Weekly Biz Buzz Blog | Lady In Red

December 5, 2012

Why Internet Marketing kicks B2B’s butt – WIIFM!

I’ve spent some time ruminating about this question – why does it happen…

Scenario A) A company has a great product, a large marketing budget, hires salespeople or distributors, but come up woefully short on sales year to year.

Scenario B) Some upstart company (usually using a substandard website from a single home computer), has an average product, a few hundred dollars of marketing, no salespeople, and drives sales day in, day out.

What is the difference?

WIIFM!

For those of you who don’t know what that acronym stands for – Whats in it for me?

Internet marketing folks know –

They have a short window of opportunity to hit their target in the gut (one click and you’re history).
They know they need a robust database (capture data at every point in the conversation).
They offer something of value (usually at a deep discount to capture contact information).
They need to groom their prospects into customers (usually through systematic drip marketing).
They rarely talk about how great their company is (they let other people do it for them).
They don’t make a big deal about themselves (they know how to be seen without being obvious).
The talk to the customer about their needs and wants (because they know their customer better than they know themselves).
They put the customer behind the wheel (creating ownership and letting the customer solve their own problems, with their help, of course).
They sell the sizzle of the product (not the steak)
They SOLVE a customer problem (often one they don’t know they have)…

Bottom line, they know their customer inside and out, and solve a problem as a partner, friend or trusted adviser.

There is a factor that B2B marketing managers overlook. B2B marketing spends thousands of dollars convincing their prospects about how knowledgeable they are. They “position” themselves as the best solution to the problem. Rarely do they know what the problem is, just they are the right solution. They SELL, not tell.

Now take a look at your marketing message – how often do you refer to yourself, and how often do you refer to your customer? Where does the customer see themselves in your marketing message? Because if they don’t see themselves as a part of the dialog, the chances of you converting the sale is unlikely.

Let me know what you think – how are you marketing yourself?

Betting on Bigger Sales –
Your Marketing Maven, Christine

February 12, 2012

Houston we have a problem… but I can tell you how to fix it

Happy Sunday readers,

I’ve been thinking about Apollo 13 recently. Rent the movie for the complete story. Here’s the synopsis: Three astronauts traveling to the moon have a series of problems while on a space mission. They had to use their wits, and through the power of logic, come up with some creative solutions quick.

Recently I’ve been counseling someone with a “big problem.” Everyone usually has several problems which they encounter daily, but there is one (or several) with a lot of juice. Something that stops them in their track, and keep them up at night. I like to think of them as Apollo 13 problems. Most of them are related to money, health or relationships.

This individual was frozen by one of the big three problems, and he couldn’t see any solutions. He had tried “everything” to fix his problem. I asked him if he’s tried “everything” which he sheepishly said not everything, but it sure felt that way. I pointed out if Edison failed 10,000 times to create the lightbulb do you think he tried the same solution 9,999 times and succeeded the last time? Not likely!

So my suggestion – write down three new solution to this Apollo 13 problem everyday for two weeks. That would offer him 24 new solutions. Do it for a month and you would have 90 options.

Now I warned him – don’t filter the suggestions your brain comes up with. Some of your suggestions are crazy, even illegal, but several of them will turn out to be really creative. All he needed was one or two great solutions and he was set.

Once he had his list I wanted him to check each solution on a scale of 1-10. One for minimum effort, ten for maximum effort. Finally I wanted him to rate his enthusiasm for each solution on the scale of 1-10. He finally began to see several solutions naturally rise to the top.

You might ask – why would I want him to rate effort and enthusiasm? Enthusiasm will carry people over the hump of effort, but they might give up if the effort is too difficult when enthusiasm is so low.

In the case of the client he wanted to fix a money problem. I had him do my Apollo 13 exercise – what he realized was astonishing. He saw in black and white that his usual solution wouldn’t get different results, but adding a list of new potential ideas he had new possibilities. He began to feel hopeful he could get new results.

So what are your mission critical problems? Start with a piece of paper and begin brainstorming to get some new ideas.

I don’t want to give away the story, but in the end everything worked out.

Have a great week from your Mompreneur

Christine

I would love to reach more people – Like us on Facebook or subscribe to the blog

P.S. – RIP Whitney Houston…may you sing on forever.

February 6, 2012

Meditation Monday – A little belief goes a long way

I began thinking about belief last night during the Superbowl. Anyone who is not a football fan, or doesn’t know the Giant’s motto – Believe. That’s what they did in spades – Eli and team knew in their minds it was a fact they would come home with the Lombardi trophy. Congratulations to Big Blue

You can work that same magic in your own life.

