How many online friends have you made a real life connection with? This weekend I attended an event where I finally met face-to-face with a friend, Julie, who I met a couple of years ago through an online community. We both had a lot in common and though we hadn’t met yet, connected online and eventually offline, building a relationship that crossed the boundaries of screens and logins.

Neither of us knew the other was attending the event this weekend, but when if you’d seen us greet each other you would have thought that we were old childhood friends. Our friendship had a strong bond because we activated old and new modes of connection. It’s something we did naturally, for personal reasons, but a routine that works very effectively in business as well. Especially in the current cluttered online climate.

Whether it’s attracting new clients, doing field research or promoting new products if you don’t pick up the phone you will have a hard time achieving your results. Smart phones, tablets and technology have become so commonplace that it’s hard for your message to get through effectively.

Increasingly business owners are seeing the numbers of client conversions, event registrations and product sales decline because there are more options and less connections than before. If you business model was built on a marketing model that hasn’t been updated in the past year, chances are you’re finding it more difficult to achieve the results you once did. Here are some tips to push get you over the hump:

1) Take a look at your engagement. Who’s opening and clicking through your email? These community members are your best targets and your first stop for developing a follow up plan. 

2) Aggregate all of your client data in one place. Do you have names, email addresses and telephone numbers? You should. If you don’t, reach out to your warmest leads and request that they update (add to) their contact profiles.

3) Start making phone calls. Whenever you add a new type of connection to someone you deepen the relationship and extend it. Julie and I had two points of connection, online and voice. Now that we’ve met we have a added a third layer. We now have a stronger bond and inner circle between ourselves.

4) Extend your offer, or a referral, in a spirit of service. When you’re able to have a real conversation with someone and vet their needs the best “next step”  is to give them a solution that you truly know will solve a need. If it’s you, great, but if it’s not, and you have a resource, extend it to them in the spirit of service.

To cut through the clutter these days you need to build real connection, and step forward from your brand with a focus on your core values. It will endear others to you and increase your results exponentially. To get strategy, analysis and management for your brand, set up a brand strategy session. If you have a solid system in place, share  some of your best tips, or recent results, below.

Thanks,

Beatrice

How many online friends have you made a real life connection with? This weekend I attended an event where I finally met face-to-face with a friend, Julie, who I met a couple of years ago through an online community. We both had a lot in common and though we hadn’t met yet, connected online and eventually offline, building a relationship that crossed the boundaries of screens and logins.

Neither of us knew the other was attending the event this weekend, but when if you’d seen us greet each other you would have thought that we were old childhood friends. Our friendship had a strong bond because we activated old and new modes of connection. It’s something we did naturally, for personal reasons, but a routine that works very effectively in business as well. Especially in the current cluttered online climate.

Whether it’s attracting new clients, doing field research or promoting new products if you don’t pick up the phone you will have a hard time achieving your results. Smart phones, tablets and technology have become so commonplace that it’s hard for your message to get through effectively.

Increasingly business owners are seeing the numbers of client conversions, event registrations and product sales decline because there are more options and less connections than before. If you business model was built on a marketing model that hasn’t been updated in the past year, chances are you’re finding it more difficult to achieve the results you once did. Here are some tips to push get you over the hump:

1) Take a look at your engagement. Who’s opening and clicking through your email? These community members are your best targets and your first stop for developing a follow up plan. 

2) Aggregate all of your client data in one place. Do you have names, email addresses and telephone numbers? You should. If you don’t, reach out to your warmest leads and request that they update (add to) their contact profiles.

3) Start making phone calls. Whenever you add a new type of connection to someone you deepen the relationship and extend it. Julie and I had two points of connection, online and voice. Now that we’ve met we have a added a third layer. We now have a stronger bond and inner circle between ourselves.

4) Extend your offer, or a referral, in a spirit of service. When you’re able to have a real conversation with someone and vet their needs the best “next step”  is to give them a solution that you truly know will solve a need. If it’s you, great, but if it’s not, and you have a resource, extend it to them in the spirit of service.

To cut through the clutter these days you need to build real connection, and step forward from your brand with a focus on your core values. It will endear others to you and increase your results exponentially. To get strategy, analysis and management for your brand, set up a brand strategy session. If you have a solid system in place, share  some of your best tips, or recent results, below.

