Soulful Vision Marketing Blog

What My Chestnut Chasing Dog Taught Me About Implementation & Getting More Done!

Posted on September 18, 2015 by ShannonMcc

It’s fall here in Virginia and I know that not only because there’s a little chill in the air, and … I know because now when I got to hiking with my rescue dog Lily, she chases after all the chestnuts falling from the trees. The whole scene is actually quite comical, albeit sometimes a little frustrating. We get a pretty good pace going, then all of sudden we come across this huge patch of several hundred chestnuts on the ground and more falling. (In fact, I have to be careful and often dodge those falling from the trees or they get me right on the old noggin.) As soon as Lily sees them, she chases after them and dive bombs the chestnut, picks one right up and starts to eat it. Ok, she doesn’t swallow them anymore because let’s just say she and chestnuts don’t get along. Yet, she still loves to chase and pick them up and there are a lot of them now, and chew them and then lets them drop.

For those who are visual, like me, I actually took my camera with me to take some snap shots of her. The only bummer was she was too quick to get this on video, maybe tomorrow! So I only have some choice shots of my chestnut chasing dog…

So what does her chestnut chasing antics have to do with teaching me how to be a better implementer and get more done. Simply put, watching Lily chase after EVERY chestnut on the ground, reminded me of myself over a year ago, where I would basically chase after that next “shiny” object. Some of you entrepreneurs out there who work at home, know EXACTLY what I mean. Being at home, there’s always something that will get my attention and it usually isn’t the something that will bring me in lots of money or help improve my business.

So I got down to brass tacks when I started noticing how my days were not as productive as I’d like. The real crux was reading a few good books on time management (there are many!), getting Eben Pagan’s course on Wake-Up Productive, and having a mastermind group, belonging to two of them really helps keep me on track. The real trick to not going after EVERY “shiny” object that comes across my path is having a big detailed plan of what I want to accomplish. I mean really details, like what I will outsource, what skills I need for certain tasks, date it will be completed, etc. The more detailed the merrier. Plus at the start of each day and as I go through my day I’m always asking myself “Is this task going to get me closer to reaching my goal?” “Is this task going to help me create more income?” If the answer is no, then guess what, I’m not doing that task.

One more tip I can leave you with is the object isn’t to “do more.” The object is to be more productive with “what” you are doing and ensure you’re doing the tasks that will create greater income and help you reach the goals you so deserve!

So when you get the urge to go after that next “shiny” object, as yourself the telling questions, will this help me get and reach my goals? Then have the courage to change your course, if need be and stick to the things that will help you reach and accomplish your goals.

Posted in balance, Coaching, Dog Marketing, Implementation | Comments Off

The Secret Mysteries of Entrepreneurship

Posted on August 26, 2015 by ShannonMcc

This journey of entrepreneurship has been a fascinating 9 years. One with many amazing rides, bumps in the road, flies on the windshield, savory and also loving adventuress moments. I wouldn’t trade it for anything…

What I have discovered from this journey of the past 3 years, are some amazing entrepreneurial secrets that I wanted to share with you. It all started after my father passed away and the spiral upward and downward consumed me. From ending a 12 year relationship and being single again. To Finally realizing I was no longer being served by living in the northeast any longer. I was not and never will be a Jersey Girl. I’m from the south, New Orleans to be exact. After 26 years of living as a northerner, it was time to get back to my roots.

Secret #1 – Find “your spot!” The place that you live that totally inspires, gives you energy and that you just love. And either move their or rent/buy a vacation home there.

Along my journey, I made that decision to find my spot. So I picked up everything (including my business), and moved to Richmond, VA. That was back in October, 2014. It’s a much simpler, slower and richer life here. So much culture, terrific food, lots of parking and the people are just so open, honest and happy. They’re not on some fast past craziness that is the northeast, in my experience. Even the driving is nicer and more civil. I can actually drive and not have someone cutting me off, cursing me or being a crazy aggressive driver. (Oh and car insurance is even cheaper! Can you imagine? I’m saving over $800 living here.)

Secret #2 – What’s holding you back from making that big move? Is it all just in your head?

