More Than A Few Words

Stop for a minute and think about your inbox I know as soon as I said that that was that little pain in your stomach because you know there’s a lot of clutter there.  But it doesn't have to be that way.   In this conversation, David David Forman of  Clarity Creative Group shares some simple tricks to tame the inbox beast. My favorite tips is the creative use of filters to screen irrelevant messages, and cluster important ones together.     

Wouldn’t it be great if your marketing could get people to buy from you? Unfortunately, as my guest Chris Hoyt explains, that’s not how marketing works. What can marketing do? Marketing can help people know you exist.  It can communicate your value It can give people an incentive to try your services or your products And most of all it can help you listen to your customers.

Today, I want to talk about your attitude, and how it can drive action. Why this topic now? Let's face it, there are lots of things in the world which distract and impact us as individuals. And as business owners. There are things we can't control, but we can control how those things make us feel, and how we react in response. There is power in a positive attitude. Ask any doctor about a patient who live long after all the medical treatments have been exhausted. Patients have been known to will themselves to life or will themselves to death. That same powerful energy can move your business to life, or death. I know the economy is kind of scary right now and companies are cutting back and struggling with future plans. I simply choose to focus on what I can do to be successful now. I choose to act with enthusiasm. Despite the outside world I choose to make today great, and as a result, it will be  

Everyone who starts a business thinks it's going to grow and grow.  They assume the growth will be wonderful as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. My guest, Andrej Persolja suggests that may not be the best course of action, because many new businesses are not ready to grow.  Growth comes with pains, and you have to have your infrastructure in place to withstand some of the pain.  You need to have a clear definition of your target customer, the kind of projects you want, and the ones you don't.     

If you are like most business owners you have developed a skill for making gut decisions. But my guest Dr. Gleb Tsipursky thinks that might just be the wrong way to approach your business decisions.   The author of multiple articles and several books on the subject, including his new one. Never Go With Your Gut, in which he presents a logical and easy to follow alternative. Listen to learn his five easy steps to improving your ability to make decisions on the fly. 

If you've just finished working on your business plan, you probably think okay I'm done. I can put it on the shelf and get on with the rest of my business. If that's what you're thinking, you've missed the entire point of the planning process.  A good business plan is never done. You're always adding to it, making changes, scribbling out information and writing stuff in the margins. Your plan should be a living breathing document that grows as your business grows. At least once a year you should sit down review all of your assumptions and update your plan for the new year ahead.    Ready to work on your plan?  Grab a copy of our free business plan outline. https://digitaltoolbox.club/offer-business-map-worksheet/

There are lots of good reasons to create content for your website, social media and email newsletter.  In this episode, Lorraine chats with Louis Dalton about how to write content for a very specific purpose, converting prospects and strangers into customers.  Content created for this point in your sales process needs to focus on short benefits and results.  People don't want to wait six months to lose 30 pounds. The are however likely to be excited about losing 5 pounds this week.  The trick is to think about the short term and long term benefits of your product. The long term benefits are important too, but you need to catch the attention of that prospect with the more immediate payoff.  

Once upon a time marketers ran television commercials and put ads in newspapers and simply waited for the phone to ring. But that was a long time ago.  It was so long ago that it seems like a fairy tale, an expensive fairy tale at that. Today, consumers fast forward through ads and change the station on their radio. They don’t want to be interrupted by your marketing. They want to be free to look for information at their own pace as they browse and search online. And they’re not just looking for coupons or discounts. They’re looking for general information about trends and features, about company personnel, and examples of how your product is being used and what people think about your business. That’s where content comes in. Blogs, podcasts, and videos, all serve to answer the questions customers have as they decide if they want to do business with you.

I know you think we've talked SEO to death, but the field keeps changing and there are different approaches. My guest Meg Casebolt explains many people think think SEO is incredibly complex and you need to have an expensive team come in to fix your website for it.  They also assume you must produce boatloads of content to be successful. She doesn't think either of those things is true.  Today, the trick is not quantity, but content which clearly defines who you serve and how you help that audience.  About Meg Casebolt Meg  is the founder of Love At First Search and host of the Social Slowdown podcast. She loves to help businesses spend less time trying to hack the algorithms and instead creates SEO content that attracts your ideal audience to your website while helping entrepreneurs cut their dependency on social media for their business visibility.  

In this encore episode, we talk about how to use the frustrations, fears, wants and aspirations or your audience, as the foundation of your marketing.    You have probably heard multiple times you need to start your sales process by defining your niche because when you do, you can create more relevant content.   But our guest Leon Streete, says just defining the “who” is not enough.  The demographics only gives you half of the picture. The second part, which is usually the most important part, is to think about what is going on psychologically with your audience. Why is this important?  When people make a buying decision, they make it first with emotion. So if your message has no emotion, you’re not going to get people to the end result. Your sales pitch will be missing the very thing that’s going to get them engaged and interested.   Once you understand those elements you can begin to outline a list of things which frustrate them.  Make the list as long as possible, because every customer will be a little di

Once you're done writing your business plan, pulling together all the numbers, charts and other information the most important thing you can do is share it with other people. Reach out to the smartest people you know, even if they're not in your industry and get their feedback.  Share it with your employees and with your family because they're going to be involved in supporting you as you implement your plan. They need to know what you're planning on doing to they can help you create the business that you really want to build.

