can’t wait to devour yet savor every single word.

Is that how your newsletter recipients feel about your newsletter?  Most businesses in the service industry have a newsletter.  It’s a really good idea if you know why you have one and what you want to accomplish through it.

The purpose of your newsletter is to extend and strengthen your relationship with prospects and clients.  It keeps you in front of them on a regular basis.   For clients, it reinforces their good decision and makes them feel good about you.  When you do it well your newsletter leads to more business and referrals.

How do you get your newsletter to do what you want it to?  As Patsi Krakoff  points out, when your newsletter doesn’t grab the interest of your readers it’s a wasted effort.  If you don’t show them with their very first newsletter it’s worth their time they’ll throw every issue after that directly in the garbage unopened.  OUCH!  A costly mistake.

Here are a few questions you can ask to stimulate how you develop your newsletter.  When you’re deciding what you’ll write about, how you’ll put your newsletter together, and the actions you want them to take because they’ve read your newsletter ask yourself these questions.

• How can I build curiosity around what I want to communicate?
• What unanswered questions do my readers have, and how can I answer one of those questions?
• How can I use a story to make my point in an interesting way?
• What existing beliefs can I reinforce through the content I’m sharing?
• How can I make them laugh about themselves or their circumstances?

“There are things of deadly earnest that can only be safely mentioned under cover of a joke”

J. J. Procter

Imagine your readers waiting by their mail boxes in anticipation for your newsletter.  Just like me, they save every issue and wouldn’t think of giving even one away.  But they will tell others about it, and they’ll tell them how to get their own issue.  It’s the Law of Reciprocity working in your favor.

Communication is measured by the action produced.   How can one of your readers reach out to you?  When they do how will you measure the response your request for action produced?  Complete the circle.  Build the interest, ask for action, measure the results.   

photo credit: keepitsurreal

Will you attend a conference, trade show, or seminar at some point this year?  Most sales people will and they will miss out on a lot of opportunities.  Why?  Because you won’t prepare to turn the connections you make into something more.

When you go to any event you want to promote yourself in a way that makes a positive impression.  An easy way for you to do this is to take something mundane and make it interesting and unique.  You garner interesting simply by developing a different take on something standard making it unexpected.

Your business card is one of the easiest ways for you to gain interest.  Make sure your business card isn’t the same boring business card that everyone else hands out.  One of the easiest things you can do is use the back of the business card to provide something more than just your contact information like you find on the front of your business card.  Use the back of your card to:

• have a picture or drawing that demonstrates the benefit you provide and that you can use as a talking point
• give them something more they can get by going to your website or emailing you deepening their connection to you
• have something interesting, surprising, or intriguing that the recipient will be curious about and want to know more about

Getting attention is just the first step in developing your edge.  The more important next step is gaining their interest.  The people you meet, like you, will be interested in things that benefit them.

The great thing about these events is you have an opportunity to make face-to-face connections that you might otherwise struggle to get.  Don’t waste this opportunity by not having a next step connection already planned out.  When you’re thinking about the next step think about something that adds value to the person you want to connect with.

The next step is something more. 

• What do your prospects want?
• How can you give them something they want?  If you provide them a way to reach out to you to get what they want, and it’s something that really benefits them they will reach out to you.
• And isn’t that a whole lot easier than chasing after people who don’t want to talk to you?

Develop an edge that helps you to increase sales by helping others to be interested in you.

photo credit: abardwell

You and your prospects love information.  In fact, you have to have information.  You love to be in the know and you need information to make informed decisions.  However, you’re only interested in the information that is relevant to you and what you want what you need.

Information has never been more accessible more readily available than it is now.  That’s both a good and a bad thing.  If you dig deep enough search long enough you can probably find anything you need.  But who has enough time to do all that digging all that searching, and more importantly who would even want to?

Wouldn’t you rather have all that information sorted out for you, and only get the bottom line nuts and bolts that you need?  You bet you would, and that’s why you read this blog.  Because I give you immediately actionable ideas that you can take to the bank for your business.

What most service professionals underestimate or overlook is that you can do that for your best prospects too, and they will appreciate it.  You have the information they desperately need floating around in your head.  All you need to do is get it out of your head and put it into a readily consumable format such as:

• a comparison chart
• graph
• concise report of what to avoid or what to look for
• audio recording
• interview
• video
• reference package
• etc.

That valuable information serves you two-fold.  First, it positions you as a trusted adviser.  Second, it helps you to filter for qualified prospects and gets them to reach out to you.

Start looking around you for things you already have that you can repurpose for your prospects.  Repackage it so the message matches what you know your market wants and give it to them the way they want it and …voila instant prospect attraction.