Browsing Small Business Marketing
June 29, 2010
My “Power of Less” self-challenge for June was to spend at least one hour a day on my own marketing, something I did successfully accomplish except for the week of June 21, when I was on vacation.
Paying yourself first with regard to financial savings gets you lots of benefits: namely, you have money in the bank that works for you (i.e. compound interest).
It’s the same for spending time on your own marketing every day. During the month of June I managed to write four articles for other industry blogs, add new case studies to my own site, update my blogs, and send out my e-newsletters. I also sent out a promo email for my Marketing Opportunity Audit.
The result? Increased traffic and calls / emails for possible projects.
And, because I went on vacation, I was able to take a step back and see my business from the 50,000 foot perspective — and came away with a few new ideas for generating income.
All in all, a wonderful self-challenge — and one I recommend to any freelancer / consultant.
Now, I just have to keep up the hour a day marketing habit!
June 14, 2010 (last updated June 29, 2010)
On my last blog post, Lesley Peters asked how I manage to get my case studies together for my DH Communications Website.
This is a an excellent question.
I actually begin thinking about the case study before I’ve even been awarded a project. Here are the steps:
1. I write really detailed proposals that include a situation analysis, scope of work, objectives / goals, timelines, terms, and use of data / results in my own marketing.
The situation analysis is the heart of the proposal as it explains what challenges the prospective client is facing, what they’ve done about it in the past, which tactics I’m recommending and why — plus the desired results.
2. Once I’m awarded the project, I do the work and then begin monitoring results. Sometimes it can take a few months to see results with things like SEO or social media.
3. Once the project is complete, I ask for a LinkedIn recommendation and then add it to my site’s testimonial pages. Once I can see the client has achieved the agreed-upon results, I ask if it’s ok if I write about the project on my site.
4. I then use the information contained in the situation analysis of my proposal and add in the results. Sometimes I update older case studies of ongoing clients with current information. For example, one client just received a **really large** order from an oversees company who found his site via search. This was a “woo hoo!” moment for sure and totally unexpected.
The key to case studies is to have the final result in mind when you quote a project — and to “prime the pump” so to speak by incorporating into the proposal the fact that you’ll want to post data / results once the project is done.
I also highly recommend that all consultants / freelancers get Alan Weiss’ book, “How to Write a Proposal that’s Accepted Every Time.” This book completely changed how I do proposals, and while not all of my proposals are accepted, a good number of them are. This book also showed me how to increase my project fees. (The secret: focus on results.)
June 9, 2010
It’s June 9 today and so far, I’ve kept to my challenge of working on my own marketing one hour a day five days a week.
Currently I’m working on beefing up the Case Studies section of my DH Communications site. I changed my messaging back in January from B2B marcom consulting and copywriting to “Helping B2B companies get found in Google.”
This is because in the last two years, the bulk of my work has been with small B2B businesses who want Website overhauls. These are companies that need help with messaging, branding, SEO, content creation and social media.
However, my old site didn’t communicate this message effectively, and while my new site does the job nicely, it was lacking current examples of my work.
Now, why did I launch my new site without case studies? Because I knew if I didn’t launch, I would never get around to writing them. And of course, even with the site live I still lagged.
This marketing challenge has lit a fire under my butt to get the job done. I’m actually enjoying the process and have been reconnecting with clients to see how their sites are working for them. I’m getting some nice replies and people are thanking me for contacting them.
If you’re following this challenge, what do you think of it? Has it inspired you to do something similar? (It does feel weird, I must admit, to go public with something like this. I feel like I’m airing my marketing sins. 
)
June 3, 2010
I’ve not had a hard time with making exercise a priority. I started running as a freshman in high school when I took up cross country and never looked back.
I jogged and then walked through my pregnancy and trained for a marathon when my son was very young by pushing him all those miles in his baby jogger — and this was up and down hilly terrain!
When I had to give up running due to bad knees and back, I started working out at the gym. I’m in better shape now than I was 20 years ago.
