There's more marketing hype published on the Internet in one day than P.T. Barnum generated in his lifetime. Like a worm swallowing its tail, the Internet marketing beast feeds mostly on itself. The vast majority of what appears on the Internet about marketing is designed to help you market products and services sold and delivered exclusively on the Internet.
So what does that mean for the independent professional whose web presence is primarily aimed at selling his or her own services? You know, services delivered the old-fashioned way, by humans interacting face-to-face or at least voice-to-voice. At best, the average professional is likely to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Internet marketing advice available. At worst, he or she is being seriously misled by it.
The problem is that marketing your own professional services is simply not the same as marketing a retail product or an anonymous business service. You can't sell management consulting like you do web hosting; nor can you sell executive coaching the same way you do an ebook. If you try to market yourself by following advice designed for marketing Internet products and services, you're likely to make some serious mistakes.
Here are five Internet marketing myths that may be hazardous to the health of your business.
Myth #1 - It all starts with a great website.
Actually, the place where it starts is with a well-defined service. If you don't have a crystal clear picture of who you are marketing to and exactly what you're selling them, the best website in the world won't get you clients. Before you even think about building a website, you should know who your target market is, how to describe your professional specialty, and what specific benefits your work provides for your clients.
The content of your site is much more important than the design. Yes, you should have a professional-looking site, but a brilliant design and dazzling graphics won't pay off anywhere near as well as a clear explanation of why a client should work with you. Useful material such as articles, assessments, and other samples of your expertise will go much further to persuade prospective clients than flash intros and interactive menus.
Myth #2 - More traffic translates to increased profits.
The only result that more traffic to your website guarantees you is increased bandwidth use on your web hosting account. Before spending money on banner ads, web directories, or pay-per-click listings to drive more visitors to your site, you need to be sure that they'll want to do business with you once they get there.
Ask your colleagues and current clients to critique your site. Do they understand what you offer? Can they see concrete benefits to your target audience? Revise your site based on their feedback. Then personally invite some prospective clients to visit and touch base afterward. Do your prospects seem more inclined to do business with you after seeing your site? If so, you're on the right track. If not, you still have work to do.
Myth #3 - Do whatever it takes to build your list.
There's no question that a substantial opt-in mailing list is a valuable marketing asset, but the quality of names on your list is much more important than the quantity. Acquiring names through giveaways of other people's material, trading lists with joint venture partners, or purchasing them from a vendor rarely provides qualified buyers truly interested in your services.
Absolutely, ask your site visitors and people you meet to join your mailing list and offer them something of value in return. A well-written ezine, helpful report, or informative audio are all effective premiums. But, your premium should be directly related to the services you provide and also serve to increase your professional credibility. Names acquired from promotional gimmicks or unknown sources seldom turn into paying clients.
Myth #4 - Killer copy is the secret to sales.
Hype-laden web copy may be effective in selling info-products or home-study courses, but it hardly inspires trust. You're not going to convince anyone to hire you as a consultant, coach, trainer, designer, or financial advisor by offering "not one, not two, but three valuable bonuses" as if you were selling steak knives on late-night TV.
Your Internet marketing persona should reflect the same professionalism as the work you do with your clients. If writing marketing materials isn't your forte, by all means hire a professional copywriter. But be sure you hire one with experience writing for professionals like yourself. The copy on your website should inspire feelings of confidence about your abilities, and communicate your reliability and solid qualifications.
Myth #5 - Just follow the winning formula and you will get rich.
There's only one surefire recipe for Internet wealth I know of, and that's the business of selling surefire recipes. There seems to be an infinite number of buyers for every new get-rich-online scheme that is invented, but paradoxically, a precious few people successfully making money on the web.
The Internet may be a different medium for marketing professional services than traditional approaches like making calls, writing letters, or meeting people in person, but the same time-honored principles still apply. There is no winning formula for overnight success. The secret to landing clients remains what it always has been -- build relationships and get people to know, like, and trust you.
