Easy steps to marketing yourself today!
Marketing is much more than simply advertising or posting something on your favorite social media site. Let’s take a look at five steps to get your marketing refreshed and ready.
- Fine tune your focus - Know what your strengths are and play to them. Identify the top two or three areas you can focus on and hone your craft. For example, be a financial advisor that specializes in educating your clients. Do not just be another financial advisor.
- Who are your customers? - Since you can’t be all things to all people, not everyone can be your customer. It’s important to identify the types of customers that want what you are selling, that are willing to pay for it, and focus on them.
- Competitive advantage - I’ve sat in a room full of eager insurance agents that are expressing how wonderful their agency is, dozens of times. They have years of experience, the best coverage for the price, and even a story of adequate customer service. And when it’s all said and done, I couldn’t tell you the difference from one to the next. It’s up to you to know what makes your business unique and find a way to express that regularly.
- Marketing message and promotion - Marketing is not doing a lot of different things once. After you have identified what you do and who your customer is, it is up to you to deliver your message. Have a marketing budget that consists of 2% - 8% of your monthly fixed expenses and spend it promoting a consistent message that clearly states who you are, the competitive advantage you offer, the types of customers you work with and the desired result. Email marketing, social media, and networking offer the slowest, but steadiest growth for most small businesses.
- Schedule your activities and track your progress - Schedule the activities and do not let anything interrupt it and then do it!
If you are looking for a good example, check out this real estate agent's video. She identifies who she is working with, what she does, what her advantage is, and promotes it regularly. And the cool thing with video and email is that it is easy to schedule and track.
Why You Aren't Getting New Customers
Many of you whom I have met may have noticed I have a teensy bit of a hair problem. This is not new. I have been shaving my head for 19 years and have always been a loyal Mach 3 user. Well one day, I ran out of my Mach 3 blades. It was bad. Five o’clock shadow on my head is not a good look. My lovely wife Sarah, aka the Coupon Queen, had a solution. She recently obtained a deeply discounted Schick Quattro. Oh yes, the four blade razor. I didn’t really have a choice. I used it. And you know what, it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it did a fine job.
What does this have to do with the busy professionals of the world?
So many times we give up on our marketing efforts toward a very specific type of customer we want, because they don’t respond immediately. If we don’t get instant gratification, we try something else.
Think about it like this:
- I did 7 sit ups yesterday and I’m still 40 pounds overweight.
- I put half a tank of gas in my car last week and now my car doesn’t run again.
- We put our house on the market last Saturday and we still don’t have any offers.
Sounds absurd, right? But that’s what we do every day with our business. We’ll try one or two random things for a short period, get frustrated, and move on.
Persistence is the key to getting new customers.
- If you are implementing a social media campaign, do not expect 1,000 likes and twice the revenue in a week. It will take time, good content, and a lot of interaction.
- If you are sending a newsletter, try it out for several months, before you declare people aren't responding to it. By the way, make sure you have good content.
- If you are networking and prospecting, do it several times a week. Not once in a while, as you have time. Also, make it a point to identify other people you want to work with and give them a reason to want to work with you. If they are already using your competitor don’t just give up and say they don’t need me. You never know when they will run out of blades:)
Stop Telling Us YOUR Story!
So often we hear about the importance of selling with a story. And rightfully so.
Stories sell 118% better than facts!
Just tell the right story. Your customers don't want to hear your story. YOUR story is boring! Even if you are the best in the industry, support insert-hot-cause-of-moment-here, and just completed a half-marathon. Again.
The story they want to hear is THEIR story. Their story is interesting!
Make sure you frame your product or service in a way that recognizes the customer, their problem, what the solution is, and end with a fabulous result, i.e. a HAPPY ending to their story.
Check out this whiteboard video that American Furniture Repair uses to tell their customer's story.
So today, think about one way you can tell your customer's story. They will thank you. With money.
And if you want want a super simple content calendar that will help you tell stories, click below!
If you want a whiteboard video to tell your customer's story let me know at yourcharlesalexander@gmail.com.
Generation Gaps by Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Take a look at how Goldilocks and the Three Bears deal with Generation Gaps.
http://www.yourcharlesalexander.com
To have this clever whiteboard video branded for your business email me at yourcharlesalexander@gmail.com.
Let’s consider the different generations each of them represent.
Papa Bear is a Baby Boomer (born 1946-1964)
•They like a lot of structure and specifics.
•Are more apt to appreciate meetings and like to communicate face-to-face.
•They want to know they are valued and needed.
•They are motivated by money and titles and less interested in feedback.
•Tend to be more focused on work, than family.
Mama Bear is Gen X (born 1965-1980)
•May be more entrepreneurial and less interested in structure.
•Want immediate communication and fewer meetings.
•Freedom and time off may be their best reward.
•Want to do things their way and may not be worried about the rules.
