Marketing Case Study: "So Sarah, What Do You Do?"

Recently I was at a business networking event and as I usually do, I was going about my business and working my plan of what I wanted to accomplish while there. For me, my goal was to connect with at least 10 prospects for my coaching program. And then it happened… again.

We make eye contact and I walk over to introduce myself. Hi I’m Dean Mercado a marketing coach with Online Marketing Muscle… blah, blah, blah.

She goes ahead and tells me her name… and for our purposes here I’ll just call her Sarah. A bit a small talk ensues. And then we get to the often asked and much dreaded question, “So Sarah, what do you do?”

Sarah’s face begins to turn red as I can see the nervousness start to come on. Then she broke out into this whole what seemed like a dissertation that spoke of everything except answer my question... Sarah, what do you do?

As she trudged on and on about what she does... the hole she was digging kept getting deeper and deeper... it was clear that she wasn’t sure what she did or wanted to do as her business. And in her unsureness, she made it very difficult for me to understand what she did. So instead of cutting and running, which is probably what most people would have done, I decided to play along and began asking some probing and clarifying questions.

As her long-winded answers finally started to take form, not only was Sarah involved in businesses in two totally unrelated fields, but she couldn’t clearly communicate to me what she did in either of them, or why I should care.

So being a marketing coach, like a reflex, my “coaching hat” turned on and I gently asked if she was open to some coaching… she eagerly said yes… and we spent the next several minutes helping her get clear on what she did as a business and why someone should care.

The good news is that feedback from Sarah at the end of the networking event was very positive as she felt she made some solid connections that could pan out for her -- she was genuinely grateful.

The bad news here though, is as an avid networker, regardless of the networking event, I run into people like Sarah all the time. I recognize it so clearly because I used to be just like her -- completely confused about what I did or who I did it for. All the while trying to get several business opportunities off the ground at the same time -- none of which I might add did very well. It wasn’t until I chose one to run with and got real clear on what I did and who I did it for that it began to take off.

So in closing, the moral of this story is if you’re not crystal clear on what you do and who you do it for, there is no way I’m going to be -- and a confused mind certainly doesn’t buy.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, networking, marketing coach, coaching

A Simple Way to Convert Prospects to Clients and Clients to Raving Fans

Would you like a way to add more value to your existing client base and in the meantime make more money from them? -- Or, how about a way to shrink your sales cycle by enticing them to start buying from you in the first place?

Well doing so may not be as difficult as it may seem as there are many ways do it. However, I’d like to share with you here one of my favorites -- and it is “Affiliate Marketing”!

Now for those of you who may be new to this concept, let me just briefly explain what it is. Essentially it is where a third party markets the products and/or services on behalf of a retailer in exchange for a commission on any sales they initiate.

So besides the obvious benefit of earning more money in your business, offering great affiliate products can do a number of things for you. For example:

• Offering great affiliate products can make you more valuable to your target market by giving you more products and services to offer at a variety of different price points. So if you want to convert your prospects to clients, entice them to buy now by offering them some lower-priced entry-level affiliate products. If you want to convert your clients to raving fans, offer them a solid back-end of affiliate products that will enhance their experience with you even further.

• Offering great affiliate products can strengthen your positioning with your target market by becoming “great by association”. In other words, if you represent another company or product that your target market already knows, likes, and/or trusts, then those positive feelings stand a good chance of transferring onto you.

• Offering great affiliate products can help increase your brand awareness with your target market by giving you more real reasons to connect and share what you’re about and how you can add value.

And we can go on and on and on here -- as the benefits are endless.

The whole idea is to find quality products and services that make sense for you to represent -- Try to stick with ones that have something to do with what you offer. For example, if you’re a Business Coach, offering baseball equipment is probably not a wise choice for you. However, offering a few books, written by others, that support your methodologies thus improving what’s possible for your clients is a fantastic idea.

One quick and easy way to get started is to become an affiliate of Amazon.com. Register as an Amazon Associate (their affiliate marketing program), drive traffic to their web site using specially formatted links that they provide, and get paid when the person you refer buys -- it’s that simple!

When you’re comfortable working as an affiliate marketer with Amazon, then I recommend stepping up your game and registering with a large retailer of digital products such as ClickBank.com. There is something for every affiliate marketer there. Much like Amazon.com, most of the tools you will need to market the products effectively are available to you from their web site.

