Category Archives: Marketing

Branding, networking & promoting your business

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Social Media—Not?

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It is by now standard operating procedure for business owners and other self-employed professionals to have a visible presence on one or more social media platforms,  in addition to an online presence provided by a website.  We’ve  internalized the assumption that there is no way to either launch or sustain a viable business without an active online presence spread over an array of platforms.

The majority of my colleagues and competitors spend rather a large amount of time  researching and writing newsletters,  tweeting,  Instagramming, or linking with and friending sometimes 500 + “connections”. But really folks,  what is the demonstrable ROI of most of this effort?  Beyond a certain point,  I respectfully submit,  social media produces very little beyond siphoning off a chunk of scarce time and money.

How does social media provide a demonstrable ROI for Freelance consultants, who typically provide an intangible service? Our ventures run on referrals based on trust and reputation—how can that resource be communicated electronically? Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting and author of numerous books that address the consulting trade, including Million Dollar Consulting (2009), has for several years offered to split his (large) consulting fee with anyone who shows him how to acquire a client purely through social media or website channels and he signs a client as a result.  To date, there have been no takers.

The reality is that most of us in business are afraid to dial back the social media and so the practice continues. We fear that if we don’t participate,  our competitors will eat our lunch and customers will abandon us.  I’ve observed that in certain businesses and organizations,  social media and website marketing yield a good ROI.  A large collaborative of Boston artists and galleries has recently hired me to edit a newsletter and perform PR functions for an ongoing monthly event plus an annual special event and that is money well spent for the group.  Performing artists,  clothing designers, restaurateurs and professional organizations come to mind as excellent candidates for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to provide outreach / engagement with past, present and future patrons.

Nevertheless,  there is a group of social media and website holdouts and at least a handful are making a good living.  Maybe they possess valuable competitive advantages,  such as excellent word-of-mouth,  always the best form of advertising,  and exceptional skills? Among that group are two interior designers who have more clients than can be handled (in three or four cities, mind you) and the owner of a small neighborhood breakfast and lunch restaurant that is always packed.  Three of the six most successful Freelance consultants with whom I’m acquainted do not even show up on Google.  Author Otessa Moshfegh,  a member of the internet-obsessed Millennial Generation,  has eschewed both website and social media and her debut novel is selling nicely.

I’ve learned that Ms. Moshfegh has a professional publicity team and that gives her a significant edge. Her team portrays her as elusive and not given to crass displays of self-promotion and that is good publicity (!). The consultants once worked for larger consulting firms and like any hairdresser, when they went out on their own, they stole clients.  Nevertheless,  they continue to grow their client lists without websites.  The interior designers seem to be known by the right people and receive lots of referrals. On an a laptop or tablet,  they have a few photos to show their work to prospects.  The restaurateur has been in business for 20 years,  a Starbucks opened across the street at least a decade ago, but he continues to prosper.  Patrons started Trip Advisor and Yelp pages for him and patrons control the reviews on those sites.

You may wonder how my website and blog perform for my venture? I did not work for a consulting firm, so the website I feel helps me look legitimate.  However,  no one has ever hired me as a direct and exclusive result of visiting.  This blog has shown prospective clients that I have a solid knowledge of business topics and that I have a certain writing proficiency. The blog has been a factor in my hiring, but the clients were a result of referrals and not this blog alone.

I do not advocate that Freelancers and business owners close down their internet presence.  Rather, I respectfully recommend that you consider the ROI of your investment and take heed of the analysis.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

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Freelancers: Agile Talent For Your Organization

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While cruising through the Harvard Business Review online http://hbr.org, I happened upon an article that told of a most interesting book that has good information for Freelance consultants and those who hire us.  Agile Talent was written by two experts in the talent development, leadership and strategic HR fields,  Jon Younger and Norm Smallwood and published just last month.

