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But are you *really* listening?

Sometimes I go weeks on end without posting to this blog, but I've got more on my mind than I should at this late hour, so bear with me.

I often talk about how you need to learn what your prospects need and give it to them. That's the simplest way to define successful marketing that there is.

And if I've said it once, I've said a million times that you have to listen -- really listen -- to what your clients are telling you in order to ensure that you're giving them exactly what it is that they need.

But are you doing it? Really?

When's the last time you asked your clients to share their "big picture" needs with you?

When's the last time you went to a networking event and simply sat back and listened to the folks around you talk about themselves?

It's amazing what you learn when you "close the ears, open the mouth" -- something I learned as a child.

Tomorrow, ask one of your best clients what she'd really like from a <your profession here> and then give it to her ... plus a little more. You'll be amazed at what happens. And your client will be loyal for years to come.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in ::
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RAVE: Revel in it

After a particularly frustrating day recently, a good friend and fellow small business owner contacted me and started complaining about how tired she is, how she wishes she didn't have to work so hard, how it's so much easier to work for someone else.

You may have felt like this too, likely more than once if you've been in business for any period of time.

But I know this friend well enough to know that all her bellyaching was really just venting because she's tired from too much business to handle and needs some R&R.

So I played devil's advocate and started talking about how great it would be for her to go back to her previous full-time work, how it was very practical to have to travel 6 months of the year to less-than-exciting locales with generic, cookie-cutter hotels that all looked the same. And it was especially lovely not be able to spend her own birthday with her husband, whom she doesn't like anyway. (And yes, in case it isn't clear, all of this was ironic in nature.)

When I listed all the things that she hated about her previous job, I heard it -- that audible quick-change in her tone of voice that indicated her suddenly recognized thrill to be stressed out from making more than she ever has in her life, even if it's a little more work than she'd like right now until she gets some of her admin work outsourced.

Maybe you've been through the same thing. Or maybe you're upset because you're not making as much as you want, and it feels like you're working around the clock.

There's a cure for all of the above, and it has a lot to do with how you prioritize your time and find your way. But that's a subject for another post and a subject I cover a lot in one form or fashion.

Instead, I request that you push your chair back, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Then answer me this: ain't it great to be on your own?

What if you were beholden to bosses and politics and shifts and timelines of when everyone else was doing everything?

What if you were only able to make your salary, and the rest of what you earned your firm went into someone else's wallet?

What were your reasons for venturing into this world of "you get what you make of it"?

As an entrepreneur, you've got the power. You're in the drivers seat. And from time to time you must take time to smell the roses.

It's a wonderful thing to be able to have the freedom to run your own show. (After all, when else would you be able to write blog posts at midnight?) I for one wouldn't trade it for the world.

And I hope that you too can take a moment every few days to revel in your own independence.

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in Rants & Raves ::
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Want to reach your prospects? Speak their language

I've done more ranting than raving around here than I'd like lately, but I have been confronted with more ridiculous marketing schemes of late than I typically am in an entire year.

I just got a spam in my inbox that was obviously a very poor translation of an Italian phishing spam (with a nonsensical subject line of "It earns with" -- it earns with what?!) that probably managed to get plenty of unassuming Italian speakers to give up their private personal data against their will. But I'll bet it flops terribly in all English-speaking places that it was blasted out to. As for me, well, all it did was make me mad ... and then laugh out loud because of the marketing truth hidden within.

So many small business owners come to me frustrated. Frustrated that they aren't getting the kinds of clients they want for their consulting businesses. Frustrated that their competition is making money hand over fist while they themselves are making peanuts and having to fight for every dime they do make. Frustrated that the promotions they send out aren't working.

Want to know the #1 reason why these folks aren't making money? Want to know the #1 reason why you aren't making money (if you fall into this category, that is)?

Because you're not speaking to your prospects using the right language. It all starts with your brand. It carries over to how you promote yourself. It continues to the way that you dress, act and carry yourself around the prospects you hope to sell your products/services to.