Today I had a wonderful lunch with a person who keeps me grounded. She said “I just don’t get mad anymore – I just believe that the right thing is waiting for me.” She’s one of the most positive people around. She’s not a Pollyanna, and thinks that everything is perfect. Rather she just has an understanding that what is the right path will appear. She doesn’t stress – rather just plugs along – and amazing things happen for her.

I’ve seen it happen in my own life – especially when I step out of the way.

I had a mission to date this one person. Every single day I said with conviction it would happen. I didn’t give up for a long time. Finally when it happened and this person stepped back into my life (moving into my neighborhood from another state) I was elated. Then after spending some time with this person I realized I could have used my belief powers for a higher purpose. The relationship was a disaster.

I came to realize that belief can be a double edge sword. Especially if your focused on another person, place or thing. Sometimes you need to shoot your arrow a little higher.

I notice when I force things into my own “plan” they usually go haywire. Then when I step back and just let the flow happen, miracles present themselves. You need to focus your belief onto yourself first, then the right person, place or thing will present itself – not the other way around.

So today the message -“Believe” is a vital part of the success formula. You can believe in the final outcome, but you can’t direct every piece of the plan. Rather you just need to believe this is where you’re supposed to be. What has been given to you is part of your creation. Finally don’t ask for something without conviction.

Enough for Monday –

Make it a wonderful week – Christine

Your Mompreneur Coach

February 2, 2012

Rule of Three

Today I gave someone a task – for the next 30 days think of three things everyday you want to do to have more abundance. While I wasn’t the creator of this exercise I think it is extremely valuable. I have to give credit to other personal development coaches such as Tony Robbins and Jack Canfield.

Still, I didn’t give this task lightly…

This important task was given to someone who is planning to retire, but they don’t know what to do with their post 9-5 freedom. How many people would be thrilled with having all the time in the world to do whatever they choose? The only problem… this person doesn’t feel abundant. Even though they have a nice nest egg to retire with they feel everything is “too big” of a cost. They live in a perpetual state of lack and fear.

Here’s my big secret – you’re wealthy beyond measure if you have your health, family, and friends. Once you get past a feeling of lack you begin to see possibilities. You need to stop looking at the glass half-full. Ask yourself do you want the inert paper called money or what it brings and offers your life. I’m willing to bet it is the emotions and possibilities money represents.

How about the next time you get bills in the mail think “Wow I was able to buy X, or I have electricity to run my house, or thank the universe for the ability to have a job to pay these bills” Whatever it takes to start to feel graced and abundant.

You will be amazed how positive you feel. Feeling positive is sunshine in a gloomy day.

Now don’t get me wrong – if you want more abundance you need to ask for it. You need to believe it’s possible, and take action. Still you can start feeling abundant today. Give a dime if you have a dollar. The open hand receives – the grasped fist deters success. You decide if your a conductor or a resistor.

You might not get the positive results from the immediate future, but I can assure you what you do today will come back threefold. Patience and persistence is the leverage which moves mountains.

Now I hope that you take on the exercise – think of three things daily that make you feel powerful, graced and successful. Do you want more money – think of three things you can offer each day that increase your abundance.

Not every idea that comes out of your head will be a winner – but after 30 days you will have 90 ideas. All you need is a single idea to make a big difference in your life.

Live well and open your hands to success,

Blessings,

Christine
Your Mompreneur Coach

January 26, 2012

Step back from the ledge

I spent some time today pondering.

When I was a kid my friends and I went rock climbing. The trip up the mountain was scary, and at one point I almost fell backwards onto jagged rocks. After hours of climbing we made it to the top. The funny part when we got there, the other side of the mountain was an gentle sloping hill. We lived on the side of the hill that had the rocks. It would have made more sense to look at both sides of the hill before we decided to climb up the sheer rock face. Still we didn’t realize there was another side of the mountain until we reached the top.

How many people spend their lives climbing up the tough side of the mountain? There is another solution. Don’t let your life experience become a climb up the rock face, scary and perilous. Find a roadmap, a mentor or create a plan before you set out for the climb.

When was the last time you took a look, stopped to look at the other side of the hill, or just stopped to be quiet in the noise?

Anyone who knows me personally will tell you that I’m a big fan of Dr. Stephen Covey. I make it a habit to re-evaluate my plan often. I try to live in Q2 most of the time. I protect my planning and thinking time.

I’ve met a lot of people who live in Crisis (Q1) or Coma (Q4). I refuse to be pushed to ledge, if I find myself there it’s because I’m out of Q2.

Q2 is planning and that’s where the hidden treasure lies.