The book was written as a guide for the growing number of organizations that rely on professionals like us to come through in the clutch and get the job done,  on time and within budget.  Getting the most out of a team comprised of internal and external talent is the book’s theme.  I read an excerpt and confirmed that within,  the book contains as well a few pearls of wisdom for you and me,  primarily providing us with a new and improved way to package and promote our services to potential clients.

As Smallwood and Younger point out, so many organizations–for-profit and not-for-profit, late-stage and start-up, large and small–continue to rely on Freelance consultants to augment their lean workforces when insufficient expertise (or time) exists in-house.  Salaries are a large fixed expense on Income Statements and organizations for 30 years have been loathe to hire a worker unless the skill set is frequently needed to keep the business operating.  The authors provide useful recommendations to those who hire,  collaborate with or manage the external talent,  so that good outcomes for all parties can result.

Agile Talent Freelancers allow organizations to access the services needed only for the scope aand length of time that the organization requires.  We bring great insight, heightened productivity and relevant experience to countless organizations.  Yet organization decision-makers and those with whom we collaborate are sometimes unsure of what to expect from the arrangement with the agile talent,  or how to successfully onboard and work with us.

In order to maintain or expand our billable hours,  it is imperative that we are able to anticipate how the relationship might go off the rails and come to an unfortunate parting of the ways.  Before encountering a prospective client,  we must communicate our benefits  to them.  Packaging and promotion are essential when selling an intangible service.  Intangibles are the most difficult sale and in the knowledge economy,  these specialties represent a large percentage of B2B sales dollars.

So how can we exert some measure of influence and get ourselves paid?  It is aalways necessary for us to sell our expertise,  trustworthiness and usefulness.  When organizations are faced with a….

  • Project
  • Challenge
  • Opportunity

….the agile (or external) talent tag line gives us another way to communicate our benefits to decision-makers.  Incorporating the resonant buzz words makes us look smart and capable and makes hiring managers and project sponsors feel that they’ll look smart to superiors and subordinates when they bring us on.  Inertia,  that is,  tabling a decision indefinitely because leaders lack the confidence to move forward except in the most obvious emergencies,  is the  Freelance consultants most formidable competitor.  Anything that we can do or say to persuade prospects to become clients is a win-win.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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The Content of Content Marketing

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Content Marketing continues to have a life of its own, riding a wave of non-stop hype. But what are all that text and all those images floating through space really worth to your business? I edit two newsletters,  one short and sweet,  the other several pages long and filled with lots of text and photos. One newsletter I assemble myself by reaching out to obtain snippets of relevant and timely new information and an image or two each month.  The second I solely edit and what a laborious process it is to slog through all that dense text!  Can you guess which entity generates the most revenue and profit?

Why, the owners of the short newsletter that gives splashes of fresh info every month plus one or two new pictures, of course.  Those organization leaders do not bury themselves in the labor and expense of high-maintenance content marketing.  They are instead pursuing clients and making money. They are not merely busy; they are productive. They know their role as business owners.

If you can build and maintain a good stable of clients without a web presence, by golly I say you should do it. Truth be told,  most of the most successful business owners and Freelance consultants that I know have no website and no social media.  Instead, they are known and trusted by clients and referral sources.  They are going to the bank and not to their keyboards or video cameras to crank out “content”.

Enter the experts

The short answer is,  if you’ve done something successfully a number of times,  you can claim the title.  However, there is also the axiom “Those who can do and those who can’t, teach.” My client who has enlisted my services for the production of the monthly weighty tome hasn’t had a client in something like five years (I’m serous). She swans around speaking on panels, moderating panels, writing articles for a couple of journals that don’t pay (I edit those as well) and overall being a very busy girl. But I’m not sure how she pays her mortgage. Trust fund?

