Search Results for: Start Where You Stand

High Branding – a Big Idea

February 25, 2010 By Cara Lumen

I’ve coined a new phrase, "High Branding" because finding your high branding position makes everything fall into place. Let me explain.

As an entrepreneur I can do a lot of things, just like you. As an entrepreneur I have a hard time narrowing my niche to a small enough target audience to be effective. Just like you.

I had all sorts of names within the structure of my business because I wanted people to know all that I did and I didn’t want to miss any income opportunities. Does this sound familiar? I had different names for my internet marketing coaching, for my copy writing services, for my web content strategy and design, for marketing strategy development and for signature product development. My services page on my web site was a mess. But it was still only me doing my thing – my things, if you will.

But less is more. I knew that but I couldn’t find it.

Look without

I began to notice two things: what my clients were asking me to do for them, and what skills and talents I was using to answer their needs. I wanted my niche to find me.

For years I have kept an Acknowledgement List. It helps me see myself as others see me. I began to look over testimonials and acknowledgements that people had sent me. I began to see what they saw in me that I might not be seeing in myself. But it was the conscious look within that helped me find my High Brand.

Look within

I kept looking deeper and deeper to what was at the core of my passion. It turns out it is organizing! I love to organize words in my writing. I love to organize ideas into a book or course. And that same organizing skill moves into my coaching to help people choose their most productive ideas. I became "Your Idea Optimizer" And all that I was doing began to fall easily under that umbrella. It didn’t matter if we were creating web sites, ordeveloping marekting skills, or creating signautre products, it was all about helping people identify their passion, align it with their vision and bring it out into the world.

What a relief! All my efforting fell away. All need to explain the details of what I do disappeared. My high intention, my overall purpose is to help people creatively build their business from their inside out – and choose their best ideas to make it happen..

I created a new web site, changed my tag line adn key words, and came to rest under the umbrella of a High Brand.

How can you find your High Brand? How can you get to the core of what you offer?

Be Patient

It took me three years to arrive at this new awareness, so first of all be patient. And allow it to emerge organically as you go about placing yourself in deep service.

Keep an Acknowledgement List

What started as an Acknowledgement List years ago is now my testimonial collection, but it also contains complimentary emails that people have sent me along the way. It’s in my computer and I use it regularly to find copy phrases to use for promoting my products and services. And they usually make me feel good too. Watch how they see you and what they ask of you.

Redo your marketing plan on a regular basis

Every time I redo my marketing plan and have to define my target audience and describe the problem I solve and the benefits I offer them, my brand gets stronger. I discover new words and phrases as I express how I am currently feeling about my work. Redo your marketing plan at least once a year as a checkup. Notice how far you have come, be aware of how you have changed, see if you can you narrow your target audience, identify what your clients are asking for. Then pay attention to what you find and see how you can adjust your business to give you greater fulfillment and prosperity.

Write a Resource Box

We only need a resource box when we submit articles, but finding the words to capture the essence of your business in three lines or so is very revealing. I have about three that I have used along the line. They are all in one place and I keep rearranging phrases as my own awareness grows. Keep honing and polishing the words and phrases you use to attract people to your offerings. The simpler the language, the clearer the understanding.

Look for the Umbrella

What title can you give yourself that says it all? I helped one of my clients brand herself as The Unstoppable Confidence Coach and another has become The Marketing Mentor. Look for the core service you give, what others continually ask you to provide, the highest benefit others receive and see what emerges. That’s how you discover your own High Branding.

12 Tips for Better Time Management When the Ideas Keep Coming In

December 28, 2009 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

You are flooded with exciting ideas and don’t know which to choose and how to even begin to do them all. Well you can’t do them all and you do have to choose but once you have chosen you have to make it happen. Here are some ways to get more out of the time you spend being creative.

Be aware of your most creative time. Are you a first thing in the morning writer or a last thing at night creative? Do you just get hit with creativity unexpectedly and feel the need to answer the muse? If you are a morning person but have a family who needs you, try getting up earlier than everyone else and get in some good solid private creative time.

Use waiting time. You’ll be amazed at what you can do if you are prepared with a small notebook for writing down ideas, or organizing a project. Use a tape recorder to record the main points of the talk you are preparing and use that to keep you on track as you go for your daily walk and practice out loud as you go. Use a thumb drive if you are going to be away from your computer so you can work on projects during your down time on someone else’s computer. There are recorders that you can use that will translate into Dragon Speak Naturally. At the very least keep a notebook handy for brainstorming while you wait.

