The story is about a guy named Mort. You probably know someone like him. Mid 50’s. Always has that slightly disheveled look. Slouched over bloke-hasn’t stood up completely straight since Clinton was in office. You know the guy. He happens to be in finance, but that’s not important.

Despite all of his best efforts, Mort just couldn’t tell an interesting story to save his life. Sometimes the stories rambled. Sometimes they made no sense what-so-ever. Sometimes-and this was the key culprit-the stories were as boring as a zealot proselytizing about global warming.

The biggest problem with Mort’s stories was that we just weren’t interested.

*He’d talk about a client who was worried that retirement meant a lower standard of living…So what?

*He’d go on about a couple who were scared to death about outliving their retirement…Big deal.

*He’d blather on about some poor schnook who was afraid he wouldn’t be able to afford medical care…b-o-r-i-in-g.

Now here’s the thing…the problem with Mort’s stories are not the issues these people face. Those are real, and lots of people are worried about them.

The problem is, we don’t care about the people in Mort’s stories.

And that’s an important point if you want to tell good stories. Your audience needs to be a bit emotionally invested in what happens to the characters.

So how do we create good characters? One of the easiest ways is by fleshing them out before starting to talk about the problems they face.

Here’s how.

When I told you the story about Mort, wasn’t it easy for you to picture him in your mind? Why was that?

First, I gave him an interesting name. Sometimes a name-like Mort-conjures up an image of a certain type of person. (Which is why you don’t run across too many suave debonair super-spies named Tristen.)

Second, I gave you some quick physical characteristics about Mort. I only used 20 words to describe him, but those were 20 important words.

If you’re going to care about my story, you first have to care about my characters. That’s why before you tell your story, think about how you’re going to describe the characters to your audience. Unfortunately we often don’t pay attention to that, and as a result, tell stories like Mort.

Good food for thought
Mark
Learn more about how to engage your audience by telling great stories in my latest book, Unique Sales Stories. Now available on Kindle and in traditional old-school paperback. Get it at Amazon HERE

The goods news is that it’s not terribly difficult. It’s more about changing how you “frame” what you’re communicating, than it is anything else.

So let’s put it into context.

Remember that the process of getting new clients is just that…a process. We need to move people through a series of steps. I’ll admit it would be great if we could shortcut the process, but the reality is that we can’t.

Step #1: Get them to pay attention to us. (Which falls into the category of “more difficult than one-would-think”. It’s not that people read or hear your message and reject it, they simply ignore what you’re trying to communicate.)

Step #2: Build trust and credibility. We don’t go from first date to marriage all in one evening (usually). High-value services can hardly be categorized as an impulse buy. That’s why the stay-in-touch-messages are so crucial. (Quick tip: Quit trying so hard to impress your readers, and focus on getting them to like you.)

Step #3: Get these prospects, who you’ve worked so hard to acquire and nurture, to actually hire you or buy stuff from you.

As most of you know, I’m a big believer in joining coaching programs. Back a few years ago I did John Carlton’s program. For those of you who don’t know him, John is a true persuasion master and holds the title of the world’s most “ripped off” copywriter. He’s an absolute genius at getting people to buy stuff.

John taught me something that’s literally enabled me to sell hundreds of thousands of programs, books, coaching and consulting.

The only problem with it is that it’s deceptively simple.

When I tell you what it is, you’ll claim to “know it” already.

In fact, you’ll probably say that you’re doing it already. But odds are…you’re not.

So here it is.

People will do what it is in their self-interest to do.

In other words they don’t give a squat about what you offer…

…UNLESS you can position it so that it’s in their self-interest to hire you or buy from you.

And how do you determine that?

One simple question.

What’s in it for me?

That’s the mindset you need when you sit down to talk to someone about your services.

Or, write copy for your website.

Or, write a sales letter or email.

Put yourself in the shoes of your prospect…pretend you’re that person, and ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Remember, your prospect doesn’t care a drip about what you do. They only care about what it can do for them.

Good food for thought,
Mark
Blatant Promotional Pitch…Please do not click here, I’m only trying to sell you stuff.

Really…this is just promotional stuff. You don’t need to learn more stuff. You need to DO more stuff.

