Archive for the ‘Client List Building’ Category

Does your productivity ever get hindered by your desire to be perfect?  As you seek the easiest or fastest route to your goal, you may find yourself stopped entirely. Sometimes you may even do this on purpose, to keep from having to make a decision.

However, there’s a work-around. Maybe you’ve heard of the term, “heuristic.” Heuristics are rules that allow a solution to be found more quickly. With a heuristic, a resolution can be found even when the entire path isn’t clear from the onset.

For example, if there were no roads, but you lived in New York and wanted to make your way to California, you might try to:

1. Walk west as far as you can.
2. Walk around any obstacle, if possible.
3. If faced with a mountain range, walk toward the space between 2 small peaks.
4. Repeat until reaching California.

Does this experiment give you the most efficient solution? No; however, it will get you where you want to go as long as you know travel west.

Try these strategies to increase your productivity:

1. Choose the right time. Nearly everyone has times of the day when they are most effective and times when they tend to drag. It’s smart to schedule the most critical tasks for your most effective time of the day.
2. Toss it. If a task doesn’t really need to be done, just get rid of it altogether.
3. Get the bad stuff out of the way. Do the unpleasant items quickly and as early in the day as possible.
4. Set a goal each day (or night). In the morning, decide what you want to accomplish that day. This can be even more effective when planned the night before. Once you have a sense of direction, you can spend all your time getting things done!
5. Eliminate all communication. While you’re working, turn off the phone / cell phone, and don’t check your email. Hang a sign that says, “Do not disturb,” if necessary. You don’t have to do this for all your tasks, but at least do it during the more difficult items.
6. Batch similar tasks together. Do all your emailing at one time. Make all your phone calls at another. Open your snail mail during a set block of time. You’ll waste less time by doing your work in this fashion.
7. Set a timer. Even if a task might take hours, starting will seem easier if you simply give yourself 30 minutes to get as much done as you can. A time limit seems to help many people concentrate and work better, too.
8. Set targets. For example, if you have to make cold-calls for your sales job, tell yourself that you’re not getting up for any reason until you’ve made at least 100 calls. Regardless of what happens, refuse to stop until you hit your target
9. Use the Pareto Principle. This principle states that 20% of the actions you could take will provide you with 80% of the benefits. So focus on the tasks that will accomplish the most. Unfortunately, these are frequently the tasks that are not enjoyable. You might be surprised how little you really have to do if you focus on the critical 20%.
10. Delegate some of your work. Is there anyone else who can help you? The people around you are resources. When appropriate, use their time and talents wisely to get things done more quickly.
11. Set a deadline. Having a specific endpoint will really help to focus your time and energy. If a task doesn’t feel necessary, chances are that it won’t get done.
12. Increase your speed. It sounds silly, but this can really help. Try doing everything a little faster. Walk faster, talk faster, type faster, and read faster.

Implement these strategies into your daily life and you’ll find yourself getting more done in less time. The ultimate secret is to stay on task and not waste any time. These rules will help you do ju

I am often asked, “Linda how do you create a products or launch a service without getting overwhelmed and going a bit crazy?”  Well creating a product or service for your business is a pretty simple process.  But like any process knowing the steps is what makes the launch successful.

Done right, your products can help you meet and possibly even exceed your business goals.  Information products are an excellent business tactic to connect with and help more clients.

The one thing I hear quite often is that, “I’m in a service business and I don’t want to make a product, that’s not what my business model is about.”  Here’s the deal… you are one person and no matter how you look at it, your most precious resource… time is limited.  And I believe if you have the passion to help others then it’s important to help as many people as you can.  Let’s face it there’s only so many hours in a day, and so many people you can help one-on-one.  So what better way to help more clients then to provide information to give them what they want?   Read the rest of this entry »

 

Networking locally is a great way to market your online business offline. There are numerous organizations, clubs, and groups that you can join and network with that will assist with your offline marketing. The chamber of commerce, meet up, women’s groups, even your local hobby clubs are good networking opportunities. Where ever your possible clients and customers “live” is where you should be, both online and offline.

Online business owners often live in a sort of vacuum not having much contact with the outside world, so finding a way to get out of your comfort zone will be good for you and your business. There are good reasons to network locally aside from the fact that it can be actually fun to do. Plus, you need to get out of the house and out from behind the computer to be a well rounded person. Many people are shy or intimidated by offline marketing especially face to face networking, but you need not be worried. Here are a few ways to break into offline marketing via networking.