I’ve found that if I want to achieve a certain fitness goal, I have to make time for exercise — no matter what else is going on in my life.
This means that I do get up at 4:30 AM to get to the gym by 5:00 or I that I squeeze in a workout between work and making dinner no matter how exhausted I am.
As the Nike slogan says, “I just do it.”
Making time for my own marketing works the same way. It doesn’t really matter how much client work I have, or that I need to do my accounting, or that my desk is full of clutter that needs to be dealt with.
Marketing, like exercise, is important.
Exercising regularly means I enjoy excellent health and a fit body. Marketing my business on a daily basis means I continually bring in new business without suffering “feast or famine.”
And like exercise, marketing takes real discipline. Even though I get my butt to the gym at least four days a week, I still fight that voice in my head that says, “You can take a break today. You’ve worked hard. You deserve an hour to just sit and eat cheesy poofs and read a good book.”
When I hear that voice, I quickly change my clothes and high-tail it to the gym. I’m always glad I did.
I hear the same voice with regard to spending time on my own marketing. “You can skip today,” the sly voice says. “Your billable hours are filled for the month. You don’t really need to make those phone calls or write those blog posts.”
I learned this week that when I hear that voice, I need to double-down and get my butt in gear.
And despite the siren call of “the voice,” I did spend at least one hour per day this week working on my marketing. It felt really good. And you know what? Within 48 hours of making this my new habit for June, I became fully booked for June and half of July.
If you’ve taken up the challenge with me, what were your results?
June 1, 2010
I’m a huge fan of Leo Babauta, author of The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential, in Business and in Life and the publisher of the Zen Habits blog.
One strategy that Leo recommends in achieving the life you want is to make a list of what you want to change with regard to your life — and then focusing on changing or implementing one new habit per month.
I initially made a list of bad habits I have and half-heartedly tried to change a couple. But nothing stuck.
That’s because I wasn’t inspired by them and the pay-off was too small. I already exercise five days a week, I’m not overweight, I eat my fruits and veges, and I actually do a pretty good job of separating my work and personal life.
But I have one honking huge habit I’d like to change . . . I’d like to put my marketing first instead of last (or never). Before client work. Every day.
Like many freelancers and consultants, I use the same tired excuses for not doing my own marketing:
1. Billable work comes first.
2. I don’t have time.
3. I’m the shoemaker’s daughter.
4. Marketing is hard.
5. I have so many ideas I don’t know what to do first.
So, to make this new habit “stick,” I’m following Leo’s advice and posting it here. My goal is to work on my marketing at least one hour every day five days a week.
It’s a huge goal for me and one that will take some work. But the pay-off for me will be huge.
If you’re struggling with finding time for your own marketing, why don’t you join me?
I’ll keep you posted on my progress. If I don’t post anything here during the month, you’ll know I’m not keeping my goal!
April 18, 2010
In a recent post on The Wealthy Freelancer blog, I discuss “Three Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish Web Marketing Mistakes.”
The number one mistake is getting a site “on the cheap” from one of those all-in-one services.
Lots of companies today will sell you the tools for getting a Website up and running in a matter of hours . . . Quickbooks, GoDaddy, YellowPages.com, etc.
This services do look attractive: they’re inexpensive, they offer you templates you can easily modify, and you get a packaged deal: template, hosting, domain registration and heck, even canned content.
The problem is that with some of these services, you do not own your Website, its content, or even your domain name.
What are some cost-effective alternatives?
1. WordPress — If I were just starting out today and had to build a site, I’d go with WordPress, hands-down. WordPress is an open source platform that’s free. You download the program to your Webhost’s server, then hire a WordPress specialist to either modify an existing WordPress theme or create a custom theme for you.
I’m such a fan of WordPress that I moved both of my existing sites into the program — and have never looked back.
Tips:
- Don’t go cheap and use the standard WordPress theme (boring and ugly).
- Don’t attempt to modify WordPress yourself. Using WordPress to create your own content is easy; setting up a custom template is not. I recommend finding a highly competent WordPress designer. (Not all Web designers know WordPress, as I learned the hard way). I personally use Cre8d Design based in New Zealand.
