Have you ever wondered how things would change, if every company you dealt with, treated you as if you were the husband or wife, parent or child, of it’s owner?
Most companies genuinely try hard to make the customer experience as good as possible, but many set their gold standard for service, too low. This is because they allow the typical customer experience within their industry or profession to determine what counts as either good or average. Here’s why YOU need to avoid this…
I have already had several books sent to me this year for review, written by social media experts or gurus. One thing all of them have in common, is that they contain a version of the following advice, which is, in my opinion totally incorrect: Build a following and market to that following.
Here’s what I have found to be better advice: Don’t build a following. Build a community instead!
FOLLOWERS are like the audience at a rock concert. They are set apart from the rock star on stage. They see the rock star as distant. They are part of the event, but a very small part. The rock star might get the crowd to sing the occasional verse, but we all know they are REALLY just broadcasting THEIR VOICE to the crowd! I really don’t see a lot of value in positioning yourself as a rock star, if you actually want to get involved with people. Ironically, the people I see using this approach all the time, are social media experts!
COMMUNITY members are like…
Sales leads or enquiries, are an essential part of the marketing process. After all, a steady flow of good quality sales leads, when acted upon correctly, can lead to a regular stream of lucrative business and allow business owners to plan ahead with confidence.
SO, this post gives you TEN 10 popular and powerful lead generation ideas, to add to your marketing arsenal…
Successful marketing is all about people.
It’s not about; brands, venues, websites, companies or social media tools – Marketing is all about people. You see, without people, none of those things matter.
I met with a friend of mine this morning, who owns a large and very successful nightclub. We had our meeting this time, in the nightclub itself, rather than his office, and the sensation was amazing. I have only previously been there, when it’s been packed with hundreds of people, having a great time and enjoying the music. This morning, you could have heard a pin drop, as we sat, drinking coffee and talking about his marketing.
You see, it’s not the building, fixtures or fittings that makes his nightclub a success; it’s the people who work there and party there. Without people, the place means nothing. The value is in the people…
Is your marketing shouting at people?
If you go into Starbucks today and start shouting at the people around you, you will definitely grab their attention. However, it’s not the kind of attention you want to attract. Many small businesses use a very similar approach with their marketing. In an effort to capture attention, they act in a way that gets them noticed, but for all the wrong reasons.
They not only fail to generate new business; they can permanently damage the reputation of their business too.
Some examples of how companies shout at people with their sales and marketing:
* Adding people to their newsletter list, without permission. It’s spam.
* Spamming people on Twitter.
* Meeting people at networking events and using that transparent crap; “tell me about your business and how I can help you.” Wake up, it’s not 1985 any more!
* Asking people to join their Linkedin network, claiming they worked with them (when both parties know it’s a lie.)
* Unwanted telemarketing calls to people’s homes at 8pm. Just what you need when getting a young child to sleep or relaxing after a hard day….
I have a question for you: “Which people or companies do you publicly associate with?”
The reason I am asking you this, is that potential customers and clients often look at the people or businesses we associate with, as a short-cut to determining the kind of people WE are.
Trust and credibility can either be destroyed or boosted in seconds, depending on the individuals and companies we are aligned with or associate with…
As regular readers will know, I’ve made a career out of helping businesses and entrepreneurs achieve measurable sales results.
Recently, I have started to use the term “bankable results” to refer to my style of marketing. This phrase was commented on by one of my readers and regular contributors, Robin Dickinson. So, I thought I would [...]
It amazes me that there are still businesspeople, who have not figured out that there’s a right way and a wrong way to grab someone’s attention.
For example, I’ve been emailed this morning by 2 unrelated companies. Both wanted me to write a review here on the blog, about their service. Each email consisted of a [...]
Here’s a quick example of the kind of results that can be achieved with a well-marketed blog. If you are either thinking of starting a blog or you already have one, but wonder if it’s worth marketing it more effectively, you will find this extremely useful. It’s based on 3 key areas you need to [...]
In 2005, I wrote and developed a massively popular audio program called; The Motivation Master Class – available at the time exclusively as a 3 CD box set.
MMC CDsThe program sold all over the world and is based around a set of powerful motivation skills, which I used in order to transform my sales results and thus my income and business results.
The message behind this post can save you from years of frustration and help you dramatically improve your future sales results!
I received an email yesterday, from someone who has occasionally emailed me for marketing advice over the past couple of years. This person (who will remain nameless for obvious reasons), is one of [...]
This week, I have already received several, ineffective “old school” marketing messages, based around the same tired, generic format. I wonder if you get these sales pitches too?
The person introduces themselves to you and then asks, “how can I help you?” The subtext here, is that the person wants [...]
Whilst it’s relatively simple (if time consuming), to develop a large social network, many business owners tell me they find it difficult to successfully market their products or services via social networks.
Here’s why I believe this happens & how to fix it!
People talk in terms of “increased brand awareness” and “being part of [...]
If someone has a piece of your written marketing in front of them right now, will they feel inspired to take action? Will your marketing message compel them to call you, email you or visit you?
Written marketing
I am in the process of writing an article for my next marketing newsletter. It’s [...]
This post is all about how to safeguard and grow your online network.
How frustrated do you feel, when you’ve just washed your car, you take it out for a spin and a massive truck goes buy and covers it in dirt? What about when you’ve been working on a document for 20 [...]
The Twitter unfollow trend happened in February!
That’s right, around 6 months ago, three well-known Twitter users unfollowed all their followers; two within a day of each other.
The big names back then were; Jason Calacanis (mahalo.com founder), Natali Del Conte (Cnet) and Loic Le Muer (Seesmic founder.)
Here’s a what happened – be sure to read the [...]
I was just looking at a website, where the owner has a small banner, which pleads with total strangers to join his LinkedIn network. I checked out his Twitter profile, and he’s doing the same there too.
It’s actually a pretty common tactic among some businesspeople, who think it will help them develop their business.
If they [...]
If you want to develop the effectiveness of your marketing and increase your sales, I have a piece of advice, which could help you massively improve your results.
Stop pushing!
If you are walking down the street and a stranger pushes you, they get your attention! Of course, the attention you are giving them is 100% negative, [...]
It’s sad, but the time has come for me to leave Twitter. At the time of writing this, the three most followed people in England are; John Cleese, Stephen Fry and then me. I have made some great connections because of Twitter and met a lot of interesting people too. Twitter has been a great [...]
Until earlier this morning, my twitter account had been ‘broken’ for the past 5 days! This meant I was unable to follow anyone back; which for someone like me, with a reputation for developing communities, is a HUGE problem! Twitter didn’t seem interested though; despite me currently being one of the top 60 most followed [...]
