The More Clients Blog

Information: Junk or Nutrition?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

There's a lot of talk these days about how greed has been responsible for the crash in our economy - greed on Wall Street as well as greed on Main Street. In our insatiable need for more, something finally had to give - and it did.

But there's another kind of greed that doesn't get a lot of attention. I don't know exactly how this greed has impacted the economy, but I know that it impacts me greatly. This is greed for information.

The Treasure Hunter

Do you remember watching a movie where a group of treasure hunters, after a long and arduous search, finally unearth a cave full of riches? It's an old theme; invariably, one of the party starts stuffing gold and jewels into every pocket, overwhelmed by the accessibility of the vast riches spread out before him. 

Then, of course, the cave roof collapses, burying our hapless treasure hunter, along with his dreams for freedom and happiness. Moral of the story? Greed will kill you!

Of course, we'd never do that, or would we?

Here's an upated story: An independent business owner, in search of success, comes across a different kind of treasure trove. This treasure is information. The information available is more vast than any golden treasure of ancient times.

Google, Wikipedia, blogs, emails, e-courses, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, YouTube, online articles, and other information treasures are there for the taking in unimaginable quantities.

Dazzled by the wonder of it all, we dive in greedily to absorb as much as we possibly can. We look things up, we download reports, we listen to audio and view video, we link to web sites from Twitter, until one fateful day the roof of the cave crashes in.

We find ourselves exhausted, overwhelmed, and confused. All this information has given us a few good ideas and some excitement, but ultimately we feel a little empty inside. No matter how much information we get, it never seems to be enough.

The Solution to Information Overload 

One solution is to cut back on the information we consume. But that's just part of the solution. The thing to realize is that information overload is triggered by "junk information." This is random information, articles, and ideas that don't make any substantial contribution to our business and lives.

All of this junk information seems to flow in automatically. It's always trying to pull our attention, and ends up distracting us from what's really important.

Look at all the information that comes into you, and ask if it's really adding value. Then cut it back. Unsubscribe to newsletters, discontinue certain magazines, stop reading some blogs, remove the news feed on iGoogle. If you really need to know something, you can always look it up.

The next step is to up your consumption of "nutritious information." This is information that adds real value to your life and your business, such as books and courses. We often don't get to this information because we are so inundated by the junk.

For instance, I recently bought a course on how to do more successful online product and program launches. It's great information that can really help my business, but it's been hard to get around to studying it. My friend and business coach, Patrick Summar, suggested a very non-intutive solution:

He said, "You should consume this highly nutritious information earlier in the day. Don't wait until the end of the day when you're tired. For instance, take some time before lunch and read a section or chapter. The bonus is that this information will give you ideas and energy you can tap into for the rest of the day.

"When you're consuming junk information, that's not the case, because it doesn't have much value or immediate application to your business; it only distracts you. Ultimately it's only wasting your time and adding to your overwhelm."

So that's my new information plan. Reduce the junk information, increase the nutritious information and schedule the consumption of this information in a way that works for me.

Maybe it will work for you as well.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Although it may not seem like it, we do have a choice about the information we consume. We can subsist on a junk diet of ideas, snippets, and news that does nothing to build our businesses, or we can sit down regularly for an information meal that can nourish us and make us stronger. It really doesn't take any more time to consume this kind of information; it just takes a little more intention and planing.

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How are you managing information overload in a way that helps your business? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

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In the article above, I talk bout Junk Information vs. Nutritious Information. Junk information distracts, overwhelms and exhausts you. Nutritious information nourishes your business by teaching you hands-on business skills you can use for a lifetime. One place you can find a healthy helping of nutritious information is in the Action Plan Marketing Club. Give it a taste for just one month for only $9.00 and see the difference it makes: www.actionplan.com/actionplanclub

MC Blog - The Art of Follow-Up Part I

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

A couple weeks ago at a networking meeting I met two guys who owned a video production company. I talked to them about how I was looking for someone to do videos that I could put on the Internet. They seemed to have the capability and understood my situation and I gave them my card to follow up with me.