Keep your eyes open for inspiration. I have started work on a new telecourse and now that I am thinking about the topic and looking for information it is showing up by the carloads. The funny thing is, if you know you need something and simply keep your eyes open, it will show up.

Plan your day the night before. This is an old office trick. Spend the last 15 minutes of your day preparing for the next day. Organize your desk, Set up your lists and prioritize them, look up phone numbers you may need, get the materials together you need to complete what you have assigned yourself for the next day. Easy to do and a great boost in the morning.

Put off email. If you are your most creative first thing, then write for two hours and then answer your email. Its way too easy to be pulled away from your intention by an email you need to answer or a blog post you need to read. Look at your email every two hours – not every 15 minutes.

Pre-prepare healthy snacks. That seems odd for time management, but my son works out of his home and mentioned how he keeps grabbing pretzels because he doesn’t have time to stop to eat. If that sounds familiar, get some sunflower seed butter and Wassa crackers to keep on hand, or celery and almond butter, or make some granola that even tastes good dry. And don’t forget hard boiled eggs – sweet-sour mustard and dill make you think you are on a picnic. Easy, fast and protein.

Pay attention to your attention. That’s particularly important for creatives. Keep that brainstorming list open on your computer so if a random creative idea comes in you can quickly capture it and move back to what you are doing. If you have to spend five minutes capturing some of the details of the idea fine, but try to keep on target with the task you set for yourself.

Be sure and set deadlines for yourself whenever possible and reward yourself when you get things done as you had planned, especially the important ones. You might want to start an acknowledgement file for yourself where every night before ending your work you write down what you have accomplished. At the end of the week you can really see and acknowledge your progress. I use my Magnetic Marketing Momentum Builder for my own personalized cheering section.

Do just one more thing. Before going to bed, try to do just one more thing to make the day more complete, and eliminate one task for the next day.

Honor your own rhythm. When you need a break take one. When you have to stop thinking, turn on some music and dance, or go for a walk, or call up a friend to chat, or make some tea and watch The View. Move your body every 20 minutes or so. Look out the window, move your shoulders and neck. Take deep five breaths and release tension on every exhale.

Concentrate on one thing at a time. Start with difficult or boring tasks first while you are still fresh and get this "chore" out of the way to make the rest of the day easier for yourself. Be active in what you are doing at any given time.

Be realistic in your expectations of yourself. Go back to the idea of writing down how long each item will take and make a realistic schedule. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t keep the schedule but learn to truly understand what you can get done in a certain time period.

How to Create Positive Change

May 15, 2009 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

It’s funny, we do it all the time but we only try to maneuver it when things start looking scary. I’m talking about our life, our business, our circumstances. We attract to us everything we experience simply by our thoughts and actions. So if something is unpleasant we have to make changes inside in order to change the outside.

You get what you look for

I know someone who expects the worst – and she gets it. She expects to be slighted and she is. She expects to be ignored and she is. I know someone else who feels deserving and she attracts great opportunities. Your life begins and ends within – with what you believe you deserve and what you believe can happen.

How to change your life

Some changes are happening in my life and I get to make new choices and attract new opportunities. How do I get to vote on what shows up? By my expectations. For instance, I’m ready for more clients and as I review my Red Velvet Rope policy I know that I want people who value my work, believe in the coaching process, do their assignments and are eager to serve others. Oh yes, and have the funds to pay for it. As I move through my day I keep the image in my mind of people like that calling me and signing up for sessions. Then I will recognize them when they call.

Some of my projects are coming to an end and there is room for new ones. How do I choose? How do I attract the best ones possible? In my case, I’m going to take more contemplative time – time to draw a mind map, to list a zillion possible projects, to look at my business and see what it needs and see that my passion is still high about how I am in service. And I’m going to particularly look at what people are asking me to do for them. It’s like checking the engine of your car – is every part of your business in working order? Will it take you where you want to go?

What does your life/business need now?

What’s missing? What have you been putting off? What would you love to do if you had time? What would make your heart sing? The funny thing is that we make up our life by our choices so why shouldn’t you simply choose to do what you love to do? See what you need to stop doing that you only think you should be doing and start doing what is calling you.

