Rock Your Business - 33 Ideas from Today's Top Marketers

33 Mind-Blowing Ideas
from Today’s Top Marketers.

MarketingInProgress.com/RockYourBusiness 1
MarketingInProgress.com/RockYourBusiness

Rock Your Business
33 Mind-Blowing Ideas from Today’s Top Marketers

Written by 33 different extremely smart and cool people.

Collected and edited by Brett Duncan, MarketingInProgress.com

© 2011

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So here’s the story .
In mid-December 2010, I had a simple idea. Unlike with most ideas, I decided to act on it
right away without figuring out all the details. I wrote several friends, colleagues and online
buddies to join me in a project. I basically asked them to answer one question:

What is one marketing idea that could make a big difference for entrepreneurs in 2011?

32 of these marketing aficionados quickly responded with an ―I‘m in.‖ The result is what
you‘re reading now.

To say there‘s a variety of ideas would be like saying Prince is a talented musician. I‘m
actually shocked by just how diverse it is. You‘re gonna get something out of this.

Here’s what you can do with this ebook:
1. Read it (obviously). Highlight your favorite parts. Jot notes in the margins.
Then figure out one thing you can do to put an idea to work.
2. Email it. I bet you know some people who would get something out of this
book. Send them to MarketingInProgress.com/RockYourBusiness. If you
have an email newsletter, this may be a great addition to an upcoming
campaign.
3. Share it. Be sure to ―Like‖ this ebook, Tweet it, and whatever else you wanna
do. Again, just share it from MarketingInProgress.com/RockYourBusiness.
4. Blog about it. If you are a blogger with an audience who enjoys this kind of
stuff, post your impressions in an upcoming blog post.

You may also notice that a few authors wrote to a specific audience. That‘s by design. Even
if you‘re not part of that audience, per se, you‘ll still get something out of their post. So keep
reading.

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One More Thing (ok, maybe two)

I gotta thank Pamela Wilson from BigBrandSystem.com for coming up with the title of the
ebook. I had an initial idea, but Pamela came up with ―Rock Your Business,‖ and it made
complete sense to run with it. Thanks!

Also, big thanks to Lyn Christian from SoulSalt.com. It was Lyn‘s idea to not stop with
just an ebook. She wanted a place where all of us could discuss our reactions to ideas in this
book, and then take it further and form a tight-knit community where we can all share
ideas, tips and whatever else comes to mind.

It‘s a great idea, so I created the Marketing In Progress Roundtable, a simple online forum
where we can all talk about thoughts that spring from this ebook. It‘s absolutely free to join.
When you do, you‘ll get access to lots of cool member-only features, such as ….

 Discussions with some of the ebook authors.
 Access to the Roundtable community (hey, it‘s your community; do what you
want with it!)
 Audio interviews and seminars featuring many of the ebook authors. (There‘s
already an interview with Lyn Christian waiting for you)

Join now by going to MarketingInProgress.com/Roundtable. Enter your email address,
and we‘ll send you your invitation. It‘s free to anyone, so pass it along to anyone you like.

OK – enough intro stuff. Let‘s get into the ideas, shall we?

Thanks – Brett Duncan, MarketingInProgress.com.

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Don’t Wanna
The Surprising Secret to Getting What You DO Want
in Your 2011 Marketing
By Shannon Bradford

If you‘re like most entrepreneurs, you‘ve read plenty about planning for the new year.
You‘ve been told you need to set SMART goals, to calculate a marketing budget, to put
together a social media plan, or to analyze your brand.

All good ideas.

But if that advice leaves you saying, ―Don‘t Wanna,‖ all the better. Yes! You heard me right:
All the better.

Why? Because by thinking, ―Don‘t Wanna,‖ you are on your way to the most successful
marketing year you‘ve ever had in your business.

Shannon Bradford is a writer, small I know it seems counterintuitive. But stay with me.
business coach, and the founder of Small
Business Divas, a resource center for Asking yourself what you really don‘t want is one of the best ways to get to a practical
entrepreneurs offering real-world, can-do marketing plan that is focused on your true priorities.
small business advice. She is the author of
Here’s why it works. Like most entrepreneurs, you probably did not start your own
Brain Power (Wiley, 2002).
business because you love marketing and run to your desk every morning singing, ―I can‘t
Connect with Diva Shannon on Twitter: wait to work on my marketing!‖ But, if you do, you can feel free to skip this article.
@smallbizdivas. Get more practical
small business advice or the No-Torture
Small Business Plan Kit free at
SmallBusinessDivas.com.
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More likely, you started your business because you have a talent, an idea, a passion for your
product or service. And marketing is that must-do exercise that takes up chunks of your
time, rarely feels urgent, and is hard to connect results to the investment.

When you focus on what you don‘t want to happen, you avoid the wishful thinking or
follow-the-herd mentality that tends to invade small business marketing plans. Instead, you
shoot straight to the essence of a plan that is based on clear priorities that are uniquely
important to you. And build leverage to motivate yourself to execute.

It’s a simple three-step process. Here’s how it works:

Step One: Identify the top three happenings (events, outcomes, embarrassments, or
disasters) you ―Don‘t Wanna‖ in your marketing in 2011.

Now, for each of the three Don‘t Wanna‘s you identified, answer two questions:

Step Two: What would you suffer if it did happen? Let your imagination run free with all of
the scary thinking you can muster.

Step Three: What can you do to make it not happen? Identify one or more concrete actions
you can take to prevent the Don‘t Wanna.

Your Don‘t Wannas and the concrete actions you identified now become the foundation of
your marketing program. Your three Don‘t Wannas become your three priorities. And your
actions from Step Three tell you what you need to do. Of course, you will need to develop a
―how, when, how much, and by who‖ plan for each of your concrete actions.

Now you have a practical marketing plan for 2011 with concrete actions based on clear
priorities that are uniquely important to you. And you got there with the surprising power
of ―Don‘t Wanna.‖

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The rise of social enterprise
Transform your business into a profitable powerhouse for
the greater global good
By Dino Baskovic

Imagine for a moment that you own a coffee shop. As part of your consumer marketing
strategy, you source the best beans from around the planet, taking great care to find fair-
Dino Baskovic is the manager of online trade, organically certified varieties. Customers clamor for your coffee as a result and you
public relations and social media for prosper financially. Yet instead of gauging your success by mere profits or shareholder
Amway Corporation. He is responsible for satisfaction, your primary measure of what makes a blockbuster business is helping the
strategic direction of all social media farms that supply your operations halfway around the world. That is your bottom line—the
initiatives that support corporate and quality of life for those farmers, ensuring they are able to trade in fair market conditions and
brand reputation. can adhere to sustainable, environmentally-friendly growing and harvesting methods. (The
bottom line is still your profit. Quality of life for those farmers needs to be tied to a
Dino was formerly a professor of web
―sustainable business‖ model before it can be tied to sustainable farming.)
design at Lawrence Technological
University, as well as founder and
principal of Vincena, an interactive The above example, more or less, describes social enterprise:
marketing consultancy based in Detroit
creating profitable businesses that enhance the quality of life for those in need through
and Research Triangle Park (Raleigh, NC).
conservation and respect for global cultures.
Dino has an extensive PR background and
has counseled agencies and clients since The concept is not entirely new, having been the focus of leadership initiatives from
graduating from Kent State University respected universities such as Harvard and Cornell for well over a decade. A growing
with a B.S. in public relations in 1997. legion of business luminaries gather at international assemblies such as the Skoll World
He can be found online at
dinobaskovic.com and on Twitter:
@ProfessorDino. 7

Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and the Social Enterprise World Forum. Additionally,
social entrepreneurs have gained media traction over the last few years, particularly with
the advent of microlending and microfinancing in third-world countries through
noteworthy lenders including Kiva.org and Grameen Bank.

