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Triple 777 Tips: How Social Media Has Changed Image Management

2/3/2015

Image management used to be much simpler. Before. You could have a private life and it would not affect your career and people’s opinions of you.

Nowadays…

Private Life is Disappearing.

You can’t go anywhere without someone somewhere collecting information on you. Physically or Digitally.

In fact, you can’t post on Twitter without the chance of getting backlash for an opinion tweet.

Actually, you may not even be on social media, but may have had a picture taken of you with someone else, and the next thing you know. Facebook knows you.

Even if the picture is really embarrassing!

The worst part?

It’s there forever.

Which is why maintaining a professional online image is very important to your career. Important to impress recruiters when they search for you online. Important to impress clients when looking for your services. Important to your success.

Therefore, avoid damaging your image and maintain your image management with these fine tips.

#1: Everything you say can and will be used against you. So do NOT post comments that are detrimental to your reputation and are unprofessional.

This may sound familiar and holds true in court as well as your online image.

Because people will judge you solely on what you post about yourself and especially what others say about you.

In fact, anything you have written in life such as college papers can in fact be dug up and used against you.

Meaning:

Do NOT post subjects and opinions that can anger others and be considered insensitive and juvenile. Avoid politics, religion, and others.

This does not mean you cannot have your opinion. The idea is to avoid permanently being judged for an opinion you had years ago because it is associated to your social media and easily searchable. Because opinions change, but changing first impressions can be painful.

#2: Do NOT post objectionable material such as pictures, videos, and other media.

Avoid many topics and pictures that can give the wrong impression. Because everything and anything can be taken out of context, twisted, and advertised as fact. This includes videos, pictures, and other media that can misconstrued.

Meaning:

Every time you post pictures of being trashed and posting to all your friends that you blacked out. To include the pictures that they post which you have no control of. Will be on the internet and be seen by all current and future potential employers and clients. And no one wants to entrust their business to someone who can’t control their “intake”.

Tip No. 3: Try to avoid joining groups, fan pages and applications that are detrimental to your image.

Setting your profile to “private” does not mean it is private. Many times it’s shared through channels that are less than reputable. Also you can accidently accept friends who you do not know well and could be a potential employer or current employer collecting dirt from your profile.

Meaning:

Do not join controversial fan pages, groups, and applications that others can fuss over. Many times, people will look for any reason to complain and having liking risqué content gives them fuel for their fire.

Tip No. 4: Provide useful information to the communities that your online image tailors to.

If you’re a Financial Expert, and you want to impress clients or other financial experts than post consistently articles that are useful to them. If you are a psychologist, then post shareable content that pertains to what potential clients would enjoy. Having a long line of posts that are useful creates credibility and makes you a Thought Leader.

Meaning:

Post content that is useful for others. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have artistic flare. It is important to differentiate and get your content shared. So make sure all your content is entertaining and allows others to want to share it. Because one Viral Video can change everything.

Tip No. 5: Request recommendations, join groups and answer the questions of other users after creating your social media.

Participating online can be extremely helpful in building a professional online image. Writing articles displays leadership and knowledge in your given field can build a following that loves what you do. You also should contribute to the community by commenting on others articles and answer questions.

Meaning:

Be a part of the community you work in and create new content to help spur creativity in others. This lets you grow as not only a professional in your field, but an expert.

Tip No. 6: Strategically write and publish in industry-related publications.

The more credibility you have, the more business you have. This is true in all aspects of life.

Therefore you have to publish your work in trade journals, magazines, and other publications that get you in front of the people who will value you most.

Meaning:

Make samples and get in with the publications best. If you’re a photographer, get featured on reputable photography site or magazine. If you’re a business person, do a conference or seminar. If you’re in education, get published in an academic journal. Once it’s published, use it in all your marketing to boost your appeal and professionalism.

Tip. No. 7: Build a website that showcases you as a major player in your field.

It is not the person who is the best at what they do that wins in the real world. It is the one who is most publicized to be the best in their field.

Meaning:

Do everything in your power to showcase your ability to the right people and you will have a higher chance to make it to the top. Market yourself as a professional. Build yourself as a Professional. Network yourself as a Professional.

Final thoughts…

Be diligent in your career and your image.

No one will manage your career for you.

But they will manage your image into oblivion.

Don't Let People Fade You and Your Image Into Oblivion.

29 Comments

Get Paid to Speak Words and Sentences

1/1/2015

3 Comments

Would it be awesome to learn how to speak at events?

Would it be even cooler to be paid an extravagant amount of money for it?

Well you can by becoming a professional speaker.

