Get in the Results Business – How to Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing
The shift toward a customer service culture has caused customers to expect more from companies. What impressed them yesterday is expected today. Think of it as a form of inflation where your service Wow dollars don’t get as much as they used to.
At the same time, the power of word of mouth marketing is at an all-time high, with social sharing driving consumer choice at unprecedented levels. So what’s a company to do? Give up on wowing customers or jump into the wow business?
The answer is, and always will be, go for the wow! If there’s any business you want to be, you MUST be in, it’s the results business. Your customers want results, not excuses. Give them results, without hassle, and a few unexpected extras, and your customers will do the rest!
How to Drive Word-of-Mouth Marketing
#1: Know WHAT Results Your Customers are Seeking – Start by finding out EXACTLY what results your customers are seeking. This is not the time for guessing – if you want to know what your customers want, ask (and make it a priority to keep asking).
#2: Deliver Results with Ease – Don’t make your customers fight for what they want. Although most will happily play the angry customer game to get what they want, they won’t actually be all that happy with you. Make your customer experience simple and seamless.
#3: Create a Memorable Experience – There’s no point in going above and beyond in ordinary mundane ways. Savvy customers know to expect that as part of the package. The challenge is coming up with creative and unique ways to impress.
#4: Empower Your People – Give the people who really make or break your word-of-mouth reputation the ability to be creative in pleasing customers. Don’t tie their hands with difficult-to-navigate systems and official policies. Not only is that annoying to employees, it’s infuriating to customers.
#5: Remind Them to Share – Include a call to action reminding them (in a fun and friendly way) to share what they love about you with others. This can be as simple as posting requests to share via social media, using QR codes to enable sharing or asking in product documentation or signage.
How To Connect On Social Media – #1 Tip from @RickiLake
Social media has changed the world forever. In just 140 characters or an update to your Facebook status, you have the potential to connect with a complete stranger in the same town or across the globe. In an instant, Friendships are being formed. Business is taking place. People are connecting. And the world will never be the same.
But it isn’t that easy…
Many people are standing on the sidelines of social media, unsure of how to jump into the conversation and contribute their thoughts. There is uncertainty about how one can form bonds with people they have never met “face to face.”
Are you one of many asking the question, “how?”
That is why we are here and you can know one thing for sure… You are in the right place! We have teamed up with Ricki Lake, one of the most engaged celebrities on social media, to share 5 tips for connecting with people in an instant on social media.
Watch this video to hear Ricki Lake’s #1 Tip for Connecting on Social Media
2. Be Respectful.
Leave judgment at the door and respect that other people on social media have beliefs and opinions that are their own. This is what makes them unique! Just as in offline relationships, if you want to make friends, you have to be one first. If you want people to respect you, start by being respectful of them.
3. Be Inspiring.
People like social media for many reasons. Many will share that they feel uplifted and empowered to live their best life by connecting with inspiring and positive people. If you want to make a lot of friends on social media, be inspiring. Be encouraging. Be a friend.
4. Be Generous.
The more you offer to help others in life, the more “likeable” you will be. When on social media you can help others by supporting their work. Take the time to mention people, and give them positive feedback. When you re-tweet or share the content of others they feel good and are more likely to appreciate and connect with you. Remember, “it’s not about me, it’s about we”.
5. Find a Fun Community!
Following a hashtag community on Twitter or joining a group or community on Facebook is a great way to connect with people who are like you and who are usually looking for the same type of connection you are looking for. Twitter and Facebook are the largest gathering of individuals on the planet. Communities are simply small groups within. Think of communities on social media as you would small break-out sessions at a very, very large conference. The name on the door is the community. Pick the door that tells you that you share common interests with those on the other side. Then, open the door, step inside and say hello via a tweet or a post on the Facebook wall. You will be surprised that many are waiting for… you!
If you are looking for a community that is based on friendship and connection, please join Ricki Lake and the Friends of Ricki for a very special announcement and a first hand look at social media connection on Ustream at http://ustream.tv/rickilake and using Twitter hashtag #FriendsofRicki at 5pm PST this Wednesday, February 1. We look forward to seeing you and connecting with you there!
Do you have any ideas or questions about making connections on social media? Please leave your thoughts in the comments and let’s discuss.
Give Old Photos a New Digital Life – How Digitize Old Photos
One of the most common questions we get is “What do I do with all my old photos?” We’ve all got shoeboxes full of them too so we went off in search of a solution because frankly, these days digging out that old photo album seems a little pointless.
