Marketing Magic

So you claim you’re an expert….

October 22, 2007 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

If you’re an independent service professional, you had BETTTER be an expert, especially if you want to charge $100 an hour or more for your services. Whether it’s the web, the law or real estate, if you’re a solo entrepreneur chances are you’re selling your expertise in a subject matter as the basis of your business.

So you’re an expert. Congratulations. Now what?

Well, the next step is that you need to communicate this expertise. After all, that will be the foundation of your marketing message.

There are a lot of ways you can communicate your expertise. You can:

Declare your expertise on your logo/business cards/business letter head, etc
Write a book on the subject area of your expertise
Launch a blog on the subject area of your expertise. Post frequently on the topics in the subject area of your expertise.
Deliver speeches and talks on topics within your area of expertise.

If you’re smart, you’ll focus upon steps 2-4 and possibly skip step 1.

Step 1, declaring your expertise, is probably the least effective way of communicating your expertise. From your prospective client’s point of view, it’s "easy" for you to declare you’re an expert. The next thought in your prospective client’s mind when they see or hear you declare that you’re an expert is usually, "Prove it!" That’s what steps 2-4 are all about.

Steps 2-4 are all ways in which you’ll prove your expertise. For example, when you write a book, you are instantly awarded a certain level of "expertise"…. a well written book that is well promoted and sells a lot of copies affords you even more "authority". However, merely getting your book published no matter what the quality of the content is usually enough to get you points in the "expert" category. Being able to say to a potential client, "Here, read my book" is a great tool to demonstrate your level of expertise.

Launching a blog where you post frequently on your subject matter area is another GREAT way to DEMONSTRATE your expertise. Many authors actually pull their book content from their blog posts and vice versa. Blogs are an expert’s best marketing tool.

Finally, speaking frequently on your topic is another way to demonstrate your expertise. Do you speak better than you write? Then video tape yourself and post those short videos to your blog!

In any case, communication is key in demonstrating your expertise. Potential clients must be ASSURED of your expertise before they’ll pick up the phone and call you. That’s why blogs are GREAT marketing tools for indepdendent service professionals. Your blog allows your potential clients to "test the waters" without taking a HUGE leap of faith and contacting you, whether by phone, mail or email.

That’s why I HIGHLY recommend blogs for clients who want to demonstrate their expertise.

There is no such thing as a set it and forget it successful web site

October 12, 2007 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

I try to use Fridays as a day to manage my business. Well, things have been REALLY hopping around here for the past few months, and I haven’t checked on some of my babies… my now ORPHANED web sites, in apparently a VERY long time. I’m truly embarassed as to the state of disrepair of these web sites. What’s really, really sad is two of these sites used to pull in NICE traffic. Now, they’re mere shadows of their former glory.

I blame blogs.

My blogs in particular… including this one! It’s all their fault really. They’re just so DARNED EASY to manage. I can log in, write a bit and click "publish". VIOLA! I’m in and out in a fraction of the time it takes to upload a big file via FTP.

But it’s not just the ease of posting the content that makes me blog over creating HTML pages. For example, on one HTML site I had created to experiment with affiliate income generation… there were CJ banner ads scattered all over the place. Managing those banner ads was ALWAYS a chore… just from the HTML side. Keeping up on who was still USING CJ as their affiliate manager and who wasn’t was yet another dreaded task. If someone I was signed up with dropped CJ, their links went dead and I got to go searching through the site to find all the instances of that advertiser’s links. Admittedly, that’s just part of playing the affiliate game.

Another part of playing the affiliate game is attracting traffic. Without traffic, you won’t be making any affiliate sales and you won’t get traffic until you get some inbound links. You can do everything right, but if you don’t have some inbound links, well… you’ll be working very hard for a very puny return.

In HTML land, creating those inbound links was virtually impossible! I mean sure, I published articles which helped a little… but I’ve found that if you’re publishing a web site outside the traditional "web developer" network, getting people to hire their webmaster to add a link to your site is difficult for most of us. So difficult that I recently received a $20 bribe if I would link one of my more popular sites to another site!