All you have to do is follow these simple steps:

First,

You need to master the craft of PUBLIC SPEAKING.

So immediately find a site to place your soapbox, such as a Toastmasters International, MeetUp.com, your Local Chamber of Commerce, or other speaking association to learn how to speak in public.

Once, you are there. You must craft a portfolio of speeches, speaking programs, and videos of your speeches to use later for marketing.

Until you get to the point where you feel you can speak in thee Free Circuit.

Which is Second,

Start speaking at free events. This will help solidify your ability and determine what type of speaker you would like to be.

Anywhere from entertaining, motivational, informational, training, presentations, technical, or keynote are just some of many options.

These can be found by talking with everyone where you’re currently speaking or connecting with local groups, clubs, or non-profits.

The Third thing,

Once you have enough material to make into a profile or website, you turn it all into an “I’m a Professional Speaker” Page.

What it consists of:

·         Start with a two paragraph overview of who you are and the type of speaker and speeches you do

·         Then talk about speaking topics, with write-ups of presentations you’ve given

·         Followed with video presentations, a list for the people you have spoken for, and finally testimonials, where others recommend you.

The Fourth Part,

Now that you have mastered the craft, have experience speaking, and now have the marketing to prove it.

It’s time to become a professional speaker by entering the Amateur Circuit.

Here you will start getting paid.

So it is imperative to figure out how much you think you are worth right now and how much you will you be worth when your experience grows.

After some more events are done in this market, continue to build portfolio of speeches, speaking programs, and videos of your speeches to use later for marketing.

This will help you into the final step.

The Final Step,

Enter the high-dollar professional circuit.

Here you can hire an agent and work with speaking bureaus to help with booking shows.

Make sure to impress them with a professionally done:

·         3 to 5-minute demo video.

·         Great photos of you speaking.

·         A printed one-sheet with your programs.

·         A professional speaking-oriented website.

Once you’re at this point just keep looking for the next big opportunity.

Tips for throughout the process:

·         Build Credibility – use any and all features of you on any recognizable media outlets, big corporate events, or television

·         Network – knowing the promoter or conference organizer is key to success

·         Practice, Practice, Practice

The hardest part of becoming a speaker is in fact the writing and editing of everything from the speeches to the marketing.

Which is why you need a professional speech writer:

·         To save you time and effort

·         Providing the talking notes to speak from

·         And giving you a writing from an experienced professional

3 Comments

The 5 Questions you have to ask yourself...

12/18/2014

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How does one become king?

How does one go from being a nothing to slowly tipping the scale in their favor, until it falls into their lap?

Making them the King?

There is only one answer.

Leverage.

Leverage is the only way to go from being the bottom of the barrel to the king of the hill.

But how does one gain leverage?

Gradually.

One gains leverage gradually.

By pining their resources and time.

And through time, the strategies themselves have not changed, simply the ways to implement them. Coming to the point of the conversation.

The 5 Questions you have to ask yourself to figure out how to leverage yourself.

1. What are my marketable skills/talents?

You have to ask yourself what marketable skills I have that others need.

This can be anything from numbers (Accounting, Finance, etc.), relationships (Business, Management, Sales, etc.), hard skills (Programming, Engineering, Medicine, etc.), soft skills (Customer Service, Public Relations, etc.), creative skills (Artists, Musicians, etc.), and more.

2. What are the skills/talents of the best and how can I realistically compete?

This is where you set the stage for a realistic look at your talents and how you can realistically compete against the best in your industry.

And even if your main talents are dwarfed by the best in your industry does not mean you are out. It simply means you have to position and leverage your other talents in such a way to take advantage of the opportunities to overcome the best’s strengths. As no one is invincible and they always let their guard down. Always.

3. What am I not good at, but have to be good at to gain leverage to become the best?

This is the hardest question people have to ask themselves because the answers are usually the most painful.

Mostly because many people don’t want to do what they have to do to become successful.

This includes public speaking, taking risks, sacrificing, and many more.

But truly ask yourself, what the skills I need to be successful are.

But always keep in mind…

Do you need to learn them or can you buy them?

4. How can I effectively leverage my talents to become the best and triumph over those who are?

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

And with the first three questions, you found what yours and the best in your industries are. Now that you know both. You can plan strategies to leverage yourself with the best of your industry.

This can include finding a way to partner up with the best in your industry, emulating what they do and doing it better, maximizing your own talents to become the best, or a myriad of other ways to leverage your position.

Leaving us with the last question:

5. What are the Top 9 ways to leverage yourself?

Which will be answered next week so subscribe today so you don’t miss it.