As you continue to develop your skills in affiliate marketing, another more advanced approach you may want to consider is to reach out to the companies that have products or services that you would like to represent and ask if they have an affiliate program in place that you can participate in. And if they do, get involved. If they don’t, and they’re open to it, try to hammer out a deal to help them set one up in exchange for a more lucrative arrangement.

So in closing, affiliate marketing is a very powerful business builder that can be, and is, leveraged effectively by businesses of all types and sizes. Always remember though to choose which retailers, products, and services you want to represent very carefully as they will reflect in so many ways upon you. Used intelligently, they can certainly help convert your prospects to clients and your clients to raving fans.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, affiliate marketing, affiliate products, affiliate programs, affiliate services, target market, amazon.com, clickbank.com

The Core Skill That Drives Effective Marketing

"Communication is the most important skill in life." -- Stephen R. Covey

Well in my opinion, communication is the most important skill in business as well --especially when it comes to the one aspect of business that I’ll speak of here, marketing.

Effective communication will not only bridge the gap between you and your target market, but it will also magnetically draw them across that bridge toward you and then captivate them.

Effective communication should never be a one-way street where only one party is doing all the speaking -- then it’s not really a conversation is it? Which as marketers, we should always be looking to create and maintain conversations. Otherwise it’s more like a lecture where someone is speaking at you rather than with you.

Effective communication should ebb and flow like the tide -- with a sort of naturally magnetic push and pull to balance it. Too much push or pull and you risk creating repellent effects such as overwhelm from information overload, or making you appear too pushy. Too little push or pull and you risk appearing lifeless and dull or worse yet, non-existent. So a careful balance is critical.

Effective communication should flow gracefully like a dance. As the marketer you may choose to lead and make it real easy, lucrative, and fun for those you’re communicating with to follow.

Effective communication should establish a connection between both parties by first creating a clearing for it to happen and then continuously building rapport.

And we can go on and on and on here however the point I want to get to is that communication is marketing and marketing is communication. Every time you open your mouth, you are marketing. Every time you write an email, you are marketing. Every time you stop talking and start listening to someone in your target market, you are marketing. Your clothes, your posture, your grooming, you body language all communicate a lot about you -- they’re all forms of marketing. Are you starting to see both the correlation and importance here?

Now as I’ve started to allude to, communication can be broken down into 2 forms, verbal and non-verbal. Allow me to explain:

Verbal Communication

By verbal communication, I’m referring to any variation of either speaking or listening. Let’s briefly explore the two.

Speaking

Whether writing an email, delivering a live speech, recording a podcast, posting on your blog, writing an advertisement, or using some other vehicle to communicate, when speaking, keep it direct and easy to understand. And most of all don’t ever be embarrassed or afraid to ask for what you want. Don’t try to impress your target market with industry jargon and fancy words. Simply speak in a tongue that will resonate positively with them.

Listening

Truly in my book the most underrated form of marketing available today. Quite simply people love the sound of their own voice and are usually pretty generous in sharing privileged information if given the proper space and prodding. Let alone if they feel that you are genuinely interested. Wow, what’s possible then?!

Non-verbal Communication

By non-verbal communication, I’m referring to the other, more intangible and often overlooked form of communication such as your appearance, your body language, your choice of fonts, the look and feel of your web site, even as far as the vibration and energy you convey. You may be surprised how often times your non-verbal communication speaks louder than your verbal communication. This is the kind of stuff that can boggle the mind with poor results from your marketing if you’re not paying attention to it.

Effective communication is making sure that both the verbal and non-verbal portions are in sync -- mixed messages tend to cause confusion and distrust -- two qualities that repel rather than attract.

And yes, whether you’re using verbal or non-verbal communication, you are marketing.

So in closing, your ability to communicate effectively will be in direct proportion to your success and happiness in all areas of your life. Now I’ve just scratched the surface and drew some correlations for you here. So if I could impart just one thought unto you, let it be to make one of your life’s endeavors to continually practice, nurture, and enhance your communication skills.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, marketing, communication, verbal communication, non-verbal communication, target market

6 Ways To Help Turn New Contacts Into Sales

You attend local networking events meeting people and exchanging business cards; you participate in lead exchange groups like BNI in hopes of getting referrals; you create profiles on popular social networking sites like Ryze, LinkedIn, and MySpace; yet you’re still wondering why all this networking isn’t translating into increased sales.

Well while many business professionals work very hard to gather new contacts, the area where I see so many of them break down is in their ability to nurture those new contacts into long-term relationships. Relationships that can eventually turn into the increased sales that most of them are looking for.

So how do you go about nurturing those new contacts?

