The More Clients Blog

Ten Year-End Marketing Insights

This week, Time Magazine listed its top ten of everything - books, movies, TV shows, etc. But strangely, they neglected to list the Top Tend Marketing Insights for Independent Professionals.

I guess I'll have to do it for them!

These are some of the insights I've had about marketing this year. There are no big breakthroughs; but understanding and implementing these insights could have a big impact on your business for 2008.

After most of the insights I include a link for a resource that can help you with this area of marketing.

1. EZines Still Rule
No other marketing vehicle is as powerful, efficient and affordable as a regular email newsletter. Marketing is not only about being known, it's about not being forgotten. An eZine will get your message in front of thousands of people. Not only that, it will stimulate qualified prospects to contact you. Make it a New Year's resolution to start your eZine in '08.

EZine Queen Manual
Aweber eZine Management

2. Selling is a Process, Not a Talent
I've heard it a thousand times: "I'm not a sales type." Of course not, there isn't a sales type! Selling is simply communicating in a structured way. And one of the best ways to conduct a sales interview is through a complimentary session by phone. From a small coaching engagement, to a large consulting project, you can turn a qualified prospect into a paying client in about an hour.

Free Sessions That Sell

3. Getting Organized is Key to Marketing Success
I don't care how good your marketing and sales skills are, and how good your marketing plan is; if you're not organized, you probably won't implement it. If you can't track your papers, projects, promises and ideas, you are limiting your possibilities. Setting up a system doesn't take long or cost much, but it will pay off for years to come. Get organized for the New Year!

Get Organized, On Track and Unstuck

4. Differentiate Good Prospects from Bad
This was one of my biggest insights of the year. I realized I had no system for determining which prospects would turn out to be good clients and which ones would waste my time. Jerry Vieira showed me the error of my ways and taught me a system for recognizing the warning signs of prospects who simply had no real potential for working with me. It's already saved me gobs of time and energy.

Attracting More of the Right Clients

5. Web + Blog = Marketing Synergy
There's been a lot of hype about blogging in the past year. But very few people really make blogs work for them. The best ones integrate their blog and their web site. The web portion enables you to post all the information about your business; the blog portion allows you to post current and relevant ideas on a regular basis. With blog platforms like TypePad and WordPress, it's now a snap to update your site and stay current.

Secrets of Blogging

6. Networking is Still Relevant
My colleague, Andrea Nierenberg, just published her third book on Networking: Savvy Networking. Independent Professionals thrive when they build relationships, stay in touch and "work their network." A great example is a close friend and associate who asked me if I could recommend an ideal client to him. After a moment's thought I said, "As a matter of fact I can." This referral just turned into a $5K/month coaching project. Another networking success!

Savvy Networking

7. Joint Ventures Accelerate Access
If there's one question you should keep asking yourself it's, "How can I tap into the credibility and trust of other people's networks?" When you gain access to another's network (which may include their client base), you can offer your services with little resistance. You are borrowing the trust earned by your partners. These joint ventures may be rare, but you'll find them, if you put your mind to it.

Audio Program Coming in 2008

8. A Book Creates Instant Credibility
The words author and authority come from the same root. As an author, you are seen as a person with extensive or specialized knowledge about a subject. And you are. Ever notice who's on the radio shows and giving talks? Authors. Why not take the first steps to becoming one this coming year? You'll have a powerful marketing tool you can use for years.

Become a Published Author

9. Online Tools are the Future
This is the direction I've been moving in since the InfoGuru Manual and the Web Site ToolKit. I decided to create an "online marketing plan tool" that would make it easier for Independent Professionals to master the skills of marketing while increasing the chances of implementing their marketing action plans. In January I'll be launching the online "Fast Track Marketing Program."

Watch this space in January!

10. It's All in the Mindset
If there was only one thing I could help an Independent Professional with, it would be to shift their mindset. Negative, limiting, and disempowering mindsets are the root of all marketing stuckness. It's not just what you're doing (or not doing), it's how you're thinking and being. Why not master how to deal with the mindsets that are holding you back?

Master Your Mindset

I sincerely hope that some of my marketing insights for 2007 become your marketing practices for 2008. Implement just a few of them and they could transform your business.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Turning insights into practices is rare. We usually give lip service to the things we know we should do but just can't get around to. None of the practices I advocate will take a huge investment of time and money. Why not make the coming year the one where you transform your ability to attract more clients and make your contribution real in the world?

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What have your marketing insights been for the past year? What resources do you recommend? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Taming the Alligators

Remember the saying: "When you're knee-deep in alligators, sometimes you forget that the prime objective was to drain the swamp!"

When our goal is to accomplish important projects that will move our business forward, those alligators are the paper clutter, calls, emails, and ideas swimming through our businesses (and heads).

All those little alligators become a huge distraction.

What happened to all your important projects? You know, the things you were inspired about once, like creating a web site, writing a regular ezine, getting involved in the chamber and going after new clients in your targeted industry.

After awhile it becomes all about catching up, trying to stay on top of things and handling emergencies. If we do a lot of this stuff in a day, we call it productivity. But we don't feel productive.

Taming the alligators

Last week I introduced you to Elizabeth Hagen and her "Control Center" that enables you to tame all those alligators that are overwhelming you and killing your productivity.