Church – Yes, church is for worshipping, but you can also network at church. Most people do. They buy from church members, and patronize their congregants businesses and refer each other. This is perfectly acceptable to do and will in fact make you feel more a part of your community. There are churches of all stripes, so if you do not attend one right now, you can find churches that are liberal and conservative, it’s completely up to you.

Exercise class — Of course you should get to know people with whom you are sweating every day! When you get to know people and make friends with them they will want to tell their friends about you, so don’t be shy, and tell people what you do. Ask them what they do first to break the ice.

Join the PTA — Most local areas have Parent Teacher Associations of some sort. If you are a parent, or a grandparent, you can join your local PTA. Once you join, get involved. Usually they will offer several sponsorship activities every year from an advertising spot in the yearbook, to the newsletter, to placards at an event. Even if you do not join, you can usually still sponsor events at your local schools.

Try these ideas for icebreakers to start networking in order to market your online business offline and before you know it you’ll feel more comfortable for more powerful networking such as joining and participating in your local chamber of commerce.

Every news organization, magazine, newspaper, university, and group looks for experts to be their go to person, why can’t that be you? Being an expert is a very effective way to market your online business offline because it will get you noticed. You’ll be in the news, both locally and nationally, maybe even internationally. By being a resource available to others you will quickly establish your expert status.

In order to establish yourself as an expert, you will need to contact the press every chance you get via press releases and queries for comments on issues. Submit content to offline publications, magazines, and newspapers as often as you can either via letters to the editor, commenting on someone else’s entry, or submit an actual article allowing them to publish it free or in some cases you can get paid too depending upon the venue. Remember that the important aspect of this is to be established as an expert in your niche.

Be available to the media to answer questions whenever there is a news story about your niche. Create an effective press kit that includes the types of information that offline media needs such as a “one sheet” which is essentially a paper, that is one sheet, that gives information about you in a nutshell. It has your photograph, your bio, your claim to fame and more all on one sheet of paper.

Sign up to be an expert on any database you can find that might be of interest to your target market. Always return calls even if you’re not sure if you can give the right information. If you’re quick to follow up, the press will be quick to use you again even if they couldn’t the one time. Make it clear that you’re ready and available for interviews, comments, and will help with anything they need.

Join local organizations and present yourself as the expert you are in your niche. Be a valuable member and contributor to the organization by being on the board, being a volunteer, submitting content for their websites and publications. Additionally, attend as many social events that are available as you can stand and make sure everyone knows you’re always able to speak on your topic at their organizations.

Contact your local radio station with your expertise and your story. Sometimes you might have to pay to be on the radio, but if it’s public radio it’s a great way to support them. You can also offer prizes to your local public radio station to give away at their fundraisers. Public radio stations love to interview local experts on many different topics, if you provide a compelling enough story, you’ll get on as an interview. If you went from a laid off mom on welfare, to a successful Internet marketing business owner, this is a compelling story, tell it!

 

1. Be an expert – Make sure everyone knows your expertise so that you can be a resource to them. Do not keep your online business a secret from your offline friends, family, and contacts. Talk about it, educate them, and before you know it you’ll be the expert that they come to when they realize having an online business is real.

2. Be a speaker — Find your local speakers bureaus, sometimes maintained by your local library, your chamber of commerce, local businesses, nonprofits and universities and find out how to offer your speaking services. Create a “one sheet” which is just what it says, one sheet of paper that gives information about you as a speaker including your photograph, what you talk about, your fees, and products. Do a search on “one sheet” to discover what should be on this important marketing document.

3. Teach a class – If you have a college degree you can usually teach at your local college or university on an adjunct or part-time basis. Being a college professor will definitely give you “street cred” in your local community, and out of your local community. This is something you can add to your websites immediately. If you do not have a degree, you can still become a Lecturer when you own a successful business. Call your local university, college, community college, or the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in your area for more information on how to get started.

4. Contact the press — If you have a good story to tell, send the press a tip. If you have certain news people that cover different types of news on your local channels, send them a brief summary of your story. Have friends send links to your story that you’ve told online. You might be surprised that sometimes they have slow news days and need to fill the space. In addition, make sure the press knows your expertise too, and make sure they know you have an open door policy to make comments on issues surrounding your expertise.

5. Network — Go to after 5 chamber of commerce meetings, business women meetings, meet ups that are in your area and rub elbows with a lot of people, making sure that they know your business, your expertise and your name.

6. Send out press releases — Whenever you have something wonderful to announce send out a press release and make sure it gets into the right hands. Target your press release blast to the right people, because otherwise, they will just toss it. If it gets to the right people, you’ll be surprised at how many will be printed.

