PRACTICE MARKETING blog

First, number 1: When I donated to President Obama’s campaign, I didn’t receive any collaterals (e.g., bumper stickers, t-shirts, pins, etc.) to showcase either my donation or adoration. I suppose I was as vocal without this minor expense; regardless, the Obama campaign did miss out on an opportunity with millions of others: silent, passive viral marketing. Perhaps I was a small oversight (commensurate with the donation?).

President Obama’s governance scorecard is debatable… he’s only 50 days in. His policies, including the Stimulus Package and the Budget, are also debatable… I’ll leave that up to the pundits and politicians. More than administration, Obama is making a major marketing mistake.

Obama’s Marketing Mistake #2 is more serious: We all remember the defining vision of Obama’s campaign; it is best summed up in his 1-liner: Yes We Can (‘hope’ and ‘change’ being other handles). What is the defining vision for this country that Obama has provided us?

We don’t have a clear vision articulated in a simple battle-cry (a 1-liner). What is the flag we can wave, that the media can splash? What is the 1-liner that clearly defines where Obama is taking us? Sure he may be trying to reform all 5 areas; that’s operations… Ironically, Obama’s not selling it with catchy rhetoric (thankfully he’s back to the optimism).

The closest we've got is Recovery.gov... and that's not visionary, it's disciplinary.

Culture change begins with a paradigm shift; an emotionally resonant affirmation. Such empty words are then filled with day-to-day actions. What is our paradigm shift? What are our day-to-day actions?

FDR gave us the New Deal. Johnson gave us the Great Society. Even Newt gave us the Contract with America. Kennedy’s “Man on the Moon within 10 years” would even qualify, as it rallied a segment of the nation.

I’m out of examples… what other defining visions have Presidents given us?

What could Obama give us? How about “Re-energize America”? Got anything better?

How does this relate to marketing our practices?

As leaders of our practice (partners, associates, staff) and leaders of our community (clients, colleagues, centers of influence)… we must provide an affirmative 1-liner – "bullets" that can be used at trigger points, to talk about us. Can we boil our boring 30-second elevator pitch into a catchy 1-liner? Yes We Can.

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Stories where you're quoted helps promote your "expertise brand" - as is my case with the Wall Street Journal's Startup Journal & Entrepreneur magazine some time ago. But I prefer to help my clients create on-going columns and other articles, as is my case with Long Island Business News and Financial Advisor magazine.

While being quoted helps get your name out there, regular articles helps to get your expertise out there. Getting your articles regularly published in professional journals, local newspapers, and colleagues' newsletters is actually easier than being in the right place at the right time for journalists (as PR agents do).

My latest articles can be found in Personal Branding magazine, where I interviewed "G" from FOX's Secret Millionaire - about his own personal branding success tips. You can also read my latest column in the New York Real Estate Journal in this week's issue.

The first step is to write... which is why blogging is a great start. Having a cache of 2 or 3 articles enables editors/publishers to take a look at your work. Many times they can will publish it as-is, or request a new (unpublished) topic. The traditional column length is 700 words.

The second step is to mine your relationships for media contacts... which is why LinkedIn, etc. is a great start. Ask your centers of influence and other colleagues about writing for their newsletters, contacts at local/regional newspapers, and trade journals.

The third step is to a) learn more about these publications & b) develop a relationship with these contacts. Like any business relationship, don't begin with a pitch. Rather, start with questions. You should already know if they've covered the kind of topics you want to write about. (Avoid a foot in mouth response: "Umm... actually... we published something like that last month.")

Yes, it takes more time than simply "cold e-mailing" your articles... but relationships are more valuable than transactions. For example, last January, one of my clients had introduced me to the publisher of the New York Real Estate Journal. She was overwhelmed with professional and personal pressures that prevented us from developing our relationship. Now exactly a year later, we've begun to add value to one another - and to her readers. Likewise, I've since been quoted by Long Island Business News several times since ending my series of business columns.

With due diligence and diligent efforts, you too will develop a long list of media quotes and better yet, published articles. Have you been quoted some place? Do your articles appear regularly in publications? Comment below; we get about a 1,000 readers every week.

