Sell an Outcome

I recently read some information about marketing that I found very interesting. It's important to market in order to grow our businesses. If we are doing the same old thing we have been doing to market our business, it becomes stagnant and our business does not grow.

The thought I found interesting was instead of selling or marketing the service, let's sell an outcome. Instead of saying "I provide administrative services", say "I save service providers time and money".

This is an important mind shift for many. Prospects and clients need to understand what outcome they can expect from using our products and services.

How do you sell an outcome?

Free 30-Minute Phone Consultations for Commonsense Virtual Assistant Coaching

I'm very excited to offer free 30-minute coaching calls for our virtual assistant coaching program. I've had many virtual assistants come to me for advice who then implement my suggestions and are very grateful for the ideas I've given them. It's the reason I decided to create and launch this coaching program - to help new and struggling VAs learn the skills to become business owners.

However, some wonder if they really need a coaching program or if we're the right coach for them. That's why we offer a free 30-minute consultation, no obligation. Once you've scheduled a consultation, we send you a questionnaire and ask that you return it before the day of your call. That allows us time to review what your most urgent need is in your business. We are then able to spend the 30 minutes most efficiently.

During the 30-minute call we address your most urgent business challenge and provide you with a specific action or strategy you can implement immediately in your business. Then we take just a few minutes at the end of the call to review our coaching program so you can determine if it's right for you.

Here's what one virtual assistant wrote us right after her free 30-minute phone consultation:

"Thank you for talking with me today. It was the best 30 minutes I've had with a business coach!

"The questionnaire you sent me prior to the call, really made me think about how I'm marketing my business. I always heard that you should have a niche, but I really didn't understand the value until you explained the importance of setting yourself apart from others.

"I can't wait to make the changes you suggested and watch my client base grow!"
—Sara Gaffney, 101 Virtual Assistant

Contact us today to schedule your free 30-minute coaching call and take action now to grow your VA business!

The Time is Now 11:59 Interactive Business Workshop June 24, 2009

Register Now Because Seating is Limited to 15 Tickets

The Time is Now 11:59 Interactive Business Workshop will teach you why now is the time to grow your business and how you can succeed while others fear and fail.

At this workshop you will learn:

* Why you should be as excited as the minute before New Year's.
* How to create an atmosphere where it's comfortable for people to buy from you.
* How to apply the Carrot Principle and keep buckets and baskets full–but separate.
* How to focus on the process of selling to get results.
* How to offload the stuff you don't like, and how to amplify the stuff you do–and the hard part: how to tell which is which!
* Why and how to choose optimism in your business.
* How taking daily action leads to lasting success.

You will also have an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers specific to your business challenges.

Each attendee will receive a workbook filled with exercises to help you apply the principles learned at the workshop.

Presented by Joel D Canfield and Jerry L Kennedy. Joel D Canfield is an author and award-winning speaker on how customer-centric thinking is your primary tool to achieve your goals. Jerry works with small to mid-sized business to help them augment their sales efforts through a combination of training, coaching and "surrogate sales management", a concept he created to assist business owners who cannot afford to hire a full-time sales manager.

Learn more about these workshops at http://thetimeisnow1159.com

What attendees are saying about the workshop:

Rachelle Ashman—"this workshop changed how I thought about sales and I really appreciated the information."

Phyllis Enos, Sales Director—"I recommend the 11:59 seminar for anyone seeking to improve their business or who wants more business. I found it very motivating and learned ways to improve my business."

Dan Yamamoto—"very educational . . .they weren't trying to sell us a bill of goods . . .very current, up-to-date information that I can take back to my business and use, not tomorrow, but today . . .any small business, any type of business, could get quite a bit out of even half of what we heard here today . . .you walk away with a wealth of information . . .very informative."

Rick Cooper, The Attraction Marketing Expert—"great seminar…provides information that's going to help you move your business forward…great insight and strategies…Jerry shared a simple four-step sales process that was very effective in helping to understand exactly what you need to do to be able to sell more effectively…helped to inspire and motive me to take the next step."

