I was doing some reading last week and came across a great piece by Zen Habits that gave 16 Ways To Get Motivated When You're In a Slump. The key point in staying motivated that the post makes is their first point which is to focus on one goal. There is a lot of power in being able to have that singular focus.

The reason that this post resonated with me right now is that I feel that I have personally been in violation of the one goal rule. I took a step back and looked at some of the different ventures that I am involved in and wondered to myself how I had gotten in the position that I currently stood. I realized that if you aren't careful, it's really easy to overload yourself with projects and ventures as an entrepreneur.

Continue reading "The Power of One Goal" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on November 19, 2009 at 7:18 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

When you initially start a small business, you wear many different hats to keep things going. As your small business grows, you can't do all of the things inside of your small business as you used to be able to. This is a great thing. The next step is to start hiring/building a team to help you run your business. The challenge is that a lot of entrepreneurs aren't initially strong at the management aspect of their business. One condition that I see a lot of entrepreneurs suffer from is the curse of knowledge.

We have all worked for or with someone who suffered from the curse of knowledge. This is the boss/entrepreneur who assumes that everyone clearly understands their complete vision after talking with them for five minutes or assumes that you know what they are thinking just because you work there.

Continue reading "The Entrepreneurial Curse of Knowledge" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on November 5, 2009 at 8:26 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Do you know why some people are hesitant to use social media? Or perhaps why some people will absolutely never give out their email address (but are quick to hand over their phone number)? Or perhaps did you ever wonder why not everyone you meet will be immediately willing to put you in touch with everybody they know?

Your network, and the strength of relationships with people in your network, is one of your most valuable assets. A network of followers, friends, business contacts, colleagues, and clients is by no means a commodity. Therefore, it is not something you should take for granted. 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 29, 2009 at 7:06 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

This is a pro blogger speaking. I'm a blogger who has spent many, many hours figuring out "blogging". I've partially cracked the code and I'm literally sharing some of the basic secrets here with you. I'm doing a test as well as giving some knowledge for you today. Please read on, you'll benefit.

It's a common thing to hear about success stories on profitable blogs these days.. Some generate amounts of up to $100,000/month and beyond. Profitable they are. You as a blog owner probably need to do a few things differently in order to get the most out of your internet marketing techniques and take a few steps to increase search engine rankings, make more money and have it run on autopilot.

What I've found is that creating a traffic pulling blog is more than just about getting search engine rankings. You need more... See... Blogs are so easily syndicated using RSS and tools such as RSS submit to get your website spread like wildfire in just one go. This is no news... This isn't any news either, but you want to "deep link" your blog posts and have strictly defined anchor texts. Continue reading ...

Article by, S and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 23, 2009 at 8:32 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Starting your new business will challenge you in ways that you can't even imagine. If you don't have experience in marketing, then you will need to be a quick study. Marketing is all about sales. If you opened the doors and people flooded in wanting your product or service, then you wouldn't need to market at all. However, based on personal experience with failed businesses, I can pinpoint the exact problem. I didn't have customers, because I didn't know how to market.

But I learned a few tricks here and there about marketing that can make your job as an entrepreneur a little bit easier. The first trick is to link every effort to revenue. If you place an ad in the paper you need to track, how many people called you for your product. If it isn't working, there isn't any point in wasting more money on an ad that isn't getting you any new business. So you might as well take that money and find a better use for it. Continue reading ...

Article by, Ryan Barnes and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 23, 2009 at 8:20 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Helping Finance and Marketing See Eye to Eye

Just like the 'cat and mouse' relationship, there has always been known friction between a company's marketing and finance departments primarily on account of marketing spend. Marketing after all spends money to make money so to speak. There is then an occurrence of natural polarity, marketing and finance usually gravitating towards opposite sides. In the past I have been hounded by one finance person after another seeking explanation as to why I spend this much in marketing, how I spend it and where are the returns.