Noise makers

Everybody with access to a keyboard or a camera is doing some level of content marketing,  even if it’s only for themselves and their Twitter friends. Everybody’s pulling out a cell phone to snap pictures of something—the first snowfall,  the first crocuses and at the Boston waterfront a couple of weeks ago, when the air temperature was minus 10 and the Atlantic Ocean was about 40 degrees,  the fog that was rising from the water as a result of the 50 degree temperature difference (it was quite a sight). all those photos become content posted to social media.  It’s all noise that competes with what Freelance consultants and other business owners are aiming to do,  that is,  get the attention of potential clients and referral sources.

Branding is not personal

Supermodels and a certain group of raven-haired sisters (and their mother) in southern California seem to have done very well with the personal branding concept,  but that doesn’t hold for the rest of us.  Unless you were lucky enough to have held a job that allowed you to publicly build a reputation amongst prospective clients,  or you descend from a prestigious family,  the differences that you (and I) point out to clients are only differences and not distinctive competitive advantages.  We are the same, only different.

Strategic, original, relevant, concise

If you have the time and inclination to delve into the content marketing fray,  be strategic about the process, most of all. Have a clear and defendable purpose.  My purpose for producing this blog since June 2009  has been to

1.demonstrate that I have good business judgment

2. demonstrate my writing skills

I’ve referred prospective clients to the link for this blog and the strategy has been successful.  I’ve gotten at least three clients,  including a (modest) book editing assignment,  my first. Editing two newsletters also helped me to snare that gig.

Further,  read about business topics in places like The Financial Times,  The New York Times, Business Week,  Inc. Magazine,  the Harvard Business Review and other credible sources. Those can become your inspiration,  along with your owned lived experience,  to generate original content.  Do not bother to try and pass off groupings of links to articles as your blog or newsletter content.  Do not insult people.

Finally,  whatever your topic, two and a half pages of text, or 1000 words, has got to be your max. When writing this blog,  I start thinking about creating a two-part post if I surpass 800 words. Attention spans are not what they used to be in this noise-filled arena of experts.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Elements of Your Brand Story

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A perennially engaging way to tell clients and prospects about you and your business venture is to spin a good story, ideally one that contains a compelling case study that spotlights your problem-solving ability, creativity and expertise. Everyone enjoys and remembers a good story; they usually feel connected in a positive way to people who tell them well. Expert storytellers have the ability to captivate an audience and gain their trust.

You may never become a TED Talk-worthy storyteller, but it’s still possible for you to devise a more than adequate brand narrative that effectively illustrates what you do; describes your typical clients; and gives an overview of the positive solutions that you create for clients. Your ability to tell the story will improve along the way.

Consider storytelling to be an element of your leadership development process; the most highly respected and popular leaders are excellent communicators and good stories are often included. Those leaders are persuasive. They are likable.  They generate trust and respect and there is great confidence in their abilities. As you brainstorm the elements of your brand story, try organizing your thoughts around the following:

  1. Who you are and what you do

Share a sliver of your personal details, to help your audience understand who you are and what matters to you. Don’t be afraid to break out of the expected corporate mode (while maintaining your comfort level boundaries). Segue into the services that you provide and/or products that you sell. Be succinct, clear and thought-provoking as you describe the needs or problems that you and your team address and resolve.

There may be no distinguishing factors to your work philosophy, but do mention your commitment to excellence and exceeding expectations. Inserting a paragraph about your volunteer work could be helpful. Whether your volunteer work is with those who are trying to improve their professional skills or in some aspect of the arts, that knowledge gives prospects and clients a good sense of your values and portrays you as a community-oriented, well-rounded professional.

2. Why / For whom you work

Name the usual customers that you work with: Fortune 1000 life sciences companies, small not-for-profit arts organizations, or whatever in between.

3. How you do it

Insert case study. The challenge is how to describe what you do without betraying client confidentiality, your proprietary secret sauce,  or overloading your audience with confusing details.  On which projects did you (and your team) deliver the goods that made a difference? Write it down, edit well, rehearse out loud and perfect the telling.

4. Outcomes / Proof of success

Potential clients must feel confident that you and your team will meet, if not exceed, their expectations.  Sharing an example  of a compelling client success story paints a picture of you in action and at your best.  Start with a description of the challenge or difficulty that these clients faced when they came to you.

