Andy Beale's Post

Came across Andy Beale's article on Marketing Pilgrim site. It is dated over a year ago but the information is still good to use.

This is great for any small business wanting to monitor the profile and enhance their reputation - have a look at Tools for Buzz Monitoring

Marketing your Business

I asked a client recently what she had been doing to bring in clients and she replied that she had her business cards, the website is finished and she joined some networking groups. But there has been no interest….

I asked these two questions:
- Who do want to have a customer or client?
- What solutions do they want?

To the first question, I got the answer, women between the ages 35 and 55 who want to realise their dreams.

Well this is a start, but how can you find only those women who are wanting to realise their dreams. Is that every women? Is it peculiar to a specific location? Or are these women living in every third house?

You see you have to be able to find your prospective customers and clients. You have to be able to identify them in detail so you can find them and start a conversation with them. And, starting the conversation is essential. Because, it is from the conversation that the problems they have and how they plan to resolve will be discovered. And, that is the start of marketing.

No post for so long!

I can’t believe it has been so long since the last post. I am writing now because I am back to my morning ritual of exercise, meditation, writing and focused work. It really makes a difference. I wrote about that in October – Developing as an Entreprenuer

What happened over the past couple of weeks was illness and then chasing my tail playing catch up. Yet, the past few weeks has been interesting because it really came home to me that by listening to my body I am able to stay true to my path. There was a time whne I would have just shrugged off the illness, the feelings of unease, the accidents etc and just carried on….. Now, I don’t know about you, but it tended to end up in tears!

So, how does this relate to marketing?

As micro and small business owners, people buy from us as people and the value we offer. So, when we are ‘under the weather’, this comes through in our choice of words, our mannerisms and the timeliness of our responses.

People remember how we communicate long after we have forgotten the sentence or the post because we were not ourselves! The aim is to be consistent in all of our communications – this is much easier to say than do! But, your prospects and customers are more forgiving when you just own up and say “I screwed up!”

People buy through their emotions so will respond to the emotions we display – consciously or unconsciously! Looking after our emotions is key to us looking after our businesses.

Keep well and stay true!

Twitter - relationship builder

I was first introduced to Twitter in the summer and thought this was great. I foolowed a few people for a while and become enthralled with the informaiton I was getting, the frequency, knowing when people were sleeping, watching TV and having a family meal opened a new dimension for me.

But, it wasn't until October that I took the plunge myself and started twittering. Even though, I don't tend to tell people when I am eating etc., it is great to share information, provide updates on your whereabouts, ask for help to questions. I have posed a few questions and have found someone in my network responds with directly or through a message.

Last week, I was poorly and through Twitter I received lots of get well messages - really perked me up!

Why should you have Twitter? Well, it is a great way of learning about topics and insights from people you wouldn't otherwise have access to and you let the world know what intersts and insights you have. Through relationships you build a business.

Rather than go through all the whys and where fors to join Twitter, I am recommending you read the four part blog written by Exerience The Blog Here lots of the applications, tools and jargon is listed so you can learn about Twitter first hand.

Happy Twittering and please join me on Twitter

Words and all they conjure?

Marketing conjures up different images for different people not all of them positive.

It could be replaced with

Bartering: exchange of goods and services for other goods and services
Exchanging: to give something and receive in return

The difference in the meanings of marketing and the words above is the element of presenting them in a desirable manner.

And, is that so bad?

Is this snake oil, a gimmick or just innovative?

I launched the 30 Day Challenge earlier this week to a somewhat mixed reception. Some coaches found the concept exciting and have grabbed the opportunity with both hands, while others saw it more snake oil or nothing more than a gimmick.

So, this is to set the story straight…

You can create a product within 30 days, from scratch, if you know how to do it and have the templates to work from. Here’s the breakdown:

Days	Activity
1	Review your list of contacts, customers and clients and places in which you are known
2-7	Set up a survey and promote to your target audience
8-9	Analyse the findings of what topics generated the most interest
10	Prepare the first draft of the copy
11-24	Prepare the entry level product. This can be test based, audio, a workbook or a mixture
24-27	Approach your testers to have feedback on the product and gather testimonials
28	Revise the product in line with the feedback
29	Add the testimonials and revise the copy
30	Product ready for launch

Now, granted this timetable isn’t possible for coaches who have no background in this area. But, it is possible when you have the know how, the templates and the contact with your target market. In fact, with practice, you may be able create a new entry level product in less than 30 days!