Social enterprises may collaborate with governments and NGOs alike as well as
NPOs/NPGs to establish market presence for certain goods and services. It is important to
understand that in most cases, social enterprises are for-profit ventures. Also, what defines
such enterprises can vary from market to market depending on regulatory conditions.
Furthermore, social entrepreneurs are classified as innovators, able to bring forth creative,
inventive and original offerings to market with the intent of reshaping society.

How can you become a socially-mined business, or steer into that direction? Here are
some questions to ask yourself:

Do I truly have it in me to (re)focus my business on advancing social causes, including the
fortitude to overcome hurdles that may lay ahead?

Am I a ―change agent‖ in the real sense of the term, and if so, am I confident that sharing
my ideas and innovations will create massive change for the good of the planet?

Can I market my social enterprise in a way that inspires, engages and alters behaviors for
the better?

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While not everybody is called to be a social entrepreneur, it is vastly beneficial to realize that
potential marketing opportunities abound at the convergence of the private and public
sectors. Expect increasing coverage and marketing analysis of the face of social enterprise in
2011.

For more information, please visit the following resources on the web:

Slide Presentation: “Tech-Savvy Social Entrepreneurship”
http://hbr.org/web/extras/tech-savvy-social-entrepreneurship/1-slide

Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative
http://www.hbs.edu/socialenterprise/

Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future
http://sustainablefuture.cornell.edu/

Cornell Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
http://www2.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/

The Skoll Foundation
http://www.skollfoundation.org/

Social Edge
http://www.socialedge.org/

Social Enterprise Alliance
http://se-alliance.org/

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Join Your Chamber and Show Up
By Patricia Redsicker

If there‘s ONE thing that I think would make a HUGE difference for entrepreneurs in 2011 it
is joining their local Chamber of Commerce AND getting deeply involved.

Chamber membership is a common sense investment and one of the best values in business.
The chamber exists to provide business benefits that you‘re not likely to find anywhere else
– referrals, networking opportunities, representation and advocacy and an appropriate
environment to give your organization the spot light. This is especially important if you‘re a
‗solopreneur‘ or a small business with a shoe-string advertising budget.

But there‘s more to Chamber membership than paying your dues and having your business
listed in their business directory. That in it-self will not do much for your growth.
Unfortunately however a lot of people expect the Chamber to ‗do something for them‘ just
by virtue of sending a check.

In my experience, I have found that what brings most value is the time investment that you
make in Chamber activities and committees. It means getting deeply involved and being
Patricia Redsicker is the principal of very active within the Chamber community. It means sharing your resources with others. It
WordView Editing, a copy-writing and means altruistic service.
social media consultancy in the Baltimore
area. She is also a very active member of When you first become a Chamber member, find out what committees are available and
the Howard County Chamber of Commerce what kind of services they provide. General committees include legislative, membership,
and a board member of the Young marketing, events, and so on. Find one that is a good fit for your business skills and your
Professionals Network – a group within personality and apply to become an active member of that group.
the Chamber.

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Give that committee your time, skills and resources without counting the cost or expecting
anything in return. Make sure that you are consistent in your involvement. Don‘t just show
up a couple of times a year and expect to reap any worthwhile benefits. Provide the most
outstanding service, just as you would for a high-paying client.

What will happen over a relatively short period of time is that other Chamber members -
who are prominent and influential - will start to notice your hard work, your commitment
and dedication to service. They will find it easy to come up and talk to you because they‘re
used to seeing you around, helping out and getting involved. It will be a natural thing for
them to ‗go-to‘ you because you‘re part of the ‗establishment‘. They‘ll take a genuine interest
in what you do outside of Chamber activities because they see that you‘re committed to
something bigger than yourself.

In addition, the Chamber itself will be happy to refer business your way in exchange for
your dedicated service to them. You can be sure, that a referral from the Chamber is no
small favor.

At the time of this writing, 95% of my current and prospective projects are directly from
Chamber connections that I have made through active committee involvement and
consistent service. I would not have met these prospects if I were just another paid up
member who did not get involved.

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$100+ million
in Lead Conversion Tools
by Jeff Swaim

Today, the game has changed from getting ―leads‖ to getting customers. We‘ve been too
bombarded by ―free download this‖ or ―win an iPhone that‖ to get sucked into filling out a
form or submitting our email addresses like we used to. Today we are more discriminate
and REAL content is king. So how do we rise above the ―gimmicks‖ and attract qualified
leads and turn them into outstanding customers? Well, as 21st century marketing guru Seth
Godin puts it, ―Be remarkable or be invisible.‖

Below are five key principles I recommend to make ―real‖ customers happen, followed by
my priceless Bookmarks List of online tools that are worth their conversion weight in gold.
Here‘s to a powerful 2011!

1) Be transparent, authentic, and real. Fluff won‘t cut it today.
Jeff Swaim is the founder and tribe 2) Do your homework. Real content is king. Make your brand believable.
leader of MOOv, a ―digitally-minded‖ 3) Keep I.T. people out of the room and maybe let in a few marketers. Mostly,
advertising agency based in Denver, have real people—true prospects—drive your messaging, offer and design.
Colorado. Their specialty is 4) Ask for as little information as possible, and get more later. (After they are a
remarkable marketing and ridiculous customer.)
results—because if you are not
remarkable—you are invisible!
makeamoov.com

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5) Pictures are still worth a thousand words. Pictures and sound are worth
10,000 words. DO NOT make prospects think. Hand-hold them right into
your customer list.

Bookmarks of those who truly GET lead conversion:

http://userfly.com
http://feedbackarmy.com
http://clicktale.com
http://attentionwizard.com
http://crossbrowsertesting.com
http://usertesting.com
http://app.mockflow.com
http://socialmention.com
http://trackur.com
http://imoderate.com

Like what you’re reading so far?
Come hang out at the Marketing In Progress Roundtable.
Free forum, free interviews, free seminars, great discussion.

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Be Exceptional, No Exceptions
By Lyn Christian, MCC, CFCC

All the creative, inspiring marketing ideas within this book may be for naught unless you
are willing to do one thing: assure that your product or a service is exceptional.

What I mean is this:

Great ideas fulfill a need or want in the marketplace.

Exceptional ideas fulfill a need or want for lots of people, and compel lots of those people to
Lyn Christian captivates audiences with
pay for them. Exceptional ideas seduce, attract, nurture, and entice our attention and our
her presence, courage and truth telling. As
cash.
a world-class coach, coach trainer and as a
published author, she is all about fierce To repeat:
integrity and peak performance – for her
clients and herself. Her work currently Lots of people need and want your product + lots of those people are willing to pay for it =
extends from being the CEO of Soul Salt EXCEPTIONAL.
Inc. Life Strategies and Business Coaching
to living up to her eyeballs in the lab of Stop yourself if you‘re prematurely reaching for the ―exceptional‖ rubber stamp. You don‘t
human evolution. (Lyn just re-entered the get to label your offering as such. That‘s your customer‘s job.
world of competitive sports at age 51)
Your job is to create and market something exceptional. This process often follows a pattern
To learn more about Lyn visit:
similar to this:
www.soulsalt.com
Develop your idea as best you can.
www.lynchristian.com
Launch a version of it and market that to your audience.
www.soulsaltacademy.com

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Observe what real, paying customers have to say. Or what they don‘t say about your
product.

