If you can’t clearly and effectively communicate what you do, in a way that interests your prospects, then you aren’t going to have their attention long enough to find out if they need your services. 

If you can’t clearly and effective communicate who your ideal clients are, then you aren’t going to be able to recruit the types of strategic partners who can send you referrals.

Too many business owners and independent professionals fall back on their title or occupation when asked the question, “What do you do?”  But this doesn’t differentiate them from every other accountant, coach, consultant, or financial planner.

Here is the formula for creating an effective audio signature:

1.  Identify your target audience
Who are you trying to reach?  Who is your ideal client?  Describe them in terms of demographics:  age, industry or career, income, etc.  Outline their psychographics as well:  are they risk takers, conservative, willing to spend disposable income on specific causes, or socially active.  Make sure these are people you enjoy working with.

You want to be as specific as possible.  It’s easy to avoid this step because we all have a tendency to want to work with as many people as possible.  Resist this urge! You will never be all things to all people and you shouldn’t try to be.  You want to become a credible expert for your ideal clients.

2.  Discover your target audience’s biggest problems or challenges
What is keeping them up at night?  What is disturbing their peace of mind?  What’s in the way of their success?  What questions do they have?  You should have at least 3-5 problems that seriously impact your potential customers.

3.  Determine their desired outcome(s)
Once you know what their problems are, you should be able to determine what they want to see happen.  Tap into the emotional “sweet spot” where your prospect can see, feel, and experience their life beyond their challenge.  This is not where you talk about you or your experience.  It’s should still be all about your prospect.

By demonstrating that you truly understand your prospective customers or clients, you will have their attention and have the ability to make a positive impression.  Without this crucial connection, you become one more product or service vying for your prospect’s attention.

By making your message more unique and explaining not only who you work with, but also what problems you help your clients solve, you’ve created a rapport with your audience which will make them feel confident that you understand their needs. 

You can listen to my 20-minute audio program on crafting a compelling audio signature below:

1. The Web Success Diva @ http://www.websuccessdiva.com by Maria Reyes-Davis - I follow the diva too and the following from her description gives you an idea of what her site is about: 

… helping solopreneurs across the world leverage the power of online marketing to build their business to all new success levels — Social Media Marketing, Conversational Marketing, Blog Marketing, Viral Marketing, and Online Marketing Consulting…

I read her site as well, and follow her on Twitter.  She has a very honest, tells it to you in a straight, no-nonsense style which is very appealing to me.  And she definitely knows her stuff. 

    2.   Chris Brogan @ http://www.chrisbrogan.com - From his site: 

Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value.

I’ve recently started reading his blog and follow him on Twitter.  He’s funny and also knows his stuff.  His latest post is “Be Sexier in Person” , which offers some great tips on how to present yourself when you meet people “in the real world”!  Yes, networking still happens face to face. 

Three blogs on the list, please keep those recommendations coming and I’ll compile the list as soon as I have at least 25 blogs.  Remember, they don’t have to be internet marketing blogs, but rather should be either be informational in regards to marketing online, using social media and social networking, etc. 

Looking forward to more!

1. The blog must have information applicable to brick and mortar businesses or solo-professionals and not be primarily a blog about internet marketing.
2. The blog should be current (please no blogs that haven’t been updated in 6 months!)
3. Tell me why you enjoy this blog and what the biggest takeaway has been. 
4. If you submit your own blog, tell me what value you offer your readers.

That’s it.  I’m going to start off by submitting:

http://www.virtualmarketingblog.com  Their About Us page puts it best when they write, “Our goal is to provide content that is both useful and inspirational to our readers. Internet marketing is a place where many different disciplines and types of media come together to form one of the most exciting and complex industries to work in today. “ 

Here are some topics they’ve covered: 

• They’ve examined the online corporate campaigns of Dove, Sony Bravia, Heinz, Hundai, and McDonald’s. 
• 7 Steps for Starting Your Own Facebook Group
• SEO For Wordpress Series
• 4 Reasons Not To Put Your Company in Wikipedia

So, readers, who do you nominate?

Technorati Tags: best online marketing blogs, best of online marketing blogs, blogs about online marketing, best of online marketing blogs contest

That’s why I was very interested when I learned about the Online Video Toolkit at www.onlinevideotoolkit.com . Jim Kukral  has prepared a free guide that tells you everything you need to know to make high-quality web videos… with relatively inexpensive equipment.