Which if you a finally ready to do, then this link is the one you want to click.

Not this one.

Although it’s titled Gentle Rain Coaching-Is It Right For You?, it’s really my observations on establishing a vision for your company, avoiding some of the traps that hinder our success, and the journey I took to take my business to the high six figures.

It’s also about some of the frustrations that are unique to those of us who run small consulting or advice-giving businesses.

If you would like to read it CLICK HERE

But do me a small favor? If you request it please take the time (it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes) to read it. Regardless of whether you decide to become a coaching client of mine, I think you’ll find it contains a lot of good food for thought. Things to reflect upon. Things to consider as you as move forward on the entrepreneurial journey.

Thanks

Mark

PS: CLICK HERE to get it

I’d also imagine you’d tell me that you’d like more of them. So let’s help you accomplish that goal.

The biggest obstacle most people face when trying to get referrals is that they don’t do a good job of explaining what they do. If people don’t understand the benefits that others get by working with you, their ability to remember and refer you is severely compromised.

The problem when explaining what you do, is that we revert to what I call “comfortable shorthand”.

“I’m a lawyer.”
“I’m a financial advisor.”
“I’m a marketing consultant.’

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with these answers. However, these are the types of answers that go in one proverbial ear, and out the other. Additionally, they don’t tell your listener what the ultimate benefit is from what you do. (That’s crucial and I’ll share an example shortly.)

The temptation to use these “comfortable” descriptors is considerable for a couple of reasons. First, this is how most everyone else describes what they do. Especially in social situations, we want to follow the cadence and rhythms of those we’re with. If everyone is using the “comfortable shorthand” to describe what they do, there’s a bit of psychological pressure for you to do the same.

Second, so many of the more elaborate descriptions sound, well…rather cheesy. You’ve probably cringe internally when someone who’s obviously completed some sort of second rate elevator pitch program comes up to you and says, “I’m the go-to guy in making your money grow.”

Ugh

An excellent answer to the ubiquitous question of, “What do you do?” needs to be both memorable and consistent with the image and class you want to known for. Unfortunately, developing precisely the right answer takes a fair amount of work. Even though the end result looks oh-so-simple, the reality is that there’s a good amount of mental-heavy-lifting that’s gone on behind the scenes.

I can speak to this personally, since it took me a long time to develop an answer that I felt comfortable with, and enabled people to remember me (and ultimately refer me business). For years I’d simple respond, “I’m a marketing consultant.” Certainly accurate, but it’s going to be hard for someone to refer me business based on that answer.

Here’s what I eventually developed when I’m asked, “So Mark, what type of work do you do?”

“In a nutshell, if you own a business and need more new clients, I’m the guy who shows you how to get them.”

Short. Memorable. My listener immediately understands the key problem I solve and the key benefit I provide.

I firmly believe that because of the way I describe what I do, I get a lot of calls that start with, “So-&-So suggested I speak with you…”

If you’d like to spend an hour with me working on how to describe what you do in a way so that people “get it” and can refer you business, simply send an email to barb@gentlerainmarketing.com with your phone number and the words “Consultation” in the subject line. For the modest fee of $250, I’ll work with you to develop a memorable, catchy (but highly professional) way to describe what you do.

Talk soon
Mark
RELATED LINK

This video may take a few seconds to fully load.

Sales Cover Letter When A Prospect Ignores You from Mark Satterfield on Vimeo.

Want me to personally help you develop a marketing campaign or a great sales-closing presentation? Go HERE for more INFORMATION

However, how often to stay in touch is a tricky question. Too frequently and you become a pest. Not often enough, and people forget who you are. This video shares some guidelines you’ll find helpful.

As a reminder…this make take a few seconds to actually begin running.

Staying In Touch With Prospects from Mark Satterfield on Vimeo.

Ready To Take The Next Step? That Information is HERE.

Most are psychological, but one is more technical in nature. Let’s see what we can do to make neither of them a big hurdle that prevents you from actually implementing the marketing system you know you need in 2011.

(Because, as you well know, relying just on word-of-mouth and referrals for all your new business invariably leads to the “feast or famine” business cycles that just kills your peace of mind-and eventually your business.)

