Archive for the ‘Marketing/Lead Generation’ Category

There was a point in time when the telephone was the big time waster. Now in many cases, it’s social media.

With the variety and different types of social media sites available to market your business along with the multitude of ads, dings, notifications, apps, discussions, new features to keep up to speed and adopt, the world of social media networking and marketing can be very overwhelming to say the least!

But it doesn’t have to be.

Here are three simple ways to avoid getting sucked in and wasting time on social media:

Create a plan – In other words, don’t just “show up;” be intentional.  Plan out how you will use social media to the letter — each day, each update, and what you’ll do with your time.  This way you can stay focused on the outcome and objective at hand.

Automate — Updating your social network about new posts, articles and information can be automated without any ill effects. This one act will save you hours each day (assuming you’re blogging and creating content like you should).  You can’t be on all sites all the time.   Smart automation is imperative to being able to get everything done that needs to be done.

Schedule — As a woman who launches while working you’ve got only a finite window of time to work on your business.   Staying highly optimized is key!   If social media marketing is an important aspect of getting clients and building your business, you must schedule and commit time doing it.

Use these tips to begin putting an end to overwhelm and wasting time on social media.  But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If you are looking for more tactics and strategies to get better results using social media,  join me and my expert guest  Amber Lee Scott for Tuesday’s ( May 8 ) teleseminar:  Understanding Social Media: Customize Your Strategy, Stop Overwhelm, Get Better Results in Less Time.

Click register and receive program details and information.

This month’s teleclass is focused on social media marketing success!

- Do you spend countless hours posting on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn but never get a response?

- Are you confused which sites to use more readily & how to use them effectively?

- Do you feel like social media marketing is a complete waste of time?

Join me and my guest expert Ms. Amber Lee Scott, the Social Media Mentor & CEO of  TrueUvoice,  for our upcoming FREE teleseminar:  Understanding Social Media: How to Customize Your Marketing Strategy, Stop Overwhelm, Get Better Results in Less Time

You will discover:

- How to choose the social media sites that are exactly right for you and your business

- How to reach your target market on social media without fail

- Simple tools, strategies and techniques you can incorporate into your marketing game plan to grow your business faster

- The #1 thing you MUST ALWAYS do if you do nothing else

- The most important aspects of your social media strategy…even if you have very little time

- How to convert your social media tribe into list subscribers and paying clients and customers.

And More!

Click here to register and get more program details.

Your business blog is probably the single most important tool you can use to build and grow your business.

Whether your business blog is part of your website, or a separate entity, it is important to know how to focus your blog to help attract more potential clients and customers to your business.

What is a focused blog?

A focused blog is one that has a specific purpose: to get others to want to buy your products and/or services.

How?  It all starts with knowing what to blog about to begin and maintain an ongoing “sales conversation.”

Here are some helpful pointers:

1.  Keep your blog focused on business.  This means you want to limit the amount of personal stuff you share. Some is good and valuable, as it connects your customers to you, but you want to avoid venting about your personal life, family members, and so on.

2.  Talk about what sales or specials you have going on. It’s important to always keep your readers abreast of what’s current, what’s new, and what’s discontinued.

-  Be sure to add a call to action with a link to the sales page of your services, products and programs.

- Write a single blog post about the launch of an upcoming program.  Be sure to highlight how your program can help them (e.g. focus on benefits).

- Create a series of posts about various product options. The more your readers know about your offerings the more apt they are to purchase.

3.  Let your readers and customers know you are there for them. The whole point of your business, of any business for that matter, should be to help others in their personal or business lives.

-  Talk about what you have to offer as being a way to help them succeed in achieving what they desire most.  By doing this, you’re creating clients that will continue to return to not only your blog, but your business as well. Your blog will become a primary place they frequently visit on the web.

Why?  They know they can count on getting information and finding solutions that are most relevant and highly beneficial.

Overtime your readership and following will grow.  So will your traffic.

4.  Use specific key words in your titles and posts.  This is another important element of driving traffic to your business blog.   Essentially, as you continue to build your blog, you will be building your business as well.

5. Write about topics that are both  relevant to your reader but also consistent with your core  message (e.g. your belief statement about what it takes to get your  ideal client from where they are to where they want to be).

The reason why your core message is so essential is because it’s foundational to every business decision you  make: what products you will develop, who you will pursue as jv partners, what services and programs you will offer.

Not to mention it will foster consistency in the topics you write or speak about.  In building your brand, it’s important that people draw the right kind of association with you and your business.  As a result you can attract the right clientele and jv and strategic partners as well.