In blog land, those bribes are called "pay per post". However, in blog land you can generate those inbound links easily (in comparison) by using trackbacks. PLUS you can exchange links with your fellow bloggers, confident in the fact that 7 times out of 10, they’re going to approve your trackback link to their blog. (After all, they like that inbound link as much as you do!)

The moral to the story:

There is no such thing as a set it and forget it web site.

Your Word Press blog based web site makes web maintenance SO much easier for the average business person. You can see incoming links come in as you sign in to your dashboard. You can visit the person’s blog and easily create a link from your next blog post to that nice blogger who linked to you. Sometimes, it’s as easy as saying , "Hey, thanks for linking to my post!"

My experience has been that when I go to check my stats on my ACTIVE blog sites, I’m pleasantly surprised by what I see…. in stark contrast to the sinking feeling I got seeing the triple digit traffic figures for my "forgotten" web sites.

Which is why, when people contact me about creating a web site for them, I let them know that I am PASSIONATE about blogging. I am quick to regale them with my own personal experience and after today, I’ll be able to clearly illustrate how pathetic the traffic numbers are for the "set it and forget it " web site!

Seven Deadly Sins Your Blog May be Committing

September 26, 2007 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Whether it’s time to bring your practice to the Internet or re-vamp your current internet presence, here are 7 deadly sins you need to avoid as you prepare to launch a blog and present your marketing message to the world.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #1: Avoid the "no name blog" trap.

The best things in life may be free, but when it comes to establishing a business blog, a free blog is a huge mistake. Whether it’s a free account at WordPress.com or a Blogger.com blog, when you use a free blog service there’s no way to keep it a secret. The long and cryptic URL instantly gives you away.

Unfortunately, setting up shop on one of these sites just reinforces the assumption that you really are small potatoes and aren’t ready or able to compete in the global marketplace. If you would, by chance, beat the odds and build a respectable following on one of these free blog sites, you’ll find that valuable traffic doesn’t really belong to you, it belongs to the company hosting your blog. Migrating your blog from one of these free sites to a self hosted site is one fraught with peril. (Fraught…. who talks like that?)

A self hosting blog allows you to launch your blog under your own strong, easy to spell URL. For less than $20 per year, you can register a domain name that describes your business. Click here to see if your preferred domain name is available.

A self hosted blog allows you to create email addresses with your domain name as well. When you send messages to potential clients, to your bank or to suppliers, [email protected] (not real) looks far more professional than [email protected].

Best Strategy: Even if you don’t have a web site yet, start right with a self hosted Word Press blog. Acumen Web Services offers self hosted, no web expertise needed Word Press blogs.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #2: Web sites that don’t look the part.

Start up is tough on everyone, but image is everything, especially to a solo entrepreneur launching a service based practice.

Your web site is your face to the world. Your clients may never see your office, but they will almost always see your web site. While an impressive off-line office address may be out of your reach, an impressive online presence can be had for a fraction of the price of a year’s lease on quality office space.

Best Strategy: For less than $60 you can pick up a professional web site template from Template Monster.com. If you’re looking to "dress" your Word Press blog, they offer Word Press Blog themes as well.

Your Web site should be the best marketing piece your business has simply because it’s likely to be seen by many more people than most paper brochures.

Just as you "dress up" to interview for a job, your web site should too! Every visitor is a potential employer (a.k.a. client!)!

EVEN BETTER: Visit Acumen Web Services. It takes you step by step through the process of establishing your blog.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #3: Photo disasters….

Make sure the images on your web site are professional in quality. If you’re going to feature your photo on your site, make sure you get head shots done by a professional. There really is a difference between the photo shot in your back yard and the one shot in a professional studio. Lighting, composition and image quality are all readily apparent even to the casual visitor.

Speaking of professional photographs, if you use stock photos, be sure you or your designer has purchased the rights to use a particular image. The fines for using images you don’t have the right to use can easily run six figures, not including attorney fees.

Best Strategy: Use a professional web developer for your web design project. Ask about images and copyright information. If your designer/developer tries to dismiss your concerns, find another developer immediately.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #4: The "if I build it, they will come" syndrome.