Overcome your reservations

Interviewing others for a podcast has been on my list for a year. It would be a great way to reach out and get to know others and it would be fun to do. But it has yet to make it to the top of my "I’m Doing It!" list. It’s time consuming, it means committing to a regular schedule, it means pushing through to another level of technical knowledge. Gee, that’s a pretty good list of reservations standing in my way. All of which are made up by me. And I’m just the person who can undo them. Look at what’s stopping you and push it aside. There’s too much fun waiting on the other side to delay moving forward.

Stay open to the unexpected

About the time I get my list prioritized and have a clue where to start an unexpected opportunity will come up and the whole scenario will change. That’s the fun part – being surprised and being invited to move in a direction you hadn’t considered.

You do need to know your core purpose so you can keep your choices in alignment with where you want to go, but at the same time, let the new opportunities open new doors for you. Go exploring, you can always change direction after you check it out.

Be willing to change

You have to make room for change to occur. You have to make it OK for things to be different. I know I’m at a crossroads. I know things have to change – are changing and I’m willing to change. I want to invite new elements into my life. So I’m going to take time to journal and mind map, listen to what people are asking me to do for them, overcome my own reservations, and explore every opportunity that shows up. That’s how I’m going to create positive change.

How to use testimonials to handle objections

February 23, 2008 By Cara Lumen

There will always be objections raised in the selling process. What if…I can’t…maybe… An objection means they don’t have enough information. It’s that simple.

Now it’s one thing to be in conversation and hear an objection voiced, you can immediately begin to determine what they are thinking and ask questions to identify and clarify their objections. But what do you do when you are writing a landing page and are essentially having a conversation with yourself?

You have to anticipate.

Make the “what if’s” part of your content

When you do your homework to identify the problems of your target market, also write down some of the perceived objections that might be raised. If you have had conversations with friends that represent your target market, be certain to explore their possible objections. Put yourself in the shoes your target market. Is the objection money, time, fear, lack of information, lack of need?

You want to beat them to the draw, so to speak, by addressing those objections in your sales page content. And what better way than to have someone else tell them what your product or service did for them.

Let testimonials handle the objections

“Although I’ve been a professional magazine writer for years, I didn’t realize the incredible marketing potential of articles until I took Cara’s class, Article Magnetism, How to Write Articles that Attract. Cara’s class material was worth ten times the cost of the class and her vast experience helped point me in directions I would not have thought of on my own. If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of effective article marketing, Article Magnetism is the one class you can’t afford to miss.”

Nancy Hendrickson
www.CyberBookBuzz.com

Nancy identifies herself as a knowledgeable person, indicates her problem of not having realized the marketing potential of writing articles, and indicates the class raised her awareness and moved her to a new level. This well-crafted testimonial is only three sentences long and addresses value, benefits and results.

I’ve been interested in article marketing for nearly a year now but I felt stuck and hadn’t done much with the information I’d received. In three weeks of Cara’s class I’ve been inspired to write 7 articles and have brainstormed a list of 27 more article ideas to write about. She’s really pulled this topic together for me so that I can write with confidence, ease, speed, organization and pleasure. I don’t feel like I have to write an article anymore. I want to write an article!

Cara gets herself and her students right into the beat of this topic, with each and every session. No one is looking at their watch, multi-tasking or asking “where’s the beef” in this content rich class. Her original (and really generous) bonus materials are great and her tips and resources are not the usual ones that everybody lists.

I really loved this course. Anyone who orders it will be richly rewarded.

Beth Borray
www.redpeony.com

This is actually a bit long and I could easily edit it but I include it because Beth speaks of her emotion, how stuck she felt and how relieved she was to actually want to write an article instead of feeling she had to. And she gives insights into the richness of the content and value of the course.

And I didn’t have to say a thing. You sometimes don’t have to do anything more than include the testimonial in your marketing material.

Use the parts and pieces

Some of my best testimonials come unsolicited in an email comment from people I interact with. First, I save them all in my “Acknowledgment” file so if I ever start feeling dumpy I can go look at the great things people see in me. But I also email them back and ask if I can use an excerpt as a testimonial and if so, how would they like their name and URL listed on my web site. Who can turn down an offer like that!

By asking for an excerpt I can take the short, juicy phrases out of a longer rambling testimonial and make a major point with just a few words. Don’t hesitate to edit the testimonials that are offered.

