Last week I talked about leveraging your web site by asking your visitors to take action on every single page. I hope you took a close look at your web site and plan to make those changes soon.
In today's issue (a day late because of the 4th of July in the U.S.), I'm going to go in another direction with the topic of asking. "Not Asking" is 8th in my series of Dumbest Marketing Mistakes.
In Tony Robbins' book, "Awaken the Giant Within" I learned the amazing power of asking. When you ask a question, your subconscious automatically goes to work to find the answer.
And if you ask great questions, you'll get great answers. But if you ask bad questions, you'll get bad answers.
Bad questions include things like, "Why is marketing so hard?" or "Why isn't anyone interested in my services?" Your subconscious will go to work giving you answers such as, "Because you're such a loser," and "Nobody cares about you or your business!"
No wonder people get stuck with their marketing!
"Why" questions aren't very useful. But HOW, WHAT, and WHO questions can lead you in the right direction: "How do I get attention for my services?" and "What do I need to say to make a prospect feel confident I can help them?" or "Who do I need to talk to in order to get a decision about this project?"
What if asking good questions was the great hidden secret to marketing your services? Could that really be it? I want to suggest that it is. And conversely, asking bad questions (or not asking questions at all) may be the sure path to marketing failure.
What are the key questions you need to ask in order to be a successful marketer of your services? The answers you so desperately need will only come through asking - such as...
Who are my ideal clients?
What are my clients' most pressing problems?
How can I effectively package solutions to those problems?
How can I become better at delivering those services?
How can I make those services more attractive?
How can I get the attention of my prospective clients?
How can I educate my prospects about how I can help them?
Those are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself. Can you answer all of them clearly and concisely? If you can, great; you have laid the foundation for marketing your services. If not, your marketing will grind to a standstill.
Now the answers might not come instantly. But the subconscious will go to work to find the answers. Sometimes they will come intuitively, in a flash. Or you may tap into the myriad information resources so readily available: Books, ebooks, online articles, courses, teleclasses, seminars, workshops and conferences are coming at us from every direction.
But in my experience, these don't hold a candle to one of the most powerful resources ever invented (and updated for the digital age): The Online Mastermind Group.
Unlike the mastermind groups of the past where you had to get together physically to brainstorm answers to questions, you can tap into the Online Mastermind Group any time of the day or night.
Here's how it works:
You formulate your question the best you can and pose it to the group. Typically in a few hours you have five or six people (often scattered around the globe) with ideas, answers, resources and follow-up questions.
Before you weren't sure how to get the attention of your prospective clients. Now you have several very workable ways of doing just that. And if you need additional ideas, you just ask another question.
Not only that, you can visit this Online Mastermind Group anytime you want, and look at the questions and answers posted by other group members, and get ideas that you can apply to your situation.
And what if this cost you nothing?
What I'm trying to do in this eZine is take away any excuses for not asking the questions you need to ask to take your marketing to a whole new level. You can either sit there scratching your head or ask good questions and tap into this powerful resource.
More on this free resource below.
The More Clients Bottom Line: Asking questions is the key to success in any endeavor, including marketing your professional services. And you can get these questions answered more quickly and easily than you ever thought possible.
What questions do you need to ask to move your business forward? How do you find the answers? Please share your answers on the Blog.
An Answer to Every Marketing Question
The Online Mastermind Group I spoke of above is free to every owner of the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. I call it the "InfoGuru Support Forum" and it's now a very easy to use, interactive, online bulletin board that uses the advanced vBulletin software.
All you need is a computer to access it. And the power of this mastermind group comes not only through the software, but from the dedicated InfoGurus who jump in with ideas, resources, and thought-provoking insights into your marketing questions.
If you already own the manual, but aren't using the Forum, you're definitely missing out. It doesn't cost you a dime more.
Just go to the InfoGuru home page ( www.actionplan.com and click on the red "InfoGuru Access" at the top right), log in and then click on "InfoGuru Support Forum." Then register for the Forum and you're a member for life.
If you'd like access to the Forum for free, all you need to do is get the InfoGuru Marketing Manual (which, of course, includes a whole lot of answers to marketing questions as well.) You can get the online version of the manual for just $69 or the online plus hard copy version for only $94.
Hi,
I am marketing to doctors in private practice, as in not doctors who work solely at hospitals.
I work with doctors tired of a mediocre practice. I help them create high powered teams for less stress and more profit.
I have been trying to get in front of doctors as much as possible in the ways of presentations and exhibiting at conventions, etc. This has been mildly successful.
I am currently writing a book to establish credibility early on.
They are not online much, that I can tell, except for very targeted visits to doc journal sites etc. I do not have thousands of dollars to advertize on these sites.
So, how can I get their attention?
Posted by: Christie Scott | July 16, 2006 at 03:22 PM