Revise if needed and add more marketing to your efforts.

Launch again.

Repeat the steps above as often as is necessary to reach exceptional. Or until you prudently
shelf the idea.

If you want an example of a completed process, consider the book titled The Christmas Box.
Originally Richard Paul Evans intended to create two copies of his book to give to his
children. However, his wife read and reacted to the book so powerfully that they
determined to self-publish twenty copies and gift those out to friends as well as family
members for Christmas. Within six weeks their phone started ringing. In fact it rang almost
every day. Local book stores were asking to fulfill orders they had taken from people who
had heard about and wanted the book. Another 5,000 copies were self-published and some
formal marketing was added to the mix as Richard Paul Evans kept listening to and
responding to the marketplace. By the next year, The Christmas Box had become #2 on the
New York Times bestseller list. Now that‘s exceptional.

Recently I launched my first i-phone app called Today and Not Today. What started out as a
paper-based tool designed to help clients cut through chaos and effectively plan out their
day, has now become a digital resource. And at the same point in time where this e-book
was first offered online, the app was knee-deep in the ―great‖ stage.

I know as you do that millions of ideas are out there hoping to become exceptional.

Will mine be one of them?

Will yours be one of them?

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Stories
By Dave Sattler

Stop thinking about what you sell as a product or service. What you sell is an experience.
People often confuse the terms product and brand and consider the two to be
interchangeable. Product, from a marketing perspective, is something with a set of relevant
attributes that appeals to your target group of consumers priced competitively and to
support your business model. A brand is the emotions associated with your product(s) that
actually drive purchases through word of mouth and loyalty.
Dave Sattler is
Web Marketing Strategist for Scentsy. Highly relevant, very cool products fail all the time. Brands are built on emotions and the
He worked with PetSmart, Intel (China), more emotion that is invested into a brand the harder it is for that brand to fail. In May 2008
and MarketRx. Most of Dave’s work has sustainable apparel brand Nau posted on its blog that it was closing its doors. But
been around helping consumer product consumers wouldn‘t let the brand die and sent letters, emails, and blog comments sharing
companies identify word of mouth and their passion for the brand. According to, Ian Yolles, Nau head of marketing;
interactive strategies to drive conversion
"I felt like I was occupying two realities. In one there was this profound shock of a company
and generate brand loyalty.
closing down. Yet in this other, these customers communicating their passion for what the
At Scentsy, Dave drives online marketing same company stood for."
and branding strategies for Scentsy
corporate as well as facilitating online The outpouring of support for the Nau brand prompted Ian and a handful of ex-Nau
evangelism by both consultants and employees to make some phone calls and within 5 months they found a buyer that would
consumers through the use of social media. let the brand continue to live and was slated to turn a profit in 2010.

http://twitter.com/davesattler http://www.inc.com/magazine/20091201/a-second-chance-for-a-failed-brand.html
http://davesattler.posterous.com/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/nau-outdoor-eco-clothier-is-back.php
http://www.linkedin.com/in/getdave

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http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0301/entrepreneurs-patagonia-nau-horny-toad-that-
was-then.html

Donald Calne, the well-known neurologist and author of the book Within Reason:
Rationality and Human Behavior wrote;

―The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while
reason leads to conclusions.‖

Every year Interbrand measures the strength of brands all over the world. These very
interesting reports illustrate three vital components of a brand; the loyalty of that brands
consumers, the ―recommendability‖ (or Net Promoter Score) of that brand, and the ability of
that brand to leverage word of mouth in marketing. Essentially;

1. How many of your current consumers will purchase from you again?

2. How likely are your current consumers to recommend your brand to others?

3. How much word of mouth equity have you accumulated? Of your consumers, how
many would evangelize for you given the chance? And beyond recommending, how many
would engage with your marketing?

The success of your business is directly tied to the strength of your brand which is directly
tied to the strength of the emotions associated with your brand. Stories are still the most
valuable form of reaching people on an emotional level. When I say ―stories‖ I mean
anything that offers people an opportunity to consume or generate content that reflects the
uniqueness of the human experience.

To drive the launch of the Ford Fiesta into Europe, Ford invited the EU public to submit
their own definition of ‗now‘ to the ‗This is Now‘ Flickr group. Over 60,000 images were

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submitted and the 200 blog posts reached over 2M. This is great example of how Ford
crowdsourced the telling of a story and generated awareness and interest.

http://wearesocial.net/thisisnow/

How do I go about doing this?

Post-conversion marketing - invite those who already love you to tell stories about you.
Find ways to amplify the voice of those who already love you and would tell your story to
the world or engage around your brand. This will generate stories.

Find a (brand-rich) story, create your own, or crowdsource the story-writing to the
public. Once you‘ve found your story, find the most compelling medium to tell it
and make it easily shareable.

Be honest with yourself. When thinking of marketing engagements ask yourself; ―What will
people say about our marketing? Is it word-of-mouth worthy? How is this going to get
people talking about us and what will they say?‖ Remember the goal is not simply to
entertain those that already love you but to give them something so compelling that they‘ll
be inclined to share it with their friends.

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Why Small Ball is Better
Than Swinging for the Fences
By Frank Barnett

Editor’s note: this post was originally written in late January 2011.

The Super Bowl is less than two weeks away, and I don‘t know about you, but for me, some
of the best drama on TV comes courtesy of sports. There‘s the slam dunk to cap a comeback.
The fumble that‘s picked up and run back to win the game. And, of course, the towering
home run. Just mention ―The Drive‖ or ―The Catch‖ and sports fans will nod knowingly.
They happen every day - and they‘re why we watch. But while home runs certainly sell
tickets, in baseball and in business, good managers know that ―small ball‖ wins
championships.

What is “small ball”?

Frank Barnett is an internet marketer If you‘re not familiar with the term, ―small ball‖ is just like it sounds: as a strategy, it‘s the
with an unhealthy obsession with opposite of banking on the ―long ball.‖ Instead of swinging for the fences, you simply get a
conversion rate, one of many ticks he’s runner on base. Instead of trying to get the guy home in one shot, you bunt the guy on first
developed doing search marketing over the over to second. In short, you take high percentage shots. It‘s similar to shooting layups
last 10 years. You can find out more about instead of three-point-shots in basketball. A bunt won‘t bring the crowd to their feet, but it
Frank at frankcbarnett.com, or follow almost always will advance the runner - and the runs all count the same. They don‘t give
him at twitter at @fbarnett. you more points for hitting it out of the park.

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Small Ball as a New Year’s Resolution

It‘s a New Year - a clean slate. If you‘re like me, you set some pretty lofty goals to make the
most of this year. What resolutions did you set for your business? Are you banking on a
towering home run, a bottom-of-the-ninth Grand Slam to get you where you want to be?
Are they strikingly similar to the plot line of Casey at the Bat? Let me suggest that instead of
swinging for the fences, you should play a little small ball.