Now in order to make ends meet with Finance, there has to be first - mutual respect. I have the highest respect for a number of finance professionals. I have grown my own analytics section in the marketing department just so there is straightforward and clear communication. One of the main proponents to instill is not just peace but understanding to explain that we are all on the same side with adherence to the same company goals. To achieve this, communication is vital. However this communication shouldn't just be peripheral or meaningless chatter, but instead purposeful conversations that exchange ideas and transfer knowledge. May it be a debate, argument or what-have-you - it is very important that a routine dialog be maintained by both parties to arrive at agreements, directions and decisions. This though should be supplemented by plans, documentations and carefully crafted strategies. Continue reading ...

Article by, Athena Catedral and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 22, 2009 at 8:13 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Of course it is impossible to generalize an entire generation, but basic demographic information is extremely necessary if you want to market toward a target audience. Marketing is a difficult art. The ability to pinpoint your target audience and use their generalizations to help your marketing strategy is very important for any would-be marketer.

About Generation Y

Generation Y consists of people born between the years 1977 and 1994. They are the generation of e-commerce and Britney Spears. A complex, extremely diverse group, those born in Generation Y exist to consume. They are materialistic, but not so much that they don't pay special attention and respond to particular advertising strategies.

Generation Y is probably one of the most difficult groups to both categorize and market toward. They are second only to their parents, the baby boomers, in terms of diversification in their buying tendencies. Continue reading ...

Article by, Sara Malarchy and courtesy of Associated Content, Inc.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 22, 2009 at 8:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Don't get this headline wrong. I think Twitter is great, and use it myself. Often described as a "mini-blog," Twitter is a social networking tool that uses the SMS text protocol (short messaging service) designed for mobile phones (which explains the 140-character limit). Twitter was originally conceived to allow a user to broadcast these messages to a group of subscribers, or in this case, "followers." It has grown to become one of the most popular web applications in the world.

Twitter is free and only takes minutes to set up an account. The first objective of most Twitter users (called "peeps," among other expressions, but that's my favorite) is to get followers. At the same time, you will likely seek out other peeps to follow, ideally based upon a common interest, industry, profession, location, other connections, etc. These factors are typically indicated in your profile. You will also be sending out "tweets" (message posts) that relate to what you do and those like interests of your prospective followers and clients. Such messages should also have keywords included so that potential followers will find you in their searches. 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 14, 2009 at 7:26 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Do you ever encounter another person who just seems to know everybody? (As you read this, each of you is probably thinking of a name and a face right now!) It's not that all the people they know are clients of theirs, or even their best friend for that matter. Yet they have an uncanny knack for making acquaintances and forming connections with people they meet. 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on October 2, 2009 at 12:55 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

At the start of a business venture, there are a lot of things to consider. Some of the considerations revolve around market research, putting together a business plan, assembling a team among other things. The one area that doesn't get as much consideration is you and what you bring to the table. You are the key to your companies' initial brand.

As I said in [a previous] post, how well you manage the internal aspects of your business will dictate how positively the public perceives your business. In the beginning of a companies' life cycle, the business owner is the foremost dictator of how things play out in their business. This is why when you consider your companies brand, you identify concisely what you want to be known for.

Continue reading "The Business Of You- A Lesson in Branding" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 24, 2009 at 4:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I don't know if I have been writing a bit too much lately on the subject of making calls, but when it comes to our own challenges in overcoming CALL RELUCTANCE, part of me feels like it just cannot get too much attention.

There is a saying (and I don't know if it is very common) that goes, "If you don't make the call, someone else will." I don't think that's always the case, nor is it the worst thing that could happen. The worse thing that could happen is that NO ONE will make the call, and your prospect's needs, which are often very important, will go unfulfilled. 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 15, 2009 at 2:05 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Measuring results is important for any organization to have long term sustainable success. Before you can understand what results you need and why, you need to make sure that you understand your business at its' core. Before you mearsure results, you mist have clarity in place.

I have already talked about why mission, vision and values are important to your business. They really are the foundation for everything that you do and your results are no different.

