Posts Tagged ‘prospects’

A while back, I bought a Flip Video recorder. Those are those neat little pocket size cameras. Part of my justification for buying it was that I was going to record business videos, both for this site and for clients. So far, I have a lot of videos of my kids, which is absolutely great. I love the video camera, I just haven’t used it for business yet.

All of this leaves me in the position of recommending that you use video to promote your business without having successfully done it yet myself. Video can be a very impacting form of marketing. The trust factor on video marketing is high because prospects can see your face and hear your voice. Humans are good at judging other humans by facial cues and the like.

Beyond being effective, video is easy these days. Every video camera comes with some form of software to help you get it on your computer. From there, its just a few clicks away from YouTube and other video sharing sites. Those sites make it easy to embed your video on your own business web site. And if you can’t figure any of that out, chances are that you have a kid or a younger relative who could easily do it for you.

So the technology is there. Its cheap and easy to create video for the web. Most of us already have all of the equipment we need to get started. This means we can use this high impact marketing method virtually for free. So what is standing in your way?

I personally have several excuses. They are as follows:

• I am camera shy. I have a hard time being on that side of the lens. This, of course, is psycho baloney. You just need to pretend the camera isn’t there.
• I don’t know what to say. While I can recite whole speeches in my head when I am day-dreaming, I tend to clam up in front of a camera. This can be fixed by writing a script and memorizing it. Start with a 30 second video to make that easy. I used to be in plays in high school, so I know that I can memorize and act. So a script would solve that problem.
• I come off as stiff and stilted. Again, poor excuse. Time and repetition, along with a good script, will fix this. If you don’t believe me, go to WineLibraryTV.com and watch a few recent episodes of Gary Vaynerchuk’s great wine show. The man has presence and charisma. You’ll think that you could never be that good. When you are feeling good and sorry for yourself, go back and watch Gary’s very first episode. It will be enlightening. You may come to realize that Gary is so good at video because he has been doing it every day for over two years. Time and repetition will make you better.
• I am embarrassed to talk to myself in front of a camera. I haven’t figured out how to solve this one yet. One idea is to get someone to interview you, or just to be there to help you along. Another idea is to just get over it. I personally feel I have to record myself when no one else is around. Maybe practice will make this wear off as well.
• I don’t have a good place to record. I work from home and don’t have a lot of “blank” walls. My office is in a small room upstairs that used to be a bathroom (and will hopefully become one again when we get around to remodeling it). The fact is, it doesn’t matter where you record. Try to get enough light so people can see your face. Also, make sure you can be heard, so no recording in the middle of a highway (not without a microphone, anyway).

So those are my excuses. As with most excuses, they are pretty lame. I have just accepted them because it is easier than moving out and doing videos. But a video sprinkled here and there on this blog could really add some interest. It could also open up new opportunities for me.

How about your excuses? Are they better than mine? Or are they just silly things standing in your way. Think of what a few good videos could do for your web site. Suddenly, you can get that great elevator pitch in front of every visitor. Or you can talk to your customers about how to better use your product. Also, consider recording customer testimonials on video.

Video is cheap, easy, and effective. Excuses are also cheap and easy, but they are debilitating. I am going to work on overcoming my excuses and record some videos. I hope that you will join me.

photo credit: edbrambley

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses build great web sites and create a web presence that builds the brand and brings in leads.

Be Regular

If you are going to engage in conversation marketing techniques, you are going to have to learn how to keep talking. Regular communication from you is essential. Customers and prospects aren’t very likely to strike up conversations with you out of the blue, so you have to put something out there that they can latch on to.

As far as frequency, you want to sit somewhere between chatterbox and mime. Put enough out there so that you are consistently a presence, but don’t overwhelm people either.

What is Talking

Lets talk about talking. What is it? Talking is any communication that goes out, but specifically it is communication that is targeted toward your regulars. This may be in the form of an email newsletter, or it may be your Twitter feed. Talking isn’t pushing ads. Its providing information and tid-bits that your listeners will find interesting or entertaining.

If you only communicate on a sporadic basis, you won’t have a lot of listeners. You need to get into a rhythm with your communication. You will get the best response when you are regularly communicating, so keep talking.