Thanks,

Beatrice

There’s a lot to be said about micro targeting your business but before you take the plunge on any particular audience it’s important to know if that audience will be able to sustain you financially. Before you spend the time and money it takes to build a powerhouse brand take the quick below to help you determine if yours is a market worth pursuing:

1. How often do you hear mention of your type of business in the news?
If the news media considers your subject area important enough to report on with regularity, it’s probably something quite a few people are interested in. Televisions, magazines and newspapers are looking for ratings, and they get them by drawing large audiences with the information they present. The broader the audience they feel can be reached with a topic, the more often they will seek to cover it.

2. How many providers are available in your market and what makes you different?
Finding out you have a lot of competition is not necessarily a bad thing. It simply means there is a community large enough to support you — and that is exactly what you want.

3. What demographic profiles do you seek?
So often I see people go after an industry that doesn’t have the money to buy from them. When marketing to children, for instance, you need to make sure the problem you solve is something the PARENT wants to have solved and can afford. If you have a great service or product, but a novelty, it takes some extra-special branding to gain momentum.
4. How fast would the right client jump at the chance to get what you offer?
How about your friends? Would you jump at a bargain if it related to what you provide? And how about the people you hang out with—your easy-to-reach target market? The sooner you can hook people into the urgency of your offering, the more likely your business will be profitable.

5. What are the tangible results that clients get?
People want to feel and touch what they invest in. Even when it’s not a tangible product that you’re offering you need to find a way to make it tangible. Being able to give you clients something to have and to hold will go a long way in making your invisible service stand out.

How did you do? If you answered “yes” to at least four of these, congratulations! Your business idea is marketable for sure! Proceed with confidence; you’re on the right track.

Has this ever happened to you: you create a marketing plan and map everything out but later find yourself so busy servicing your current clients that you’re having a hard time keeping on track with that fabulous and robust marketing plan?

Do you feel guilty even considering setting the plan aside for awhile? After all you’ve got enough business to keep you busy. Money is flowing in, and you’re not sure you could handle additional clients right now anyway. Yep, been there, done that!

While marketing may not seem like a sacrifice when your business is fully loaded, it’s usually only a matter of time before your marketing tall starts to impact your business. Staying on top of your marketing plan, even when you’re busy, is the best stabilizer you can have to keep a pipeline full of prospects and clients into your business.

While you may be busy right now, if you stop marketing for an extended amount of time, you may find yourself high and dry when it comes to clients, because you’ve stopped the flow. That’s called feast and famine, and it’s not fun in business or life.

As an entrepreneur I can understand and relate to being too busy to market (or thinking you are). It seems the days are never long enough to get everything on my to-do list done.  I wish I could clone myself, but then I’d have “two of me” to manage! Seriously thought, as a business owner and marketing professional I know I can’t afford to let my marketing lapse.

So what’s a busy bee to do?!?

Here are 5 suggestions … these are things I do and recommend to all my clients when they fall in the same boat:

(1) If you haven’t already, create a marketing calendar. Schedule all of your marketing activities in the calendar according to how frequently you planned to do them in your marketing plan.

If you planned to do something monthly, enter it on the calendar once each month. Weekly? Enter it four times per month. Do this for every planned activity. I do mine in Google Calendar and then also job them in my paper calendar.

(2) Put your calendar front and center so that you can see it. This might be over your desk, on a bulletin board or on the wall. Make a routine of looking at it every morning. This will keep you on track and prevent you from winging it with your schedule.

(3) Try incorporating your marketing activities into your weekly and daily to-do list.  Enter the activities as to-do tasks in your calendar or smart phone just like all your appointments and other business activities.

With my calendar even my husband has gotten in on the action. He puts personal appointments for us on there and he knows, if something is on my calendar, I treat it like any other meeting or appointment and I do it.

(4) Pick one day per month to review your marketing calendar in detail and to look three months ahead. What is coming up that you need to prepare for now? What do you need to transfer into your to-do list or smart phone to make sure you don’t forget to do it?

I usually do this at the end of the month when I’m doing all my month-end work … things like running sales reports, doing billing, and updating my marketing tracking reports.

Make it a habit to review your marketing at the same time you do these tasks. After a few months you won’t even have to think about it anymore, it’ll become routine.

(5) Consider hiring an assistant or support person to help. If they can take some of the tasks off your plate that really don’t require your expertise, it will free you up to focus on what I call “revenue routines.”

