Professional Service Firm Marketing Tips & Strategies

Using Facebook For Business

This coming Tuesday, February 3rd, Social Media Buzz gal, Bethany Spilde, will be presenting Using Facebook For Business at Central Exchange (South location). If are in the KC area and have been wondering how you can use Facebook to grow your business, make sure you attend this presentation.

Click here to sign up on the Central Exchange web site.

Note - the web site says they begin at 8:00am but Bethany tells me they start at 7:45.

Why I Like LinkedIn

LinkedIn is still my favorite social networking too. Here are a few reasons why:

• People that I meet on LinkedIn seem to “get” networking – giving to get, building relationships, etc.
• LinkedIn is still only social network that I belong to where someone I have met online will often pick up the phone and call me.
• As a small business owner, all social sites help people to get to know me, but LinkedIn is the one that I get business and partnership opportunities from.
• I love the way they continue to improve search to make my network more visible and discoverable.

Which social network is your favorite?

Goals - Fail In Order To Achieve

I enjoyed Seth Godin's recent post, The goals you never hear about, where he talks about how setting goals related to making mistakes can help us become remarkable. His post reminded me of something I learned from my Sandler Sales coach, Dan Stalp. Like most professionals who have to sell, I hated making cold calls. I would do anything to avoid making them, even though I needed to make some sales. Then one day in class we talked about settings goals around getting a "No". I made a game out of how quickly I could get 5 no's per day by making cold calls. This changed my entire perspective - I no longer dreaded making my daily calls. And here is the remarkable part - the more I try to get a 'no', the harder it seems to get one. People started saying yes and I got more appointments.

I have always been a big believer in a "try something and fail fast" attitude. My cold calling lesson furthered my belief in that approach. Read Seth's post and take his advice. Drop me a comment and let me know how you plan to fail this month.

Understanding Twitter

If you have been hearing about Twitter, but don't understand exactly what it is or wonder how Twitter can fit into your small business marketing plan, take a look at the video from Common Craft.

Can't see the video above? View the video on the Common Craft web site.

Need Your Help - What Size Bite Do You Prefer For Training?

We are in the middle of planning a social media networking bootcamp and could use your input to help us decide the time format (1/2 day vs. full day, weekday vs. Saturday) we will use. If you could hop on over to my LinkedIn poll and cast your vote, I'd appreciate it. Here is the link - http://polls.linkedin.com/p/17607/ooutx.

Too Much Paper, Not Enough Time

This coming Wednesday is the monthly meeting of the Small Home and Business Connection. This month’s presentation is “Too Much Paper, Not Enough Time” by Cynthia Kyriazis.

Cynthia is founder and President of Productivity Partners, Inc. a leading provider of training in the topic areas of time, information and decision-making management. She is the only professional organizer and time management expert who is also a Certified 6 Advisors™ coach. This distinction enables her to work with clients on process, systems and performance improvement.

Cynthia speaks nationally on organizing and time management strategies and has shared the stage with Barbara Bush, Jack Canfield and John Walsh. She is co-author of the book “The Organized Communicator”, creator of instructional CDs and the offers a wide range of productivity webinars.

Meeting Particulars:

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Bacchanalia Private Dining
12450 Newton,  Overland Park, KS

For more information and to register, visit the SHBC web site.

Possession Is Not Permission

I'm not really that big on making New Year's resolutions, but let's make one together now, shall we?

Let's resolve to stop wasting our time spamming one another. Let's resolve to ask for permission before we add e-mail addresses to our mailing list. No more e-mailing strangers with the opening "To All Our Friends".

Finding my e-mail address does not automatically give you permission to start sending me your marketing material.

The way to make your e-mail marketing more effective is not to increase the size of your list just for the sake of growing it, rather, develop a targeted list and deliver messages that are relevant, personal, and anticipated.

Technology is great at making us more efficient. Let's not forget to be effective with our marketing efforts as well.

What's Your Marketing Number?

Most of us have set revenue goals from the coming year. But do you have a system in place to keep track of the actions you take to reach those goals and the results of those actions?

There are many reasons to track your activities and the results, but I think the effect it has on your business planning is the most important reason to do so. As I’ve mentioned here before, I believe you should be regularly reviewing and adjusting your marketing and business plan. Keeping track of your “numbers” is a vital part of the planning process.

How much easier would your planning process be if you knew the answers to these questions?

• How many referrals do you need to receive before you make a sale?
• If you give presentations as part of your lead generation strategy, how many attendees typically sign up for your free offer? Of those, how many actually make a purchase? What’s the average dollar amount of that purchase?
• What percentage of your business comes from existing customers?
• If you attend a networking event, how many people do you need to meet in order to schedule one appointment?
• If you use direct mail, how many pieces do you send out per response? How many responses do you receive per sale?

Planning and tracking don’t have to be complicated to work. Just keep a piece of paper on your desk and start tracking a few key activities and the results. Once you see how valuable this information is to your planning process, you’ll be hooked.

If you prefer using software to help with your planning and tracking, take a look at Marketing Plan Pro.

Kansas City Sales Training - Why Salespeople Fail

Dan Stalp, sales coach with Sandler Training - Brooks Associates and friend of the program, will be conducting one of his Executive Briefings this Friday, Jan 16th. The briefing runs from 7:30 am -9:30 am and includes a breakfast buffet.

I work with Dan and have attended one of these briefings in the past. For me, it was a great way to actually experience how the Sandler Sales System is different from "traditional sales". I think that the business owners and professionals who typically "hate selling" will find Dan and the Sandler approach refreshing and something they can feel comfortable doing. Just as we are always preaching that you need a system for marketing, sales becomes so much easier when you have a proven system to follow.

To RSVP for the briefing, give Dan a call at 913.451.1760 ext. 101

2009 Kauffman Thoughtbook

The 2009 edition of the Kauffman Thoughtbook is available.

The Thoughtbook serves as the annual report for the Kauffman Foundation. It is comprised of essays written by associates at the Foundation and the influential thought leaders they work with to advance educational achievement and entrepreneurial success. Contributors include scholars, technical experts, explorers, entrepreneurs, and Nobel Prize laureates.

You can read many of the essays online or you can order a copy of the Thoughtbook here.