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On Friday, one of my clients, Bruce Maasbach arranged a seminar for his circle of real estate agents. While much of the time should have been dedicated to a tactical, Web 2.0, Marketing Action Plan... my inspirational preamble was more valuable. First a mindset change, or a paradigm shift, has to take place for a Real Estate Agent to do business from 2009 on. Hear what I mean:

Three 10-minute parts will automatically be on the right-hand of the video above when I upload to my blip.tv account. With the poor lighting and zoom, the video quite frankly sucks. But my audio silhouette - with hand gestures - gets my points across!

VIDEO 1: I go through how the market has changed over the past 10 years.
VIDEO 2: I explain how ludicrous the real estate industry has been, and a brave new vision for them.
VIDEO 3: I talk about how real estate professionals can begin creating a new business model.

Originally, I had brought my projector, my laptop, with a PowerPoint... but there was no table for the equipment, screen (or white wall), and I'm sure WiFi would've been "too secure." I'm a speaker, not a presenter, so I didn't care.
LESSON TO BE LEARNED: I did bring hand-outs, which are low-tech and guaranteed to work.

What do you think about the new Business Model Vision I proposed for real estate agents/brokers?

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On December 16, I was invited back for a 3rd time to address the Preferred Providers Network of the National Network of Accountants. My topic included a worksheet that would help the room of CPAs, attorneys, and financial advisors to "Trigger More Referrals, with a catchy 1-liner." You can practice along, with the worksheet attached, and the video below. Better yet, add your 1-liner below in the comments. (The video seminar brightens up after about 15 seconds.)

I introduced our Community Hexagon™ to the room. Many had been to a previous seminar (Target your Market to the 4°), which went over the Community Dartboard™. They are similar concepts - in that they outline the 6 facets of a "community," a like-minded demographic that shares lifestyle aspects that encourages culture & identity. It's not so esoteric: Dog lovers and trial attorneys are sub-cultures, that is, they share all 6 facets of the Community Hexagon™.

Likewise, we can take the more-general community of pet owners and the community of professionals and go to the "4th degree" in the Community Dartboard™. By doing so, we would be able to check-off all 6 criteria on the Community Checklist™ with which the worksheet begins. How far can you go on the downloadable Worksheet? Does your target market meet all 6 facets that would make it a Word-of-mouth buzz-friendly group?

 Ebook: Download | Hits (582)

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Are you getting any comments from prospective customers like “our budgets being slashed”, or “It’s not in the budget”? I will paraphrase Jeffrey Gittomer: “Why are you selling to the person that has to go ask Daddy for the money, when you should be selling to Daddy in the first place?” It’s an abrasive, but I believe, valid point.

Here’s how it works; The principle or CEO sees a possibility & an idea or belief of what it will take to improve her/his business from YOU (salesperson/consultant/trusted advisor). He/she then delegates/introduces you to the Director of _______, with accompanying words of encouragement and/or direction to explore what you are suggesting & see if it will work for them. If there’s a strong potential fit/synergy/ROI, then surprise – surprise, money/budget that didn’t exist for the Director of _______, suddenly & almost magically becomes available.

I’ve personally sold millions in products & services by bypassing the entire decision chain, and speaking directly to the person that holds the proverbial purse strings. Most of which were never “in the budget”. Warning – it requires dedication to effective & creative marketing, not to mention strong & clear communication skills to get and keep the ear of the decision maker. Also, it’s not often you can even get there at all - through the “normal channels” of bureaucracies, management ego’s, and gate keepers that are so prevalent in mid-sized and larger organizations.

I assert that effectively reaching & engaging with the prime decision maker requires a whole new level of commitment, one beyond what most of us have ever experienced. A commitment to a cause, to making a difference for a client, their employee’s, and their customers. A commitment to add real and tangible value. This absolutely has to supersede your desire to “make the sale”. The $$ comes as an effect of your commitment to your cause and to your client, not the other way around. Take a stand (as in “stand out”) for something both you and your target markets prime decision makers both care deeply about. That’ll get you on their radar screen!

Lastly, it takes a commitment to leveraged, effective, and consistent marketing & branding. Consistent “value first” marketing that uses a web of channels, clear value driven collaterals, and consistent touch points to convey the most valuable thing you have to offer – your cause/what you stand for - Your Personal Brand.