But I haven't heard a word from them.

The thing is, this isn't an isolated incident. I've been in business for almost 25 years. And in that time I've met thousands of people through networking. But I believe that fewer that ten people have ever followed up with me!

What's going on here?

I'm a business owner who networks like everyone else to find clients, but I'm also looking for services. I meet people, I express interest, we exchange cards, I wait for a call and... nada.

Yes, sometimes (very rarely) people follow up with me. And in almost all cases the follow up call is embarassingly bad. I can only remember one or two times in my whole career when I got a good follow-up call.

All I can conclude from this shockingly abysmal lack of follow up is that people either don't know how to follow up or are scared to follow up - or both.

In today's economy, you'd think people would be eager to follow up, would be prepared and know what to say, would ask the right questions and set up selling conversations, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Next week I'll share some ideas on how to follow up and turn it into one of your most powerful business tools.

Cheers,

Robert Middleton

MC BLOG: Why Torture Yourself?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

One thing I've discovered in my business, if I haven't discovered anything else, is that my Mindset determines my results.

And by Mindset I'm not just talking about attitudes and states of mind. Those are important, but they are ultimately controlled by something deeper. Some people use the term "core beliefs," and from what I've observed, these core beliefs are what determine our mindset more than anything else.

But what are our core beliefs? You can only discover them by some serious investigation and observation. It often starts by looking at behaviors, thoughts, and feelings and then asking the question, "What would I have to believe, to feel, think and act that way?"

For instance, if you were always avoiding answering email you could explore that. "What would I have to believe to be avoiding answering my email?" The answer might be, "It's a hassle and takes too much time." But that doesn't quite get at a core belief.

So why is it a hassle? What would you have to believe to make it seem like a hassle? After all, not everyone sees email as a hassle. If you look further you may see that it's dealing with people that feels like a hassle (not only with email but it other business interactions as well.)

So the core belief is "Working with people is a hassle." Now, you have to do this investigation yourself; you'll come up with the core beliefs that are true for you.

But think about this one. If "working with people is a hassle," how is that going to show up in your business in ways other than avoiding email? Might you not also avoid following up with people, submitting proposals, negotiating, and working with clients?

If you have "working with people is a hassle," as a core belief, I predict that business will occur to you as a struggle where you feel it would be better if you didn't need to deal with people so much.

If this is the case, you'd better work on changing that core belief, or consider not being in business. After all, why torture yourself?

What are some of the core beliefs that are shaping your business performance? Take a look and share them with me on the blog.

Cheers,

Robert Middleton

MC BLOG: Abundance or Abundance?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

I got quite a lot of very positive feedback to my eZine yesterday, "Sarcity or Abundance? Neither!"

But I also had a number of people assail me with the idea that the word abundance was in no way associated with greed. The problem of course, is that we get attached to words. What's importance is context and meaning.

In my article I pointed out that "abundance mentality" is often a thinly disguised way to talk about greed. It's all about the feeling. This way of thinking about abundance is very constricting, very limiting. Ultimately it's a distortion of the word.

But, yes there is another way to use this word that is about a completely different kind of feeling. Lori Silverman, author of "Wake Me Up When the Data Is Over", emailed me with several examples that I thought were great:

Abundance is an open parking space near the door of the mall when I am in a hurry.

Abundance is having a friend call and say exactly the words I need to hear.

Abundance is the sun shining outdoors 330 out of 365 days a year where I live in Arizona.

Abundance is someone unexpectedly buying me lunch.

Abundance is an author asking me to provide a testimonial for a new book they have written.

Abundance is needing a new stove on Christmas Eve and having the manager at the local Lowe's store offer to deliver it for free at 3:30pm in the afternoon.

Abundance is my housekeeper leaving me a small gift to thank me as a customer when I know she lives paycheck-to-paycheck.

