Return to Archive More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter for Independent Professionals from Action Plan Marketing and Robert Middleton In This Week's Issue: To get your marketing working for you, you need to turn marketing into a game.   Making Marketing a Game Our story so far... For seven issues of More Clients I'll be outlining the most important marketing principles for Independent Professionals - principles which, if mastered, will help you attract clients with a lot more success. The format is a dialog between an Independent Professional (IP) and a Marketing Coach (MC). Last week we explored the Most Important Marketing Spirit. For past issues in this series go to: http://www.actionplan.com/mc/MoreClients.html   MC - Last week I left you with the question, "What do I have to give to my clients?" What did you come up with. IP - At first I couldn't come up with much. I made a list of the many skills that I use in my practice. But none of these was very unique. I consult, I coach, I train. But so do a zillion other people. So I decided to ask a few of my clients, and what I heard surprised me. None of them even mentioned my basic skills. Instead they talked about my energy and enthusiasm, my commitment and my passion to make a difference with them. MC - Yes, that's what I was looking for. What did you realize? IP - Well, I saw that I brought all this positive energy to what I did but hardly any of it to marketing myself and my services. You were right, the first marketing principle is missing - the spirit of play. I do my marketing with zero energy or enthusiasm. MC - A good thing to realize, because this week we're going to talk about the Most Important Marketing Strategy - making marketing a game. One of the big reasons you and many others struggle with marketing is that you don't see it as a game. You don't know the rules, how to play and how to win. It's no wonder you get lousy results. I know you're familiar with baseball. Can you tell me the four main things a baseball player does when he plays the game? IP - Let's see, he throws the ball, catches the ball, hits the ball and runs. That's about it. MC - Great, and if you take 18 players and put them out on a field and have them throw, catch, hit and run, do you have a game of baseball? IP - No, it would be chaos. People would be doing all of those things randomly - but there wouldn't be a game. MC - Exactly. No rules, no structure, no strategy and you don't have a game. But if you think, isn't that the way a lot of businesses market themselves? They do a bunch of marketing activities without any rules, structure or strategy. Is it any wonder that you don't get consistent results from your marketing? But can you imagine what might happen if you realized marketing was a game that had specific rules, structure and strategy that you could follow to win? IP - Yeah, I'd probably have a better chance of winning and attracting more clients. So how exactly does this game work? MC - Well, my name for this game is Marketing Ball. Just like baseball you go around the bases until you score a run - or win a new client. Let me give you the basic rules. You start at home plate. To stand there you'd first better have a good idea of the target market you're selling it to, the service you're selling, and the difference this service makes. The game starts anytime you communicate to your prospects about your business. This could be done verbally, in writing, on the web, through a presentation, etc. Your first job is to get to first base. You know you're on first base if you simply have the attention and interest of your prospect - they want to know more. Your next job is to get to second base. You know you're on second base when your prospect is ready to explore working with you. They are beyond interest. They really want to know how you can help them. Next you need to get to third base. You know you're on third base when your prospect is ready to buy. They are convinced your services will help them solve their problem and give them the results they're looking for. Finally, you need to score a run by getting to home base. You know you're on home base when the prospect not only wants to work with you, but you've got a signed proposal and a check in hand. You're ready to start working with your new client. IP - I love the baseball metaphor. It makes a lot of sense to me. But there's one thing you haven't told me... MC - What you need to do to get onto the bases? IP - Exactly. In baseball you hit the ball and run. How do you move around the bases? If I knew that I really think I could make this a game I could win. MC - Yes, you could! So let me give you a snapshot of what you need to get around the bases. And as we continue to meet, I'll explain in much more detail exactly what you need to do to win the game of Marketing Ball. To get onto first base you need to generate attention and interest from your prospect. To get onto second base you need to satisfy the prospect's need for information and build trust and credibility. To get onto third base you must understand the real needs of the prospect and present a solution that will meet those needs. To get to home you simply need to come to agreement on the terms of your service, including pricing. IP - You make it sound so easy! But by breaking it down into these four steps it sounds approachable, something I could do and, as you say, make a game out of it. So where do I start? MC - You first need to understand how to get prospects onto first base. That's the foundation of everything that follows. And since gaining attention and interest is the key to getting prospects onto first base, the question is, what are you currently saying to get that attention and interest? IP - Well up to this point when people ask me what I do, I tell them I provide consulting, coaching and training for companies and that I use many