7. Advertise locally — There are many local advertising and marketing opportunities for the online business to use off line. There are local magazines, local papers, placemats, bathroom ads, grocery cart ads, local “coffee news”, and more. Find these opportunities and use them. Usually the cost is minimal. Additionally, many of these local venues need content, you may be able to get free advertising by offering local content. Your info will be in the byline, much like online article marketing.

8. Business cards – Buy them, make them look great, and use them. So many online business owners purchase business cards and never give them out. Probably because they often never leave the house. So order some, and get out of the house and network.

9. Volunteer — Helping others is an excellent way to market your online business offline. Many organizations need volunteers, board members, sponsors, and participants. Leave no stone unturned. Volunteering locally will establish good will and trust both online and offline.

10. Advertise on your car – You can purchase either magnetic signs for the side of your car or window decals that give a website or phone number for people to call for more information. This is a great way to market your online business offline and get the word out wherever you go.

  After you have created your products, and purchased or created your tools, your marketing strategy is the final push toward creating momentum and great success in your coaching career. You need to create different plans for different offerings at various levels of your product funnel, always keeping your end result in mind.

1. Freebies — Giving away freebies is a way to bring clients into your product funnel that can be very lucrative. Allow people who obtain your freebie, which should be not only a way to bring people into your product funnel but a way to sell them on valuable affiliate tools and products that you use, to give it away and pass it on.
2. Blogging – Blogging is one of the least expensive and quickest ways to see a boost in traffic as long as you are keeping your target market in mind and speak directly to them in each and every blog. Do not try to be all to everyone, talk through your blog , to your ideal client.
3. Advertise — Use pay per click, banner, or other ways to attract people searching for your services and coaching to your least expensive offering such as your newsletter sign up form where they will receive a free newsletter via autoresponder.
4. Social media — Sign up for at least the big three in social media, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn keeping in mind the personality of each platform when you create your profile. Next, you must participate. If you do not participate in the social media conversation where it is important it is unlikely that you will see any return on your investment, which unless you pay someone else, is your time, which we’ve already established is your most valuable asset.
5. SEO — Search engine optimization which includes: blogging, article marketing, meta tags, keywords, site descriptions, site copy, website copy and more should be implemented right away and a huge part of your overall marketing strategy.
6. Segment your market — Using your autoresponder accurately is very important for you. Create market segments so that if someone purchases the offerings you present to them in your newsletter that they are moved from the first listed to another list that shows they purchased a product or service.
7. Up sell & cross sell — Never forget to offer your current clients, and current subscribers your next level or complimentary products, tools and services. Even if a client has purchased all you have to offer, you can make a percentage of selling other people’s products and services to that same client.
8. Create or point out scarcity — Hours are few, time is short, so point it out in your marketing copy or actually create a shortage of product, even if it is digital by only allowing a set number of people to purchase it at the given price or given compilation. That does not mean you can’t open it up later, charge a different price later, or pack it with other offerings, it just means that you entice people to buy by creating a feeling of loss.
9. Be open — No matter how many blogs you have, or how much you socialize on the Internet if you’re not having back and forth conversation with your potential clients, competitors, as well as those who are offering complementary services to yours, then you’re missing out big time. Allow people to comment on your blogs, to your forum posts, and to you without censoring them. Of course, if it’s not a real comment and is only spam, delete it freely, but if it’s a real comment, even if it is negative, have a conversation!
10. Over Deliver — Most people won’t think of over delivering as a marketing strategy but it is because your best client is someone who has already bought from you and as a coach you want them to buy from you more than once. If you give mediocre service, or even just live up to your own hype you will fail to impress so over deliver on your promises and you’ll create a fan for life.

Now it’s time to go to work.  You have 10 strategies to choose from.  Which one will you choose?

So let me ask you…what’s your definition of a Slogan?

Any form of business branding plan must involve the creation of a slogan. It is one of the basic elements necessary in building an effective brand campaign. A slogan typically consists of a short sentence or a phrase that serve to reinforce the business name or logo. In fact, many big time businesses has created highly successful marketing slogans that it has been recognized by the consumers as much as their name.

Slogan is often dismissed as an element for effective branding methods, which is also the reason why even a potentially good business name fails to deliver. Its purpose main purpose is mainly to enhance and boost the name or provide a tiny glimpse of what the brand promises to deliver. Even simple words or phrases can go a long way when it works well with your brand.

Impact of Slogan to Branding

Brand recall is the main purpose of creating a slogan. They are there to speak for the brand where images fail. This further enables the brand to create a more lasting memory to the minds of the consumers and enhances the market reach of the product.

