Last week we asked the question:  Is it Marketing or is it Networking.  Here’s the second part of that post…..

How do you build such a network?  How have I built my network?  There’s no better way to build a relationship of trust, no faster way than to  do it in person.  Yes you can do that online with the social network sites–but it takes much longer, and it’s not nearly as powerful or effective.  Here are a few tips to help build your marketing network:

• Approach everyone with an attitude of service.  Regardless of the situation,  whether it’s a client, a prospect or someone you’ve met in a networking situation:  Always let them know directly that you first want to help them in some way.  Listen to them,  Really listen!!  If nothing else, they’ll come away thinking you are a marvelous person because you  listened to their needs before you tried to sell them or tell them about yourself.
• When you are in your business environment always let them know that your first objective is to help solve their problem.   Even if it means less business for you.
• Always deliver more than you promise and more than they expect.  There’s no better way to get  more business than to increase sales to your existing clients.  If they always get more than they expected–they’ll come back for more.
• Customers who are so satisfied with your work want to tell their friends.  Not because they want to help you, but because they want to help their friends.  Good people have a desire to help others.  Very satisfied customers are your best marketing tool.  And instead of costing you money for marketing — they pay you for your services and send you more business.
• Once you’ve made contact with someone in person and started to develop the relationship, then use technology to keep in touch with them.  But don’t forget it’s all about communication.  It’s all about being of service to them first–offering value to them in every contact you make.  Based upon your time and business situation, you should keep in touch with them using the following methods: 1) Meeting in person, 2) By telephone, 3) A personal note or card, 4) Email–personally, 5) Bulk email or newsletter, 6) Social networking.  A good contact database is very important and I’ll discuss that in another article.

Your best Marketing Effort will be to build a network of people who know you, people who like you and people who trust you!!  Building that trust is all about your relationship with them.  It’s all about being of service to them first.  Then they will want to be of service to their friends and to you.  Start today and never stop building your network.  Build your circle of influence–like ripples from a drop of water in a pond.  Marketing is all about the network!  It’s all about your network.

Now it’s your turn.  What are your thoughts about the question, Marketing or Networking?  Let us know here or on Facebook.  Next time we’ll talk about using Social Media to aid in your Marketing and Networking efforts.

For Your Success,

Rusty Lee

Marketing your small business these days is more important than ever.  With today’s economy, if you don’t have new business coming in, your survival is in great peril.  Many of us are spending time, often far too much time, working on the Social Networking sites.  It is an effective way to build contacts.  It seems like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter are all you hear about when a small business owner talks about marketing for their business.  One of my newest favorites is Biznik.  They are great tools to communicate with lots of people.  They are usually inexpensive or free.  That is — if you don’t count the amount of time it takes to effectively use them.

Don’t forget, never forget, that people do business with other people that they know, like and trust.  For small business, your small business, there’s nothing more important than building quality relationships.  Earning their trust, getting to know them!  They must have trust in who you are and what you do.  My business has been built entirely by referral.  I’ve developed a network.  Not the kind of network you might expect from a computer geek.  But a network of people who know me, who like me and who trust me.  When I get a phone call or email from someone—even if it’s someone I’ve never met, they contact me because they heard about me or my work from someone they know, someone they like and someone they trust.

You see — all of my clients come fully ready to purchase my services.  Sometimes they call and aren’t sure if I will work with them — but they already know that I’ll do my best to help with their problem.  I’ll help, even if it means connecting them with someone else.  With any other form of marketing — the client or potential client comes to you with a certain amount of apprehension.  They don’t know you — they must first come to trust you before doing business.  Even if I don’t know them; they’ve learned about me from someone who does know me, who does trust me and probably has used my services.  They are ready to do business because of my marketing network.  It’s often said that you need to ask for referrals.  While I place extreme value on referrals — I don’t normally ask for referrals because it puts the client in a bad spot and under pressure.