Abundance is having my siblings buy me a heart scan for my 50th b'day and having it show I am in perfect health (unusual for a woman my age).

Here's what's neat about what Lori shared with me. These comments comes from her private "Bert and Ernie" journal in which she documents "evidence of abundance" as well as that which she is thankful for on a daily basis. By noticing these experiences in her personal and professional life each and every day, Lori keeps her focus on what truly matters.

And all of this is most definitely abundance in the most positive way. Some things are unlimited. Kindness, love, and creativity know no limits. And when you live a life of contribution, you see this kind of abundance all the time.

Another thing is true: It's not wrong to make more money. It's not wrong to be rich. The question is, how attached are we to money and riches? If our money and riches come as a result of making a contribution, offering a valuable service, and doing the right thing, this is certainly the kind of abundance that works.

But whenever you think, "I'll be happier if I make more money, and the more the better," you're heading down a path where there is little joy or fulfillment. When your focus is on making a contribution, you tend to attract both riches and happiness. 

There's a saying that's going around Twitter these days that is appropriate here: "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value." - Albert Einstein

MC Blog: Combatting Social Networking Overwhelm

After getting started on Twitter and blogging about two weeks ago, I got several comments about how it was impractical to fit all of this into their busy schedules. Boy, can I relate.

It seems that for a whole week all I was doing was learning about Social Networking and getting up to speed with Twitter. The first impulse is to put up a zillion posts, try to boost your following and then scramble frantically to get noticed.

That might work for some people, but for me, that was not a winning strategy.

I had to look at it slightly differently to maintain my sanity. First, my main goal was to communicate value. So if I did a few blog posts a week and a few Twitter tweats a day, I was accomplishing this. 

My second goal was to tap into the collective wisdom of a whole lot of other people in the Social Networking world. So I spend a few minutes a day scanning my tweets, but not obsessively worrying if I'm missing something. After all, no matter what you do, even if you're on Twitter 24 hours a day (and believe me, it seems as if many are) you're still going to miss something.

After a very stressful week or two, I'm settling into Social Networking and connecting with some good people, learning some new ideas, and getting inspiration, as well as sharing some things of value. I realize I can accomplish this without being glued to Twitter 24/7.

So if you're thinking of taking the plunge, I invite you to do so. It can be quite rewarding and I think the long-term benefits, just like face-to-face networking, are potentially huge. Take it easy, make it fun and get out there.

Cheers,

Robert Middleton

MC Blog: Five Great Reads

This year so far I've had the fortune of discovering and reading five good business booksgood that are both readable and thought-provoking. I'll give you a quick summary here.

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

Subtitled "The Story of Succcess" (which it isn't), this book is really about how chance circumstances change our lives. Being at the right place at the right time (even being born at the right time) has more to do with our success than anything else. Through a series of fascinating stories and cobbled together research, Gladwell ultimately makes one grateful for the cards one has been dealt in life. After reading it I felt a little more humble about my accomplishments.

We Are the New Radicals by Juila Moulden

This is a book for people who are breaking out of the "life as usual" work and business molds that are unfulfilling and unsatisfying. She talks about activists, entrepreneurs, and innovators who are carving new pathways that make a difference. Moulden says the New Radicals, "...are part of a growing movement based on a powerful idea: that doing good can mean more than volunteering and philanthropy, that how we earn our living can become the way we give back." A very inspiring read.

Buyology by Martin Lindstrom

This for the marketing geeks amongst us. Lindstorm, a world renown branding guru, embarked on a project to understand why people really buy. He hooked up his subjects to fMRI machines and watched their brains in action when exposed to marketing messages. One of his conclusions is that we have no idea why we really buy. That is, why we say we buy something is never the real reason. Get this book if you want to understand the hidden motivations for customers buying your products and services.

