Learn to Break the “Ice” and Success Will Pour In

So, now you know who your viable audience is, you have the easy part out the way. When talking with clients I noticed most of the time it’s not the research or knowing what they want to do and how to do, but rather actually doing it and getting started. Getting started is where they freeze up. So, do you know how to break the ice?

If you feel uncomfortable networking in a room full of people you don’t know, then it’s worth remembering that just about everybody else does too.  If you take the initiative and open the conversation with someone, they will be extremely grateful as it takes the pressure off them, and then if you focus on finding out about them, this takes the pressure back off you and builds that know, like, and trust factor.

Still nervous?  Try this, pretend you are the host of the event and introduce yourself with “Hi, I’m (name), we haven’t met before have we?”  Simple!  They will respond by asking you your name and then you ask what they do, how can you help and what would be a good referral to them.  Few people bother to find out this basic information so this will go a long way to building solid relationships.

Don’t get caught up with one person for the whole event though.  If you feel they would be a good contact with you suggest that you meet for coffee and that you will call them tomorrow to set up a date.  Then put a note on the back of their business card to remind you and suggest to them that you both carry on circulating.

Sometimes you may meet someone who is not a good match but find it difficult to “escape” without offending them.  If this is the case, just say something like, “I will keep you in mind, it was great to meet you, I wont take up anymore of your time.  Thank you for the conversation.” Then you can both carry on circulating.

Nervousness happens and always will, but it’s how you attack that nervousness that will determine your success. So, takes these simple steps to break the ice and slide into success TODAY! Also, don’t forget YOUR FREE report, To find out why your potential customers aren’t buying from you and what you can do to get clients to your door, download “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”

Do You Know What You Really Do For Your Clients?

We often know exactly what we do and why others might need our services, but do you truly get your message across in a simple to understand manor that absolutely anyone can get? When you explain your services to a prospect or potential referral source, do they know exactly how they are going to benefit from your service?

The problem today that I see professionals making time and time again is that they tell people exactly what they do, NOT what their service is going to do for the prospect. Let me explain what I mean by this.

You have a process that you go through with your clients in order to get to the results that they need or want. You are so proud of this process, you actually have it down to a tee and can’t wait to share it. You talk about how long you have been in business, what technology you use etc. However, the client really doesn’t care about what you do, they only care about what this is going to do for them. You have heard about the WIIFM frequency (what’s in it for ME!). This is the frequency that we are all tuned into, including you and me.

Another mistake that we make is we label ourselves so that when we are asked “What do you do?” we respond with a title such as “I’m a mortgage advisor,” or “I’m a coach.” There are hundreds and thousands of people around with such titles. As soon as you announce your title, people just tune out and they become not interested.

It is your job to describe what you do and do it in such a way that it makes sense to who ever you are speaking to. You need a response like “Ahhh, that’s exactly what I need right now” or “you understand my problem, I think you can help,” or “I know someone who needs your service.” Once you hear one of these phrases you know you have explained it in such a way that you have pressed the right buttons and they know you have got the solution that they need. This is probably the most important part of client attraction. If you are not getting your message across, you are losing potential clients.

So, ask yourself “what benefit do my clients get when they work with me?” You are looking for results and solutions.

Also, don’t forget to find out why they are not buying from you download my latest report, “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You” Yours FREE For A Limited Time!

Ingredients for Success…Projecting Passion AND Value

While making Halloween treats with the kids it got me to thinking about some key ingredients, key ingredients that is needed for your marketing success. In your marketing message recipe you need to be sure to add 2 ingredients…you need to add both passion and value for this recipe to be both successful and tasty :).

Your marketing message should be honest and authentic. You’re not trying to sell people something they don’t want or need, but you’re inviting them to find out how you can help them to solve an issue. When your marketing message doesn’t convey any real value, that’s when you have to struggle to sell yourself and you end up throwing money away on ineffective advertising and promotion. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Is what you do in line with your life’s purpose?

Whatever you are feeling about your business will come across in your marketing efforts and messages. Notice how you approach your business. Does it feel like a race for the money, rather than being of service to others? Has the meaning of what you’re doing been lost? Are you passionate about what you do?

Passion makes you stand out and makes you more memorable. People will want to work with you and refer others to you if you are passionate about how you can help them. Take a step back and remember the reason you got into business in the first place, remember the excitement you first felt when you started planning and telling people about your business.