It’s all about the network — my marketing network — your marketing network.  An ever growing network of very satisfied clients who are happy to tell others about me.  Not because they’ve been asked to promote me — but because they want to do a good thing for someone else.  An ever growing network of people who know that I can be trusted to do the right thing — even though they may have never used my services.  They want to help their friends and they feel compelled to spread the word on my behalf.  Because they know that I will help their friends.

Look for the conclusion to this article in a few days.  Until then…..

Have a Great Day,

Rusty Lee

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Are you ready when you attend a business meeting or event?  It’s an often overlooked skill that can help establish you as an expert and professional.  Entire books have been written on the concept of meeting new people and developing relationships that can lead to a healthy and productive professional image.  Don’t be intimidated by the power of effective networking and the risks of doing it poorly.  Also, don’t underestimate the benefit of being seen as a professional when you network for your business.

Here are four suggestions that can be implemented immediately.  This post is designed for two main groups of people.  If you are new to the networking scene, the tips here will help you develop your confidence as you continue to attend business events.  If you are an old pro, we hope you will find these tips affirming.  It is always nice to be affirmed in what we do well.

The first suggestion is to get organized before you arrive at the event. Plan what you want to take in to the event with you.  You will want your business cards, of course.  You may also want a folder or portfolio to take notes and hold information you receive.  If the event has opportunities for announcements, you may want to take some of your material.  Having it in a folder adds to your professional image.  Place the items where they are easily accessible before and during the meeting.  You don’t want to dig around in the back of your car, either the backseat or the trunk, after you arrive at the event.  Someone may be watching and will form an instant impression of you as not being ready for the event.

Keeping good records:  Do it right away. You’ll need to keep records of income, expenses and most importantly your clients and prospects.  The most important information you’ll receive at any event is the contact details of the people you meet.  Make sure to get them recorded in your contact database right away, and have a follow up mechanism that works.  On the expense side, keep a journal or notebook in your vehicle to record your mileage.  The secret is to do it right then and there—otherwise you’ll forget and will waste time trying to fill in the blanks later.  You might consider using your smart phone to record this information on the spot and then sync it to your computer when you get back to the office.  Future posts will cover how and what to record in much greater detail.

Get off the phone before you leave your vehicle. Of course, you haven’t been on the phone while driving.  Even if you have a hands-free capability, the person you are talking to deserves your undivided attention, not what you have left over after watching the traffic, the pedestrians, the cyclists, the weather and all the other potential distractions.  If you must make a call, do so in your car.  I have seen too many people use their “walking in time” to carry on an important conversation.  Better yet, call before you ever start for the event.  That simple technique allows you to take notes, to record contact information, and gives you many additional benefits.  Avoid the distractions of any kind that steal from you and your professional image.

Plan to meet just a few new people at any event. Networking events are not sales opportunities.  Analyze the reasons you attend business events, and I think you will find, as I do, that attendance allows me to make personal connections with others in the business community.   People do business with those they know, those they like, and those they trust.  That is the ultimate purpose of networking events.  It is also the ultimate reward.  Make your professional image better by building quality relationships.  Don’t be seen as the pushy sales type who hands them a card and then asks what they want to buy from you.  Take your time, get to know them and learn how you might be able to help them.  Your rewards will come over time.  Become known as an expert in your field who really cares about people.

What examples of bad networking skills have you recently seen?  Have you met a networking pro who attracts business by building relationships?  Let us know your thoughts and questions.