The Three Laws of Performance by Zteve Zaffron and Dave Logan

This is the best book about management ever written. There, I've said it. Well, how would I know? But I've never read a management book that so powerfully connects our inner workings to outer results. Zaffron and Logan share powerful stories of large organizational change (the most impressive is of a platinum mine in South Africa) that come about with the application of the three Laws of Performance. Read this and be ready to have your mind altered. This deserves to be the most successful business book of the year.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

I've just started this one but it promises to be a good read with keen insights into the mind, success, the future, and business. Pink is adept at spotting not only underlying trends, but major shifts in how business will be done in the future. Tom Peters says, "Pink provides an original, profound and practical guidebook for survival-and joy-in this tops turvy environment."

Five very juicy, thought-provoking business books in about six weeks. That's more of this kind of reading than I did in all of 2008! Pick one or two (or all) of these up and shift your reality. Links in the title will lead you to Amazon.

Cheers,

Robert Middleton

MC Blog: We Need Emails Like This!

I've been in the middle of a very technically challenging week with outages on two of my web sites and a ton of email asking me what was gong on. In the midst of all this I got this email today from Lorna McLeod of Creative Callings:

Dear Robert,

When I first established my coaching business a number of years ago I was so timid about marketing myself, speaking about my business, etc. By creating an audio-logo and practicing it consistently and persistently I broke through my hesitancy.

The way you encourage your clients to take step-by-step sensible measures to market a business is both doable and heartening. I appreciate you and your InfoGuru marketing process and materials. Even five years after taking your course in 2004, I consistently take your marketing materials and tapes and review them attentively and thoroughly when I prepare to revise or increase my marketing efforts. They never fail to inspire and help me with my marketing.

My income as a professional coach has more than quadrupled during those years. Most importantly, I broke through my self-limiting ideas about myself as a marketer and now market my business with ease!

Best regards and happy Valentine's day!

Lorna McLeod

Thanks so much Lorna! Nice to get validation that this stuff really works! And here's a link to my Valentines Week 09 Sale.

MC Blog: Beyond Greed, Competition and Ego

In my blog post last week, I talked about seven marketing motivators. These are the motivators that get us out there communicating about our services. They are Fear of Survival, Riches (Greed), Competition, Ego (Selfishness), Accomplishment, Love, and Service.

All of these work to some degree or other, but the ones we tend to observe the most often - Greed, Competition and Selfishness are the most problematic. These motivations appeal to the lower parts of ourselves. And they are also very compelling. When we see others marketing their services from these motivators we are often easily seduced. We form images of money, success, and personal gratification that are very seductive.

And it's not unusual that we form beliefs that this is what marketing is, what it must be for us to succeed. But for many, this is also a big gigantic turn-off. Therefore our only recourse, if we are to maintain our integrity, is to avoid marketing altogether. We do the best job we can in our business and we pray for referrals. Sometimes we hold our noses and do some marketing activities anyway out of survival.

It's not a very happy way to attract clients and grow our businesses is it?

But there's more to marketing than the dark side of greed, competition and selfishness. The final three motivators of accomplishment, love, and service hold out some hope for marketing that has integrity and dare I say, joy.

Accomplishment, love and service are places that you come from, not what you do. But if you're coming from these places, thinking, feeling and doing naturally follows. Here are some examples.

Accomplishment
"I really want to get the word out about my services and build my business. It's a challenge in that there's a lot to do but I want to be successful at networking, public speaking, have a great web site and even do some blogging and some social networking. I'd better set some specific goals and start going into action!"

Love
"What I do is interesting and I never get bored with it. I love what I do because I get to work with interesting people and I get to use my talents for teaching, listening and coaching. I also love the intellectual challenge. I need to really think in this business and that's both stimulating and fun. I can imagine doing this for the rest of my life. Sharing and marketing my services is easy because I believe in what I do and I love it."