Blogging is a key strategy for getting your message out there in a big way and making a greater difference in the hearts and minds of others.

There are other powerful ways to use your knowledge and expertise to build your business. Ready to use what you know to attract ideal clients, build your list and make money now?  Here’s a free gift to learn how.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a sales letter, email message for your list, or even writing an article, a blog entry, or posting on a message board — this is all copywriting because everything you write for your business should have a marketing objective.

The Internet is a place where people go, first and foremost, for information. That means YOU as expert in your niche should be the one providing it for them. The more informative you are and effective in communicating that you have the solution for what they desire most, the more readily you will be able to convert interested readers and prospects into customers and clients on line.

But the trick is knowing how to do this successfully.

Which is why I’ve partnered with Lavada Thompson of Your Lucrative Launch.com to reveal several copywriting secrets that will empower you to significantly increase your monthly income & cash flowing into your business. Lavada’s background and expertise is in creating websites that sell and converting clients online.

On Wednesday, March 14,  I will be interviewing Lavada for a 60-minute, high-value, content-packed call, that you truly don’t want to miss.

You will discover:
* The number one, most important thing you must do in your sales copy to motivate your ideal clients to pull out their credit cards.
* The easiest way to create the gap in their minds and convince them that your solution is the answer.
* How to address their objections right there on the sales page so they can move forward with the sale.
* 3 proven tips to create a sense of urgency so they say, “I better get this now!”

And much more!

Register here now.

Copywriting is a very important skill to have if you’re going to be successful doing business on the web. Knowing how to write in such a way that compels and motivates prospective clients to buy is critical.

And, no you don’t have to be an expert copywriter to write engaging and effective sales copy. We’re going to show you very simple, proven copywriting techniques that can have a huge impact on your online sales – immediately!

Join us this Wednesday, for this one-time-only FREE teleseminar: “5 Simple Ways to Get Ideal Prospects to Click ‘Buy Now.’” All the call in details will be provided immediately after registering.

Let’s partner to grow your business by selling more of your products and services online!

Hope to see you on the call!

Can’t make the call, no problem! You will have access to the replay right away… but you must be registered! Hope to “see” you on the call.

Marketing, it’s a lot like a science experiment: test, test, test. Study your data.  Take note of what works & doesn’t.  And always be tweaking.

Unfortunately with marketing, there’s no silver bullet to meeting your most important marketing goals.  A variety of approaches are needed and necessary to meet your bottom line.

As you know,  what may work for another,  may not work for you. Not all strategies are best for your business.

Fortunately hindsight is 20/20. Looking back on your business journey thus far what do you know now that you wish you knew then, that would have made all  the difference?

What is the worst marketing advice you’ve ever gotten? What happened when you followed it & what did you learn in the process?

Please post your comments here.  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

“OMG, Brandi Starr I have been wanting to meet you!”

That was the first thing I heard from a woman rushing towards me as I stepped into a room full if women business owners who were all buzzing about meeting, greeting, and networking. Although my last name is “Starr” I’m in no way a celebrity so why was this person so excited upon my arrival?

Despite the fact that this was our first meeting we already had a relationship. The conversation concluded with a meeting to talk through how we could work together and she later became a client.  This is just one example of the power of social media!

Social media marketing also allows people to connect with your business, your brand, and you. Almost every person who has studied marketing has heard the statistic that it takes at least 7 touches over a period of time before a person really connects with your message. In the past that meant lengthily marketing campaigns using a variety of mediums such as direct mail, email, and print advertising.

Although those tactics (and the many others available to you) are still useful marketing tactics we can now make that connection with people in a faster more cost effective way.

Through social media efforts such as Twitter, Facebook, and your blog  your prospective and current customers are repeatedly seeing your marketing message. And more important they are able to directly engage with you AND easily share that message.

By having that consistent and repeated interaction when a need arises for your product or service you are top of mind and that prospect quickly converts to a paying customer.

Here are my tips to build relationships through social media:

BE Consistent: Branding is all about consistency, so having a consistent voice in your social media activities is important. Overtime people should know what to expect from you. The types of content & information you share, the frequency in which you share it, the best ways to connect and relate to you.

BE Relevant: Keep your goals and your target audience in mind and share content and information that is relevant to them.

BE Human: Sounds simple right? Too often business owners get caught up in representing their business that they fail to include the ‘human factor’. Share your mistakes and failures as others can learn from them. Share something personal (but don’t air your dirty laundry or be a Debbie Downer).

BE  YOURSELF: You only have one you, and people need to experience who you are through your social media interactions. If you have a slightly quirky sense of humor let that shine through, if you have a knack for motivating others be a source of inspiration for your followers. Whoever you are, just be YOU.

