Remember that old TV game show “The Match Game” with celebs like Charles Nelson Reilly, Fannie Flagg and Richard Dawson? They still show reruns on the game show channel (yes, there is such a channel--what do you expect from someone who was on Jeopardy! and Family Feud, but that’s another story).
Here’s how you can fill in the blanks and win clients. One of our mantras is “Free Resources.” You need to demonstrate your competence by giving away information that proves you know your stuff. Most people, we know, hate writing and speaking and avoid it like you know what. But you’ve got to have good content for everything else in your lead generation system, and you’ll need a good few solid topics to get you going. These topics, or headlines, will become the basis for your seminars, your articles, your columns, your speeches—everything you do.
How do you make a gripping headline for a prospect that’s focused like a laser beam on his or her frustrations, worries, and concerns? If you start looking at magazine covers, you’ll recognize these “recipes.” They’re everywhere. Thanks to Joan Stewart at the Publicity Hound for most of these headlines. (For more free publicity for your professional services business, sign up for "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an electronic newsletter. Subscribe at www.PublicityHound.com and receive by autoresponder the handy list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release.")
Here are ideas for your next article headline or speech topic. First, determine your expertise in a word or two. Next, read these headlines and put a star next to about ten that really appeal to you; then go back and fill in the blanks.
A Quiz: Test Your Blank Smarts
Cash in on Blank Trends
Chasing the Right Blank
Cool Tools for Blank
Common Errors That Kill Blank
Part-Time Tactics for Full-Time Blank
Discover the 7 Essential Elements That Guarantee Blank
Finding the Blank That is Uniquely You
Good News For Blanks About Blank
How to Bounce Back from Blank
How to Get Other People to Blank
How to Handle Blank
How to Make Blank Work for You
How to Turn Blank into Blank
Mastering the Art of Blank
No More Blank
Questions and Answers About Blank
Straight Talk from a Blank
The Great Blank Dilemma
The Most Beginner-Friendly Blank
The Last Word on Blank
The Amazing Solution for Blank
The Best and Worst Ideas for Blank
The Complete Guide to Blank
The Worst Mistakes You Can Make When Blanking
Top 10 Blank Dos and Don'ts
What's HOT and NOT in Blank
When Not to Blank
Your Must-Know Guide to Blank
10 User-Friendly Facts for Blank
10 Tips to Jump-start Your Blank
11 Questions You Must Ask When You're Blank
12 Tactics to Open Up Blank
13 Tips That Will Make a Blank Smile
10 Time-Tested Tips for Becoming a Blank
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
5 ways to improve your persuasion power
If you write a book (or have a ghostwriter do one for you), build marketing into the book. Marketing is a process, not something you do at the end. So be persuasive in your marketing materials. To help prospective clients choose you, give them a persuasive mental shortcut. You can gain trust with clients through a proven persuasive secret called social proof.
With more than one quarter of a million copies sold worldwide, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD has established itself as the most important book on persuasion ever published. In this book that I highly recommend, Professor Cialdini explains why some people are remarkably persuasive.
The book explains six psychological secrets behind our powerful impulse to comply and how to skillfully use these tactics. The book is organized around these six principles of consistency, reciprocation, authority, liking, scarcity and social proof.
The principle of social proof states that one shortcut we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct. As a rule, we will make fewer mistakes by acting in accord with social evidence than contrary to it. This is why television sit-coms have canned laughter tracks and commercials use man-in-the street testimonial interviews.
The reason social proof is so persuasive is because we are all so information overloaded. Professor Cialdini says his research evidence suggests that the ever-accelerating pace and informational crush of modern life will make automated decision making more and more prevalent.
“You and I exist in an extraordinarily complicated stimulus environment, easily the most rapidly moving and complex that has ever existed on this planet,” writes Professor Cialdini. “To deal with it, we need shortcuts. We can’t be expected to recognize and analyze all the aspects in each person, event, and situation we encounter in even one day. We haven’t the time energy or capacity for it.”
How should professionals and consultants use social proof? The answer is testimonials with measurable results, and here are five ways to do it:
1. Interview past clients to obtain testimonial quotes you can use. Sometimes it is best to get an outside expert like a public relations professional or freelance writer to help you with this. You want to drill down to get measurable results. These include raw numbers (increased sales by $100,000), percentages (improved retention rates to 70%, which is triple the industry average) or time (accomplished more in six months than in previous three years).
2. Get permission to use the person’s whole name, title and company name. Just saying “Sally from Kalamazoo” or Bob from “Cucamonga” just doesn’t build trust.
3. Ask for testimonial letters on client letterhead that you can reprint and use in proposal packages being given to clients. The more you have to choose from the better.
4. Ask clients who are willing to be your advocate to record their testimonial stories. One way to do this easily is to hop on a free telephone bridge line and have a service like Audio Strategies record the call. This can than be used as an audio file on your Web site or turned into a low-cost audio CD that you can give potential clients.
5. Pepper your speeches, seminars and presentations with accounts of individuals who have benefited from your service. Always make the person seem likable, describe the problem in brief and give a measurable result you helped achieve. One of my clients said he helped grow businesses. This became so much stronger when he was able to say he helped grow business by as much as 500%.
With more than one quarter of a million copies sold worldwide, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD has established itself as the most important book on persuasion ever published. In this book that I highly recommend, Professor Cialdini explains why some people are remarkably persuasive.
The book explains six psychological secrets behind our powerful impulse to comply and how to skillfully use these tactics. The book is organized around these six principles of consistency, reciprocation, authority, liking, scarcity and social proof.
The principle of social proof states that one shortcut we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct. As a rule, we will make fewer mistakes by acting in accord with social evidence than contrary to it. This is why television sit-coms have canned laughter tracks and commercials use man-in-the street testimonial interviews.
The reason social proof is so persuasive is because we are all so information overloaded. Professor Cialdini says his research evidence suggests that the ever-accelerating pace and informational crush of modern life will make automated decision making more and more prevalent.
“You and I exist in an extraordinarily complicated stimulus environment, easily the most rapidly moving and complex that has ever existed on this planet,” writes Professor Cialdini. “To deal with it, we need shortcuts. We can’t be expected to recognize and analyze all the aspects in each person, event, and situation we encounter in even one day. We haven’t the time energy or capacity for it.”
