I use a cookbook metaphor in my Get Clients Now! system
to illustrate how to go about creating an effective marketing plan for a
self-employed professional. An essential element of that plan is what I
call Success Ingredients — the missing ingredients your marketing and
sales activities need in order to be successful.
Why is this important? Let’s say you decide you’re going to market
your business by attending live networking events in your area. You’re
not sure where to begin, but you’ve just received an email invitation
for a Chamber of Commerce mixer, so you decide to go.
Arriving at the mixer, you discover that everyone you meet is either a
salesperson for a local corporation, or a solo professional who is
looking for business from those companies. But you are (for example) an
acupuncturist. The type of people you typically serve are individuals
looking for relief from a current health issue. While there might be
people in the room who fit that description, it’s hard to even turn
conversation in that direction with everyone focused on business topics.
As a result, you leave the event feeling like it was a waste of time,
and decide that in-person networking is probably not a good marketing
tactic for you. But other people seem to find clients from it. What do
they know that you don’t?
To make good use of a recipe requires that you start with quality ingredients.
Before walking out the front door with business cards in her pocket,
what our acupuncturist should have done was to make a shopping list of
what she needed.
First of all, she needed to carefully select some networking venues
that made sense for her type of business and target clients. When she
started to do so, she would likely find that she also needed a clear
definition of her target market. With those two Success Ingredients
lined up, she would be much more likely to find herself at a networking
event that would suit her. This might be a speaker program on
alternative health or stress relief, or a professional meeting of other
like-minded practitioners.
Would you like to determine what your Success Ingredients are?
Pick any marketing tactic that you feel may not be working as well as
you would like. Then ask yourself: “What’s missing that might make it
work?” and keep asking until you identify one or more specific missing
elements that you could create or acquire.
Here’s a sample dialogue our acupuncturist might have with herself:
Q: “What’s missing that might make networking events work better for me?”
A: “Better events to attend.”
Q: “What’s missing that might help me find events that would work better?”
A: “A list of events to choose from; some networking venues.”
Q: “What’s missing that might work better to help me choose events?”
A: “A clear picture of the type of clients I want; a target market definition.”
With two Success Ingredients defined, our acupuncturist might stop
there to work on them, or she might ask the first question again, just
to see if there’s anything more:
Q: “What else is missing that might make networking events work better for me?”
A: “More confidence when introducing myself to strangers.”
Q: “What’s missing that might help me be more confident when introducing myself?”
A: “A comfortable way to introduce myself; a ten-second introduction.”
Our acupuncturist has now identified three Success Ingredients to
boost her networking success. When she acquires these ingredients and
uses them in her marketing recipe, she’s going to produce much improved
results.
Try this for yourself. Take any marketing approach
that’s not working for you as well as you’d like, and ask: “What’s
missing that might make it work?” See if you can define some Success
Ingredients of your own. Once you do, it’s my bet that your marketing
recipes will start turning out better.
Copyright © 2015, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by
C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET
CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
Dangers of Digital Life After Death
Although death isn’t something most of us
want to think or talk about, especially when it involves those near and
dear to us, the simple fact is that after death, an individual’s virtual
life goes on. It doesn’t automatically end.
This has serious implications for those of us left behind to pick up the pieces. For instance, all the data, images, accounts and other information that remain online about a person can be used for fraud, identity theft, Social Security and other scams.
Or they may have left behind regularly deductible payments associated with them that will continue for as long as the accounts remain active.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
This has serious implications for those of us left behind to pick up the pieces. For instance, all the data, images, accounts and other information that remain online about a person can be used for fraud, identity theft, Social Security and other scams.
Or they may have left behind regularly deductible payments associated with them that will continue for as long as the accounts remain active.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
Friday, February 26, 2016
Wearable Devices Could Pose Security Threat
Wearable devices, smartwatches, microchips or miniature computers
that you wear could soon become targets for scammers, hackers and
unscrupulous data brokers.
This type of equipment is becoming increasingly popular, not just in the shape of intelligent wristwatches but also built into glasses and even clothing.
But in the early days of this technology, we can’t always count on manufacturers to give priority to making them safe from “intruders.” That, say security experts, means they could be vulnerable to hack attacks.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
This type of equipment is becoming increasingly popular, not just in the shape of intelligent wristwatches but also built into glasses and even clothing.
But in the early days of this technology, we can’t always count on manufacturers to give priority to making them safe from “intruders.” That, say security experts, means they could be vulnerable to hack attacks.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
Friday, February 19, 2016
Phone Scams for Wrong Numbers, Jailbroken iPhones, Vacation Gifts and Prescriptions
In the old days of rotary telephone dials, we were usually sure-fingered enough to avoid calling the wrong number.
Now that we’re all fingers-and-thumbs with our smartphones, we’re more likely to key in a wrong number when we quickly stab at numbers on those flat screens.
Crooks know that too.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Now that we’re all fingers-and-thumbs with our smartphones, we’re more likely to key in a wrong number when we quickly stab at numbers on those flat screens.
Crooks know that too.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
Friday, February 12, 2016
Hack Fraud Creates Double Threat for Victims
Hack fraud, a new twist to the theft of personal information through
corporate data breaches, is creating a double threat for victims.
Data breaches, in which a company’s customer records are accessed by hackers, are now so common that it’s rare to encounter someone whose information hasn’t been stolen.