3 Comments

Techniques of the Week: The Lucky 7 Interation

12/12/2014

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Morning,

This is my 7th iteration of “Techniques of the Week” which is an ode to simple writing and marketing techniques that can be used immediately with measurable results in the Before, During, and After of your sales process.

Today however, I am running a Twilight Zone special where everything is running backwards!!!

With that said, let’s be off…

The After

Your customers and clients will not always need you. This is a fact.

But they need to remember you when they do. This is why it is so important to have them on a Contact Drip.

A contact drip is a way to maintain contact and keep you in the forefront of their minds so when they are in need of your services. They know who to call.

Now a contact drip can be any form of communication between you and your customers.

To include:

·         Direct Mail, Emails, Phone Calls, or even In-Person depending how important they are to your business as some business has and needs only 3 or 4 BIG clients to maintain their success.

Now how does it work…

First you need to have your customers or prospects contact information such as an address, email, phone #, or other way to contact them.

It is most preferable to have a Customer Relationship Management System where the emails are automatically sent so you don’t have to worry about it. All you have to do is put them in the database.

Second you need to build a drip campaign of marketing material (Mail) or emails (Email).

For the more personal connections, you need to have a fleshed out system where with every client, you meet with them periodically to ensure you are still there working hard for them.

Here is an example of the material and timeline for a Drip Campaign:

                                EXAMPLE Timeline: Mail/Email

1.       Month 1 = Letter announcing new service

2.       Month 2 = Newsletter highlighting tips and company news

3.       Month 3 = Phone Call to discover opportunities

4.       Month 4 = Reprint of an industry magazine article

5.       Month 5 = Case Study of a Successful client

6.       Month 6 = Request for a critique on proposed sales letter

7.       Month 7 = Another newsletter

8.       Month 8 = Reprint of an article you submitted into an industry magazine

9.       Month 9 = Announce a new service

10.   Month 10 = Invite them to a workshop

11.   Month 11 = Phone call to introduce them to someone in your referral network

12.   Month 12 = Checklist of helpful tips for your industry and service

Here is an example to keep them in constant contact if they are very important to your business.

EXAMPLE Timeline: Personal (Phone/Meetings)

1.       Meet with them periodically.

2.       Phone call every month.

3.       In-person Meeting every 2-3 months.

Third you have to make sure it’s working. You have to track to see that those in your Drip Campaigns are not opting out because they think you’re annoying or are referring you properly.

Contact drip – maintain contact with prospects by mailing something 8-10 times a year

Yes = Sales, and No = reminders funnel

The During

This is called the High Price, High Value Approach to Pricing Strategy.

The way it works is that you sell products that are essentially the same as everyone else’s except you convince people that the higher price equates to higher value.

And once they are convinced, you take the more money you make over your competitors and use it to fuel your marketing to continue to convince others that your product is “different”.

Therefore, it becomes a virtuous circle where your customers believe that your product is much better than anyone else’s, fueling the hype and belief inside your marketing. Making you more and more money.

This is essentially the pricing foundation for most luxury products. Where you are not paying more for the materials to make the products, but are paying for the privilege to wear the brand itself.

The only differences are when the item is rare or made out of rare raw materials like cashmere.

High Price, High Value – Raise your prices because you’re worth it and clients know they are getting better service

The other approach is the opposite and equates to Low Price, Good Value.

This Pricing Strategy is more about just selling as much product as possible and have it be durable enough that people don’t think it’s cheap. Because no one likes the Low Price, Low Value strategy where people hate your product because it doesn’t work or doesn’t do as advertised.

This strategy entails less marketing and more operational efficiency of the company. Meaning to keep the prices of your product low, you have to be better at everything else.

So pick your pricing strategy based on the goals you want from your company.

Low Price, Good Value – Have your prices reflect how good you are at producing your product and your operational efficiency

The Before

What makes you want something more than anything?

Not being able to have it… or even worse… told you can’t have it.

If you’re like me, that always strikes a nerve. And I end up doing everything in my power to prove them wrong.

This psychological phenomenon known as Boy/Girl Theory is great in business because you can use it to present a challenge to your prospects and customers.

For example, you have a roller coaster or a product that is extreme.

This is useful to know for your product because now you can market your products as a challenge saying that they can’t handle it. Like a food eating challenges and other competitive type products.

Another example is a little more subtle. You just have to convince people that they can’t have what you sell. By having high prices or a 5-Star-Experience. This entails creating mystery around your product, scarcity, or other gimmicks.

