• Blogging,  Clients & Customers,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Marketing

    You are Who You Hang Out With…

    Have you ever heard this before?  I didn’t start hearing this until after I hired my Executive Coach, 12 years ago. The concept of hanging out with people and becoming more like them was a total foreign idea to me. I had really paid no attention until my coach and I started talking about it.  And it’s funny, once I started paying attention to it I got it and knew I had to make some changes in my life… There were some very negative people in my life who were totally zapping my energy, (My coach called them “Negative Norberts.”) not too mention the ones who were more like time sucking…

  • Blogging,  Clients & Customers,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Testimonials

    The positive side to negative testimonials

    When it comes to customer testimonials, there will come a time when you receive a negative testimonial.  Now if you are new in business or even a veteran, the way you respond will determine whether it can turn positive.  The worst thing for a business to do is to post only customer testimonials that are positive.  Nothing in this world is perfect, so portraying perfection will turn potential customers away. There are three simple steps to remember when dealing with negative customer testimonials.  Remember, how you handle these negative customer testimonials will speak volumes about your business character and integrity. 1.  Never Over-React By you posting this negative customer testimonial,…

  • Blogging,  Clients & Customers,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Testimonials,  Website

    Creativity + Testimonials = Results

    In a fast pace world of marketing, one of the best ways to stay ahead of your competition revolves around one word: CREATIVITY.  So today I am going to show you how combining a little bit of creativity with your testimonials yields great results. No matter where you are using your customer testimonials, you want to present them in a way that pops out to the reader.  Be honest – how many of you have visited a website selling a product and you find at the bottom of the page a BUNCH of writing and small pictures?  Now be honest again – because it is in a format that seems…

  • Blogging,  Clients & Customers,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Marketing,  Testimonials

    The four types of testimonials that get results…

    In my previous blog, I gave you a simple overview of testimonials. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper.  In fact, I am going to let you in on a secret that most people don’t know:  There are four types of testimonials and each are used to overcome different objections that potential customers may have. 1.  Benefits: Apprehension to trying a new product/service is a normal reaction, especially in this tight economy.  Many people have to watch how and what they spend their money on, so often they stick with what they know.  With this type of testimonial though, people are not only seeing others buying your product/service but…

  • Blogging,  Clients & Customers,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Survey Tips & Techniques,  Technology

    Commit to Your Plan to Create Success

    I was recently listening to a panel discussion made up of several well known marketing experts and one of the panelists said something that really jumped out at me. The panelist was Jay Conrad Levinson who is known as “The Father of Guerilla Marketing.”  He said that he believed “…a mediocre marketing program with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing program without commitment. Commitment makes it happen.” As soon as I heard that I knew he was right… but I was not really sure why.  So I thought about it for a while and came to a conclusion. Commitment is when you— Create a marketing program…

  • Blogging,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Survey Tips & Techniques,  Technology,  Website

    Whose Shoes Are You Walking In?

    Your customers, (this includes those that have not bought anything from you but who have read your blog and subscribed to your newsletter or visited your website) look to you for help, motivation, advice, entertainment, and valuable information. To really do this effectively you have to walk in your customers shoes. Everyday I encounter businesses that really miss the mark on this. One way to really get this is to BE your customer.  Go to your website, cruise it like a potential customer, sign up for your optins. Even better, get your friends, colleagues, and those that work for you to do the same.  Have them document what they see…

  • Blogging,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Technology

    Are You a Guest Blogger?

    Let’s take a step further and talk more about a terrific technique for developing content – it’s guest blogging on other sites and inviting guest bloggers to your site. This technique allows you to get fresh content for your site without taking up a big amount of your time. It’s all about leveraging other peoples content.  At the same time if you are guest posting on another blog you can repurpose a post or article from your archive.  You are in front of a new audience so to them it will be a brand new post. Guest posting shows that you are connected to other experts in your field and also…

  • Blogging,  Coaching,  Communication,  Entrepreneurs,  Implementation,  Marketing,  Product Launches,  Technology

    You created a blog… Now What?

    The beauty of blogs is that you don’t need to invest in software to maintain it. Blogs are maintained online and so you can access them anywhere and at any time, as long as you have an Internet connection. You just sign in to your blog account and you can create a post, edit post, change blog template, customize your blog and change blog settings easily. It is also very easy to add a lot of cool tools to your blog like an opt-in or subscription form so if you don’t already have a list it is a great way to start.  If you already have a list it’s also…