•Want a more balanced work and family life.
Baby Bear is a Millennial (born 1981-2000)
•They are participative.
•Want to communicate through technology, i.e email and social media.
•Their reward is meaningful work and whenever they choose it.
•They are motivated by working with sharp and creative people.
•Want a more balanced work and family life.
To work well with others, we need to understand generational differences and learn how to use them effectively in dealing with each person.
Three Do's and Don'ts of Creating Your Niche
I have three kids, primarily, because me and my lovely wife can't count. The third of the brood is a three year old little boy. Lane has red hair, asks approximately 19 questions per minute, and breaks everything. He is different. And since the other two are little girls, he is definitely a good different. Well, not the breaking everything part, but you get the point.
To succeed in today's small business environment, you need a niche and you need to create a following.
DO: Be different. Not tinfoil hat different. Legitimately different. Customers want authenticity and a reason to like you.
DON'T: Be the same as everyone else and then boast about years of experience and certifications. You just sound like Charlie Brown's teacher at some point.
DO: Have great customer service. Be willing to follow up with your customers after their purchase and give them a reason to brag about you.
DON'T: Have arbitrary policies that do not make sense for the customer, i.e. Frigidaire took over a week to make a minor repair to our brand new fridge. That's their policy. They told me that many, many, many times.
DO: Charge a premium for your product or service, if it warrants it. People will pay for perceived value, even in a market downturn.
DON'T: Try to compete on price. You may not have the same overhead as a big box competitor, but you don't have the buying power either. Also, the perception of low price is low value.
Niche examples:
- A Financial Advisor that is really a Financial Coach that goes out of his way to educate his clients.
- A CPA and Business Coach that focuses primarily on the Crossfit community.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you have three kids?
2. Well, why not?!
3. What is your niche?
Without Video Your Business Will Be.....
My wife and I started watching The Leftovers, a TV series in which 2% of the Earth's population disappears. The plot centers around the town of Mapleton, a cult that really likes smoking, and a rogue cop. Oh, and missing 100,000,000 people.
This got me to thinking about what percentage of businesses out there are using video to promote their business. It feels like there is only 2%. If that is the case, 98% of the businesses could disappear from Interwebs in the near future!
And by disappear, digital marketing experts say, if you don't have video content on your website in a few years, you will not be on the first page of Google and may not be found at all.
Here are a 6 interesting statistics ripped from the world wide web:
Adding video to your email campaigns can increase click rates by 300% (Wistia)
Americans perform 4 times as many video views as they do Google searches.·
80% of users will click on video or images in their search results before clicking on anything else. (webwalkersolutions)
Video results have a 41% higher click through than plain text results.
Video is 50 times more likely to gain organic page rank with Google than plain text results. (adjustyourset)
Video also boosts on-site conversions/sales by 64-85% when included on the product/conversion page.
So, how can you use this to your advantage? You can use video in your newsletters, blogs, testimonials on your website, bios on your website, and ads for your products and services, and this can result in the following:
- Better search rankings on Google.
- Higher conversion rates, which means more buyers for your products and services.
- More social interaction.
- More engaged customers who want authenticity.
So I have a quick question for you.
If we like video so much, why are so few businesses taking advantage of it? Please add any comments in the section below.
Time Management and The Boiling Frog
http://www.yourcharlesalexander.com To have this clever whiteboard video branded for your business email me at yourcharlesalexander@gmail.com .
We are busier than ever before. It doesn’t mean we are more productive, but we are busier.
Pretty soon we become a boiling frog. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and could get cooked. And many of us are cooked.
Let’s take a look at the most common time killers and how to avoid them.
Perfection
Email
Phone
Worrying and Procrastination
No Soup for You!
One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Seinfeld. One of my favorite episodes is “The Soup Nazi”. Remember him? The Soup Nazi had a tiny take out spot that only had three or four soups to choose from. He was best known for his strict regimen that he constantly demanded of his patrons. Have exact change, move through line swiftly, and NO questions.The Soup Nazi….
- Had a niche
- Knew what made him different
- Had an outstanding product
- Didn’t get caught up in all of the other things he could do: Sandwich Nazi, Coffee Nazi, Bread Pudding Nazi
Conversely, I am often inundated by all types of consultants, i.e. business coaches, accountants, insurance agents, bankers, candlestick makers, attorneys, payroll companies, benefits specialists, financial advisors, etc., that "Would like to meet with me to see if we have the opportunity to partner together and leverage our resources."
- When I ask them who their target is, it is anyone who owns a business.
- When I ask them what makes them different it is their price, quality, experience, and blah, blah, blah.
- When I ask them about their core product or service, they are so excited to let me know they have 28 specialty products and services.
- When I ask them who wouldn’t be a good customer they say, “uh, well, hmm, mumble, mumble, good fit, mumble, mumble.”