If your website, ezine, social networking, and other Internet-based activities contribute to building long-term, trusting relationships with prospective clients and referral sources, you'll get business on the web. But if you blast your message out to anyone who will listen, aiming for a quick profit, the Internet won't bring you any more business than standing on a street corner with a megaphone.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Webcam Safety Threatened by Crooks and Spies
If you use a camera connected to your computer, your webcam safety could be compromised by hackers and "peeping Tom" spies.
Even legally installed webcams that monitor activity in locations like vacation resorts and workplaces are vulnerable to misuse.
Just as a hacker can gain control of your PC, so they can also take over your webcam, switching it on and off, taking photos and watching everything you do.
Mostly they breach your webcam safety to seize control via a Remote Access Trojan-type virus (fittingly abbreviated to RATs!) that you unknowingly download to your computer or that they manage to install when you leave it unattended.
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Even legally installed webcams that monitor activity in locations like vacation resorts and workplaces are vulnerable to misuse.
Just as a hacker can gain control of your PC, so they can also take over your webcam, switching it on and off, taking photos and watching everything you do.
Mostly they breach your webcam safety to seize control via a Remote Access Trojan-type virus (fittingly abbreviated to RATs!) that you unknowingly download to your computer or that they manage to install when you leave it unattended.
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Mortgage Lenders Committed Massive Fraud and Now Wall St. Wants to Escape the Law
Alternet by Joshua Holland
Here they come looking for an out-clause and a way to keep their coffers full. We need to repeat a simple mantra: No more bailouts for Wall Street.
They committed widespread fraud – largely whitewashed by the corporate media – and, in the process, threw the economy into a tailspin. They've broken into and stolen people's homes, and, in the name of “efficiency,” bilked state governments out of billions of dollars in real estate transfer fees. They've even admitted to ripping off – and foreclosing on – soldiers deployed overseas, in violation of the law.
And they shredded a bedrock principle of capitalism, throwing hundreds of years of settled property law into doubt and in turn creating a massive drag on Main Street's economic “recovery.”
Read the full article here.
Alternet by Joshua Holland
Here they come looking for an out-clause and a way to keep their coffers full. We need to repeat a simple mantra: No more bailouts for Wall Street.
They committed widespread fraud – largely whitewashed by the corporate media – and, in the process, threw the economy into a tailspin. They've broken into and stolen people's homes, and, in the name of “efficiency,” bilked state governments out of billions of dollars in real estate transfer fees. They've even admitted to ripping off – and foreclosing on – soldiers deployed overseas, in violation of the law.
And they shredded a bedrock principle of capitalism, throwing hundreds of years of settled property law into doubt and in turn creating a massive drag on Main Street's economic “recovery.”
Read the full article here.
Alternet by Joshua Holland
Saturday, January 22, 2011
PUBLISH OR PERISH C.J. Hayden, MCC
When you place a call to a prospective client, does the person you are calling already know your name, even if you have never met? When new clients are referred to you, do they often say that they've heard of you from several different sources? Are you frequently contacted by people who are ready to work with you and don't question your qualifications? These are just some of the results you can expect when you make publishing part of your marketing plan.
In the academic world, the phrase "publish or perish" reflects the common knowledge that people must know who you are in order to hire you, promote you, or fund your research. No matter what niche you do business in, experts agree that publishing your work accelerates your ability to gain clients. According to Tom Lambert, author of "High Income Consulting" (http://www.icfce.com), winning some level of fame is the surest way to higher earnings as a professional.
Here are some guidelines to help you start getting published or expand your publishing efforts:
1. Publishing is easier than ever before. In the pre-Internet age, most publishing took the form of articles in newspapers and magazines or full-length books. Getting your work published usually required a lengthy process of approaching (and being rejected by) numerous editors. Now it's possible to write an article in the morning and have it in the hands of thousands by afternoon, often with no editor's stamp of approval.
You can publish your own articles on the web via email broadcasts to your own mailing list, posting them on your web site or weblog, or submitting them to the thousands of independent web sites and ezines eager for fresh content to inform their visitors. In addition, many print magazines and newsletters accept completed articles sent by email. Just check the submission guidelines of any publication that interests you to see if they require queries before sending.
