Tweet
If you are not doing this, you likely don’t really understand how Google works.
Google knows a lot about you. And they are learning more and more each time you search.
They have a pretty good idea about things like:
Now, with their introduction of Google +, a Facebook competitor, they are adding a social layer. This includeds information like:
{ 0 comments }
Tweet
My wife would look at me with pity in her eyes.
Me, fumbling around with a socket wrench or (look out!) circular saw.
Puzzled. Completely useless.
Driving back and forth from my dad’s house with borrowed tools rattling around in my trunk and (if I was lucky) my dad sitting next to me in shotgun.
Today, I am proud to say that I am one step above useless as a handy man. Dare I say, approaching a passing grade as a honey-doer.
My goal is to become proficient in this area.
I’m not looking to become Bob Villa here. I just need to be able to fix a leaky toilet.
Here’s how I’ve gotten this far, and how I will become proficient as a handy man:
Apply that to absolutely anything: Shooting a jump shot, conducting a webinar or making a good raspberry vinaigrette.
{ 0 comments }
Tweet
This is so easy, so powerful and so true.
If you want to become the smartest person in the room.
Be silent.
Not catatonic silent. Sit up, lean in to the conversation and maintain strong eye contact. But say little.
Call it “engaged silence.”
There is power in this kind of silence.
{ 4 comments }
Tweet
I’m sorry.
It’s possible that the Internet marketers have led you astray.
I’m one of them. Guilty as charged.
We talk about building huge email lists with automated “drip campaigns.” We advise our clients to send bulk emails through email marketing software because it is “scalable.”
But this isn’t always the best email marketing tactic.
Here’s why…
{ 8 comments }
Tweet
For what seems like an eternity, MasterCard has been running the “Priceless” ad campaign.
You know the ones I mean…
A man has a terrible cold, runny nose, cough, the works.
As he purchases things with his MasterCard, the narrator gives us the prices:
Hot soup, $4.00
Cold Medicine, $11
Tissues, $1
Blanket, $24Making it all better, priceless.
People don’t buy soup or cold medicine. They don’t buy tissues or blankets.
{ 0 comments }
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A service is a promise.
You can’t touch it. Smell it. Or try it on and see if it causes a blister when you walk around in it.
It’s just words…
“I will do XYZ for you. I promise.”
Your prospect is skeptical. Will you do what you say you are going to do?
Of course, to make things more difficult, you are a tiny business. You don’t have a strong brand that reassures your prospect that you have been around a while and you are trustworthy.
That’s what brands do. They remind prospects that everything is going to be alright. We are big. We do this all the time.
As a tiny business you can forget about a six or seven figure ad campaign to build your brand. Nope, you have to build your trust in other ways.
Here are three powerful methods for straightening out those skeptical eyebrows.
{ 9 comments }
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here’s what they’ll tell you…
“You must focus. Be clear on your dream and take a direct path to it.”
Here’s the reality…
You need money. You need sales.
You aren’t alone. You didn’t start your own tiny business to work 12 hour days doing things you don’t enjoy. You have a dream of working when you want, on what you want.
That’s the dream.
Here’s the reality…
{ 17 comments }
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Often, your prospect will just tell you.
Something like:
“The last accountant I hired wasn’t responsive. I had to let him go.”
or,
“I worked with a business coach two years ago and she got too personal.”
You better believe it. This is an objection to working with you.
They have been burned.
And they are staring across the table at you wondering if you will burn them too. Someone has tainted the image of all members of your industry in the mind of this prospect.
You are guilty until proven innocent.
First, be aware that it is very likely that your prospect has dealt with someone else in your industry. In the case of something like accounting or insurance, nearly everyone will have had a previous experience.
Ask yourself this question — “Why is this prospect switching providers?”
Now, ask the prospect.
Questions like the following will cause a prospect to reveal their scar:
{ 0 comments }
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
We put up barriers.
Not intentionally but nevertheless, they are there. If there were zero barriers, we would have a 100% conversion rate. Every sales call would result in a sale.
If you are closing at this percentage, don’t read this article. Instead, start a marketing and sales consulting business. I’ll be your first customer.
If you want to improve your close rate and build stronger relationships with your market… read on.
Here is how to overcome 13 overlooked barriers between you and your market:
{ 5 comments }