They look, walk, talk, sound, and even dress like everyone else in their profession. And that means there is no particular reason for me to work with them or direct any of my clients their way.
So who do you want to be?
- A general CPA or a True Business Consultant
- A regular bank or a Bank with a Personality
- A run-of-the-mill insurance agent or a Construction Policy Guru
I know which one the Soup Nazi would be.
7 Ways Entrepreneurs are like Toddlers
This is for entrepreneurs or those that work with entrepreneurs
You can imagine the excitement and chaos at my house on Christmas morning. Three little ones all excited to see a sinful amount of presents under a well-lit Christmas tree. We make them take turns, so they can at least have an opportunity to appreciate what they are opening.
Also, I have noticed, the younger the child, the more appreciative of the gift they have opened. As they get older, they are more excited to open the next present. And the next. And the next. When all is said and done, everyone is content and ready to move on to the next event of the day.
This reminds me quite a bit of entrepreneurs, as they start their new business.
For example:
· The Toddler - The excitement of seeing the tree
· The Entrepreneur - The idea of the business
· The Toddler - Santa came!
· The Entrepreneur - The funding came through!
· The Toddler - Oh, I have to assemble the tricycle?
· The Entrepreneur - Marketing and selling?
· The Toddler - Well, let me play with the box a little more
· The Entrepreneur - Well, we can update our site and Tweet more
· The Toddler - Eating cookies, watching A Christmas Story, and taking a nap
· The Entrepreneur - Busy running the business, shuffling papers, and making one more post to Facebook
· The Toddler - Let’s go to Granny’s to open presents
· The Entrepreneur - Maybe there will be more customers at the new location!
· The Toddler - The toy ends up at the bottom of the toy chest and broken into pieces
· The Entrepreneur - Well this isn’t working, let’s move on to the next thing.
So what can we do as entrepreneurs? I would suggest treating gifts like a 2 year old, instead of the 6 year old, i.e., focus more on one task at a time, get it working, and appreciate the process.
A Christmas Carol in Two Minutes
If you don't have 90 minutes for this:
Then I've got you covered in just over 2 minutes!
Merry Christmas!
Are you showing appreciation to your customer?
With three kids, ages 7, 5, and 3, I was in full blown diaper changing mode for SEVERAL years.
And by me, I mean me and my wife.
And my mother-in-law.
And anyone else with a pair of free hands.
My wife found a way to reward them for “taking care of business” on the potty. She created a chart and every fourth time they went, they got a new toy.
Not to mention that every time they went, we cheered like we just watched the Music City Miracle for the first time.
One of the biggest desires of human nature is to be loved and to receive recognition.
This is why a customer will spend more with a business that has shown them appreciation than they would with an unknown business that is offering a “great deal” to new customers.
With the holidays around the corner, here are four ways to show appreciation for your customers.
1. Use social media and email marketing to openly thank your customer. If you sell business-to-business, then this would also be a great opportunity to tell everyone why this customer is awesome at what they do.
2. Tell them thank you! Simply send them an email or if you really want to get into this, write a personal letter. ACTUALLY HAND-WRITE THE LETTER. This is rarely done and people rarely throw these letters away.
3. Take the time out of your schedule to take them to lunch or just have coffee. This will be an opportunity for you to personally thank them, and who knows, maybe even find an additional opportunity for business.
4. Share brilliant tips and tricks with them. Use blog posts and video to share real information that can make their life easier.
For example, Decatur County Bank used this video to tell their customers how to easily improve their credit score.
This kind of engaging information helps their customer, while allowing them to stay top of mind.
CLICK BELOW TO START appreciating your customers with VIDEO TODAY!
How to Get Your Marketing “In-Shape”
It's the time of year where our fitness level goes downhill. In my household it starts with Halloween. Lots of candy requires a lot of "getting in shape."
And getting in shape usually consists of us getting mad and taking action. No real plan, just action!
- You get a gym membership
- You buy a NutriBullet and wipe out the produce section at Publix
- You exercise, watch what you eat, and take care of business. Then you lose the weight. You are proud. You have knocked out 10 lbs. in 10 weeks.
And then it happens. You get a little too confident! You take a few days off from the gym, eat some food you shouldn’t eat, and in a two week period you are back up 7-8 lbs.
You become convinced that this fitness thing just doesn’t work for you. Maybe it’s genetics. Maybe it’s your metabolism. Maybe it’s the government!
The same thing happens in our marketing efforts when sales go down. You get mad and you take action. No real plan, just action!
- You join a networking group
- You buy ad space and pay-per-clicks
- You beat down doors, make phone calls, and take care of business. Then you increase revenue. You are proud. You have increased sales 10% in 10 weeks.
And you get a little too confident! You take a little time off from networking events, quit buying ads, forget to follow up with old clients and in a two week period you are sitting there with no clients.