Service
"Ultimately the best part of my business is serving others, helping my clients and making a difference. I love it when I'm working with someone and they have an ah-ha or breakthrough. I've worked with so many people who were stuck and had no direction and focus, and by working with them they completely turned things around in their life and their business. I'd want to do what I do even if I didn't get paid, but making money at this is even better. I look forward to marketing my services and making a difference for even more people."

I recommend you try this exercise and write down your thoughts about accomplishment, love and service as it relates to your business. I predict you'll start to feel more motivated to get out there and market yourself.

All the best,

Robert Middleton

MC Blog: My Twitter Policies and Plans

I've been on Twitter a whole week. So what do I know?

Well, I've looked very carefully at Twitter as a powerful marketing medium, a way to promote my brand, increase my visibility and credibility. My brand is about helping self-employed professions who are committed to making a difference be more successful with their marketing. So my Twitter activity needs to reflect that brand. It's a new medium for me, but not so different than my website or eZine in terms of tone or content.

What I like about Twitter is that it's a tool that encourages conversations, interactions, sharing of ideas and resources, and even promotion in real time. Twitter is immediate and moves fast.

Given all of this, I thought it would be smart to develop a set of Twitter Policies and Plans that matches my brand. Here's my first attempt.

My Twitter Policies

1. Twitter is about sharing value in a fairly narrow band. For me that band includes ideas about marketing, selling, and succeeding as an Independent Professional. So when I tweet, that's mostly what you'll be hearing about.

2. My focus will be on sharing value with you, not talking about me. This will include links to blogs and other web content, ideas, tips, strategies, information and inspiration. If I share anything about me, it will be about insights that I think you'll find useful.

3. I'll re-tweet (RT) posts from those I follow that I also think will add value. You won't get spammed with a zillion things just because I think they're cool or because I want to show you how cool I am. Can't imagine you give a damn.

4. I'll sometimes reply to tweets with my comments. This is a great way to build connections but it still needs to add a spark of value. Commenting on someone having lunch seems pointless!

5. I will not quote Socrates, Einstein, Tolstoy or any other wise person. I don't think Twitter is Bartlett's Quotations. Neither will I give you 140 character tweets of my own supposed wisdom. When people do this is, for me it comes of as "the guru speaks" and always seems a little too smug.

6. I will not tell you what I'm doing every hour on the hour. This seems to have been the original direction of Twitter, but it can border on the pathological. If I tell you what I'm up to, there will be a reason.

7. I'll ask questions and use my followers as a resource, if that's OK with you. There's still a lot I need to learn and with Twitter I can tap into this amazing network.

8. I will follow people who I feel have similar interests and who can add value to me and my business. I can't spend my whole day reading Twitter posts, so the number I follow will be considerably smaller than those who follow me. I'll never follow a ton of people in the hopes that they'll follow me. I'm not that insecure.

9. I won't post because I have nothing better to do. Twitter can be another word for procrastination. I have a ton of things on my plate any given day that I need to attend to. And I once in awhile I'll share about those things.

My Twitter Plans

10. A big part of my plan is to blog daily. Sometimes by blog posts will be long, sometimes short. I'll do my best to make them valuable and actionable. I'll blog every weekday and sometimes on weekends.

11. I'll tweet five to ten times a day. More than that is hard to imagine! Sometimes I'll repeat a tweet (say to my blog post for the day), understanding that not all my followers are on Twitter at the same time. First time in the morning. Next time in the afternoon or evening.

12. I'll promote my various products and services regularly but sparingly. I know you want to hear about what I have to offer and I also know you don't want to be hit over the head with it every hour on the hour.

13. Sometimes I'll promote affiliate products and programs. But only ones I've used and gotten value from. I'm not here to make a killing but to make a contribution. There's some great stuff out there that is worth checking out.

14. I'll respond as quickly as possible to all direct messages (DM).

15. I'll spend a little time every day refining my following list. I'll add people and remove others. I'm working on developing a channel that serves me best and that also provides the kind of value I can pass on to my followers. If I find a great person to follow, I'll let you know.