OK first the psychological. It’s a litany of mental-road blocks that will probably sound familiar. Here are the big ones:

It’s too complicated.
I don’t have time.
It will cost too much money.
It might not work.

There are probably some others, but those are the Big 4.

Now on one hand these might not sound psychological at all. After all, isn’t “not having enough time” a real and practical issue?

Not really.

The truth of the matter is that we make time for the things that are truly important to us. “Not having enough time” is used as an excuse for not doing all sorts of things.

Nope, the reality is that all of these are psychologically based, and the biggest one is, “a marketing system just seems too complicated”.

That’s is a real issue, so lets uncomplicated it. Let’s set up a very simple marketing system for you.

Basically it boils down to 2 things. (But don’t worry I’ll fill in the obvious gaps as we go along.) However, by recognizing that there are really only two elements to this, it should make it a lot simpler to implement.

The two steps are:

Step 1: Get people into your circle of relationships by offering them something for free.

Step 2: Once they’ve opted-in and raised their hand, then send a series of messages that are design to build trust, credibility and convert them into paying clients.

That’s it. But let’s take this to the next level and talk about HOW we actually do this. Again, let’s keep it simple. (But don’t confuse simplicity with effectiveness. This works as an amazingly powerful client-attraction magnet if you actually implement it.)

Step #1: Focus on a very specific niche market. You may have multiple niches that you do business with and that’s fine, but for the purposes of a marketing campaign we want to be laser focused on just one target.

Step #1A: If you have multiple services you offer, you’ll want to select one for the purposes of this marketing campaign. Again, the way we attract new prospects is by having our marketing very focused.

It’s far better to have multiple marketing campaigns, each micro-targeted, than it is just one general marketing effort. I know if would be easier if we could just create one message and have it resonate with everyone, but unfortunately that’s not how the world works. If you go down that road, you’ll just be ignored by those who you are trying to attract.

Step #2: Answer the following questions: (This is what’s called the “mental heavy lifting” of marketing. Your campaign will live or die based on how you answer these questions.)

• What is the biggest problem this target market is facing?
• What are the consequences if they don’t address the problem?
• What are the other options they might consider to solve this problem?
• What is your solution?
• What results do you get? (You also want to collect some testimonials.)

Step #3: Write a short article incorporating the answers to these questions.

Step #4: Create a one-page micro-website that will be used to get prospects to request the article you’ve just written and opt-in to your circle of relationships. You can see some examples HERE

Step #5: Write the first 3-5 messages that will be sent out by your autoresponder to build trust, credibility and motivate your prospect to become an actual paying client. Don’t have an autoresponder? The one we use and recommend is HERE.

Step #6: Drive targeted groups of prospects to visit your site with online advertising, direct mail, email marketing, social media or any of the other dozens of ways you can use to generate traffic.

If you follow these six steps in order, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot have a very effective marketing system up and running, generating consistent streams of brand new clients for you, inside of 45 days.

***OK that takes care of the psychological issues. I think you’ll agree with me that these 6 steps are pretty straightforward and that pretty much anyone can do them.

But there is one potential hurdle.

SETTING UP THE WEBSITE

This becomes a really stumbling block for lots of people. Either you just don’t know how to set it up so you quit at this point (which is a huge shame)…or you hand it over to a website designer who decides that what you really need is some sort of Taj Mahal…or you use one of those do-it-yourself sites that make it sound easy, but aren’t really that simple when you’re trying to make the thing do what you want it to do.

Remember all you need is a simple one-page site to make this whole system work for you, and if you’d like, I’ll do it for you. Not very expensive, we’ll even do all the writing for you, set up the autoresponder…you fill out a questionnaire and we do the rest. Takes about 10-14 days. No muss. No fuss. You can go HERE and order it if you’d like.

But the point is…you really should have a marketing system in 2011. If for no other reason than the labor-intensive marketing you’re doing now will eventually pay off (which is good news) but that means that you’ll have no time to continue marketing (which is the bad news), which leads to the (you guessed it) feast or famine cycles.

Just remember the two basic elements and you’ll be fine.

Let me know if I can help.