I wonder whether the coaches declaring this initiative as a gimmick or snake oil are really sharing their fears about and hostility to both marketing and their commitment to building their coaching business to make a difference to lots of people’s lives.

Here's a link to the 30 Day Challenge - It runs between 14 November and 13 December so you can enjoy Christmas knowing you are ready for the New Year.

Unknown P of Marketing: Attracting Wealth!

Some months ago, I came across this Wealth Attraction Exercise in one of the Dan Kennedy books on Marketing and Wealth Attraction and thought I would give it a try. I had nothing to lose, so to speak….

The exercise lasts 90 days and requires you to set up two accounts – one for giving and the other for your wealth.

Next you decide how much of your income you will set aside for these accounts. Now it could 10%, 5%, 1% and is really based on what you can do. And, let me say, that no matter how much or how little money you have, you can always set some aside. The important thing is to decide what you are to do and commit to it.

Each time you receive money, you transfer the agreed percentage to your accounts.

For the giving account, look out for ways to donate this money to charities or groups that would benefit. You can do a search for charities in your area of interest.

For the wealth account, this can only be spent on activities that will help to increase your wealth further. It can only be spent on bills if it is to make an additional payment but not the current payment.

What I found is that you feel richer by giving. You are more generous in your giving. You also have money available to use to increase your wealth – whether that is attending a course, purchasing a product of book that fills in some gap in your knowledge or pays for a subscription – you gain new insights, new skills to increase your ability to generate income.

So, what has it done for me? Well, I have shared 5% of my income with charities and groups who work with disadvantaged children and I have spent some of my wealth account but over half is still available to me. But, what is really interesting is that my income has increased 10 times compared to the level in the months prior to starting the exercise.

So, it does work. Have a go, but please don’t be tempted to use the wealth account for everyday expenditure. Instead, plan to use your available cash more effectively.

Oh and, let me know how you get on.

The Allure of Workshops: Light and Dark

Working with a group of people, seeing them change as the day(s) progress is just great. You get direct feedback. You are able to tailor your message depending upon the facial expressions of your audience. But there is a darker side….

Don’t get me wrong. I love workshops. It is so much easier than being online or on the telephone providing you get the people to attend the event.

It can be much easier for people to attend a tele-seminar, a group session online, or have a discussion over a couple days on a forum than arrange to go to a live event. And that is the irony!

The impact of a live event is greater for both presenter and audience. Yet, these can be one of the hardest events to pull off and make a profit.

The most cost effective way to promote an event is to approach your warmest contacts. For these people already know you. They are more likely to allocate a larger chunk of time to come.

You can also ask them to refer your event to others so there is a mix of warm contacts with new contacts. This is great for the new contacts to be immersed in what you offer and how you offer it.

If you have lots of resources, you can advertise your event to new contacts. The offer will have to be absolutely compelling for people who don’t know you to spend a considerable amount of time to attend.

Consider the Christopher Howard events, these are free. They are for several days. But, he didn’t start out with workshop events. He built his reputation first. He built his raft of programmes before embarking upon these multi-day seminars. There is considerable email follow-up. He also works with others promoting his events to their lists. This is reality.

So, the ingredients for getting bums on seats are:

- build your reputation for what you are wanting to lead a workshop on

- have follow on products and services so your customers can get more of what you offer

- marketing to a warm list of contacts

- working with others where the market to their warm list of contacts

Sure, you can run a workshop without all of these, but it becomes more of a struggle. And, do you really want to struggle?

Developing as an Entreprenuer

In September, I shared my regime for getting more energy and increasing my output. It is now over a month and I consider this to be a habit now. What is funny though, there have been a number of other changes.