Next, in simple and concise language (and preserving client confidentiality), explain selected highlights of what you did to achieve the desired results and why you chose that particular course of action. Conclude with an overview of the key benefits that the clients have received now that they’ve worked with you.

Tell case study stories that encourage prospective clients to identify with the challenges or problems that you resolved, so that they will be inclined to feel that hiring you is a smart move, one that will make them look good in the eyes of their superiors, colleagues and staff.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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Pricing Primer for Freelance Service Providers

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“The business world is driven by the desire to increase three elements: market shares, sales revenues and of course, profitability. Pricing is the key player in any strategy concerning the growth of these three goals.”   Mohammed Nosseir, Senior Marketing Adviser, Simon-Kucher & Partners, Middle East

Determining the pricing structure for intangible services provided is a real challenge for Freelance consultants. What is the value of our time and expertise in the open market? What if we promote our services, set the price and no one hires us? Should we lower our project fees? Can we ever raise prices?

Clients are motivated to spend as little as possible for the products and services that they require. However, they are known to pay premium prices when they “feel” that a particular product or service delivers exceptional value. That value can mean an expert solution to a business challenge; a long-lasting product that performs very well with little maintenance; the ability to meet a deadline; or other factors that have meaning to the decision-makers.

Often as not, different clients will have different priorities that define what is valued. It is the Freelancer’s job in the initial face-to-face client meeting to figure out what the client feels is important. That knowledge will achieve two objectives:

  • You will know the expectations that must be met (or preferably, exceeded) to justify a premium price.
  • You will know how to price, based on the time or other resources that will be devoted to meeting and exceeding client expectations and you will grasp the urgency of client needs, which impact your price.

Most likely, there are standard benchmarks and signifiers of high-value service in your industry and they should be incorporated into your marketing and operations, along with other value-addeds layered on as necessary. Knowledge of what competitors do would be most helpful as well, but it is very difficult to learn how competitors deliver their services or price them. Nevertheless, it is advisable to choose three or four to research. Visit websites to learn what services your competitors offer and how those services are described and packaged. Then, you can better identify potential competitive advantages for what you have and find a way to describe your goods.

It may sound like an obvious no-brainer, but part of your premium value-added that will be reflected in your pricing strategy should be your positive attitude and willingness to help prospective clients find the best solution to their business needs. Friendliness and the aim to genuinely want to offer good service go a long way in life and in business. Showing a good work ethic is likewise important.

For example when on an assignment, pay attention to emails. While I don’t recommend that one should be obligated to answer emails that a client dashes off at 3:00 AM (unless this is an urgent and high-revenue project), check emails through 10:00 PM and resume at 7:00 AM. If you can anticipate client needs, so much the better, They’ll think you’re a hero and will be happy to pay for the pleasure of doing business with you.

Step by step, client by client, focus on exceeding expectations on every project, building the trust and confidence that lead to a respected brand (reputation) as you do. You will receive referrals from satisfied clients (and you can also make referrals to your clients, enhancing your brand each time you do). Good brands create good word of mouth and that supports and justifies premium pricing.

As Mohammed Nosseir concludes, “Pricing has been, and will continue to be, the most complicated element in the marketing mix family…A proactive pricing structure will help companies…to maximize their profitability.”

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Marketing Metrics That Matter

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Every business that aims to be sustainable must engage in some level of marketing activity, whether traditional marketing that utilizes retro resources such as press releases and print ads or content marketing, that makes use of social media, blogging and the like. But the benefits and ROI of marketing campaigns are often devilishly difficult to evaluate. How does anyone know what the organization is really getting from the marketing campaigns (and budget) and what is the value of whatever that might be? Furthermore, what are the outcomes that matter in marketing? Let’s ponder the benefits that marketing campaigns have the potential to generate.