Learn how to communicate *effectively* with your prospects. Learn how to really listen. Learn how to use *their* words to describe what *you* do.

Do all that (it's far simpler than it looks) and you'll start seeing success. Im ernst. (That's German for "seriously." I don't know Italian, sorry!)

/rant mode off

Have a great day, folks!

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 in Marketing, Rants & Raves ::
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Marketing 101: Don't forget the romance!

I wrote an article a few months back about how the entire marketing process is like dating -- you have to warm people up to you prior to getting them ready to open their wallets, to cut to the chase.

A more sensitive way of putting this is that your prospects are like someone you date: The first date is most important because it determines whether there's a second date. The second date determines whether there's a third date. At some point, there's a kiss -- and the beginning of a real relationship (and not necessarily in that order).

That's exactly how marketing works as well (and why you want your brand in order before you even make it to the very first date!). If you don't give your prospects reasons to seek you out a second time, if you don't charm them the first time, you're out. So that first impression means a lot.

There's an entire section in my High-Concept Brand Bible that explains the power of first impressions and why you need to make your small business's first impression nothing short of stellar. But not everyone understands this ...

I recently placed an ad on my local Craigslist for a simple subcontracting project for someone with a certain type of professional skills. The help I needed is far less interesting or illuminating than the responses I received -- and you can learn a lot about romancing your prospects from what I received.

Some examples:

1) An overly confident message from someone who sounds polished, but overbearing. The job in question is a simple task for someone who has done this professionally, and I am not concerned at all about finding someone who can handle the task. But I do not want to work with someone who appears to be in love with herself. There is a balance that you must find to be appealingly confident, whether you're on a date, trying to get hired for a freelance job or selling your products.

2) A resume that had absolutely nothing to do with the job I needed filled. The guy had been a producer, counselor, lawyer and a lot of other things that sounded great, but had no bearing on the task at hand -- and there was no cover letter to give context. If you're on a first date, you need to make sure to make a little polite conversation about yourself rather than throw out a catalog of everything you've ever done, right? Why wasn't that done here? I don't know, but I passed on that application. Give context and you'll get further (as in "I can help scrapbooking enthusiasts like you better than the rest because of my extensive experience as a scrapbooker myself" -- show the prospect why they can relate to you).

3) One applicant ended up telling me her life story, switched gears to ask about payment rather abruptly (which is a legitimate query, but not in the aggressive way that the applicant asked), and then began mentioning where she lived and how difficult it would be for her if she had to leave her home office for any reason. Other than the life story, none of the content of the application in and of itself was too problematic -- except that it was sent in an almost stream-of-consciousness manner that made me afraid she wouldn't be able to complete assignments and/or would end up spending more time chatting with me than performing the task, which I am outsourcing to save myself time. I love to work with great people, but ... this was a weird application and the person, however lovely in real life, seemed a little scatterbrained for the detail-oriented position I needed filled.

4) An earnest e-mail from someone with no experience, but the strong desire for the work. I may end up hiring this person, but there's one killer sentence in the freelancer's application that just blows away any value her potential clients might have for her -- she gave her recommended rates for the position, and then stated that if that was too much, to please "tell her what she is worth." If you are not confident about your rates, it is better not to mention them at first than to backpeddle so quickly in your marketing materials. Instead, say that your rates are competitive, and you can be flexible to meet the needs of the assignment. And better yet, gain the confidence you need to stand behind the fees you really want to make by building a brand for your business -- and then get what you ask for!

In any case, what impressed me the most out of this experience is that there is a HUGE market for talented small business owners who know how to communicate themselves well to their prospects in fields even I wasn't aware of. So don't tell yourself that you're not good enough to get high rates, that you're not able to break out of your current situation or, on the other hand, that there's no room for improvement in the way that you handle your prospecting, think again. What kind of romancing do your prospects need? And how can you improve your marketing skills, how can you strengthen your brand to get ahead?

At the end of the day, it's all about taking action to improve yourself. I have faith in you. Do you?

:: Posted by Jennifer McCay on Monday, April 10, 2006 in Branding, Copywriting, Marketing ::
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