One of the most common mistakes independent service professionals make is to assume that a business web site instantly attracts clients. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Don’t wait to start marketing your practice online. As soon as your blog is launched, begin posting pillar articles to your blog. Pillar articles are foundational posts that set the tone for your entire blog.

If you’ve launched an Acumen Web Services Word Press Selft Hosted Blog, then your new web site comes designed with search engine success in mind. Which style of permalinks should you choose? How do you create (and maintain) a site map? You don’t have to worry about those questions because your Word Press blog is already optimized!

Best Strategy: Be certain your web site is designed with the search engines in mind. Ask what is being done to make your site "search engine friendly" during the design and development of your site. If you’re using a Word Press blog, make sure the right plug ins are installed.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #5: It’s called the WORLD WIDE WEB for a reason

Don’t forget to put your location and phone number prominently on your Web site. Web sites are frequently used as a customer looking at it while calling the company. Many businesses find that customers will refer to something on the Web site, but they actually buy products or order services on the phone.

It’s also a good idea to put your mailing address on the site. If you’re working from home, get a PO Box or a virtual office. It adds to the comfort level of knowing you are a "real" business.

Best Strategy: Even if you’re a virtual service provider, there’s a sense of comfort for your customers in knowing what time zone you’re in. Include contact information prominently throughout the site.

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #6: The banner barrage

Joining a banner exchange will probably not help bring traffic to your Web site. Putting four banners on a page in addition to buy now buttons for Google plus six or seven other affiliate programs just makes your site look cheap. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog or a traditional web site, greeting a visitor with a barrage of ads is just another way of saying "Get Lost!"

Think about it. When you see a google ad words box on a site, the first thing that comes to mind is, "Hey, why don’t I try one of those links".

If you join affiliate programs you’ll find that you get much better results if you provide links to specific products in context, rather than a generic button to those companies’ home pages. This way you provide a service that makes sense for your business, rather than another distracting button on your Web site.

Best Strategy: Because of the search engine friendly of Word Press blogs, many people use them to make SIGNIFICANT money with affiliate programs. However, just placing affiliate links in your blogroll isn’t a good way to drive traffic to your affiliate links. Talking about the product or service within your posts will!

Deadly Online Marketing Sin #7: What do you do again?

The final deadly sin is to have a Web site that doesn’t quickly convey business you are in and the solutions you offer to your visitors. While it sounds like another no-brainer, you’d be surprised at how many small business Web sites leave you looking at them for minutes while pondering, "What is it exactly that these folks do?"

Remember, a confused mind says "no". Make sure your message is crystal clear from the moment your page loads.

Marketing Guru: a dirty word in my book

September 19, 2007 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Usually, by the time clients land at my front door, they’ve been around the block and signed up for multiple newsletters on how to make their web site work as a marketing power tool for their business. As a result, I frequently get a "first hand look" at special announcements from many so called "marketing gurus".

Here, in the written word, I put quotation marks around the term "marketing guru" to denote the phrase as a "slang" term. If you heard me speak the sentence, you’d hear my voice fluctuate as I spoke the words. If you were to sit across from me and watch me speak the words, I’m sure you’d be amused by the facial expressions that just naturally accompany my utterance of those words.

To earn the deragatory title of "marketing guru" in my book you must usually:

Be providing little REAL value to clients through your work.
Usually this is demonstrated by merely rehashing what others have said or things they have read.

These wanna be marketing professionals rarely offer real life case studies of real live business clients because the only marketing experience these "marketing gurus" have is marketing their information product business.
Be dedicated more to his/her own practice’s success than he/she is to his/her client’s success.
The "marketing guru" in my book is more interested in peddling his or her wares than he/she is providing valuable information on what works and what doesn’t in marketing. Again, this is because the "marketing guru’s" experience is limited to his or her promotion of his/her information product.

In the interest of time, I’ve posted to another blog I author the particular event which caused me to write this defining post. In my post, Resisting the irresistible…. or how NOT to be a victim of a really great sales letter I admonish my client (and my readers) to try not to fall into step with the swaying of the snake charmer’s body. Instead, step back and watch a master work.