Mine was, there was totally nothing standing in my way from moving. All my clients were all over the world. I could essentially live anywhere.

It was the best move I’ve ever made. My business is flourishing because I want it to, not because I have to make a certain amount of money to feed the fast-paced keep up with the Jone’s model.

Secret #3- Your business can evolve and just as you do. You don’t have to keep doing what you’re doing unless of course you love. Try growing and expanding with your experiences.

I’m happy to say, after working as Marketing Implementer, for the past several years, things are shifting in my business. These are still my 4 areas of how I help entrepreneurs:

Creating online marketing funnels
Managing Product launches
Creating new products
Marketing Coach

The big difference, is I’m now focused specifically on working with folks in the health, wellness and healing areas. This is my passion, and what’s kept me sane these past years with all the changes of my life, losing a parent, ending a long term relationship, and being injured. (Sprained both ankles last year, thank goodness not at the same time! And I dislocated my wrist and was in a cast for 2 months.) All took it’s healthy toll on my psyche and on my performance.

By immersing myself in the health and wellness arena, by doing yoga, working with an amazing energy medicine practitioner- Lara Riggio, and an energy healer – Stephanie Dalfonzo, and having a body worker who does Jin Shin Jytsu, I’ve totally been able to transform this next stage of my life. I don’t just get to experience this, I get to help THE Folks who can help thousands more experience it too!

My mission is to help folks in the health, wellness and healing areas reach hundreds and even thousands more people who need their services.

Here’s my new website- go check it out! SoulfulVisionMarketing I’d love to be able to help and support you in your business. Even if you’re not in the health, wellness, or healing areas, I’m happy to connect and help you however I can. I’ve been in business long enough to know that a rising tide floats all boats. We’re all on this journey together. Let’s make a fun and adventuress ride – TOGETHER!

Posted in challenges, Coaching, entrepreneur, Marketing | Comments Off

The Simplest Secret to Getting More Clients/Customers (AKA More conversions :-)

Posted on October 17, 2013 by ShannonMcc

Being in marketing for what feels like a lifetime, the ONE things all my clients struggle with is how do they get more new clients/customers? And– how do they get more people to convert on their websites and get into their marketing funnel? I’d like to tell you that the REAL answer is incredibly sophisticated and complicated. But, it’s really not, it really IS simple, what I’m about to reveal to you. And you have to understand that this is not rocket science and it’s something you probably already know. ..

The SECRET to getting more Clients/Customers- is you HAVE to BUILD a RELATIONSHIP with them FIRST– BEFORE you ask them to buy from you- that’s it. And the age old example that always hits home is you wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on the first date, so why are you doing that with your marketing? When you get them into your funnel, don not immediately ask them for money. Date them, send them emails filled with value, build their trust, give them interesting tips, strategies and information that they can use right away in their business, their lives. And honestly after you’ve sent them 7 to 10 emails THEN ask them to buy something from you- and not anything really big either. And often times I will tell my clients to start by putting the sale in the P.S.– not even in the body of the email. (Actually this is a terrific strategy missed by many people- not using their P.S.- many people read that first BEFORE even reading the body of the email!)

Once you get this concept, then we can plus it up– look into your so-called “war chest” and find some cool things you can give away to them to build their trust and a relationship with them. Next, be a REAL person to them– don’t just give them valuable information, tell them about yourself, give them an entertaining story about your kids, your partner, your dog, the trip you just took– CONNECT with them on another level– again it’s about building a relationship with them. And also encourage them to connect with you on social media where you can then connect with them and build your relationship even further.

Some specific takeaways for building a relationship with your prospects to turn them into clients:

1) Core- Build a relationship with them

2) Entertain them with good stories, antidotes, inspiring quotes, funny pictures, etc.

