The Five Essential Skills » Marketing Strategies

What happened? Day after “unsubscribe?”

dhyan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:58:28 +0000

Constant Contact logo

Okay! Its the morning after I sent out an invitation to unsubscribe. Here’s what happened:

1019 e-mails were sent out

Bounced = 24.9% (254) – after two years of non-use 1/4 of my subscribers are now “lost in action.”

Opt outs = 39 subscribers, not as bad as it could have been!

Opens = 31.8% (243), Yea!

Click Throughs = 4.1% (10) These people clicked through to see this blog or my website

Forwards = 0, not surprising

Social Media shares = 0, not surprising here either

This is the one that surprised me: Spam Reports = 3 Despite the fact that was inviting people (who had opted onto my mailing list in the past) the opportunity to opt out, three people decided to report my e-mail as “spam.” Needless to say, I am glad these people are no longer on my list. This is one category, by the way, where Constant Contact keeps names private.)

Whether you are starting up a business or “re”-starting a business one of the first things you should do is contact the people you know, let them know what you are up to, and ask if they want to hear from you some more.

Most Marketing Introverts fear this first step considerably. They dread the possibility that NO ONE will want to hear from them and then what!!! I have to say that in all my years of business consulting I have never seen this happen to a client, but if it did, the next thing a person would do is work on meeting new people!

So today I down currently from 1019 subscribers to 980 people who want to hear from me. Good!

Tomorrow: How to plan a first e-marketing campaign!

Best regards!

Dhyan

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Writing as a Marketing Strategy

dhyan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:05:26 +0000

Unless you were born with a love of writing, choosing writing as a marketing strategy can be overwhelming. However, the list of writing venues you can use in which to connect with your target clients continues to increase… making writing for your business an option you are seriously considering.

All of the activities in the following list involve writing and can help potential clients find you: keeping your website optimized and up to date, sending out e-newsletters, blogging, posting on Facebook and Twitter, keeping your Linkedin or Google profiles current, keeping abreast of your favorite listserv or community bulletin board, submitting articles to online article directories.

The trick is, business writing is not effective marketing unless what you write is spot-on to catch the attention of your ideal target clients!

Let’s briefly look at ways in which you can optimize your writing by organizing your writing goals for each month and then modifying your writing for use in multiple venues. Here are six tips to help you get the most from your business writing:

Be clear on why you are writing (For example: “I want new clients!” or “I want to drive traffic to my website.”)
Be clear for whom you are writing (Women over 40 who are recently retired. Small business owners who are struggling to find clients. Families who want help in collecting their family history into a book.)
Write out your writing goals as a marketing strategy (How many articles per month? Linked to what other of your marketing strategies? Where and when?)
Define the compelling interests of your audience. (What makes them look for an article of the kind you are writing or avidly read something you have sent to them? What do you want them to “do” after they read your article?)
Choose the writing venues to which you will submit your writing. (Based on where your audience is most likely to look for writing by experts like you or in what mode you are going to send your writing to your database.)
Use the same or slightly modified versions of your writing in more than one venue. The rule of thumb is that if you change the title and 10-20% of the article content it is a “different” article.

30 Second Commercial in a Nutshell

dhyan — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:49:12 +0000

It is good to remember: People are more interested in themselves than they are in you and your business! But they will be interested in your 30 Second Commercial if you are talking about solving problems they have, offering something they have been wanting, or which will make their life happier or better.

If you are smart, your 30 Second Commercial will be 1/3 about you and 2/3 about your target clients!

10 Seconds about YOU: include …

Your name:
Your company name OR what you do
A BRIEF description, in plain English, that any person on the street can understand, about what you do. ONE to TWO sentences!
1. Do not be esoteric here! The #1 mistake I hear small business owners make is to list a BENEFIT here instead of saying specifically what they offer. For example, a nutritionist I once worked with started out saying she provided “health and wellness” to her clients – before she even mentioned she was a nutritionist!
2. Be really clear: If you do individual and small group coaching, say so. If you provide quality health care supplements, say so. If you write personal histories, say so.

18 Seconds about YOUR TARGET CLIENTS:

Paint a vivid picture of the people you work with (or your customers) and the reasons they want your product or service.
Use very vivid words: “frustrated by, overwhelmed about, struggling to, absolutely committed to, strongly value…” like that!
EITHER create three bullet points for a single type of target client, or list three different target clients.
Introduce this part of your 30 Second Commercial by saying something like: “Typically the people I work with….” or “Some of my clients/ others of my clients” or “Often the people I work with….”

2 Second “Rising Statement”

Often it is nice to “cap” the end of your 30 Second Commercial with something positive that tells people you really have solutions for them or that you work “together” to solve their problems.

EXAMPLE:

My name is Dhyan Atkinson.
My company is “The Five Essential Skills.”
I provide step-by-step Business Skills Training, Consulting, and Coaching for small business owners!

Typically the business people I work with:

Have found work they love but are struggling to meet monthly financial goals
Many are first time business owners responsible for every aspect of growing a business for the first time

My programs teach the essential skills small business owners need and help them use those skills out in the real world to find more clients!

A Resolution You Can Keep

dhyan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:22:21 +0000

Want one business resolution for the New Year you can not only keep but will save you lots of time and money while increasing your effectiveness in marketing? Here’s a tip!

It is better to have one resolution that gets an area of your marketing life organized than pages of resolutions that sound ambitious but don’t get kept. If you were only allowed to keep ONE resolution this New Year what would it be?

Look back at 2009. What was one marketing strategy you used that had lots of potential but didn’t live up to your hopes?
Is there one small thing you could do … and do consistently all year … which would improve your odds at finding clients using this strategy? For example:
1. If you were attending networking events – could you get more organized about follow-up? Could you set a simple goal like “I will give out 5 business cards and collect five at every event. I won’t leave the event until I have arrange to meet afterwards with 5 interesting people. I’m going to focus on finding one potential referral source at each event!”
2. If you are blogging – do you need to put yourself on a schedule? ”I’m going to do just ONE blog entry a week. I will announce my blog post on Facebook every time. I will recycle all blog posts into internet articles one month later.
3. If you are public speaking – do you need to consistently book a certain number of engagements per month? Find some different venues? Ask more people, more consistently, to refer you to speaking opportunities? What is one more thing you could do to turn members of your audience into potential clients who want a free initial consultation?

The trick here is to focus on ONE improvement that would make a significant difference in your marketing if it was consistently done for a full year!

If you’d like to comment, please let me know what your ONE thing might be!