Since recent data is available, we’ll focus on content marketing. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B and B2C organizations participate in content marketing, yet only 21% of those who devise content marketing strategies are able to measure the ROI. Among the elements that marketing execs usually design their strategies to influence are:

  • Brand awareness and loyalty
  • Customer engagement
  • Lead generation
  • Referrals
  • Sales
  • Up-selling

Before campaign focus decisions are made, it is advisable to select which of the above elements—may we call them objectives?—that your organization would like to impact. To make those calculations, one must understand the value and expected ROI of the chosen objectives. They are not of equal value.

Promoting brand awareness and loyalty is a wonderful objective and if yours is a B2C operation, it is much easier to achieve. Can a typical B2B Freelancer who sells a service ever build a brand that is truly distinctive? Rarely, I will guess. Usually the brand is a cult of personality that a well-connected person has been lucky to attain, typically through family or  industry connections. Or maybe it’s the home town high school football hero who goes into business and benefits from his playing field reputation, subsequently known as his brand.

My experience indicates that the average B2B Freelancer should approach (personal) branding activities and brand awareness with a grain of salt. Keeping one’s name in play is an admirable ideal, but business is mostly garnered through referrals and not through the number of times that potential clients see your name.

About customer engagement — do you have the staffing to seduce those with too much time on their hands into bonding with Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook feeds from your organization? Beware the Pandora’s Box that customer engagement can become. Giving information and getting uncensored feedback is great. Ongoing dialogues with the bored or self-important are a waste of time that you cannot afford.

Lead generation keeps the sales pipeline filled, but what is the most effective marketing strategy for a service-providing Freelancer to influence that objective? As far as I’ve seen, viable leads are created face-to-face. Potential clients may read your blog or newsletter, watch you on YouTube or read your case studies, but they are highly unlikely to hire or refer you unless they meet you in person and even then, they prefer a personal endorsement of your work from a trusted source. Content marketing is not so effective here. Get on the teaching and speaking circuits to allow potential clients or referral sources to hear what you know and develop trust that can lead to some business.

After all is said and done, encouraging referrals, sales and up-selling must be the prime objectives of any marketing campaign and they are the only metrics worth measuring. The number of social media followers, website page views, newsletter sign-ups and blog post comments are vanity metrics and meaningless, because they do not correlate with revenue. Those people are just a bunch of hangers-on.

Successful marketing campaigns pave the way to revenue generation, meaning sales. Savvy marketing makes your operation look desirable and trustworthy and persuades those with money and motive to take a second look. Marketing messages can be used in sales presentations to continue the theme. A well-conceived marketing message will also open the door to up-selling and add-ons.

Referrals are a different animal, though, and for both B2B and B2C ventures are most directly impacted by your organization exceeding expectations and creating a cadre of satisfied customers who sing your praises to other potential clients.

In sum, B2B Freelancers can forget the vanity marketing objectives and focus on creating campaigns that enhance the perception of your expertise, along with the services that you provide. Marketing messages that address the usual client hot-buttons and position your business as the solution are the most effective. Nevertheless, word-of-mouth referrals are the best way to bring in business and that process is independent of marketing.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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So You Want To Write A Book?

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I was talking with a friend a couple of weeks ago and learned that she is in the process of writing her fourth book. She’s not a great writer and she addresses only one topic but she self-publishes, which guarantees that her books will always be available as long as she has the money to bring them to the page and she even sells a few, mostly to people who know her and likewise have an interest in that topic. I laughed and said that I would never write a book. And yet…..

For business owners, business executives and of course Freelance consultants, writing a business book is good business. A business book is a the ultimate self-marketing tool and it conveys much respect. If you’re looking to wear the crown of credibility, write a book. If your book addresses its topic cogently and is reasonably well-written, you can dine out on the self-promotional benefits for the rest of your life.

