And it portends some interesting changes you may want to know about.  Facebook is going to be creating the way you see the internet based on your interests.  LinkedIn has already been doing this.  Providing users with links to ‘outside’ sites but through the LinkedIn interface — the ‘wrapper’ is LinkedIn but the site is ‘inside’ the LinkedIn wrapper.

Facebook will now be doing this, too.  But the Facebook approach will cause information (i.e. advertising and other ‘relevant’ information) to be shown to you based upon your interests and favorites that are part of your Facebook profile.

For advertisers, this means a huge base of people with increasingly relevant targeting should equal one of the best media for promoting a business on in a long time.  Now, if only the ‘privacy police’ will get on board with this . . . wait and see.

By the way, if you would like to receive a complimentary copy of an ‘10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know’ . . . click here.

Related posts:

1. Maximizing LinkedIn
2. Good-bye Old Friend . . . Say Hello To My Social Network!
3. Looking for a Social Network?

He’s the founder of Coaches With Clients — a San Diego, CA based firm that helps coaches develop the skills and systems for growing their clientele.

In this video, Christian shares a lot of wisdom on the topic of “How To Respond” when someone asks, “What Do You Do?”

It’s always a challenge . . . until you learn the secret of saying the right words to help you become more attractive to prospective clients.

Check out his video . . . he’s a coach himself and, more important (to me) he’s successful because he practices what he preaches . . . he walks his own talk . . . rather remarkable.

You will a lot from Christian. I sincerely hope you do, too!

Related posts:

1. Want to become ATTRACTIVE to prospective clients?
2. When The Message is The Medium
3. Ancient Messages Are Still Relevant

How would you know? Probably by the response your reader or listener gives you after you give your message.

So, I ask again, “Do you communicate effectively?” If not, do better.

One key to that end which brilliant communicators like Seth Godin and Steve Jobs have honed to an artform is to be surgically concise.

Another key is to use visual information as much as possible. Afterall, who says, “Gee, I remember your name but I forgot your face!”.

We’re visual beings. We first process reality visually then we ‘process’ it into an abstract verbal understanding. So why make ‘getting’ a message harder than necessary?

Here’s a good example of a master presenter in action:

POINT:

Communication is an artform. Effective communication combines:

1. the simplicity of your message with
2. a visual rendering of it whenever possible

Related posts:

1. When The Message is The Medium
2. A Beautiful Story Without Any Words
3. Media IS The Message!

The answer? Simple. Some businesses are just more refer-able. They operate in a manner that invites and even demands their customers and clients to become evangelists for the company’s brand.

In a few weeks, Duct Tape Marketing’s founder, John Jantsch will be releasing a new book — The Referral Engine.

I have an advance copy for a review I’m writing and I am most impressed. Rather than being a book of ‘How To’ (although that is present) this book is more about how to be a business that operates in a manner that generates such exquisite experiences for people that they become the ‘raving fans’ and the ‘brand evangelists’ that drive new customers and clients into contact with the firm.

You can get a complimentary download of Chapter 1 of John’s wonderful new book: The Referral Engine

Just click on the cover and you’ll be reading some great new insights in no time!

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Closing The Performance / Expectation Gap
2. Learn to say, “I don’t know”
3. Appreciation Marketing - The Book!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a ‘User Handbook’ full of ideas on how to get the most value you can from being a part of it.

Here are some quick and easy ways can get more out of being on LinkedIn.

Drop Your Title!

For example, I used to use my title “CCO”. Now, my profile ‘title’ reads: “Helping small business owners attract clients and grow revenues”.

This allows you to inform people how you can help them rather than what you are — which may be lost on them, anyway.

Key Idea

Show your tagline instead of your title

Integrate with Twitter

The new Twitter integration functionality allows you to tweet a message and have it display in your status . . . automatically!.

You can edit your settings to show “ALL” your Tweets or, selective Tweets which you can set up with the hashtag (#) function on Twitter. Very cool!

Key Idea

Use the Twitter integration function on your LinkedIn profile.