Place the testimonials where they count

A good testimonial helps overcome objections so place them strategically on your sales page where an objection might come up in a conversation or the natural thought process might be “I’m not sure…”

You could even go so far as to have a sub heading “Not convinced? Read what Nancy has to say about this class.” But more often setting the testimonial apart by indented italics or in a colored box is enough to help them stand out.

I’m not a fan of complete pages of testimonials. I don’t think many people go read them, but a short well-placed testimonial in a sales page can humanize you and your process.

Keep them colloquial

You want testimonials to be written as people speak, not as a slick, well-crafted advertisement. Keeping them colloquial makes them more believable. Testimonials are like a pat on the back, congratulations on a job well done, an expression of gratitude. Let others see how much your offerings are appreciated and more importantly, what they helped others achieve.

If you don’t have them, ask for them

Here are the questions you’d like to see answered in a testimonial:

Why they came to you in the first place
What was decision that made them say “yes?”
What happened?
What was the result of the process?
What the future will be because of this process

Use testimonials to convey your benefits and help you achieve credibility. Ask for feedback when you give a teleclass or a workshop and from your clients and ask for permission to use excerpts when you do. Sure, you can write leaders in your field for a testimonial but the voice of the person whose heart you touched will count for a lot more.

Cara Lumen, The Vision Distiller, helps you focus your passion into profitable course of action. Through internet marketing, content strategy, signature product development and her own information products she helps pro-active entrepreneurs become Success Magnets. www.caralumen.com

Mellowing Into Our Creative Genius

February 19, 2007 By Cara Lumen

Every time I start to think it may be too late to achieve something exciting, someone reminds me of Colonel Sanders who started Kentucky Fried Chicken in his 80’s

But a recent article by David W. Galenson & Joshua Kotin that originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times, pointed out the difference in creative styles between those who did awesome things in their 20’s and those who developed over time—the Conceptual Innovators vs. the Experimental Innovators.

Young people are often “Conceptual Innovators. They get an inspired idea and often work it into a unique masterpiece. They have a tendency to be the rule breakers. Picasso created cubism at 25. Orson Wells made Citizen Kane at 25. Mozart wrote full symphonies in his teens and 20s. Conceptual Innovators are often driven by the need to express a new idea or particular emotions. The flash of insight comes and they follow their ideas and create a new concept.

But there is another way creativity emerges. It is the trial-and-error experimentation and contemplation that ultimately leads to a unique expression of the collected wisdom and life experience. These people are called “Experimental Innovators” and they seek to describe what they see and hear and understand. They examine the over-view based on their life experience and their personal quest for knowledge, and organize it into a unique and individualized offering.

The list is long of people whose quest for expression involved a long journey. Paul Cezanne was an experimental innovator. After failing to get into the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, he left Paris feeling totally discouraged because he felt he could not compete with other young artists of his time. After years spent in contemplation and exploration, he finally came to understand what he wanted to do. He wanted to bring solidity to Impressionism. He was 30 years old at the time. Then he spent the next 30 years, primarily in seclusion, developing his unique style that ultimately influenced every important artist of the next generation.

It’s important to have a goal. It’s important to make a commitment to the problem you want to solve. It’s important to keep on learning and to examine your life experience as you formulate your personal philosophy.

Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer at 41 and Huckleberry Finn at 50

Robert Frost dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, retreated to a rural environment, and published his most famous poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” at 49.

Frank Loyd Wright completed Fallingwater at 72 and worked on the Guggenheim Museum until his death at 91

At 63 Frost observed that young people have flashes of insight, but “it is later in the dark of life that you see forms, constellations. And it is the constellations that are philosophy.”

It is our unique philosophy that we can put into information products that will possibly change the lives of others. I think it’s important that we pass forward the wisdom we have accumulated over the years. If we share our successes and our less-than-successes and others will learn from them. We’ve come too far and know too much to allow ourselves to move into a sedentary existence as we age. Pick up your pen, get on that computer, go to that art class, take the creative writing course, write that e-book, lead that workshop, follow your passion, follow that dream you’ve been carrying in your heart all your life. Now is the time. Now is the time for you to step up to the plate and go to bat for what you have leaned and what you believe. Get active. Get creative. Rejoin that you have finally mellowed into your own creative genius.