If you’ve got a service business, you probably know you need to brand. Your coaches and mentors may tell you it’s complicated and time-consuming. I got frustrated myself when I started looking at my own branding. It’s not rocket science: it’s simple! Here’s my video on the topic:
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Last night I braved the arctic weather to hear a talk by Daniel Pink, best selling author of Drive, A Whole New Mind and now his latest,
To Sell Is Human .
Pink is a really good speaker; he does repeat phrases at times and he plays to the crowd. Well;, it was cold and late in the day and people were looking for a laugh; this guy has the timing of a stand-up comic. If you get a chance to hear him, it’s worth the trip. He managed to cite research and keep the audience riveted (admittedly, we were a self-selected group of bibliophiles).
His first point isn’t surprising, yet few of us have considered it. In the old days (pre 1980, say) sellers had power. For instance, if you wanted to buy a car, you’d go to the showroom. The sales rep would quote you a price. You (and possibly the sales rep) would never see the manufaacturer’s invoice price of the car.
Today, he says, we walk in with price lists from every dealer in the area (and maybe outside the area). We know if there’s a glitch that’s worth bargaining over. “Even my 80-year-old mother,” he said, “can find the invoice price of a car.” So now the playing field is level, with the customer possibly holding the upper hand.
Here are some takeaways –
– More people are in sales jobs than in ALL branches of US government including local, national and military. Fifteen million Americans work in sales. And nearly everyone else has some element of sales – defined as getting others to do what we want them to do – in their jobs or businesses.
– Ambiverts are more successful in sales than introverts OR extroverts; in fact, extreme introverts or extroverts are nearly equally effective.
– Our challenge now isn’t problem-solving, but problem-finding.
– Success depends on creating a pitch that engages your audience, improvising to recognize and respond to offers, and serving customers well.
– Effective selling depends on perspective-taking, which is not the same as empathy.
As I look over my notes (yes, I was scribbling away) I was surprised how much substance he delivered…yet he got everybody eager to read the whole thing.
The line was long and the night was frigid but I’ve got the book on order…and thought I’d pass this info to you, too. When you click on the cover image, you can buy directly from Amazon via my associates account.
Enjoy!
Data analyst Amy Webb was looking for a mate. A Jewish husband, to be precise. She was searching JDate and Match.com, but as she writes “What followed was a series of bad dates worthy of a romantic comedy.”
Enough was enough! Amy decided to apply her data analysis skills. In other words, she began thinking like a professional marketer. She analyzed the most popular profiles which are easy to identify because they come up earlier in the search. Here are some of her conclusions:
Popular women don’t wait to be asked. They reach out with informal short messages: “Hey, there …”
Lead with your hobbies – but skip the black belt in aikido and others that are hard to explain.
Being funny can backfire. You can come off sounding sarcastic and obnoxious.
Most revealing were the tips on writing profiles. Shorter is better – about 500 words. The most popular profiles are “easygoing, youthful and spontaneous.”
While some advice doesn’t translate readily (curly-haired women are at a disadvantage), and some would be ill-advised to follow (lie about your height), I found some surprising similarities with writing copy, especially “About” pages.
A surprisingly wide range of people like an informal, breezy style of communication. Amy calls the style “youthful,” which will make some of us want to hurl the newspaper across the room. I would prefer to say “energetic,” “lively,” and “fresh rather than jaded.”
What can we take away from Amy’s story?
Professionals like me have a hard time getting used to being informal. As Amy noticed, she had become “too stuffy and professional.” Today the word “professional” doesn’t mean stuffy, aloof or impersonal.
Reaching out to your market via social media can be very effective when you’re looking for clients and jv partners.
Instead of using “resume-speak,” paint word pictures. Amy describes herself as “an outgoing and social world traveler, who’s eqully comfortable in blue jeans and little black dresses.”
What impressed me most was Amy’s ability to recognize the importance of writing to sell. Many people recoil at the word “marketing,” yet we engage in these activities in so many areas of our lives. It’s refreshing to get a perspective on writing promotional copy from an entirely new and (for some of us) unexpected source.
Marketing works! Amy’s photo shows her with her husband, Brian. Success!
By the way, if you’re ready to get serious about promoting yourself to your ideal target market, I’d suggest you consider an Espresso consultation –
Professional services marketing begins with finding your niche and developing services to service your niche. While browsing the forums, I came across a life coach who was having trouble finding her niche.
With the coach’s permission, I created this video, based on a real question, my real answer and her very real thank you message.
What do you think … what are your questions about finding your own niche?
Introduction:
Today’s Guest Post was written by Melanie Yost. Melanie uses a vivid metaphor to demonstrate a critical idea.
My favorite professor in Graduate School had a simple but profound approach to working with people. His theory was that people were either wrapped too tight or wrapped too loose. He believed that if they were wrapped too tight, his job was to help loosen them up and if they were wrapped too loose, his job was to help tighten them up. This theory resonated with me and I have incorporated it into my helping style.
The goal is not so much about changing people as it is about helping them find balance. This is as true in business as it is in life. Being out of balance in one direction or another creates frustration and stuck places in your business. Let’s see if you can identify which one describes you.