For Your Success,

Alexis & Rusty

Branding yourself is critical to your visibility, professional  image, and ultimate success as a business owner.  Having your own domain is an important aspect of your branding or your business identity.  The process of acquiring your own domain or several domains is easy and relatively inexpensive when you consider the added value.  In fact, when you purchase one domain, additional options are generally offered to you at an astonishingly low price.  For example, when I purchased AlexistheSpeaker.com for less than $40.00 for two years, I was offered additional domains for less than a dollar for a year.  You read that right.  I was amazed. Among the domains I purchased were AskAlexisMason.com and AlexistheStoryteller.com.   Rusty Lee, co-owner of MyBusinessLaunch.com has several as well.  One of the best features of your own domain is that it can stay with you from now on.  You do have to keep track of the expiration date, however.  There are a number of businesses based on the concept of buying and selling domain rights.  If yours is attractive to the business community and you have used it in a number of ways, someone may be eagerly waiting for it to expire.  That person might purchase it and offer to sell it back to you for much more than you paid for it originally.

Let’s talk about some of the many ways to make use of your domain.  You can use your domain to have branded email accounts.  I am always a little suspicious of business email addresses that are your name and a series of numbers at a free host site like yahoo.  Free host sites are fine for personal emails, but they don’t add much to your professional image.

You can use your domain to create your website and for many other uses, such as a separate website that can be used for blog posts.  AskAlexisMason.com is a website that I have dedicated to blog posts and comments.  I have several goals for this site.  One, of course, is market visibility.  I can embed links, such as the ones above, that direct viewers to other websites, videos, and other intellectual properties.  Another goal is to gain professional credibility.  A third goal is to generate dialogue and I invite you to comment on this article.

Having your own domain adds to the perception of you as a legitimate business  in the global marketplace.  If possible, use .com for your suffix.  The second most widely recognized suffix is .net, but even that one is not as useful as .com.  You don’t want someone trying to access your email or website and have them type in .com when you are actually .info or some other suffix.  The worst case scenario is for that to happen and for your potential client to find themselves communicating with someone else.  If you are unable to create a .com domain with your first choice, alter it slightly and try again until you can get the .com domain.  Don’t alter it so much that you are constantly having to explain it.  Your domain offers people a means for contacting you.

You can also link your domain to your profile on whichever social media sites you use.  It’s probably a good idea to separate your professional posts from your personal ones.  Perhaps a domain for personal use and another one for business use might be good.  It is getting harder and harder, however, to separate the two.  I would caution you to be careful about your posts on the social media sites.  That’s a subject for another article.

Every business owner has several major tasks to complete before launching a new business. One, of course, would be to select a business name that gives some indication of the nature of the business. Research, the advice of your trusted mastermind group, and your own creativity can assist in this important step. The next step, in my view, is to create a slogan or motto that further describes how you can help your clients. In this post, I will be discussing key elements in the development of this part of your business. For our purposes here, we will call this slogan a tagline.

Create a tagline that solves a problem for your listener. Just as your business name can and should give some indication of the nature of your business, your tagline can generate questions that lead to conversation, and perhaps additional introductions and/or referrals. Try to create a tagline that encourages your listener to think you can resolve a situation or create a solution for them. There are many examples of this principle in the business world. Most people recognize “We try harder” as the tagline for a very successful rental car business that took pride in the fact that they were number two in business revenue in their field. You know a tagline is successful when it becomes part of the spoken culture. That tagline is one that became synonymous with second effort, dedicated work and in many other applications. Another well known tagline that became part of our culture is “Finger-lickin’ good”. When businesses can be recognized by their tagline and don’t even need to mention the company name, you know the tagline is brilliant. How can you create one that resonates with the listener and/or the reader? The process may take some time, but it is time well spent. My tagline has evolved over time. The business is called Present Yourself. The tagline used to be “When confidence, excellence, and service to the audience make a difference.” What does that really say? If you answered “not much”, I think you are probably right. It might sound fancy, but anyone reading it is left wondering “What’s in it for me?”  My new tagline is “I coach for confidence.” I’m still not sure that is exactly right, but it is better than the last one. I’m still working to create one that indicates the direct benefit to the client. I’d like to think of one that has a “you” message instead of an “I” message, but I’m not there yet. One that I am considering for my business is “Developing the confident leader in you.” I am very interested in your feed back on my potential new tagline. In the meantime, let me share two taglines from very successful businesses that belong to friends of mine.