Boy/Girl Theory – Make customer want what they can’t have

And there you have it.

Three ways to get your prospects and clients to knock down your door for your products and services.

Let me know how you get people to knock down your door for everything you do.

3 Comments

Are you on the Treadmill of Stagnation!?

11/20/2014

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Are you on the Treadmill of Torpid Stagnation

Pet Project

You work.

You play.

Both are fine and dandy.

Until you feel it...

Stagnation.

The feeling you get when you walk the same path… day in… day out…

Slowly feeling the ground beneath you sag from how many times you have traversed it…

Like running on a treadmill… getting nowhere fast.

This feeling is the reason you need a Pet Project.

Something exciting to work on in your off-time that can…

·         Take your mind off your day-to-day mundane tasks

·         Make you extra money on the side

·         Give you something with accomplishable milestones that gives you victories in your life

·         Or even become your next career

Now what exactly is a Pet Project?

A pet project is anything outside of work or school that you do for fun.

But…

It is not something that is destructive or willy-nilly, that you focus on a few times before you quit.

It is a constructive goal-oriented adventure. Where you lay out many milestones, which win you many small victories that you can celebrate.

For example:

A man went to college, and during his off time, he wrote.
He wrote a lot.
And after a while he noticed that people would pay for his ability to write.
SO he started looking into it and realized people would pay a lot for someone who can write well…
SO he started a Pet Project he worked on between school and work.
Which included making a website and advertising his services…
And pretty soon… he had a laundry list of clients and was making more money than he ever had before.
SO he quit his job.
And became a Professional Copywriter and Technical Writer.

And Another Example…

A women at work likes to work with mobile applications in her spare time.
She just tinkers and works on things she think would be helpful to her.
One day, a friend sees her on her app that she created and asks what it is.
So she tells her, and her friend wants the app too!
So she gives it to her friend and is convinced to put it on the app store for $0.99.
In a month, she has over a 100,000 downloads and has made thousands of dollars.
She then turns around and starts developing more!
Realizing that a pet project she just likes to do for fun can be so much more for her.

These stories epitomize the Pet Project. As they emphasize projects outside your normal day that you work on to benefit yourself or others financially or emotionally. As a Pet Project can even include Non-Profit Activities like charities.

The point is not the project, but the adventure of working on something that is completely yours.

It’s your baby.

How can you start one today?

Well listen in and you will know exactly, step-by-step, what you need to do.

1.      First pick a Pet Project that interests you.

Examples:

Play the guitar so one day you can do a show.

Learn stand up and write material so you can do a show.

Learn how to develop programs you can give away for free or sell online. (Drop Box/Flappy Bird)

Learn to do business and start a business from your garage.

And the list goes on…

2.      Next, do some research.

Look into what you want to do for your pet project. Research what you need to be good it, the different niches inside the sector, and the forums or groups of people you should associate with to learn even more.

3.      Then, find someone who knows more than you do.

Once you have done the research to ensure it’s something you would like to pursue. It’s time to become the best at it.

So find those people who are considered the best in your Pet Project Arena, and learn everything you can about what they do to be the best. Even better, become friends so they can teach you themselves.

4.      And learn and practice all you can in your spare time.

Do it until you’re really good at it. Practice for others. Practice for yourself. Make your Pet Project work for you. Because it should be fun and exciting for you.

5.      Finally… take it to the big times.

The final step in your Pet Project is to show it off to the unsuspecting public. This could be a show, event, competition, or anything that involves showing your pet project off. As this is everything you have been working for.

6.      Do it again.

What’s the best part about Pet Projects?

You can actually expand your Pet Project more!

Or have more than one at the same time! (I have 4 running as of right now.)

Expand into a career, side job, or just keep it a hobby. The main point is to get it rolling enough to show it off to the world.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s article.

Please let us know what your Pet Project is in the comments!

11 Comments

Top 10 ways to write a speech and Increase your Influence

10/9/2014

10 Comments

The 10 Things you don’t know about writing Speeches

How to write a speech?

Speech writing is an art in and of itself.

Due to the fact you are not writing to read, but writing to be spoken.

Because of this, you have to know these fundamental figures…

Average speaker - speaks 100 words per minute

20-minute speech - 2,000 words long (Eight double-spaced, typewritten pages).

Best length of time - 20 minutes

20 minutes is the opitmal speech time as any time after is considered long-winded, and any time before is not enough time to portray fully what you want to say. Therefore 20 minute keeps them from being bored, but not wanting more.

But how do you write the perfect 20 minute speech?