Many small business owners wander ahead with their business without understanding the fundamental questions about their business. Questions such as: Why do I exist? Where do I want to go? What's most important to my business? Knowing these questions will then allow you to create the results that will make the answers to the aforementioned questions a reality for your business.

Continue reading "Measuring Results Starts With Clarity" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on September 10, 2009 at 4:30 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As individuals become increasingly tied to their cell phones and Blackberries, SMS text messaging is emerging as the quickest and easiest way to market to this mobile audience. SMS campaigns can be divided into two distinct categories; SMS Push Campaigns, where a message of 160 characters or less is originated by the advertiser and sent directly to the recipient's mobile device and SMS Pull Campaigns where advertisers use a key word in marketing literature which recipients can text back to a specified number.

There are several different types of SMS Push Campaigns. The most basic of these is the SMS Branding Campaign. A branding campaign uses the SMS text message to provide people with information about an organization's products or services. A branding campaign can also include a coupon that the recipient saves on their phone for future use. There is no call to action in a branding campaign. The campaign is used merely to heighten a n individuals awareness of an organization. An example of this type of campaign is: CollegeRecruiter.com is the premier site to reach college students.

The second type of SMS campaign is a Click to WAP/mobile site. The SMS message includes a link that the recipient can click on to immediately connect to the advertiser's mobile site. This is used to drive traffic to a mobile site and can also promote an organizations products or services. An example of a Click to WAP campaign is: www.collegerecruiter.com is the premier place to reach students!

Another type of SMS campaign is the Click to Call. A phone number is included in the SMS text creative and the recipient can click on this number and become instantly connected. This type of campaign can be used to provide additional information about your organization or as a sales tool. An example of a Click to Call campaign is: Call 800-835-4939 to find out how to market to college students through CollegeRecruiter.com.

SMS Pull campaigns differ from the push campaigns because the utilize a key word that individuals text to a specified number. They key word can be included in any type of online or print marketing literature. When the key word is texted to the provided number, the individual receives a return text message. This text can be a branding message, a click to mobile site, or a click to call. The advertiser can choose whichever format will be the most effective for their products or services. An example of a key word campaign with a branding return message is: text the word college to 876289 and you will receive a response from us!

SMS text messaging is an extremely flexible and easy advertising medium. With open rates of over 90%, an SMS campaign will ensure that your message is seen! Please contact us for more information about how we can tailor an SMS campaign to meet your marketing goals!

Posted by Betsy Larson, CollegeRecruiter.com on August 13, 2009 at 11:15 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Okay, I am going to start with a confession here--if you are reading this article thinking that you are going to learn how to increase the rate at which prospects call you back, then I have deceived you. First, let's re-emphasize a point from a previous article ("Accept it Dude, She's Not Gonna' Call"): if you wait for a call back, you will wait forever. The ball will forever remain in your court.

So whose call-back rate are we talking about? You guessed it...Just as the headline read: It's yours.

We have all been there, especially when it is a part of our prospecting routine. Whether we are making that first phone call to a prospect, or the tenth, making the necessary dials is something many of us sometimes put off until it is too late. I am just as guilty.

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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on August 6, 2009 at 12:45 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

The recession is taking a heavy toll on retailers. Some, like Circuit City, folded while others, like Best Buy, continue to hold on. Jay Galbraith, in his article You're Organized ... How?, suggests that one reason a lot of retailers experience losses - even in boom economies - is because they are more product focused than consumer focused.

Best Buy, Galbraith says, realized its mistake and worked diligently to correct it. By focusing on the needs of the customers, Best Buy was able to provide a more enjoyable shopping experience that - pretty much always - translated into increased revenue.

"Customer-centric organizations essentially become more complex organizations that are grouped around experience, consumer segments, products, services and software," says Galbraith. He goes on to add that the complexity should only be on the organization's side of the equation, never on the customers.

It's not easy for retailers these days; consumers continue looking for more ways to save money. But retailers who remember to focus their energy on satisfying their customers' needs and wants stand a much better chance of surviving these dire economic times.