- Use WordPress to solve existing challenges. With WordPress, you can modify the underlying code to make it do what you want plus incorporate plugins and widgets.
When I moved my DH Communications site into WordPress, for example, I wanted to eliminate having to manually post HTML versions of my newsletter online, I wanted breadcrumb navigation, and I wanted custom sidebars for some of the pages. Cre8d Design made it happen (I sure as hell could not have done it!).
2. Hosting — You can find hundreds of low-cost services that will host your Website for less than $100 a year. I’ve even used some of them to host my blog — much to my dismay.
Problems included down servers (meaning my blog was inaccessible for long periods of time), too many Websites at one IP address, again making my site inaccessible and/or slow to load, and very poor customer service.
In addition, some Web hosting services, such as Earthlink, aren’t WordPress compatible.
I now use and highly recommend MediaTemple. Cost is $200 per year but worth it. Support is excellent as is the Control Panel interface. Plus, it’s WordPress compatible.
3. Domain name registration — I highly recommend that you purchase your own domain names or URLs versus letting an agency, Web designer, or “all in one” company do it for you.
Purchasing domain names yourself means you’re assured that you own them.
Should you purchase all domain name extensions, i.e. domainname.net, domainname.biz, domainname.org, etc.? It depends. If you have a domain name that’s similar to an existing company name, you might want to claim all domain extensions in order to secure your brand.
Other people also purchase versions of their company names that include hyphens, no hyphens, misspellings, abbreviations, etc. It’s really up to you and your budget.
I do recommend that you purchase your personal name, i.e. I own diannahuff.com, your company name, and if possible, domain names that describe your service.
I highly recommend GoDaddy for managing domains. They have an easy-to-use domain manager interface, making it easy to see when domains are up for renewal. Plus, they’re relatively inexpensive and offer “premium” add-ons, such as domain privacy. When someone checks Who.Is, for example, they won’t see your name and address, an important consideration for some people.
“Wait a minute,” I can hear you thinking. “You’ve just given me three separate services to manage something that I can do much more easily and cheaply with an all-one-service.” Yes, it’s true — the services I’ve outlined here will cost more in the short-term.
But in the long-run, you’ll have a Website that you own and control 100%. And that, my friends, is worth all the money you would have “saved,” and then some when you learn you’ll have to “jail break” your Website from an all-in-one service.
January 14, 2010
A marketing and copywriting consultant to banks and other small businesses, Patrice Robertie, principal of Acorn Advertising, is also married to the foremost backgammon expert in the world, Bill Robertie.
I first met Patrice a few years ago at a New England Direct Marketing (NEDMA) event — and was delighted to learn that she was one of my favorite commentators on a blog we both read regularly.
Patrice knew her husband’s Website, The Gammon Press, needed some work, but she wasn’t sure which steps to take first. Because she is a marketer, Patrice understood the value of developing a Website that increased sales, but she didn’t understand the technical side of online marketing — i.e. search engine optimization (SEO), shopping carts and the like.
Patrice decided to take advantage of my Strategic Marketing Coaching Clinic. The heart of the Coaching Clinic is a comprehensive audit coupled with recommended changes based on the client’s goals. In Patrice and Bill’s case, they wanted to increase sales of Bill’s backgammon books and products.
Before doing the Website and SEO audit, I had no idea that Bill Robertie was *the* Bill Robertie, backgammon expert. (He’s also a top-ranked poker player — you might see him on TV.)
Learning about Bill and studying the Gammon Press Website, I noticed that while Bill had dozens of articles that mentioned him or were written by him, many of these articles didn’t link back to his Gammon Press site. Bill even had a Wikipedia page written about him — again with no link to his site!
In addition, when you typed his name into Google, The Gammon Press site didn’t show up (for various reasons). Clearly Bill needed to take advantage of his name and his expertise.
At the end of the audit, I had 18 changes Patrice could implement to make the site rank better in the search engines as well as improve the visitor experience once someone landed on the site.