Make your business stand out

Think of ways that your can wow your clients so that they can’t help but rave about your services. What can you offer them that no one else in your industry would dream of but it would make their whole buying experience a memorable one. Could you offer them free email support or extra phone support on certain days in the month. Could you create “drop in days” when they don’t need an appointment. How could you jazz up your waiting room so that your clients found it a pleasure to be there?
Grab a blank piece of paper and get creative.

Walk your talk

A client of mine presented me with a business card the other day of a guy whose services he was considering using. He needed the service but was reluctant to use them as something just didn’t feel right. I took the card and instantly knew what he meant. The card was very flimsy and had a @yahoo.com email address. On the reverse of the card it said “free cards at vista print.” Before even looking any further at this business, what message do you think he was projecting. The whole thing looked very unprofessional and put me on my guard right away.

Put yourself in your clients shoes and think about what you would expect to see if you were the one hiring your services. Do you practice what you preach? Are you living your life-like your message?

Also, don’t forget to continue to master the marketing, download your free report, “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”  Get It Today!!

Happy Halloween and Have a great marketing week!!

1 Tag Line That Comes with an Infinite Number of Sells!

Happy Monday Marketers!

Now that you know if your target audience is viable and who your viable target audience is, it’s time to develop that tag line that will get you an infinite number of sells. Your tag line can simply be an introduction to people to let them know what it is you do without you ever being there.  Your tag line is going to be a much smaller statement than your statement of results, usually an element of it, which can be used within your logo. Your tag line serves as way to get people talking and wanting to inquire for more information.

Unfortunately, most people think you need a clever tag line, a play on words or something funny.  This is fine if it really tells the customer what you do, but generally I find the simpler the tagline, the easier it is for people to really understand what you do.  Now, I am not one to cast judgements here, I have been as guilty as anyone in developing tag line that didn’t really mean much.  My tag line for my first company, Amazing Life Coaching, was “unlock your potential, fulfil your dreams.”  This isn’t too bad but it doesn’t really tell the prospect what I can really do for them.  My next attempt when I started Coach UK Ltd was, “effective strategies for progressive companies.”  Now I will be the first to admit that this is awful.  What does it mean?

So my latest tag line now for Mastering the Marketing is “more clients, in less time with less effort.”  This gets far more attention and leaves no doubt in what I can do for the prospect.  Can you see the difference here?

Your tag line will become stronger and clearer over time, so don’t worry if it doesn’t roll of the tongue immediately, it will come and there is nothing to stop you from changing it whenever you feel you have a better one.  Just think that your tag line might be the only thing that they remember about you, so keep working on it and make it a good one.

Would you like to get some quality information about how to get all the clients you need?  Well, download my latest FREE report,  “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”  TODAY!!

How Viable is your Audience?

This weekend I attended an event and while I was networking it got me thinking about the audience around me. So, do you know who your audience is and is this audience a viable one? Why do I ask?

It is pointless marketing to someone if they are not easily found in large numbers or even when you find them, they can’t afford to pay you.  You want to make this an enjoyable experience, not a struggle.  Once you have come up with an idea of who might be your ideal client, you need to determine:-

1. Can you find these people easily?
2. Where do they “hang out”?
3. Do they belong to associations, groups or alliances?
4. Do they read certain magazines or newspapers?
5. What newsletters would they subscribe to?
6.  Are there lists of them available? For example, you can rent lists from brokers for you to mail to, fax to, phone or email, or certain businesses would have a list of your exact client.
7. What trade shows, seminars, workshops or conferences might they go to?
8. Are there enough people in this sector for you to market to?
9. Do they have a problem big enough that they would pay to solve it?
10. Do they have the ability to pay you?

If you really don’t know how to answer these questions then you need to become a detective.  Find out if your audience is viable. To find out if you have a viable audience why not start with the clients you have that you want more of by asking them to complete a survey? 

Having clients complete a survey is easy.

If you use email, you can set this up easily online.  There is a resource called Survey Monkey which I have used a lot.  You can use the free version and it really is straight forward.  You can find it at http://www.surveymonkey.com . 

Also, you can survey current clients just via a simple email. You may find it more friendly and personal to hand write a list of questions and post it to them.

Don’t forget, still available for download your free copy of the report,  “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”!!

Wow them with your elevator speech

This weekend I was talking with some colleagues over lunch and we were talking about business as usual. And somehow we got on giving clients the “elevator speech”. So, I want to know, how is your elevator speech? Not sure if it’s working or not? Read on to find out if your speech has the wow factor that it should have.

