MARKETING MINDSET

Good News and Bad News. Why Relationship Building is So Important.

I had an "in person" meeting with a client and feel happy and sad. Why do I feel both emotions, you ask? I'll tell you.

I  feel happy that she's going to do more "technical"  things herself. She feels ready to learn them now and take them on. This is a real shift for her - a move forward - growth. (She would write the content and then I would take her writings and create and send out her newsletter and edit and post her blog - as a marketing person who is very "technical".)

She wants me to be her consultant who reviews what she's done and be available to her when she has questions.

I feel sad that we won't speak as often (we used to talk daily or weekly depending on the project).

The good news is that she is continuing to grow - both personally and her business. Now I will be her consultant AND when we go out it will be as friends.

Do you become friends with people who start out as your clients? Are they your "business friends"? Do you call them that to others when you describe them?

Marketing Tip: Build your business relationships. Make your clients friends. If you attract the right people (those who think as you do) then you will.

Is Change Good or Bad?

There was a change in the scheduling of Wheel Trans (run by the TTC in Toronto for disabled people - I use a walker and use Wheel Trans on occasion).

The riders AND the drivers were complaining. I admit that I was one of the "complainers".

Did talking about it do anything? No! So after I made my one complaint out loud, I did something - I took action. I called Customer Service (and waited on hold for 30 minutes) then changed my "pickup" times.

I'm much happier with the new times (they're better than what I had before for months!) - better times AND I did something and didn't just talk about it.

Marketing Tip: A change is both good and bad. Communicate your changes and do it in positive language - emphasize the good.

What change have you made and how did clients react? Share it with us.

Do Clients Feel A Strong Emotion When They Use Your Product or Service?

On the weekend I went to see a movie. It wasn't one I REALLY wanted to see but I wanted to get out of my place, be with people, have a coffee (there's a cafe in my local theatre), and get "lost" for a couple of hours.

I had read the movie reviews of it and so thought I knew what I was going to see. It went along and I was enjoying myself but I wasn't prepared for my feelings.

Near what I thought was the end there was a surprise. I felt sad at the time and happy at the very end. Happy AND sad -- hmm - two very opposite emotions.

What I REALLY wasn't prepared for was how fervently I felt each emotion. I stayed and watched the credits and thought about this and came up with this question -- do people feel a "strong" emotion while using your product or experiencing your service? For example, we Apple computer users are often called "rabid fans". Do clients feel passionate about your product or service?

Marketing Tip: Ask your clients about their emotions when  using your product or service.

How I Commented On Facebook and Someone Sent Me An Unexpected Response

How did that happen? That's not what I was expecting!

I had been reading the posts of my "friends" on Facebook and made comments to a few. I didn't expect any answers (Marketing Tip #1: answer comments on Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn). When I got a reply from one of them it was a pleasant surprise.

Then I got another reply that I REALLY wasn't expecting. It was about getting together with a woman I've known for years but not seen. Looked like she'd been reading her Facebook! She even sent me her phone number. I called her as soon as I got home from meeting my LinkedIn contact Pat Mussieux of Confidence and Courage  who she knew! Small world, isn't it?

We talked by phone and she said she wanted to get together. And we will :-)

Marketing Tip #2: you never know what your social media comment will bring so COMMENT!

How have coments got you clients or new or old connections? What worked and how?

 

 

How I Used LinkedIn When I Was Going To Be In A Different City

I just got home from a delightful AND productive meeting over tea with someone I'd never met before. How did I arrange it, you ask? Well here's how.

LinkedIn is a social media site I use a lot (AND I promote its use to my clients.) I use it to join groups, create my own group, post events, answer questions, etc. They even have an "app" that shows your and your contacts' blogs  but I've never used it to set up meetings before.

I knew I'd be in London Ontario for a week and wanted to get together with other women business owners there. So I set out to get together with Pat Mussieux there (I don't know how I found her - likely she was a "friend of a friend" but we'd never talked, communicated by email or met in person.

Her website had her email which I used to contact her the week before I'd be there. I told her a bit about me and why we ought to connect. Then there followed several more emails as we chose the place to meet.

Then came the day of our meeting. I was really looking forward to seeing and talking with her.

It was even more than I hoped for. We had lots to talk about - our backgrounds, our businesses, our hopes and dreams - and some of our "today" activities.

Most of all I felt very motivated. She has even become my "tipping point" for putting video on my "new" website. (The stroke has meant I talk "funny" and I hadn't done a video even though I tell my clients to do it because I was afraid people wouldn't understand me.)

Pat Mussieux of Confidence and Courage has become a friend of mine :-)

Thanks for taking the time to meet with me Pat and for taking a risk.

How have YOU used LinkedIn? Tell us!

How Choosing A Cafe Is Like Choosing Your Target Market

There are lots of coffee shops to choose from along Queen Street in the Beach in Toronto and my friend and I were commenting about each of them as we drove along. "Homey", "corporate" (for Starbucks even though it's friendly), wheelchair accessible, "friendly". "bright", staff are always helpful and right there when you need them, "cottage feel" (the Pie Shack where we hold our monthly networking event) etc. The list goes on .

With so many to choose from, how can we pick the one that's "right" for us? Well that's how people often look at your business. How do people pick you? What are you known for -- and as? That's why it's so important to know what makes you unique - BEFORE you begin - whether you're a start up or are making changes.

WHO ARE YOU? How do you want to be seen and known? What's your "brand?

Choosing a coffee shop or bank or grocery or drug store or clothing store is just as difficult as choosing YOUR business.

Here are a couple of suggestions to get you started.

Get everybody to be very specific. What do you DO?

