marketing attitude Archives - Page 6 of 18

10 Questions to Kick Off Your Marketing Year

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Plans & Strategies

What dreams and goals do you have for your business at the beginning of this new year? As you ease into January, take time to set the stage for a great year to come: great marketing, great sales, and great clients. Ask yourself the questions below to help you reflect and plan, and get ready for good things to happen!

– How much business do you really want? What would be new and different for you if you had that level of business?
– What worked best to bring you clients last year? How can you do more of that in the year to come?

Stop Reacting and Start Pro-Acting to Market Your Business

by C.J. Hayden | Marketing Mindset

If you’re answering calls, replying to emails and notes, responding to invitations, and receiving referrals and leads, it probably feels like you’re taking a lot of action to market your business. But it may be that a good deal of what you’re engaged in is actually RE-action.

Waiting to hear from the right prospects is nowhere near as productive as proactively taking steps to seek them out. And a stream of incoming communications can take up time and energy, but doesn’t always lead to closed sales.

Consider these suggestions for getting out of reaction mode and becoming more proactive in your marketing.

Optimism: The Secret to Successful Selling

by C.J. Hayden | Marketing Mindset

Why is it that some people seem to be naturals at selling, while others struggle to close every sale or even fail completely in a role that requires them to sell? In 1982, psychologist Martin Seligman, PhD, set out to answer that question for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Seligman had been studying optimism and pessimism in the laboratory for almost twenty years when Met Life heard about his research. Could Seligman help them learn how to hire more effective salespeople, they asked?

As it turned out, he could. In a series of studies for Met Life that analyzed the relationship between successful selling and the personality of the salesperson, Seligman confirmed in the field what his laboratory research had predicted — optimists make more sales than pessimists.

Make This the Year You Do Things Differently

by C.J. Hayden | Getting Things Done

At the start of every year, I encourage my clients to follow the same practice I do of reviewing the past year before setting intentions for the new one. I find that a thorough review of the previous year can provide important guidance for moving ahead. I make a list of “Successes, Accomplishments, and Breakthroughs” and another of “Failures, Disappointments, and Breakdowns.” After giving myself some time to celebrate my successes, I analyze my failures. Try this process yourself, and see what it provides.

Looking at each of your disappointments over the past year, ask yourself what went wrong in that area, and what you might be able to do differently. Let’s say you didn’t gain enough new clients last year. What’s your take on what went wrong?

Your Leadership and Your Marketing

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Mindset

In working with successful business owners, one of the traits I see come up often is that of being a leader. Some are natural leaders, comfortable with being in charge; others have reluctantly taken on the role. If you seem to have leadership in your bones, fantastic! However, if you find yourself more of a reluctant leader, you’ll want to develop your leadership skills so you can step more into the role.

Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean being a take-charge, my-way-or-the-highway type of person. Being a leader means being willing to say the buck stops here and hold yourself, and those you work with, accountable.

Are You Marketing More or Less Than You Think?

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Plans & Strategies

Unless you’re literally hiding under a rock, if you’re in business and have any clients at all, you’re doing something that qualifies as marketing. People tend to fall into two camps: those who are doing more marketing than they realize, and those who are doing less than they think.

Which camp do you fall into?

As an aside, for our purposes we’re defining marketing as getting the word out about your business, it’s services and benefits, to potential customers so that you can have a sales conversation with them and hopefully close the sale. Marketing creates opportunities to have sales conversations.

Breaking Down the Secret Marketing Formula

by Kristine Carey | Fear & Resistance

Is there really a secret formula for marketing? Yes.

The secret formula is this:
Find a marketing strategy that you like, that you’ll use, that’s enjoyable for you, that you know how to do, that reaches your ideal client, and that produces results. Then do it over and over until you have the amount of business you want.

Pretty simple when you look at it that way.

Fear may start to creep in, though, when you break that sentence down.
What if I don’t like any marketing strategies?
What if I don’t know how to “do” marketing?
What if I don’t like doing any kind of marketing?
What if what I do doesn’t reach my ideal client?
What if what I like doesn’t produce results?

Four Consequences of Using the Wrong Marketing Strategy

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Plans & Strategies

Perhaps these questions sound familiar:
What happens if I use the wrong marketing strategy?
Is there such a thing as a wrong marketing strategy?

These questions are common if you’re a service-based business looking to market your services; it’s easy to think you’re doing marketing all wrong.

And maybe you are.

While there is no real right or wrong way when it comes to marketing your business, there is such a thing as choosing a marketing strategy that isn’t the right fit for you and your ideal customers – strategies that can make marketing feel harder – and this can have negative consequences.

Two Ways to Make Direct Contact Easier

by Kristine Carey | Sales Conversations

When thinking about the best way to get new business, it’s often good to remember that contacting a prospect directly can be the most effective tactic. However, this can sometimes seem too scary: the thought of picking up the phone, or meeting someone for coffee, or even sending an email can send a wave of fear through your business heart.
Here are some common fears you might experience when considering reaching out to someone directly:

They’ll think I’m bothering them.
I don’t know what to say.
I’m not a good salesperson.
I’m an introvert.
I’m not good with words.
They won’t remember me.
I’m not sure how to make an offer.

Prospective Clients WANT to Hear from You

by C.J. Hayden | Following Up

Every time I give a marketing workshop or talk to a new coaching client, I hear the question: “Aren’t I bugging people if I keep following up with them?”

The answer is no. The only circumstances under which you would ever be “bugging” prospective clients would be if they’ve already told you they are not at all interested in what you offer, or asked you specifically to stop contacting them. In any other situation, your continued contact with a potential client is not only acceptable, it is often welcome.

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