These are things like working with clients, creating products and services and marketing. Brand Excitement now has a task-based implementation program called Booster Shots. If you need help and can’t yet afford a virtual assistant check it out.

When you find a way to get back on track with your marketing and you do it on regular basis, it really does become a part of the way you do business. Suddenly it doesn’t seem like marketing anymore. It’s just what you do to run your business. That’s when it becomes effortless.

I was speaking to a friend recently who told me she wasn’t meeting any new people to expand her community and that her business was stagnant. I found this surprising, because we live in New York City. There are millions of people here. And millions upon millions within a 50 mile radius so I asked her “where do you network?”

She named 3 groups.

WOW.

And amongst those 3 groups there are just 2 that have at least once-monthly meetings.

I told her the problem wasn’t those organizations, but that she simply wasn’t putting herself out there to meet new people. I don’t think networking is a time to hop into an event and try to “get” a client so much as to establish a trusting relationship with people who know other people that you can serve.

If you’ll recall, I have a 3-2-1 plan for visibility that I follow rigorously every month. The “3” part of that formula is three networking events each month. To make sure I’m always meeting new people I make sure that at least one of them is a group that I don’t frequent often. I have a list of 20 organizations that I can learn from and that have the type of people that my community thrives on. People like YOU.

Here’s what I’d like you to do if you think you’re stagnant in business too and if you’re needing to up the ante:

1) Make a list of 2o networking organizations in your region. Use Google, Meetup.com, Eventbrite, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online directories to find this group

2) when you review the group, make sure they are having a meeting at least once every two months. If they are not having in-person meetings that often, make sure they have frequent online engagement, and an in-person meeting at least once a quarter. I found that organizations that don’t do at least this don’t have enough strength to build a community

3) Go through each of those organization’s calendars and book out your networking meetings for the next 2 months. That means you’ll have 3 events each month. Make sure at least one of them becomes your “recurring entourage”

4) Attend each event with a goal to really connect and build a relationship with 3 people. You only need 3 quality conversations to make networking work on your behalf. Have business cards for others that you meet, but BUILD with about 3.

5) Add your 3 new friends to your contact database, and start to build and follow-up with them within 2 days of the event. This extends the conversation and gives you an opportunity to really connect.

I’ve used this simple formula for  networking for 3 years and I get clients out of the blue as a result of it. If you think there just aren’t any groups near you, think again. Look for associations, chambers, etc. and you’ll start to see opportunities to network and grow all around you.

-Beatrice

P.S. If you’re in the New York area and want to know who’s on my list of 20 make a comment below. If I get at least 10 responders below I’ll share my secret stash

We live in a visual world. A world where there’s so much transparency that information travels faster than ever. The problem is technology. Information is so abundant that it’s easy to get information overload. Did you know that 75% of what you learn in a workshop, event or class (or even sermon) is forgotten within 24 hours! That’s why it’s really important to communicate with repetition and themes. I’ll have to blog about that next week but for today I want to speak to you about the church intro packet.

Whether your church is large or small I think it’s a great idea to do an intro packet. First of all, let’s cover what the intro packet is not. It is NOT your weekly church program. It’s not your church bulletin or your announcements list. It can include those things, but it’s much more than that.

The Intro packet is a set of information that tells people who are new to your congregation about your mission, your values, your leadership, and how to get in touch with you. Yes, they can find that stuff on the website, but there’s something about having a tangible item in your hands that deepens any experience.

One of the best intro packets I ever received was from the church of an ex-boyfriend. His church was small, about 30 people. I was probably the only visitor to his church that Sunday but the following week I received an intro packet in the mail to the address that I listed on my visitor’s card.

It was lovely. It was a folder with the following items inside it:

• A hand written Thank-You card telling me that I’m in their prayers and thanking me for visiting with them
• A brief bio about the pastor, how the church was founded, and their biblical beliefs.
• A brief update about their service in the community, ongoing volunteer efforts and contact information for their missions teams.
• A schedule of their services, meetings, youth groups (yes, as small as they were they had one) and trips.

I was delighted, and I still remember the name of that church and how welcomed they made me feel. I visit a lot of churches. Even when I am visiting a new city I’ll find a church to attend, and I can’t count how many I’ve stepped foot in but I can tell you that Rehoboth Pentecostal Church will make you feel welcome and what they believe.

