Marketing is about the Love

"Consumers hate advertising but, luckily, love their friends. ... They will listen to their friends' recommendations, open their friends' emails first, and take their friends' advice over the most cleverly phrased ad message.
Marketing has now become a trust game. Consumers will listen to sources that they trust, because these are entities that won't yell at them, slick them, or spin them; they will simply pass on relevant, accurate information." ~ Kim Brooks as quoted in C.J. Hayden's book: GET CLIENTS NOW!

Kim Brooks also says; "... the Internet has finally brought advertising cynicism to a head. Consumers are simply tired of all the noise being thrown at them."

Bottom line: People recognize the internet as a communication medium and prefer it to be a way to communicate with friends and are just tuned out and turned off by all the advertising. Therefore, when we use the internet as a method of direct contact with people, we must offer more value (love) in our communication and less (if any) advertising. As Kim Brooks says; "... marketing has now become a trust game." An excellent way to gain people's trust is through various networking venues. The more people are personally exposed to you and receive value (love) from you (information, referrals, introductions) the more they will view you as a trusted source.

Here is the networking equation for getting new clients:
Networking leads to Referrals which leads to Direct Contact/Follow-Up which leads to Presentations which leads to Sales

www.GoABRA.com
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You Better Get Personal!

In her book, GET CLIENTS NOW!, C.J. Hayden states that the most effective way of getting new clients is via Direct Contact and Follow-Up. While not practical for all businesses .... you won't see McDonalds or Wal-Mart with a national outside sales force; it is most effective for professionals, consultants, and coaches, as well as local SMBs. Hayden says; "Direct contact means making personal contact with a prospective client by phone, in person, or by mail, fax, or e-mail. To get results, your first contact must be truly personal, not a form letter or broadcast email. If you make contact in writing, personalize your your communication by addressing it to a specific person and mentioning some issue you know he or she is facing. If you don't do this, you are merely generating direct mail, which is an advertising strategy."

Here is the networking equation for getting new clients:
Networking leads to Referrals which leads to Direct Contact/Follow-Up which leads to Presentations which leads to Sales

www.GoABRA.com

Marketing is Like Football!

"Think of marketing strategies as the highest-level organizing principle for your marketing and sales activities. When you are trying to decide if you should spend more effort on networking or publicity, for example, remember that networking is ranked as more effective.

Every strategy is made up of one or more tactics, or to put it another way, you use specific tactics to execute a chosen strategy." ~ C.J. Hayden in her book: GET CLIENTS NOW!

Marketing is much like football. On defense some teams have adopted more of a passing strategy and some teams have adopted more of a running strategy and some teams have adopted a balanced strategy. Whatever their strategy is; they then design plays/tactics to execute their chosen strategy.

www.GoABRA.com

Is the Internet Your Marketing Strategy?

"How effective is internet marketing ....? The answer depends on how you choose to use the web to market your business. The internet is not a marketing strategy in and of itself; it's simply another medium for employing a wide variety of marketing choices." ~ C.J. Hayden in her book, GET CLIENTS NOW!

We now live in the age of Two Dimensional Marketing! It is significant to understand this because, as C.J. Hayden says, the internet is not a marketing strategy in and of itself. From the first days of commerce on this earth and up until the internet became viable; mankind operated in a One Dimensional marketing environment - in person. Once the internet became relevant we literally had two different dimensions to market in: in person and on-line. They are two different and distinct environments/dimensions and both allow us to deploy some similar and some dissimilar marketing strategies but, neither is a marketing strategy in and of itself. One marketing strategy that can be utilized across both dimensions is networking.

www.GoABRA.com

Who Knows You, Likes You & Trusts You?

"There is an old saying in sales and marketing: "People do business with people they know, like, and trust." If a potential client gets to know you, learns to like you, and believes that he or she can trust you, you probably have a sale. Without your having at least one of these factors in place, getting the business will be an almost impossible task." ~ C.J. Hayden in her book, GET CLIENTS NOW!

As we develop our marketing strategies, we should design them with these three factors in mind. How we approach each factor may differ slightly depending on the service or product we offer. One sure fire way of accomplishing all three factors is through a consistent and well executed networking effort. To be a successful networker one must show up consistently to the same group(s) and then must execute their part of the networking experience in a competent manner. This includes meeting and introducing ourselves to people during open networking times and at mixers and other functions. Competent execution of networking involves being friendly, putting others' interests ahead of our own, giving an effective elevator speech, making compelling presentations, introducing others to potential clients, and following up in an appropriate and timely manner.

www.GoABRA.com

Why Do We Fail at Marketing?

"People who market (themselves) rarely fail due to lack of information about effective sales and marketing techniques. They fail because they don't use the information that is right at their fingertips." C.J. Hayden in her book; GET CLIENTS NOW!

Marketing and sales are not big mysteries. There is an incredible amount of information available to help us to be successful. We need to educate ourselves, become focused and take action ... and do it consistently to be successful.

ABRA is a leading business networking, referral and education association that is right there in front of you to take advantage of. You can increase the effectiveness of your marketing by joining an ABRA chapter today! www.GoABRA.com

Do Your Prospects Hear You and Remember You?

"Getting prospective clients to hear what you have to offer and remember you until they need your service can seem like an enormous challenge. So how do people in your line of work ...... get clients? Ask any successful businessperson that question, and this is what you will hear: "Referals." "Networking." "Making contacts and following up." "Word of mouth."" ~ C.J. Hayden in her book, GET CLIENTS NOW!

At ABRA we do just that - help you to network and get referrals so that you can make contacts and follow up. We are all about the most effective ways to build business in the 21st century! At ABRA, prospects and referral sources do hear you and remember you! Visit our web site, www.GoABRA.com and see us on LinkedIn and facebook.

Do You Know the Magic Formula?

"The magic formula for professional services marketing and sales is choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently. ... You need to choose a direction, take action, and keep moving forward in order to succeed." C.J. Hayden in her book, GET CLIENTS NOW!

Personally, I've spent years and countless hours of reading and seminars and tapes and CD's trying to find the "magic formula" to successful sales. As a manager I have always told my people that they didn't need to be "rah, rah - jump on the table" type people to be successful in sales. I know that when I have been most successful is when I was persistent and consistent in my sales efforts. I'm certainly no Zig Ziglar but, have been considered in the top sales echelons in several organizations. I believe C.J. Hayden has hit the proverbial nail on the head when she talks about "choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently" and "choose a direction, take action, and keep moving forward". Successful salespeople know what they have to do every day and they consistently do those things.

So choose just a couple of things you can do to be successful and focus on doing them consistently every day and you, too, can be very successful in sales!

www.GoABRA.com
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