From the exercise and increasing my heart rate and health, I find that I am increasingly hearing more information from my heart. This is not so much passion but more wisdom. I seemed to have accessed my inner wisdom which is great on two fronts:

Me - because, I am doing and putting more and more into place for my life and business

You - because, you receive, if you want to, not just the knowledge but the wisdom that I have accumulated over my life.

I reflected this morning about how to bring this out with the coaches on the Business Builder Programme. Sure, it will only come when it is ready but if we don't have a conversation or read a post that may spark readiness, how will we know?

The heart conversations seem to be part of my own evolution as an entreprenuer. Using the Hero's Journey milestones, we start from Innocence where we receive the call. We formulate our vision. Then we travel through the initiation where we start putting in place the pieces to realise our vision. Of course, while doing this we encounter our own gremlins. While we are working on these, we are in the abysss, the pit. It is only when we deal with our gremlins and ask for help that we start the journey towards the breakthrough which will lead to realising our vision and celebration.

Having lived in the pit for nearly two years, I am pleased to say that I am towards celebration. The breakthroughs I am having now are brilliant. Interestingly, all the people in my business life only arrived when I started to understand how I could realise my vision.

Please drop me a note on where you are on this journey.

Conversation with my Heart

I had some healing yesterday around my head and my hear working in partnership. Being successful in business in business and academia, my head is very strong. It has lots of information. It is great of setting out steps for action, unravelling problems. It is stores the lessons learned and wisdom. Of course, the culture of business and academia focus on the head - rationality is strong while emotions tend to be seen as weak.

Working from the heart is not new to me, but is an area that requires further development. My task this morning was to have a conversation with my heart to learn what she wants and hjow I can be an effective partner.

The process was simplicity itself - take a few minutes to be centred and ask my heart. You know, the answers that came were really no surprise! They were linked to other areas I have been working upon over the past years or so.

But now, I can get a sense of how the different aspects of my own development are linked together. Here is what my heat gave me:

"If you want to write, centre yourself in your heart chakra.... the words and visions will follow. Do this for every kind of writing - business, marketing, prodict development, speaking and teleseminars."

Wow! I feel liberated whilst whole.

If this resonated with you, I am running a teleseminar called, "Are you in Your Own Way?" tomorrow, 22nd October at 4pm BST. Come and explore, share and rejoice.

What do birds and brambles have to do with marketing?

My hedge was quivering this morning. Surely, it wasn't in response to the effects of the latest development of the financial crisis!

No, the birds were having breakfast on the tasty morsels from the brambles intertwined in the hedge plants. These brambles aren't visible for all to see - I know they are there when I have brushed up against them and come off the worse for wear! Yet, the birds know they are there and, unlike me, find them of great value.

Then it struck me that this is no different to marketing. One market may be very attractive to some while repels others.

So how do you know whether one market is attractive?

Well there are five criteria for ascertaining attractiveness:

1. Can you easily reach the market through your communications?
2. Is the level of discomfort high enough to pay for change?
   
3. Is it large enough to sustain you for a considerable time?
4. Are there a variety of ways for your to suppliy services?
5. Is there similarity of language and requirements?

If the answer is yes and you find out how to resolve the discomfort your audience has, then you are on your way for making sales and building your business.

Understanding my role

Small Biz Marketing is dedicated to delivering marketing know how and skills to coaches so they create the business that is inside them.

The services offered are really the culmination of my experience as a marketer, a coach, freelancer and a micro-business owner. They have taken two years to develop not because I didn't know what to do but because I wanted to be on the front line with all the other change agents to be the catalysts to change the world.

It took me all this time to realise that my role was to use my skills, my know how in enabling the enablers - to give the front line change agents the skills and know how to be successful. Now, I am comfortable with this role and my energy is flowing, more clients are coming and the way I am creating programmes for coaches is also fast moving.

If you are concerned about the current economic conditions, about how you earn your living when your prospects may be tightening their belts? Then now is the time to consider how your market is changing and mapping your services to these changes. Carrying on doing what you have always done in a changing market may not continue bringing you strong results.

Currently, there is the Business Builder Programme which is a mentoring programme based upon the Marketing Iceberg System trademarked by Karen Purves.