Doesn’t sound hard but you have to consider these 10 things…

1. Find out What the Speaker Wants to Say

Interviews with the client reveal the basic thrust of the speech and provide most of the facts. Information gaps can be filled in through library research or by browsing through the client’s private files on the subject.

2. Know Your Audience

Learn as much as you can about the group you’ll be speaking to. This will help you tailor your talk to their specific interests.

3. Write a Strong Opening

An engaging opening grabs attention and gets the audience enthusiastic about your topic.

4. Then, There’s Humor

Pepper the speech with little tidbits of warm, gentle, good-natured humor. Not big gags, old jokes, or nightclub-comic routines.

5. Don’t Try to Cover Too Much

Break off a little piece of the subject and tell your story with warmth, wit, humor, and authority. Delete trivial information and limit your talk to the important key points.

6. Write in Conversational Tone

Write in a conversational tone. That means short words. Short sentences. Plenty of contractions. Even a colloquial expression every now and then.

Read it aloud. If it doesn’t sound natural, rewrite it until it does.

Use bullets, headings, and numbers to divide the speech into sections.

o Use as pauses for speaker to catch her breath between sections.

7. Keep It Simple

Ideally, your speech should be centered on one main point or theme. Give the listener easy-to-grasp tidbits of information and advice.

8. What About Visuals?

In some cases, visuals can be useful. If you want to introduce the new corporate logo, you must show a slide or a chart; words alone can’t adequately describe a graphic concept.

Avoid Word Slides!

9. Handouts

Do not distribute your handouts until after the speech is over.

A typed or typeset copy of your speech, cleanly reprinted on good-quality white paper

10. Pick a Catchy Title for Your Speech

The title will be used in mailings, flyers, and other promotions aimed at attracting an audience

There you have it.

The 10 ways for a successful speech to build your listening base, customers, or organizational members.

Now go and take over the world with the most powerful tool at your disposable.

The “WORD”.

10 Comments

11 Tips for making money in print...

10/2/2014

8 Comments

11 TIPS FOR WRITING CLEAR COPY

In the world, tips are for the most part, are the most important things to us in any industry. They are helpful in remembering what you need to do as well as the seed to change your thinking, and views to turn your world upside down. Inspiring you to take the next step to your success.

And the best part, they are easy to remember and many times roll right off the tongue. Now here are 11 tips to effective, clear copy

1.       Put the Reader First

Write not for yourself, but others. Unless all they want is you of course.

You have to put the reader first. Not doing so ends in much confusion as they may not know what you know.

This means you could be explaining for 10 pages, but you lost your audience on the 1st page because they don’t understand what you’re saying.

2.       Carefully Organize Your Selling Points

Organize your selling points logically and have them flow from one to another. This helps with communicating and with keeping the audience involved.

a.       Primary headline – main selling point

i.      Sub-Headlines enhance it

b.      Examples –

i.      Make a promise
ii.      How to Fulfill that promise
iii.      And the rest proves the product is everything that the copy says it is
iv.      How to order
v.      And how the price is insignificant to how much value the product creates
3.       Break the Writing into Short Sections

Break up the flow with easy to read and understandable pieces. Having them in this form make it easy for people to remember.

c.       Bullet list points

d.      Break five sentence paragraphs into three paragraph sentences

e.      Make simple sentences

4.       Use Short Sentences

The memory is fickle and remembers best in story-lines and bites. SO feed it small chunks of sentences.

Sentence Chunks Scale:

f.        Best – 6-12 word sentences

g.       Good 14-16 words

h.      Passable 20 -25

i.         Bad - Up to 40

j.        Unreadable – 40 +

i.      Good punctuation to use to break sentences up

1.       -------

2.       …

5.       Use Simple Words

Don’t use big words. People are not impressed, and don’t understand what you are saying.

k.       Use short words in comparison to large words

i.      The shorter the better

ii.      7 and above is too much

6.       Avoid Technical Jargon

Use words only as select people know, and only a select people will know. Not much sense for the rest of us.

l.         Leave the noobs to the geeks, the electrons to the physicist, and the compounds to the chemists

7.       Be Concise

Write the best with the most. But slim it down to what you actually need and what people actually want.

m.    Write with vigor, then apply Occam’s razor to glean the best clarity from your work

8.       Be Specific

Don’t be ambiguous. Vagueness doesn’t tell people anything.

n.      Bullet list your points and give only what matters, and only that

9.       Go Straight to the Point

Go for the jugular. People understand quickly and effectively when you do. As there is not much room for interpretation.

o.      Don’t warm-up with fluff or try to explain background information to the reader in the first paragraph, the reader should know already what your selling

p.      We do this and this and this and that’s why you friggen want it.