At each event we ask the question

"Did you learn something today you can use in your business tomorrow?"

So far 85%* of the attendees have said 'Yes'—we think you'll say 'Yes', too.
*(the other 15% had no response.)

Twitter Tip #2 of 6

Tip #2

The majority of your Tweets should be aimed at educating and providing valuable information to your prospects and clients so that they turn to you as the expert in your business.

Get Caught Reading in May

May is the month to get caught reading. I love to read and am always looking for new and interesting books to read. I especially love to read business books and find ideas to improve my business.

Some of my favorite business books are Ken Blanchard's. You can find some of his books at my bookstore.

So, what will you be caught reading in May? Please share some of your favorite books with us.

Follow Up With Your Prospects

Follow up is important in converting prospects to clients. Too often though we are afraid to follow up too soon or too often, thinking we may turn the prospect off. However, you can stay on your prospects mind in ways that do not require them to make an immediate decision.

You may have written an article, newsletter, or blog post that would be of interest to them. Send it. If you notice they've posted something, acknowledge it. Learn more about them and their business, do some research and then send them some information you feel would benefit them in their business.

Take a sincere, personal interest in them and their needs and provide valuable information to them. They'll come knocking when they need you!

Marketing Trend in 2009

I recently read that the "trend for marketing in 2009 is to simply care about your customers, listen to them, communicate and be upfront with them."

That's really good advice. My question is, why is this a trend now? Why isn't this just the norm?

If you want to succeed at business, you should always care about your customers, get their feedback, implement appropriate suggestions, and always, always, be honest with them.

International Networking Week

International Networking Week™ is an initiative of BNI International®. Can you take some time this week to do some networking?

I've found that in-person networking is a great way to begin to build relationships with other people in business. It's not the time to sell yourself. It's the time to learn about other people, what they do, and how you can refer business to them.

Through networking I've met some great people and have been able to connect people with one another. Recently I was able to refer someone I met at one networking group to a person in a different networking group and now they'll be doing business together. My reward? Satisfaction in knowing that I helped these two people out.

What will you do this week to network and learn about someone's business?

5 Keys to Building Productive Relationships in Business

It's easier to market your services to those you've built a relationship with. So how do you build productive relationships in business? Here are five keys:

1. Seek to understand the person you are building the relationship with. Find out what their interests are outside of business.

2. Pay attention to the little things. Say please and thank you; be kind and respectful. Neglecting these little things can do much to damage a relationship.

3. Keep your promises. Breaking a promise or commitment destroys trust.

4. Clarify expectations. Make sure you clearly understand their expectations and that they understand yours.

5. Be quick to apologize. If you make a mistake or are late, be quick to apologize.

Applying these five keys can help you build productive business relationships.

What have you done to build productive relationships in business?

Better Business Communication Day

Yes, today is Better Business Communication Day. What does that mean to you?

As solo professionals it is important to be able to communicate effectively with your clients and others. Yet I often see small business owners create marketing materials with spelling and grammatical errors. It's obvious they have no sense of how to communicate their message effectively.

I suggest that you have someone proofread everything you plan on using to communicate with others. If your writing style needs a little work, get some help.

What will you do to improve your communication in business?

Choose Your Clients

That's right. Choose who you do business with. Not just those that provide services, but also your clients and customers. You'll find that you have clients that rave about you and your business. You want more clients like that.

On the other hand, there are times when your client or customer is not the right fit. You've done all you can to help them and they still aren't satisfied. These clients may deliver the wrong message to yet others. These are the ones you don't need and should let go. It's not always easy; but it's the right thing to do.

Watch the Horizon

As the new year approaches, watch the horizon. What I mean is look ahead to where you want to be and plan how you are going to get there. Don't get so wrapped up in the now that you don't plan ahead.

Too often we work in the now, putting out fires so to speak. If we just take a little time to plan, to look ahead to the horizon, we won't have so many fires to put out.