Posted by Candice Arnold on August 3, 2009 at 3:29 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Not too long ago, a very close artist friend posted a question on Facebook: "Does anyone have any suggestions on how to close a sale?" Apparently, she had been experiencing some frustration with prospective buyers "dancing" around the notion buying her paintings--and not being able to get them to cross the finish line, so to speak.

It reminded me of a tip I received not long before from a senior colleague at Principal, as we were about to go into a closing meeting with a business prospect: "There may be a point when I place our solutions on the table, and ask him to make a decision," Mel said. "There may be an awkward silence..."

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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 30, 2009 at 8:35 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

It's human nature to judge people based on their appearance. In my book, The Power of the Pitch: Transform Yourself into a Persuasive Presenter and Win More Business, I point out that the average person formulates an opinion within 30 seconds. If our view is negative, we may miss discovering extraordinary talents in people.

Take the case of Susan Boyle, the 47 year old spinster who lives with her mother and cat in a remote Scottish village. Wanting to become a professional opera singer, she auditioned for the TV program, Britain's Got Talent. Does Susan look like a Broadway singing sensation? Hardly.

Was Susan's musical talent judged the moment she walked on stage and before she hit the first note? Unfortunately, yes.

Continue reading "Do You Judge People Based on Their Looks?" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 29, 2009 at 6:23 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Brilliance, talent, ability, skill...call it whatever you like. It's important, but brilliance alone will not create ongoing growth or success.

A famous coach once said, "If I have to choose between the player who is high on skill, but low on discipline, and the player who is low on skill, but high on discipline, I will take the latter, because I can make him a star."

Indeed, most successful people will be the first to admit that they are not brilliant, but they are focused, and that focus helps them maintain discipline. (In fact, they often surround themselves with brilliant people to make up the difference!) This is what is meant by the expression, "Focus Beats Brilliance." 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on July 9, 2009 at 9:05 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

A billion women came before Marilyn Monroe. A billion have come after.

But she has never shared the stage, the life stage, with anyone. She is a timeless beauty, an exotic wonder woman, a sexual shockwave, an object of universal lust. And an extraordinary business lesson.

No woman ever stood in a room with Marilyn and felt beautiful. No man ever shared her presence and felt sane. She stole the heart of the most heroic athlete of her time, Joe DiMaggio-himself an American icon. She captured the soul of the greatest American playwright, Arthur Miller. She married them both and then she moved on to Camelot and wrapped the Commander-In-Chief, JFK, around her finger.

Marilyn is of no distinct period in history. She is known to teenagers and seniors alike, urban and rural, Elton John (who sings beautifully about her) and Vladmir Putin, (who has watched her films). The world loves Marilyn. Even those who pretend they are too smart and sophisticated to admit they do.

Marilyn Monroe is irresistible.

Continue reading "A Marketing Lesson ... From Marilyn Monroe?" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 25, 2009 at 8:29 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Marketing, by definition, is creating a positive environment for exchange. It could be exchange of goods and services. Yet, in today's economy, it also includes the exchange of human resources for financial resources.

You as the product

Viewing yourself as the product that you are marketing, might help you in wrapping your mind around the power and the necessity for personal branding. You could be transitioning to another position and look for positive exchange with a potential employer; it could be you as a referral partner looking for a positive exchange with someone who services the same target client that you do in a non-competitive industry; or it could be you developing the foundation of your expertise looking for advisers to your personal board.

Let's look at your personal brand with you as the product.

What are the 5Ps?

Product: What's your deliverable? How do you benefit people? What makes you so unique that if you were in a room with 250 of your competitors or colleagues that you would stand head and shoulders above the rest of them? What is your unique promise of value? And, how do you address the question that is on anyone's mind that you are looking to exchange time or talent with - "what's in it for me (WIIFM)"? As the product and professional at what you do, how you benefit people and who you are, it is your job to connect the dots for others so that they immediately know what you can do for them. Product development is key to an effective marketing strategy. A poor product that is positioned well will see a short success moment because the foundation is not congruent with what the product actually delivers.