Talk with you soon,
Mark
RELATED LINKS
**Let us create a micro-lead capture website for you
**This the autoresponder that lets you put your stay-in-touch on autopilot

But, branding in the world of consumer goods is very different than what you or I should do to build the brand of “You”.

A good to place to start, if we’re going to create a branding strategy, is to define what we mean by “branding”.

Here’s how Entrepreneur.com defines it: “Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.”

That last sentence is particularly important and underscores one of the primary reasons why so many branding strategies just don’t gain much momentum.

People focus on the wrong stuff.

Here’s what I mean.

If the goal of the branding strategy is to become very well known by those who can hire you or refer you business, then the name of your company, your logo, website banner, the colors you choose for your marketing materials, becomes secondary.

What? The name of my company is “Secondary”? Bear with me-I’m not saying it doesn’t have value, I’m merely suggesting that you need to focus your efforts elsewhere.

Quite frankly, you just don’t have the marketing muscle and the financial resources to imprint a new name, or a logo onto the consciousness of your market. The last company to do that was Accenture, and estimates are that they spent over $200 million to do so. (Plus they had you-know-who as their celebrity endorser.)

So does that mean that attempting to brand yourself and your company (and I’m using the separate terms “yourself” and “your company” deliberately) is a fool’s errand? Not at all.

Rather, what I’m suggesting is that you approach branding from a different perspective. Remember the last sentence of the definition: “Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.”

A branding strategy has two distinct components. The story about the company and the story about the person behind the company. It’s the stories that get remembered, not the logo, not the name, not the font…the stories.

It’s a two-pronged strategy.

First are the stories about your company. These would include the stories about the problems you solve. Your case studies. Your successes. IMPORTANT… Remember that these need to be actual stories. Not three paragraphs which give a bare bones problem/result summary. Nobody’s going to remember those. And that’s what branding is all about-getting remembered by those who matter.

Flesh them out. Tell them in an interesting way. Make the reader or listener want to know what happened. If you engage me, not only will I remember you, but I’m also likely to tell your story to others.

Ted Irwin is a financial planner in St. Louis. He told me that his referrals went from 3 a month, to over a dozen. For him, that’s a huge jump. What did he do differently?

First, I’ll tell you what wasn’t responsible.

It wasn’t any new system, software, social media or marketing method. Ted gets almost all his business from speaking.

The change was that Ted shifted from telling audiences what he did, to sharing stories about his clients. Their hopes. Fears. Frustrations. How he helped. That got him remembered. That got his name passed along. That’s what quintupled his referrals rate.

That’s branding.

But it’s only the first part.

Back once again to the definition, “Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be”.

The second area (and personally I think that this is the most important) is creating a brand around you. How you got into the business, how you experienced the pain your clients face, what you’re like as a person.

Judy McDonald is a HR consultant outside of Los Angeles. She’s been in business for 12 years and had by her own admission a practice that was, “OK, but not great.”

Her best year was 2009.

2009? Wasn’t that the year all the financial implosion occurred? When the unemployment rate went through the roof? When companies cut back on spending on anything deemed non-essential?

That was her best year?

It turns out that Judy made a shift in her marketing and branding strategy. She says, “I remember one thing you told me that you can’t out-McKinsey, McKinsey. If you’re not a big firm there’s no point in trying to be perceived as something you’re not. So I decided to take the opposite approach. I embraced my ‘smallness’ which meant that I started telling the Judy McDonald story.”

“Turns out that it resonated with people. HR executives at some very large companies liked my eclectic background as a former troubled teen, social worker and eventual leadership coach. It’s a unique story, that only I can tell, and it breaks through the clutter of all the ‘me-too’ solution providers that I compete against.”

“You wouldn’t think that a multi-billion dollar aerospace company would select me and my programs when they had the pick of all the large mega-firms in my space. But they did. And when I asked them why, they simply responded, ‘At the end of the day, we hire a person not a company.’”

Branding doesn’t need to be complex nor does it have to be expensive. If we remember that ultimately it’s all about being remembered by those who matter, then the strategy shifts from logos, fonts and image; to stories.

Well told stories about both your company and yourself.

That’s what gets you known. That’s what builds your brand.