10.   Write in a Friendly, Conversational Style

You don’t like monotony. I don’t like monotony. Nobody likes to read monotony.

Don’t force it on others.

q.      Talk like I’m your lost best friend who wants to talk of good old times

11.   Avoid Political Language

Its best to avoid political incorrectness as it promotes emotions in the audience that distort anything else they read.

r.        Be politically correct or you will be in trouble.

So…

Use one or use them all to have clear communication to your prospects and customers. Because no one likes to not understand what someone is saying, especially when you’re trying to sell them something.

8 Comments

The Five Writing Habits Killing your Productivity

9/26/2014

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Habit 1: Being a slave to the squiggly line

When writing, do not try to make every word right. Let a few words stay red as you unleash your writing. The reason to let things stay wrong because going back to change every wrong word, interrupts your flow, and makes you have to rethink each time to regain your flow. Letting things stay wrong, and letting the spell checker take charge will free up hours of your time.

Habit 2: Being an ever-ready editor

When writing, do not let your perfectionist take over and continuously rephrase the same sentence over and over, the same paragraph over and over, and even your paper over and over. Waiting until the end allowing yourself to free write, will create greater flow and save more time by eliminating any edits until the end.

Habit 3: Mapping it all out

When writing, do not map out everything you need to write. It forces you to put blinders on your writing, limiting your ability create new ideas, as your stuck trying to fit it to your outline. It’s better to have an idea of where you want to go, but allowing yourself room to expand your ideas, create new ones, and build it into something incredible.

Habit 4: Not paying attention

Another bane to every writer’s existence is not paying attention. Being distracted by everything from emails, texts, knocks at the door, calls from friends, and at worst “the internet”. Not being focused in your writing and gravely effect your productivity as you are unable to write effectively and anything you do write is not your best. Therefore, take the time to escape your home and find a nice quiet place where you can concentrate on your work.

Habit 5: Forgetting to take time out

Another major habit of bad writing is forgetting to take time out while you write to refresh your batteries. Trying to force yourself to write will cause you to drag your writing down more. Take a walk, a swim, or even a step out for a breath of fresh air will allow you to energize your writing again and again.

Understanding that you have these habits is the first step in breaking them. But once you have broken them you will experience an instant increase in your productivity of ten-fold. This will allow you more time to do what’s important and not to write. Like live your life.

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5 ways to get PAID!

8/28/2014

3 Comments

5 ways to get PAID!

Welcome to the FIVE WAYS to get paid.

If you have ever been interested in making money, then you are in the right place.

Now just exactly how do you get paid, get paid right, and more importantly, get paid again.

All you have to do is follow a few tested techniques that are fundamental in nearly every situation.

And we start with...

#5: Enhance people’s lives by creating value
·         Valuable Relationships (Enjoy your Company)

o   Create relationships that others value through combined prosperity, mutually gratifying amity, and general goodwill (People love to pay people they like.)

·         Valuable Advice (Mentorship)

o   Be there for people in their times of need. Give advice and guide them through the angles. Everyone needs someone sometimes.

·         Valuable Service/Work (Solve Problems)

o   Use your business not to sell people stuff, but help them solve problems.

·         Value (Make/Save them Money)

o   Help others make money or save money, and they will let you share in the spoils.

#4: Reward and Appreciate Customers
Customers are the lifeblood of your business.

In good times and bad, customers can support you. They are what makes your business run.

They are the people who grow you, the people who tell their friends about you, and the people you create value for.

Treat them well and they will return the favor. Which is why the #5 way to get paid is to reward and appreciate your customers because without them, you are nothing.

And the best ways to maintain those business to consumer relations is to keep them engaged with your business and appreciate them.

Ways to keep them engaged…

101 Ways to Engage Your Customers to Build Ultimate Brand Loyalty from mplifyr

Ways to appreciate them…

·         Reward your customers by paying them for any work they do for you such as loyalty, referrals, and becoming a champion for your business.

o   This can go as far as having a loyalty program where you give prizes, merchandise, and discounts on future service and products.

o   And soft techniques such as Thank You Notes, Gifts, and shows of appreciation such as a follow-up phone calls, emails, and favors

·         Ensure the quality of your work and your products

o   If there are any errors in those things, do not hesitate to fix it by any means necessary, especially if they pay extra for it

·         For even more ways to keep them happy:

o   http://www.helpscout.net/25-ways-to-thank-your-customers/

#3: Build Relationships by Appreciating Others
If customers weren't important enough, business cohorts are just as well. Suppliers, Advertising Partners, Sponsors, and any number of people who help your business sometimes without ever even using your products.