It's important to look ahead in order to successfully grow your business. Reach out for something more this year.

What's on your horizon?

Build Your Business in Any Economy

The economic pendulum swings: first one way, then the other. When it settles to an acceptable spot, everyone heaves a sigh of relief. What can you do to ride out these swings so that your business can operate successfully? Three simple steps are:

1) Target your consistent buyers.

Your business has clients who need what you offer - no matter what the economy is like. Target your marketing efforts to them specifically to increase buying frequency. Then target prospects who need what you offer.

2) Educate your prospects and clients.

All your marketing materials should educate your prospects and clients. Give them valuable information they can use, whether or not they can use your services. Who do you think they'll call when they are ready: the person they found in the yellow pages, or you - the person who gave them all that free, valuable information?

3) Offer solutions to help ease their pain.

Once you identify your market's 'pain', offer solutions that provide relief. Then position your marketing to attract those people. Try to be very specific and focus on one particular issue and the solution you provide. When your service can provide a real solution to a pressing problem, you'll have no problem attracting business.

There are other things you can do to recession-proof your business. A great resource is Guerrilla Marketing. (http://www.gmarketing.com/)

What steps have you taken to build your business in this economy?

Using Facebook to Market Yourself

Using Facebook to market your business is becoming more popular. It's not just for your kids any more. Here are some statistics regarding Facebook from Hubspot:

• Over 120 million active users
• Adding 250,000 new users each day since Jan 07
• 4th most trafficked website
• Most trafficked social media site
• Top Social Search Engine
• More than 55,000 networks
• More than half are outside of college & the fastest growing demographic is 25 years or older

Learn more about how you can use Facebook at Hubspot.com.

Give It Away

Do you want more customers? Consider giving them something for free. HotMail did this and attracted more than ten million customers for its free email service. Now it is supported by advertising. By ending each free email from the sender with an offer for free email for the recipient, HotMail used the ultimate in word-of-mouth advertising.

Yes, there will be those who sign up for your freebie and then you'll never hear from them again. But many will be impressed by your quality, service and commitment and they will become lifelong customers.

Do you do business with companies that gave you something for free? Why not make a list of things you could give away for free and then give it a try. It could be as simple as creating a free report that you give prospects when they sign up for your newsletter.

What can you give away?

Do You Have a Marketing Plan?

Many solo professionals do not have a marketing plan. A marketing plan can outline the goals you want to reach and how to reach them.

In order to reach your goals, you need to know what they are, have a plan to reach them, and be able to tell you've achieved them. Too often solo professionals wonder what they need to do next, which task should they concentrate on next. When you have a written plan, you'll know exactly what step comes next.

Do you know if your last marketing efforts worked? Did you get the results you expected? With a marketing plan, you'll be able to track your results and see what's working and what may need adjustment.

A marketing plan can be refined as you go along and your needs change. As you get a clearer idea of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and how to do it, you can update your marketing plan.

Make your business more effective and successful. Let's work together to create a marketing plan that works for you.

Coaches - Increase Your Business

Are you a coach who wants more business? The Coaches Training Institute's Co-Active Network is a universal gathering place for coaches. Here you can ask questions and get answers, network with other coaches, advertise your services.

If you are a coach who needs help marketing your services online to increase your business, I can help you with blogging, your website, email marketing campaigns, updating your networking profiles, and more. Let me know how I can help you. Call me at (916) 390-2262.

Self-Promotion and Your Blog

As a solo professional you are looking for an simple, inexpensive way to promote your business. That's why I encourage you to maintain a blog. It's an easy way to keep in contact with clients and prospects. You can create a blog such as this one at no cost to you but a little time.

Use your blog posts to discuss issues relevant to your industry and business. Provide valuable information your clients and prospects want to read so they'll come looking for you. Ask for comments and start an interchange of communication.

Ask me how I can help you start and maintain a blog. Then let's have some fun.!