Ask yourself where are you right now are you being pushed over the edge AND hanging on by your fingernails on the ledge (Q1)? Are you procrastinating and avoiding doing anything (Q4)?

Or are you looking at both sides of the mountain to see if there is another way up the hill?

The only reason I can live in Q2 is because I’ve spent time deciding what I need to accomplish. My life mission, my long-term goals, short-term goals and how the whole picture fits together. Writing this blog satisfies one portion of my life plan goals.

Take some time this weekend to evaluate where you are emotionally, socially, spiritually and financially. You may find you need an overhaul, but savor the trip.

How are my fans doing cleaning up their lives and organizing? Did you find some hidden treasures lurking in the pile of filing?

Tell your friends about my blog – who knows maybe there is a hidden treasure in all my musings…

Develop your plan, find your center and get into action!

Christine

May 2, 2011May 2, 2011

Gas Prices & Your Business

Hey readers,

I was going to go off on the price of gas, but what is it going to solve? I don’t have any pressure on the oil company, except to drive less. Or create a business where I don’t need to commute 30+ miles to earn a living.

So I’m going to change gears – let’s focus on a positive thing – creating a business that you can manage from your home. If you work from home you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars every month on gas – Take that Oil Barron!

How much money do you need each and every month. How would a few thousand dollars a month to change your life?

I love Internet & Information marketing because it’s so powerful. Anyone who knows me personally will tell you I’m an information junkie. The Internet has proven to be the best thing in my life. I have to say working in the Internet world is wonderful. You can set your own hours, and really manage your own lifestyle.

But… You do have to work!

One of the biggest problems I’ve seen happen time and time again. People assume the Internet is a set and forget type of business. That’s 100% wrong. To be successful you need to work at your business every single day. Especially in the beginning of a business. It takes time and effort whether that’s writing a blog post, promoting your name on a social network, or taking a course about Internet promotion. That’s the job description of Internet marketing, love working on the net, it doesn’t happen 9-5, Monday through Friday, 50 weeks a year.

Stop waiting for the perfect solution, and pick something you can excel at. I have several mentors in the internet universe. The common theme they say is “follow your passion.” Become the voice of the crowd who loves dogs, support green energy, is an expert in baking, or any other niche markets. Believe me there are millions of niches in the world. Follow your passion and you will love what you do for a living.

There are basic marketing rules you need to follow. Such as knowing your customer, writing compelling copy, having a system to follow-up with prospects.

My current projects are helping two people follow their passion on the web – classic cars, and bridal floral arrangements.

Another thing that I believe in is the “Law of Attraction” – Ask, Believe, (ACT), Receive. Did you notice that ACT is bold and in red? That’s because it’s the key component to moving the universe. You have to act to get results.

So today – decide what your passion is. What would you do for a living (even if you didn’t get paid)? Write down a list, but I guess you already know what you’re passion is. You think about it, you read information about it, and have friends who enjoy the same thing.

I’m working on a passion project of my own – the Mom-Entrepreneur project. This is something which I hope will help women know their value and translate it into net worth.

So off to writing some compelling copy.

Until we talk again…Live passionately and market well.

Christine

As always I appreciate people who follow me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn

March 30, 2011

Spiritual Marketing Thought

Today’s thought – Stop being a victim and choose to be the victor.

Let your life become a testimony to what you have to offer to people. You will succeed when your personal mission, and your passions line up. Give 100% of yourself to the mission of your life. People will respond.

Go deep and become a master of your own destiny.

You will know that you’ve reached your mission when you wake up in the morning and say – YES! You have a gut feeling you’re on the right path. You know what you have to offer is great. Because you’re offering a piece of yourself to everyone you meet.

Why settle for others dreams and destiny? They may be an influential person in your life, but they are not you. They can’t understand your mind, your dreams and your destiny. The greatest disservice a person can do is design your life for you. Only a fool gives their personal power to others to find safety, comfort and approval.

The sad truth – there is so much more you can do and be in life. You might only currently have 5% of what is rightfully yours. The other 95% is waiting for you to claim it. It won’t come knocking on your door – you need to go and find it.

How does this relate to a business?

People who deliver a value to others will be rewarded by success. This is why it is important to love what you do. If you are mediocre, or don’t have a passion it shows. You will offer a substandard product or service.

Your customers will know – they will buy from you once, but never twice.

The smartest business person in the world loves negative feedback. Without it you don’t know what to fix.

Love your business – your customers will reward you with money.

For my friends – Live with passion, and deliver great service.