Email Like You’re Friends

Mike Michalowicz, author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, has a great piece of advice when it comes to how often to email. He says that he thinks of his emails as communications with friends. He did a test to see how often he emails his best friends, and also what kind of voice he uses. Turns out, it was about 1 to 2 times per week. So that’s what he does for his newsletter.

Think about it for a moment. Many small business owners are afraid of sending too many emails. They think once a month is probably appropriate. Who do you email only once a month? Not people you are close with, that you care about and love to communicate with. You wait a long time in between emails for people you don’t have a great relationship with, or those you feel obligated to stay in some contact with (ie. relatives). Is this the kind of relationship you are going for with your customers?

If you want to engage in customer conversations, you need to be more frequent. Remember, a conversation is two way communication that leads to you solving a problem or them buying a product. Good, ongoing conversation also leads to more sales and a growing network of future-customers.

Gauge Your Frequency

So, when it comes to email, forgo the long, multi-article monthly newsletter for a quick weekly note, like you would send to a friend. Gear your other frequencies to the medium. For instance, its a good idea to blog once a day. That’s not overkill. Superstar bloggers like Seth Godin and Chris Brogan even blog more than once a day. For an interesting conversation on blogging frequency, check out this post and then this one by Jim Connolly. Twitter can be updated frequently throughout the day.

What about phone calls? I believe that you should build phone calls in to your conversation marketing. One on one phone calls don’t allow you to communicate with a group, but they give you a quality of conversation like nothing else. Schedule in calls to your customers. Frequency depends on what you are selling. Here’s my best advice. Call at least one more time than you need to. If you need to make one phone call a year to book a sale, then start making two. The second call is not a sales call. Its a conversation about the customer’s needs, about how well you are helping with those needs, and just about catching up and saying hello.

Break Through the Barriers

If you keep talking, you will find that the barriers that keep you stiff and stand-offish with customers will start to fade. You will also notice a consistent buzz of conversation and sales that are happening around your efforts. And once you get comfortable increasing your frequency, you will find yourself becoming a part of your customer’s life, which is a very good thing.

If, on the other hand, you choose to only speak up occasionally, you will have to break through the wall of trust over and over again. Your message will be missed. You will be seen as an opportunist looking for a sale. You’ll be providing info only when its convenient for you, when you want a sale. It doesn’t matter if these are your intentions or not. This is what it will look like. So, your best intentions of not being a bother to your customers could actually backfire.

Keep talking on a regular basis. Provide useful information. Don’t dump too much stuff at once. A few paragraphs per email should do it. 500-800 words in a blog post is just fine. 120 characters on a Tweet is perfect (leaving room for a retweet). And in all of your communication, make it easy for your listeners to talk back. Always be prepared to listen.

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photo credit: tibchris

Bradford Shimp helps small businesses figure out their communication frequency and approach at BroadRiverCreative.com

Some small businesses have blogs because they think they should. They toy around with one, post occasionally, and see little benefit. The problem is, they produce a boring blog, all about the business in most cases. The blog is just another sales page. Even more small business owners never start a blog because they can’t think of anything interesting to say on a regular basis.

The thing is, producing an interesting blog that people will actually pay attention to is not that hard. Here are some ideas on how to do just that.

Cut the Sales Talk

You can give all of your sales information on the static pages of your web site and in your hand out materials. Use your blog to build trust. For instance, instead of talking about how great your widget is on the blog, do an in depth interview with one of your customers about how they are using your widget with great success. This still puts your business in a positive light, but with a human story.

Also, its okay to talk about things on your blog that aren’t directly related to your product or service. A blog is a place to have conversations with customers and prospects. You will want to cover a range of topics that is interesting and useful to your target audience.

Give Advice

One great thing to do on your blog is to give advice. People are searching for answers all of the time on the web. If your blog can provide good answers to specific questions, it will attract an audience. So think about the advice your customer base will most benefit from, and then provide content on your blog that gives that advice.

This works well for every type of business. A mechanic can give advice for basic car maintenance and upkeep. A marketer can give advice on how to set up a marketing plan. Don’t worry about putting yourself out of a job. Remember, you are a specialist. If you are a baker, you could give instructions on how to bake a perfect cake and still attract buyers for the cakes you make. The fact is, you will always be able to do it better, and people will come to you for your expertise.