Food for thought.
Mark

Related Links
Coaching on Developing your Stories

The Best Self-Study Marketing Program in the Universe (seriously)

Want me to write your website landing page or a sales letter for you?

“An important lesson in networking is that you have to keep at it. I made the mistake a few years back of thinking that I had built my network to the point where I thought I knew every one who could be of help.

What I forgot is that a network is a constantly changing group of people. People change jobs, move or die. If you do not keep building the network it will shrink and amazingly fast.” Douglas Cumberland, Shipping and Transportation Industry.

Unfortunately, many people approach networking from the perspective that the overarching goal is to meet as many people as possible. This follows the premise that everyone one meets might know someone who could be a customer.

In theory that makes a certain amount of sense.

The plumber might know an executive who might have a need for your services. While the scenario is not inconceivable, the larger question is where do you want to spend your time? With a group of plumbers or with people who are more likely to directly buy your products?

It is a matter of playing the odds and where you want to invest your time. The key to successful networking is not only working the meeting in a productive manner, but also making sure that you are going to the right events.

What constitutes the right events will vary enormously depending upon what you sell and who you sell to. Thus, success in networking is equal parts strategic-What meeting should I attend?-and tactical-What do I do once I am there?

Introducing Yourself: How to Prepare Your Log Line

In order to get the most out of the time you invest in networking you have got to be able to communicate what you do in a way that is short, concise and memorable.

Sounds simple, but it is amazing how many people aren’t able to do this. When people describe what they do it tends to be either way too technical for the average person to understand, or way too general.

A too technical description of what you do is especially harmful if you’re trying to sell to the top-level decision-maker.

Most top decision-makers are fairly far removed from the detailed technical aspects of their business. If they were once technologists, they have likely moved on and are now dealing with a myriad of issues including sales, production, finance and human resources. They have specialists on their staff who deal with the technical implementation issues.

Thus, if you approach them with a highly technical description of what you do, it’s very understandable for why they would immediately refer you to someone on their staff.

Conversely, if you’re too general, it’s difficult to visualize what you do and as a consequence the level of interest will be minimal. Thus, you have to strike a balance between being too specific or too general.

For example, I recently met a fellow at a networking event. I asked him, what did he do? “I make people productive.” What type of people? “Everyone” How do you do that? “Lots of different ways.”

As much as I might like to, I’m going to have difficulty being aware of situations that might call for his expertise. In a networking meeting you’ve got to be able to communicate what you do in a way that is short, concise and to the point.

This is what is called your Log Line.

The term log line has its roots in the motion picture industry in which a two-hour movie is summarized into a single sentence.

For example this is a log line: A South Carolina pacifist plantation owner joins the war for independence after a British officer murders his 15-year-old son. As you may have guessed, that is the log line for the movie, The Patriot.

Here is another: A fact-based sea yarn about a skipper of a Massachusetts swordfish boat that finds itself in the path of killer storms. That is the log line for the movie, The Perfect Storm.

What we need to do is to develop a log line that is specific enough, without being confusing to somebody who doesn’t have our level of technical expertise.

For example my log line is, “I specialize in working with sales teams helping them make prospecting for new business more productive and less frustrating.”

This is readily understandable and encourages people to ask me appropriate follow up questions. How do I do that? What types of clients do I work with? My log line is the first step in ensuring that the person I’m speaking with has a clear understanding about what I do.

To develop your log line write down answers to the follow two questions.

I specialize in working with…Who? What type of Industry? What types of people?

I help these people to… Do What? Satisfy what need? Achieve what goal? Avoid what consequence?

Your log line is now mostly complete. All you need to do is combine the two sentences together. “I specialize in working with (Who?) helping them (To do what?).”

You’ll notice that my log line follows this format; “I specialize in working with sales teams, helping them make prospecting for new business more productive and less frustrating.”

Remember that your goal is to strike a balance between being overly vague and mind-numbingly technical.

A too general log line such as, “We bring good things to life” is as unhelpful to your networking efforts as a too jargon laden one, “We optimize channel distribution strategies to develop linkages and enterprise performance.” (The person actually sold magazine advertising.)

Remember that your goal is to be able to describe what you do in a way that is both understandable and elicits further interest.

