More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: Learn how to get past marketer's writing block and produce information that helps your readers.
The Problem-Solution Path
I just got back from a week-long vacation to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. We hiked up and down trails, in Bryce and wondered at the magnificence and beauty of the red mountain cathedrals of Zion and the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon.
I didn't think of marketing for almost a week!
And here I am again, sitting at my computer and a blank screen trying to come up with some ideas that will help your marketing. What should I write about? What have I not written about recently? What is both interesting and useful?
Have you been faced with this situation and you find yourself stuck, unable to write anything? You feel as if you've hit a creative roadblock and run out of ideas.
You'd love to write something - anything, but nothing is coming. As the stress mounts, you wonder if there is some hidden secret to getting past this block. If you knew it, you'd certainly use it!
Look, I don't know if I have the absolute secret to overcoming *marketer's writing block* but I do know that it rarely happens to me anymore. I have a simple formula that always seems to work. In fact I generate so many ideas that I don't have time to implement them all.
And it's really not because I'm any more creative than the average person. Perhaps I just stumbled on this very simple but very effective formula.
It's just four steps that I call the Problem-Solution Path.
1. I create a deadline for something to be produced. This creates pressure that I think is very important. Because I write this eZine every week, I must find an idea and the time to write. Because I produce a new TeleSeminar every month, I must find the idea and time to put it together. If I didn't have a deadline looming, I think procrastination would be a lot easier.
- Do you have a specific goal and a deadline? If not, just make one up. If you don't, you'll have no focus to keep you on track.2. I define a problem, predicament or challenge I believe my audience is facing. And since I've faced most of these problems myself, they are very familiar to me. It might be the problem of creating a marketing message, writing an eZine or putting together a proposal. I only spend a little time thinking about a problem and one usually pops into my head in a few minutes.
- Can you identify several problems your prospects and clients have experienced in the past? What are they currently struggling with? What's missing for them? Then pick just one.3. I think about my solutions to this problem. Since I've solved many of these marketing problems in the past, I usually have a good idea of what will work and what won't work. I just reflect for a few minutes about various solutions and approaches to the problem until I feel confident I have something valuable to communicate that will make a difference to those who read what I write.
- Do you have solutions, techniques and strategies you can apply to the problems of your clients and prospects? Can you express these solutions in a way that is easy to understand and apply?4. Then I just start writing. I don't worry about doing it perfectly the first draft. I just follow the Problem-Solution Path as I've outlined above. I try to avoid theory and stay very practical, giving very detailed how-to information. If I can make things clearer with a story or example, I'll use those too. My main concern is: Can my readers use this information to improve their current situation? If they can, I've succeeded.
- Are you ready to start writing using this basic Problem-Solution Path? Are you willing to do it imperfectly and then go back and edit and rewrite until it makes sense and flows well?And that's my simple Problem-Solution Path.
If you are stuck, I believe it's all you need to get started. And the more you write using this formula, the easier it gets. Not only that, the more you write, the more all your other marketing activities improve because your thinking gets more focused and your communication becomes more persuasive.
So take a shot at it and see what you come up with! What will you write about today?
More on "The Problem-Solution Path " in Marketing Flashes below.
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Audio Programs go into depth with lots of how-tos
Over the past three months I've produced three Audio Programs that I believe are very relevant to anyone who is an Independent Professional. My goal is to create a comprehensive series of audio programs that will deal with every major marketing issue you might face.
Here's what I have so far:
How to Build a Massive, Responsive Email List with Bob Serling - Today, a great email list can give you tremendous leverage. We'll show you the techniques that work best to build such a list.
http://www.actionplan.com/elist.htmlHow to Attract a Referral Flood of New Business with John Jantsch - Probably the most efficient of all marketing strategies, this can bring you a flood of new clients while spending virtually nothing.
http://www.actionplan.com/referrals.htmlSelling Your Professional Services to Big Companies with Jill Konrath - When you want to go after a specific client, you'd better have a "client acquisition campaign." This program shows you exactly how to do that.
http://www.actionplan.com/bigcos.htmlWe have several more audio programs lined up in the coming months, so watch this space!