Well here are 6 ways that can help you take your professional relationships to a deeper, more prosperous level for all:

1. As humans, we’re never too old to enjoy positive attention. So if you stumble upon someone you know being quoted, discussed, or acknowledged publicly either in the media or by other professionals in their absence, give them a call or send them an email to let them know and congratulate them.
2. Acknowledge them on holidays, birthdays, and other cultural or religious special days. For example, in Greece, a person’s name day is highly celebrated -- so familiarizing yourself with what’s important to your contacts, and reaching out to them on those special days can go a long way in building a solid bond.
3. If you witness them doing something great or selfless, let them know how their actions touched, moved, or inspired you.
4. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to connect people. Someone’s looking for an electrician, refer one. Someone’s target market is Dentist’s and you know a few, introduce them. Someone’s looking to join a networking group, connect them with someone who runs one. Two people that you’ve met separately at the same networking event share a common interest, become the conduit and introduce them. My point is, helping others connect typically doesn’t go unnoticed, and is a win-win for all.
5. Forward along timely, useful, and/or entertaining information. Stumble across a great article on golf, send a copy to those you know who are golf enthusiasts. Read a great book on sales that has helped your business grow, recommend it to others who may also benefit from its wisdom. Don’t be stingy here, share the gift of knowledge whenever possible.
6. Inform them of events that may be of interest. Now when I say events, I mean any professional networking, entertainment, or educational events. Some examples might be, if you have a contact who is struggling with their finances and you know of a financial guru giving a free teleseminar, let your contact know about it. If you’re attending an event that you expect to be excellent for networking with real estate experts, and you happen to have a contact that serves that target market, invite them along. In other words, always be in the know of what events are happening around you and always ask yourself who else do I know that may be interested in this event?

Now in order to successfully carry-out these 6 ways I’ve shared with you here, there’s one key skill that you’ll need to employ and continually develop, and that is to be a great listener. No I’m not talking about the type of passive listening that many of us engage in most of the time. I’m talking about active listening -- The type of listening where you are actually paying attention well enough to learn what’s really important to the person you’re speaking with. It’s through the skill of effective listening where you’ll harvest the seeds necessary to ensure healthy relationships down the road.

So in closing, always remember that people buy from people they know, like, and trust. So it behooves you to continuously look for ways to nurture your professional relationships. Do that effectively and watch their value, and your success, soar.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercado, Online Marketing Muscle, networking, target market, BNI, referrals, social networking, Ryze, LinkedIn, MySpace

A Simple Metric to Gauge Your Web Site’s Popularity

So tell me… how exactly do you know whether or not your web site is working for you? Is it making you money? Is it increasing your visibility with your target market? Is it broadening your reach within your target market? And what about your credibility, is it establishing and continually reaffirming it with your target market?

For most types of businesses, unless your web site serves as an e-commerce site directly selling your products and services to your customers, it is very difficult to establish and track whether or not your web site is actually making you money.

However with minimal effort, you can easily track and measure whether your web site is increasing your visibility, broadening your reach, and establishing your credibility with your target market… three very important reasons for marketing… with one simple metric. Here’s how it works.

From your Internet browser go to the popular search engine Google’s web site www.google.com and type in the search box the word “links”, a colon, a space, and then your web site’s domain name minus the typical “http://www.” part. So for example, for my web site, I would type: “links: OnlineMarketingMuscle.com” and hit either the “Enter” key or click the “Google Search” button.

The result that Google will return is any and all Internet URLs that it knows about that have linked to my web site. And in the eyes of the search engines, typically the more links the better. Yes, the quality of who’s linking to you does factor in to how you’re perceived by the search engines as well, but that’s a conversation for another day. So unless a large majority of your inbound links are coming from offensive, less than desirable sites, it’s hard to argue with the power of sheer volume -- it speaks volumes about your popularity across the web.

Now to take the usefulness of that data up a notch, run this metric once a month and record the results in a spreadsheet. Then from the spreadsheet you can easily produce a graph showing your increasing web popularity over time.

That’s it… it’s that simple.

So in closing, it’s nearly impossible to know whether or not your web site is working for you if you don’t maintain and analyze some sort of metrics. The one we’ve discussed here is just one in a series of simple, yet critical ones that everyone using the web as a marketing medium should have in their arsenal. The key here though, is not just collecting the data but how you leverage that data to enable you to make better marketing and business decisions.

© 2007 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then you won’t want to miss Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal'. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute', -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Dean Mercdo, Online Marketing Muscle, metrics, web site, target market, marketing, search engines, Google