Leverage Your Group Memberships

I’ve been writing a monthly article for The National Networker for about two years helping others leverage their marketing and networking to build relationships and revenues. After an article is published, my publisher, Adam Kovitz suggested I post it as a “news article” to the various groups that I belong to on LinkedIn. You can do the same thing with any blog post you write just as easily.

This one simple activity can drive tons of traffic to your blog!

In time, getting people to know of you (brand awareness), like you (brand preference) and trust you (brand value) because they’ve come to appreciate the value in your advice is . . . priceless!

Key Idea

Join the LinkedIn groups where your blog posts or articles will be relevant and post your “news articles” whenever you can.

Join The Conversations

LinkedIn has ‘Discussions’. Are you starting them? Are you commenting on them? If not, you’re missing a huge opportunity to leverage your membership and the value LinkedIn holds for you.

Contributing to LinkedIn Discussions is a great way to position yourself as an authority and showcase your expertise.

Always provide a link to a relevant page on your blog or landing page on your website. For example, if you comment on how to ‘generate referrals’, you should create a landing page where a Special Report on ‘Referrals’ can be downloaded. Remember, you’re offering relevant information in a meaningful context. So don’t just say, “Hey, I’m here!”. Offer value and . . . an easy way to get it!

Key Idea

Participate in the discussions on any LinkedIn group where your ideal clients are likely to be found and post questions to stimulate some discussions of your own.

Respond To Questions

Questions allow you to demonstrate your expertise and build up the “know / Like / Trust” factor you know is so important to your marketing success.

Both the questions you answer for others (and, ask) will be seen by visitors to your profile. Often, what you have to say may be more interesting than anything else a visitor will notice on your profile page.

Key Idea

Seek out questions posed by others on topics you can answer. Use an RSS feed coupled to your Google Reader to show you new questions as they appear and post your answers to your profile as well.

Want To Build Revenues With Social Media?

Check out our Social Media Pro Study Group!

Related posts:

1. Are You Naughty or Nice?
2. Good-bye Old Friend . . . Say Hello To My Social Network!
3. Getting Yourself Noticed Online

Elevator Ptches

If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s based upon the 10 - 15 seconds that begins with the time you step into an elevator and the time you step out of one.  Maybe a floor or two. Inside the elevator someone asks, “What do you do?”.

Having a prepared ‘pitch’ or commercial response at the ready can turn such a moment-of-truth with a truly qualified prospect for your services . . . into a highly productive one.

Andy argues that these chance encounters, while prevalent in daily business, have deteriorated into a social convention that is often more polite than productive.  He’s got a good point. Listen to him directly:

Why Elevator Pitches May Not Really Work

If you’re honest about it, do they work for you?  Or, are they merely a social convention that prevents sincere connections from taking place between two people in business?

Lopata contends that delivering a carefully crafted ‘commercial’ has become, for many businesspeople, the sole goal of a ‘new encounter’ rather than using it as the starting point for a meaningful conversation with a stranger.  I tend to agree.

What Does Work?

In a word, ‘Listening‘ –– focusing more on what the other person is sharing with you than on what you say in response to their question: “What do you do?”.

POINT:

It’s only slightly more difficult to listen.  But it’s a lot more powerful.  And, given that it’s a common complaint about people, being a good listener may be better than being a good pitcher!

Related posts:

1. Going Beyond The Elevator Pitch
2. 30 Second Commercial? Forget it!
3. A Beautiful Story Without Any Words

Making your point.

A single, focused, right-on-the money point.

Getting a response.  That’s WHY you create a message, right?

I doubt you can do it much more elegantly and effectively than this.

In fact, I ‘triple-dog’ dare you to NOT be affected by this beautiful commercial:

POINT:

HOW you communicate your message is a key part of WHAT you communicate.