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InfoGuru Marketing - We Get Letters
I got yet another unsolicited testimonial about the InfoGuru Marketing Manual today. It makes me very happy to know that people are taking these ideas and making them work:
"Thanks so much Robert. Your materials are phenomenal. I listened to the 11 plus hours of audio files (included with the manual) in two days and have devoured your manual."I have a core marketing message down and have already started using it, making modifications to my website and my conversations with individuals. Already have a newsletter and have been trying out various networking venues.
"The good thing is that I had been shaping and refining my marketing material and message for over 18 months. By the time I found you and all of your wonderful materials, it made sense and was easy to put into action.
"The audio files were especially helpful because I created and practiced delivering my marketing message right along with you and your class participants. Found myself falling into some of the same traps that they had fallen into. The audio files are very powerful indeed!"
- Lynne Wardell, Oakland, CA
Below is a brief synopsis of what's included in the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. These fourteen points below will give you a good snapshot:
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html- It was developed exclusively for Independent Professionals such as consultants, coaches, trainers and other service professionals who are great at what they do, but have a hard time consistently attracting clients to their businesses.
- The manual is based on a few powerful marketing principles that, once you understand them will transform your marketing. These essential principles are missed by almost everyone (and implemented by even fewer).
- The marketing principles contained in the manual will help you increase interest in your services, build trust and credibility with prospects, get prospects wanting to learn more about what you do, and create a steady stream of word-of-mouth business.
- It goes way beyond theory, vague generalizations or concepts, and contains hundreds of hands-on marketing strategies and action plans that are easy to implement, even if you have no marketing experience.
- It includes foundational marketing information on things like creating an attention-getting marketing message, and then goes into depth on the most recent marketing techniques of web marketing and eZines.
- You can read it like a book -- you can go through it slowly and do the exercises like a home-study course -- or you can refer to it whenever you have a question about marketing your business.
- It comes with over 11 hours of audio files with teleclasses and interviews on the finer points of marketing your services. These audio files alone are worth the price of the manual.
- I've included a boatload of extras, including 150 pages of articles, dozens of resources and, most importantly, the InfoGuru Support Forum, where you can get any question about marketing your services answered for free.
- The Support Forum can be used to answer questions, provide resources, and get "peer-review" of marketing materials, web sites, proposals and sales letters, as well as explore the more complex and confusing aspects of attracting clients to your business.
- It will help remove the mystery and struggle about marketing and selling that so many Independent Professionals experience, and will help you realize that marketing can actually be fun.
- It comes with my unconditional guarantee. Get it and try it. If you don't think it's worth much more than what you paid, tell me and I'll refund 100% of your purchase price.
- Unlike most marketing information sold on the web, the manual is available in both digital format (.pdf file) for immediate download, and for just a few dollars more, you can get a printed manual as well.
- The InfoGuru Marketing Manual was published in February of 2001, and it's just as relevant today, because I add to it regularly with updates of the manual that can be downloaded repeatedly at no additional cost.
- If you are looking for one tool that will help you attract clients with an approach and methodology that is highly effective but doesn't compromise your integrity, you've found it!
For complete details and to order online go to:
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marketing Flashes on "The Problem-Solution Path"
* Deadlines - You'll have better results if you have a regular deadline for writing. Interestingly, I found that a weekly deadline was more powerful than a monthly deadline. Set it up so that the consequences of missing the deadline are worse than doing the writing!
* Problems - A good way to prime the pump is to list every problem you can think of that your clients and prospects have faced. Then trim down and prioritize the list until you have several good topics you can write about.
* Solutions - Beside the list of problems, write the main solution that will be the foundation of the article. For instance, beside "Writer's Block" I'd put "Problem-Solution Path." These sets of problems and solutions will be the foundation for several articles.
* Just Write - The writing that gets the highest readership is writing that is conversational. Throw out most of what you learned in English class and just write like you talk. And then read what you've written out loud until it flows naturally.=
* Stay Present - Don't worry about what people are going to think of what you've written. Just focus on your ideas and communicate them with clarity. If your ideas make sense, people will read what you've written and get the value you intended.
Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 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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