How should professionals and consultants use social proof? The answer is testimonials with measurable results, and here are five ways to do it:
1. Interview past clients to obtain testimonial quotes you can use. Sometimes it is best to get an outside expert like a public relations professional or freelance writer to help you with this. You want to drill down to get measurable results. These include raw numbers (increased sales by $100,000), percentages (improved retention rates to 70%, which is triple the industry average) or time (accomplished more in six months than in previous three years).
2. Get permission to use the person’s whole name, title and company name. Just saying “Sally from Kalamazoo” or Bob from “Cucamonga” just doesn’t build trust.
3. Ask for testimonial letters on client letterhead that you can reprint and use in proposal packages being given to clients. The more you have to choose from the better.
4. Ask clients who are willing to be your advocate to record their testimonial stories. One way to do this easily is to hop on a free telephone bridge line and have a service like Audio Strategies record the call. This can than be used as an audio file on your Web site or turned into a low-cost audio CD that you can give potential clients.
5. Pepper your speeches, seminars and presentations with accounts of individuals who have benefited from your service. Always make the person seem likable, describe the problem in brief and give a measurable result you helped achieve. One of my clients said he helped grow businesses. This became so much stronger when he was able to say he helped grow business by as much as 500%.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
How To Write and Get Prospects to Read It
Can your writing grab attention like this?
A Harvard professor began his series of lectures with a sentence
that grabbed his students by the throat: "Caesar Borgia murdered his brother-in-law for the love of his sister, who was the mistress of their father, the Pope."
How to grab a reader’s attention was one of the lessons I’ve learned by reading David Ogilvy, who Time magazine called “the most sought-after wizard in the advertising business.” Ogilvy, who lived from 1911 to 1999, made it a mission to codify what works in persuasive communications.
Without the reader’s attention, all is lost. “You can’t save souls in an empty church,” is another piece of wisdom from Ogilvy, who many call “The Father of Modern Advertising.”
In his books Confessions of An Advertising Man and Ogilvy on Advertising, he demonstrated his expertise by giving away valuable information. Oglivy told readers how to solve their communications problems in general; many became clients and hired him for his specific advice.
In early 2004, Adweek magazine asked people in the business “Which individuals—alive or dead—made you consider pursuing a career in advertising?” Ogilvy topped the list. And the same result came when students of advertising were surveyed.
Ogilvy credited Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising as the book that changed his life. Ogilvy was a scientist of persuasion, and all of us who seek new clients can learn a thing or two from his experiments.
As you write articles, book chapters, blogs, speeches and seminars, here are some lessons from Ogilvy to keep in mind.
1. On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the rest of the copy.
2. The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit. Make your promise specific.
3. Headlines can also deliver news, or offer a service, or tell a significant story, or recognize a problem, or quote a satisfied customer.
4. If your service is the kind which is only bought by a small group of people, put a word in your headline which will flag them down, like CEOs, health care, or women over thirty-five.
5. Specifics work better than generalities. If you can say increase profits by 37% or can save executives a day a week, by all means do it. Use percentages, time elapsed, dollars saved.
6. Body copy is seldom read by more than 10 percent of the readers. But that 10 percent consists of prospects who are interested enough in what you do to take the trouble to read about it.
7. Winston Churchill said, “Short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”
8. If you don’t have one, get a toll free number and always include it for people to respond.
9. Close your body copy with your offer, your Web address and phone number.
10. Captions should appear under all your photographs. Twice as many people read them as read body copy. And use captions to sell. The best captions are mini-advertisements in themselves.
Ogilvy was a master at marketing with a book. His mentor was a master at marketing with a book. Take a lesson from the masters and start marketing your business with a book. If you can write an article, you can write a book. If you can’t write an article, hire someone to do it for you.
A Harvard professor began his series of lectures with a sentence
that grabbed his students by the throat: "Caesar Borgia murdered his brother-in-law for the love of his sister, who was the mistress of their father, the Pope."
How to grab a reader’s attention was one of the lessons I’ve learned by reading David Ogilvy, who Time magazine called “the most sought-after wizard in the advertising business.” Ogilvy, who lived from 1911 to 1999, made it a mission to codify what works in persuasive communications.
Without the reader’s attention, all is lost. “You can’t save souls in an empty church,” is another piece of wisdom from Ogilvy, who many call “The Father of Modern Advertising.”
In his books Confessions of An Advertising Man and Ogilvy on Advertising, he demonstrated his expertise by giving away valuable information. Oglivy told readers how to solve their communications problems in general; many became clients and hired him for his specific advice.
In early 2004, Adweek magazine asked people in the business “Which individuals—alive or dead—made you consider pursuing a career in advertising?” Ogilvy topped the list. And the same result came when students of advertising were surveyed.
Ogilvy credited Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising as the book that changed his life. Ogilvy was a scientist of persuasion, and all of us who seek new clients can learn a thing or two from his experiments.
As you write articles, book chapters, blogs, speeches and seminars, here are some lessons from Ogilvy to keep in mind.
1. On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the rest of the copy.
2. The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit. Make your promise specific.
3. Headlines can also deliver news, or offer a service, or tell a significant story, or recognize a problem, or quote a satisfied customer.
4. If your service is the kind which is only bought by a small group of people, put a word in your headline which will flag them down, like CEOs, health care, or women over thirty-five.
5. Specifics work better than generalities. If you can say increase profits by 37% or can save executives a day a week, by all means do it. Use percentages, time elapsed, dollars saved.
6. Body copy is seldom read by more than 10 percent of the readers. But that 10 percent consists of prospects who are interested enough in what you do to take the trouble to read about it.
7. Winston Churchill said, “Short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”
8. If you don’t have one, get a toll free number and always include it for people to respond.
9. Close your body copy with your offer, your Web address and phone number.
10. Captions should appear under all your photographs. Twice as many people read them as read body copy. And use captions to sell. The best captions are mini-advertisements in themselves.
Ogilvy was a master at marketing with a book. His mentor was a master at marketing with a book. Take a lesson from the masters and start marketing your business with a book. If you can write an article, you can write a book. If you can’t write an article, hire someone to do it for you.
Monday, October 19, 2009
How to turn public speaking into clients
Publishing a book leads to speaking. Even though surveys consistently show that people would rather visit their in-laws than speak in front of a group, speeches and presentations are absolutely essential to long-term success for professionals and consultants who want to increase revenues with new clients.