I‘m a web guy, so here‘s an example (you could do the same with your call center or direct
sales): Instead of scrapping your website and hiring a big-money firm to build you a
rockstar web app that will ―hit it out of the park,‖ simply shoot to increase your existing
site‘s conversion rate by a tenth of a percent each quarter. It‘s far cheaper, totally within
your control - and completely doable. It means you spend a lot of time making small tweaks
to your web content, to your images, to your checkout process or lead-gen funnel. But it‘s
not a crash diet and it takes discipline and patience, and it‘s unlikely anyone will call you a
hero at the end of January. But take a look at what that incremental improvement can do for
you this year: the average website converts at around 1% or 2%, which means that for an
average website, playing small ball gets you a more than 33% improvement over what your
site did in 2010. If your site converted 33% more visitors than it did last year, that would be
pretty big, I‘d guess.

In sports as in business as in life: It‘s a lot more glamorous to swing for the fences. But the
smart money will always be on small ball. Consistent, incremental improvement will almost
always beat the big, dramatic one-shot initiative.

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Listening to Understand
Fundamental to Direct Sales Success
By Neil Phillips

As sales people, we sometimes get so caught up in our own ―stuff,‖ that we forget one of the
first principles of sales—understand your customer. If you don‘t know what they want,
how can you help them get it? Stephen Covey would offer the simple advice to ―seek first
to understand, then be understood.‖

I was coaching a group last week and the core knowledge that we were talking about was
customer-centered listening. You might call it active listening, reflective listening, or heart-
centered listening, but the core of all of those is precisely where we were trying to focus. The
essential lesson is a simple one: the business relationship you build with your customers
depends on you listening to them as people, and not as purchasers you want them to be.
While we all know and engage in the behaviors, we seldom put it together in a list. As a
group, we discussed seven concepts.

1. Be physically available. Hold yourself nonverbally open and attentive. Don‘t
Neil Phillips is an internationally known forget to nod and smile.
network marketing and direct selling 2. Be mentally open. Engage in minimal interruptions while staying focused on
coach. Visit Team Connections to read the conversation.
his blog or sign up for the free newsletter. 3. Use door openers like ―You sound excited! I love your enthusiasm. What‘s
For a daily coaching message, visit him on going on?‖
Facebook. 4. Be verbally extending. Ask for more details.

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5. When you hear a metaphor being used, keep it going. ―I am so tired of just
being another player on the team.‖ ―I understand. You want to be the
captain.‖
6. Be verbally summarizing. Paraphrase.
7. Be verbally shaping. Reframe the conversation. (Think about the 50% glass—
is it half empty or half full?)
―I tried weight control pills before. It didn‘t work.‖

―Are you saying the supplements weren‘t right for you?‖

―Yeah. They may work for some people but I think my G.I. system is more sensitive.‖

―So the supplements worked, you just needed better direction on which ones.‖

I guess you could say that this really isn‘t complex. We listen like this when we are in
conversational mode. The difference is that we should do this when we are in a selling
mode. If we think we know the answer before we hear from the customer, then we are more
likely to misunderstand than not.

Listening to Understand doesn‘t always come easy. We have too many stimuli pulling at
our attention. This is a list just to get you started. I‘m sure you can add to it.

I want to leave you with a couple of additional questions. How can you stay focused on the
telephone? (Hint: It won‘t happen while driving or internet surfing.) How do we extend
customer centered listening to a blog, Facebook, or elsewhere on the cloud? It‘s easy to
push ourselves out like traditional interruption marketing. How can you start an internet
dialogue?

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Dream Big! Then Shelve 'Em
By Dennis Cheatham

You may have lofty and exciting entrepreneurial ideas but if they haven't been conceived
with your market in mind, they'll fail. Design thinking is a methodology that espouses the
importance of user-centered design. In other words, it's the process of innovation conducted
with an empathetic attitude toward your market. Consider your customer (user) when
devising products or services, or while testing your existing ideas for ones you've already
hatched and revise or discard those ideas while wearing your design thinking glasses.
Constantly evaluate if the project you're pursuing meets the needs of the user and be critical
Dennis Cheatham as you develop it. Creating and evaluating ideas this way will reveal their strengths and
weaknesses and will save you time, money, and heartache in the process, as long as you're
dennischeatham.com
willing to shelve the ones that don't work to make room for others whose day has yet to
come.

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How to be Unforgettable
By Pamela Wilson

Remember me?

I‘m your potential customer. I
want to buy from you, but I
can‘t remember the name of
your business.

I have money in my hand, but
your business name isn‘t
coming to mind. I wish your
marketing had been more
memorable.

Maybe if you‘d written your
copy to be benefits driven, I‘d
remember you better.

That means if your business sells chewing gum, you don‘t focus on how it‘s flavored with
organically-grown spearmint, which is a feature. Instead, tell me how chewing your gum
will give me fresh breath so I can stand closer to that cute person across the room, which is
Pamela Wilson helps small businesses definitely a benefit.
grow with great design and marketing tips.
Learn the basics with her free Design 101 If your tag line explained what you offer in a memorable way, at least I‘d be able to Google
e-course at the Big Brand System. you. But I can‘t, because it doesn‘t.

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Maybe if you‘d delivered your message in a memorable package, I‘d know where to send
my money right now.

If you‘d used the same two colors on everything you created — your web site, business
cards, brochures and t-shirts — I‘d have an easier time remembering the name of your
business.

If you had chosen a distinctive typeface or two, then used those consistently in all your
marketing, I‘d be more successful recalling who you are.

I want to buy from you, but I can‘t find you.

What will you do to be unforgettable this year?

Got some ideas of your own?
Let’s all talk about ‘em. Join us at the Roundtable.

25

Lay Off the Social Media
By Terena Bell

Lay off the social media. Seriously. I know this is sacrilege to say in an e-book, but when it
comes to social media, less is more.

Don‘t get me wrong. I spend as much time Tweeting (twitter.com/InEveryLanguage) in a
day as I do talking to my mother. In Every Language (www.ineverylanguage.com), my
company, has its own Facebook page (www.facebook.com/InEveryLanguage) and I even
have two for myself—a personal one hidden from the search engines and a professional one
that‘s not. In the language services industry, which is where I do my work, I‘m even
considered to be a social media leader, publishing on social media in Multilingual, and
speaking on it at conferences for the American Translators Association (ATA) and the
Association of Language Companies (ALC). I‘m even co-chair of the ALC‘s ―social media
task force,‖ whatever that‘s supposed to mean. So, yes, I believe in the power of social
media. But, seriously, let‘s not go overboard here, people.

When you‘re an entrepreneur, the one commodity you definitely need more of is time.
Everyone will tell you it‘s cash flow, but you can always get more money. You can‘t get
Terena Bell is CEO of In Every Language, more time. So what you have to do is budget time just like you would money. You have to
a social enterprise offering translation, spend it judiciously and save it wherever you can. Social media—which, again, I heartily
interpreting, and localization in 170 believe in—takes time.
different languages to clients worldwide.
Follow her on Twitter at When you run a business, whether you started it or not, you are responsible for its image.
@InEveryLanguage or find the company Yes, it‘s okay to think creatively, be progressive, blah-blah, but you need to act responsibly
online at InEveryLanguage.com. as well. That‘s why In Every Language never got a MySpace. When we first jumped on the

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social media bandwagon, the only brands on MySpace were rock bands and Adidas. It
simply wasn‘t a good fit for us. MySpace would have taken time and diluted our brand.