Electronic publishing also makes it possible to easily publish shorter-length books as ebooks, web-based manuals, ecourses, or short-run printings of workbooks, booklets, and white papers. If you can put together ten pages of material, you have enough to publish in one of these shorter forms, and begin referring to yourself as "the author of..."
2. Write what you do. The best articles or workbooks are not those describing the type of work you do; they are the ones that actually help the reader do that work. Instead of writing how life coaching can help people complete important projects, a coach should write his best tips on ending procrastination. A professional organizer could write about dealing with junk mail, and a sales trainer could write about motivating salespeople when business is slow.
If you're feeling stuck for writing topics, make it a habit after every client meeting to mentally review each of the subjects you discussed with your client and note which ones might be good for a future article. Or, think of the ten questions that clients or prospects most commonly ask about your line of work. Each one of those questions is likely to be an excellent article topic or chapter in a book.
3. Make all your writing count. Steven Van Yoder, author of "Get Slightly Famous" (http://www.getslightlyfamous.com) encourages his clients to get their articles reprinted as many places as possible. If you're going to take the trouble to write a good article, why not reuse it over and over? Steve has helped many clients get a single article posted on up to 100 different web sites, as well as in multiple print publications.
Many sites and publications happily accept articles that have already been printed. If you want to write for an outlet that insists on "first rights" of publication for a certain length of time, no problem. Write a new article for that outlet, then concentrate on getting it reprinted elsewhere after the time period has expired. Remember, too, that every piece of writing can be re-purposed. An article can be expanded into a white paper; a collection of articles can become a book.
4. If you're not a writer, work with one. You don't have to be able to write well in order to get published. It isn't just celebrities that work with ghost writers, editors, or proofreaders to strengthen and polish their writing. If you're better at expressing yourself out loud, you don't even have to write. You can speak your thoughts and have them transcribed and edited by a professional.
5. Get started now. The more writing you publish and the longer your work has been out there, the more you will increase your visibility, credibility, and reputation as an expert. Clients will come to you instead of you having to seek them out. Your sales cycles will be shorter, and the fees you charge can be higher. Each publication will become a salesperson to whom you never have to pay a commission, working tirelessly to bring you more clients.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
In the academic world, the phrase "publish or perish" reflects the common knowledge that people must know who you are in order to hire you, promote you, or fund your research. No matter what niche you do business in, experts agree that publishing your work accelerates your ability to gain clients. According to Tom Lambert, author of "High Income Consulting" (http://www.icfce.com), winning some level of fame is the surest way to higher earnings as a professional.
Here are some guidelines to help you start getting published or expand your publishing efforts:
1. Publishing is easier than ever before. In the pre-Internet age, most publishing took the form of articles in newspapers and magazines or full-length books. Getting your work published usually required a lengthy process of approaching (and being rejected by) numerous editors. Now it's possible to write an article in the morning and have it in the hands of thousands by afternoon, often with no editor's stamp of approval.
You can publish your own articles on the web via email broadcasts to your own mailing list, posting them on your web site or weblog, or submitting them to the thousands of independent web sites and ezines eager for fresh content to inform their visitors. In addition, many print magazines and newsletters accept completed articles sent by email. Just check the submission guidelines of any publication that interests you to see if they require queries before sending.
Electronic publishing also makes it possible to easily publish shorter-length books as ebooks, web-based manuals, ecourses, or short-run printings of workbooks, booklets, and white papers. If you can put together ten pages of material, you have enough to publish in one of these shorter forms, and begin referring to yourself as "the author of..."
2. Write what you do. The best articles or workbooks are not those describing the type of work you do; they are the ones that actually help the reader do that work. Instead of writing how life coaching can help people complete important projects, a coach should write his best tips on ending procrastination. A professional organizer could write about dealing with junk mail, and a sales trainer could write about motivating salespeople when business is slow.