To turn speeches into clients, I recommend you read From Contact to Contract by Dianna Booher, CEO of Booher Consultants (a communication training firm that counts among its client list 25 of America’s 50 largest corporations and 227 of the Fortune 500). Here are just three of her valuable tips.
1. Make Subtle Mentions, Not Blatant Plugs
A conference organizer’s greatest fear is that a session will turn into a blatant sales pitch. “Your audience will protest loudly if your speech becomes a sales pitch,” advises Booher. Still, you can (and should) create subtle ways to mention your services and organization. Choose case-based anecdotes to illustrate key points that showcase your expertise. Put descriptive slogans on your handouts and other reference material. And be sure to have the person who introduces you mention your organization and establish your credibility.
2. Provide Multiple Avenues to Your Front Door
When you do land a speaking engagement, you must give prospective clients in the audience as many ways as possible to contact you afterwards. In all likelihood, Booher points out, you won’t be able to speak with each one or answer detailed questions immediately after the session. Instead, offer several methods to let them get in touch later. Put your contact information on slides, handouts, and invitations to future events. Give them a good reason to visit your Web site (offer a download of your slides or other free information). Make it easy and beneficial for the true prospects in your audience to seek you out.
3. Be Stingy With Your Business Cards
When a prospect asks you for your card after the presentation, turn the tables unexpectedly and ask for their card instead. Why? Because if you give them your card, you’re dependent on them taking the next step. Booher points out that when you have their card, you’re in control of the follow-up process. Furthermore, she says, you should avoid exchanging cards, too, because that gives a prospect reason to say “I have your contact information; if I have a need, I’ll be in touch.” What you want, of course, is the opportunity to help them understand they have the need in the first place.
To turn speeches into clients, I recommend you read From Contact to Contract by Dianna Booher, CEO of Booher Consultants (a communication training firm that counts among its client list 25 of America’s 50 largest corporations and 227 of the Fortune 500). Here are just three of her valuable tips.
1. Make Subtle Mentions, Not Blatant Plugs
A conference organizer’s greatest fear is that a session will turn into a blatant sales pitch. “Your audience will protest loudly if your speech becomes a sales pitch,” advises Booher. Still, you can (and should) create subtle ways to mention your services and organization. Choose case-based anecdotes to illustrate key points that showcase your expertise. Put descriptive slogans on your handouts and other reference material. And be sure to have the person who introduces you mention your organization and establish your credibility.
2. Provide Multiple Avenues to Your Front Door
When you do land a speaking engagement, you must give prospective clients in the audience as many ways as possible to contact you afterwards. In all likelihood, Booher points out, you won’t be able to speak with each one or answer detailed questions immediately after the session. Instead, offer several methods to let them get in touch later. Put your contact information on slides, handouts, and invitations to future events. Give them a good reason to visit your Web site (offer a download of your slides or other free information). Make it easy and beneficial for the true prospects in your audience to seek you out.
3. Be Stingy With Your Business Cards
When a prospect asks you for your card after the presentation, turn the tables unexpectedly and ask for their card instead. Why? Because if you give them your card, you’re dependent on them taking the next step. Booher points out that when you have their card, you’re in control of the follow-up process. Furthermore, she says, you should avoid exchanging cards, too, because that gives a prospect reason to say “I have your contact information; if I have a need, I’ll be in touch.” What you want, of course, is the opportunity to help them understand they have the need in the first place.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Places To Hear Henry Speak in San Diego and Miami
PRSA 2009 International Conference: Delivering Value
November 7–10, 2009 in San Diego, CA
San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina
Sponsored by Public Relations Society of America
For more information visit http://www.prsa.org/ic2009/index.html
Thrive in a challenging economy. The PRSA 2009 International Conference presents the hottest topics, including social media, crisis communications, branding and sustainability. Conference is just weeks away. Register today and secure your spot.
Learn everything you need to know in four jam-packed days of 80+ Professional Development sessions that give resourceful career strategies and real-world advice.
Network with the best and brightest—greet old friends and make new ones—when you join thousands of communications professionals in beautiful San Diego.
Henry’s November 10 workshops at the conference:
Way Beyond Research 101 — Better Engagement Through “Voice of the Stakeholder”
Henry J. DeVries, APR, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
Chris Stiehl, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
How can you truly understand another person's pains and priorities? Can you really learn how to think like a stakeholder? Learn techniques that companies like Cisco, Palm and Johnson & Johnson are employing to organize data in the way stakeholders think. Understand how to conduct a dozen in-depth interviews that will yield more actionable information than facilitating sessions with 70 to 100 focus group participants. Through case studies, learn the five key listening techniques to understand the pain of the stakeholders. Walk away with a template you can use to create guides for stakeholder interviews.
Dramatically Increase Productivity by Slaying the E-mail Monster
Henry J. DeVries, APR, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
Michael Valentine, principal, Coffman Valentine & Associates
Lynn Coffman, principal, Coffman Valentine & Associates
This is not your father's time management. Based on programs taught to executives at the University of Toyota, attendees will learn how to eliminate up to eight hours of wasted effort each week. Take away a checklist of steps for handling e-mails, task lists, appointments and contacts. Learn the four things to do when an e-mail arrives, and how to invest 30 minutes in configuring and utilizing Microsoft Outlook (and other programs) to better support your work.
Effective Seminar/Conference Marketing
January 11-12, 2010
Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront
in Miami Beach, Forida
Sponsored by Clemson University
For more information visit http://www.clemson.edu/esm/
Learn tricks of the trade used by some of the biggest players in the seminar promotion business ¬ straight from the man who mentored them himself…
Ralph Elliott of Clemson University presents: “How to Promote Any Seminar or Event for Maximum Payback”
Putting on a successful seminar or event isn’t easy. There’s a ton of details to consider… countless bases to cover… changing budgets to deal with. And a big bottom line to shoot for.
Even the smallest misfire can spell trouble in lost registrants, unhappy attendees or unexpected expenditures.
Your organization's reputation is on the line,¬ maybe even your own job.
But you already know that. What you might not know is this:
There are scores of little-known ways to simplify everything involved in promoting any event. Proven tricks-of-the-trade that come only from years of experience, lots of smart testing, hard-won victories and even embarrassing defeats.
As with just about any endeavor simplicity breeds success ¬ in happy customers, repeat business and bigger profits.
Plan now to learn what those insider tricks are from a recognized expert and educator who will clue you in on everything from smart, efficient execution of direct marketing fundamentals to sophisticated selling strategies.
Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran at filling seats at any event ¬ large or small, niche topic or general interest, high-ticket or low ¬ you’ll come away from a Ralph Elliott presentation with new and effective ways to pack the house and show a healthy profit.
Sound interesting? You bet. Sound easy? It is not; this is 12 hours of focused training with practical examples, shared experiences, and networking ideas.
Come ready to roll up your sleeves for two high pay-back days learning the ins and outs of promoting your next seminar, workshop, or full-blown conference. You will take away the savvy and support you need to…
• Tweak existing promotion models to crack that elusive break-even bar
• Start off at break-even if you are new to the seminar/conference promotion business
• Tailor your message and image to fit your audience, whether your offering costs thousands or $100 or less.
Or scrap your shop-worn promotion model altogether and leave with a brand new plan that has a fresh look and feel - more compelling benefits, a reposition pitch with a sweeter offer, a rock- solid guarantee, and an incredibly simple sign-up process.
Call Ralph Elliott at 864.710.2815 if you have any questions or e mail elliot@clemson.edu (notice one “t” in the e mail address).
Plan now to get the "ahas" you need to lower cost and raise your ROI, crank up your "buzz," simplify sign-up, repackage your benefits of attending so that people nearly beak down your door to register! Get the how to techniques and tactics to send event registrations through the roof.
About Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries is the marketing with a book expert. Along with his best-selling books -- Self-Marketing Secrets, Client Seduction and Pain Killer Marketing -- the buzz building tools of Henry DeVries have been used to dramatically increase marketing results and leverage budgets for more than a decade. In addition to his own writing, he has helped dozens of clients become authors through mentoring or by ghost writing the books for them.
Henry speaks to thousands of executives each year, teaching them new ways to maximize revenues and increase lead generation results through marketing with a book. Henry is also the Career and Workplace Editor for the San Diego News Network (www.sdnn.com) and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute (www.newclientmarketing.com), a research and training firm that focuses on the latest trends in lead generation for professionals, consultants, and entrepreneurs.
In the past two years he as helped the continuing education arm of UC San Diego grow enrollments in certificate programs by 50%. He is responsible for public relations for 4,600 classes that annually attract 54,000 enrollees and revenue of $35 million. Formerly president of an Ad Age 500 advertising and public relations agency, he teaches public relations and is assistant dean for external affairs at UC San Diego Extension (www.extension.ucsd.edu).
November 7–10, 2009 in San Diego, CA
San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina
Sponsored by Public Relations Society of America
For more information visit http://www.prsa.org/ic2009/index.html
Thrive in a challenging economy. The PRSA 2009 International Conference presents the hottest topics, including social media, crisis communications, branding and sustainability. Conference is just weeks away. Register today and secure your spot.
Learn everything you need to know in four jam-packed days of 80+ Professional Development sessions that give resourceful career strategies and real-world advice.
Network with the best and brightest—greet old friends and make new ones—when you join thousands of communications professionals in beautiful San Diego.
Henry’s November 10 workshops at the conference:
Way Beyond Research 101 — Better Engagement Through “Voice of the Stakeholder”
Henry J. DeVries, APR, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
Chris Stiehl, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
How can you truly understand another person's pains and priorities? Can you really learn how to think like a stakeholder? Learn techniques that companies like Cisco, Palm and Johnson & Johnson are employing to organize data in the way stakeholders think. Understand how to conduct a dozen in-depth interviews that will yield more actionable information than facilitating sessions with 70 to 100 focus group participants. Through case studies, learn the five key listening techniques to understand the pain of the stakeholders. Walk away with a template you can use to create guides for stakeholder interviews.
Dramatically Increase Productivity by Slaying the E-mail Monster
Henry J. DeVries, APR, marketing faculty, UC San Diego Extension
Michael Valentine, principal, Coffman Valentine & Associates
Lynn Coffman, principal, Coffman Valentine & Associates
This is not your father's time management. Based on programs taught to executives at the University of Toyota, attendees will learn how to eliminate up to eight hours of wasted effort each week. Take away a checklist of steps for handling e-mails, task lists, appointments and contacts. Learn the four things to do when an e-mail arrives, and how to invest 30 minutes in configuring and utilizing Microsoft Outlook (and other programs) to better support your work.
Effective Seminar/Conference Marketing
January 11-12, 2010
Courtyard Miami Beach Oceanfront
in Miami Beach, Forida
Sponsored by Clemson University
For more information visit http://www.clemson.edu/esm/
Learn tricks of the trade used by some of the biggest players in the seminar promotion business ¬ straight from the man who mentored them himself…
Ralph Elliott of Clemson University presents: “How to Promote Any Seminar or Event for Maximum Payback”
Putting on a successful seminar or event isn’t easy. There’s a ton of details to consider… countless bases to cover… changing budgets to deal with. And a big bottom line to shoot for.
Even the smallest misfire can spell trouble in lost registrants, unhappy attendees or unexpected expenditures.
Your organization's reputation is on the line,¬ maybe even your own job.
But you already know that. What you might not know is this:
There are scores of little-known ways to simplify everything involved in promoting any event. Proven tricks-of-the-trade that come only from years of experience, lots of smart testing, hard-won victories and even embarrassing defeats.
As with just about any endeavor simplicity breeds success ¬ in happy customers, repeat business and bigger profits.
Plan now to learn what those insider tricks are from a recognized expert and educator who will clue you in on everything from smart, efficient execution of direct marketing fundamentals to sophisticated selling strategies.
Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran at filling seats at any event ¬ large or small, niche topic or general interest, high-ticket or low ¬ you’ll come away from a Ralph Elliott presentation with new and effective ways to pack the house and show a healthy profit.
Sound interesting? You bet. Sound easy? It is not; this is 12 hours of focused training with practical examples, shared experiences, and networking ideas.
Come ready to roll up your sleeves for two high pay-back days learning the ins and outs of promoting your next seminar, workshop, or full-blown conference. You will take away the savvy and support you need to…
• Tweak existing promotion models to crack that elusive break-even bar
• Start off at break-even if you are new to the seminar/conference promotion business
• Tailor your message and image to fit your audience, whether your offering costs thousands or $100 or less.
Or scrap your shop-worn promotion model altogether and leave with a brand new plan that has a fresh look and feel - more compelling benefits, a reposition pitch with a sweeter offer, a rock- solid guarantee, and an incredibly simple sign-up process.