Ways to keep them engaged…

·         Involve them in business events, if going to a large event, invite them, having a seminar, let them come.

o   Invitations to places where they can expand their business, meet new contacts, and learn something new is always a good way to keep them engaged

·         Keep them up to date in your business happenings. Let them know if you are unveiling a new product or service

o   The more they know, the easier it is to sell you as a referral

·         Refer them information that is useful to their daily lives.

o   Make their lives easier by giving them the information that pertain to their interests and they may need

Ways to appreciate them…

·         Create goodwill with others in your business such as complimentary servicers (graphic designers, etc.), your suppliers, and partners

o   Refer them people to their products or cause and they will do the same

o   Wine and Dine them to show your appreciation and support of what they do

·         Having a large network of supporters allows you options in good times and bad

o   Stay in contact, remember birthdays, special events, and more

o   Always have a way to go that extra mile to show you care

#2: Reward and Appreciate Employee
In any business that relies on employees, it is always best practice to treat them well and have active ways to engage them in your business. As the old saying goes, happy/engaged employees don’t sabotage your business.

In appreciating and rewarding employees, it takes advantage of the Pygmalion Effect: The Power of the Expectations. This Effect occurs when your expectations of an outcome help to make those expectations become true.

So many times the expectations of your employees directly relate with their success. Therefore you have to keep them engaged and appreciated. This will help your Employees become successful, your business, and in turn, you will be successful.

Ways to keep them engaged…

1.    Give them a Tour. Take your employees for a tour of one of your vendors or suppliers' facilities. It’s a cool way to learn more about who you work with, and can be as fun as a field trip was in grade school days.

2.    Give them a Way Out. Let your employee ditch one project they like the least, and you do it yourself instead.

3.    Adult Education. Pay for one adult education class of their choosing. Maybe Cooking, Yoga, or Something else of interest.

4.    Take them to Dinner. Take them and their family to dinner. Make it a nice restaurant of their choice.

5.    Training and Conferences. Provide training opportunities to employees, or send them to an annual conference they’d enjoy.

6.    Training Videos. Put employees in your training videos. This gives them exposure to the rest of the company and gives them a day to shine.

7.    Talk About Anything. Converse with your employees. Ask them about Life, What they enjoy, and get to know them as people. It shows that you care.

8.    Time. Give the gift of your time and attention. Offer to mentor or coach employees

Ways to appreciate them…

1.    Flexible Hours. Let your team work when they want to work. The flexibility can be worth a lot more than cash. Maybe they won’t need daycare services for their child, for example, if they can make their own schedule.

2.    A Thank You Note. Saying thanks about something specific may be the ultimate reward. If you do it selectively yet authentically, a thank you note may be pinned above your employee’s desk for years.

3.    Massage. Have a massage therapist come to your office for the day and give every recognized employee a chair massage. A chiropractor isn’t a bad idea either

4.    A New Chair. Many employees sit for at least eight hours a day. Reward their exceptional effort with a new comfortable, supportive chair.

5.    Acknowledge Employees in Meetings. When an employee has a good idea, performs above and beyond, secures a big win or account, or does something worthy, acknowledge him or her by name in meetings.

6.    Know everyone’s Name. Learn everyone’s name and use it. Say, “Thank you, Carol,” not just “Thanks!” People love to hear their names, so use them and use them often, especially when acknowledging their efforts and achievements.

7.    Close Early or Open Late. Close down unexpectedly early one day and give everyone the afternoon off. Or, open half a day later after a holiday like St. Patrick’s Day.

8.    Show Respect in Everything You Do and Say. All your hard work and appreciation of an employee can be destroyed in an instant if you yell at them, disrespect or belittle them in private or public. They won’t remember the 100 times you said you appreciated them. They’ll remember the one time you didn’t. Bite your tongue, smile and always show respect regardless of your personal feelings.

#1: Leverage it.
Once you have all this goodwill and powerful relationships.

Use it.

Leverage it to get people excited about what you do, and grow your business.

In fact, record everything as it all can be utilized as marketing.

o   Help a customer have a great day. Use as a Promotional video.

o   Bring a partner to your seminar. Interview him to see what he learned.

o   Appreciate an Employee’s Charity. Use the video at your next conference.

o   Take a tour of a supplier. Use as a Training video.

Without leveraging everything you do. You are missing opportunities to get paid.

You are missing bigger and better opportunities to get paid.