Business authors recommend that you treat your book like a new venture launch. A business book has the potential to broaden your audience, raise your stature and notoriety, help to get you quoted as an expert in business-themed articles, get you invited to give interviews and host webinars and best of all, generate leads that bring in more business. You probably assume that writing a book is a tremendous and all-consuming process and I’m told that is correct. However, business owners and executives only need to write one book and their reputations will be set.

Be prepared to work enormously hard to research, outline and write your book. If you have money consider hiring a ghost writer, who will interview you and put your insights and anecdotes on paper. Be prepared to spend several thousand dollars to self-publish, because unless you have a national or very strong local reputation, no publishing house will sign you.

Finally, brace yourself for low sales and expect to buy dozens of copies of the book yourself. Give signed copies to good friends, family members and clients. Here are a few items that will help you evaluate the decision to become an author:

Subject Your biggest challenge may be choosing the subject. Content matters and one is advised to have something relevant to say to potential readers. Moreover, you are advised to choose a subject that you enjoy and will not mind speaking about ad nauseum, because you must promote the book and its topic and when you use the book as a way to get speaking engagements, the topic will be the center of your talk. There are two basic subject options:

  • A creation story, an inspirational memoir that tells how you either overcame adversity or bounced along on good fortune and quick wit and used your competitive advantages to launch and sustain a successful enterprise. The first is sincere and compelling, the second ought to be humorous and fun.
  • A how-to book shares your special expertise and shows readers how they can become better marketers, sales people, customer relations managers, public speakers, business financial managers, Freelance consultants — you get the idea.

Publish Expect to self-publish your book. Hire an experienced copy editor, so that you won’t embarrass yourself with grammatical or continuity errors. Most self-publishing houses will offer these services at an additional cost. Hire a graphic artist to design the cover and a professional photographer and make-up artist to ensure that you look wonderful on the (front, back or inside) cover.

Promote Even if you manage to persuade a traditional publisher to accept your book proposal, do not expect the company to promote your book. You must develop a proactive marketing plan that will get your book noticed and validated as worthwhile. Consider hiring a public relations specialist to help with book promotion, if you have the budget. Create a website and/or a Facebook page for your book as well as a podcast that features you speaking about the book (maybe in an interview format). You or your PR specialist will approach the local cable access station and inquire about you appearing on a program that includes segments about local business people; ditto for radio stations (think Sunday morning radio); and local newspapers and magazines to interview you about your business and the book.

It is not an easy task but if you decide to move forward with the concept, becoming an author will emerge as one of the most significant achievements of your life. The book will become your ultimate business card and will give readers an impressive introduction to you and the enterprise that you created and lead. Publishing a book is an event known to bring prestige and momentum to your business and brand.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Approach the Podium: How To Get Speaking Engagements

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One of the best ways for a Freelance consultant to demonstrate and validate our bona fides as an expert in our chosen field is to get in front of an audience and deliver a talk to peers and prospects. As we all know, billable hours and referrals are built on confidence and trust and we must do everything possible to encourage and sustain their growth. If you would like to get on the speaker’s circuit but have not yet done so, begin by acquiring some public speaking experience and as you do, think about topics that you can convincingly address.

I’ve been teaching since 2006 and I’ve found it to be a learning experience for me, as well as for my students. Teaching is a wonderful place to start building your public speaking resume and you will be (modestly) paid as you and your students learn.  Absolute beginners are advised to approach an adult learning center to explore opportunities to teach a workshop that you propose.

As your teaching skills become more proficient, browse the catalogues of community colleges and four-year institutions and contact department heads to inquire about teaching for a semester. BTW, the workshop that you proposed and taught at the adult learning center represents curriculum development and in the world of teaching, that is a plus. You could be asked to expand your workshop into a semester-long course.

Step up your activity in local business or social organizations that offer professional development or even current affairs programs. Attend a program or two, get to know and build relationships with the program organizers and make it known that you are able to serve on a panel that will address a subject in which you have special knowledge.