The Gammon Press Home Page — Before
The Clinic includes a one hour call to go over all findings; after the call, Patrice took her list of “to dos” and set to work. According to Patrice, it took her three months to implement the recommended changes. The process took this long because she was also learning about SEO, how to write title tags, and analyzing the data from Google Analytics.
Changes to the Gammon Press site included:
* Redirecting links to the Gammon Press site
* Signing up for Google Analytics, adding it to the site, and learning how to read the data
* Performing low-level SEO, researching keywords, and writing meta tags
* Adding text to the home page
* Removing dead products, updating all content
* Adding a coaching page
* Adding a shopping cart
* Playing up Bill’s name as the recognized pro backgammon and poker player that he is
Patrice also updated Bill’s Wikipedia page, wrote a bio for him for his Amazon author page, and signed up for Google Alerts in order to track when Bill is mentioned in the media.
None of these to-dos involved wholesale design changes, although Patrice did work with Sonora DesignWorks to implement the mostly text changes and to add new pages and the shopping cart. (Patrice now uses Contribute, a content management system that allows her to make simple text changes to the site.)
The result of all this work? Traffic that converts. Bill is now getting three to five sales a week from the site. In addition, he’s now getting calls from people who want backgammon coaching. According to Patrice, he’s done nothing to promote this service except to add a new coaching page to the site.
Even more important, when you type Bill’s name into Google, The Gammon Press site is now on the first page of Google — and while his Wikipedia page usually ranks higher, this page now has a link back to the Gammon Press site, making it easy to get targeted traffic to the site.
The Gammon Press Home Page — After
Sums up Patrice, “Bill and I knew that the site needed work, but we didn’t want to redesign it. However, I also wasn’t sure what to do it with it, which is why we didn’t take action sooner. I had been following Dianna for months and knew that while she is very technically-savvy, she also sees the big picture. Her advice to play up Bill — because he is a recognized pro — was spot on. It was just the objective advice we both needed. My husband is delighted with the changes to his site, and now I can take what I learned and apply it to my site and my clients’ sites. It was a win-win for everyone.”
Thank you, Patrice, and thank you Bill. You both are awesome, and it was a real honor to work with you. I’m so happy to see your success!
December 13, 2009
In her fabulous book, Fashion Secrets Mother Never Taught You, image consultant Ginger Burr lists 50 secrets to looking good. Fashion secret #48 (which really should be fashion secret #1) lists six tips for avoiding clothes buying “mistakes.”
The full six tips are too long to list here, but to summarize, you should only buy an item of clothing if you think it looks great, if you like what you see when you look down at yourself (i.e. look at your tummy, your legs, etc.), if the item you’re trying on feels comfortable to you, and if the color looks good on you.
Most important, however, you should purchase something “ONLY if it suits your personal style.” Ginger goes on to write:
“Anyone who has ever shopped with me knows that I’m a big believer in keeping an open mind, trying new things, breaking out of a rut, BUT if you don’t recognize yourself when you look in the mirror, you won’t ever wear it. If you’re going to try something new, start small.”
Suffice to say, the biggest fashion mistake you can make is to buy clothes based on someone else’s style or trends. (For example, one trend that’s been around for a few years is low-riding pants for women — pants that ride at the hip versus the waist. I look like hell in these pants, so I stick with the high-waisted kind, even though many women think they look “matronly.”)
Ginger’s advice is applicable to clothes shopping — and to your business and your life.
I know, because I’ve come face-to-face with the fact that a few years ago I got “off course” when I bought into someone else’s business plan. This plan sounded great on paper and it is a viable business plan for many successful people.
However, it didn’t fit me, my values, or my life — a realization that took me months of self-reflection to figure out (which is why I haven’t posted to this blog — for which I apologize). My period of self-reflection included finding answers to the following:
Who am I? What are my values? What do I like to do? What do I do NOT like to do? What are my goals? Why am I in the business I’m in? If I could start all over, what would I be doing instead? What are my dreams? What am I passionate about? If I could write my story for the rest of my life, how would it read? What do I want to accomplish with my life and why?