OK, that's about it. I've developed these Policies and Plan to support me in making Twitter work for me. If any of this is useful to you great, if not, ignore it. I do recommend that you create your own Twitter policies and plan as you would any marketing plan. With a real direction and plan of action, you're going to be more successful with Twitter. If you go about participating in Twitter randomly, you'll get random results.

All the best,

Robert Middleton

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MC Blog: Rate Your Web Site

Yesterday someone linked me to their web site where she had posted a very good article. The content of the article was great but the site itself had much to desire. Hard to read, boring design, not very good overall content. On a scale of one to ten it was maybe a four.

At a talk I gave last week I spoke about "web sites that look like crap." The thing about these crappy sites is that they are usually owner designed. And because the owner put in umpteen hours on the site, they are very proud of it - because after all, they had never designed anything before in their lives. Sadly, it shows.

So how do you know if you have a crappy web site? Take this quiz:

1. On the Home page is there an initial compelling message that stands out? Some call this your "Value Proposition." It's about what your clients get, not about what you do. "How to Give Presentations That Excite and Motivate Your Audiences" works. "Presentation Skills Training" doesn't. Score yourself from one (bad) to ten (great).

2. Does the design of your web site, get this response from people: "That's a really nice website, who's your designer?" Or do you get few to no positive comments? Score from ten to one depending on the response from others (not yourself). 

3. Do you have a page that talks all about "Our Clients" and their challenges and needs? If not, why not? They want to know if you understand who they are. Remember they are interested in themselves, not you! Ten for a great page about your clients. Zero if you don't have a client page.

4. Do you have a "Free Stuff" page with lots of juicy morsels of valuable content? Remember, on the web, the first thing people are looking for is free stuff. Give it to them!! Ten for a ton of good free stuff. Zero if you have none.

5. Do you have an eZine that you sign up people for on the site? Believe it or not, this is the number one purpose for your web site. No kidding. If you don't capture the name and email of visitors do you think they'll ever return? Keep hoping. Ten if you have an eZine and lots of new subscribers. Minus ten if you don't even have an eZine.

6. Do you have an "Our Services" page that answers, most, if not all the questions a prospect might have about your services? They are not psychic. You gotta tell them. A bullet pointed list of services is less than useless. Ten if your service write-ups are highly descriptive and value-packed. One if you service info is a generic paragraph or two.

7. Do you have a page with a bunch of very good, highly credible, and very persuasive Case Studies that relate real client successes? Give yourself one point for every case study you have.

8. Is your "About Us" navigation button near the bottom of the navigation list? If so, you get an extra five points. If it's near the top, deduct five. This is the least visited of all pages. Remember, they ain't so interested in you. Add points - up to ten more if you have a very personable bio (and picture) on this page that shows you're an intelligent, credible, nice human being, not a boring stuffed shirt.

9. On the "Contact Us" page, do you have nothing more than your phone number or a form? If so, deduct five points. If you tell them what happens when they contact you and how you start to work with clients, and you make it safe and friendly to contact you, give yourself a ten.

10. Do you have a Blog, either within your web site, or as a direct link to it from your home page? If you have one and post to it at least five times a week, give yourself ten points. No blog gets a zero, and lower points for posts that are few and far between.

OK, what did you score? (Some people might be in minus territory!)

Despite all the excitement about social media, the centerpiece of your marketing is your web site. And if it's a piece of crap, it's hurting you more than helping you. I don't know about you, but if I'm looking at doing business with someone and they have a crappy site, it's all over; they don't get a chance. But if the site is great, the odds are tipped in their favor.

This is one of those things you have complete control over. Don't put this on a back burner, planning to get around to it someday. In the current economy you need to stand out, look and act professionally, and give people the information they are looking for on your site. Anything less is self-inflicted business suicide.

Learn how you can get a much better site (that scores a ton of points and attracts scores of clients) at this link: www.actionplan.com/wstk.html

Cheers,

Robert Middleton

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