Call Ralph Elliott at 864.710.2815 if you have any questions or e mail elliot@clemson.edu (notice one “t” in the e mail address).
Plan now to get the "ahas" you need to lower cost and raise your ROI, crank up your "buzz," simplify sign-up, repackage your benefits of attending so that people nearly beak down your door to register! Get the how to techniques and tactics to send event registrations through the roof.
About Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries is the marketing with a book expert. Along with his best-selling books -- Self-Marketing Secrets, Client Seduction and Pain Killer Marketing -- the buzz building tools of Henry DeVries have been used to dramatically increase marketing results and leverage budgets for more than a decade. In addition to his own writing, he has helped dozens of clients become authors through mentoring or by ghost writing the books for them.
Henry speaks to thousands of executives each year, teaching them new ways to maximize revenues and increase lead generation results through marketing with a book. Henry is also the Career and Workplace Editor for the San Diego News Network (www.sdnn.com) and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute (www.newclientmarketing.com), a research and training firm that focuses on the latest trends in lead generation for professionals, consultants, and entrepreneurs.
In the past two years he as helped the continuing education arm of UC San Diego grow enrollments in certificate programs by 50%. He is responsible for public relations for 4,600 classes that annually attract 54,000 enrollees and revenue of $35 million. Formerly president of an Ad Age 500 advertising and public relations agency, he teaches public relations and is assistant dean for external affairs at UC San Diego Extension (www.extension.ucsd.edu).
12 Streams of Revenue for Professionals and Consultants
Do you realize how much you can make if you decided to get serious about growing your practice?
Do you have a burning desire to grow your practice while making a six-figure income and having fun doing it?
Do you want to develop multiple streams of income that can create passive income and an incredible cash flow?
Do you want more visibility and promotion to achieve that financial reward that so many other professionals and consultants have achieved?
The first challenge for professionals and consultants is creating new clients. There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting a 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by selling valuable information through writing and speaking. In a matter of months you can have a system that positions you as an easily recognized and respected expert. This will most likely require two days of your time per week and very little of your cash.
This is not for everyone. Only professionals and consultants who want a six-figure income should consider this. In my articles and lectures about how to dramatically increase revenues, these are the 12 streams I concentrate on. How many are you using and which should you be adding?
1. Long-term retainers (easy to know about, tricky to get clients to agree to)
2. Increased hourly fees (you probably are undervaluing your services)
3. Traditionally published books (great for lead conversion, limited revenue)
4. Self published books (you can be a published author in 90 days)
5. Audio books (you can have these recorded for under $100)
6. Profit-participation (what could you logically and ethically recommend?)
7. Electronic books (you can be an e-book author in 30 days)
8. Industry specific training workshops (how to grow rich in your niche)
9. Teleseminars (telephone seminars you charge for)
10. Webinars (online seminars you charge for)
11. Keynote speaking presentations (how to graduate from the $1,000 to $2,500 range to the $10,000 to $15,000 range)
12. Membership Web site access (info so valuable clients pay a fee to see it)
What is it that you hate about marketing? You can fill your practice with desirable clients, without expensive brochures and humiliating cold calls.
If you are like many independent professionals and consultants, trying to find new clients can be frustrating. Maybe you are struggling with your marketing message. Or maybe referrals aren’t paying off like they used to. Maybe you are concerned about wasting time and money on unproductive efforts. If marketing seems like a lot of hard work with little or sporadic payoffs, you are not alone.
How would you like to attract more clients than you can possibly handle, without breaking the bank? The good news is the American Dream of creating a professional service or consulting business that provides a high six figure income is alive and doing well. That is, if you take the time to get the knowledge how to do it. Best of all, these techniques require a minimal investment.
Face facts. Other successful professionals and consultants have found the way. How can you model their success? To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. In addition, you can increase closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients.
Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
1. Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or consultant and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
2. Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site and how-to handouts)
3. Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
4. Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
5. Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)
Here’s how to determine if this is a good fit for you. Do you specialize in performing professional, scientific, and technical activities for others? If you are like most of our clients, your activities require a high degree of expertise and training. Do you provide any of the following? Legal advice and representation; accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll services; architectural, engineering, and specialized design services; IT and computer services; consulting and mentoring services; research services; public relations and advertising services; HR and recruiting services; translation and interpretation services; and other professional, scientific, and technical services.
If you fit this profile and have struggled with marketing, it is no wonder. Maybe you tried to emulate the marketing of big companies, a common problem for professionals and consultants. According to one Harvard Business School researcher, typical marketing not only doesn’t work for professionals and consultants it is actually harmful. Instead become an educator and attract all the clients you need.
Do you have a burning desire to grow your practice while making a six-figure income and having fun doing it?
Do you want to develop multiple streams of income that can create passive income and an incredible cash flow?
Do you want more visibility and promotion to achieve that financial reward that so many other professionals and consultants have achieved?
The first challenge for professionals and consultants is creating new clients. There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting a 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by selling valuable information through writing and speaking. In a matter of months you can have a system that positions you as an easily recognized and respected expert. This will most likely require two days of your time per week and very little of your cash.
This is not for everyone. Only professionals and consultants who want a six-figure income should consider this. In my articles and lectures about how to dramatically increase revenues, these are the 12 streams I concentrate on. How many are you using and which should you be adding?
1. Long-term retainers (easy to know about, tricky to get clients to agree to)
2. Increased hourly fees (you probably are undervaluing your services)
3. Traditionally published books (great for lead conversion, limited revenue)
4. Self published books (you can be a published author in 90 days)
5. Audio books (you can have these recorded for under $100)
6. Profit-participation (what could you logically and ethically recommend?)
7. Electronic books (you can be an e-book author in 30 days)
8. Industry specific training workshops (how to grow rich in your niche)
9. Teleseminars (telephone seminars you charge for)
10. Webinars (online seminars you charge for)
11. Keynote speaking presentations (how to graduate from the $1,000 to $2,500 range to the $10,000 to $15,000 range)
12. Membership Web site access (info so valuable clients pay a fee to see it)
What is it that you hate about marketing? You can fill your practice with desirable clients, without expensive brochures and humiliating cold calls.