3) Reveal things about yourself- really connect with them- be personal- talk to them one on one like you’re having coffee with them

4) Give them valuable content they can take and use right away

5) Don’t try to sell them anything until you’ve done the first 3 well- so after about 7 to 10 emails or so

6) Treat your prospects, clients/Customers as you would like to be treated

7) Communicate with them on a regular basis- at least ONCE a week, if not more

8) Covet thefolks on your list and keep doing the above and you will have them investing in your business AND you will have clients/customers for life

As I said, it REALLY is that simple to get new clients/customers- just focus on BUILDING a relationship with them. Trust me, it really does work, and let me know how you do– I’m here to help! 🙂

Posted in blogging, Communication, customer, entrepreneur, Marketing, prospects, Uncategorized | Tagged getting new clients, getting new customers, secrets to getting clients | Leave a comment

It all Boils Down to Courage- Do You Have What it Takes?

Posted on May 30, 2013 by ShannonMcc

One of my favorite quotes is “Fall down 7 times, get up 8” by Buddha. It’s such a subtle quote and so much where I’ve been these past 8 months. I can’t believe I haven’t written since October of last year! Or maybe I can after I tell you all I’ve been going through—and it really does “all boil down to courage…”

Have you ever had the rug pulled out from under you? Like really pulled hard and you land smack on your rear end in shock of what just happened. Well that’s what happened to me… My relationship of 12 years ended back in September of 2012, and that was the beginning of the rug pulling. Then we sold the house in February, and I had to move out and find a place to live, and then I was just simply exhausted from it all. I had no energy left to work, so I decided to leave the job I was in… I so just needed to take some time off to get my energy back and just simply take care of me—so that’s what I did. March 8 I quit the job and took some time just for me. It had been SOOO long that I took any time for myself, I had no idea what to do. The good news is it didn’t take me long to figure it out. I traveled to Big Sur and did an amazing workshop at the Esalen Institute on Callings- How to figure out what you really want to do with your life, lead by the inspiring Gregg Levoy. It was life changing, and I traveled to be my family and hiked a ton with my dog and read, and read and read- the library was my “go to” place. (Some of the books I read- Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser, When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd, Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer, Soul Money by Lynn Twist and Sacred Contracts by Carolyn Myss.)

So why am I tell you all of this— there are a few reasons— one, I wanted to share with you why I was absent from my blog, and two, the real reason is I want to inspire you to check in with yourself- to inject you with some courage to look and I mean really look hard at your life, your work, your relationships, your spirituality- Are you fulfilled? Are you happy? Is something missing? Does something need to change?

Do you have what it takes to really give a hard look at your life and have the courage to make the changes you need to live a more fulfilled life?

I know it’s not easy, take it from me, it’s REALLY hard. However, I had a really amazing support system I put into place to help me with all of these changes that happened in my life. I had an inspiring and gifted therapist, a wonderful coach, and so many supportive friends. There’s no way I could have made it these past 9 months without them and I’m forever grateful.

So don’t wait until it’s too late, take a good look at your life and make some changes for the better. We all deserve to live a wonderfully, supportive, happy and inspiring life, filled with people who love, care and support us.

Posted in attitude, challenges, Coaching, entrepreneur, motivation, overcoming obstacles, Uncategorized | Tagged Broken Open, Callings, Elizabeth lesser, Gregg Levoy, Lynn Twist, Soul of Money, sue monk kidd, Wayne Dyer, When the Heart Waits, Wishes Fulfilled | 1 Comment

Never Ever Cold Call Again to Get New Clients!

Posted on October 4, 2012 by ShannonMcc

Something I learned over 6 years ago from “the Millionaire Maker” Dan Kennedy is that in order for you not to do cold calls, and to not be stressing out where your money will come from each month— you need to create a “lead generation funnel.”

I not only learned it from him, I shared the stage with him where he asked me to share the strategies I used to help grow my business and here are a few if them below,,,

What you need to pay real attention to is that After I did that, created and implemented those strategies… I never had to worry about getting any new clients or cold calling again. I basically created a system of how to get new leads… Here’s a sample of what I did—

Create a 1 page printed newsletter– I sent it out for free once a month to anyone who signed up for it online. I also gave it to folks I met in my travels to events.
Wrote a weekly blog and sent an email to my list
Sent at least one email a week to my list in addition to my blog email
Attended the same 3 conferences every year for 6 years (GKIC Info Summit, Superconference and Yanik Silver’s Underground)
Joined 2 mastermind where we met 3 – 4 times a year- got a bunch of business from there J

This is only 5 things, and there are so many more things you can do to keep your pipeline of new clients filled. I actually create a free report which you can download here-“The 7 Ways You Can Get New Clients in ANY Economy” no optin/email address needed- you get it here compliments of me.