In Every Language‘s hallmark program is Translation Plus Two (http://bit.ly/i3lVSb), an
initiative where we match corporations in need of translation with translators from
economically-discriminated populations. While we stayed away from MySpace, we did get
a profile on SocialYell (www.socialyell.com/In-Every-Language), a site none of our
competitors have signed up on. SocialYell‘s beauty is that it focuses on corporate social
responsibility. Our target market includes corporations that want to be responsible
throughout all aspects of their supply chain, including translation. So while having a
MySpace profile would have been a bit too teeny-boppery, having one on SocialYell helps
fortify In Every Language‘s branding position as the responsible translation provider.

Again, I‘m not saying to kill off your social media, but I am saying lay off of it a little bit.
You don‘t have to have a profile on every site out there. Save yourself some time and look
for sites and forums that allow you to grow your brand and to truly reach your actual
market.

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The Eleventh Commandment
By Dana Phillips

There is a great saying, ―if it is to be, it‘s up to me.‖ The success of your business is in your
hands and you can‘t blame your neighbors, your kids, your husband, the weather if you fail.

Here are some practical tips for marketing your direct selling business.

Consider purchasing a sign or wrap for your car that reads, ―To buy or sell XYZ, call me
at...‖ Be sure to wear your company logo wear or nametag everywhere you go.

Then be prepared to follow the Direct Selling Eleventh Commandment: Open Thy Mouth.

I remember my first year in business I wore my nametag in a Safeway grocery store in
Topeka, Kansas. When people noticed my nametag, I could have smiled and just said, ―Yes,
I‘m a representative for XYZ,‖ but I continued the conversation. I opened my mouth and
scheduled four appointments in one afternoon. You see the nametag might get visual
recognition, but it‘s your warm personality, your ―Open Thy Mouth‖ conversation that will
bring you business. A catalog or business card won‘t recruit a new person for you. People
won‘t say, ―Oh look, I see your nametag: I want to have do business with you.‖
Dana Phillips is an internationally known
expert in Direct Selling. She co-authored Learn to open your mouth in all sorts of situations, circumstances, and opportunities. You
Direct Selling 101, a bestselling audio CD might want to talk about your product, have your catalog in every restaurant you go to. It
from the Time Warner series, Coach in a could be as simple as this: when the waitress comes up, admire her, give her a sincere
Box. Dana coaches direct selling leaders, compliment, ―you‘re just such a friendly person and I don‘t know if you even know about
and consults with direct selling companies. my product XYZ, but I‘d love to give you a brochure.‖ Then ask her for a number so you
Learn more at TeamConnections.org. can follow up.

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One of the most successful tips I give my clients is to put yourself in a contest. Life is a
contest. It‘s always fun. So you can always announce to people: ―I‘m in a contest. I‘m
trying to talk to five people today about our wonderful product. May I tell you a little about
my company?‖

Another game you can play to help you remember to start conversations is the ―Five People
Here Game.‖ When you go into a store or a mall make a decision that you are not leaving
until you have the name and the number of five people. One sales leader told me she went
into the grocery store playing this game and she was shocked by the amount of time that
she was in the store. The reason she‘d spent an hour is because she booked three parties, all
brand new people she had never met. It was her enthusiasm and the fact that she was
talking to people and opening her mouth.

―If it is to be, it‘s up to me.‖ You are the CEO of your company. You are the owner of your
business and if you don‘t open your mouth, nobody else is going to. Recognize that you
have something terrific to offer, and realize that there is business everywhere. Go and get it;
open your mouth.

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Give your brand a soul
By Cynthia Smoot

Last year, you probably jumped into social media and started a Facebook page and created a
Twitter account for your business. You started pushing out your marketing messages with
wild abandon and waited for the customers (and their money) to come pouring in. A year
later, you're scratching your head and wondering what all the hype was about.

Social media is not traditional media. So quit using it that way.

It's called "social" for a reason. Think about what you like to see on these sites from your
human counterparts: funny pictures, birthday shout outs, witty quips or funny remarks
about something in the news... It's the things about a person that makes them human and
relatable that make you feel connected to them.

If you want to see more than just mild success on your social media channels, your brand
needs a soul. And while we're at it, give it a personality too! Talk about something other
than yourself once in a while. Reach out to others and comment on their posts, talk to
people about things other than your brand or the products you sell. Turn yourself into a
Cynthia Smoot likable, relatable, engaging voice and you will have a much better chance of creating those
Social Strategist and Marketing "brand evangelists" you've been hearing so much about.
Consultant
Gangway Advertising It's no different than what I tell my young son, "To have friends, you have to first BE a
@GangwayAdv @OhSoCynthia friend worth having".

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Just Communicate
By Travis Dahle

If there was one piece of advice that I could give people when it comes to their business it
would be this: Just Communicate. If you understand this one simple concept, you can see
your business explode.

Just Communicate has several concepts. First, your presentation is about you – not about
how awesome your project/service/idea is. If you are going to give a presentation about
your business or your new idea that you are trying to get funding for, people are going to
buy into you – not the presentation. That means that you have to be able to communicate
your idea to those people. Unfortunately, most people think that they have to pour as much
information in as humanly possible because they want to make sure that nothing is left out.
Congratulations, you just added a few more deaths to the PowerPoint pile. Keep it simple,
short and to the point. If you need some tips or suggestions, either go here
(dahlecommunication.com), here (presentationzen.com) or here (ethos3.com). When it
comes to presenting those ideas, delivery is a key aspect to success. While there is a lot that
goes into being an effective presenter, some suggestions include: prepare, practice and be
Travis Dahle has a passion for confident. Again, a lot more goes into it, but that‘s a start.
communication that borders on obsessive -
just hope that you are not speaking in front While ‗Social Media‘ is great, most people don‘t understand how to use it for
of an audience with him in it because he'll communicating with people. The largest are of course Twitter and Facebook. These two can
probably be analyzing what you are doing! speak for all of the various ‗Social Media‘ out there. While Twitter and Facebook have the
He works on spreading his gospel on the potential to reach out to your customers, too many people use it as a marketing tool instead
importance of good communication on his of a communication tool. Social media is a way to have a conversation with the people who
website at DahleCommunication.com. are either buying your products, using your services or buying into your business. It

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shouldn‘t be about how many people will see your latest press release or your latest coupon
for a product or service. What you should do is engage in the community and communicate
with them.

Another aspect that people struggle with deals with cell phones. While cell phone
technology is great and it has allowed us to have access to the internet 24/7, access to our e-
mails, texts, twitter updates, Facebook updates and the latest news – it has actually hurt our
ability to communicate. When you are talking to someone face-to-face, don‘t treat them like
they are secondary to your phone. The problem is a lot of people feel an almost Pavlovian
reaction to their phone when they hear or feel their phone go off with some type of e-mail,
text or update. When you check your phone while in a meeting with someone, you are
telling them that they are not important – your phone is. Stay focused, keep communicating
and check your phone later.