If you are like many independent professionals and consultants, trying to find new clients can be frustrating. Maybe you are struggling with your marketing message. Or maybe referrals aren’t paying off like they used to. Maybe you are concerned about wasting time and money on unproductive efforts. If marketing seems like a lot of hard work with little or sporadic payoffs, you are not alone.
How would you like to attract more clients than you can possibly handle, without breaking the bank? The good news is the American Dream of creating a professional service or consulting business that provides a high six figure income is alive and doing well. That is, if you take the time to get the knowledge how to do it. Best of all, these techniques require a minimal investment.
Face facts. Other successful professionals and consultants have found the way. How can you model their success? To attract new clients, the best approach is the Educating Expert Model that demonstrates your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. In addition, you can increase closing rates up to 50% to 100% by discovering and rehearsing the right questions to ask prospective clients.
Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
1. Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or consultant and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
2. Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site and how-to handouts)
3. Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
4. Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
5. Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)
Here’s how to determine if this is a good fit for you. Do you specialize in performing professional, scientific, and technical activities for others? If you are like most of our clients, your activities require a high degree of expertise and training. Do you provide any of the following? Legal advice and representation; accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll services; architectural, engineering, and specialized design services; IT and computer services; consulting and mentoring services; research services; public relations and advertising services; HR and recruiting services; translation and interpretation services; and other professional, scientific, and technical services.
If you fit this profile and have struggled with marketing, it is no wonder. Maybe you tried to emulate the marketing of big companies, a common problem for professionals and consultants. According to one Harvard Business School researcher, typical marketing not only doesn’t work for professionals and consultants it is actually harmful. Instead become an educator and attract all the clients you need.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Marketing With A Book Success Stories
The best marketing investment you can make is to get help creating informative Web sites, hosting persuasive seminars, booking speaking engagements, and getting published as a newsletter columnist and eventually book author.
Rather than creating a brochure, start by writing how-to articles. Those articles turn into speeches and seminars. Eventually, you gather the articles and publish a book through a strategy called print on demand self publishing (we’ve done it under 90 days and for less than a $1,000 for clients). Does it work? Here are a list of business best-seller titles by professionals and consultants that started out self-published (Source: Southwest Airlines Spirit, March 2005):
The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: picked up by William Morrow & Co. and has sold more than 12 million copies
In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters (of McKinsey & Co.): in its first year, sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers—then Warner sold 10 million more.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Weiss Roberts: sold half a million copies before being picked up by Warner.
Wouldn’t it be better if someone helped you who knows the tricks and shortcuts?
Rather than creating a brochure, start by writing how-to articles. Those articles turn into speeches and seminars. Eventually, you gather the articles and publish a book through a strategy called print on demand self publishing (we’ve done it under 90 days and for less than a $1,000 for clients). Does it work? Here are a list of business best-seller titles by professionals and consultants that started out self-published (Source: Southwest Airlines Spirit, March 2005):
The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: picked up by William Morrow & Co. and has sold more than 12 million copies
In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters (of McKinsey & Co.): in its first year, sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers—then Warner sold 10 million more.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Weiss Roberts: sold half a million copies before being picked up by Warner.
Wouldn’t it be better if someone helped you who knows the tricks and shortcuts?
Marketing With A Book Summit
Marketing With A Book™ Summit
www.newclientmarketing.com
How to Dramatically Increase Revenue, Gain Credibility and Attract Clients by Publishing A Book With Built-In Marketing
February 20-21, 2010
Location: La Jolla Shores Hotel, San Diego ($119 room rate for this beachfront hotel) www.ljshoreshotel.com
Saturday 8 am to 5 pm
Sunday 8:30 am to 1 pm
Price: $1,000 (but early bird discount of $495 until Dec. 31, 2009)
Headliners:
• Arthur Chou, president of WBusiness Books
• Mark LeBlanc, past president of National Speakers Association and author of the book “Growing Your Business”
Speakers:
• Will Marre, co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center where he translated the concepts of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into powerful leadership courses taught to over one million executives world wide
• Holly Berkley, author of "Marketing in the New Media" and "Low Budget Online Marketing for Small Business"
• Liz Goodgold, author of “Red Fire Branding”
Panelists:
• Chris Stiehl, author of “Pain Killer Marketing”
• Chris Witt, author of “Real Leaders Don’t Use PowerPoint”
• Rhonda Sher, author of “The Two-Minute Networker”
• Jeremy Duimstra, Web marketing and search engine optimization expert
Host:
• Henry DeVries, founder of New Client Marketing Institute, author of “Self-Marketing Secrets” and “Client Seduction”, marketing faculty and assistant dean of UC San Diego continuing education
Who should attend: You’ll benefit the most by attending this program if you are a…
• Management consultant
• Professional service firm
• Executive coach
• Professional speaker
• PR person responsible for consultant and professional service firm marketing
Spots Are Limited
We are only selling 27 seats to this conference and 10 were already taken before we could even launch the Web site. We want this to be a small group so there can be interaction, feedback and a chance for one-on-one time with the presenters. After all spots are sold we will be putting interested people on a waiting list.
Day 1
8 to 8:45 am Hosted networking breakfast
8:45 to 10:15 am Henry DeVries
“Top 17 Ways to Market With A Book”
Being educational is great, but being persuasive is better. At the conference you will learn strategies and tactics for promoting your business with writing and speaking, including:
• Why you must never write a book without built-in marketing
• Picking topics and titles that attract audiences like magnets
• Tips and tools for getting a marketing ROI of 400% to 2000%
• How to fill your pipeline with qualified prospects in 30 days
• Presentation elements that pre-sell prospects
• How to be a perfect audience bloodhound
• Special strategies for professionals, consultants and coaches
• Seven deadly sins of publishing and speaking and how not to fall prey
• The easiest way to get in front of potential customers
• When to speak for free and when to speak for a fee
• Ideas that don’t cost you a penny yet really get attention
• How to stand out from other authors and speakers
• Creative testimonials in books and speeches that build credibility
• Three ways to turn customer pain into marketing gain
• The quickest sure-fire way to alienate your audience (don’t make this mistake, many of us learned the hard way)
• How to offer freebies that build your list of business leads
• Ways to stay in touch with prospects so you stay on their radar screens
• Books and speeches that create thousands of dollars in publicity
Hosted by Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries is the marketing with a book expert. Along with his best-selling books -- Self-Marketing Secrets, Client Seduction and Pain Killer Marketing -- the buzz building tools of Henry DeVries have been used to dramatically increase marketing results and leverage budgets for more than a decade. In addition to his own writing, he has helped dozens of clients become authors through mentoring or by ghost writing the books for them.
Henry speaks to thousands of executives each year, teaching them new ways to maximize revenues and increase lead generation results through marketing with a book. Henry is also the Career and Workplace Editor for the San Diego News Network and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute, a research and training firm that focuses on the latest trends in lead generation.
In the past two years he as helped the continuing education arm of UC San Diego grow enrollments in certificate programs by 50%. He is responsible for public relations for 4,600 classes that annually attract 54,000 enrollees and revenue of $35 million. Formerly president of an Ad Age 500 advertising and public relations agency, he teaches public relations and is assistant dean for external affairs at UC San Diego Extension.
www.newclientmarketing.com
How to Dramatically Increase Revenue, Gain Credibility and Attract Clients by Publishing A Book With Built-In Marketing
February 20-21, 2010
Location: La Jolla Shores Hotel, San Diego ($119 room rate for this beachfront hotel) www.ljshoreshotel.com
Saturday 8 am to 5 pm
Sunday 8:30 am to 1 pm
Price: $1,000 (but early bird discount of $495 until Dec. 31, 2009)
Headliners:
• Arthur Chou, president of WBusiness Books
• Mark LeBlanc, past president of National Speakers Association and author of the book “Growing Your Business”
Speakers:
• Will Marre, co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center where he translated the concepts of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into powerful leadership courses taught to over one million executives world wide
• Holly Berkley, author of "Marketing in the New Media" and "Low Budget Online Marketing for Small Business"
• Liz Goodgold, author of “Red Fire Branding”
Panelists:
• Chris Stiehl, author of “Pain Killer Marketing”
• Chris Witt, author of “Real Leaders Don’t Use PowerPoint”
• Rhonda Sher, author of “The Two-Minute Networker”
• Jeremy Duimstra, Web marketing and search engine optimization expert
Host:
• Henry DeVries, founder of New Client Marketing Institute, author of “Self-Marketing Secrets” and “Client Seduction”, marketing faculty and assistant dean of UC San Diego continuing education
Who should attend: You’ll benefit the most by attending this program if you are a…
• Management consultant
• Professional service firm
• Executive coach
• Professional speaker
• PR person responsible for consultant and professional service firm marketing
Spots Are Limited
We are only selling 27 seats to this conference and 10 were already taken before we could even launch the Web site. We want this to be a small group so there can be interaction, feedback and a chance for one-on-one time with the presenters. After all spots are sold we will be putting interested people on a waiting list.
Day 1
8 to 8:45 am Hosted networking breakfast
8:45 to 10:15 am Henry DeVries
“Top 17 Ways to Market With A Book”
Being educational is great, but being persuasive is better. At the conference you will learn strategies and tactics for promoting your business with writing and speaking, including:
• Why you must never write a book without built-in marketing
• Picking topics and titles that attract audiences like magnets
• Tips and tools for getting a marketing ROI of 400% to 2000%
• How to fill your pipeline with qualified prospects in 30 days
• Presentation elements that pre-sell prospects
• How to be a perfect audience bloodhound
• Special strategies for professionals, consultants and coaches
• Seven deadly sins of publishing and speaking and how not to fall prey
• The easiest way to get in front of potential customers
• When to speak for free and when to speak for a fee
• Ideas that don’t cost you a penny yet really get attention
• How to stand out from other authors and speakers
• Creative testimonials in books and speeches that build credibility
• Three ways to turn customer pain into marketing gain
• The quickest sure-fire way to alienate your audience (don’t make this mistake, many of us learned the hard way)
• How to offer freebies that build your list of business leads
• Ways to stay in touch with prospects so you stay on their radar screens
• Books and speeches that create thousands of dollars in publicity
Hosted by Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries is the marketing with a book expert. Along with his best-selling books -- Self-Marketing Secrets, Client Seduction and Pain Killer Marketing -- the buzz building tools of Henry DeVries have been used to dramatically increase marketing results and leverage budgets for more than a decade. In addition to his own writing, he has helped dozens of clients become authors through mentoring or by ghost writing the books for them.
Henry speaks to thousands of executives each year, teaching them new ways to maximize revenues and increase lead generation results through marketing with a book. Henry is also the Career and Workplace Editor for the San Diego News Network and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute, a research and training firm that focuses on the latest trends in lead generation.
In the past two years he as helped the continuing education arm of UC San Diego grow enrollments in certificate programs by 50%. He is responsible for public relations for 4,600 classes that annually attract 54,000 enrollees and revenue of $35 million. Formerly president of an Ad Age 500 advertising and public relations agency, he teaches public relations and is assistant dean for external affairs at UC San Diego Extension.
Finding New Clients By Publishing A Book
The number one challenge for professionals, consultants, coaches, speakers and entrepreneurs is creating new clients. However, many of these same people feel marketing is too time consuming, expensive or undignified. Even if they try a marketing or business development program, most are frustrated by a lack of results. They even worry if marketing would ever work for them. And no wonder. According to a researcher from the Harvard Business School, the typical sales and marketing hype that works for retailers and manufacturers is not only a waste of time and money for these type of people, it actually makes them less attractive to prospective clients (Maister, 1992, Managing the Professional Service Firm).
However, research has proven there is a better way. There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting an up to 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. At the New Client Marketing Institute we call it the Educating Expert Model, and the most successful professional service and consulting firms use it to get more clients than they can handle. The findings of our 8-year, $2 million research study about how the most successful professional and consulting firms use this model were published in our book, Client Seduction.
The foundation is marketing with a book. But not just any book. A book that was designed with marketing in the first place.
To attract new clients, the best approach is to demonstrate your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. Research shows independent professionals, management and technical consultants, corporate trainers, executive or personal coaches, marketing and creative firms, and HR and recruiting consultants can fill a pipeline with qualified prospects in as little as 30 days by offering advice to prospects on how to overcome their most pressing problems (DeVries and Bryson, 2005, Client Seduction).
Unfortunately, many who learn this truth find the idea of writing and speaking too daunting and even mysterious. Most feel this is only for a select few, but that is a miscalculated view. In the beginning, it is not unusual to wonder how these other professionals and consultants get in front of audiences and get their how-to advice in print.