The real key here is that whatever you decide to do you need to do it consistently, and don’t stop doing it, be committed to growing your list and putting your marketing on auto pilot by using an email auto responder, getting a VA to do a printed monthly newsletter for you and on an on… Stop making excuses and go get on the stick and create some systems to communicate with your list , grow it and never have to make another cold call again!

AND– Here’s a BONUS for you– Dan Kennedy just launched some great free training– check it out here– he shows you EXACTLY how to create your OWN “lead generation machine” funnel.

Posted in attitude, client, entrepreneur, Marketing, propsect, prospects, Uncategorized | Tagged Dan Kennedy, Get Leads, No Cold calling, shannon mccaffery, Ultimate Lead Generation Machine | 4 Comments

5 Steps to Daring Greatly and Living Authentically

Posted on September 13, 2012 by ShannonMcc

I was totally shocked when I realized I hadn’t written in my blog since July—yikes! I thought for sure I had written something in August— nope! So I thought this post would be PERFECT to get me back on track. It’s interesting how life throws these curve balls at you and even more interesting how you respond. One thing I know for sure is that life is ALL about CHANGE—you have to simply just expect it and realize you absolutely have NO CONTROL What we need to do is simply prepare ourselves well with riding the waves… And that’s how this post came to be… the 5 Steps to Daring Greatly and Living Authentically…

It’s funny how things happen—because I certainly don’t believe in coincidences… The whole month of July I was away traveling— only home for 5 days, and they weren’t even consecutive days! And on my last trip working a very stressful 8 day event a friend showed me a TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) video by Brene Brown— it was so PERFECT—I laughed out loud and even dare I say—cried too… And that’s where this title of my article came from—Brene Brown who just wrote another book called Daring Greatly, How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

I was lucky enough to be in the audience to see Brene on the new Katie Couric Show which is premiering this week. Her focus is on how we can be vulnerable and how this will transform us. Her background is a researcher and she’s a professor at the University of Houston Graduate College for Social Work School. She’s spent years studying, shame, and vulnerability. She tells her story in the TED video, so check it out I won’t bore you with it here… She also did a follow-up TED talk which was equally inspiring and funny too. Her video is in the top 10 most watched video on TED.

What was even cooler is I was there because a good friend works on the show and surprised me by bringing me backstage to meet her. She was so gracious and as wonderful in person as on the show. They gave us all a copy of her new book, which I had her sign for me and I took a photo with her as well… This was an inspiring experience for me, one that I will always treasure. I connected with her because she’s so left brained like me- we just want strategies and tools, we don’t want to have to deal with emotions, feelings and being vulnerable- yikes… As an aside—If you catch the episode of Brene, you will see yours truly for my 15 seconds of fame in the show- They did a man on the street and asked me a question—I had to answer the question- I feel vulnerable when…. So check out the show to see more…

Well guess what, this is the key to living a full and joyful life, not numbing or stuffing my feelings, but giving them space. In fact I started rereading some terrific books by Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are, The Places that Scare You and When Things Fall Apart. All of her books are about being present, meditating and feeling and being with your emotions, but not letting them run your life…

So here in lies the real core message— these are the 5 things I learned from Brene on Daring Greatly and these are the things I’m striving for in my life so I can live it more fully, not matter what challenges I’m facing or going through…

1) Overcoming Self-doubt

2) Being more Authentic

3) Practicing Self-Compassion

4) Finding More Gratitude and Joy everyday

5) Nurturing creativity, play and rest

If you can work on mastering one or two of these, you will live a much more joyful and full life. Of course mastering more than one, would be ideal. But you don’t have to be that ambitious, just take one step forward and tackle one of these today and let me know how you do!

