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I imagine the first step to any successful sales campaign is getting the attention of prospective clients. Marketing representative for Principal Financial Group and author of Prospect & Flourish, Keith Luscher, gives sales representatives a small taste of the highly successful sales techniques he shares in his Webinars. Watch the video below to learn more.
P.S. These techniques could be adapted for job searching, too.
One expression I hear that often makes me cringe is "problem solving." It expresses a paradigm that has dominated many peoples' thinking and planning. Ask yourself: "What is problem solving?" It's about making something go away. If this is all you care about, then another problem will simply take its place.
Case in point: years ago, a beginning New York City high school teacher named Steve Mariotti faced his first day on the job at Boys & Girls School. This inner-city high school had become known as the worst in the entire district:
Keith F. Luscher is author of the books Don't Wait Until You Graduate and Prospect & Flourish. He is also a Marketing Representative with Principal Financial Group. Prior to joining Principal, he served professionals in the insurance and financial services industries as a management consultant. In that role, he advised producers on issues related to marketing and prospecting, and developed groundbreaking educational curriculum. Luscher is also a nationally known author, speaker, and expert in media, interpersonal communication and marketing.
Although most of us will not soon forget the challenges that this recession has brought, I still have vivid memories of the recession of the early nineties, at which point I was still fresh from college and green in job skills. It was also during this time that I began searching for a new job...and quickly learned the ups and downs of networking--lessons that so many people are discovering for the first time today.
One of the fundamentals of networking and meeting new people is the notion of a common connection: you know one person, who in turn introduces you to another whom they know, either through work or some other association. But what if that connection isn't enough? Continue reading ...
Keith F. Luscher is author of the books Don't Wait Until You Graduate and Prospect & Flourish. He is also a Marketing Representative with Principal Financial Group. Prior to joining Principal, he served professionals in the insurance and financial services industries as a management consultant. In that role, he advised producers on issues related to marketing and prospecting, and developed groundbreaking educational curriculum. Luscher is also a nationally known author, speaker, and expert in media, interpersonal communication and marketing.
In case you missed yesterday's post, I talked about getting your small business involved in social media through blogging. If you are going to do one thing with regards to social media, that is where I feel you will get your most bang for your buck. Once you start blogging and assert that social media is not dumb and a waste of time, you may want to get more involved with social media.
This is the point where business owners get curious about sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. What are the best social media outlets for your business. That's really up to you and your clients to decide. You can look for networks that are favored by your industry, you can look at what your clients are using, you can look at what networks may be the most appropriate for your business.
Here's a breakdown of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn:
Twitter: I have said this before but when I first signed up for Twitter, it seemed ridiculous to me. I just didn't get it. I really think that Twitter doesn't make sense until you start expanding your network with people who are really using it. The main complaint that I get from small business owners about Twitter revolves around this same lack of understanding that I had.
What's great about Twitter is that it gives you access to a whole group of people that you would typically not have access to. It's a great opportunity to meet new people, run across great ideas and share your own great ideas.
I will avoid getting on a soap box about how to best use Twitter or any other social networking platform for that matter. I am certainly not a social media expert but I do use it on a daily basis. What I will do is share how I use Twitter so that it works for me.
The first thing I do with Twitter is use it to update my followers on information that is relevant to small business owners. Typically I do this by sharing other people's content that I run across on a daily basis. The second thing I do is use to expand the reach of my own information that I create. Beyond content, I use Twitter as a connection tool. I am not so much of a conversationalist on Twitter itself but I do try to set up 1-2 calls/meetings a week with people that I connect with on Twitter.
The connection aspect has been a great way to find mentors as well as create synergies with people to move my business forward. One word of caution about Twitter, be careful what you say, you don't want to have this happen to you.
Facebook: For me Facebook is more of a friendship site. I don't link my Twitter account to it and I don't really pursue a lot of business there. However, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't use Facebook for business.
I have made great professional connections through Facebook. I have also seen business owners really use the fan page function of Facebook to get communicate and share with their clientele on a regular basis.
Alex Mandossian has done a great job with this through his Productivity Strategies platform. They post content regularly and seem to have created an active and engaged following through their fan page. You can certainly pick up some tips for how Alex has structured his page to get ideas for your own business.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the more buttoned up and professional of the major social networking sites. LinkedIn provides a lot of unique features for its users.
One of my favorite features is the ability to recommend people in your network. This is a great way to share with others the great things that people in your network are doing. I also enjoy the question and answer feature that allows you to weigh in on questions that other LinkedIn users have about various topics. You can also integrate Slide Share into your profile which is a great tool for my graphic and web design business. As a business owner there is plenty to like about LinkedIn.
Those are the 3 main sites that I use regularly. It's up to you determine what networks are best for you and how much time and effort you want to put into using them. To get past the social media is dumb and a waste of time issue that a lot if us business owners have, it takes jumping in and giving them a try so that we can see how to make these networks work effectively for our business.
Brandon Allen is a business and vision coach with The Business Blueprint. Brandon focuses on helping businesses get clear on their vision, mission, core values and leadership. Brandon is the author of the small business blog Build Your Soul Purpose ( www.buildyoursoulpurpose.com).