So remember, Just Communicate. If people would follow that simple mantra, their business
would do much better. Presentations, social media and face-to-face communication can
make or break a business. Use them effectively and succeed.

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A Marketing Plan Matters
By Jennifer Fong

As an entrepreneur, you‘re responsible for everything. From the important client meetings
to scrubbing the toilets, it‘s often all you. And because of that, we often focus more on the
actual execution, rather than the ―luxury‖ of planning. And this can really come back to bite
you, especially when it comes to your marketing.

If you‘re using social media to market your business, you might find yourself sitting in front
of Facebook or Twitter each day asking yourself, ―What should I post today?‖ The problem
Jennifer Fong is a direct sales and social with this approach is that it prevents you from being strategic in your communication.
media corporate consultant and speaker
that helps companies put into place a
strategic social media presence that brings We all know that the ultimate goal is more sales. But we also know that ―buy my stuff‖ is
measurable results. She blogs regularly not the kind of communication that works through social media. Instead, it takes a gradual
about ways that business owners can use approach over time. But if you‘re not planning that slow build that builds trust with your
social media effectively market, how on earth will your social strategy be effective?
at http://www.jenfongspeaks.com. She also
provides regular information on the ways
that direct sales companies can use social
media effectively A marketing plan matters. You should be planning at least 3 months in advance what you
at http://www.jenfongmedia.com want to communicate about your business. Are there holidays coming up that you can use
(Launching Spring 2011). as part of your marketing? Do you have specials, promotions, or other offers that can be
highlighted? Will particular topics be of interest because of something going on in your
community?

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Your marketing will only work if it communicates the right information at the right time.
Maybe it‘s not an earth-shattering new idea, but planning is neglected far too often by busy
entrepreneurs. Plan 3 months ahead each quarter of this year, and watch how much more
effective your marketing will be.

HOWDY PARTNER
By Tracey A. Altman

With small budgets and lean staffs, finding partners to share your promotion with is a
TRACEY A ALTMAN is currently vice strategic advantage from your competitor. When thinking of partners, don't think of just the
president of marketing for Wholly Dip obvious ones.
brands, including Wholly Guacamole,
Wholly Salsa and Wholly Queso. She has Who shares your target? Who shares your brand personality? Who compliments your
over 20 years experience (but doesn't look brand? Who stands for something you would like to stand for? Are you equal brands? Or
that old) working with all kinds of brands, are they bigger? You bigger?
including Nokia, Haggar Clothing Co,
What assets do you both have to trade with and capitalize on? It can be a big program - ads,
Virgin mobile, Pizza Hut, etc. Tracey has
events, etc., or a small program - Facebook cross-over promo. Start slow and see how the
learned one thing: great marketing is
about research,insight and guts. brands work together first…

Check out facebook.com/whollyguacamole … and then go bigger.
or linkedin.com/traceyaltman. I partnered a bread company with a sneaker company a few years back. On the surface,
doesn't work. But we were both targeting moms and the bread company gave the sneaker
company exposure in the grocery. The sneaker company gave the bread company exposure

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in malls. Message: healthy kids are important. Eat well and exercise. Great campaign and
scored tons of moms joining their websites and becoming brand advocates for a long time.

I also partnered Pizza Hut with the Florida Police Department. What was I thinking?! It was
during the "buckle up campaign" where police officers were stopping consumers to make
sure they were buckled up.

For the police, this was a safety message that had a negative connotation to it. So Pizza Hut
used it to launch a new pizza - and make a negative message into a positive message - if
they stopped you, and you buckled up, you got a free pizza!

Consolidate To Dominate
By Roland Gilbert

It can be overwhelming to think of the myriad of ways to advertise a product or market
Roland Gilbert is an Associate Director of
your ideas today. Dozens, if not hundreds, of traditional and non-traditional mediums are
Communications at Highland Park
at our disposal. Broadcast radio and television, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, e-
Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. He,
his wife, and three kids, live in Wylie, blasts, websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter … just to name a few. Some are extremely
Texas. expensive, and some are pretty cost-effective. But winning big doesn‘t mean that you need
to conquer them all to stay connected to your audience and have a meaningful conversation
RolandGilbert.com and mutually profitable relationship with them.

In fact, and it may seem counterintuitive, I believe that if you were to focus your efforts and
actually reduce the number of different channels of influence you‘re using this year, rather
than increase them, I think you‘ll see tremendous results. This is an approach that requires

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neither reducing your budget (when would you ever get it back if you didn‘t spend it all,
right?) nor needing to ask for more money (how likely is that request to be granted in this
economy, right?).

For example, I once heard a concert promoter lament that he‘d ―wasted‖ a lot of advertising
money using three different radio stations trying to get butts-in-seats at the show. I thought
he‘d have done much better focusing the same amount of money into just one station. He‘d
have achieved a much better frequency (the number of times a person hears an ad) and
probably gotten a better response from just one audience hit hard than attempting to reach
three hit lightly. I would have advised him to dominate one station.

Consider your current communications strategy and ask yourself some questions. How
many different means am I attempting to use right now? Do I feel like I am mastering them
all or is it overwhelming and frustrating? Is my audience seated around all of these tables or
just a few of them? Which tables do I really need to pull my chair up to? If it seems like
you‘re always a few steps behind in successfully using all of these means, you may need to
make some hard decisions and cut some things loose.

You may be a candidate for consolidating your mediums and focusing your efforts – using
the exact same budget you already have – to increase your rate of return. I know how hard
this is in light of all the newest and greatest high-tech gadgets and social mediums popping
up on the horizon every few months. I am continuously fighting the urge and temptation to
stay on top of it all. But saying ―no‖ to some good things will allow you to say ―yes‖ to
some better things. You will also need to be able to discipline yourself to remain a
―committed marketer‖ and place more of your eggs into fewer baskets – and watch those
baskets!

Some say, ―Less is more.‖ I‘ve also heard it suggested that, ―Less is better.‖ I believe that if
you can bring yourself to consolidate your communications channels, and dominate fewer
mediums, you will reap huge rewards.

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Recognize Your Hero Potential
by Lisa Robbin Young

Originally, the title of this post was "Value Yourself" because there seems to be a
preponderance of people in direct sales that suffer from horribly low self-esteem. But I
didn't want people to get caught up in their own self-worth, when the fact of the matter is,
YOU'RE ALREADY AWESOME.

Your customers love your product, your company, and see you as some kind of expert in
both. You are their hero.

Think about that for a minute. You are a hero. You take risks, you venture forth, into
uncharted waters, not knowing what's around the next corner. You reap rewards, you help
Lisa Robbin Young is a multi-passionate
people, you change lives.
speaker, trainer and coach working with
leaders and entrepreneurs to help them You decided to be a hero the minute you became an entrepreneur. But not just any kind of
discover their own hero potential, bringing hero.
them the courage to take the next step on
their journey to success. She is the founder An ACTION hero.
of DirectSalesClassroom.com, a
Think of the greatest action heroes of all time. Like them, you have a little technology on
comprehensive online training center for
your side, a whole lot of grit and determination... and chances are good you're going to get
direct sales professionals. Her new project
banged up a bit on the journey.
for entrepreneurs,
BusinessActionHero.com, launches in Business - especially being an entrepreneur - has ups and downs. We get banged up, beaten
2011. Lisa can also be found on twitter up, scratched and dented. Still we rise, learning from our blood, sweat, and tears, how to
at twitter.com/lisarobbinyoung. make our passion a going concern.