different, innovative approaches that are proven to work to enhance teamwork, productivity and leadership effectiveness. MC - And people jump up and down with excitement when you tell them this? IP - Hardly! It just doesn't go anywhere. I'm excited about what I do and the tools I use to get great results, but if someone hasn't heard about me first or I haven't been referred by a satisfied client, I can talk and talk but nothing happens. MC - So first we need to determine what does get attention and interest. Let me give you the formula first and then I have an assignment for you to test it in the real world. What best gets a prospect's attention and interest is when they hear you have a solution to a problem that they can directly relate to. It needs to be very immediate and real. What you're doing instead is talking about your service and your process. It's just too indirect. It's too hard to translate what this means for their specific situation. There's no answer to the question every prospect has, "What's in it for me?" Tell me, who are your ideal clients? IP - My ideal clients? Well I've worked with a lot of different kinds of companies but I'd say my biggest opportunity is with growing software development firms. MC - And what's the biggest problem they're experiencing that you can help them with? IP - They are wasting, time money and resources because they are not working as a team and their leadership is lacking. MC - OK that will work. It's a good start. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you what I call an Audio Logo. It's an attention-getting statement that you use when someone asks you what you do. And then I want you to get out and talk to people in your target market and use your Audio Logo and see what happens. Here's the formula that I want you to work with and fine-tune as you use it with people. When asked what you do, you say the kind of company you work with followed by the main problem they are experiencing. So it might go something like this: "I work with growing software companies who are frustrated that, despite having great products and talented people, they are not generating the kind of results they know are possible." IP - Not bad, I think that does zero in on the typical client I work with. They know they could do better but they don't know how. But what do I say after this? Should I then say more about what I do, how I do it, and the results they get? MC - We'll get into the details of the next part of this conversation next week, but one of the keys to success with an Audio Logo is knowing when to shut up! Don't say anything. Wait for a response. And then if they ask you something, steer the person around to talking more about their situation, their problem. Don't focus on what you do. Focus on them. Focus on their issues. And when we talk next week we'll discuss what I call "The Most Important Marketing Technique." It will help you understand better how to play Marketing Ball and get around the bases using effective marketing conversations. Dear subscriber, I invite you do this assignment yourself as well. They key is to try your Audio Logo with real live people and see where it goes.   Getting Deeper into Mastering Your Marketing In these weekly articles in More Clients I try to give you as much as I can given the space available. But if you are serious about taking your marketing to the next level, you need to take the next step. If you want to... - develop a powerful marketing message, - create an attention-getting web site, - develop a client-attracting email newsletter, - build a network of referral sources, - establish yourself on the speaking circuit, - get more appointments with potential clients, - turn more appointments into paying clients, - make marketing less of a struggle and burden... Then the InfoGuru Marketing Manual and Home Study Program has what you're looking for - detailed, how-to action plans on growing your business. The Manual includes: * Comprehensive (288 pages) instructions and action plans on successfully marketing your services and attracting more clients. * Online support forum where you can get virtually any question about marketing answered by a team of experts. * Additional bonuses from online audio programs to articles, to tools and resources that will support you in being a better marketer of your services. The Home Study Program includes: * All of the above information and materials plus... * A 12 CD set of my two-day Marketing Mastery Workshop which expands on the material in the InfoGuru Manual. Professionally recorded, it will give you inspiration and ideas for years to come. Learn more about both here: http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html   Marketing Programs on Audio As you may know, I've recorded several Audio Programs on various aspects of marketing your services and made them available for sale online or on CD. The question I get asked the most is, "Is this material already in the InfoGuru Manual?" The answer is "No." These Audio Programs are interviews with top marketing experts who shared with me the most current thinking, strategies and techniques for various marketing activities. So if you're looking for in-depth, specific information that's hands-on and action-oriented, the Audio Programs are a great value. Each Audio Program comes with a complete written transcript whether you buy the online version or the CD version. Check out the Audio Programs at the link below: http://www.actionplan.com/transformmktg.html Until next week, all the best, Robert Middleton ACTION PLAN MARKETING Cracking the Marketing Code for Independent Professionals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.actionplan.com 210 Riverside Drive Boulder Creek, CA 95006 831-338-7790 Contact by email © 2005 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read: "By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *