Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Marketing

What My Search for a Bissell Sweeper Taught Me about Marketing

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close-lookThis is really a story about targeted persistence.
I wanted to replace my small hand-run Bissell sweeper that I keep handy for light sweeping between major vacuuming.  So I went on line to Amazon and looked around. I put a couple of models in my cart but did not make a purchase.
For Amazon that could have been the end of the story because I ultimately found what I wanted locally.  But Amazon doesn’t give up; it kept sending me options – sweepers on sale or sweepers like the ones I was interested in.

They kept trying to fill my need!!!!!

That is so brilliant and so basic.  Our products and services must fill the needs and wants of our target community.

Sometimes we have to educate our target community

Perhaps we need to help our target community understand what our product or service can do for them.  We can help them see how they will benefit from using it and what it will help them accomplish. We can talk about the change they will experience.  I’d never heard of a lightweight electric Bissell.  How long did it run between charging?  How good was its suction?  I read the promotional material and I made a decision that was different than the one I started out with.

Sometimes we need to show why we are unique

When I found what I wanted in a local store I had two choices with a little different price range.  What made one better or more appropriate for my use than the other? What makes you unique? What about your work is different from others and won’t be duplicated anyplace else.  We need to let them know about that. Our personal uniqueness and how we express it will ultimately provide the final attraction.  They will identify more with us than with someone else.

Sometimes we need to build trust

I trust Amazon.  They have earned it over time.  I trust the Bissell brand because it’s been around for years.  What are you doing in your business to help people trust you, to know that you will over deliver and the quality will be outstanding?

Be persistent, not annoying

Since I bought my sweeper elsewhere there will be a point where I don’t want Amazon to send me any more suggestions on sweepers and I bet you they know when to quit.  But what if I still wanted a sweeper?  What if I hadn’t found what I wanted?  What if I felt better about spending the money on it a few weeks later?  There are many factors that influence a purchase.  Time and the degree of desire are primary.  A little persistence can go a long way. But know when to quit.

How do you put this lesson into action?

Look for and understand the needs of your community. You can find that in the comments on your blog, the questions from your clients, the ideas expressed in the blogs you follow.  Then you need to adjust your approach to include what you find.

Keep showing up

I’m a business coach and everyone who has joined my community knows it.  However, in a recent newsletter when I wrote a gentle observation on what I can do for others in my coaching capacity it inspired several people to step forward to work with me.  They had been considering it and were finally ready.  My nudge was low-key and gentle.  And I had been consistently showing up in the form of my emagazine.
I don’t remember the statistics and they may have changed but at one point I was told that a contact has to be made nine times before a sale is made.  That’s a lot of gentle persistence.  What are you doing to continue to deepen your relationship with your target community?

© 2012 Cara Lumen

To Brand or Sub Brand

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by Cara Lumen

To Blog or Not to BlogQuestion from a client:

I have been busy making jewelry. This isn’t the jewelry with the healing chip. I still plan on doing that line too. My question is would you suggest having a company name for each? Or do I stick with one name? I’m not sure at all what would be best to do.

My Answer

Each brand you establish takes a lot of time and a lot of marketing. You want to establish one brand for your business. It takes long enough to get people to recognize one name so having two brands is like starting over.

There are many ways to bring in sub-brands. For instance, I have the Magnetic Marketing Method and I build on that with courses like “Article Magnetism, How to Write Articles and Blog Posts that Attract” and “How to Write a Magnetic How to Book.” One of the things you can do with your jewelry is to have different collections within the brand. The “(Name of your Company) Healing Collection” the “(Name of your Company) Relationship Collection or whatever identifying sub-brand you can give them. But all of it is under your main brand. That way there is only one brand name to search for and you can tie your company name in with the keyword “jewelry” or “hand-made” or whatever sets you apart.

Having one brand makes it easy to make labels for packaging and shipping your products. It creates a uniformity that helps people remember who you are.

One of the biggest lessons in marketing is that we can’t be all things to all people. And we don’t want to. We want to choose our target community and make our products and services be just for them. You have a big category “jewelry” but you must decide on a smaller target audience. People who like hand-made jewelry. People who are attracted to self-healing products. The narrower your niche the more quickly you are recognized and acknowledged.

I hope that helps answer your question.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

Does Your Target Community Know Why They Need You?

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reach-outAt a recent face-to-face Linchpin meeting, one of the participants had just sold his business of ten years and wasn’t sure what he was going to do next.  His company created specialized software for other companies. He said the problem was that his potential clients did not even know they needed what he had to offer or how to find companies like his that specialized in creating it.  Educating our community is an ongoing process.
I can talk till I’m blue in the face about what can be accomplished by working with an experienced coach, but if my community is content to spend a lot of time searching out new information for themselves they won’t understand that I could save them time and money. I have already spent years exploring and learning many of the choices available and I could get them off to a really fast start by helping them choose the right ones for their strengths and passion.
If someone came up to you and said “What do you do?” what would you say?

Your who and do what statement

 The who and do what statement goes like this: “I help (your target community) do (what they achieve with your help) so that (the emotional reward)
“I help entrepreneurs who love to write create meaningful signature products so they can increase their expert status and make passive income. “
“I help beginning bloggers create a well optimized blog site and the cornerstone content that attracts the community they are meant to serve.”
“I am the Idea Optimizer, I help visionaries capture their ideas and organize them into a profitable product or service. I help them believe they can.”
Your turn. What is your “who and do what statement.”

Express your passion

At this same Linchpin meeting I turned to the woman beside me and asked, “What are you taking away from this meeting?” She said, “That not everyone knows their passion.” If you don’t know, others won’t get it and your passion is the most attractive thing you have to offer – your passion and your enthusiasm for following it.
Get clear about you want to offer.  Don’t look at what others are doing or even that long list of what you could be doing.  Follow your heart.
Another person at the meeting is a real estate person who specializes in people who are downsizing.  She is doing well because people are referring others in their same situation to her.  Downsizing is an emotional process and people will gravitate to someone who understands their emotional needs.  She has some coaching background and it all seems to flow together.  She said she didn’t want to shut out other potential clients, but as we all know, the more focused your niche; the more focused your success.

Explain it to a child

It’s way too easy to fall into jargon when trying to explain your business.  Keep it simple.  Keep your words basic so the meaning is clear.  I used to use a phrase “I help you uncover your passion, define your purpose, identify your path, make money from what you already know and attract the people you are meant to serve. But most of all I help you believe you can!!!”  That’s way too much and that’s how I do it, not what I do.  “I help you turn your ideas into profit.” That ultimately sounds too commercial for me; my business is more spiritually based; my emphasis is on building your business from your inside out but that phrase is a bit airy-fairy.”I keep you passionately on purpose as you work to make a difference in the world.”  I like all those phrases, but they are not emotional enough or results oriented enough.
My blog is rather philosophical and the less concrete your business is the trickier it is to explain it.  What is “serenity,” what is “inner peace?”  Identify your benefits in concrete terms, “Sleep better at night.” “Feel the relief of being safe.”
“I’m your Idea Optimizer” won’t do for a child but it might open a conversation.  To a child I might say, “I help you take your best ideas and make something special from them that others will love.”
When you get really fundamental about how you explain your business, you will get clear and then others will get it too.

Write good cornerstone content

Someplace on your web site or blog, you need to do some educating.  You have to address the emotional need of your target community and the problems that keep them awake at night and let them know what you can do for them.  For a blog it’s your Cornerstone Content, that series of posts that lay a foundation for your reader to understand what they need and how you will provide it.
For the phrase “I help you take your best ideas and make something special from them that others will love.”
I might write a series like:
•How to choose your best ideas
•How to leverage your ideas into a profitable signature product.
•Who needs what you have to offer?
I have written:
Write a series of articles that address the concerns of your community as it relates to what you have to offer.  Show them how you can help, how their lives will be different after they use your product and service and how to recognize others that might need you too. Educate your community so they know they need you.
©2010 Cara Lumen

 

Wheeling and Dealing for Today’s Economy

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by Cara Lumen

money-bagsToday’s economy demands that we get very creative when it comes to packaging and pricing our services. On Good Morning America recently in Mellody Hobson Personal Finance segment she was talking to a teen ager who having little success finding a summer job. Mellody suggested she get really basic with what she was offering to do – like babysitting. The teenager said people were not spending much on that. And the Mellody suggested she lower her price – if her normal price was $10 an hour then offer to do it for $8 an hour if she would be guaranteed a specific number of hours, a compromise on price in exchange for guaranteed employment. She stressed how important it is for all of us to be innovative in today’s marketplace when it comes to positioning our offerings.

Create different levels with specific results and obvious benefits

In every business there is some core work that must be done before you can proceed. For instance, you have to have defined your target market and your niche before you create a blog or write an ebook. When I first began coaching people in creating web sites I would say we would need six coaching sessions. But then we would start and find they had not done their basic branding and marketing plans and we had to back up and do that before we could develop the site. That stretched our coaching time into 10 coaching sessions and of course increased the price. So I now divide my work up into several levels. If you have your core marketing work done you can quickly move on to level two or even three.

In modernizing your business for today’s economy set up small packages with achievable and visible results and price them both as separate packages and as a special price if they sign up for levels one, two and three for instance. Be certain specific goals are achieved at each level and the progress is measurable. Levels are also easy to promote because there are specific results and obvious benefits from each level. Think smaller steps with tangible levels of achievement when marketing to today’s economy.

Create a collaborative partnership that offers greater results

My Magnetic Blog Builders partnership with Nancy Hendrickson is a perfect example of two people being able to offer more than just one person can. She is a WordPress Wizard, I’m a Writing Wizard, between us our Ready, Set, Blog package gets people on the fast track to a magnetic blog in 30 days.

But I have set up another program to compliment that offering. Build Your Blog Community Coaching  is for people who already have their blog set up and are ready to move on to a structured blog content development plan that will help them build their blog community and attract the people they are meant to serve. And I have added an optional aspect that helps develop your writing strengths.

Both of these packages are honed down to the most important essentials so the results can be immediately perceived and appreciated. And they get people up and running fast.

Think collaborative partnerships.  Think individualized packages when planning for today’s economy.

Give them choice

We’re all looking for ways to make our pricing more “acceptable” in this economy. My Build Your Blog Community  series has two components. The core offering is a monthly brainstorming, half hour accountabily coaching session in which we continue to build cornerstone content and plan all the post for the next 30 days. We also explore leveraging opportunities for future signature products. The client can then spend two days writing and scheduling their posts and complete their blogging for the month! It’s a small monthly investment in a coaching partnership to maintain strong and accurately targeted content. That’s the core package.

The other optional, additional feature is to increase the coaching calls by 15 minutes and use that time to develop your writing skills as you learn to strengthen some aspect of the crafting great blog posts. This can be headlines or lead paragraphs, or setting up a system for tracking internal links, or how to become a guest blogger. The topic choice is the client’s. They can add this 15 minute classroom to their calls or not. It’s very tailored to their needs and their current needs.

I set a time element on this basic program. Five months total – 1 major intake session to brainstorm cornerstone content and focus your blog plus four half-hour editorial calendar and leveraging sessions with or without the added writing skills development segment. Five months is long enough to establish a habitual pattern of success. And because of the flexibility, the writing skill development segment can be dropped as the client continues on with their monthly idea-focusing sessions.

To position yourself in today’s economy, give your clients choices in a variety of combinations. Let your clients pick exactly what they want at this point in time and give it to them. This accommodates their time schedule and their current budget obligations. Let each person select what they want and need right now.

Offer to do ordinary tasks

What do you love to do that others often do not? I love to find internal links and optimize posts. I could offer that as part of my service if I wish. It takes a bit of time to set up an emagazine account. You need a good bio, a strong research box, and you have a lot of decisions to make. But once it’s set up posting an article is just a matter of time. If I choose to offer those task I would charge more for the set up because I will be certain their contact information is compelling. But I can lower the price on simply submitting articles. Now we’re back to the idea of the baby sitter cutting her price if she gets a certain number of hours. It’s in the bundling.

Are there some ordinary tasks you would be willing to do in combination with your major offering that would serve your clients and give you more work?

Make yourself indispensible

I am naturally enthusiastic and full of ideas. The people that choose to come work with me to build their blog content and community will be inspired and motivated and kept on track each month. I’ve always been an over-deliverer. And I’ve priced this offering modestly. I think people will find this combination of coaching, accountability and motivational inspiration will not only move their blog forward but spill over into the other parts of their life. I am "Your Idea Optimizer:" and love to leverage ideas into new products, new articles, new services.  Your own unique blend of who you are and what and how you offer it will make your Indispensible

See how you can make yourself indispensible in today’s ecnomy – offer tremendous value and achievable and rewarding results.

Narrow your niche

The narrower your niche the more extensive and targeted your products and services can be. For this new offering I’m focusing on people who use the Writing Strategy for one of their major marketing tools. This still leaves me a lot of things to offer. For instance, I can coach people in curriculum development for teleclasses and radio shows, ebooks and other signature product development; I can help strengthen a book proposal; I can write a workbook to go with a published book since I’ve already done three of those for major authors. All of these come under the niche of using writing to promote your business.

When you narrow your niche you will expand the specific offerings you can make.