It takes a lot of time to find the answers to these questions. If you’re like me, you have to wade through years of gunk and “beliefs” that somehow attach themselves to you like barnacles. They’re hard to remove, too.
Self-reflection also takes a great deal of quiet time — and by quiet time, I mean you have to find that quiet place inside of yourself and start listening to it. What is the little voice inside of you saying?
After months of self-reflection, here’s what I’ve learned:
My family is my number one priority. For me, this means work – life balance is very important to me. I have to ensure that I have the time necessary to be involved in my son’s life — which includes everything from baking cookies to attending his events to just hanging around doing nothing.
I value my independence. I love being in business for myself, I love being free to make my own decisions and to decide my own destiny. This is one reason I don’t work for a corporation — I don’t like feeling boxed in.
And, lastly I value learning. I must have books, newspapers, and magazines to read. I consume them. I love working with clients and trying new marketing tactics to see what works and what doesn’t. I love new things like social media and figuring out how it all works. I love working with my hands and doing something huge, like learning how to refinish hardwood floors. If I’m not learning something new, I feel dead inside.
Once I figured out what I truly value, it was then pretty easy to plan my life and my business around these values (although that took some time, too).
And this is where the rubber met the road. One thing I realized (among many things) is that I really do not like being in the information products business — i.e. developing products to sell. Really. I hate it. I don’t like the time it takes to develop products, the expense, the commitment, and the fact that I have to constantly market and sell them.
I’m giving it up — even though lots of people will tell me it’s a great way to make passive income. Yes, yes, yes. I know that. However, when I look in the mirror, I don’t see me.
Once I gave myself permission to give up this side of my business, a tremendous weight lifted from my shoulders. What I really want is to pursue the one thing that resonates with me on a very deep level: helping my clients achieve business success through strategic, hands-on, get-in-under-the-hood, results-based marketing.
What it all boils down to is that to be successful, you have to listen to your heart — and do what is inside of you — versus what the rest of world tells you you should be doing.
Have you gone through a period of self-reflection? What did you learn and how did it impact your business? Please feel free to share your story.
(By the way, you can now download my email marketing mistakes e-book — Goof-Proof Email — for free. Enjoy.)
September 26, 2009
I sent out my newsletter this week with two major typos — one of which was in the email subject line.
When someone called me to tell me about it, I was mortified. UGH.
Another good friend, Debra Helwig (who writes a FABULOUS blog), also called to nicely point out my typos, and as we talked about our other numerous errors in the past, Debra said, “Typos are like spinach on your teeth: Only your good friends will point it out.” Indeed!
I immediately sent out a “Typo Mea Culpa” email that said yes, my newsletter had two huge typos and explained how it had happened (bad habit: I edit while proofing). I also included this wonderful quote from Ben Franklin:
Whoever accustoms himself to pass over in silence the faults of his neighbors shall meet with much better quarter from the world when he happens to fall into a mistake himself.
I then went about my work . . . and continued to silently kick myself for being less than perfect (which I really do think is a woman-only thing).
But a funny thing happened after sending my “mea culpa.”
I started receiving wonderful emails from people telling me about their own typo mishaps. And even better, people that I didn’t even know except as names on my subscriber list told me they loved my content, that I have helped them with my own hard-earned advice, and to keep the newsletter coming.
Wow! The emails, and the sentiments they contained, brought tears to my eyes.
I started The Profitable Consultant because I wanted to help people like me. I know what it’s like to have to get up every morning and confront the fact that as an independent consultant, you’re responsible for bringing in the dough — which means you have to get out there and market yourself.
And for many people, marketing one’s self is just plain hard (even for me — and I’m a marketer!).
I’ve learned quite a bit being in business for myself for 11 years now — and I want to share what I’ve learned with others. If I can help people bring in more business and find marketing fun, then I’ve done my job.