BE Engaged: Social media isn’t one of those things you set up and sit back and watch t blossom. It takes work to build relationships and those relationships must be cultivated. So have an open dialog with your followers and fans. Just like your mom taught you when you were a child, when someone speaks to you, you speak back. Or do one better and speak first.

For more tips on using social media view my recorded webcast Social Media 101 for Start Ups & Small Businesses.

About the Author: Brandi Starr is the Owner and Marketing Maven of Cassius Blue Consulting. With over 10 years marketing experience Brandi energizes business owners small businesses who are in the first 0-5 years of their business to win more customers, grow sales and build reputation. Brandi is a bubbly, forthright, positive, woman of many dimensions who has a passion for helping small businesses to succeed.

One of the fastest ways to build your business from the ground up is to be the missing link  in your niche.

Every niche market has a need.

It’s up to you to figure out what that need is.  This way you become a premier “solution provider” for your ideal clientele … from start up to launch and beyond.

Imagine:

- Pulling  prospects toward you with your message instead of chasing after or giving away your services for free.

- Building your list and getting paid for your services, programs and products over the life of your business.

- Earning revenue for your business  even though you don’t have any paying private clients.

To fill the void in your niche market, you’ve got to be intentional and strategic about what you communicate and how to get desired results.

Here are 3 quick strategies to get started with this process:

1. Get clear on your message:  Your message is core to your business model and design and supports your vision and mission.   This is what you believe makes the difference in helpin g your clients reach their most  important goals, dreams, desires in their life, career, business.  Without it you will be subject to creating solutions that misalign with what you’re all about.

2. Clarify your niche:  If you don’t know what you do and how you serve others, all of your marketing efforts will be dead in the water.   Who you serve and what you do to help others meet their most important goals is the sweet spot of defining your niche.  Clarify this for yourself first.

3. Study what’s already out there: Chances are you are not the only in your field who does what you do.  Get new ideas about how to serve your market by doing research and investigate what is already being offered.  By doing this, you not only uncover who your competitors are,  you will know that you are providing value and relevant solutions.

It is this perspective and understanding, that you need to develop your distinction.  Your ability to find your voice in a crowded market place, understanding your unique positioning, and what makes you stand out from all the rest, will put you on the fast track to becoming the missing link in your niche.

You can get started right way with this process. Obtain a copy of my free video training series and learn more about what’s getting in your way of attracting your ideal client and how to create killer content and information that pull potential clients forward and get prospects to YES faster http:// http://bit.ly/ngFSB7

How would you feel if you could:

Stop giving away your services for free & start getting paid what you’re worth?

Pull more clients toward you instead of chasing after them?

Make money while at work during the day, or in your sleep?

Establish loyal followers and fans and full paying clients over the life of your business?

I have been thinking a lot about the distinction between a thriving solo business, and one that is starved for clients and not making any money.

Why is it that some solopreneurs are able to establish their credibility, get their name out there in a bigger way, get prospects to join their list and take the next step with them, while others chase after prospects, discount their services or give away their services for free in hopes that someone will hire them.

The answer:  Those with a sound business model beyond working one-on-one with clients, and a keen sense of marketing are seeing more optimal results. They are elevating their success by choosing smarter more leveraged approaches to build their business faster.

And the same can happen for you.

Introducing,  my new FREE 3-part video training series, My First Info Product Now, designed to teach YOU how you can attract ideal clients, build your list, and make money now — even if you still haven’t landed your first full paying client.

http://bit.ly/nSsyHd

Are you ready to  get going with creating more money, meaning and purpose that  you desire for your life right now?

Grab a copy of this high content, high value information. You should know that it won’t be up for very long, as I am only allowing access to it for a short amount of time.

I am excited to share this with you!  Please leave your comments and thoughts. I am looking forward to your feedback.

http://bit.ly/nSsyHd

I remember when I started my practice as a business coach, I didn’t have a clear idea who I wanted to serve. “Come one, come all” was my motto. I was open to helping anyone with their business as long as they were willing to pay me.

Sound familiar?

Congratulations, you have graduated to selling what you know on line…now what?

You now have both customers and clients.

What are your customers saying? Are you on track? Do you need to make adjustments?  Listening to feedback from you customers not only allows you to maintain a great relationship with that customer, it lets you know what other customers may be thinking.  If you aren’t getting feedback from your customers, go out and solicit some.

This entry was adopted by gosmallbiz.com.  Click here to learn how you can hire your very own team of expert consultants  to help you with all marketing aspects of your business for less than $2 per day.