First, if you’re only looking to digitize a small batch, maybe around 100 precious portraits, then there are lots of inexpensive flatbed scanners out there that will do the trick. Some even scan film negatives, which is a real plus. But before you press “scan” for the first time, let’s talk dpi.
Now, if you have hundreds, yes, that’s hundreds with an “s,” then you may be better off having Scanmyphotos.com take care of them for you. They have high speed scanners that turn your lifetime of photo memories into 300 dpi files burned conveniently onto a DVD. Their prices are reasonable ($79.50 for 1000 photos), but there are some details you’re going to want to let Carley tell you about.
So check out this week’s Twirl for everything you need to know about digitizing your favorite photo memories. Then, just think of what you can do with all that space you freed up in that bottom drawer.
One Task at a Time: Why Focusing on the Very Next Step is the Key
Ever look up the long winding path in front of you and think to yourself, “I will NEVER in a million years reach the top”? And yet, if you continue to take one step at a time, soon enough you will be looking back at that long winding path and think, “Wow, look at how far I’ve come in what seems like no time at all.”
In business (and in life), typically when you start out on a long and winding path, you can’t see the top or even the entire route ahead of you. Perhaps all you can see if the daunting rock wall straight ahead, the one the guidebooks assure you leads to a false summit. The only thing you can do is set a direction and take one step at a time.
Why Focusing on the Very Next Step is the Key
It’s ridiculous to imagine that you would start off from the trail head and in a single leap, jump to the top of the mountain. Or that you could take all 50,892 steps at once. And yet that’s often how we approach our businesses, expecting to get there in a single leap or by tackling all the steps at once.
Thinking that it’s simply a matter of leaping ahead and skipping all the steps is at best naïve and at worst, a grave shortcut that will cost you more steps than you save. Trying to tackle all the steps at once often leads to overwhelm and leaves you with the same amount of unfinished tasks. Both equal no forward momentum at all.
Taking It One Task at a Time While Focusing on the End Goal
Keep your chin up and focus on where you want to end up, but set your foot down right in front of you. That means tackling the one task that needs to be done to keep things moving along. Sometimes that means halting your forward progress to train an assistant or address technical challenges that are ultimately slowing you down.
Start at the beginning. Entrepreneurs are notorious for racing ahead in steps and trying to tackle the tasks that are fun and exciting and leaving the foundational steps for later. A good start is better than trying to rush ahead only to have to retrace and redo missed steps.
Finish each step before taking the next one! It’s a mistake to think that momentum means jumping quickly from task to task. Firmly plant each footstep before taking another so you don’t backslide on a misplaced footstep. Rushing ahead often costs more time on going back and redoing tasks that weren’t fully completed.
Check your compass! It’s easy to get lost in the woods, especially when you are lowdown in the valleys and can’t see above the trees. Continually check your course against your goals and make sure that each step you make it on track!
Remember, when building a sustainable business, what you do along the way matters. Choose your steps carefully and you will create a foundation that will serve you for years to come! Rush ahead too fast and you will be retracing your steps to find the path you should have taken to begin with.
Sales Drying Up? What To Do When You Get Stuck in a Sales Sahara Desert
Every now and then when you least expect it, your sales will dry so fast your mouth puckers. I call it “The Sahara Desert Dry Spell”. When it happens, it will suck every ounce of energy out of you if you don’t know what to do!
When the Sales Well Goes Dry
The reason Sahara Desert Dry Spells are so tough to deal with is because they happen so unexpectedly. It starts when you lose business that you were counting on, usually due to changes outside your control. If you get caught unprepared, what follows is a Sahara Desert Dry Spell.
It happened to me when I lost FOUR of my largest television advertising accounts in one year. Nothing to do with me, but I was left scrambling to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
Losing those HUGE clients was a really tough lesson, especially as 100% commission salesperson. It forced me to become REALLY CREATIVE and also to make sure it never happened to me again.
So What Is a Sahara Sales Desert?
You’re selling like crazy, working your little buns off and then WHAM the sales start disappearing and you start to panic. The key to avoiding the dry spell from hell is knowing what to do.
Plan Ahead! If you are too busy working in your business instead of ON your business, you will have one dry spell after another. You must plan ahead and determine the months of the year that your sales increase or decrease and then create a strategy on what to do!