Mary supplements her reputation by writing frequently for an industry trade publication and speaking at conferences, meetings and symposiums. She uses her speeches as a tool for staying in touch by calling existing and prospective clients and encouraging them to attend. Writing articles both enhances Mary’s credibility and provides her with a variety of excuses for staying in touch with her clients, both when she is researching the article and after it is published.

Focus is an important component in developing your reputation for expertise. Most people define their focus by industry. Others define it by function or by what department typically buys their services. Finally, others may have a geographical focus. Naturally, focus can be some combination of these three. It’s important to have a focus, otherwise it’s very hard to become an expert. If you don’t, it’s a little like saying let’s go eat American food. It just doesn’t limit your choices significantly in order to target your efforts.

Joining What Your Prospects Join

Once you’ve determined where to focus the next step is to join the group that caters to that industry or function. If you’re unclear on what association serves these groups, the answer is as near as your computer. Go on-line and access Google. Type in the industry or function you want, followed by the word, association. In a matter of moments you’ll see a vast list of potential groups that cater to your search criteria. It will probably take you a little bit of time to investigate the various sites that are listed, and it’s likely you will run down a few blind alleys.

However, with a modicum of effort you should be able come up with multiple associations that are worth investigating. Another benefit of this search process is that you will uncover special, one-time events that you might want to attend. I’d encourage you to get on-line with Google right now and see what your research turns up!

Reading What Your Prospects Read

The second strategy of successful rainmakers was that they read what their targeted group of prospects read.

Now, in order to do this they first had to find out what their prospects were reading. Fortunately, this is pretty simple and straightforward. The easiest way to find out is to simply ask your clients what they read. This is a good excuse or reason to stay in touch with your clients and it sends a very positive message about your personal commitment to their industry. Also pay attention to what magazines are lying around in the reception area the next time you call on your client. This not only gives you information about what your clients read but who else sells to this group of prospects.

When you’re reading these magazines or trade journals you’ll want to make sure that you’re reading them from a marketer’s perspective. How can what I’m reading help me build my business? An interesting point of fact is that few people who are mentioned in the press are ever contacted by individuals seeking their business.

This point was driven home a few days ago. I was in a local bookstore and happened to browse the magazine rack. I picked up a copy of the Harvard Business Review and noticed that there was an article in it by an old colleague of mine. Of course I was thoroughly impressed to know someone who was published in such a prestigious magazine, and took it upon myself to give this person a call a few days later. I knew that the magazine had been on the racks for the better part of a month, so I was interested in how many other people had called the author to congratulate him or to seek his business. I wasn’t terribly surprised when in response to my question the author replied, “How many people have contacted me? You mean aside from my mother? Just you.” The point is that hardly anyone contacts people who appear in print, and that’s a shame. It’s easy to write the author of an article you’re impressed with a short note, and if you don’t know the address, you can send it to them in care of the publication. It’s an easy and highly productive method to establish contact with people who would be difficult to get in touch with by other means.

Along these same lines it’s helpful to establish relationships with the business reporters who cover your industry. For example, since a lot of my work is with technology companies and consulting firms, I’ve made it a point to get to know the reporters who cover these areas. By being a source to them I’ve been able to establish relationships that are mutually beneficial. They get quotes and insights into the goings-on in these industries, and I get tips about personnel changes, mergers and relocations. I’m a little surprised that none of my competitors have tried to strike up similar relationships with these reporters.

Something else you’ll want to pay attention to as you’re perusing the trade publications is who is advertising? Again this is an often-overlooked area of opportunity.

I do a fair amount of business with one of the largest technology consulting firms in the country largely because they happened to run an advertisement in a trade journal. This particular ad listed the name of the regional VP and gave his phone number. That prompted me to give this person a call in which I referenced the ad and how effective I thought it was. This initial call ultimately resulted in an introduction to their national head of training. Today, this consulting firm is a valued client of my firm.

I used to think that if I actually contacted people who were quoted in the press or wrote articles they would think I was a pest. I incorrectly assumed that they got bombarded with telephone calls. Ironically, the exact opposite is true. Moreover, when you introduce yourself and say that you really enjoyed their article, it’s a very positive way to begin a business relationship.