Posted in ABC's, balance, challenges, Coaching, entrepreneur, motivation, overcoming obstacles, taking risks | Tagged Brene Brown, Daring Greatly, Katie Couric, TED, vulnerability | 1 Comment

Five Strategies to Make Your Products Stick

Posted on July 19, 2012 by ShannonMcc

Having worked with lots of entrepreneurs to help them create their information products, I’ve discovered this easy way to increase your stick rate. If you don’t know what that means, it’s how to have someone who bought your product keep it so they don’t return it.

Here are 5 proven ways that you can use one or more of them to increase your products stick rate and get more of your customers hanging onto the product they bought.

Strategy #1- Create a Quick Start Video—This is huge— create a video and walk them through step-by-step exactly what’s in the product and HOW to use it. What do they do first, second, etc. This really works and will get them to understand the product and to consume it more easily.

Strategy #2- Create a Quick Start Guide—This is a printed guide that you create. The way I did this was I created the video script first, then I created the PDF guide. Again, walk them through the product, all the pieces they have. Next, tell them where to start. I sometimes create two tracks- one for beginners and one for advanced. I tell them how to consume and go through the product depending upon if they’re a beginner or advanced. Then you can also give them some additional resources to help them, like links to software, tools, or websites.

Strategy #3- Create a Checklist— This is a terrific tool that can either be a stand alone, or include it in your Quick Start Video or Guide. An example would be for my survey product, I give them a checklist of all the things they need to do in order to create a survey.

Strategy #4- Create a Mindmap—If you don’t know what a mindmap is- check out this website– www.mindjet.com I LOVE mindmaps and use them for product creation and for product launch’s. Again, I put this in my Quick start Video and Guide.

Strategy #5- Create a Flow Chart– These are along the same lines as a mindmap, people love flow charts and love to see how everything fits together. Here’s an example of a flowchart- (Again, I put this in my Quick start Video and Guide.)

Take one or two or use all of them like I have in my product and all these will go a long way in helping you increase your stick rate AND help your customers use your product as well!

Posted in Implementation, Marketing, Product Creation, Product Launches | Tagged idea to product, making it stick, product creation, quick start | Leave a comment

The Real “How” to Create Your Own Info Products

Posted on June 29, 2012 by ShannonMcc

One of the things I’ve discovered is that there’s tons and I mean tons of information out there on how to create products and how to market them… Yet, the one thing I saw that was missing was something that was really clear and simple about “how” to do it…

So I came up with some basic principles that will help folks on how to do it—

You have to survey your audience and find out what they want and how to they want it delivered and howto ot price it, which you can get that info from this blog— http://marketingimplementer.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/first-steps-you-must-take-to-creating-your-information-products
Once you know which product to create- then you need to do research and find out about your competition- you can search on Google or go on Amazon.com and look up books with similar information and research their table of contents.
Create your course outline with all the information you want to include in its, at this point you could do another survey, or send one out with this info to get some answers from the folks who will buy from you
Decide how you will publish it—will it be an online course or a printed course, or will you create one from a webinar or teleseminar- lots of decisions here. Don’t forget to ask questions about this to your list.
Add Bonuses- don’t forget bonuses are good and often times sell your product for you
Increase your stick rate—do this by adding a quick start guide to all your products

This gives you a quick and easy way to start you off on creating your next product. Follow these steps and I know you will be incredibly successful. Don’t forget to ask some questions to your list- because you always want to give them EXACTLY what they want.

Posted in Coaching, entrepreneur, Implementation, Marketing, Product Creation, productivity | Tagged design products, info products, product creation | 1 Comment

First Steps You MUST Take to Creating Your Information Products

Posted on June 14, 2012 by ShannonMcc

One of the many services I offer is working with clients to help them create their products and then launch these products for them. The question I always get over and over and over again is—“How do I know what product to create?” This is an incredibly important questions and often hard to figure out and most of my clients before they worked with me used all sorts of Google algorithms and some even used the pasta method, which I wouldn’t recommend. The important note here is most guessed and did many other things. The funny thing is THE best thing they could have done to find this out was right under their nose and I was the one that pointed it out to them…

Want to know what it is? It’s doing a quick survey to your list and ASK THEM what they want. Alex Mandossian calls this an Ask Campaign. Why note go out there and ask the very people who will buy from you what they want. And even if you don’t have a list, you can still use social media and post your survey online and drive some traffic there or you could find a JV partner who would be willing to mail the survey to their list for you.

