Wednesday 17 December 2008

Leave the competition in the dust. How to get prospects and clients to think that you show-up everywhere

Earlier this year I wrote that if you wanted to be more successful in your marketing then you needed to double the times you made contact with customers and prospects.

If you made called them monthly, then you need to go to fortnightly, if your email newsletter went out twice a month then send it out every week. People need to hear more from you.

Well I got some criticism from some of you, that you would end up swamping, pestering and annoying prospects and clients. And I would like to take this opportunity to say that I was wrong, and if you follow my advice you might well end up dead-wrong in 2009.

You don’t need to double the times you make contact with the market.

You need to increase it by a factor of 10, 20 maybe even 100.

How?

Well

Don’t rely just on word-of-mouth

Don’t rely just on your sales

Don’t rely just on your marketing

Don’t rely just on your boss (even if that’s you) bringing in all the work

Don’t rely just on your website

Don’t rely just on your telemarketing

Don’t rely just on your email marketing

Don’t rely just on your speaking or seminars

Don’t rely just on your advertising whether online or offline

Don’t rely just on your clients and customers

Don’t rely just on your staff

Don’t rely just on your friends and family

Don’t rely just on your direct mail

Don’t rely just on your book

Don’t rely just on your podcast

Don’t rely just on your blog

Don’t rely just on hope

Don’t rely just on any expert or guru

Don’t rely just on me!

Don’t rely just on this message

Don’t rely just on one silver bullet angering all your prayers

What should you rely on? Well what worked in 2008 may not work well enough in 2009. You really need to get serious about this now.

You need to stop your marketing just turning-up and hoping for a response.

You, your philosophy and your business need to stop turning up and start showing up.

There’s a huge difference between turning up and showing up. It all has to do with your commitment and expectation. You are going to arrive and are going to show them your best stuff.

You need to show up offline more.

You need to show up online more.

I need to show up more.

I have relied too much on this message just turning up and achieving something. Come on Sloane, you can and must do better.

How can you do this?

Give your market, snack sized versions of your message.

Not the full Mars bar but the fun size.

I want you to show up more.

Let me tell you how I am doing this and what I want you to do and it won’t cost you a penny

First take a look at what I am doing on twitter.
What is twitter? It’s quite simply the most cost effective way there has ever been to me talk to people who want to hear your message. Better than SMS, text and email all combined.

Take a look at what I do with twitter here: http://twitter.com/RodSloane

Your end of year homework is to watch and understand what twitter is all about.
Don’t worry this will take time and a lot of head scratching.

Second, read my blog here http://no-bullbusiness.blogspot.com/

Are you blogging, if not why not?

Third subscribe to my podcast at the iTunes Music Store http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=296396362

Are you Podcasting, if not why not?

You, your message, your philosophy and your business need to show-up more. I need to show up more.

If you choose not to…you will become invisible.

If I can do this stuff, so can you or some body who works for you.

You need to show up more and get noticed.

You can do this.

It’s just “Simple Stuff, Done Daily, Makes Money”

I hope to see you more of you as you show up more in 2009.

Take the actions I mentioned above, they won’t cost you a penny

1 comment:

Mark Lee said...

There's some good advice here Rod but don't you think that time has any cost to a business? Free activities such as blogging and twitter still take time. Prioritising is still important isn't it?

What's your view on the suggestion that blogging and twitter are only of value if you are talking to your target audience or to people who can and do pass on your message to your target audience?