Have Some Reserves! (Camels Do!) Most people in business are under-capitalized. You have to SAVE or have access to money to help you weather a DRY SPELL so you don’t react in a manner that is totally short-term thinking. A dry spell is not a good reason to cancel advertising, stop promoting yourself, or not invest any professional development. If you are at that point, then you aren’t making wise business decisions and you have more DRY SPELLS in your future. GUARANTEED.
Don’t Have All Your Water On One Camel! It happened to me and it could happen to you. Who is your biggest client? Now imagine that client goes out of business, retires, chooses another provider – where would YOU BE? Don’t keep all of your revenue in a handful of clients otherwise if something goes wrong – you will need a HANDFUL OF KLEENEX!
Make Sure You Are Headed For An Oasis and NOT a Mirage! Do you have realistic sales targets? Do you have an established sales and marketing plan for the next year or are you WINGING IT? How much do you want to earn this year? Write out in detail how you are going to achieve that goal.
Remember this piece of advice: “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” Otherwise you will be looking at a dry bank account because your sales have flat-lined or dropped. Get creative with your sales and become your own rainmaker!
Want more sassy sales advice? Sign up for her saucy and smart FREE e-zine and receive her FREE Bonus Report “The 5 Biggest Sales Mistakes Women Make” at www.salesdivas.com
Business 101: Spotlight on Your Business – 4 Reasons Press Releases Are a Powerful Business Tool
Ever stop to consider WHY you are writing and submitting press releases? What bottom line goals are you trying to achieve? A lot of business owners start out with clear goals for their PR campaigns, and slowly lose sight of them over time.
Generate Sales And Qualified Leads
Generating sales leads is unlikely to be your main purpose for sending press releases, but is still a powerful goal. Moreover, it’s a simple metric to track and with online press release distribution sites, the chances are even greater of your potential customers reading them.
Each PR you send should contain language that excites the reader while delivering the information promised by your title. While hype is inappropriate, you can craft your press releases using the same principles that are employed in sales letters.
Lead the reader through your news story; start strong and build momentum; and end with a clear call to action. Include links throughout the body with at least one pointing to an internal page on your site that asks for the sale.
Improve Brand Awareness Among Your Audience
Though you may think your products and services are similar to those offered by your competitors, your brand is unique. The key is improving recognition and awareness of your brand.
By sending an ongoing stream of press releases, you can keep your company’s name in front of your customers and prospects. You can keep your market informed about recent accomplishments, product breakthroughs, and how your company is getting involved in your community.
These things help to build your brand, positioning your business in a positive light. As your audience continues to see your company’s name, they’ll develop a higher degree of trust while perceiving you as an authority in your space.
Attract Coverage From Journalists And Bloggers
Traditionally, coverage from reporters and journalists has been one of the main goals of sending press releases. It remains so today!
The online space has shifted attention from conventional media sources to online journalists, including bloggers. This means small businesses have a greater range of outlets through which to gain exposure.
Improve Your Website’s Search Engine Rankings
One of the main ingredients for effective search engine optimization is links. The more high-quality, relevant links you build to your company’s site, the better your site will rank in Google and the other search engines. This means more visibility to your target market.
Whenever you distribute an online press release, include at least one link – and preferably, two or three – with your targeted keywords in the anchor text. This informs Google about the topic of the page to which the link points.
When your customers and prospects type those keywords into their favorite search engine, they are more likely to see your site listed. This not only helps you to build top of mind awareness in your audience, but also drives targeted traffic to your website.
Ultimately, the purpose of online press release distribution is to attract attention and draws people to your business. This includes media coverage in the form of journalists and bloggers who are looking for an expert source. It includes your customers, who are reminded of the reasons they enjoy doing business with you. And it includes those who are looking for solutions to their problems, but have yet to stumble across the company that can help them.
For a FREE copy of Tara Geissinger and Christine O’Kelly’s e-book, “The Results-Driven Press Release Forumla,” visit: http://www.onlineprnews.com/how-to-write-a-press-release.
Momentum Monday: Managing Interruptions – Tech Tools to Help You Regain Control of Your Time
Don’t you just hate it when you start the day with the best intentions only to realize at 5 o’clock that you got nothing on your list done thanks to countless interruptions?
It starts innocently enough – a simple phone call that turns into a half-hour discussion, a brief scan through your inbox that translates into 2 hours of email management or a quick social check-in that turns into a social media marathon.