His videos are free and cover:

• What equipment to buy
• Creating a simple set that looks professional
• Lighting your room (this tip is great because some online videos are dark and difficult to see)
• How to find inexpensive and easy-to-use editing equipment
• How and where to upload your videos
• How to effectively use sound

I’m assuming that he’s offering these videos as a way to introduce people to some of his paid programs or products. However, just using his free information will get you well on your way to producing your own videos. 

Update 6/9/08:  Just to clarify,  Jim Kukral contacted me yesterday and assured me that he isn’t selling anything.

Here are 5 tips that will help you attract more business by networking:

1. Start with a plan.  You need to determine your who, where and how.  Who are you trying to reach by networking?  Ideal clients, centers of influence, referral partners, or joint venture partners? Where can you find them, i.e. networking venues?  How are you going to reach out to them? 
2. Craft a compelling audio signature (also known as an elevator speech or audio logo).  You need to be able to communicate with your prospects in a clear and effective way. 
3. Create a networking budget.  Before you spend any money joining networking groups, make sure that you attend as many free meetings as possible.  That way, you won’t make the costly mistake of joining a group that doesn’t cater to your target audience.  Once you determine the groups that are worth joining, keep track of your costs so you can determine the ROI (return on investment), and if you aren’t seeing a good return you can research another venue.
4. Implement a follow up system.  All the contacts and interest in the world mean nothing if you don’t follow-up!  This is the most common and deadliest mistake business owners and sales people make every day.  Ensure that you have a way to follow up with everyone you meet in a timely manner.
5. Be consistent.  Don’t just show up to 1 or 2 functions and expect to reap the rewards.  Volunteer for some committees or find other ways to keep visible in the organization, such as speaking, conducting workshops, writing articles, etc.  Networking is not a short-term tactic but a long-term one which should be a complement to your other marketing strategies.

Networking can be a powerful way to connect with your ideal clients and potential partners.  If you follow these 5 simple tips, you’ll be sure to start attracting more clients and business opportunities.

About the Author
Merlyn Sanchez, Business Coach and Marketing Consultant, teaches small business owners, consultants, and other solo professionals how to attract more clients, make more sales and have more time to enjoy their lives. For a free report outlining the “”8 SMART Strategies that Successful Business Owners Use to Attract More Clients™ and more tips on how to create a successful business, visit http://www.smartbusinessowners.com.

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Technorati Tags: effective networking, networking tips, how to network, business networking tips, attracting clients by networking, networking marketing plan

In this over-connected, cell phone to the ear, Web 2.0 world, it would seem inconceivable that you’d be unable to reach someone.  But it happens.  You’re more likely to reach voice mail than a live person.

So, what do you do when you encounter someone’s voice mail?  So many business owners and sales people have told me that there’s no point in leaving a message because they’ll never get a call back. What they really mean is, “I can’t sell them anything via voice mail”.

Well, they probably wouldn’t have been able to sell them anything even if they did reach them.  Without an objective and a plan, you’re just one more person vying for attention.  And since you haven’t developed a relationship, you’re very easy to ignore.

Here are some tips on how to leave an effective voice mail message:

1. Define the objective of your call.  Is it a follow up to a networking event? Or are you returning the prospect’s call or email requesting information on your product or service?  Is it a “keep in touch” call where the purpose is to keep the relationship moving forward?
2. Prepare a script.  You want to make sure that you make it clear why you’re calling, how you can be reached, and let them know when you’ll be following up if you don’t hear from them. This will help prevent stuttering or losing your train of thought.  There’s nothing worse than those rambling messages that you wish you could erase! 
3. Make sure that you’re easy to reach.  Leave them your office number and cell phone number.  And make sure to check your voice mail messages (it could be embarrassing if you don’t!)
4. Repeat your key information. Introduce yourself at the beginning and the end of your message and include your phone numbers.  Speak clearly and slowly enough for someone to be able to take down your information without having to replay your message several times.
5. Don’t give up!  It may take several tries and a few rounds of telephone tag to finally reach your client or prospect.  So don’t be discouraged.  By the same token, learn when you’re being avoided and allow the other person to “bow out gracefully”.  Leave them a message or send them an email that asks for a response if they’re no longer interested in hearing from you.  Inject a little humor and make it clear that there are no hard feelings.  It’ll go a long way to demonstrate that you are both persistent and considerate.

