Last night I spoke in front of the Nassau/Suffolk Limo Association; it’s not my typical crowd. But Matt Silver, VP of the group & awesome networker, invited me to speak about Marketing. Maybe I had something to offer.
I invited one of my clients, a cosmetic dentist, to come on by, with targeted postcards in hand. I presented my 6 Conditions for Community Momentum as featured in my new audio-book Sales Momentum (to be released next week - woohoo).
While I was describing the 2nd Condition, I mentioned my blog post about Commerce Bank. I then asked the crowd of Limo/Black Car Owners, “Why would a Dentist want to develop Relationships with you guys???”
Nobody had a clue. So I asked the doc to give the answer. Folks were still bewildered… so I prompted the audience to think out-of-the-box:
‘Tis the season… Proms? Weddings? Engagements? Graduations?
Aren’t limo owners & cosmetic dentists complementary businesses? Sure, the specific cross-promotion details still need to be worked out privately, creatively, and politely… but out-of-the-box relationships were sparked.
Are you targeting the same broad, generic, mass population as everybody else? With the questions I ask you in Sales Momentum, you’ll see how your Personal Brand can attract more and more qualified prospects in less and less time.
SitePal from Oddcast is a cool feature to have on your website. It allows you to talk to your website visitors through an animated character… you can use text-to-speech or your voice (record by phone, or upload a file).
Now, to help proliferate their service, Oddcast has created VOKI… a free version you can embed into your (personal) website, blog, or anywhere else.
You can use animated characters (aka, ‘avatars’) to
welcome website visitors,
describe your product, service,
narrate real estate listings or detailed specs
read answers to FAQ,
and anything else you can imagine.
Characters are full customizable to look sort of like you. SitePal offers more customization and even Your-Own-Photo-realistic service (for a fee of course). Voki mentions:
“Can anyone use Voki?
Voki is solely and exclusively for personal, non-commercial use only. If you run a business website where you sell things or you run a site about your business – a real estate agency, for example – then Voki is not for you. We have a product called SitePal that costs a small monthly fee for business class users.”
I can’t wait to help you improve your website. Now we’ll be able to see what works and what doesn’t, first hand. Like the creator of this free website add-on says, “It’s like looking over their shoulders while they surf your website.”
Literally watch recordings of your website visitors - they don’t have to install or confirm anything -
watch where visitors click (even over non-links),
where visitors don’t click,
where mouse hovers,
where abouts they are looking,
how long your visitors stay on pages,
which page on your site they go to next,
how they are filling out forms,
and if, when, and where they abandon forms.
It sounds like the perfect website market research tool. I just learned about it, and about to update all of my websites! Can your website take advantage of this Javascript module? Ask me.
As a professional, you probably belong to many business, civic, and charity organizations. It’s a great way to build relationships: Those you meet can turn into clients, referral sources, and other strategic relationships. It’s also a great way to learn about what’s going on and to give back to your Community.
But being active can take a lot of time (as you know). Are you making the time productive??
Based on my experience, the 6-min podcast below will you a few tips on how to make your membership productive for you & for the organization. Feel free to comment or ask questions.
The other day I was walking to the subway in Manhattan and I noticed a Commerce Bank storefront: “FREE DOGGY TREATS… please bring in your dog!” Commerce bank has destroyed yet another “stupid rule.”
Most banks don’t allow customers to bring in their pet dogs.
Many Manhattanites love to go for a walk with their dog and do errands - like banking - along the way. What an annoyance to have to leave loved ones outside!! Or to make a special trip to the bank.
Well, Commerce Bank has targeted the community of dog lovers/owners in a clever way: No strings attached, dog lovers can treat their loved one… And perhaps do a little banking as well! (Unfortunately, for them, they did not advertise this on their website.)
Communities are populations who think alike, regularly congregate, enjoy spending time with one another, & talk to each other — especially about products/services that cater to their special needs… let’s see if Commerce’s offer pollinates through the dog lover Community.
There are 6 specific factors that will help you choose the right target market & niche Community for you Personal Brand of service. Other posts go into ‘em. Or just ask me to send you the PDF worksheet.
Have you been able to target a frustrated, yet overlooked Community population of clients?
Are you part of a frustrated, yet overlooked Community? Who is catering to you?