Related posts:

1. Are Elevator Pitches . . . Dead?
2. 30 Second Commercial? Forget it!
3. What’s YOUR Point?

Which outcome — success or failure — is more likely for you? It reflects how you handle six key aspects of your business:

1. Finances:
   Management of money — from income to payout is very important
2. Technology:
   Relying on outdated or inadequate technology is like running in lead boots
3. Leadership:
   Every firm needs a vision and a CEO who, like Moses, can lead the troops toward that ‘Promised Land’
4. Employee Management:
   The difference between your people and your profits is their performance . . . think about it and invest in their skills training
5. Experience Management:
   What separates you from any other firm is the ‘experience’ prospects have with you.  Make yours the BEST available!
   And finally . . .
6. Marketing:
   Identify, attract, convert and retain relationships with people who want what you do or . . . you’ll be in BIG trouble!

MARKETING is what makes all the other functions relevant and your business successful.

Without cash flowing into your business or practice, it doesn’t really matter if:

• you’re using QuickBooks or not — there won’t be anything to put through it
• your computers, smartphones, website, autoresponders, etc. are working — no one will notice
• you have a vision, mission, strategic and operational plan . . . you’ll never get to carry them out
• your staff can perform effectively in the positions you’ve created for them in your business — they’ll have ‘no work’
• you’re ready to deliver a great experience or not — no one will know about you nor will they ever get to do so!

It really starts with your marketing.  EVERYTHING starts with your marketing, doesn’t it?

Are you honoring this truth by the amount of time, energy and resources you’re putting into marketing your business or practice relative to all the other ways you can invest your time, money and energies?

Should you be making any changes in this area?  Would a marketing coach or advisor help you make better decisions and experience better results?

POINT:

Know your priorities.  In business, it’s marketing.  Marketing makes everything else possible.  Even if it doesn’t, you’ll be better able to afford to fix your technology, people, and operating systems than if you don’t!

Fail to do your marketing and you know what will hit the oscillating aerator machine faster than you’ll probably like!

Related posts:

1. Marketing Seminar with E-Myth Worldwide in California
2. “Do I know you? No, Seriously . . . do I know you?”
3. The Power of Clarity

It’s also a stage direction that a playwright uses to guide or direct an actor as they ‘enter’ a scene — e.g. “from stage left, enter laughing . . . ”

Entering The Play Going On Inside Your Prospect’s Head

Whether you enter laughing, crying, or anything else . . . your marketing messages will be more effective . . . more likely to attract the interest of qualified prospects . . . more likely to generate qualified responses to you . . . if you enter the conversation that’s already going on in the head of your prospect.

Your Prospect’s World Doesn’t (Naturally) Include You

I’m not saying that it can’t.  Or, won’t.  Just that it doesn’t normally include thoughts about you and your products and services.

The conversation going on in a prospect’s head, by the way, is happening whether you exist or not.

To quote the famous Miss Piggy of The Muppets fame, “Pardon Monsieur . . . it’s NOT about you.  It’s ALL about . . . Moi!”

Prospects Are Self-Centered

Prospects are like Miss Piggy.  They are centered on themselves.  It’s OK. It’s natural.  It’s normal.  It’s also something that, if you fail to recognize, accept and act upon accordingly . . . will cost you dearly.  How?  In lost revenues.  In revenues your more attentive competitors will be only to happy to collect . . . at your expense.

Do I have your interest, now?

POINT:

Messages . . . starting with your headline, amplified in your copy and concluding with your offer . . . must address the challenges, frustrations and PAIN your prospects know personally, intimately and specifically.

Do that and your messages will be more attractive, compelling and response-able.

Related posts:

1. The Power of Clarity
2. Packaging — What Prospects Want
3. Are You Talking TO Me?

One of the many ways to do that is to create quality content and post it on the internet.

Video content is increasingly popular. And, various video hosting services have sprung up to support you in making your video content readily available.

The best known site is Google’s YouTube service. But there are others. One, which I’ve personally experienced (and, none too pleasant an experience it was, I assure you!) is Vimeo.

In my ‘listening post’, I get an alert when certain terms are being cited on blogs. “Vimeo” is one of them. (I have my reasons!)