Speaking on a panel is a great way to let program organizers see you in front of an audience. Do well and you may next be invited to moderate a panel and eventually, receive an offer to be a keynote speaker. If you know of a potential speaker, moderator or panelist who program organizers may want to feature, do not hesitate to make the referral. That will be a feather in your cap and increase your value to the organizers.

Give careful consideration to the topics you can speak to and the corresponding prime audience demographics. Should you approach organizations where you are not known, it will be very important to help program organizers understand where your topics and their audience needs intersect. Create a one page document for each of your talk titles.

List the your name and company name at the top, followed by your talk title in a bold and larger font. In five or six bullet points, describe the primary content of your talk and the benefits that audiences gain by attending. It is also useful to write a 60 second pitch for the talk that you personally make to program organizers and to those who can make referrals for you. Add your talk titles and those descriptive bullet points to your website, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages.

If you have presented a webinar, or recorded a podcast or video, upload these to your website and social media accounts, so that program organizers can see and hear you in action. Larger organizations may request that you send in a few of your Power Point slides for review.

Speaking of Power Point, if you are fortunate enough to land a speaking gig that gets you in front of potential clients, strongly consider paying an experienced graphics specialist to customize slides for you. it is so in your interest to present high-quality slides that represent you and your brand well. While you’re at it, have your graphics person embed your photo into your “one sheet” talk info documents,  so that they can be used by you and program organizers to promote your talk.

To make your goal to obtain speaking engagements a true marketing plan, commit your proposed actions to writing and make a list of organizations where your speaking talents as keynote, moderator and panelist are best suited. Ask clients and colleagues which conferences they attend as you make your choices. Then, visit the program websites and find out about previous speakers and topics.

Finally, be aware that the vast majority of speaking engagements are considered opportunities for exposure and are unpaid, but that should not discourage you from selectively and tactfully asking for an honorarium.  If you speak in a location that is more than an hour away, or where the parking cost is large, ask if expenses related to getting you to the venue will be covered. If you must take a hotel room, ask if the program organizers will reimburse the cost.

Generally speaking, lining up teaching or speaking engagements is a long-term project, since schedules and course catalogues are determined far in advance. Consider it something useful to do when business is slow.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Six Steps To A Successful Marketing Campaign

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Numerous times I’ve advised Freelance professionals to launch a marketing campaign to promote themselves and their services. How about we touch base regarding the core components of a successful marketing campaign?

I.   Identify your target audience

Step One, you must understand who you want your campaign to reach and influence and that would be those clients and prospects who are most inclined to use your product or service. It is possible that along the way others may become interested in what you have to offer and new or niche markets can be recruited, but target market groups must have the motive and money to use your category of product or service.

Step Two, decide the channels that you will use to reach current and prospective clients. Marketing campaigns are most effective when they broadcast the message through various media: print display ads, videos, testimonials on your website, or a case study. Social media can also be part of a well-designed marketing campaign, if you can engage current and prospective clients through those platforms. The members of your target audience could be reached more than once and that is a good thing.

There is also the indirect and ongoing marketing campaign that Freelancers are advised to conduct. Providers of B2B services especially should periodically attempt to line up an appearance on a webinar, a panel, or at a conference podium as a way to enhance the value of the intangible resources that you sell, that is, your expertise and judgment. Sponsorship of a local charity is also a good choice for some. Remember to send a press release to the local newspaper to try for yet another channel. A newspaper (or online) item is more believable than a print ad, because it is perceived as unbiased.

2.  Know the competition

As you create your marketing campaign message, keep direct competitors in mind. The marketing message should promote the expertise, experience, judgment and attributes that make you superior to others with whom clients and prospects might do business. Your message should be designed to overcome current or potential objections to you and persuade those with motive and money to choose you because hiring you will make them look good.

3.  Identify the key marketing message

What do you need to make known to current and potential clients that will help them to develop the trust and confidence needed to do business with you? Refer to your knowledge of the competition and also refer to client hot buttons and address those issues clearly and convincingly.