Most people think about email marketing as a sales tool. But my guest, Jeff Felten thinks it is so much more.  Email can play a valuable role as a way to build trust and relationships with your audience.  He believes trust is the currency of business.  Without it people don't make buying decisions. So your sales process needs to start with trust. One of the best ways to build trust is with social proof.  When you can demonstrate what you have done for others with case studies and testimonials, it makes it easier for people to visualize what it will be like to work with you.  About Jeff Felten  Jeff is an email marketing strategist and copywriter who helps service-based professionals hustle less for leads and build armies of loyal fans. In 10 yrs of marketing experience, Jeff has written thousands of marketing emails and hundreds of web pages - driving more than $1M in revenue for clients. LEARN MORE https://www.contentremedy.co/welcome-email-mini-course  

What is the right price for your product or service? Most business owners struggle with this question because they confuse the cost of producing the product, with the value that it brings to the customer. Establishing prices for your goods or services  relatively little to do with what it costs you to make it. The real value is how much you help your customers save, increase, reduce or improve . If you can quantify those benefits then you have a foundation for establishing an appropriate price for your goods or services. To calculate your value answer a few questions. How much can my product help a customer earn? Can you help them increase their income directly or indirectly? Does it create a foundation for future opportunities or establish valuable relationships with their customers? What are some of the intangible benefits that your customers might realize and is it possible to quantify those benefits? Will your product improve their abilities, confidence,  appearance, or peace of mind? When you focus on th

Returning guest Ross Keating says that sales is a people business.  While people may say it is the product or the features, it ultimately comes down to people and how well you connect.  The more you understand about your customers, the easier it is to connect.  And Ross shared how using the BANKCODE method can help you do just that.  The simple assessment takes less than 90 seconds to help you discover your Bank Profile based on what you value. Listen to the conversation, then take the assessment for yourself. 

In this encore episode, our guest, author Matthew Turner doesn’t think owning a business needs to feel like your are on a treadmill running hard, and never reaching your goal  In his book Beyond the Pale, he explains that many of us think we own a business, but somehow it starts to own us. When you make a decision to work less, if forces you to think about who do you want to work with? If you have to  choose a type of client what does that client look like? If you are going to choose one personal project what will it be? And finally, what do you want to commit to over the next year, two years, three years. When Matthew made the change in his business he ended up working half the time and earning twice as much.

While I think business goals are important, there is more to life than checking things off your list. If you never stop and celebrate the win, it all becomes really tedious. So find a way to reward yourself, when you actually achieve your goal. It doesn't have to be a big deal. It doesn't have to be very expensive. Pick something that's a little treat or a little reward that will make the moment special. For me, it might be going to visit a friend and then taking a photograph of us together so that every time I look at that picture, it reminds me not only of the fun that we had, but the goal  I achieved. Maybe it's buying a little treat for myself and every time I wear that pair of earrings or that new shirt. It reminds me that it was a reward for something I accomplished. Then I am more likely to be excited about working on something for my next goal. How about you? How do you reward yourself?  

What is the marketing flywheel?  A real flywheel, that builds energy, as you push it slowly over time it gets faster and faster and faster.  A marketing flywheel will do that as well. With consistent action, the marketing flywheel will deliver more and more results.  Out guest, Josh Ramsey explains there are three parts to the marketing flywheel that work together to accelerate your business. Building memories so customers think of you when they are ready to buy Maximizing availability so customers can find you when they are ready Reach the market  by building connections between your products and needs of potential customers.  Put your messages where they can find you    About Josh Josh Ramsey is the Business Development Manager at ClearBrand.com. A digital Marketing Agency focused on data-driven marketing that gets results; more leads and sales. He believes that without good marketing, businesses die and people suffer, and that ethical, scientific marketing can change the world.

 It would be wonderful if you just hung a sign out, opened your doors and customers came.  Unfortunately, for most of us that's not how it works.  You don't accidentally bump into business on a regular basis. If you want a sustainable business you need to have a sustainable process for your sales.  That process includes a standard  procedure to generate leads and then  screen and identify who's a good prospect and who's not.  You need to have a process for stepping people through a sales conversation, following up and eventually closing the sale.  And finally, after the sale is is important to stay in contact, requesting those testimonials and keeping that conversation going so customers refer you to your next opportunity. The sales plan is just one element of your overall business plan.  Ready to start working on your plan or updated your existing one?  Check out our new self-paced Business Map Class. 

Maybe you think your business is too small to take advantage of PPC.  Our guest, Ameet Khabra doesn't think that is true. You can use this powerful tool as long as remember that Google is not doing something out of the goodness of their heart.   Google is not a charity, it is a business.  Everything they do to improve search and analytics is ultimately designed to increase their advertising sales.  So use the tools, look at their suggestions, but always remember their goals are not always aligned with yours.  About Ameet Look up the definition of "obsessed" and you'll find a picture of Ameet. She has spent the last decade figuring out why people do what they do online, what prompts them to take action, and how to use this insight to make marketing work better. Today she uses that experience to design dazzling campaign strategies for our clients and teach future generations of PPC pros at the university level.

I am an optimist. I believe things will work out.  However, when it comes to my business I also know that things can go wrong, and planning is not being negative, it is being prepared. Accidents happen. Even minor mishaps can be major catastrophes for small business owners. Every year, thousands of companies are unprepared for the interruption caused by a minor fire, flood, and burglary or computer meltdown. Creating, and implementing a Business Continuity Plan as part of your overall business plan ensures your business survives any disaster. Are you prepared? I have seen studies which say anywhere from 25 – 75 percent of businesses suffering a disaster fail to reopen or close soon after. While the stats may vary, the general consensus is a well thought out recovery plan matched with appropriate insurance makes the difference between survival and business extinction. What should your disaster planning process include? Computer Backup – For many small business owners, the computer is the heart and soul of the