I've now used the system for a full week and I'd like to give you my "report from the field." Does it work? What difference has it made? Am I really managing all the clutter? And most importantly, am I more productive?

The first breakthrough came for me when I totally cleared my desk. I threw a ton of stuff away or filed it where I could easily find it. That was a relief, but just a start.

Next, I set up my "tickler system" (in the Command Center) that allowed me to file action items, ideas, promises and projects under the day I actually planned to work on them.

The unintended result was that I started to generate more ideas!

I had so many ideas floating around in my head that I didn't know where to put them. Usually, I'd jot these ideas down on a legal pad and promptly forget about them.

This week, I wrote them down on 4" X 6" cards (you'll want to buy a big stack of these) and jotted down all my ideas as they came up. Then I went to my Control Center and filed the cards where I could find them quickly - often in the tickler file for action later that week.

Now came the moment of truth.

Every day I pulled out a stack of cards, papers, and notes from my file. These were the possibilities for the day. Of course, it was never two or three things (more like a dozen plus).

Every morning I used to sit down at my desk and get started with whatever alligator was biting the hardest. Not anymore. Now I sort the alligators. I prioritize them. I might handle an easy one or two right away or move some to later in the week.

In just a few minutes, I have my priorities sorted from most to least important; then I focus on doing one thing at time. Elizabeth says we must wage a war against multi-tasking by replacing this old habit with the habit of focus.

Like any new habit, it gets easier the more you do it.

I'm now working on five major projects, managing an endless stream of emails, and taming the alligators one at a time. My desk is clear; my mind is calm; and the most important projects are moving forward one step at a time.

As my business grows, it's unrealistic to expect that there will be fewer alligators to deal with. There will inevitably be more; now I have a system to handle them.

For details on the "Get Organized, On Track and Unstuck" program, go tho this link:

www.actionplan.com/tc/tc_getorganized.html

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Getting Organized and using the Command Center won't make much of a difference unless you use it every day. The good new is that it's so much better than the stacks of paper, chaotic email and unfinished projects, that using the system is an easy choice to make.

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Have you gotten yourself organized this past week? What were your results? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

The Command Center

In my marketing system, I emphasize two important aspects of the game of marketing - the outer game and the inner game.

Outer marketing is all about the strategies and tactics that get your message in front of your prospective clients. This is the action-oriented part of marketing.

The inner aspect is just as important, especially for Independent Professionals. It's the mindset and attitudes that shape our actions. If we have a poor attitude about marketing, we usually avoid it, or at the best, put up with it.

However, last week, Elizabeth Hagen reminded me that there's an essential THIRD aspect to marketing. I interviewed Elizabeth for a new Audio program on "Getting Organized and On Track" and it became clear to me that getting organized is just as important to marketing success as the outer and inner aspects.

I actually thought I was organized before I interviewed Elizabeth.

My desk is relatively clean, and I manage my schedule and to-do lists quite well. But I'm embarrassed to say how much stuff falls between the cracks.

One of my problems is that I'm an idea-generation machine. I have more ideas that I can process and turn into productive projects. And these ideas compete with day-to-day details and the avalanche of emails I get every day.

What ensues is some degree of overwhelm, followed by missed deadlines, unpaid bills and increasingly growing piles of paper.

When it gets really bad I'll do an "organizing blitz session" where I clear my desk, catch up with my emails and get everything prioritized on my to do list. Whew! Caught up at last -- until the next time.

And I thought this approach meant that I was organized.

When I asked to interview Elizabeth, I imagined she'd share several useful organizing tips and strategies that I already knew. But I was in for a surprise -- and a wake-up call.

I learned early in the call that I really had a very poor system for getting and staying organized. I was neat, but that's as far as it went. I had some organizing tactics but didn't have a real system.

She explained that organizing wasn't necessarily about neatness, but about control. And with control came confidence, clarity and calmness. That's exactly what I needed.

What Elizabeth introduced me to was the "Command Center."

The Command Center is a total (yet surprisingly simple) system for handling every single piece of paper, email and idea that passes through one's office, one's computer and even one's mind. I know that sounds impossible, but it really works.

This past Sunday afternoon I set up my own Command Center, cleared all my papers and organized my files and action items in less than two hours. I'm excited because I now know the status of every single paper, email, project and idea in my business.

Now that's control. I'm ready for action!

My goal is to stay organized for a full week, avoid overwhelm and keep on top of all my projects and ideas. I'll give you an update next week on my progress (I have a LOT on my plate).

In the meantime ask yourself these seven questions:

1. Do I get overwhelmed keeping on top of all the details?
2. Do I tend to lose papers and information and miss deadlines?
3. Do I avoid doing important things because I can't find the time?
4. Do I give up on new ideas because I can't see how to fit them in?
5. Do I get partly organized only to slip back into my old habits?
6. Do I fall prey to the pitfalls of procrastination and perfectionism?
7. Do I get stuck in certain areas and can't seem to get unstuck?

If any of these are holding you back, make sure to learn about my new Audio Program, "Getting Organized, On Track and Unstuck" with Elizabeth Hagen.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Getting organized is much more than having a clean desk and checking items off your to-do list. Organization gives you the control to consistently accomplish what's important to you. An organizing system frees your mind to focus on the priorities that make a difference.

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What is disorganization costing you? Please share on the More Clients Blog.