You become convinced that this marketing thing just doesn’t work for you. Maybe it’s the competition. Maybe it’s your customers. Maybe it’s the government!
The truth is we need to market our business consistently and not just when we get out of “shape.”
- We have to decide how much we want to increase revenue, i.e. $20,000 in new sales this year.
- We have to decide which marketing channels will reach our target market, i.e. trade shows, print ads, specific social media platforms, prospecting, etc.
- We have to schedule the marketing efforts to our calendar of choice; Outlook, Google Calendar, your phone, or even your old school Day-Timer to schedule marketing activities.
- We have to actually do the marketing and selling!
- We have to track our sales to see where the sales are coming from, figure out which is getting the best response, rinse and repeat.
While this is not a guarantee for us to reach our sales goal, it makes it more likely to achieve than just getting mad and getting busy.
Leader vs. Manager - The Wind and the Sun, Whiteboard Animation
To have this clever whiteboard video branded for your business email me at yourcharlesalexander@gmail.com.
Are you are a leader or a just a manager? Let's take a look at the difference with Aesop's Fable, The Wind and the Sun.
Managers
• Micromanage small details while simultaneously make himself unavailable to provide guidance on bigger projects
• Constantly interrupt employees with minor questions
• Not provide much feedback and could be a touch on the condescending side
Leaders
• Empowers employees to make their own decisions and provides guidance on bigger projects
• Does not interrupt employee workflow
• Provides constant feedback by praising employees in public for specific accomplishments and provides constructive feedback for mistakes in private
The Real Meaning of 14 Entrepreneur Buzzwords
These buzzwords are so mainstream
It’s been about 5 years since I looked at some business buzzwords. A lot has changed in 5 years. We have left the Great Recession and are now in a Golden Age of sorts in entrepreneurship. With that Golden Age, you get new terminology. You often hear these terms when dealing with any technology related business, but it is also creeping into all businesses, especially start-ups.
For example:
- Stealth - I’m talented, but nobody knows it. Actually, if you are stealth for a long time, you might not be that talented.
- Ninja - You can call yourself a Ninja, if you get past stealth mode.
- Thought leader – I think this used to be an expert. But then Malcolm Gladwell messed everything up by saying you needed 10,000 hours in a particular practice area to be considered an expert. So now you can just be a thought leader instead.
- Rocking it - Doing something super good.
- Crushing it – Doing something super-duper good.
- Killing it - Doing something super-duper-duper good.
- Ecosystem - Biologists use the term ecosystem to describe a community of organisms interacting in their environment. Now the ecosystem can be any kind of grouping.
- Pivot - If your ecosystem is suddenly not rocking, crushing, or killing it, you may need to pivot. We used to say change or quit, but pivoting is more fun.
- Disruptive - After you pivot, hopefully you can be disruptive in an ecosystem. In the early 2000’s this was game changer and in the 1990’s there was some reference to cheese being moved.
- Content – Stuff, i.e., written stories, pictures, video, etc.
- Curate – Borrowing other people’s stuff until you get your own stuff, i.e., written stories, pictures, video, etc.
- Hack - A hack is a tip. Now that I think of it, a hack used to be what you would call someone if they “curated” a lot, but never really gave anyone else credit, i.e. “He is such a hack!”
- Big data – Everything has been digital since about 2002. That means there is a lot of data out there. A lot. Like Petabyte big. For example, if you can run “big data” on your laptop, that ain’t big data.
- Internet of Things – The internet of things….means, uh…..well….you know, things on the internet? Okay, there are only 13 Entrepreneur Definitions.
Discussion question:
What are some other buzzwords that have gotten out of hand? Tell me in the comment section.
Does Your Business Really Need a Newsletter?
You are going to say yes, aren't you?
Okay, if you have checked out this site at all, you know what my answer will be. But humor me for a moment.
For a busy professional, newsletters are the biggest bang for your buck. They show your expertise, create trust, drive your social media, and demonstrate your culture.
There are 3x more email accounts than Twitter and Facebook accounts combined. (Radicati Group)
Email is 40x more successful at acquiring new clients than either Facebook and Twitter. (McKinsey & Company)
Newsletters also have a higher click thru and conversion rate than social media.
So yes, your business needs a newsletter.
Now that you have obviously been convinced you need a newsletter, you have to decide on what kind of newsletter. You could send a newsletter yourself or send the industry standard newsletter. Or better yet, you could send a fun and engaging newsletter! That's what the cool kids do.
Fun and engaging newsletters use:
Video - Click-thru rates for newsletters increase 2-3 times with a video.
Humor - It's not enough to be just informed. We want to be entertained too.
A Call to Action - Tell the reader what you want them to do! See below, for an example.
To get your own cool newsletter email me at yourcharlesalexander@gmail.com.