If you're feeling stuck for writing topics, make it a habit after every client meeting to mentally review each of the subjects you discussed with your client and note which ones might be good for a future article. Or, think of the ten questions that clients or prospects most commonly ask about your line of work. Each one of those questions is likely to be an excellent article topic or chapter in a book.
3. Make all your writing count. Steven Van Yoder, author of "Get Slightly Famous" (http://www.getslightlyfamous.com) encourages his clients to get their articles reprinted as many places as possible. If you're going to take the trouble to write a good article, why not reuse it over and over? Steve has helped many clients get a single article posted on up to 100 different web sites, as well as in multiple print publications.
Many sites and publications happily accept articles that have already been printed. If you want to write for an outlet that insists on "first rights" of publication for a certain length of time, no problem. Write a new article for that outlet, then concentrate on getting it reprinted elsewhere after the time period has expired. Remember, too, that every piece of writing can be re-purposed. An article can be expanded into a white paper; a collection of articles can become a book.
4. If you're not a writer, work with one. You don't have to be able to write well in order to get published. It isn't just celebrities that work with ghost writers, editors, or proofreaders to strengthen and polish their writing. If you're better at expressing yourself out loud, you don't even have to write. You can speak your thoughts and have them transcribed and edited by a professional.
5. Get started now. The more writing you publish and the longer your work has been out there, the more you will increase your visibility, credibility, and reputation as an expert. Clients will come to you instead of you having to seek them out. Your sales cycles will be shorter, and the fees you charge can be higher. Each publication will become a salesperson to whom you never have to pay a commission, working tirelessly to bring you more clients.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Gas Pumps Targeted in Latest Card Skimming Scam
Security experts say that skimming, the process of secretly reading data off your credit and debit cards, could be netting crooks as much as $3 billion a year in the US.
That's the word from the US Secret Service, via the banking community's educational website BankInfoSecurity.com, which claims ATM skimming is now the fastest-growing electronic fraud risk for financial institutions.
It's some consolation that, if your card gets skimmed, your bank or other issuer will probably make good on the loss, provided you report the incident promptly.
Click here to read more.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
That's the word from the US Secret Service, via the banking community's educational website BankInfoSecurity.com, which claims ATM skimming is now the fastest-growing electronic fraud risk for financial institutions.
It's some consolation that, if your card gets skimmed, your bank or other issuer will probably make good on the loss, provided you report the incident promptly.
Click here to read more.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Friday, January 14, 2011
FROM FAILURE TO FAILURE WITHOUT LOSS OF ENTHUSIASM C.J. Hayden, MCC
One of my clients had recently experienced a string of failures. A business venture that had consumed a great deal of her time flopped. A new line of business she was attempting to market was finding little response in the marketplace. Several of her long-time clients left.
She woke up one morning feeling depressed. If her business was failing, perhaps she was a failure as a person. Maybe she needed to give up her business and get a job. Or find a different kind of business to be in. She was feeling lost, stuck, and discouraged.
Seeking inspiration, she ran across this quote from Winston Churchill: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Somehow that short sentence turned around her whole attitude. She suddenly realized that her recent failures had a great deal to teach her, and that they could become a new source of enthusiasm for her business.
Here are some of the things you can learn from failure:
1. What caused you to fail? Sometimes we are afraid to ask ourselves this question. Perhaps you fear you will discover something unpleasant about yourself. This fear may be completely unfounded. Your failure may have been caused by circumstances that were beyond your control, or an event that couldn't have been predicted. If you discover that you failed due to no fault of your own, you may quickly regain your enthusiasm to try again.
If you did cause the failure in some way, determining what you did wrong may be the only way to figure out how to do it right. If you avoid examining your failure, you will be far more likely to repeat it. So even if it's uncomfortable, take some time to look at exactly what happened, and why.
2. What's the one thing that could make a difference? Sometimes a simple change in your approach can make the difference between failure and success. My client realized that she had been guilty of "Lone Ranger syndrome," implementing plans without asking anyone else for input. When she began asking others for advice about her new line of business, she quickly discovered what had been missing from her marketing messages, and began to see some response.