Remember, every contact you have with someone is a potential to create or further a relationship. Don’t miss an opportunity to get your message across in an effective and powerful way.

About the Author
Merlyn Sanchez, Business Coach and Marketing Consultant, teaches small business owners, consultants, and other solo professionals how to attract more clients, make more sales and have more time to enjoy their lives. For a free report outlining the “”8 SMART Strategies that Successful Business Owners Use to Attract More Clients™ and more tips on how to create a successful business, visit http://www.smartbusinessowners.com.

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Technorati Tags: effective phone messages, effective phone scripts, how to reach clients by phone, reaching your prospects, using voice mail effectively, telephone tag

Today’s Marketing Monday topic is about one of the limiting beliefs (or mindset) about marketing that holds many small business owners and independent professionals back.  

Too many small business owners and independent professionals believe that marketing their services means spending a lot of money on a big, flashy ad campaign. Or that they need a marketing team to strategize and implement very creative and very expensive ways to attract clients. Their mindset about marketing is that it’s “too expensive”.

That’s simply not true. Large corporations may have million dollar budgets that they spend on “image” campaigns and celebrity endorsements but SMART Business owners don’t need them!

I discussed “Marketing Ball” in my post on May 9th, and if you haven’t read it yet, please take a few minutes to review it so you can get a better picture of how we teach our clients to approach marketing.  (Please read the post at Marketing Is A Game)

As you can see, the purpose of Marketing Ball is to move your prospect along the “bases” so that you  develop a relationship which allows them to trust you enough to hire you.  And there are many free or low cost strategies you can use to advance the relationship.

For example, at “home plate” you start off as strangers.  You want to get on first base which is familiarity.  The best route to familiarity is via “affiliation”.  An affiliation is a group or special connection your share with your prospect. This can be as simple as networking events within groups (social or business) to which you already belong.  You can also research other events and organizations which are attended by your target audience.  Even if you find groups that you don’t currently belong to, you can often attend one or two meetings before you have to become a member.  This gives you an opportunity to find the best and most profitable groups instead of spending hundreds of dollars in membership dues only to find out that your ideal clients aren’t there!

The next step is to get your prospect’s attention.  How?  By offering something of value, a take-away which is useful and timely.  A white paper or special report, an audio program, or a free workshop can all be effective attention getters with a very high perceived value.  It doesn’t take much to money to write a report and reprint it, and it’s even less expensive if you send it via email.  Audio programs and free workshops (especially if done in a teleseminar format) require a minimal investment and the return can be tremendous.

Here are more examples of low-cost marketing strategies:

Increase your prospect’s familiarity and allow them to experience your expertise by:

• Publishing an online newsletter
• Submitting articles online and to local and trade publications
• Speaking at networking events, chambers of commerce and trade associations
• Actively participating in online forums which your prospects frequent
• Including a powerful message in your email signature perhaps directly people to your free offer or upcoming workshop

As you can see, there are dozens of ways to market your business effectively without a “corporate” budget.  Don’t let money become the excuse for inertia.  Small things done in the right order and executed consistently will produce outstanding results.

About the Author

Merlyn Sanchez, Business Coach and Marketing Consultant, teaches small business owners, consultants, and other solo professionals how to attract more clients, make more sales and have more time to enjoy their lives.  For a free report outlining the “”8 SMART Strategies that Successful Business Owners Use to Attract More Clients™ and more tips on how to create a successful business, visit http://www.smartbusinessowners.com/.

 
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Now, if you’ve been able to just hire people who are naturally great, then you probably don’t need to read the rest of this. But if, like me, you’re struggling to find talent, than you have a look at this 3 step system. It just might dramatically increase employee performance inside your business. And because it’s a system, even your stars will perform better.

Over the years I’ve proven that you can get profound results in your business if you work on it (rather than just in it) starting with only one hour per week. The key is that one hour is designed to be effective and you’re committed to improving your business and it’s systems incrementally.

Let’s quickly review a core “Kaizen” philosophy.

Bad is better than nothing.
Good is better than bad.
Perfect is the enemy of good.

So the system setup point here is that you must get started. A small movement forward will bring positive changes, that you can easily build more positive movement on. To the system…

Step 1
This system starts with your commitment to working on your business, each week. Commitment is a powerful force in itself. It sends a message both to yourself and your environment that you “mean business”… you’re going to do this. Commitment in this case is simple – schedule a time.