So, the moral of my typo story is this: Don’t be afraid to try new things. If you make a mistake, own up to it and carry on. As the saying goes, the mistake isn’t in making a mistake. The mistake is in not trying something new.
And, to avoid typos in your own work, download my free typo report, “12 Tips for Avoiding Expensive (and Embarrassing) Typos.” Obviously I need to re-read it. D’oh!
September 24, 2009
Do you know your average sale per customer? This is your yearly revenue divided by your total number of customers. For discussion purposes, let’s say your average sale per customer is $7,500 (or $150,000 divided by 20 clients).
Your Website, if it’s an asset, should bring in at least this much in leads and/or sales each month. If it’s a liability, you’re losing this much — and more — in potential sales month after month.
If you doubt me, consider this: in the last 60 days, I quoted projects for six new clients and have closed on four of them — with a verbal pending for one of the projects.
Of these new clients, three found me via the Web (aka: search) and three came from referrals. More important, all of these new clients indicated that it was my Website that helped educate them regarding my expertise and how I would benefit them.
When I look at one-person consultant sites, however, I don’t see Websites that seek to educate potential customers. Instead, I see brochureware sites that don’t give potential clients any idea of why they should do business with the consultant.
In his best selling book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) defines what is an “asset” and what is a “liability.”
Simply put, an asset is something that brings in money: stocks, bonds, real estate investments. A liability is something that costs you money: your car, your principal residence, etc.
For many consultants, the Website isn’t the asset it should be — meaning, it brings in leads which turn into sales (income) — and instead is a liability as in, it loses the consultant sales.
Here, then, are my six strategies for turning your Website from a liability to an asset — one that brings in leads that become sales.
1. Optimize, optimize, optimize — If you remember one piece of advice from this article, make sure it’s this one. Potential customers cannot find your site when searching if it’s not optimized for search engines.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is something you can do yourself, but it does have a learning curve and it does take time. Consider hiring an independent SEO consultant who can help you with optimization — and who can recommend strategies for increasing traffic to your site.
2. Kill the “brochureware” excuse — Most consultant sites I see have five pages: Home, About Us, Services, Contact Us, and maybe a Resources page. And even worse, consultants will say, “My site is my brochure.”
And that is why these types of sites are b-o-r-i-n-g and do nothing to increase sales. Think about it, when was the last time you got excited by a brochure?
3. Explain what you do in plain English — One of the first questions I find myself asking when viewing independent consultant Websites is, “Ummmm . . . so what exactly do you do?”
To combat this, try this exercise: write down what you do in seven words or less.
When I first did this exercise, my “mission statement” was: “I help businesses achieve their marketing objectives through results-based marketing communications and copywriting.” Whew!
After some judicious editing, I’ve got it down to: “I help businesses achieve their objectives with results-based marketing.” Better — but I’m still working on expressing this even more succinctly.
4. Become a content creator — I’m sorry to say this, but if you want your site to bring in traffic and you want it to help sell your services, you have to create content — lots of it, including: reports, surveys, white papers, case studies, tools, articles, e-books, and information pages.
5. Learn to love marketing — For many of the consultants I talk to, marketing is a dirty word. According to Kiyosaki in Rich Dad, Poor Dad, however, those who have a thorough understanding of marketing and sales are those who realize their goals and achieve success — no matter what they do for a living.
To increase your marketing knowledge, read books, listen to tapes, and attend marketing functions. I must receive half a dozen invitations to professional meetings, Webinars and the like each month — and all are geared toward helping me become a better marketer. I attend what I can and constantly read newsletters, articles, blogs, magazines, and books.
6. Embrace social media — We’re living history even as I write. Our culture is undergoing profound change — and how we communicate has changed forever.
This means that if you’ve ignored social media because it’s a “fad” or a waste of time, you’re doing yourself, your business, and your Website a serious disservice. With social media you can easily drive traffic to your site, communicate your expertise, and set yourself up as a thought-leader with minimal effort and expense.
Do you have a success story about how you improved your Website so that it brings in leads and sales? Feel free to share it here.