3. Failure teaches you what doesn't work. This is no small thing. Trying to make a business succeed is often like arriving at a crossroads with a dozen different paths in front of you and no road signs. The only way to choose the correct path may be to travel down several wrong ones first. It may seem like these are false steps, but actually they represent progress.
Every time you take action and don't get the results you want, you learn more about which actions to avoid. Eliminating the unsuitable choices makes it much easier to identify the appropriate course. It may seem inefficient, but taking steps in the wrong direction is much more productive than just standing at the crossroads wondering which way to go.
4. Failure also teaches you what makes you unhappy. It's a curious aspect of human nature that we often find stronger motivation in negative emotions than in positive ones. If your failure makes you sad, angry, or frustrated, this can be just the kick in the pants you need to head in the opposite direction.
If losing a prospective client to a competitor makes you angry, it's a powerful impetus to work on improving your competitive advantage. When you become frustrated by the lack of referrals from your network, it may be the nudge you need to start making new contacts. Learning what makes you unhappy can teach you a lot about where happiness lies.
5. How much do you want to succeed? Setbacks can make you realize how strong your desire for success is, and what you're willing to do to get it. My client discovered that her wish for a thriving business was more powerful than her dislike of asking other people for their opinion. She found a new level of motivation for becoming a savvy businessperson, willing to step outside her comfort zone when it would serve her success.
We all fail at times. The key to success is not avoiding failure; it's grasping how to learn as much as you can from it so you can try again. It may seem as if successful people are just lucky, but more often, they are just persistent. The real failure is when you give up because your first attempt -- or your second, or your third -- doesn't succeed.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
She woke up one morning feeling depressed. If her business was failing, perhaps she was a failure as a person. Maybe she needed to give up her business and get a job. Or find a different kind of business to be in. She was feeling lost, stuck, and discouraged.
Seeking inspiration, she ran across this quote from Winston Churchill: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Somehow that short sentence turned around her whole attitude. She suddenly realized that her recent failures had a great deal to teach her, and that they could become a new source of enthusiasm for her business.
Here are some of the things you can learn from failure:
1. What caused you to fail? Sometimes we are afraid to ask ourselves this question. Perhaps you fear you will discover something unpleasant about yourself. This fear may be completely unfounded. Your failure may have been caused by circumstances that were beyond your control, or an event that couldn't have been predicted. If you discover that you failed due to no fault of your own, you may quickly regain your enthusiasm to try again.
If you did cause the failure in some way, determining what you did wrong may be the only way to figure out how to do it right. If you avoid examining your failure, you will be far more likely to repeat it. So even if it's uncomfortable, take some time to look at exactly what happened, and why.
2. What's the one thing that could make a difference? Sometimes a simple change in your approach can make the difference between failure and success. My client realized that she had been guilty of "Lone Ranger syndrome," implementing plans without asking anyone else for input. When she began asking others for advice about her new line of business, she quickly discovered what had been missing from her marketing messages, and began to see some response.
3. Failure teaches you what doesn't work. This is no small thing. Trying to make a business succeed is often like arriving at a crossroads with a dozen different paths in front of you and no road signs. The only way to choose the correct path may be to travel down several wrong ones first. It may seem like these are false steps, but actually they represent progress.
Every time you take action and don't get the results you want, you learn more about which actions to avoid. Eliminating the unsuitable choices makes it much easier to identify the appropriate course. It may seem inefficient, but taking steps in the wrong direction is much more productive than just standing at the crossroads wondering which way to go.
4. Failure also teaches you what makes you unhappy. It's a curious aspect of human nature that we often find stronger motivation in negative emotions than in positive ones. If your failure makes you sad, angry, or frustrated, this can be just the kick in the pants you need to head in the opposite direction.
If losing a prospective client to a competitor makes you angry, it's a powerful impetus to work on improving your competitive advantage. When you become frustrated by the lack of referrals from your network, it may be the nudge you need to start making new contacts. Learning what makes you unhappy can teach you a lot about where happiness lies.