Why am I telling you all this? Simple. To share three (3) lessons that will ‘teach’ you how this social media stuff really works better than anything less ‘real world’ ever would.

Lesson #1: You Can’t Hide On The Internet

This is true if you’re good. But, it’s especially true if you’re bad. As in ‘bad customer experience’. Why? People talk. And the mechanisms available — online — to do their ‘talking’ is tremendous.

Check it out for yourself: http://boagworld.com/reviews/vimeo and you’ll see an example of the kind of ‘chatter’ that is waiting for any firm — even yours and mine — if we give people a good reason to want to vent.

Lesson #2: Do NOT P ____ People Off!

In the upper left panel of the above blog, note the number of ‘RE-Tweets’ about this page. This post just went up and in less than a day there are already over 400 re-tweets!!

Now consider this . . . the average social media savvy person has a network online of their contacts. People who are facile with social media are probably pretty well connected. Some people have ‘followers’ that number into the 1,000’s of people.

In just ONE day, this rather toxic post has already been broadcast (retweeted) to a very, very significant number of people.  Probably a couple hundred thousand when you consider these socially connected types each have a network themselves! And, if the source is credible, they tend to retweet the content they receive over and over and over again. Scary, isn’t it?

Lesson #3: If You Listen, You’ll Find Stuff You Can Use

In my listening post, I spotted another related item . . . http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357254,00.asp. Seems Vimeo has a little explaining to do about how it’s doing it’s own business –– in a courtroom!

Oh, it’s a little thing, really — copyright infringements being alleged by EMI — the music industry watchdog for this kind of questionable behavior!

Copyright infringement. Interesting. Because people are claiming Vimeo’s telling them what they can or can’t publish . . . and EMI claims Vimeo is just as culpable in the way Vimeo’s handling their own affairs. Think that’s going to engender ‘goodwill’ from the Vimeo user community?  I’d say the jury is still out on that one!

Question:

Let’s suppose . . . you are the chief counsel for EMI. Would knowing about the kind of comments being made online about the firm you’re trying to build a case against be helpful to you? Would it be hurtful to Vimeo? How would you use this kind of information in court? I don’t have the answers. But they’re certainly worth noting, aren’t they?

Look, Vimeo is not a villanous firm. Ok, maybe some appear to argue they’re eccentric and artsy and all. And, yes . . . they appear to be capricious and arbitrary in how they choose to recognize and respond to violations of their ‘terms and conditions’ clause.

But here’s the lesson I want YOU to get . . . social media has made the masses connected . . . in a way we’ve never seen before!

The media that connects all those minds is a superhighway of thoughts that can either build your brand up or . . . tear it down. I say, ‘either’ because, frankly, there’s really nothing in-between. It’s all or nothing.

Now, do you see why it is so important to be listening? And, once you are . . . to respond in a timely and effective manner!

Personally, I’d be giving “thanks” to Vimeo for providing you with a ‘real world’ example of the power of social media on a business. It’s not always a ‘good’ example that teaches us so well. But, what social media is doing to Vimeo is certainly a ‘powerful’ example, isn’t it?

And please remember this — to make social media work FOR you, you must know what people are saying ABOUT you (as well as putting out your own story).

Which is an excellent segue into what we’re going to be learning about in Session #3 . . . on BLOGGING!

Next session . . . session #3 . . . “Blogging” . . . is an excellent way to make sure _YOU_ control the story about you and what you deem to be important to the people — friends and foes alike — in 2010.

Related posts:

1. If You Build It . . . Will They Come?
2. The Social Media Marketing Book
3. Social Media . . . Brave New World?

When Richard Branson, arguably one of the most successful entrepreneurs alive and Seth Godin, one of the most prolific thought-leaders on marketing get together, under the auspices of American Express . . . it has to be good.

It is:

The Point:

LISTENING . . . to your customer (or, client or patient or prospect) is essential to your success.

Related posts:

1. “But Momma, WHY?”
2. Social Media . . . Brave New World?
3. Being Approach-able