The technical term is “productivity interruptus”, defined as the constant starting and stopping of tasks to respond to the litany of interruptions. The key to avoiding productivity interruptus and regaining control of your time is using technology to manage unwanted interruptions.
Track Your Time – Even if you don’t charge for your time on an hourly basis, it’s important to build awareness of how you spend your time on a daily basis. It’s the only way to get control of your time. For example, you may discover that those ‘quick’ telephone calls are eating up half your day or that social media represents an irresistible time trap.
Create a time log worksheet and record how you spend your time on an hour-by-hour basis or use an app, like Hours Tracker, to clock in and out of activities. Both will show you exactly how you are using your time, allowing you avoid potential time suckers and focus on increasing your productive work time.
Avoid Unwanted Interruptions – The temptation to answer the telephone is powerful. The thinking is that if you don’t answer this call RIGHT NOW, the potential opportunity that could be on the other end will be missed. It rarely ever happens this way.
Consider putting your office telephone on silent or use the Do Not Disturb function, if it’s available. VOIP systems offer a lot of unique features that allow you to manage your calls. For example, Google Voice lets you screen calls by listening in to the voicemail message as it’s being recorded, allowing you to jump in if it’s important.
Centralize Communication – Sometimes what takes us off task is those quick conversations with team members that turn into lengthy discussions when all you really needed was a status update.
That’s where using technology to communicate can save you a lot of time. Instead of calling in for updates or cluttering up your inbox with extended email threads, you can centralize project reporting using Wrike.com.
Schedule Social – Social media is another potential time void. It’s easy to get caught up in the conversation and before you know it, an hour or two has gone by. The best way to get your social media under control is to schedule content in advance.
Tools like Hootsuite make scheduling your social media extremely easy. All you need to do is click SCHEDULE to set the date and time or upload a CSV file. Don’t use it as a substitute for engaging, but as a way to schedule your basic activity. That way you can focus on interacting during your 15-minute power sessions.
Business 101: Disaster Clients – The 7 Types of Clients You Should Avoid at All Costs
Not all clients are created equal.
Everyone talks about finding your “ideal client” or the perfect “fit”. Not many people tackle the topic of the disaster clients. The train wrecks waiting to happen. The drive-you-insane clients you should see coming from a mile away.
Somehow we let them sneak in, under the radar, when our guard is down, or when our bad client filter is on the fritz. Perhaps it’s the guilt of turning down someone who needs help or maybe it’s simply that you needed the money to pay the bills.
Whatever the reason, you choose to ignore your intuition, failing to see the obvious warning signs and blindly step into a relationship doomed to failure. It’s time to take the blinders off and watch out for these disaster clients!
The 7 Types of Disaster Clients You Should Avoid at All Costs
Make no mistake about it: the best way to deal with disaster clients is to simply not work with them. If you find yourself faced with a client relationship that is looking more like a disaster in the making, try to untangle yourself as quickly as possible and use these coping mechanisms:
#1: Disorganized Client – The scattered creative entrepreneurial type who is always in a rush because they are ALWAYS running behind. Their constant lateness isn’t your fault, but it quickly becomes your problem when you become the rescuer of soon-to-be-missed deadlines.
Early warning signs are arriving at meetings late and/or unprepared, late night emails, and requests for last minute rush projects. The key with disorganized clients is to not become their superhero. Set clear boundaries around rush projects and insist on a clearly defined project before starting.
#2: Demanding Client – The bossy types who believe their needs come first, no exceptions. Beware: their demandingness borders on abusive and they do not respect your rules or your boundaries while (ironically) expecting others to respect theirs.
Watch for boundary pushing behavior, like calls to your cell phone after hours, or snarky remarks aimed at you or others. Both signal the beginning of what will turn into a toxic relationship.
#3: Needy Client – The emotional time bombs who turn consulting meetings into personal therapy sessions by dumping their emotional baggage on you. They are constantly dealing with some sort of crisis and attract drama like a Shakespearean actor.
Warning signs are oversharing of extremely personal details early in the relationship and a perpetual “Poor me” complex. Try not to engage in their personal drama and set clear boundaries between your work and personal lives.
#4: Dazed and Confused Client – The space cadets who simply cannot make up their minds, but expect you to shift your project 180 degrees at no additional cost to them because they had a flash of brilliance.
Typical dazed and confused types often can’t put into words what exactly they are looking for and resort to a “I’ll know it when I see it” approach. Avoid stepping into this minefield – you are not a mind reader!