Therefore, you need not just produce a creative slogan but an intelligent one. The purpose is mainly to capture the consumer’s attention and produce interest about a given product. It enables your audience to stop and think about the possibilities offered by the brand. Depending on your marketing plan, you can utilize a slogan to appeal to either the needs, attitudes, or emotions of the consumers. Therefore, you are trying to compel them to make an action, which in this case is to purchase the product to avail of the benefits it offer.

Why is it such a potent part of your marketing and branding efforts, you may ask? Because it triggers the motivation of the consumers then driving them into action.

Creating a Good Slogan

Due to the importance of the slogan in your business, it is best to assert careful planning into the process of creating a slogan. To achieve a good slogan, you must inform yourself of what the qualities of a good slogan are.

1.) A good slogan is memorable. Since the purpose of a slogan is to increase brand recall and trigger buyer motivations, it must first be able to capture their attention and stay in their memory for a given period. Staying power is an essential factor in the business industry, so you have to be able to produce something that stays in the mind of the consumers when they go out to buy.

2.) A good slogan produces images on the consumer’s mind. Most people produce images on their mind when they hear something. Hence, you can trigger the visual patterns of your customers by using the slogan. For instance, you can remind them about your company logo and create a stronger link between the two.

3.) A good slogan drives people into action. Awakening triggers on the consumer’s part will help make them the decision to buy the product being represented.

4.) A good slogan highlights the benefit of the product. This is tied up with the efforts of creating product distinction, which is to emphasize the benefits that one can derive from using a company’s products or services.

Advertising versus Business Slogan

Business owners must be able to differentiate advertising from business slogans since they serve different purposes. The business slogan is more important since it concerns the brand identity. It impacts your distinction in the market and the power of your brand.

Meanwhile, advertising slogans are created for a specific marketing objectives and over a short-period of time. It is more concerned over influencing a consumer’s immediate reaction to a given product while business slogan reinforces the reputation of a company as part of its branding efforts.

WOW I thought to myself.  What in the world Am I’m going to write about next.  If only the computer as smart as it is could just do my writing for me.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  I had to figure this one out for myself.

Believe it not a good majority of coaches dread having to write papers or articles. Coaches in particular feel like they just want to coach and writing papers and articles feel like too much work and it all just goes to waste when no one reads them.  Frankly, to some people, reading articles seems like work too, especially if the article is boring and just plain bland. Well, articles are supposed to be read, that’s their purpose to impart your message and information. If it is not read then it is a waste of time and effort.

So what does it take to get your article read?  Here’s the truth, it’s just a matter of making them good. Writing a great article doesn’t have to be strenuous and exhausting. There are just only a few points to follow. Once you get the hang of it, writing articles could be fun, as well as profitable for you and your coaching practice.

Of course, writing articles about something your passionate and knowledgeable about around a theme and topic you love will make the entire process so much easier. Let me show you exactly how this works.  When you write about your passion, you won’t have a hard time because you already have a strong and unyielding connection to it.  It’s just a matter of making your articles creative and interesting.

To make sure that your articles get read and enjoyed, here are six Super Hot Tips to get your articles read. These tips will make your articles readable and interesting.

1) Use short paragraphs. When the paragraph are very long, the words get jumbled in the mind of the reader just looking at it It can get quite confusing and too much of a hard work to read. The reader will just quickly disregard the paragraph and move on to much easier reading articles that are good to look at as well as read. Paragraphs can be a single sentence, sometimes even a single word!

2) Make use of numbers or bullets. As each point is stressed out, numbers and bullets can quickly make the point easy to              remember and digest. As each point, tip, guide or method is started with a bullet or point, readers will know that this is where the tips start and getting stressed. Format you bullets and numbers with indentations so that your4 article won’t look like a single block of square paragraphs. Add a little bit of flair and pizzazz to your articles shape.

3) Use Sub-headings to sub-divide your paragraphs in the page. Doing this will break each point into sections but still would be incorporated into one whole article. It would also be easy for the reader to move on from one point to another; the transition would be smooth and easy. You will never lose your readers attention as well as the point and direction to where the article is pointing.

4) Provide a good attention-grabbing title or header. If your title can entice a person’s curiosity you’re already halfway in getting a person to read your article. Use statements and questions that utilize keywords that people are looking for. Provide titles or headers that describe your articles content but should also be short and concise.

Use titles like, “Tips on making her want you more”, or “How to make her swoon and blush” .You could also use titles that can command people, for example, “Make her yours in six easy Ways”. These types of titles reach out to a persons’ emotions and makes them interested.