Spice it Up With Other Content

You don’t have to write every article on your blog. You can find other content to include that will be useful to your target customers.

One way to do this is to pull articles off article marketing sites, such at EzineArticles.com or ArticleBase.com. Sites like these allow you to repost content. Simply search for your topic and follow the instructions to post the content on your blog.

You could also find guest authors to write unique content for your site. Blogger Link Up is a good resource for this. You can also find experts using Help a Reporter Out. Both of these resources allow you to reach out to a list of people who want to write content or be interviewed.

Share the News

If you are a local business, sharing local news can be a great move for your blog. You will attract local visitors who will then be introduced to or reminded about your business. Add your own take on the news or break stories, and you will have even more visitors.

You can share news by providing a brief overview and then the link to stories on other web sites. Link to other sources generously. If you start sending a decent amount of traffic to a news site, they are bound to notice your blog and your business. At the same time, do add some personal touch to the news you share. You can also treat your own company news as legitimate news stories.

Interview Your Customers

Putting up interviews can work very well for some businesses. This is especially true if the interview can help other customers. I work with a business that sells to volunteer organizations. These organizations can benefit from learning about how other volunteer organizations are succeeding.

Interviews also give you a chance to get to know your customers a lot better. This has huge benefits as you figure out how to better communicate with and sell to your customer base.

Finally, interviews are almost a guaranteed way to get visitors to your blog, as your subject will visit and share the link with others.

Be Personal

Your blog is a place where you can truly connect with customers. Its okay to add your personality to your posts. By being real on your blog, you are building trust. If customers feel they know you, even before they buy, then you are succeeding.

I don’t suggest making your business blog a personal journal. Customers don’t need to know about the movies you see, the parties you go to, or about your latest hobby. Instead, sprinkle personality into your business posts. Use your real voice. Write and record as if you were having a normal conversation. And if you want, slip some personal information inside the business posts.

Keep Talking

Here is an important key to writing an interesting blog. Do it regularly. This is counterintuitive to many business owners, who think that by writing too often they will drive people away. The fact is, the more often you blog, the more people will visit.

Its not just about the visitors. By blogging often, you will be able to develop a rhythm and a voice. You’ll find your groove, basically.

If you blog only once in awhile, your blog will attract cob webs and the posts you do put up will likely be stilted and boring. Commit to a regular schedule, and your blog will be dynamic, on point, and conversational.

By blogging regularly, something unexpected will begin to happen. You will begin to understand and relate to customers like you never have before. You will unleash new ideas for your business and see new opportunities. Blogging regularly gets you to think, not just about the next sale, but about the greater story that you are involved in with your business. I would argue that blogging makes your a better business, and a better person.

If you still need help getting your blog off the ground, please feel free to email me at bradford@allbizanswers.com.

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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses develop their web presence at BroadRiverCreative.com.

If you want to develop relationships with customers, you need to keep the conversations going. Its like a game of tennis. The goal is to always get the ball back over the net. Of course, unlike tennis, you want your customer to send the ball back, so be sure to practice your lob.

Start

There are a lot of ways to get into conversations with prospects and customers. One way is to put a lot of balls in the air, so to speak. Being active on social networks, blogging, writing a newsletter, all of these have the potential to be conversation starters.

Of course, you could also be more specific. You can directly communicate to a person, perhaps via phone or email. This works best if there is some kind of prior history there.

Another way to get into conversation is to join one that is already started. I call this response marketing. By seeking out conversations that are already happening, or invitations to a conversation by someone asking a question, you are actually playing the first return ball. Your success rate for engagement will be higher here, assuming you actually listened first and provide a piece of information that is useful.

Lob

If you want the conversation to continue, you need to make it easy for the person on the other end to respond. There are a few ways to do this.

You can ask a question. Do this if you want to clarify a point, or if you have given some piece of information and want thoughts back in return. In any case, asking questions is a great way to elicit response.

Another thing you can do is keep your communication brief and to the point. If you say too much, you are going to be harder to respond to. Think of the difference between a brief email that makes one point and asks one question of you versus a multi-paragraph email that jumps all over the place and asks a bunch of questions. You have a far easier time responding to the short and specific email.