And to use that to give back to those who got you paid. Your Partners, Customers, and Employees.

There you have it...

The FIVE WAYS TO GET PAID.

All involving creating value for others and ensuring they are satisfied.

Because no one likes to do business with people they don’t like.

3 Comments

Techniques of the Week: Episode 5

8/25/2014

5 Comments

Power of "Free" Things

Greetings,

This is my fifth iteration of “Techniques of the Week” which is an ode to simple writing and marketing techniques that can be used immediately with measurable results in the Before, During, and After of your sales process.

Today, the Before, During, and After will instead be After, During, and Before. Which is not actually that exciting as During has not moved.

With that said, let’s be off…

The After – The 9 Word Email

Many times, you have many prospects who show interest in your product or service and somewhere along the way of them making a purchase, they got sidetracked. Usually, silly YouTube videos on Facebook, shiny objects, or the bustle of life.

When this happens, it’s best to get their attention back without trying to sell them something. As a hard sale may do more harm than good. In this situation, you need to be armed with the simple, but sweet, 9-Word Email. With this powerful tool, you can easily gain the attention of those customers who peaked interest, but didn’t stick.

Now…

How it works
Essentially the email…

· Is 9 words

·         Does not try to sell anything

·         Asks a Yes or No Question

·         Is intriguing enough that the prospect responds

·         And is personal enough as it appears that the email was sent just for them

For Example…

Hello friend,

1.       Are you still interested in doing business with us?

2.       Have you found someone else who does “Your Service”?

3.       Just catching back up with you, are you busy?

With the 9-Word Email, watch those thought-lost prospects come back more interested than ever.

9 word Email – I saw that you missed my last email, but I was wondering if you were still interested in “X”.

The During – Funnel Method

The During piece of today’s Techniques of the Week is the Funnel Method of Advertising and a unique customer experience that they can’t get anywhere else.

In the Funnel Method, you have many different avenues and approaches to your products. Each tailored to the different sectors of customers who enjoy your products. The way a sales funnel works is that you have an entire system of advertising from email, mail, and others that is automatically and regular sent to your prospect. The difference is that each funnel targets different customer types based on their occupation, interests, personalities, tastes, and any other discerning characteristics. This helps increase your sales by “personally” knowing your customer and providing for their needs and wants.

For example, you have services for both business people, technical professionals, and the regular consumer. For each you have different marketing and strategies. You need different ways to reach each and funnel them through the appropriate marketing.

This can be done using…

Self-Assignment – on your website, have separate parts of your site that cater to each of your specific sectors and ask which sector they belong when they first visit. This lets them self-assign themselves into the appropriate funnel

Specified Info-products – have Info-products on topics of interest for different customer groups to intrigue them into signing into the appropriate Advertising Funnel. This is useful in that people self-assign themselves and allows your advertising to do its work.

Logical Assignment – logical assignment is where you or your automatic systems place certain customers into a sales funnel by collected data (Business Owner Mailing List), the advertising that attracted them (Professional Trade Magazine Ad, etc.), and other none self-assigning strategies.

Isolated Targeting – having data on your customer allows you to put known customers into the appropriate funnel (Through Surveys and Opt-Ins). This can include putting the appropriate funnels in the appropriate places to pick up your specific customer (like running a Trade Ad in a Professional Trade Magazine).

Funnel Method – Funnel people into different levels of your advertising and product lines.

The Before – The Power of FREE STUFF

In the Before of your sales process. The most powerful thing is the promise of something free. From services to products and everything in-between.

This can be anything from…

·         Free samples – free service and free products customized to niche

o   Let them see if they like what you offer in small samples

·         Free Trials – let them see the benefit of your product immediately with no strings attached

o   Helps facilitate a lifetime customer as they will see the value of your product in using your product

·         Free gift – Give away free service or gift to indebt customer to you or be able to show your stuff off. Before, during, and after.

·         The “Bonus” Gift – Have someone pay for your product and instantly provide them with a limited time free bonus gift.

o   Bonus #1 = Get subscribed to our email drip

o   Free Ads or Ad Space

·         Free Product if you signup – Generate a customer list by promoting a free newsletter or consumer guide to educate consumer on product

Free Stuff – Give away to success! Free stuff here, Free stuff there! Free stuff everywhere!

And with that, you now have 3 more ways to start making more money today. Do let us know about your success with these techniques or techniques of your own that allowed you to succeed.

P.S.

My vacation in Taiwan has affected my ability to post my blog on schedule this week. For my failure, I am giving away a free 15 page info-product on creating your marketing business (6.99 value).

5 Comments

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