5) Keep them interested from the start to the finish. From your opening paragraph, use real life situations that can be adopted by the reader. Use good descriptions and metaphors to drive in your point, just don’t over do it. Driving your examples with graphic metaphors and similes would make it easy for them to imagine what you are talking about. Making the experience pleasurable and enjoyable for them.

6) Utilize figures when necessary and not just ordinary and insipid statements. Using specific facts and figures can heighten your article because it makes it authoritative. But do not make it too formal, it should be light and easy in them and flow. Like a friendly teacher having a little chat with an eager student.

Just think about it…

I never ever run out of ideas, and you won’t either if you relax your mind, enjoy the art and follow the Super Hot Tips, I described in this article

As you may already know, webinars are an amazing way to attract more clients. In order to have a successful webinar you must first establish a purpose for your webinar. Is it to teach, train, inform, excite, impress, market or a combination of these aspects? Do you know exactly the products or services you wish to promote through a webinar? Do you have a clear idea of what to talk about during the webinar?

What is your product? — Believe or not some people who have a lot of information do not have a clear idea of what their product is. Before having a webinar you should know specifically which one product you will be promoting so that you can fine tune your message and get them audience excited about your product.

One idea is to bundle existing products that relate to one another into packages. Always create more than one package, one inexpensive, and one more expensive. If you have a large attendance there is always someone who will want all that you have to offer, while others will want to just stick their toe into your product offerings.

Who is your audience? — You must also know your audience or target market. It’s not everyone! you must fine tune and laser target your market in order to be able to give an effective webinar presentation. If your audience is full of mothers, make sure you are talking in words and examples that they can relate to.

If you’re talking to business executives your examples will be far different than if you are talking to stay at home moms who wish to work from home, for example. Sure some of the moms will also be executives, but all moms relate to “mom things” but all moms are not executives.

Sell or inform? — Your purpose of your webinar is to either sell or inform or a combination of both, but it is always better to go with the information aspects because most webinar attendees will not want to be involved in an extended telemarketing call. Instead they want to be engaged, informed and inspired to act by your webinar.

Adding webinars to your sales funnel will help you make a more instant, real-time connection with your subscribers, allowing them to get to know you in a highly interactive, personal way.  Webinars are proven vehicles for strengthening connection and engagement, increasing loyalty and establishing their presenter hosts as top movers in their niches — all in one simple event.

Ready for more?

To discover even more powerful webinar formats your guests will find irresistible you can catch this free report when you visit Irresistible Webinars : Five Webinars Formats Your Clients Will find Irresistible.

The Fast Easy Way To connect with your clients.

Here are five great tips for creating a lasting and profitable online joint venture partnership:

1. Good attitude. The first and most important attribute to creating a lasting and profitable partnership is a good attitude.  Not only will a good attitude help to ensure that your partner also has a positive attitude – since a positive attitude is contagious, it will also help you get through any difficult times.  A good attitude is a sure sign of a good partnership and future profits.
2. Willingness to compromise and communicate.  Any partnership has moments where one partner will need to compromise.  If you ire prepared for these moments, then you’re a step ahead of the game.  Stay focused on the larger purpose of the partnership and don’t allow yourself to get swallowed by the finer details that are often so easy to get stuck on. If your partner wants 55% of the profits, then fine: make sure that you negotiate the proposal so that you benefit elsewhere.  Communication is key.  If you’re unhappy about something, be sure to express that to your partner while remembering to stay positive.  Additionally, communicate when you ire pleased.  Positive comments are helpful in maintaining a healthy equilibrium with your joint venture partner.
3. Willingness to contribute 50% of the effort.  If you ire going into a partnership with someone, it is unfair to expect to reap all the benefits and do none of the work.  Of course, if you can both reap profits with little or no work then that’s great.
4. Willingness to stick to the plan.  If you outlined and agreed to a plan with your partner, it is unfair to change the plan halfway through.  You wouldn’t want your partner to do that to you, right?  Of course circumstances are occasionally beyond your control and things happen; however, it is important to work your hardest to stick to the plan, timeline, and workload you originally agreed to.
5. Willingness to modify the plan if need be.  I know this contradicts the above tip; however, if your partner has one of those unforeseen circumstances mentioned above, it is a good idea to be flexible.  Maybe the timeline can be adjusted or the responsibilities and profits adjusted to accommodate the new circumstances.  Be willing to adapt if need be.

The big picture of a joint venture partnership is that you ire building a benefit that goes beyond profits.  The potential for a successful joint venture partnership can be more customers, more associates in your network, more credibility, and yes-more profits.  The right attitude toward your partner and your partnership can and will create a lasting benefit for years to come.