There are a few ways to deliver an intro packet. I don’t think it fits within every church budget (or staffing abilities) to mail a packet to each new visitor, but I do think that an intro packet should be available to everyone that walks in the door. The information doesn’t have to be in a folder, it doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be attractive. It can be a simple one-page document rolled up and tied with a ribbon like a scroll.

If you don’t have an intro packet I challenge you to try this for just 3 months. If you do have one, please share in the comments below what yours has, and how you use it.

Until next week…

-Beatrice

P.S. If I get at least 10 comments below to create an intro-packet template I’ll create one, so spread this post and let me know if that’s a resource that you need.

What wins you over? One of the values I hold dear in my business is my belief that I can’t release anything to a client that I myself wouldn’t be super excited for. I cringe when I hear someone say “It’s not personal ” In branding, it should be, and that means there are many different touchpoints to consider. Very small things combine to create a huge impact.

Think of a relationship. A kiss, a hug, a phone call when it’s really needed. Touch points are the staple to our personal and business relationships. They may not ask who you’re wearing but they do pay attention, and they definitely will ask you who you’re working with. with. It made me think… people want to be aligned with other people that are making an impact in their industry.

Let’s take a simple example, such as banks. In New York (Manhattan) there is practically a bank at every corner. It amazes me how they can all stay in business. Within a 5 block radius of my office I have JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, TD Bank, Bank of America, Wachovia, Capital One, and Emigrant. What’s a girl to do?

As I think of it, I have amazingly banked with most of them. When I first moved to New York in 1994 I opened an account with both Chase and Citibank. Why? I was familiar with them through the advertising they had done (and I wanted to test both of them to see who provided the best service. Chase won). I’d seen their commercials, walked past their billboards, read their ads in magazines, and heard their names mentioned by others. Multiple touch points that gave me the “feeling” that they were here to stay and that they understood my needs.

That’s the benefit of multiple touch points.

They remind your community that you’re around whenever you need them and they make sure that others know it, hear it, and see it, over and over and over again. Sometimes a client will meet you a particular touchpoint and then not take action to engage with you until some time later. Each time however, they’ve moved towards action because they felt something. People make their spending decisions based on emotions… nothing else. No matter what they may tell you in words. Good feelings generally result in good profits. (and you can speed up the process with a diverse portfolio of outreach)

The next thing to do is set a list of Google alerts

Sometimes we become so involved in our business that we neglect the basics. Below is a list of touchpoints that you should consider for your business. If we were to drill down more specifically, there are hundreds of touchpoints that we could list, so this list simply serves as a bird’s eye view to guide you. How many are you using?

• Website
• Blog
• Social Media
• Newsletters
• Emails/Email Signatures
• Voicemails
• Web Banner Ads
• Business Cards
• Speeches
• Presentations
• Networking Groups
• Telephone
• Word of Mouth
• Direct Mail (postcards, letters)
• Gifts/Products
• Articles
• Television (ads, DVD, Interviews)
• Radio
• Loyalty Programs (discounts/incentives)
• Telephone Calls
• Exhibits, Expos, Panels, Showcases

All of these touch points should have a place in your brand planning.

Each of them should also represent your company’s unique character, voice, look and feel. Some interact with your client, some take care of them. All of them should exist in harmony working toward the same cause: to reinforce your brand at pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase experiences. Don’t be afraid to be reach out and touch someone, in more ways than one. Your marketplace is actually depending on it.

Do you need to get polished and implement some of the touch points noted above? You’ve got two options: The Bankable Branding Blueprint and Brand Excitement’s custom services. Both will make you shine like the top of the Chrysler building! See our recommended resources below of just give us a call at 888-YOU-BRAND.

My face lights up every time I meet someone at church and find out they found us online. As a geeky girl, it does my heart good to know that the internet, a tool that can be used for so much selfishness and scam, can be used for God. One of the ways that you can really take advantage of this is by setting up a Facebook page for your church.

Now, having a page up is all fine and dandy, but if you don’t use it and have a variety of content it really won’t work to spread the message and work that you’re trying to achieve. One of the ways I’ve been able to help my church in this is by pulling my corporate experience into the social media matrix.