Coming soon is a workbook containing Ten Questions to bring more sales

Just How Useful is Twitter?

I set up an experiment to see how useful Twitter was to drive traffic and sales and I am very pleasantly surprised.

Now this is over a short time of 5 days and has resulted in 20% increase in traffic to my website and a massive 40% increase to my blog and I have gained one customer!

I linked Twitter to my Facebook account so lots of people are getting updates on my activities.

So, start Twittering … and follow me to receive updates on marketing news for coaches

Robbing a Bank is Not an Option!

Remember the days when banks were solid and wealthy institutions? Well, not anymore, the UK government has made available £50bn to underpin the banking industry. So, if you want to be financial secure, then cross out robbing a bank from the list!

Ok, enough of the joke. To be serious, I suggest you follow the teachings of Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, and develop ways to print your own money.

By developing assets, you create the mechanisms for financial freedom, whatever that terms means for you.

Ok, so as a coach you may be thinking this doesn’t apply to me. And I say this applies to all knowledge based business owners. You became a coach because you want to make a difference and have stepped up to the line to facilitate change in the human race.

The next step is to understand how to deliver all your skills, qualities, abilities and talents to make that difference to your chosen market. The skills of coaching, your training in NLP, EFT or Clean Language, your experiences, your knowledge and all your own personal development has brought you to this point – now when are you going to create the products and programmes that become your assets?

Your unique offering to the world is how you present your skills, qualities, talents and abilities to people hungry for this information, this learning to help them on their journey.

These are your assets and are protected legally through trademark and copyright.

So, as a coach, expand your thinking of how you can provide products and programmes using your skills etc to your chosen market.

You will then be able to make a difference to more people and have the financial freedom you want.

The first module of the Marketing Iceberg Business Builder Programme takes you through this process of reviewing your skills and how these maybe turned into assets. This module is available FREE just for the next two weeks of October.

How the Coaching Market is Changing

The common factor amongst coaches is that they want to make a difference. That is what fuels us!

For us to make a difference, we have to be clear in what we have to offer, to whom we offer it and how we present what we do.

The Coaching industry or profession is changing which means how coaches get business will also change.

Until relatively recently, coaching was still new and attracted the sort of clients who were open to new approaches to develop themselves, their teams etc. Now, the market is opening up with more people seeing coaching as a valid intervention for improving performance etc. With that change, this new influx of people comes a challenge for existing coaches. This expanded market will require different messages, different marketing approaches to make their decisions to purchase. Also, they may not consider a 121 relationship as necessary for them to realise their goals.

Couple this with an ever increasing number of coaches graduating from the various schools means there will be more and more coaches offering coaching services. I am not suggesting for one minute that coaching is saturated. On the contrary, there is room for all - with marketing.

With more and more coaches and with a larger and larger market, differentiation becomes essential. Also, coaches working together either in complementary teams or as I am currently exploring having teams of coaches offering services in the same discipline but with different perspectives or ways of delivery.

I also think another thing happening is with learning. Life long learning has been around for a long time now. People are more used to the concept of continually learning in order to stay in their jobs, to get a promotion etc. This means people are taking more responsibility for their development their learning.

Also, technology enables us to, well communicate in this way, to learn from people who we wouldn't have come across at another time.

So the challenge and opportunity for coaches is only limited by their imagination and drive. Never before has there been such a large collection of people who are all committed to making a difference with all the other bits in place for that to happen.

There are lots of ways to deliver making a difference. But whatever, you do, you have to use marketing - whether it is understanding your desire, your talent, to learning the language and pain of your prospects, to designing and delivering programmes, to creating the website that is a fabulous show window for your business, to being attractive to your market for them to offer their details so they can learn more about you and your services. You have to do all of this to get clients, to feel good when you reflect on your day - how you have made a difference today.

My challenge, it seems, is to open coaches minds to see the opportunities I see. My role in all this is to enable the enablers. It has taken me some time to realise that is what I am supposed to do. I am to use my skills, my know how to enable others to make the difference they have been put on this earth to do!