5. How much do you want to succeed? Setbacks can make you realize how strong your desire for success is, and what you're willing to do to get it. My client discovered that her wish for a thriving business was more powerful than her dislike of asking other people for their opinion. She found a new level of motivation for becoming a savvy businessperson, willing to step outside her comfort zone when it would serve her success.
We all fail at times. The key to success is not avoiding failure; it's grasping how to learn as much as you can from it so you can try again. It may seem as if successful people are just lucky, but more often, they are just persistent. The real failure is when you give up because your first attempt -- or your second, or your third -- doesn't succeed.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Phony Privacy Software in Latest Facebook Scams
Seems like barely a week passes without new Facebook scams popping up. Hardly surprising since the social networking site has more than 500 million members, making it a prime target for crooks.
But a real doozy showed up during the past couple months, tricking tens of thousands of Facebook users into giving crooks access to their profile pages.
This particular Facebook scam plays on people's curiosity to know who's been checking out their profile.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
But a real doozy showed up during the past couple months, tricking tens of thousands of Facebook users into giving crooks access to their profile pages.
This particular Facebook scam plays on people's curiosity to know who's been checking out their profile.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Friday, January 7, 2011
New Ticket Scam Threats to Olympics and Concerts
By some estimates, one in every 12 people booking seats online for concerts and major sporting events has fallen for a ticket scam.
And with seats for the 2012 Olympic Games in London going on sale in March 2011, organizers could face another spate of ticket scams similar to those that hit the 2008 Beijing Games, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2010 Soccer World Cup, costing many thousands of sports fans millions of dollars.
Similarly, a number of major blockbuster concert tours lined up for 2011 will likely draw in the ticket scam artists, especially for events that are nearly or already sold out.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
And with seats for the 2012 Olympic Games in London going on sale in March 2011, organizers could face another spate of ticket scams similar to those that hit the 2008 Beijing Games, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2010 Soccer World Cup, costing many thousands of sports fans millions of dollars.
Similarly, a number of major blockbuster concert tours lined up for 2011 will likely draw in the ticket scam artists, especially for events that are nearly or already sold out.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT? C.J. Hayden, MCC
"What's wrong with my marketing?" That's a question I often hear from clients, students, and readers. It's a useful query, as there frequently are areas where you could do better at marketing and sales. But while the question "what's wrong" can uncover your marketing problems, it doesn't always suggest answers. You may need to ask what you're doing right.
Examining what's already working about your marketing and sales activities can give you valuable clues to how you can improve. Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself, and what they might tell you about where your marketing efforts will produce the best results.
1. Where did your last few clients come from? Consider the new clients you've landed over the past year. Were they referred to you? Did they contact you through your website? Had they heard you speak? Did you cold call them? Examine the source of all your recent sales and determine exactly how you first came in contact, and what sequence of events led to closing those sales. If you notice a pattern, see how you might repeat your success.
One of my coaching clients, a graphic designer, was spending a considerable amount of her marketing time on approaching ad agencies and corporate marketing departments, with lukewarm results. She told me these had always been her best source of clients in the past, but I asked her to look at where her clients had been coming from lately.
She was surprised to discover that all her recent clients had been referrals from colleagues, such as a copywriter, a photographer, and an art director. When she switched the emphasis of her marketing away from knocking on the doors of large firms, and instead began networking with professionals in related fields, she began seeing better results almost immediately.
2. How have you gotten your best clients? Some clients give us repeat business, pay our fees without quibbling, and are easy to work with, while others want us to work at discount prices and jump through hoops to get and keep their business. Consider who your best clients have been over time, and what you did to find them. Are these approaches you can use again?
A marketing communications consultant in one of my classes was struggling with a demanding large client who paid below market rates. She had other, smaller clients who paid better and were much easier to work with. She realized that these small, well-paying clients were all people she had met through a trade association, while the demanding client was someone she had cold-called. Clearly she needed to stop cold calling and step up participation in the trade group.
3. Where do you get the strongest response from your marketing messages? In what environments do you find that people really connect with what you have to say? Where does it seem like "your people" are, or under what circumstances do you seem to attract potential clients without even trying? This can be a useful query to guide your marketing even if you're new and haven't made many sales yet.