The good news is there exists a body of knowledge that some have discovered to grow their professional and consulting practices. As an example, management consulting firms like McKinsey & Co. pioneered the approach and have it down to a science (Bartlett, June 1996, “McKinsey & Co., Harvard Business Review). This is a growing trend. In 1991 a random survey of the top 1,000 U.S. law firms found that 89 percent held at least one client seminar per year. In 1999, 94 percent of law firms were regularly holding seminars. Lawyers at the top 1,000 firms ranked seminars as the most effective tool for cross-selling and gaining new clients (Source: FGI Research, 1999).
What should you do to increase revenues? First, understand that generating leads is an investment and should be measured like any other investment. Next, quit wasting money on ineffective means like brochures, advertising and sponsorships. The best marketing investment you can make is to get help creating informative Web sites, hosting persuasive seminars, booking speaking engagements, and getting published as a newsletter columnist and eventually book author.
Rather than creating a brochure, start by writing how-to articles. Those articles turn into speeches and seminars. Eventually, you gather the articles and publish a book through a strategy called print on demand self publishing (we’ve done it under 90 days and for less than a $1,000 for clients). Does it work? Here are a list of business best-seller titles by professionals and consultants that started out self-published (Source: Southwest Airlines Spirit, March 2005):
The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: picked up by William Morrow & Co.
In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters (of McKinsey & Co.): in its first year, sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers—then Warner sold 10 million more.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Weiss Roberts: sold half a million copies before being picked up by Warner.
Understanding the psychology of clients also provides critical evidence of the validity of the get published approach. Professional services and consulting are what economists sometimes call “credence” goods, in that purchasers must place great faith in those who sell the services (Bloom, October 1984, “ Effective Marketing for Professional Services,” Harvard Business Review). What does the research say about client choice, satisfaction and dissatisfaction of professionals and consultants? Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
1. Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or consultant and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
2. Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site, book and how-to handouts)
3. Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
4. Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
5. Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)
Even if you believe in the Educating Expert Model, how do you find time to do it and still get client and admin work done? No professional or consultant ever believes they have too much time on their hands. Nothing worth happening in business ever just happens. The answer is to buy out the time for marketing. You need to be involved, but you should not do this all on your own. Trial and error is too expensive of a learning method. Wouldn’t it be better if someone helped you who knows the tricks and shortcuts? We can show you how to leverage your time and get others to do most of the work for you, even if you are a solo practitioner.
However, research has proven there is a better way. There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting an up to 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. At the New Client Marketing Institute we call it the Educating Expert Model, and the most successful professional service and consulting firms use it to get more clients than they can handle. The findings of our 8-year, $2 million research study about how the most successful professional and consulting firms use this model were published in our book, Client Seduction.
The foundation is marketing with a book. But not just any book. A book that was designed with marketing in the first place.
To attract new clients, the best approach is to demonstrate your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. Research shows independent professionals, management and technical consultants, corporate trainers, executive or personal coaches, marketing and creative firms, and HR and recruiting consultants can fill a pipeline with qualified prospects in as little as 30 days by offering advice to prospects on how to overcome their most pressing problems (DeVries and Bryson, 2005, Client Seduction).
Unfortunately, many who learn this truth find the idea of writing and speaking too daunting and even mysterious. Most feel this is only for a select few, but that is a miscalculated view. In the beginning, it is not unusual to wonder how these other professionals and consultants get in front of audiences and get their how-to advice in print.
The good news is there exists a body of knowledge that some have discovered to grow their professional and consulting practices. As an example, management consulting firms like McKinsey & Co. pioneered the approach and have it down to a science (Bartlett, June 1996, “McKinsey & Co., Harvard Business Review). This is a growing trend. In 1991 a random survey of the top 1,000 U.S. law firms found that 89 percent held at least one client seminar per year. In 1999, 94 percent of law firms were regularly holding seminars. Lawyers at the top 1,000 firms ranked seminars as the most effective tool for cross-selling and gaining new clients (Source: FGI Research, 1999).
What should you do to increase revenues? First, understand that generating leads is an investment and should be measured like any other investment. Next, quit wasting money on ineffective means like brochures, advertising and sponsorships. The best marketing investment you can make is to get help creating informative Web sites, hosting persuasive seminars, booking speaking engagements, and getting published as a newsletter columnist and eventually book author.
Rather than creating a brochure, start by writing how-to articles. Those articles turn into speeches and seminars. Eventually, you gather the articles and publish a book through a strategy called print on demand self publishing (we’ve done it under 90 days and for less than a $1,000 for clients). Does it work? Here are a list of business best-seller titles by professionals and consultants that started out self-published (Source: Southwest Airlines Spirit, March 2005):
The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: picked up by William Morrow & Co.
In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters (of McKinsey & Co.): in its first year, sold more than 25,000 copies directly to consumers—then Warner sold 10 million more.
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, by Weiss Roberts: sold half a million copies before being picked up by Warner.
Understanding the psychology of clients also provides critical evidence of the validity of the get published approach. Professional services and consulting are what economists sometimes call “credence” goods, in that purchasers must place great faith in those who sell the services (Bloom, October 1984, “ Effective Marketing for Professional Services,” Harvard Business Review). What does the research say about client choice, satisfaction and dissatisfaction of professionals and consultants? Here are the five ways prospects judge you (Aaker, 1995, Strategic Market Management) and my views of how the Educating Expert Model is the perfect fit:
1. Competence. Knowledge and skill of the professional or consultant and their ability to convey trust and confidence (you demonstrate and prove your expert knowledge by speaking and writing)
2. Tangibles. Appearance of physical facilities, communication materials, equipment and personnel (you do this by the appearance of your Web site, book and how-to handouts)
3. Empathy. Caring, individualized attention that a firm provides its clients (educating people to solve problems before they hire you proves you care)
4. Responsiveness. Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (when you promise to give people things like special reports and white papers, do it promptly)
5. Reliability. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (prospective clients will judge you on how organized your seminars, speeches and Web site are)
Even if you believe in the Educating Expert Model, how do you find time to do it and still get client and admin work done? No professional or consultant ever believes they have too much time on their hands. Nothing worth happening in business ever just happens. The answer is to buy out the time for marketing. You need to be involved, but you should not do this all on your own. Trial and error is too expensive of a learning method. Wouldn’t it be better if someone helped you who knows the tricks and shortcuts? We can show you how to leverage your time and get others to do most of the work for you, even if you are a solo practitioner.
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