4.  Build the brand

In the marketing message and campaign, find ways to enhance your brand, that is, your reputation. Clients do business with those they know and like; they do even more business with those they trust and respect. Building up your image, or (tactfully) bragging about your already noteworthy image is a key element of your marketing message.

5.  Create a budget

Time and money are among our greatest resources. Once you have your version of the ideal marketing plan in draft form, calculate the financial cost and a roll-out timeline. Make sure that the campaign ROI makes sense for your venture. Tie your marketing efforts to expected sales, to the best of your ability and don’t squander your resources on fruitless strategies.

6. Track performance

I’m a little bit backward in that an important step in the campaign will be mentioned last. Establishing goals and objectives for your campaign are a must-do. This process will guide you in making decisions that shape what the campaign will consist of and furthermore, will help you understand what kind of influence you can wield through marketing. Decide what you want your marketing campaign to achieve and confirm the metrics that will measure and acknowledge its success or failure.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Trends That Will Drive B2B Going Forward in 2015

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July 1 carried us into the last half of the year and we are advised to take a few moments to think about what our June 30 financial statements indicated. Are you pleased with your company’s first half performance? Is your enterprise positioned to have a profitable second half? Forbes Magazine business experts predict that as we enter the last two quarters of 2015, the following strategies will drive business.

Make selling about education

High-pressure or slippery sales techniques are out of vogue and destined to fail. Solution selling is the smart choice and consultative sales skills must be honed. Successful sales pitches are those that are delivered as a discussion of how your services or products will solve or avoid a problem for the customer. Customers will value your grasp of their situation and your expertise in describing the best solution. It’s salesperson as physician, as you diagnose and prescribe the treatment. Articulate the outcomes very well.

Marketing & sales hand in glove

Recent research done by Google showed that the average customer is more than half way through the buying decision process before seeking out a vendor. In other words, customers window shop. They spend time considering possible solutions first and then think about where those solutions can be obtained.

Micro-targeted marketing strategies are recommended to not only attract your ideal client groups, but also to weed out those who are unlikely to buy. As always, one must know the customer to understand why that individual has become a customer and know how to encourage repeat business going forward. Design marketing campaigns that define, speak to and pull in excellent prospects and avoid broad-brush marketing strategies that only entangle you into engaging with those who will waste your precious time.

Appropriately written and distributed content marketing along with traditional marketing techniques are how you persuade prospective customers to picture your products and services as credible solution possibilities. Consultative selling approaches that educate the customer as you tactfully assume the role of expert and confirm or refine the initial diagnosis of the problem, that is the client’s need. Obtain client agreement on the extent of the need and then recommend treatment options, that is the solutions, that your product or services will provide. Do that well and you will generate revenue.

Price and value

According to Forbes, there are two competing forces at play in the 2015 marketplace. The first is increased downward pricing pressure on any product or service that is perceived to be a commodity. Those products and services are price dependent and will be acquired as cheaply as possible. The only ways to succeed when selling a commodity are to sell at the lowest price or deliver very efficiently to customers, that is make it convenient to buy.

Do whatever is possible to package and present your products and services in away that conveys their value to prospective customers. Additionally, Freelance purveyors of B2B services must demonstrate their expertise in a variety of ways: content marketing, case studies, webinars that feature you, teaching assignments, appearances on panels as speaker or moderator, or publishing a book. Demonstration of expertise is the number one marketing strategy in that it creates trust, enhances your perceived value and allows you to price accordingly.

An equally effective way to demonstrate your value is through customer testimonials and referrals. When those who have used your services or products recommend you to others, it is the highest compliment. Other than a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl, nothing is as effective as a personal recommendation or testimonial.

When customers consider you to be effective, knowledgeable, dependable and trustworthy, you can then command a premium (but not over-inflated) price for your products and services. Prospective customers must be assured that you will deliver the results, in full and on schedule. They must know that when they hire you, they’ll look smart to their boss and colleagues, because you are the very best.

Thanks for reading,

Kim