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And also like the action heroes of the big screen, you have a mission, a passion to serve a
greater good in the world. To find your own "holy grail", leave a legacy, and make the lives
of the people you serve that much better.

But the key to being a hero isn't found in believing in yourself. The key to being a hero lies
in taking action. DO something - anything. Do it better, do it differently, do it with class. It's
about action, not perfection.

This is not a license to be sloppy. It's an invitation to do your best work for the people that
see you as their champion. Who wouldn't want to be a hero in that case?

Stop questioning your abilities. Get over yourself and see how heroic you really are. Use the
tools you have in your marketing bag of tricks to create a marketing plan for the year, build
a solid book of business, and propel your organization to the other side of the chasm that
stands between you and direct sales success.

What are you waiting for? Be an action hero in your own business, and your value can't help
but be revealed to everyone around you.

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Using Referrals
to Grow Your Business
By Brad Linder

We run a health and fitness program in Coppell, TX. We offer a few different services when
it comes to looking, feeling and performing better like boot camps, personal training and a
program called the 24 Day Challenge. Our main service, though, is what most people call
―Boot Camp‖ that runs year-round and is designed to give a person all the tools needed to
get started on a plan, regardless of fitness level.

With a business like ours that promises weight loss and fitness results, it is very important
that the client or customer knows, likes, and trusts us before making a decision to join us or
not. We have great numbers of retention once we get a client because of this approach.

We have had the most success growing our business with a program we call Referral
Rewards Program. Since our fitness boot camp is done in a group atmosphere, we create a
friendly fun environment that creates motivation, encouragement and inspiration. People
end up making new friends and enjoying the process of trying to start getting in shape and
Brad Linder
the progress along the way of reaching new health and fitness goals. It is no wonder that the
CEO, Get You In Shape
best way for us to attract new customers and clients is to have a huge incentive program for
GetYouInShape.com
referrals.

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Our Referral Rewards Program allows all our clients to bring friends, family, neighbors and
anyone else to try a session out for free. The people they bring are already hearing what our
program has done for our client so we are one step closer to having that potential new client
know, like, and trust us. We know that our typical client will most likely want to have extra
motivation by helping someone they know join our program. Why not give them a little
nudge by offering some great incentives for referring people to our program? Offering a free
session or try-it-before-you-buy session is a great way for them to casually check out the
program before they commit to it. This allows us to get them to know, like and trust us
before they purchase anything.

People love discounts and having a Referral Program is also another way to help them get
discounts on our program. We have a few referral incentives and we also have contests for
the most referrals. One month we had a contest to see who could bring the most people to
try a session out over one month. The winner got a free month of boot camp. This allowed
us to get a lot of new people checking out our program and led to a great month of new
clients or customers. Our regular Referral Rewards Program gives our clients different
discounts based on the amount of people they bring to us that join our program. No matter
what type of service you have, the referral program can and should be used to help grow
your business.

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What’s Inside Your Website?
By Sam Merrick

Are you spending enough time thinking about what‘s inside your website? Have you spent
hours and hours thinking about how it looks on the outside but skipped over the content?
Sit down and read through your website as if you were a prospect for your business or
organization and ask yourself a few questions:

1) Is it clear what your business or organization does?
2) Is it easy to determine how to contact you?
3) Do any pictures or graphics stick out in your mind?
4) Would you contact your company?
5) Are you bored?
6) Are you confused?

How did you do? I‘m going to give you a few tips on how to improve these areas of your
website.

Clear Call Outs – Make sure your phone number is easy to see and sticks out and shows up
Sam Merrick on your mobile device so users can just click and call you. If you use a contact form, make
Director of Search Marketing sure that link is clearly visible and not stuck at the bottom of your page. Don‘t be afraid to
RaeSea Internet Marketing repeat your phone number more than once either.

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Graphics and Pictures – Using stock photos is popular because it‘s easy and relatively
inexpensive, but using these images rarely creates any emotional connection to those using
your website. You don‘t have to use perfect photos…you want to look human and real.
Faces are important and interesting. Also, graphics that depict what you do and how you
do it are effective and memorable.

Arrange Your Text – Paragraph after paragraph of text is just boring and easy to skip over.
Using headlines, bullets, pictures, and icons to break up the content is very common but
don‘t stop there. Put the most important text at the top of your page. Put the first things
you say to customers in a meeting at the top of your web pages. Pitch your service. Tell
them what you do and why they need to use you before they click to another website. If
you are using an intro paragraph with a lot of fluff then they may never make it to anything
else on your web page.

If you are having trouble with this, then try this simple exercise: Close your eyes and
picture your website. What things do you see and remember? Are there certain lines of text
that you remember? Are those meaningful? Think about these elements and how you can
improve them and what you want prospects to remember.

This works for companies who have a lot of traffic from current customers also. Just think
about what information and news you want them to find and use so that they stay a happy
customer. It‘s just as easy to close a nice looking website as it is a plain one. But, if you like
what you are reading…it‘s tough to put that book down no matter how ugly the cover is.

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Everyone Loves a Contest
By Chris Padgett

Want a surefire way to create meaningful engagement with your target consumer? Consider
a contest tactic as part of your overall marketing plan. Effective contests can be a cost
efficient platform to drive awareness and consideration of your brand and drive powerful
word of mouth.

Contests appeal to a variety of consumer needs including competition, recognition and fun!
A contest is ultimately about reciprocity. The contestant gets something of perceived value
for participating and the contest holder gets something of perceived value for facilitating the
contest.

If you choose to pursue a contest tactic as part of your marketing plan, here are five
foundational questions to address as you design the contest:

1. What situational opportunity or issue does the contest address? Contests can take
on all shapes and sizes and ultimately must create meaning for the contestant.

2. What’s in it for the contestants? The bounty for the winner(s) must be big enough to
matter.
Chris Padgett is CEO of Zeitgeist LLC,
a growth company that helps 3. What are the rules of the contest? All contests have rules. Think through all possible
companies, communities and contestant scenarios.
individuals envision and achieve
growth. Learn more at 4. What resources are required to enable success? Successful contests often assume a
ignitegrowth.com . life all their own. Thinking through how you will administer the contest for the

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duration will ensure success. If you don‘t think you can do it alone, consider
bringing on board a partner to ensure success.

5. How will you spread the word? Although the best contests spread quickly through
word of mouth, identify the best places to promote your contest to your target
audience.

Ultimately, a contest can be a way for you to raise awareness and consideration of your
offering and when designed effectively – subtly convey the soul of your brand.

Localize Online
By Jack Monson

Retail & restaurant chains, franchise systems, and any organization with a distributed sales
force should create individual, local Fan Pages, Twitter accounts, and local blogs for each
individual location or outlet.

For more info on how my clients are Many brands are focused on building a large following on the national or corporate brand
benefiting from localized pages, reach me site(s) and are not setting up local pages. It‘s my position that local pages are better at
via JackMonson.com and for details on competing for consumers‘ attention and are more likely to convert fans to customers than a
tools companies are using to empower their vague corporate page. A localized page or stream is more relevant and gives more valuable
local outlets, visit Engage121.com. content to consumers.

