Back To The Basics!

Back to the basics!  Isn't that what sports heroes do when they go into a slump?  That's how they find their game?  Same thing for all of us who get overwhelmed when using the internet!  We have lost our game and guess what?  Going back to the basics works for us also. 

How do you do that?  Well, my weekly mailing, this week, includes 7 steps that will take everyone back to their beginnings and with that .. back to the basics.  If you are not on my list, click here to link to the mailing.  Make sure you join the list . .there is a link at the top! 

The 7 steps walk you through the first days of your business, BEFORE the internet!  It is easier to get clarity about your communications if you study them "offline" ..i.e. no internet!   Am hoping that as you go through each step things will be simplified for you.  Next week, we will apply the internet to all that you learned from these 7 steps. 

What I would love you to do here is let me know how you felt after completing all 7 steps. Would you please tell me if it simplified and gave you some insight? Maybe it brought back some old ideas that you had forgotten about!  How did it feel to answer the 7 questions? Did you feel more in control of what you need to do?  Please leave a comment below and share here so we can all learn from each other.  Thanks so much! 

From 

Keep Your Business Growing

margie

"What Is" A Posting Spree? Here's The Story Behind It All.

Hello all ...

Many of you have probably recently seen invitations to go on a posting spree!  So you ask ... just what is a posting spree?  

It's a program designed for those who have challenges in creating and/or getting results from their online social media posting activity!  If you or anyone you know is stumped on how to be effective when you see that social media text window that says, "update your status" or "What's on your mind?" or "What have you been up to?" etc. ... you and/or they are perfect candidates for a posting spree. 

The invitation includes the basics, but before I review those let me tell you a bit of the background. 

• It came to my attention when social media first came on the scene that the magic was in each business posting that got put out on the internet.  Yet, all the training I knew about covered only the details of how to use the chosen resource and stopped short of teaching what to include in a posting and how to write a post once you did know what you wanted to say!  I also realized that many small business owners ready to use social media had absolutely no sales training.  They knew what they offered but did not possess "selling without selling" communication skills. 
• The 1st attempt to solve this problem was to offer "how to" programs.  How to have unlimited "effective"  ideas for business postings and how to write the actual posts!  The response was good but  the follow through did not show up.  Old habits are sometimes hard to break and social media activity is a marathon. I saw some people simply going back to their old ways "thinking" they were doing something but not really being effective. 
• A light finally went off  that said, how about making a month's worth of effective postings "with' clients! Leaning by doing ... holding their hands, talking them through how to come up with effective points to write about and  how to write the posts!  The quantity was increased to 40 to allow them to have an inventory of a month's worth of daily posts plus a few more that worse case could be rotated if they never made another post again!  At least their investment would be worth those 40 postings as they went forward with their online marketing. 

The Posting Spree was born! 

It is a turn-key solution that moves businesses forward in two ways: 

1. They leave the program with 40 postings they can immediately use and rotate on a daily basis that they know are effective and written with an intent to connect to buyers. 
2. Most important .... By creating the 40 postings "with" 1-on-1 supervision and care they have had a great opportunity to learn "how" to proceed on their own!  Any wrong thinking has been identified in the process of creating the original "40" and corrected.  They are enabled, "should" they choose to proceed on their own. 

It's That Simple! 

The name? Yes, it came from shopping sprees.  A shopping spree is when you put your head down and go for it!  Same thing ,, in a posting spree we put our heads down and go for it!  

The Program

It is for individuals, but two people can sign up together if they are from the same company OR the same industry (upon approval).  There is a flat fee BUT no limited time frame.  We work together in as many sessions as you wish until 40 postings are completed.  ( There is a disclaimer for someone who just cannot get it, but we make it fair.) 

Hope this fills you in on "just what is" a posting spree!  If you think you'd like to go on a spree ... click here! We'll have lots of fun and be productive at the same time!  You are also "always" invited to contact me with questions!

Keep your business garden growing! 

margie

Inbound Marketing - Just What Is It?

Inbound Marketing ... one of the newer "terms" in town?  To some, probably not to all. BUT...  How is it different? What does it mean?

Inbound Marketing is the term being used for the "change" that marketing has taken on in response to web 2.0.  World Wide Web 2.0 provides platforms on which each of us can do our own publishing, create connections and share information .... all of which have allowed new marketing strategies to evolve!  Prior to 2.0 the web was pretty much in "read only" mode.

Now, marketing communications & strategies are being designed to "attract" quality buyers. Traditional marketing, i.e. outbound marketing, pushed the message out to locations where it was hoped the right connections to create a "buy" existed. Marketing messages arrived as "interruptions" and if they could find buyers, great. They went for the complete sale in often just one-shot deals.  Often referred to as "spray and pray"... outbound marketing is what has been used for many years in the business world via ads, direct mail, cold calling, seminars, and even email via paid for lists to a cold market.

Much of the confusion on how to take on the new interactive platforms available online now, I personally believe, comes from trying to make the traditional form of outbound marketing "work" in the new online environment.  Too much expectation is placed upon each action taken and therefore people think they need to be creating ads every time they go online. Could contribute greatly to the "I don't have time for social networking" excuse given by many. 

