More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Are all the components of your marketing machine working or are they breaking down?
Tinker Toys Marketing
As I was putting the finishing touches on my new "Web Site ToolKit" last night I realized how much that putting together any marketing strategy or campaign is like assembling Tinker Toys or Legos.
If you're not familiar with these, they're kid's toys with pieces or components that fit together to make something bigger and more complex - a machine you can play with.
And if everything isn't put together correctly, the machine doesn't run and do what it was meant to do.
On Sunday night I announced the Web site ToolKit to the InfoGuru Support Forum and discovered that in the process of people ordering the ToolKit, a few parts of my online "marketing machine" were broken.
They were easily fixed but it got me thinking about how everything in marketing is much like this: it either works flawlessly or it breaks down because some component wasn't properly attached to the other components.
This is one reason why so many marketing activities don't produce the result they were designed to do: attract more clients. We go through the motions; it *looks* like marketing but the "machine" has actually broken down and we don't realize it.
Here are three "marketing machines" you may be familiar with:
Networking - You decide to get into networking and spend a lot of time at events meeting people, but you attract very few clients. Are all your marketing components in place and working? Personal presentation, Audio Logo, asking questions, business card, article to send to potential prospects, the follow up call.Speaking - You want to give talks to potential clients, but it's hard to book presentations, let alone attract clients. Which marketing of these components need work? Speaker's kit, phone call to organizations, talk promotion, the talk itself, overheads and handouts, a call-to-action, your follow-up email and call to interested prospects.
Web Site - You have a web site but you're disappointed in the results you're getting. Have you missed some of the components or failed to fine-tune them? Quality design and text format, page headlines, outline of problems, addressing prospects' issues, case studies, detailed service information, free information, eZine signup, optimized for search engines.
Every single marketing machine you create will usually work a lot better if you do the following things:
1. Do some research. Find out what works from someone who has experience. Books, manuals, online courses, consultants and coaches should all be considered. Don't try to make this stuff up, copy success.2. Create a plan. What are you going to do and when are you going to do it? What resources do you need? What information do you have to assemble? What written or online materials are required? Do you need to rehearse or test before you "go live."
3. Give it your best shot. Pay attention to the details - all the components that need to fit together for the marketing machine to work. Fine-tune and adjust as you go. Try to look from the prospect's points of view. Be flexible while still making a commitment to do the best you can do.
4. Evaluate and readjust. Some things probably went well, some could have been better, and others were total flops. Document what worked and what didn't, so the next time you can do even better. Work at developing a bullet-proof marketing machine that gets results every time.
If you don't take these steps, all you can expect from your marketing is random results. You won't have a marketing machine that's designed to attract clients consistently. Your marketing will be like a broken tinker toy - useless and no fun to play with.
* The More Clients Bottom Line: Think of your marketing as a machine with several essential components that all have to work in harmony to produce the marketing results you desire - more clients attracted to your business.
The Web Site Toolkit is ready to help you attract clients
One of the most important marketing machines you can have is a web site that turns visitors into new clients. Most web sites simply don't deliver these results.
I've just completed the Web Site ToolKit. It's a complete, hands-on tutorial that takes you step-by step through every essential component of your web site and shows how it should be designed for optimal results.
It includes an in-depth audio tutorial, a detailed manual and dozens of sample web sites you can study and emulate. It even has a website development checklist to keep you on track.
This is my most in-depth product since the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. Please check it out if you're not happy with your web site or want to create a site from scratch (and do it right).
You'll also be pleasantly surprised at the price.
http://www.actionplan.com/wstk.html
News on New York and London Workshops in July
In about a month or so I'll be leading the "Crack the Marketing Code" workshop in New York and then a week later the same workshop in London, England.
A note to those in the New York Area. Yes, I know I picked a bad time to lead a workshop in New York. It will be hot and muggy and you'd prefer to be outside frolicking at the seashore.
But consider, we'll have an air conditioned room, lively interaction and coaching from me that will help you take your marketing to a whole new level. Attend the workshop and buy that house in the Hamptons next year!
In this workshop I'll actually be putting a lot of emphasis on the concept of your "Ultimate Outcome." We had a participant in our Marketing Action Groups that ran with this concept and increased his average project size by 15 times. He went from $10,000 to $150,000 per project in a couple months. It's amazing how powerful one idea can be!
So do come. You will not be disappointed. So much more fun than a day at the beach!
The dates for New York are Sat, July 16 for the Workshop and Sun July 17 for the Intensive.
http://www.actionplan.com/wkp/nywkp.htmlMy London friends have been enrolling in the Workshop and Intensive in droves. We still have spaces for the Workshop but only two or three for the Intensive, so get in while you can.
Everything we cover in New York, including the powerful information on the Ultimate Outcome, will be explored in depth in the London Workshop.
The dates for London are Sat, July 23 for the Workshop and Sun July 24 for the Intensive.
http://www.actionplan.com/wkp/uk05.htmlP.S. - These are my last workshops this year and I promise I will not return to the East Coast or London anytime soon. I love doing workshops but it's so much easier to work from my little home in the redwoods next to the river.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Cracking the Marketing Code for Independent Professionals~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 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."
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