Let me know how you are making the most of these changes.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Six Reasons to have a Blog

To blog or not to blog, that is the question…. Well for some it is a no brainer but what if you are one of those who aren’t quite sure what you are going to write..

Let’s consider having a blogging strategy. This means what are you wanting to achieve with your blog. You only need to have one reason for these six for you to be able to create a blog and create the content on an ongoing basis for you to realise your goal.

#1 – Improve web presence through feeds

#2 – Establish yourself as a thought leader

#3 – Create a new channel to reach audiences and customers

#4 – Provide an opportunity for interaction between your customers and prospects

#5 – Generate high quality leads

#6 – Increased visibility to journalists

So whatever your goal, each entry must contain these three components.

#1 – Genuine, Heartfelt Content
This is from the heart giving the reader an insight into the company, entrepreneur, coach or leader. It has to provide information and value that is otherwise not available.

#2 – Regular Update
Your blog must be maintained otherwise people will lose interest and all the initial efforts won’t bear fruit. Collect your blog entries over time then you can intersperse these will topical entries and when inspiration is fired. Whenever you are free from having to write, the writing becomes that much easier. You also may find it useful to commission someone to write a series of articles.

#3 – Focus
Consider blogs already serving your industry, sector or area of interest and prepare your material with a new focus, a new angle for then you will be in a good position to gain followers and regular readers.

Taking Action

Three weeks ago, well 21 days to be exact, I started a new regime to start the day. The focus is on ensuring I have fed myself and have given to myself before giving to others and the day. Great concept and I am sure you have heard it before too.

Anyway, the activities for this regime appealed to me and seemed to be easily doable! They are drink water to rehydrate your body upon waking. I am drinking two big tumblers, so I guess that will be about 1.5 pints. Then start 20-25 minutes aerobic exercising (I have an exercise bike) followed by shower and breakfast. After breakfast do thirty minutes personal development followed by 5 minutes meditation just focussing upon your breathing. Then when you start work set the timer to work for 50 minutes followed by 10 minutes break – stretching and walking. Then another 50 minutes work followed by a longer break of 30 minutes. Now in these 50 minutes you work on your greatest opportunity without interruption and distraction (emails are a distraction!)

Now, I am a pretty focused person who can get through a lot of work but I was absolutely amazed at my increased output.

The interesting thing and what prompted me to write is with doing personal development activities on a daily basis my well being has increased, it seems exponentially. This week, I launched the business builder programme so it was apt to revise my goals for the future. I used the process of creating SMART goals but with add emotional punch. Adding emotion to the goal means it is not just a head goal but invokes my emotion and hence my unconscious will step into action to create ways to achieve the goal.

I have even noticed that when I think about my goals when exercising my heart rate decreases – wow! Isn’t that fantastic?

My reading for today lead my to the following and seems so apt when we are working at developing our businesses, getting clients:

Quit Waiting

It’s time to quit waiting for

Perfection

Inspiration

Permission

Reassurance

Someone to change

The right person to come along

The kids to leave home

A more favourable horoscope

More money before I can do…

An absence of risk

Someone to discover you

A clear set of instructions

More self confidence

The pain to go away

Yet, by taking action we create the conditions where we are reassured, increase our confidence and feel better about ourselves.

What are you going to do today?

Is your story similar to that of the coaches interviewed?

14 coaches were interviewed over a two week period ending on 12th August. There was a mix of coaches from just starting out to being in business over 8 years. Of those who shared their active client numbers, the average was three.

The challenges with marketing now include

• Being reactive and not having a plan
• Reaching the audience identified
• Increasing the conversion of squeeze pages to a positive outcome
• Packaging the services that people will buy
• Understanding the competition and how their effect can be minimised
• Testing choices for marketing the business
• Don’t like marketing
• Telling people that I am here and how I work
• Having to learn a whole raft of new skills
• Being clear about what I am offering

Fears and Pain around Marketing
By far the most pain around marketing was about insufficient knowledge and know-how to do it effectively. Time and planning were cited several times. The fear of failure was there. The largest pain in marketing was the frustration that the effort expended did not realise the desired results.

Please add your comment on whether this is similar to you