Continue reading "The 5 Ps of Marketing" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 22, 2009 at 9:39 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

There have been a number of discussions recently on linkedin with regard to affiliate program fraudulent leads and sales. We all know that affiliate programs are a great way to drive traffic to websites, lead gen programs and specific offers. The majority of the publishers that participate in the affiliate programs are extremely reputable. Most affiliate sites do a great job of prequalifying the publishers before they ever see an advertiser's offer. Unfortunately, even with all the safe guards, there is still some lead fraud that comes through affiliate programs.

There are a few key things that can tip an advertiser off to potential fraud and give them a chance to rectify the problem before it becomes out of hand. One indicator that there may be a problem is if there are a large number of leads from the same IP address in a very short amount of time. On the same token, sequential email addresses for a lead generation program can also indicate unwanted activity. For example if you have Lars1@aol.com, Lars2@aol.com etc there is a pretty good indication there is a problem. Obviously a large number of invalid credit card numbers also indicate invalid activity. Additionally if one publisher has a much higher click to offer completion ratio than other similar sites, it may be a situation that warrants investigation. This may just mean the publisher has exceptionally well qualified traffic. But, it is still worth looking into.

There is typically a larger amount of fraud that comes through incentive publishers, those sites that offer points or actual cash for completing offers. Many of these sites have very strict policies to curb member fraud. Others do not. Incentive traffic is not all bad. Finding sites that have clear policies on valid and accurate offer completion is key if you want to advertise on these type of sites.

Affiliate programs remain one of the best resources to reach small publishers who are interested in your specific offers. Being diligent about watching the traffic coming from the various publishers and keeping in close contact with your affiliate manager are important in making these programs successful.

Posted by Betsy Larson, CollegeRecruiter.com on June 19, 2009 at 10:47 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Today, I spoke with Dave Lakhani, who is the author of How To Sell When Nobody's Buying. In this interview, he talks about how selling has changed in the past few years, what social media means for selling, what personal branding has to do with selling and more.

How has selling changed in the past two years?

Selling changed dramatically and no one told the salespeople. Most salespeople are still slogging along using the same old ideologies and techniques from the 80's and 90's that are based on ideas from the 60's and 70's. The result is a bunch of very frustrated salespeople and managers who are not making their numbers. Then, along comes an economic downturn and wholesale destruction of many industries and salespeople don't know what to do or where to turn. What really changed was buyer mentality and buyer psychology. Consumers and prospects are overwhelmed with choices, markets commoditize faster than ever now and virtually all of them are over-communicated. The result is that they've become ambivalent, lack trust and are slower to buy.

Buyers don't trust their old relationships that were based on concealment of information, they demand transparency and relevancy of messages. Buyers have instant access in the palm of their hands to shop around for better pricing, to see what your reputation is and to see if what you are saying is true. What they are really looking for is a real reason to believe. If you can give them a real reason to believe and earn their trust, you have the opportunity to create a relationship and ultimately a customer.

Continue reading "Personal Branding Interview: Dave Lakhani" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 10, 2009 at 9:44 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

From Forrest Gump's Guide to Becoming a Gazillionaire, on OnMoneyMaking.com:

Who taught Elvis how to dance, received the Congressional Medal of Honor, got Nixon impeached, became the world ping-pong champion, built a national shrimping empire, and fathered Haley Joel Osment?

One man: Forrest Gump.

If I could choose one mentor in business, or in life in general, it would be Gump. I don't care that he's not real. The wisdom that he conveys is real, and I think we could all learn something from it.

This advice is so great, I'm going to tweak it for you so you can use it for medical sales (and still make a little money):

"And cause I was a gazillionaire, and I liked doin' it so much, I cut that grass for free."

If you're in sales, you better like people and love sales. If you're in medical sales, you better love the science and technology of it, too, so that keeping up with trends and development in the industry is a pleasure, not a chore. Be in the kind of medical sales that really interests you-there's a lot to choose from: medical device sales, laboratory sales, pharmaceutical sales, hospital equipment sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, cellular or molecular products sales, surgical sales, clinical diagnostics sales, or biotechnology sales. If you love it, you'll be good at it, and if you're good at it, the money will come.