Here are some terrific questions to ask:

What’s the one must have product you would buy from me if I was smart enough to create and sell it to you?

What format should we offer this product to you so you can consume and learn from it effortlessly and easily?

Online course- videos, audios and transcripts viewable and downloadable
Printed Physical course that’s mailed out to you
Live webinar that was a 6 week course
Live teleseminar that was a 6 week course
Combined online course and live Q&A coaching calls
Other- (Please specify)

What price point would be you be willing to invest in this product? (Choose one)

$0 – $100
$100 – $250
$251 – $500
$501 – $1,000
$1,001 – $2,500
$2,501 – $5000
$5,001 – $10,000
$10,001+

This is THE best way to figure out what next product you ought to create for your list. And again if you don’t have a list, you could use social media and simply as one question—“What’s the one big challenge you’re facing today in your business?” and you’ll get some cool answers that will help spin you in the right direction to creating your next product.

If you liked this article, please leave me a comment. And if you want to discover more about surveys, check out this page– http://www.createamazingsurveys.com/gkic/

Posted in challenges, client, entrepreneur, Product Creation, Product Launches, prospects, questions, Survey Tips & Techniques | Tagged alex mandossian, best products, business, creating surveys, product creation, questions | 1 Comment

What Do Your Customers Really Desire?

Posted on May 31, 2012 by ShannonMcc

I wanted to continue my blog from last week where I discussed “What Your Customers Want to Buy,” followed up by this week where the focus is on “What Do Your Customers Desire.” This questions are incredibly similar because a lot of the focus is out the outcome, not exactly a product or service. Remember people buy on emotion and then they rationalize with logic AFTER they purchase.

That’s why what I’m about to tell you is REALLY cool and important. If you’re a student of Direct Response Marketing or a copywriter, or student of marketing, you’ve probably heard of Victor Schwab. If you haven’t, shame on you- get on Amazon now and buy this book— How To Write A Good Advertisement

In the book he has a ton of terrific stuff on how to write copy and ads that convert. The one thing that caught my eye and made a huge impact on my was on page 47 where he talks about what showing people an advantage, yet it helps when you know what those advantages are. So here’s his list of people’s desires and what they want to gain, be, do and save:

1) People want to GAIN:

– Health

– Time

– Money

– Popularity

– Improved Appearance

– Security in old age

– Praise from others

– Comfort

– Leisure

– Proof of Accomplishment

– Advancement- business, social

– Increased enjoyment

– Self-confidence

– Personal prestige

2) People want to BE:

– Good Parents

– Social able and Hospitable

– Up-to-date

– Creative

– Proud of their Possessions

– Influential over others

– Gregarious

– Efficient

– First in things

– Recognized as authorities

3) People want to DO:

– Express their personalities

– Resist domination over others

– Satisfy their curiosity

– Emulate the admirable

– Appreciate beauty

– Acquire or collect things

– Win others affections

– Improve themselves generally

4) People want to SAVE:

– Time

– Money

– Work

– Discomfort

– Worry

– Doubts

– Risks

– Personal Embarrassment

My recommendation of what to do with these lists, is in your marketing promotion and copy, ensure that you tie into these advantages and focus on one or more things of what people want to gain, be, do and save. And if you can do that, they will buy from you.

I’ll leave you with this terrific quote from Napoleon Hill (and if you don’t know who he is- buy his book here—Think and Grow Rich. It was originally published in 1937) “There are no motives to action: Self-interest and fear.” So to me he’s saying that people buy out of self interest- to gain, be, do and save and out of fear. Hence so much copy is fear driven and focusing on our problems and that’s why everyone has the perfect solution for us because that’s how most of us think. When asked what we want, it’s easier to know what we don’t want which then gets us to what we want… Happy thinking, discovering and figuring out your customers desires!

Posted in Communication, customer, entrepreneur, Marketing, overcoming obstacles, prospects, Uncategorized | Tagged customers desire, Napoleon Hill, Victor Schwab, what my customers want | Leave a comment