1. Ask your friends and colleagues what makes you unique. Is it your "opposite" ideas from the norm? Is it your clothing? How do you treat people? Do you use "jargon" or "ordinary" language?
2. Ask clients why they chose you over your competition. What made you different from them?
3. Publish a survey and ask only one question - what makes you unique. Remember to give concrete examples.

That should get you started.

What else have you done? What have you tried? Did it work or not? Tell us.

Do People Remember You? How and Why?

Friends and business assocites remember me - for a long time. Why? I thought about this and came up with several reasons for why I'm "memorable" and you can be too. Here's how:

1. Speak with confidence.  

2. Become an expert in your field.

3. Ask others about themselves. Don't use the same questions such as "what do you do". Ask an "open ended" question that gets them talking about themselves such as "what brought you to this kind of business - what did you do before?"

4. Attend the same networking events regularly. When people see you frequently they're more likely to remember you.

5. When you're at a networking event - stand up and and have an attitude of assurance.

6. Wear something memorable like a hat. (I was at a seminar last week where the speaker made hats. He said a hat can be worn by a woman anytime. The hat draws attention to your face so people "see" and remember you.)

7.When you follow up with an email, put where and when you met the person in the subject line. That way they'll go back to that place in their mind and are more likely to remember you.

8. Speak at conferences. You won't know everybody there but they'll get to know and you'll be remembered.

9. Give training seminars. You'll get to know the participants especially if it's a setries of seminars.

10. In social media, comment on people's posts.

11. In blogs, become a guest blogger AND even if you aren't a guest blogger make thoughtful comments on people's blog posts.

 

In everything you do, you want to be remembered by your target market. Who's yours?

Remember - know who you are and be proud of it. Stand tall and with confidence and you'll be memorable.

Do you have any other examples of what you do that really make people think of you? Share them with all of  us!

Being A Captive Audience.

We (my brother, his fiancee and me) were in their car driving to a family picnic in a city that was two hours  away. My brother put in a CD  to listen to which was on "listening" - the right topic in the right place. We were a captive audience - a 2 hour trip and a 90 minute CD - how perfect!

How can you use this idea in business? Here are three ways.

1. Have you ever put on a CD for your clients to listen to while they wait for you?  It could be you talking, music, someone else talking or teaching? Make sure it's suitable to your business type and what people are willing to listen to.

2. Massage therapists and anyone in the healing arts has soft instrumental music playing in the basckground while they provide their service to you. You can do the same.

They're a "captive audience" :-)

3. Do YOU listen to CDs when you're driving? Make certain that it's a longer trip (at least an hour) or you're "stuck" in traffic and DON'T write down your thoughts. If there is someone in the car ask them if they will write them down for you. Better yet ask them to drive. Then your mind is free to listen and get ideas and your hands can write them down. This is professional development and you're being productive, too.

 

What do you do - for yourself or your business? Comment on this topic and let everyone know.

Three Marketing Ideas From Getting A Mammogram.

Every second year I get a mammogram (guess my  age!) and so  on a snowy day in February I went to get one. It's not a painful experience for me though it can be for some women but it's necessary so I set off.

There were at least three marketing things that came out of this experience. Maybe you'll think of others.

• Some people are polite no matter what. There was a snowstorm in Toronto that day so several businesses and schools were closed and many people didn't drive. That meant the  roads downtown were  empty. I grew up in London, Ontario (snowbelt) and my taxi driver had driven trucks for years all over Ontario. We didn't let the snow stop us! Those (like us) who chose to drive were pleasantly  surprised. The people on the roads drove slower, more carefully and watched. They waited for us when they let us in.

Marketing Tip #1 - treat your prospects, clients and everyone the same - politely.

• Everyone in the mammogram clinic acted identically to each other - friendly, smiling (not a "pasted on" smile, helpful, patient (waited for each person to move at their own speed).

Marketing Tip #2 - have a "culture" of helpfulness in your business that all your staff show.

• The clinic I go to is in a building with a restaurant and afterward I had coffee alone here. The staff didn't just do the tasks in their job description. The fellow who wiped the tables asked if he could move my chair for me (I use a walker) and the man filling up the napkin dispenser carried my coffee over to a table.

Marketing Tip #3 - be aware (both you and your staff) and "see" what people need. Then give it to them. 

Those are three examples of "marketing mindset" in action in everyday life.

Do you have some examples? What are yours?

My Computer Died - What Do I Do Now? (for Technophobes)

Well, the easy answer is "Buy a Mac" (I'm a long-time Mac user) but ... most of the world uses PCs so ...

Here is what I tell all my clients and friends. I ask them first whether they have a Mac or PC. If they say they have a PC, here's what I suggest they do ...

• Don't panic. Don't assume you did something wrong - pressed the wrong key or need the updated version of that program. It probably wasn't you. Technology ALWAYS has problems.
• Turn off the PC itself, printer, monitor (if you have one) and anything connected to the PC. Then get up and take a break - take a walk, make a cup of tea, call a client or friend you've been meaning to, walk the dog, or feed the cat (assuming you work from home).
• After not less than 10 minutes (overnight if you can) turn everything back on. This will reset everything and should work.

If it doesn't continue with these things ..

1. If this has happened before and you have the name of someone you really trust call them. OR ....
2. Or if you don't know someone phone a friend whom you trust that has a PC that broke and ask them who repaired their computer. Did they like them? Did they come quickly? When they came did they explain what they were doing in words that one could understand or did they use jargon? OR ....
3. If you feel "brave" try to fix the problem yourself  (i.e. make the computer do what you want to).

That's a start! Don't have your niece or nephew or grandchild (who grew up with all sorts of technology) do it for you. They probably don't have the patience you need or training ability. You want to feel empowered, don't you?