People who are wrapped too loose are often highly creative and prefer their time to be unstructured. They are comfortable with letting the process unfold and not needing to know the next step. They like to keep their options open and are really good at going with the flow and being spontaneous. They are powerful visionaries who are capable of seeing the big picture and using their imagination to create an amazing vision of what they want their life and their business to be. Unfortunately, they have difficulty moving forward and manifesting this vision because they struggle with staying focused, setting priorities, making a plan, coming to a decision, following through, getting organized, setting boundaries and saying “no”.
People who are wrapped too tight are often high achievers. Once they understand what options are available, they are comfortable making a decision, creating a plan and taking action. They are comfortable with schedules, structure, practical solutions and concrete results. They tend to be analytical in their approach to business and life, basing their goals on what they know and what they think they can achieve. When things don’t go according to plan, they can become stuck and frustrated because they have difficulty relaxing, tuning into their inner wisdom, being spontaneous, going with the flow, letting the process unfold, using their imagination, thinking outside of the box, feeling out of control and giving themselves a break.
Soooo . . . . which one sounds like you? If you say “both” it’s probably because you have done a lot of work to achieve balance. Which one is your inherent nature? I am naturally wrapped too tight and have spent the last 20 years learning how to loosen up so that I can trust in to my internal wisdom, use my imagination, think outside the box, get comfortable with mystery, quite my mind, give myself a break and have balance in my life.
Once you know which way you are wrapped and what your challenges are, you can find the mentors, solutions and accountability to get you unstuck and using your energy in positive and productive ways in your business. Very few coaches and mentors work well with both dispositions. I have come to the realization that my brilliance is working with the wrapped too tight people. I know when to push and hold them accountable and when to give them permission to give themselves a break. I know how to help them access their inner wisdom, over come their fears and teach them how to integrate complex spiritual concepts into their business in a way that satisfies their analytical minds.
I also encourage you to look at your clients and notice if most of them are wrapped too tight or too loose. Which category do you attract? Which one do you most enjoy working with? Does the focus of your work help people tighten up or loosen up? This awareness will help you clarify your target market, position your products and services to address pains and problems and refine your marketing message.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article.
Intro note: Perry Marshall, the Google Adwords guru, writes frankly and wisely on many topics. This recent article sent a message that contradicts a lot of what we hear. It’s so important that I got permission to use it here, with my affiliate link to Perry’s site. I own several of his materials and he’s the real deal.
“Anyone Can Do It” by Perry Marshall
Any time someone says to you, “Absolutely anybody can do this” you need to hang on to your pocketbook.
I do not believe that “anybody can do…” any specific thing. At least not to a level that the world is going to richly reward.
Let’s take some of the stuff I teach. Can anyone build a Google campaign, write ads that get clicks and make their CTR’s get better and better with testing?
Sure they can.
Can anyone and everyone expertly build and manage $20,000 of clicks each month?
No. At least I don’t think so.
The extraordinarily successful people in the Adwords game are the ones who somehow ‘crawl inside’ of the campaign and feel what all those numbers and columns mean… who are able to sense what those visitors are clicking on and why. They can look at somebody’s ad campaign and in 10 seconds know whether it’s put together right, or not. Those are the ones who manage $10,000 or $100,000 of clicks every month and make it profitable.
There’s the doing of the thing, and then there’s the Art Factor. The Art Factor comes into play when your heart and soul get connected to it, when you are able to crawl inside the thing and live in it and breathe it. If you can do that, you can pick up the art factor. Then you can master it.
One of my favorite scientists is Barbara McClintock. McClintock was a biologist who made startling discoveries that scientists are still ignoring today, 50 years later.
McClintock discovered that DNA, the helix that contains the instructions for assembling your body, is intelligent. It has the ability to re-engineer itself on the fly – in fact it’s literally pre-programmed to re-program itself. This discovery was so radical that they thought she was crazy at the time and her insights are mostly dismissed even now. But McClintock was perhaps the first to understand that living things are organized by information.
The title of her biography “A Feeling for the Organism” refers to her ability to seemingly crawl down through her microscope and get inside the cell – not just observing what was visible, but what was implied.
Forty years later she claimed the Nobel Prize for science.
What world are YOU able to crawl inside of? Can you crawl inside your customers’ minds that way? Can you imagine you’re a web page, readers listening as you talk to them and you know how they’re answering back? Can you become so absorbed with your customers that you become one with them?
Whatever microscope is so fascinating to you that you can crawl down inside it and imagine yourself living down there – if it’s an audience that has money to give – that’s the way you’re gonna make a million dollars.
Will “absolutely anybody” be able to do what you do? Not on your life. You can’t buy marketing for your business on a showroom floor the way you buy a car. USP’s don’t just roll off assembly lines every 45 seconds. There will be few who can rival you. And nobody will be able to sell somebody a road map to your pot of gold for $49.95 either.
If I could encourage you in any way possible, it would be this: To be patient with yourself as you explore and unfold the unique giftings that you alone possess, and to wrap those gifts and talents into your products, the services you offer, and your marketing, so that NO ONE can knock you off.
The world will richly reward you for fulfilling that vision.
There are plenty of cubicle drones and paint-by-numbers people in the world… I hope you’ll aspire to put out some of your own original pizzazz, put your own fingerprints on what you do. Do the thing that you alone can do.