Continue reading "Forrest Gump's Guide to Selling Success" »

Posted by Candice Arnold on June 8, 2009 at 12:28 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Are you suddenly having issues with your email campaigns being relegated to junk mail or SPAM folders? Try taking a closer look at your subject line. Do you have punctuation? Is a word all in CAPS? These are a just a couple of the things that virtually guarantee your email message will end up being flagged as junk mail. Here are a few quick tips to help reroute that email to the recipients inbox.

1. Eliminate puntuation. Particularly offensive to SPAM filters are quotation marks, exclamation points and dollar signs.


2. Do not include any words in ALL CAPS or us extra S p a c e s in words.


3. Keep the subject line as simple as you can while still conveying your message effectively. The greater the number of words, the greater the chance of it going into a SPAM filter.


4. Avoid certain words like free, guarantee, act now, apply. For a more comprehensive list, visit Top 100 Words to NOT use in a Subject Line.

Posted by Betsy Larson, CollegeRecruiter.com on May 20, 2009 at 10:25 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Author and speaker, Tom Sullivan, said, "People buy difference, not similarity." Never has this been truer than in today's economy. After all, if you don't differentiate your products and services from the competition, they become a commodities and trade on the basis of price. Unless you want to be the low price leader, it's imperative that your clients perceive that you offer much greater value than your competition.

When we ask clients in our workshops to list the ways they differentiate their products or services, typically the only differentiator that they mention is their products and services. They get a good reality check when I point out that their prospects frequently can't tell the difference between their products and services and those of their competitors. This leads them to the sad conclusion that there is no difference, which is not the case.

Continue reading "7 Ways to Differentiate Yourself from the Competition and Win More Business " »

Posted by Candice Arnold on May 15, 2009 at 2:27 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Testing your product or service is critical to your longterm business success. Many businesses jump right into product manufacture and distribution before they truly know if they have a viable product that the marketplace wants.

In the article "6 Ways to Get Fast Feedback" on 1000ventures.com, they give some great tips on getting started with market testing. Initially you will want to set some pricing parameters for your product. If it's a physical product that you are manufacturing, you can just go off a certain percentage mark-up above cost. Industry analysis will help with this decision. If it's an information product, the great thing is you can test different price points as well. Just be prepared to tell people a price when you approach them.

Once you have done some analysis of the market and have established some pricing parameters, start approaching would be buyers about the product and get their feedback. As the article above states, you can do this at trade shows, approach people you know who maybe interested and go to places where your target customer is going to be. Another great resource is to do surveys to get some initial feedback. I will caution that verbal feedback is one thing. People actually buying the product is another.

Your product or service starts with a great idea. "6 Ways to get Fast Feedback" shares the story of Ross Perot to illustrate this. Getting a customer to front manufacture costs can be a great strategy to get started. However, you must have high integrity to make this work. If you take someone's money for a product/service, you better deliver the goods. Your reputation is critical in business and doing this wrong will kill it.

Last, take a look at the budget you have allotted to test. Many entrepreneurs try and skimp here to save some money. Unfortunately, handling this wrong up front is much more expensive than if you just went out and tested in the first place. Make sure you have a budget or resources available to do some market testing.

What avenues have been successful for you when testing an idea?

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).

Posted by Candice Arnold on May 14, 2009 at 12:09 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

We all know that happy customers are great for prospecting for new ones--through referrals and introductions, and also through getting testimonials that you can use in your customer communication materials. But there is one medium that I have yet to see leveraged to its fullest potential for this purpose: video.

Video is a powerful tool in capturing what a happy customer says about how you helped them (and in some cases, showing). More importantly, however, video can capture the emotion of those happy customers in a way that cannot be expressed in written word alone. This all can be accomplished by creating a Customer Showcase. 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.

Posted by Candice Arnold on May 12, 2009 at 1:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)