A Good Newsletter Can Improve Your Image and Increase Sales
The email newsletter is an essential part of the marketing mix for companies large and small. Consumers are invited to sign up with the promise of a flow of fascinating and useful information. The reality is often different with the result that disappointed readers unsubscribe from the distribution list. Here are some do's and don'ts to help you succeed with your email newsletter:
Don't
1. Think it is about you and your products. Look at it from the reader's point of view. You have to provide something interesting and valuable to customers so lots of product features are not the answer. Tips, hints, how-to advice and user stories are better.
2. Try too hard to sell. Too many special offers and sales pitches will turn readers off.
3. Make it long, detailed and dull. Surely no explanation is needed yet many newsletters display these mistakes.
4. Mail too often. Most people are suffering from newsletter fatigue so a regular monthly mailing is generally preferable to something every few days. Continue reading ...
Article by, Paul Sloane and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.
Internet Marketing Strategies - E-Mail-Based Marketing
Internet marketing campaigns utilizing tools such as e-mail marketing and e-newsletters offer a great return on investment.
We have been asked several times in the past few weeks about e-mail marketing and e-newsletters and how they can be used to benefit our clients' business. In this rough economy every small business can benefit from increased profit, so everyone seems to be looking at ways to help their bottom line. We will be putting together a 4-part series on Internet marketing that will help any business get an edge up on their competition.
Why should I use Internet Marketing?
That is an easy question. If performed properly you can get returns of roughly $50 for every $1 spent. I would bet that most people you know have e-mail. So Internet marketing is a viable solution and relatively inexpensive. The cost for sending out 2500 e-mails is roughly $25. That equates to a return on investment of roughly $1250!
Most businesses are interested in Internet marketing, but feel that doing so has to be technical, expensive or have heard of the SPAM laws and the consequences of violating the law. While at one time these were valid concerns, the technology has advanced to make it much easier to create your own Internet marketing campaign. Since there are so many businesses performing this service it has decreased the cost of sending out this type of marketing. Continue reading ...
Article by, Kori Rodley Irons and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.
Phil Reese, vice president of Small Business Payroll Services, LLC in Columbus, Ohio had a problem not unlike what many of you may be facing.
"For a number of years," Phil says, "we did very well driving new business purely on referrals. But as the economy tumbled, I came to notice that those incoming calls were slowing dramatically...which meant that I had to increase my prospecting activity." Continue reading ...
Keith F. Luscher is author of the book Prospect & Flourish, and is a Marketing Representative with Principal Financial Group. Prior to joining Principal, he served professionals in the insurance and financial services industries as a management consultant. In that role, he advised producers on issues related to marketing and prospecting, and developed groundbreaking educational curriculum. Luscher is also a nationally known author, speaker, and expert in media, interpersonal communication and marketing.
A Primer to Using Video Search Engine Optimization for Your Business and How to Make Optimized Videos
The number of red-eyed people tuned into YouTube's videos should tell you how important video search engine optimization is for your site. Today everyone thinks of jumping on to the YouTube bandwagon and creating a video but few would stop to think about video search engine optimization. With millions of videos all over the web, how would you optimize your videos to get the complete benefit of video search engine optimization?
Video search engine optimization isn't as difficult as it sounds because it has the same benefit that sites that were being optimized 10 years ago had, video search engine optimization is still in its nascent stage and thus optimizing it simply means optimizing a video's Meta tags.
But much before we go into video search engine optimization, we have to first think about the video itself. A video that you make for your site and then put through video search engine optimization must have content. This content has to be interesting and flow nicely to attract people to watch it in the first place and get video search engine optimization to work for you. Continue reading ...
Article by, Jamie Dawson and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.
Despite wide-held belief, building a lasting, successful career or business is far more than about who you know. Anyone who has done so will be the first to tell you this. In reality, it comes down to building long-term prosperous relationships. It is not about who you know; rather, it comes down to:
In today's economy, when EVERYONE is in business for him- or herself (which has been the case for more than 20 years), we hear quite the buzz about "personal branding." Indeed, Harry Beckwith in his classic book, Selling the Invisible, states very clearly: "Nothing beats a brand." Further, he emphasizes, "Invest in and religiously preach integrity. It is the heart of your brand." Continue reading ...
Keith F. Luscher is author of the book Prospect & Flourish, and is a Marketing Representative with Principal Financial Group. Prior to joining Principal, he served professionals in the insurance and financial services industries as a management consultant. In that role, he advised producers on issues related to marketing and prospecting, and developed groundbreaking educational curriculum. Luscher is also a nationally known author, speaker, and expert in media, interpersonal communication and marketing.
Terry Lipperd Published Content: 4Total Views: 23Fans: 0View Profile | Follow | Add to Favorites Single pageFont SizePost a comment Share Popular searches: YouTube | Christmas | Search more The key to being concise in a business communication is knowing what you what to say ahead of time. No one would attempt to make a speech or a sales presentation without planning beforehand. Make a list of key points you wish to make and write them down. Know the assets you bring to the communication and know the negative impact of certain facts on your subject matter. Rest assured that any negative item you are not fully prepared to counter would be the item that will be brought up by the other person in the communication. Have your facts ready, but be prepared for anything. Practice with another person if you have the time and have him or her take different tact with you to be prepared. Continue reading ...
Article by, Terry Lipperd and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.