Give your elevator speech the WOW factor that has people say “Can I have your card?  I need to work with you!”

The phrase “elevator speech” comes from the idea that if your ideal client got into an elevator with you, you could tell them exactly what you so in 30 seconds.  Different events have variations on this, some are 1 minute long, others may get 2 minutes to speak about them selves, but essentially you need to get a condense message across that will tell everybody exactly what they need to know about you and your services without them switching off.

If you put together an elevator pitch based on the ideas below, you can memorise it and use elements of it whenever you speak to people about what you do.

1. Start off by looking at what exactly your offer is , who exactly is it for and what exactly you are going to do for them, i.e. what will your ideal client pay anything to solve.  This is known as your statement of results. 
2. Now think about the biggest motivators that people have, i.e. make money, save money, save time and avoid effort.
3. What is your USP?  What makes you different from your competitors.
4. What do you want them to do? If you are looking for contacts or information, be specific about what you want, e.g. this week I am looking for an introduction  to head teachers.

If you start with this formula, it will ensure that you don’t leave anything out.  You can then personalise it and make it more natural to you.

This is an example of my basic elevator speech:-

“Good morning/evening, I’m Yvonne Bleakley, a client attraction and marketing coach.  I work with solo professionals who struggle to market themselves effectively and need to attract new clients consistently without the hard sell.

What makes me different from other business coaches is that I only work with solo professionals and I only specialise in client attraction.  This means that my clients receive specific step by step information on exactly what to do to get clients which results in them getting more clients, in less time with less effort than they would on their own.”

You would then finish off with your call to action e.g.  “Today I am looking for details of meeting places for coaches who would like a speaker on marketing.  So that’s Yvonne Bleakley from Mastering the Marketing.

Now it’s your turn!

Also, don’t forget to download your free report today, To find out why your potential customers aren’t buying from you and what you can do to get clients to your door, download “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”

Networking that gets results!

Last week I talked about building relationships through networking. This past week I expanded upon that in my coaching sessions and we talked about ways to network both face to face and online. Through my coaching sessions this is what I taught my clients. Once you have worked out who your ideal client is, then you can work out either where to find them, or where to find others that serve them, in large numbers.  There are many places you can network and many different types:-

• Speed networking – Do you remember the speed dating craze a few years ago?  Speed networking is the same concept, you half of you stay at your table and the other half move around.  You each have around 30 seconds to tell the other person what you do, and then the bell goes and you move onto the next. Even if you choose not to make these events part of your networking strategy, it is worth going along to one for the experience as it really gets you to focus on exactly what your message is.  As you will be repeating yourself several times, it is an easy way to hardwire it into your conscious too.
• Regular Breakfast Clubs – These usually meet at around 7am once a week and require you to join as a member, though you can usually go along as a guest 2 or 3 times before joining.  These are excellent for building true working relationships where everybody looks out for opportunities for others in their network.  Examples are BNI, BOB clubs, BRX.  If you don’t like the idea of getting up so early, there are new clubs springing up now that meet for lunch.
• Chamber of Commerce – Again these require you to join but offer more than just networking.  There are usually special promotions and training events for members and gives you a chance to meet bigger businesses in your local area.
• Associations – A great place to find your ideal client in droves, find out what associations they may be members of and become a member and attend their events.
• Online networking – You have your social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Then there are others specifically for business networking sites such as Linked in and Ecademy.  Again you need to think about who your ideal client is before you decide which sites fit in best with your marketing strategy.

There are many other ad-hoc events held everyday.  It’s really not hard to find where to network. Good Luck Networking!!

Also, don’t forget still available is your free copy to download. This report is a must read, find out why your potential customers aren’t buying from you and what you can do to get clients to your door, with this report “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You” TODAY!

Business cards that get you the business

I was talking to a colleague over the weekend about her new business cards and it got me thinking about how important business cards are to your marketing campaign. So, why is this little 2 x 1 card powerful yet so important to you and your business?

Your business card is one of the biggest marketing tools you have, so don’t waste it!  Your card should talk to your ideal clients and let them know exactly what you do in much the same way that your elevator speech does.  You can do this by developing a tag line that leaves no doubt about what you do or what results you get, e.g. mine is “more clients, in less time with less effort.”  When I give that out, people know exactly what I do so that if they pick it up at a later date, even if they have forgotten the conversation we had, this will instantly remind them.