Mark Bullock
Partner – Practice Marketing Advisors
www.PracticeMarketingBLOG.com
www.MBullock.com
 

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I only recently put myself up on LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace. This was after years of not really getting what the value was, and my concerns over the “professionalism” of my being on such sites. But, I bit the bullet and set-up my profile on each, and started wondering - now what?

I figured out that it was probably a good idea to scour my address book for the people in my own network that were already on one or more of these sites (some I had not been in touch with for years). I found a few dozen, and decided to invite them to “join” my network. About half of those I invited joined – ok, not sure what happened with the other half, but now what to do with those I was connected to? How could I leverage this medium, what could I contribute that would be of value?

Then it dawned on me, how about making “recommendations” and/or “endorsing” the people I knew. It would be a simple gesture, acknowledging who each of these people were for me. Many I had not directly done business with, but I could certainly speak about their character – what kind of person they were. So I took a Sunday afternoon and wrote about 25 recommendations and/or endorsements for those in my “network” on LinkedIn. I spoke from the heart, in plain language, again simply acknowledging these people for their individual contributions to me, or the community around them – what ever came to mind.

What happened next frankly stunned me. First off a handful of individuals immediately recommended or endorsed me back – thanks guys! But what was more important was the emails & calls I got thanking me for my endorsement, and wanting to know how I was, what was up to, and when could we meet for coffee – lunch whatever. Now as I said, some of these folks I hadn’t interacted with in a few years, and honestly most were not aware of my career shift towards marketing.

In short the combination of relationship “re-connects”, “cross-connects”, direct business, and referred business that I received thought this simple act of endorsing others, was totally disproportionate to the relatively small effort I initially made. You see I had stumbled on a powerful secret – I made it about them, not about me. The moral of the story: Join an online social network, be authentic & generous, connect & endorse others. Business is conducted personally between people, people are personally connected to each other – get personally connected – conduct more business, personally!

Here's a cool video on Social Networking

Mark Bullock

Partner / Practice Marketing Advisor

PracticeMarketingBLOG.com

MBullock.com

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Ever engaged a new client, enrolled a new customer in a service, or sold a new customer a product, only to have the customer back-peddle or worse - cancel after making a purchase commitment because they said - “You didn’t tell me…!!!”?

Client’s back-peddling or canceling after the sale hurt. They hurt not only the bottom line and your confidence, but waste valuable time. Ultimately it hurts the client/customer as much or more than you, because in their minds they had their hopes & trust in you dashed, and have wasted their time too.

This thumb rule is in part an incredibly powerful sales tool, part “managing customer expectations”, and part practicing making a “complete sale” – that sticks.

Recent brain research has revealed that the human mind is a prediction machine. Always wanting to know what’s coming, what’s around the corner, and in respect to you and your service, wanting to predict what their experience of you, and your product and service will be like.

So here’s the short answer; People don’t expect perfection, they just want whatever they spend hard earned money on to work. They don’t really want “cheapest” they really want to solve a problem, or at least make it go away. They hate being misled and manipulated, they appreciate honesty and integrity. So the more you can paint an accurate and authentic picture in their minds of what engaging with you will be like, so that they sense they have a “real” idea about what’s coming, the more accountable they will be to honoring their commitment to buy.

Lastly, of course – they want value from you. Never pretend that there are no downsides – that there is ever a payoff without a cost. If you are the one to bring up not only the “pay off’s” (upsides) but also the “costs” (downsides) of what you are proposing – you will be perceived as trustworthy. The salesmanship comes in being able context those downsides for them, in advance, in a way that empowers them to make an educated choice, and stick with it.

Mark V. Bullock Partner/PMA PracticeMarketingAdvisors.com

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In the new tradition of community-collaboration using the Internet (aka, Web 2.0), the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is cooperating with a revolutionary new website: PeertoPatent.org (developed by New York Law). I quote from their new site... Peer-to-Patent opens the patent examination process to public participation for the first time.

Become part of this historic pilot program. Help the USPTO find the information relevant to assessing the claims of pending patent applications.

Become a community reviewer and improve the quality of patents.