Step 2
Next pick an aspect of your business to work on. For example – how to pump up your marketing; or how to free your own time, so you do more of what you are excellent at; or how you get appointments.

I suggest that you start with brainstorming in one of 3 areas: one; How do I take more time off? Two; How do I free myself up to do more of what I am best at? Three; What is the structure of my company at my desired next stage of growth?

Step 3
Next, at the scheduled time each week, think or brainstorm about how to make that area just a bit better. My experience is that by tackling the first areas I’ve identified, you will gain significant momentum and personal energy for your business. Applied to other areas, by the time you reach ten sessions or 10 weeks, you can easily have a major improvement in that area.

Small improvements might not seem like much in themselves. When you dig into all the pieces of an area of your business, and then multiply improvements happening across many aspects of your business, you start to see dramatic changes. Faster than you think.

For instance, if you looked at your sales process… you can address targeting your best accounts, getting appointments, presentations, objection handling, closes, strategic objectives you want to achieve from every call, etc. When you break down an area like getting appointments, you can look at areas like amount of action, number of telephone calls, who’s targeted, positioning what’s said, what research or tool do the sales team have/need, etc.

Safety Tip

If you are brainstorming about a specific area, have the staff involved in that area participate with you. Get them involved and leverage their expertise. They will have more ownership of the better ideas generated and will take action on “their ideas.”

In summary, start working on your business – this week. Commit and schedule the time, pick the area of your business to start with and spend the time thinking and brainstorming. Your business will grow, and you’ll soon have more staff operating at their best. 

“97% percent of all business failure is due to the system – not the person.”

W. Edwards Deming.

Source: business process improvement

The Business-Growth.com blog is a growing, free information source for small business. The articles are about strategies for growing your business predictably and being able to take more time off - at the same time!

This article is written by Michael Walsh and is provided by Kaizen Consulting Services Inc.

This is where you can get the most effective business growth strategies… strategies that have been proven over many years of producing large scale growth for a diverse range of companies; both in market, size and geographic area.

By the way, you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missmerlyn

Here’s her take on Twitter:

Twitter: Why it Should Matter to You
by Shama Hyder

If you haven’t already heard of Twitter, you are probably hiding out in a cave! Twitter is the social media site which allows you only 140 characters at a time to convey your thoughts. Think of it like a huge ongoing chat room. Doesn’t sound too appealing you say? Keep reading!

1) Why Twitter?

Twitter is like having your own personal search engine. Once you build up enough followers, you can use Twitter to:

• quickly mastermind with others
• find resources and make friends
• share links to interesting articles (your own and others)
• learn what’s hot and relevant in your industry
• people watch online! (think e-cafe)
• drive traffic to your site (20% of After The Launch’s traffic comes from Twitter)

2) Get started!

Go to Twitter.com and setup an account. This takes less than a minute. Then add me as a friend by clicking “Follow Me.” I will follow you back. This way you will have your first Twitter follower. You can follow whoever you like, but also have the option of keeping your own updates private. Meaning: you get to approve who follows your “tweets” (or messages). Then, watch and learn. See who is saying what and contribute your own two-bit when relevant.

3) Manage your Time

It’s easy to get carried away with Twitter, but that’s not the best use of your time. When starting out, give it 15 minutes twice a day. Log on, see what’s happening, and have your say. Eventually, you will be able to find your own rhythm for tweeting. At first it can seem like noise, but over time (a few weeks), you will be able to start making connections and finding value.

Questions on Twitter ? Comments? Feel free to ask me on the blog at http://www.afterthelaunch.com.

� 2008 Shama Hyder and AfterTheLaunch.com 
Shama Hyder is an expert marketing consultant to independent professionals and professional service firms around the world. You can get her f’ree report, 101 Ways to Market your Business” at http://www.AfterTheLaunch.com. 

• “Marketing is just a different way of saying ’selling’ and I hate to sell!”
• “I don’t have time to market, I’m already too busy!”
• “I’ve tried marketing before and it didn’t work.”
• “It’s too expensive!”
• “I’m a doctor, lawyer, accountant, consultant, business owner…, not a marketer.”

That’s why one of the 7 principles of our marketing program is to overcome these negative mindsets.  To that end, we present marketing as a game.  It has a set of rules, which should be followed in a particular order, and which, if done correctly, will ensure a victory.  The particular game that we use to help clients visualize this, is baseball, except we call it “Marketing Ball”.  Here’s the diagram:

Part 2 will focus on “Spring Training”, the pre-work you’ll need to do before you ever make it to the dugout.