Mostly, this information ends up in the hands of spammers and identity thieves but most victims don’t even know about it until they find someone is using their bank or credit card information for fraud.
Click he to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Data breaches, in which a company’s customer records are accessed by hackers, are now so common that it’s rare to encounter someone whose information hasn’t been stolen.
Mostly, this information ends up in the hands of spammers and identity thieves but most victims don’t even know about it until they find someone is using their bank or credit card information for fraud.
Click he to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
Friday, February 5, 2016
Crooks Use Skype Video in Dangerous Romance Scam
It’s not just online dating agencies that are being used by scammers in search of lonely-heart victims.
Crooks have also started using the Skype video service to target and trap potential dupes into a potentially horrendous extortion scam.
As we reported a few weeks back in our annual Top 10 list, New Threats Emerge in Our Top Scams List for 2016, dating scams are on the rise.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Crooks have also started using the Skype video service to target and trap potential dupes into a potentially horrendous extortion scam.
As we reported a few weeks back in our annual Top 10 list, New Threats Emerge in Our Top Scams List for 2016, dating scams are on the rise.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Your Marketing: One-to-One or One-to-Many?
It seems like there’s a new way to market your business appearing
every five minutes here in the 21st century. How can self-employed
professionals know which marketing methods will make the most sense for
them?
When evaluating possible ways to market your business, it can help significantly to apply a quick test — is the marketing method you’re considering “one-to-one” or “one-to many?” Here’s how they’re different.
One-to-One Marketing
With those descriptions, you should be able to tell easily enough whether your marketing at any given time should be one-to-one or one-to-many. But deciding which category some marketing approaches fall into can be tricky. Below are some examples to help.
Email — Personal emails to individuals are one-to-one marketing. Broadcast emails to a list of any size are one-to-many.
Phone calls — Calls made by a telemarketer who smiles, dials, and reads a script are one-to-many marketing. Calls personally made by an expert to a potential client or referral source are one-to-one.
Webinars and teleclasses — A live webinar or teleclass, with a relatively small group participating, which allows voice-to-voice interaction with participants, is one-to-one. A webinar with a large audience, one that allows no spoken questions, or a recorded webinar are all one-to-many.
Social media — Status updates, posting articles, or posting to groups are all one-to-many marketing. Direct messages, chat messages, comments, and replies are one-to-one.
The next time someone pitches you on the hottest new marketing method, remember which category of marketing you should be using at present. Then ask yourself whether the proposed new approach is one-to-one marketing or one-to-many.
For the majority of independent professionals, one-to-one marketing is where most of your efforts should be directed. You can add occasional one-to-many methods to your marketing mix, used as reminders of who you are and what you do, and credibility boosters that demonstrate your expertise.
But when you use one-to-many marketing approaches alone — instead of as a supplement to one-on-one marketing — don’t expect to land clients who want to work with you personally. Those are the folks who are worth spending your one-on-one time to bring in the door.
Copyright © 2015, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
When evaluating possible ways to market your business, it can help significantly to apply a quick test — is the marketing method you’re considering “one-to-one” or “one-to many?” Here’s how they’re different.
One-to-One Marketing
- Makes use of approaches that put you in direct contact with your potential clients or likely referral sources. You’re sending them a personal note, talking to them voice-to-voice, or meeting them in person.
- Is high-touch and is often low-tech.
- Can be very low cost, but can take a significant amount of your personal time.
- Ideal for marketing professional services that are personally delivered by an expert who is paid an hourly rate, on a monthly retainer, or by project. Also good for high-end products that must be customized by experts, like corporate software or home audio-video systems.
- Uses tactics that are considered impersonal or indirect, such as web pages, advertising, broadcast email, or status updates on social media.
- Is low-touch and is often high-tech.
- Can take a very small amount of your personal time per person, but can be high cost overall.
- Best for marketing products (e.g., an ebook or nutritional supplements) or productized services (e.g., a webinar or membership), which are sold to high numbers of people at a low price. Also useful for follow-up and credibility-building with people who already know about you.
With those descriptions, you should be able to tell easily enough whether your marketing at any given time should be one-to-one or one-to-many. But deciding which category some marketing approaches fall into can be tricky. Below are some examples to help.
Email — Personal emails to individuals are one-to-one marketing. Broadcast emails to a list of any size are one-to-many.
Phone calls — Calls made by a telemarketer who smiles, dials, and reads a script are one-to-many marketing. Calls personally made by an expert to a potential client or referral source are one-to-one.
Webinars and teleclasses — A live webinar or teleclass, with a relatively small group participating, which allows voice-to-voice interaction with participants, is one-to-one. A webinar with a large audience, one that allows no spoken questions, or a recorded webinar are all one-to-many.
Social media — Status updates, posting articles, or posting to groups are all one-to-many marketing. Direct messages, chat messages, comments, and replies are one-to-one.
The next time someone pitches you on the hottest new marketing method, remember which category of marketing you should be using at present. Then ask yourself whether the proposed new approach is one-to-one marketing or one-to-many.
For the majority of independent professionals, one-to-one marketing is where most of your efforts should be directed. You can add occasional one-to-many methods to your marketing mix, used as reminders of who you are and what you do, and credibility boosters that demonstrate your expertise.
But when you use one-to-many marketing approaches alone — instead of as a supplement to one-on-one marketing — don’t expect to land clients who want to work with you personally. Those are the folks who are worth spending your one-on-one time to bring in the door.
Copyright © 2015, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
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