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How Selling and Prospecting in
Network Marketing Has Evolved
By Janette Stoll

In the last couple of years, a lot of new players have entered the network marketing field.
With so many new companies hoping to lure away top recruiters or attract people with their
"ground floor opportunity" – it will become increasingly more competitive for network
marketers and direct sellers.

It‘s no longer enough to rely on your warm market or even your local community to build
your business. With cheap technology and the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
and other social networks, you don‘t have to rely on people you know for business.

That‘s not to say it‘s not a good place to start, but any serious entrepreneur knows that they
can‘t build a long-term business if they‘re not leveraging as many resources as possible.
Given the internet‘s immense potential to reach people so quickly, easily, and at any time –
Janette Stoll is a WAHM and teaches it‘s not surprising that you‘re seeing more Facebook ads from direct sales and network
direct sales entrepreneurs how to leverage marketers.
the internet to build a home-based
And with the recent "Google slap", top distributors lost a ton of traffic that was coming from
business. Visit Janette at
Google. This unfortunate event opened a whole new level of playing field for new people to
MarketingDirectSales.com.
compete online with the top recruiters.

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First, if you‘re a network marketer and not online yet, I don‘t think there‘s an option NOT to
get on board, unless you plan on building your business laboriously with offline marketing
alone.

Not to mention traditional marketing is also expensive. With cheap technology and so many
ways to attract leads online, why wouldn‘t you want to tap into this vast online pool of
leads?

But attracting leads isn‘t as simple as joining a bunch of social networks or putting together
a blog. It still comes down to this …

What differentiates YOU from other network marketers and what are you bringing to the
table? Your sales and marketing pitch almost have to be remarkable to attract attention these
days. Value is the holy grail of internet marketing today. Everybody talks about value and
making real connections, but how does a newbie go about doing this?

Even though there‘s a lot of ways to ―do‖ online marketing, I think content marketing and
using strategic keyword-based marketing will be vital to a network marketer‘s success.

Content creation, unlike paid advertisements, can be re-purposed into different mediums
and broadcast on multiple channels to build your business.

The significance of this is that even if top networkers spend loads of money on paid ads to
drive traffic to their sites have content that sucks or is too "salesy", people will click away
from their site.

The days of pitching to your prospects are over. Nobody wants to be interrupted. Most
products aren‘t that unique and neither is the compensation plan. In fact, they‘re all starting
to blend together.

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The art of selling and prospecting in network marketing has really shifted to a more
consultative approach. The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones that put their
prospects first and use their knowledge to solve their prospect‘s pains or help them fulfill
their dreams.

With this in mind, use the talents that you already have i.e. your interpersonal skills,
writing, speaking, whatever skills you‘ve got. Package them in value-based form and use
your content to attract your target audience.

I think 2011 is an exciting year for network marketers even with all the new players. For
those that understand how to use content marketing in a strategic way to connect with their
target market and combine it with value-based marketing, they‘re in a position to go beyond
the wild west days of marketing that network marketing has traditionally been known for.

Want some more ideas to help rock your business?
Join us at the Marketing In Progress Roundtable. New
seminars and interviews available for free every month.

47

Don’t over think it.
By Mariam Shahab

I get it; your project, your product, your point of view consumes your whole world (okay,
and maybe that of your significant other and/or roommate) and you want to make it
absolutely stellar. But here‘s the thing, your end user just wants you to make their life easier,
not absolutely stellar. Your product isn‘t going to change their world. Sure, it hopefully will
make life better, easier or even more fun, but it definitely won‘t be life altering (unless of
course you‘re creating a time machine).

Instead, be a work in progress and tell everyone that you are learning along the way
(translation to marketing lingo: be transparent). Absorb and dissect every piece of
Mariam Shahab is a Corporate applicable knowledge thrown your way and share it with your audience. I promise, it‘ll
Communications gal w/ love for affordable make you and your product seem more human. Say you‘re updating a feature of your
fashion, caramel chocolate, engaging social product, don‘t just announce the new and shiny addition tell your users why you‘re adding
media, creative innovation & odd numbers. it and what inspired you to do so. Did the inspiration come from a conversation with your
Boston University alum living in Dallas. great aunt Betty or from user generated feedback? Share the juicy details with us! Did you
have a release date set but can‘t meet the deadline? Tell us! Don‘t over analyze.
Talk to me:

@MShahab In short, don‘t be afraid to be perfectly imperfect.

mariamsthoughts.com

mariamshahab.com

48

People Still Buy Coffee
By John Lacy

Maybe you haven‘t noticed, but it would seem that we are experiencing a fairly large
economic downturn. If your business or products are regularly featured in the Neiman
Marcus Fantasy Gift Money-Is-No-Object Catalog, I wouldn‘t worry about it. In fact, you
really have no reason to read further. But for the rest of us, these times are a bit tougher than
we‘ve gotten used to over the past few years. Prices are up, credit is tight, jobs are scarce,
equity has been stripped (and spent), and people aren‘t buying. I‘ve noticed a change. Our
clients certainly have.

One of those clients and I were brainstorming over a cup of coffee the other day (not six
dollar frappe-latte-chinos mind you, just good ole plain coffee) and our conversation
naturally turned to the challenges he was facing. He is trying to grow his business in this
rough economic time and is at a loss as to where to focus his marketing dollar. His worry is
that he provides a lower end ―luxury‖ service and his past customers are no longer buying.

―Competition is disappearing, but what good does that do if the customer is as well? Should
John Lacy, Lead Coffee Drinker I start looking for a cheaper product or slash my prices?‖ As I listened, it dawned on me that
for RaeSea Internet Marketing, that is exactly what he should not do. He really needed to just to present his brand in a
raesea.com different manner to a new group of buyers.

49

For so long consumers have had no problems spending fairly large amounts on big ticket
luxury items or extravagant recurring services. But as the discretionary spending of many
households declines, the first things to go are the ―big‖ spends: Couples are deciding
against the trip to the Caribbean and instead planning ―Stay-cations‖; exploring the
mountains in the next state from the beauty of a small cabin. The four year old SUV might
have to be kept a few years before replacing it with a newer model, but get it a good
detailing, polish and new tires. Maybe cancel the weekly maid service and buy a new
vacuum and tools to make cleaning easier, and have the maid only once a month.

Ok, maybe that last is a bit drastic, but the point is made. The luxury spend is becoming less
frequent but is morphing into a more practical purchase. Just remember that consumers
ARE still spending and we will always see demand for some niceties. The ―luxury‖ items
just aren‘t the same as they once were to the same people. If your existing (or now previous)
consumer bought your product four each week, or as a basic everyday purchase, focus on
finding several new customers who might see your product as a bit of a luxury, but will
purchase once a month.

So instead of deciding to offer your product at a cut-rate price point to the same consumer,
simply offer your product to another group as its new luxury service or discretionary spend.
Products that are (or were) once a ―must have‖ or basic service to one demographic can
easily be marketed as a splurge to another.

No thanks on the Frappe-latte-chino; just black and leave room for sugar and cream, please.

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Rock Your Business - 33 Ideas from Today's Top Marketers

Rock Your Business - 33 Ideas from Today's Top Marketers

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Rock Your Business - 33 Ideas from Today's Top Marketers