Write cornerstone pieces about your narrowed niche

Now that I have focused on this new segment for my business I get to write a series of Cornerstone Content about the value and usage of the writing strategy. I can write about how to write and what to write and… you get the picture. I can do radio shows on those topics and look for places to guest post and bring guests on my show and talk about how to get the most out of the writing strategy.

I actually don’t like the terms “wheeling and dealing” that I used in the title but we do need to stay flexible and accommodating in order to move ahead. Right now in order to attract clients in the current economy, we do have to look for new approaches and new offers and new ways to connect. Today’s economy calls for some new thinking. What can you do that’s different?

©2010 Cara Lumen

Trust. Do You? Do They?

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by Cara Lumen

reach-outTrust is the cornerstone of all relationships. It is a two way street. We have to learn to trust in ourselves, in our judgment, and our choices. And as a friend and business person we have to earn the trust of others.

There are so many powerful synonyms for trust: faith, belief, hope, conviction, confidence, expectation, reliance, and dependence for starters. When I read those I wondered how many of those I had going for me.

How much do you trust others?

The issue of trust is coming up for me because I’m going to have knee replacement surgery in a few weeks and I have to trust a lot of people I have never met before. I’m new in town so I followed my insurance to the orthopedic surgeon. I simply called up the office and said, “Who does knees?” It turns out this surgeon has an exceedingly fine reputation. So I trusted my instincts that had me ask for the one who does knees and trusted that this unknown choice would be the right one. I have faith that I have been guided to the right team of people for this particular moment in my life. And I have the expectation of getting literally “back on my feet” easily and rapidly. Faith and expectation – both elements of trust.

There are a lot of people that I don’t yet know that I now have to rely on. The operating team, the nurses, the physical therapist. I have to trust that these people are well-trained, love their jobs and are doing their best work. I have to expect that – its part of trust.

So I’m sitting here thinking about how we are inspired to do our best work when we are with our ideal client; how they motivate and inspire us. And I wondered, what can I do to be the ideal patient so those people are inspired to do their best work on me? I’ll remember their names, or try to since I think drugs are on my agenda. My daughter who has done orthopedic surgery three times says I’ll hurt but I won’t care. I have to be prepared to do my best work as a patient: do the exercises I am given, send healing thoughts to my body so I recover rapidly. And I’m at a bit of a disadvantage because I’m the recipient, not the giver. How do I become a cheerful, cooperative, appreciated receiver?

I have never before been so aware of how I must trust others and how I can inspire them to do their best work – on me.

Do you trust yourself?

I’ve had a really good life so the idea of signing up for pain with this surgery had me worried. I did some EFT Emotional Freedom Technique)  and I can no longer get a rise out of that concept any more. I’m a Reiki Master Teacher so I’m already sending energy ahead to the whole experience. I can’t drive for six weeks so the thought occurred to me that I would be lonely. But I’ve figured out that before I go in I’ll go to the library and get books on the history of the Kansas City area – the Indians, the pioneers, all that took place in this jumping off place for the untamed West. That would be fun. If I read a business book I’ll want to get up and create something, so I want balance there. I have confidence on my inquisitive mind to keep me entertained. Confidence and expectation – both elements of trust.

Why do others trust you?

Now that I’m on the need-to-trust others half of trust I have a better idea of how I can earn trust in my own life and my business.

Have I built a reputation of being really good at what I do (like my surgeon has)? He obviously is skilled, he keeps up with the latest innovations in his field, and he loves what he does. And from the experience I’ve had with his staff so far, he over-delivers.

Can people tell I care about them and what I can do for them? I have seen my surgeon for about 5 minutes so far because I think that’s the norm with surgeons but I have spent 45 minutes with the former surgical nurse who he has selected to orient me to my choices. She was kind, articulate, and thorough and I felt well informed and well cared for.

Does my team reflect competency and caring? The scheduler for my surgeon was warm and efficient. There have been great follow up literature to assure me all is well and will be fine. I have some special class room orientation with a nurse that will give me information on what to expect. Good follow up is an important part of building trust.

Do I offer high quality services and follow up? My sense of the mid-west is that this is the most kind and caring community I have ever met. So yes, I expect to be well cared for.

Being in a position to need to trust others because they have skills I do not have has been revealing. It has given me ideas of how I can build trust. I can anticipate needs, give the best that I’ve got, be reliant in my delivery, and show up consistently so others know they can depend on me. I can help them get great results so they have confidence in me and believe that what I offer will make a difference in their lives.

Think a minute about who you trust and why. What do they do that makes you trust them? Then go forth and do likewise.

© 2010 Cara Lumen