My business partner owns a computer business called CallMyPcDr.com. It is a great business name and website name because it identifies his niche market. His logo is great, too, because his business cards show a sick little computer saying “achoo”. His website shows a computer with a stethoscope dangling from the front of it. His tagline is the third brilliant piece of marketing. It states,”Cure your computer headaches and frustrations.”  Do you see how each element of his static marketing works with the other elements to create a clearer picture of the nature of his work?

Another friend owns an accounting firm focusing on small business owners and solopreneurs. The business name is Acuity Business Services. Her web site is acuity-accounting.com.  Her tagline is “taking care of numbers so you can take care of business.” Her business model includes accounting, bookkeeping services, and tax preparation because she is also an IRS enrolled agent. Again, do you see how congruent all her online marketing visibility pieces are?

As you work to create your tagline, be sure that it further identifies what you do and is a good conversation starter. A terrific tagline will have someone say to you, “Really? How do you do that?” That is one of the benefits of working on your business. You can enhance, alter, or add new ideas all the time. In fact, you might have a different tagline for each of the features of your business model. I’ll be talking about features, advantages, and benefits in a later post.

Implement Lasting Changes

Why do we resist change as much as we do?  In this post, I will be discussing some strategies you can employ to make the changes you have worked so hard for stick for the long term. Why are we so fearful of change? I think it is because most changes are imposed from the outside. Let’s think about New Year’s Resolutions, weight loss plans, changes in marketing strategy for your business and other supposed self improvement systems. What if you could guarantee yourself positive, lasting change? What would that look like and, more importantly, what would that feel like?

There is a process that you can apply to almost any change you want to make. It is composed of four steps that seem to be too simple to really work. One of the fascinating aspects of this process is that you can be working on more than one change (or goal) at a time. But, and this is big, you don’t have to. To try out this method, you might be wise to focus on one change (goal) at a time.  Your success will depend in large upon your commitment level and your mental energy.

 A two-part assessment is the first step.  This simply means to determine where you are. I like to suggest to people that they create a list of skills, interests, and assorted points about themselves that they feel good expressing. This is not the time to be overly modest or humble. Give yourself credit wherever it is appropriate. You can categorize if you wish, into various areas of your business and personal life. As you do, you will notice that some areas have more items from the list than others. We all do. A balanced list is generally indicative of a balanced life. Perhaps you will decide that balance is worth your effort, in terms of your desired change.

The second part of the assessment is to create another list that is developed around perceived shortcomings. Don’t beat yourself up, but do be realistic. This might be a list of items that, if corrected, strengthened, or eliminated, would help you to feel good about expressing.

Affirmation is the next part of the process.  Change the items in the first part of your assessment to “I am” statements. For example, on the first list you may have written that you like to read. For this affirmation step, change that statement to one that says something like “I am a dedicated reader who makes time to read postivie, uplifting material every day.” Change the wording of the items in the second part of the assessment to positive “I am” statements. For example, on this list you may have written that you are not as organized as you should or could be. On the affirmation list you could write something like “Every day I work on my organization skills. Every day I am making progress in this area.” You get the idea. This is not kidding yourself or deluding yourself into claiming a skill that you don’t currently possess. Your subconscious doesn’t know the difference and it will work hard to create the reality you have claimed.

The third  and next step is association. Many systems for change leave out this critical element. When you include association, you are including an emotional component that is extremely powerful. Here is how it works. Think back over your life to a very strong emotional memory. For me it is walking down the aisle toward the man I love, to marry him. I can replay that moment at any time, seeing the people I love on both sides of the aisle, hearing the music, smelling the candles and the flowers and well, you get the idea. Right in the middle of that beautiful, emotional memory, I repeat the affirmation I am working on. The combination of emotion and logical statement forces the concept deep within me.