Christine

Become a fan on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/ladyinredmarketing

March 6, 2011

Talking yourself out of a sale

Hello All Readers-

This has been a crazy few weeks. Time seems to fly when your immersed in work. I don’t need to go into specifics, but let me tell you my head is swimming. The past few weeks have been a whirl-wind of sales calls. Most of them amounted into “much ado about nothing.” Frustrated I began to introspect – what the heck am I doing wrong?

Which leads me to my blog post today. Talking can be deadly when it comes to sales. We all know a salesperson who can “sell ice to Eskimo’s.” I assumed my father was one of those people. He commanded authority with his facts and figures. He was a wealth of knowledge about every subject. Everyone seemed to love him, but he had an average sales career! After I took off my rose colored glasses I began to examine why. My father was a schmoozer, but not a closer. Then I identified this happens to a lot of salespeople.

I identified an average salesperson has two distinct character flaws. First, they throw around facts, figures, technical terms and acronyms. Depending on the industry listening to a sales pitch seems like gibberish. The more complicated the subject, the more gibberish is floated around.

Your average customer doesn’t need to know every technical specifications, or your industry babble. Floating too many facts will make them weary. The customer assumes you’re trying to hide behind the facts. The techno-babble will make them throw more questions at you.

Back to my problem – talking about social marketing, blogs, posts, SEO, traffic, conversions, and webpages frighten prospects away. They only care about more leads, and more business. Asking a prospect about their website put them on the defensive. They don’t want to appear out of touch – so they will shut down the conversation, rather than appear naive.

Prospects just care about solving THEIR problem. A long list of a facts will rarely impress them into buying. Your job as a salesperson is to identify their most pressing problem first.

P.S. – the last thing most sales hinge on is price. If your customer is sold, they will always find the money…

Second, average salespeople talk TOO MUCH. The customer is thinking, they’re talking. The customer is looking, they’re talking. The customer is talking, they’re talking over them. The customer is walking out the door, they’re chasing them down talking all the way.

The best advice I ever heard from a manager was ask a question, and then BE QUIET. The person who speaks first loses. Good sales technique identifies what people really want to know, and how it differs from what you’re telling them.

Bottom line – keep everything simple. Stop trying to make the sales process complicated. You can’t talk someone into a sale, but you can sure talk them out of one. Need a perspective – give your pitch to a person in a “non-sales” environment. Gauge reactions, listen for their critical questions, wait for the “WOW” look in their eyes.

Have a good week and market well,

Christine

As always – If you like what I’ve said – retweet, Like my fanpage, and check back often. Post a comment – Know of a business professional who is interested in social, mobile and website marketing. Let them know about Lady In Red Marketing – forward them my blogposts and URL.

February 24, 2011February 25, 2011

Lady In Red Marketing – Social Marketing for Small Business

My thoughts center around measurement today.

I know we’ve all had a long, cold (and here in Connecticut) snowy winter. How much snow? By most people’s estimation – too much, but by skiers estimation not enough… At my house we’ve had about 95 inches of the white stuff. Which equal the following metrics. I measure it by paying for 8 driveway plows, but my daughter’s summer vacation is a little shorter this year. They added another week in June to make up the 5 snow days. My point? Everyone measures things differently despite the face we’re still measuring the same thing…results from snow.

When a prospective client contacts me the first order of business is knowing what results they want their marketing to accomplish. Visibility, sales, email sign ups, SEO, traffic, social dialog… the sky is the limit. As a former boss and mentor said – you can’t manage what you don’t measure. You need a goal to shoot for to create a good marketing campaign. What do you want to measure with your social marketing initiative?

The newest changes to FB fan page administration give us more robust marketing data. We can see when people are reading posts, or liking our FB page. (PS – that’s a hint – visit my facebook page and click the like button). When you need to get interaction – ask a question. How about posting some pictures or a video. Use your voice, and make a big noise on the web.

Still small business have a little (or big) of fear of the web. For example, a small business owner is already overwhelmed by the day-to-day operations. On social networks the discussion is more frequent, but less sales oriented. Adding a marketing tactic where they need to manage frequent interaction is not in the cards. Get in the social game, and start to share some knowledge.

Don’t shy away from using the tools. Hiring a social marketing consultant to manage some details may be warranted. Either way plan accordingly – you need to keep up your social discussion thread. Bottom line – Get a group of loyal followers who want what you offer – and talk to them often.

While I can’t promise specific results I’ve seen business owners double website/social traffic results in only 90 days from a robust social marketing program. Let’s chat if you’re interested in hearing about driving traffic to your small business by website, social or mobile marketing. Our services work for clients who want to dominate their local marketplace with underground business marketing.

Here’s to a successful week – market well!

Christine

According to a Huffington Post 70% of small business owners have a FB page – read the article.