One of my colleagues, a new business coach, was unsure whether to focus on small business owners or corporate executives as his target market, so he was approaching both. But he noticed that entrepreneurs seemed much more interested in talking to him than executives did, and quickly acquired several likely prospects who were all small business owners. He concluded that he could stop searching for his target market, because it seemed to have found him on its own.
4. What marketing activities feel most comfortable and natural to you? Let's face it; when you're self-employed, nobody is going to make you market yourself. Your marketing plan needs to consist of activities you are willing to do. Instead of beating yourself up for what you're not doing, notice what marketing tactics you find to be easier and more attractive.
A change management consultant I was advising felt like a failure at marketing because he avoided attending networking events or calling strangers on the phone. But he realized he was quite comfortable with two types of marketing: writing articles, and having conversations with people he already knew. When he created a marketing plan centered around article writing and building one-to-one relationships, he was at last able to sell himself with ease.
No matter what is wrong with your marketing, there's always a better way to go about it. Looking at what's not working can only take you so far. Then it's time to ask yourself what you're already doing right.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Examining what's already working about your marketing and sales activities can give you valuable clues to how you can improve. Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself, and what they might tell you about where your marketing efforts will produce the best results.
1. Where did your last few clients come from? Consider the new clients you've landed over the past year. Were they referred to you? Did they contact you through your website? Had they heard you speak? Did you cold call them? Examine the source of all your recent sales and determine exactly how you first came in contact, and what sequence of events led to closing those sales. If you notice a pattern, see how you might repeat your success.
One of my coaching clients, a graphic designer, was spending a considerable amount of her marketing time on approaching ad agencies and corporate marketing departments, with lukewarm results. She told me these had always been her best source of clients in the past, but I asked her to look at where her clients had been coming from lately.
She was surprised to discover that all her recent clients had been referrals from colleagues, such as a copywriter, a photographer, and an art director. When she switched the emphasis of her marketing away from knocking on the doors of large firms, and instead began networking with professionals in related fields, she began seeing better results almost immediately.
2. How have you gotten your best clients? Some clients give us repeat business, pay our fees without quibbling, and are easy to work with, while others want us to work at discount prices and jump through hoops to get and keep their business. Consider who your best clients have been over time, and what you did to find them. Are these approaches you can use again?
A marketing communications consultant in one of my classes was struggling with a demanding large client who paid below market rates. She had other, smaller clients who paid better and were much easier to work with. She realized that these small, well-paying clients were all people she had met through a trade association, while the demanding client was someone she had cold-called. Clearly she needed to stop cold calling and step up participation in the trade group.
3. Where do you get the strongest response from your marketing messages? In what environments do you find that people really connect with what you have to say? Where does it seem like "your people" are, or under what circumstances do you seem to attract potential clients without even trying? This can be a useful query to guide your marketing even if you're new and haven't made many sales yet.
One of my colleagues, a new business coach, was unsure whether to focus on small business owners or corporate executives as his target market, so he was approaching both. But he noticed that entrepreneurs seemed much more interested in talking to him than executives did, and quickly acquired several likely prospects who were all small business owners. He concluded that he could stop searching for his target market, because it seemed to have found him on its own.
4. What marketing activities feel most comfortable and natural to you? Let's face it; when you're self-employed, nobody is going to make you market yourself. Your marketing plan needs to consist of activities you are willing to do. Instead of beating yourself up for what you're not doing, notice what marketing tactics you find to be easier and more attractive.
A change management consultant I was advising felt like a failure at marketing because he avoided attending networking events or calling strangers on the phone. But he realized he was quite comfortable with two types of marketing: writing articles, and having conversations with people he already knew. When he created a marketing plan centered around article writing and building one-to-one relationships, he was at last able to sell himself with ease.
No matter what is wrong with your marketing, there's always a better way to go about it. Looking at what's not working can only take you so far. Then it's time to ask yourself what you're already doing right.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
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