Finally, apply what you have been telling yourself. Assessments, affirmations, even associations are nothing without action. This is where you give legs to the change you want. Decide what to do to bring it to fruition. Set benchmarks or objectives along the way as you work toward your goal. Repeat the affirmations and associations frequently. As I mentioned earlier, if you give your subconscious something reasonable to create for you, it will.

Follow this process and you will always know you can be the change you want to be.

How you present yourself at business events becomes part of your personal and business branding effort.  Making a good first impression will help your business to grow.  It will help to establish your credibility and position you as an expert in your field.

Dress appropriately for the occasion

To feel comfortable at a business event, dress for business. For women, that means a high enough neckline and a low enough hemline to be perceived as professional. For men, that generally means a tie, jacket, dress pants and dress shoes. Even if the event is listed as business casual, business dress is appropriate. If you saw the Casual Friday commercial on the Super Bowl, you probably laughed, said “ouch” and got the message.

Be punctual

Be on time for the event. It is no longer considered professional to be “fashionably late”. It can be perceived as showing a lack of respect when you are late. That does not mean that you need to be the first in line to get in. Put yourself in the shoes of the host and imagine when you want people to show up. Additionally, if you are a bit earlier than the bulk of the group, you can offer to assist with any last minute details, be the unofficial greeter as others enter, and be visible. That’s why you’re there, isn’t it?

Get organized before you arrive at an event

Have everything you need to take in with you close at hand. If someone is looking out the window as you arrive, it probably would not give a professional first impression to be digging around in the trunk of your car or even in the back seat. As you step out of your car, walk around to the other side to get your briefcase or other materials out of the front seat, use good posture, walk with confidence and have a pleasant expression on your face. If you have been on the phone as you arrived, conclude your call before you step out of the car. Someone may be watching.

Step out of the way when you enter the room

Step to one side as soon as possible when you enter the room. If there is a table there for you to make a nametag, you can still step to the end or to the other side of it as you write your nametag. Ideally, you already are wearing one that people can easily read from a handshake distance. If not, you still don’t want to be in the way. Conclude your stay at an entry table as soon as possible. If someone engages you in conversation right away, delay your participation in the conversation until after you are away from the entrance. You might say something like, “Let’s step over here where we won’t hinder someone else coming in.” You may have seen people bent over the table, interrupted in their process of creating a nametag, talking away with someone. That’s not a particularly good look anyway. Don’t be that person.

Hold any beverage in your left hand

If beverages are available during a mingling time, try to hold it in your left hand. That frees up your right hand to shake hands with someone else, and it also offers the other person a warm, dry hand. I’ve shaken a lot of cold, clammy hands and you probably have, too. I’ve also seen people try quickly to shift a beverage to their left hand and accidentally spill some of it. Holding it in your left hand in the first place avoids both of those problems.

Find a place to sit to eat

It is extremely difficult to balance a briefcase or purse, a beverage, food, and handshakes. If at all possible find a place to set down your food and/or beverage. If you can, sit. If there are tall bar tables, use them. If you are sitting, try to stand to shake hands. Refer to a previous article of mine about effective business introductions for more information on this.

Practice good networking skills

This includes recognizing when someone else wants to move on, moving on yourself, monitoring your volume, listening more than you speak, courteously presenting and receiving business cards, making polite conversation, not being too salesy or pushy, and following up after the event. It also includes finding and thanking the host. After all, if you host an event, you want them to attend, knowing that they will experience an event hosted by someone (you) that demonstrates professionalism.

What have you learned about making a good first impression at networking events?  Do you have tips we could add to the list?  How about something you’ve seen at an event that wasn’t so good?  Let us know in the comments area.

Cordially,

Alexis Mason

Remember it’s a process. You’ll need to keep working on the development of all three points with as many people as possible.  Continue even after they are your client!  The power of the internet allows us to build relationships much more quickly.  It allows us to work with many more people.  It just takes a slightly different approach with some new tools.