#5: Cheapskate Client – The penny-pinchers who take frugality to the extreme. Often they tend to expect top dollar from THEIR clients, but ironically aren’t willing to pay you the same courtesy.
The cheapskate clients tend to want to “Cherry Pick” your time and expertise for quick one-off projects, only paying for what they have to and doing it themselves whenever possible.
#6: 24/7 Workaholic Client – The 24/7 workhorses who rarely take a day off and never turn off the BlackBerry. The trouble is they also expect that you are on-duty whenever they get inspired, even if it’s 3 in the morning or during your child’s soccer game.
The best way to deal with these boundary pushers is to simply not be available. Turn off the cell phone, don’t look at email and whatever you do, don’t respond to their after hour requests!
#7: Financial Pinch Client – The on-the-brink clients who, despite all their good intentions, will not be able to pay your invoice at the end of the day. Unless they are upfront about it and you are agreeable to not getting paid, steer clear.
Often it’s difficult to gauge the true financial situation of potential clients unless you do a credit check so watch for early warning signs like not paying bills on time or conveniently misplacing your invoice.
Digital Life: Find What’s Around You With AroundMe – A Handy App for Mobile Search
Hankering for a cup of coffee? Need to fill your tank? Trying to find the closest bank machine?
It’s easy if you always stick to your own neighborhood, but what if you are in unfamiliar territory? How are you going find the closest pharmacy? A local supermarket? A hotel? A gas station?
The best way to know what’s immediately around you is to use Around Me. It’s a free app for IOS and Android devices that tells you…well…what’s around you. It’s the must-have app for people on the go.
Around Me is a hyper-localized search that uses geotracking to help find things from the closest pizza place to nearby parking lots and then map them for you. And you can easily share that information through email, Facebook, Twitter and texting.
Check out this week’s Twirl and see how easy it is to be in-the-know when you’re on the go.
The Business of Blogging: Content Marketing – Content Generation Ideas To Keep Your Blog Rolling
Today, more than ever before, content is king. It doesn’t matter where you look in marketing, what is the driving force behind everything is content – on blogs, in newsletters, even in social media.
The challenge then becomes keeping up with the content demands of your marketing machine. That’s why I pulled together 6 simple ways to keep the content flowing all year long.
#1: Hire a Ghostwriter – Someone who specializes in creating compelling content that both educates and informs your audience AND softly sells your product or service. If you are just starting out, hiring a ghostwriter is probably out of your budget.
#2: Invite Guest Bloggers – By approaching guest bloggers, much like I do at DirectSalesClassroom.com, you can have a different article every week without having to create each one yourself. Reach out to your contacts in your industry who are talented writers. The challenge is that you need to proof and/or edit the posts to ensure it fits with your blog.
#3: Browse Article Directories – Don’t have a guest expert who you can turn to? An alternative option is to pull articles from an article directory like ezinearticles.com. It does require careful proof reading and author scrutiny since anyone can (and does) post on directory sites, but it is a valuable source of quality content.
#4: Ask Your Audience – If you choose to write your content yourself, there is a way to make it easier on yourself: simply ask your audience what they’d like to learn more about. A one-question email, or a tool like kwiksurveys.com will make it easy to collect responses and compile the answers into a usable format. Here are a few example questions you could ask to gauge interest in topics:
“What is your biggest question about (insert problem you help solve)?”
“If you could ask me one question, what would it be?”
“When you think about (problem you help solve) what would you say is your sticking point?”
The idea is to keep the scope of the topics narrowed down to the topics you’d like to write about versus an open flood of topics you may not have the knowledge to adequately (or accurately) cover.
#5: Borrow Inspiration – Look at content from other experts in your field. Other experts in your field may have knowledge that you don’t and by researching it, you are both learning it and bringing that new learning to your audience for the first time. Look for an interesting way to present your own take on a hot topics. You could also use any of that content written by others as a springboard for new ideas and content that you create yourself.
#6: Create an Editorial Calendar – Using an editorial calendar is not only a great way to help you pick topics, but also keep you focused each week on specific topics that are relevant to your business direction. During the summer, you may choose to write about getting ready for conferences, while early fall may be a good time to write about holiday preparations.
Whatever option you select, there are a wide variety of ways to bust through writer’s block and keep quality content flowing on your blog and in your newsletter all year long.
Want more business boosting ideas? Connect with Lisa Robbin Young on Twitter or on her Business Action Hero site!
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