They work with independent professionals and professional service firms in the UK and EU, but I recommend that you sign up for their newsletter and free bonuses no matter where you live.

Their “Transform Your Networking With A Verbal Signature” audio workshop is powerful. It will help you craft a compelling audio logo which will have your prospects asking, “Tell me more!”.

Kudos David and Vanessa!

Here’s a list of the cities:

• SAN DIEGO  APRIL 15
• MIAMI  APRIL 22
• AUSTIN  APRIL 24
• SEATTLE  MAY 9

The cost for the one day event is $59, but I have a promotional code which you can use for a 50% discount.  Just register at:

https://microsoft.crgevents.com/MicrosoftV2V/Register/Login/default.aspx and choose the “Register with a Registration Code”.  The promo code is:  ATDS2041.

I’ll be at the event in Miami, so if you plan on being there, please let me know so we can meet!

Today’s recommendation is a brand new book called “UPPING the Downside” by Master Developmental Coach, Mike R. Jay.

Mike’s book is all about how to create professional resilience by design (did you know you could actually design your life to be more resilient?). Though most people think resiliency is about the ability to bounce back, or about having a hardy personality, the most resilient person is one who is READY for anything. And in today’s fastpaced world and volatile economy, it’s survival of the most resilient!

The book also comes with an incredible assortment of bonus materials including software, audios, videos, live teleclasses, online courses, e-guides, blogging support, coaching, and consulting.

Mike Jay is an author, entrepreneur, and founder of B/Coach Systems which is one of the top business coach training programs. He’s not just a colleague, I received my business coach training from him and have participated in many of his programs. He is a true professional and an expert on professional development and leadership.

For more information on the book and bonuses, visit “Upping the Downside”.

Technorati Tags: business, business owners, education, SMART business owners, SMART business owners invest in their education, UPPING the downside, Master Developmental Coach, Mike R Jay, UPPING the downside by Mike R Jay

Our first client was Jane Morrison of http://www.moreinsight.com and Women Connections. She’s been gracious enough to share her experiences working with me.

As a Life and Business Coach in practice for 7 years now, I am aware of marketing tools and strategies that I use myself and with my clients, yet I still had blocks, fears and dilemmas about my own business and turned to Merlyn Sanchez, a Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach, for help.

I was intrigued with the idea of using a marketing system and have been so blessed with her services: her listening and coaching skills magically brought me the clarity I was seeking during each session, while her knowledge of marketing tools and use of a system provided me with new ways to look at marketing and structure my plan with achievable concrete steps.

I now have a working marketing plan that allows me to manage my time much more effectively with the outcomes I was looking for. I would highly recommend Merlyn of Smart Business Owners for business development and marketing success.

If you are a small business owner or independent professional who wants to work smarter, not harder and dramatically improve your bottom line, please contact me for more information on how we can make it happen.

Technorati Tags: SMART marketing, marketing, SMART Marketing Mentoring Program, Marketing program, Action Plan Marketing Coach, marketing coach, Jane Morrison, More in Sight, Women Connections

Of course, a large professional practice or larger business can delegate or outsource their marketing. There might be a dedicated marketing “team” but the most successful enterprises know that marketing is everyone’s job.

Marketing is simply telling people what you do, repeatedly, in as many ways as possible. Each time you’re asked “What do you do?”, you have an opportunity to compellingly convey your message. There are literally hundreds of ways to tell your prospective clients about you and your business.

In my experience, the problem lies in the negative mindsets that many business owners have when it comes to marketing. Here are a few common beliefs:

• Marketing is not my “job”. We just covered several reasons why marketing is your job.

• I don’t know where to start! Many entrepeneurs are inundated with resources on marketing so it’s not a lack of knowledge but a case of information overload! That’s why you need an actionable marketing plan which can be systematized and measured.

• I don’t have the time! Is this really true? Are you doing things that you could easily delegate to someone else? Figure out how much your time is really worth and ask yourself if it’s worth doing yourself or hiring someone to do it for much less.

When you see marketing as a primary, indispensable part of your job, you can start putting systems into place which will make it easy to choose simple, effective strategies and do them consistently.

Technorati Tags: Market, Marketing, Marketer, smart business owners, business, business owners, smart business, success, successful, mindsets, entrepreneur