Here’s what we do: Every day of the week we post 2 different messages. We vary the messages each day of the week and actually have a formula for what we post and when. This gives variety to our community without becoming predictable and stale. If someone was to “study” our page they could definitely figure out the formula, but because there’s so much variety in it, the perception is not formulaic.

Here’s an exercise to start you off for your church’s Facebook page:

1) On Mondays post a thought to focus on for the week

2) On Tuesdays link to an inspirational video. The video can be one that you create, or one that is in alignment with your churches values and mission. (you can create videos easily at animoto.com)

3) On Wednesdays ask a question. Survey your audience and find out something relevant to the message delivered in Sunday’s sermon

4) On Thursdays profile a breakthrough or victory that has happened for a member of the church, a prayer that’s been answered or a miracle witnessed within or outside of the church in popular news

5) On Fridays post an inspirational scripture or passage to lead in for the weekend

6) On Saturdays share an event happening in the community you serve. Make it un-church related. Show that you live within the community and not just within the 4 walls of your church

7) On Sundays share notes for the sermon, or lyrics for a song, or the topic/focus for the day

As you implement this formula you’ll start to see what works for your church and what their needs are. As people start to engage with the page you’ll also see how you need to tweak this formula. Add in what is needed, delete what isn’t. Watch for the impact that your Facebook page has. You’ll be amazed!

(Feel free to watch my church’s page for ideas and inspiration)

If this post was able to help you in any way please comment below and also join my mailing list. I promise not to send you endless spam. I’m not one of those “sell, sell, sell” type of businesses. I will always strive to only send you something that I feel will build you up and help you on your business journey. I am currently developing some new ideas and would love to be able to make you one of the first to hear about them! The newsletter sign up is at http://www.brandexcitement.com/subscribe.

I couldn’t resist giving you a list of brand expenses that you can deduct in your business! I actually love tax time because it gives me a chance to evaluate how I’ve done the previous year and also shows me what I need to do to transform and upgrade my business for the current year. Oddly, I also like to see how much I owe, because the more I owe, the more money I made. Please remember I am a brand consultant, and not a tax accountant, so this is simply advice on what you can consider. Your situation in business may or may not apply to the insight I have here. This list of deductions are those that are typical for me and my clients:

1) Your Website Domain Renewal, Hosting, Design and/or Maintenance Fees. Anything that you’ve spent for keeping your online presence is a deductible expense. You already know having a website is a necessity, not a luxury, so the next time your site is up for a re-brand or revision, keep the receipts and remember it benefits you in more ways than one.

2) Promotional Items: Customized or standard products (such as magnets, pens, notebooks, coffee mugs) that you purchase to introduce clients to your business, suggest usage, increase sales or maintain sales.

3) Dollars spent for Facebook advertising: Facebook ads are included in general advertising, so you can deduct these expenses. To see at a glance how much money you’ve spent simply log into your Facebook account, go to the very bottom of the page and click “advertising” and then on the left hand side view “billing” to see your lifetime billing summary.

4) Your Business Cards, Brochures, Letterhead, Envelopes and Postcards: These are standard business expenses. You should have re-ordered your cards at least 3 times last year, if not, you MUST start networking more. Oh, and be sure to deduct the post you used to send out those letters as well! Don’t be afraid to be reach out and touch someone, in more ways than one. Your marketplace is actually depending on it.

5) Subscriptions: Including your ezine provider, teleclass provider and conferencing system. Hooray that these expenses can be deducted. They are considered “professional services”

6) Consultation Fees: If you’ve ever booked a consultation with a brand consultant or graphic designer or business coach the IRS considers that a legitimate business expense. And they should, consultants build your business.

7) Classes and Events (online and in-person): Investing in education is just that… an investment! So, for instance, if you took the Bankable Branding course you can get a bit of tax relief for having done so.

I’m a stickler when it comes to finances and I know some of these things tend to fall through the cracks for many business owners. Don’t let it fall through the cracks for you. Oh, and of course, I must say it again, I’m not an accountant so always make sure you check your local and state law regarding this list, but just be sure.

If this post was able to help you in any way please join my mailing list. I promise not to send you endless spam. I’m not one of those “sell, sell, sell” type of businesses. I will always strive to only send you something that I feel will build you up and help you on your business journey. I am currently developing some new ideas and would love to be able to make you one of the first to hear about them! The newsletter sign up is at http://www.brandexcitement.com/subscribe.