Watch what snake charmer’s like this are DOING to promote their product instead of getting caught up in the sales frenzy being generated. Watch the way they work their bodies and the way they match it to the music they’re playing and try to create your own similar song.

Notice how the song being played was created JUST for this particular audience. It’s then carefully delivered to that specific audience. The "marketing guru" in question doesn’t have my name on his mailing list… he has my client’s name and email on his list.

My client obviously hasn’t read my free resource on what Google loves…. but then again, she’s paying to have me on retainer to ask these questions personally.

My final "word of warning"…. most of my clients are engaged in making what is called the "Major Sale" by Neil Rackham in his work on SPIN selling. Selling an information product is an example of a MINOR SALE while selling services is almost universally a MAJOR SALE. Ah, there’s the rub! Many of these marketing guru’s are selling marketing information that works for MINOR SALES products and not MAJOR SALE services. So while more than a few of these "marketing gurus" are probably well meaning, they don’t realize that there really is a difference in marketing these two distinctly different types of products and/or services.

Want to learn more? Pick up my book Beyond the Niche. I’ve got to get back to work!

Yet another way to piss off your customers…. fail to deliver what you specifically promise to deliver!

August 24, 2007 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Interestingly enough, shortly after my last post, I had a conversation with a friend in which she vented her frustration about a product she purchased online.

After 10 years of marriage, my friend’s husband decided to "trade in" my friend on a "newer" model, leaving her to navigate the ever treacherous waters of the "dating scene". Newly single, she like many other Gen Y members turned to the internet for advice. During this search, she came across an information product web site.

The marketing behind this information product was SUBERBLY crafted. The product developers showed incredible insight on crafting a compelling message. They understood that no one was going to show up on their web site and fork over $500 for their info product on the first visit, so they offered a tempting free bribe in exchange for signing up for their newsletter.

According to my friend, the ensuing monthly mailers were exquisitely crafted to create a compelling pitch for the product. Dan Theis does a WONDERFUL job of outlining this strategy in his post :

How Internet Marketers Use "Straw Man" Logic To Sell Products

The way they [internet marketing gurus] convince you to buy the product they’re pushing involves a lot of "straw man" arguments. Let me walk you through the basic template they’re using here:

If you have failed at (SEO, marketing, business, life) it’s not your fault.

You’re not failing because you didn’t actually put in the time and effort to do things right

No, it’s not your fault, it’s all those evil "gurus" who aren’t telling you the whole truth!

As an example, watch us construct a straw man and knock it down

See, we’re smart, and we’re trying to help you.

Open your wallet now.

Well, on one particular day, an email landed in my friend’s inbox from this internet marketing, uh I mean DATING guru. In this edition, he happened to hit upon a scenario that my friend was currently experiencing. It was as if he’d been spying upon her or was in some way psychic. In this email he wrote that after a honeymoon period, the man in the relationship would pull back and stop calling. According to the email, his information product would not only tell you WHY your man is doing that, but WHAT you MUST do to save the relationship.

As you can guess, my friend had NO TROUBLE finding her credit card and purchasing the product. After all, she was going to find out EXACTLY what to do to save her faltering relationship!

The DVD’s arrived in short order and my friend consumed the series in short order.

IMAGINE HER FURY to discover that while the series did indeed explain WHY her gentleman friend had pulled away, it failed to direct her in what she needed to do to salvage the relationship!

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Not only was my friend venting to me, she was venting to EVERY SINGLE WOMAN SHE KNOWS!

Ouch! My advertising mentor taught me long ago that a happy customer will tell 3 friends… and a disgruntled one will tell 12. Recent research puts the second figure at closer to 16. My friend is on track to beat that estimate. She is now a woman on a mission. She’s not only telling every one she knows, but she’s also spending time online warning others.

She’s also taking advantage of the site’s "30 day money back guarantee"….. and is fully prepared to contact the state’s attorney general if they fail to refund her money as promised.

By promising something he had no intention of delivering, he’s not only going to get to refund her the $497 she paid, he’s also going to have to battle the bad PR my friend is so intent on delivering. All because he over promised and under delivered.

That’s one of the perils of tightly targeting a niche market. If you fail to deliver what you promise, your customers usually spread the word quickly to destroy you.