• Put your photograph on your card.  This doesn’t mean that you are being vein!  You are trying to raise your profile and get yourself remembered.  People meet so many others on the networking circuit that it is easy to forget who they spoke to last week.  Your photograph will remind them.
• Don’t leave the back of your business card blank, this is a waste of great marketing space. Give them a “call to action,”  i.e. what do you want them to do next, or create some pull marketing questions. 

A card like this will not only get you remembered on the networking circuit, but you are giving your referral sources a great tool that describes exactly what you do when talking to others about you.

Don’t forget, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to get in touch with you so always include your email address and phone number, and make sure you have a good voice box message. So, order your sales generating business cards today and starting handing them out and placing them in locations that your target audience can get their hands on them.

Also, don’t forget your copy is still available for download, “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You”, Get it today!

Medicine for the Marketing Blues

Happy Monday All!!! Lately I have run into many clients all suffering from the same problem…..discouragement. This discouragement seems to stem from the same few sources.

So what are the sources of so much discouragement? The sources of most clients discouragement is the economy, their business is not going the way they planned, and goals aren’t being meet.

These sources of discouragement don’t have easy solutions, but with will power and determination there is a solution, a solution that works. Now time for the pep talk.

Some solutions to discouragement is….

Don’t give up so quickly. Giving up is one mistake I see the most. Success takes time especially when first starting out. Also, when first starting out you won’t get everything perfect, even when not first starting out all things won’t be perfect. Just remember in business most things are going to be trial and error until you find what works for you and your business. It’s rare anybody gets it right the first time, so don’t give up so quickly, take your time, and give it time.

Do more research and try something new. If you ever feel something isn’t going right for your business or isn’t working then change it. Now saying change it is easier said than done, so let’s talk about some ways to change it.

1. A way to change something you don’t like is do some research. Research what others in your niche are doing and take what you view as successful and think might work for you and make it your own.

2. Another way to make a change is by trying something new. This is your chance to be creative. Got some great ideas, TRY THEM! You won’t know if your ideas are ideas that work until you try them, all you can do is try. If you don’t have any ideas at this moment have a thinking session and get creative!

Do a re-evaluation. If goals aren’t being met then reevaluate yo goals. When re-evaluating your goals look at two things: The goal it’s self and the length time you gave yourself to achieve it. You want to make sure all your goals are realistic and achievable. Once you have achievable goals then make sure the goal deadlines are also achievable and realistic. Also, realize things happen so not everything will go according to schedule so be flexible.

Discouragement happens, but don’t let it define you. Discouragement can be overcame, so let discouragement only last a moment not a lifetime. Nothing is impossible. Until next time marketers…Stay encouraged and I’m here to help if you need advice or a pep talk. Also, don’t forget to download your free report, “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You” NOW!

Does your marketing campaign have the right content?

Happy Monday Marketers! I hope each and every one of you had a fabulous weekend. This past week during a coaching session, a client was showing me some of her printed materials she was going to use in her new marketing campaign. I noticed one fatal mistake….

There was too much glitz, glamour, and wow but not enough content. I’ve noticed lately that a lot of the marketing today is all about wowing the crowd, but is that what counts? Is the glitz and glamour really, what get you the business? The short answer is No.

What counts is the content contained within your marketing materials. Instead of focusing on having, the wow factor put more wow into your marketing content. So, exactly what does your content need to include?

Your content needs to include one thing and one thing only….

Valuable information. By valuable information, I’m speaking of all the information your audience needs in order to make the decision to buy from you. Valuable information includes all the benefits and features. Also, within your content include a message that tells your audience what problems you can solve for them and present your solution to those problems.

Now don’t get me wrong your marketing shouldn’t be dull either but your biggest focus should be on your content. Your content is what going to sell your product because it’s going to help the customer understand your product. Your content is going to show the potential client that you recognize their problem AND that YOU have their solution. Remember potential customers can’t and won’t buy what they don’t understand.

Remember not all the glitz and glamour is needed in a successful marketing campaign. Your content is what gives your whole marketing efforts value and that value along with a solution is what the clients are looking. Be sure ALL marketing materials include what really counts…the content. Remember, to find out why your potential customers aren’t buying from you and what you can do to get clients to your door, download “12 Reasons Why People Aren’t Buying From You” TODAY!