You could also give the person something to do. Be careful here. Make sure what you are asking will help the relationship. For instance, you may invite them to join your newsletter, or to attend your webinar.

Finally, you can go a long way just by showing interest in a continued conversation. Make it clear that you want to provide a full answer, or that you want to learn more about the person’s situation. Be friendly and caring and make all your resources available to the person. If you have shown genuine interest, they probably won’t mind when you check in on them a month later, or when you invite them to visit your web site. By caring and communicating, you are building trust.

Return

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to keep conversations alive with customers is to always return the ball. Here’s the thing, you may have to return it more than once. But its your job to keep the conversation alive, not theirs.

Being annoying isn’t allowed. Until you have built up trust, you need to work extra hard with each person, providing personal communication. In each communication, you can invite them to join the larger conversation on your blog, newsletter, or forum, but don’t push that stuff into their inbox until they have given their implicit permission.

So when you respond, make sure its a real response. Hit the ball they send over the net. If its a question, answer it wisely and follow up. If its a complaint, don’t ignore it. Solve the problem. If its communication, communicate back. Show that you are listening and respond in kind. Drop the form letters and be human. Whether someone is contacting you directly or just talking about something on Twitter, be personal and generous in your response. And don’t forget to make it easier for a person to hit the ball back.

photo credit: ????k?? ?????

When I am driving somewhere, I listen to talk shows on the radio. I have three stations pre-programmed so I can switch between them easily. Why do I switch? Commercials, of course. Whenever a commercial pops up on one station, I switch to another, looking for content. If no content is on, I suffer through.

Except for the rare instance, commercials are painful and boring and an interruption of the engagement of our brains with the content. They break up good content. Even good commercials grow old really fast. Commercials are shouting at us. Listening to a talk show interrupted by commercials is like having a quite conversation with an old friend in a coffee shop when a bunch of really loud and obnoxious teenagers walk in.

If you don’t want your business to be perceived as loud and obnoxious, don’t employ interruption marketing techniques. Prospects are people too. So engage them like human beings, in conversation.

Does this mean that you can’t sell to people? Not at all. It just means that you have to sell yourself first, before you sell your product. People want to be able to trust you. They also want to feel connected.

You can not build trust and connectedness by talking at prospects. Instead, you must engage with them. Share something of yourself, show your humanity, and encourage feedback.

Share Something of Yourself

What this means, in this business sense, is that you should share your knowledge. As a small business owner, you have developed an expertise. Refine that expertise and provide content that speaks to the end users, your customers and prospects. This can take shape in the form of a blog, a newsletter, a series of videos, a Twitter account, or any other way of delivering content.

In order to start conversations with prospects, you need to provide some meat for the conversation. Don’t expect people to just call you up and start talking because of your static web presence. Instead, you need to have an active web presence, one that provides content and engages people.

Show Your Humanity

Prospects are not going to have conversations with you as a business. Instead, they will engage you as a person. So don’t be afraid to let your personality show through your conversation marketing efforts. In fact, by letting your personality hang out, you will attract people around you that you will enjoy, which will make doing business with them that much sweeter.

Encourage Feedback

In order for a real conversation to take place, there has to be back and forth between two parties. This is about you being accessible. Make it easy for prospects to join you in conversation. If you are blogging, encourage comments and respond to them. Also, establish a presence on a few social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Don’t just wait for responses to your content. Search out people who fit within your area of interest and respond to what they are saying. Be willing to talk, just for the sake of it. Every conversation will not lead to a sale. But by being out there, you gain exposure and opportunity.

You also need to learn how to bring a conversation back to a sale. Don’t rush it, but don’t ignore it either. When you engage, look to be helpful. When you have conversations with the right kind of people, you will be able to recognize selling opportunities. Don’t be shy. Keep engaging in the same style. Be honest, provide value, and be yourself. Its okay to tell someone in conversation that you may have the answer to their need. You would do it in a normal conversation, and you need to do it online.

After all, conversation marketing is just talking if it doesn’t lead to sales. Just recognize that what does lead to sales is trust and connection. You can’t build that by talking at prospects. Instead, talk with them and provide the answers that they need.

photo credit: pterjan