Inbound marketing places its focus on the individual stages of the buying process.  Because you have access to so many potential buyers at all different stages of the buying process, inbound  marketing simply targets messages to each stage ... for example, some common stages include: unaware, interested, problem recognized, verification of solution, and sale!   Messages are clearer, simpler to create,  and carry lower expectations!  You have lots of chances to "attract" .. no need for undue pressure! 

Social media activity becomes easier, quicker, and a lot more interesting! A single thought for any of the buying stages makes the perfect post! Think small, just segments of an event, tell stories, pick specific benefits, id individual problems,etc.  Again, the strategy is simply to "attract" those who are ready for the "stage of buying" you are addressing.  Because of the number of people viewing feeds with postings, you just need to be consistent and know your purpose.  Randomly choose one of the stages of your sale and put your message out there! The postings, if written effectively, will do their jobs and the bonding will strengthen and grow.  Each interaction has a less complex job than that carried by a single message in traditional marketing, but each interaction carries so much more quality and is so much more effective!  

An excellent summation of inbound marketing: 

"By publishing the right content in the right place at the right time your marketing is relevant and helpful.... NOT interrupting."  

Bottom line, you can better target your messaging, create stronger connections and build loyal and trusting relations.  Can the right place at the right time be calculated? No, not down to the moment, but consistency and volume of viewers will allow it to happen on its own. You know the Jimmy Buffet song, "It's 5:00 somewhere!"?   Well, given the quantities of opportunities you have for creating interactions and the volumes of people your content is placed in front of online, you are sure make some quality connections based upon the right content being in the right place at the right time. 

There is lots more that can be discussed regarding inbound and outbound marketing.  The techniques, the communication platforms,  i.e . the pieces that support the individual messages that end up creating the whole. 

Any of you who would like to discuss inbound marketing further are welcome to contact me! Your calls are always welcomed.  Your thoughts on inbound marketing are also welcomed here.  Please leave your comments! 

Keep your business garden growing,
margie

Can You Create A Diagram Of Your Online Marketing Strategy?

Hi everyone ...

If you were asked to sketch a diagram of your online marketing strategy could you do it? 

If yes .. congratulations!  You "know" what you are doing or worse case, you know what you are "trying" to do with your online business activities. 

If no .... you are not alone.  It's not a good thing to be in this situation, but again ... most business owners have no idea of how to even begin diagramming their online activities.  When I ponder as to why this is, I come up with too much, too fast!  

Websites grew on businesses very slowly.  It took a while for businesses to know why they needed a website and what they would use one for.  Many businesses dived in with one before they had a clue why, but it all sorted out.  I would say that now, 10 -12 years later,  the majority of business owners with websites know WHY they have one and what it is used for. 

One-to-One email grew with more and more popularity. Believe it or not, it wasn't "that" long ago that you had to ask business owners if they had an email address, let alone what their email address was.  But slowly "all" got in sync with the shift to email and here we are today with email often the preference over the phone and our US Postal system going bankrupt!! 

Newsletters became the next popular resource. Newsletters require ongoing work by users so were implemented by fewer. For a long time it was the one "optional online resource" with the website and 1-to-1 email being "must haves!" 

BUT THEN ... the blog got brought back to life (blogging was actually the very 1st resource, but that's another posting!) .. and with that micro-blogging was born with twitter being the most well-known example of micro-blogging.  Social networks began to bloom,  Fast Pitch was my 1st ( long before facebook was a twinkle) and we all remember My Space (enjoying a rebirth of sorts lately)  and oh soooooooooooooooooo many more sites!  They all were created with or adapted themselves into having a micro-blog feed. 

All of a sudden chaos!  What was a controlled implementation of online resources became an onslaught!  Could they all be useful? If so, can I choose some? Do I need all? How do I use them?  Do I have time?  and so many more questions, confusion, and lost direction surrounded us!

The answer to all of this is different for each and every business out there!  Even if a selection of businesses are benefited by the same selection of resources, their individual use of each resource could vary in large degrees.   Does this make it easier or harder?  Probably more time and attention up front but then easy sailing into all the new and expansive opportunities online marketing brings to all businesses!
The key to the success of all of it is the "basic communication" that occurs on or via chosen resources.  1-to-1 email and newsletters brought the term CRM (customer relationship management) to the front of marketing objectives.  The internet could collect user interests and buying habits .. the computer could store and sort the gathered information ... the basic seeds to grow solid business relationships were able to be planted.  Online communication resources are today the fertilizer and water to have those seeds grow into solid, trusting and loyal customers for new, repeat and referral business.  I often tell business owners to look at online resources as employees and "hire" them accordingly by job description! 

Do you agree? What are your thoughts? Please share.  

Also know, if you need some help making a diagram of what you are using, that's what I do! I help businesses sort it out and come up with what's best for you! 

From, 

Keep Your Business Garden Growing! 

It's Mid Year, Got Your Blogging On Track?

Hi there ... 

This posting is titled as such because out of all the communications we should be doing for our businesses, blogging seems to be the largest challenge for many of us.  And, I am wondering why! 

Don't look now, but my own frequency in blogging is way behind what it should be. The mind tells me I don't have time, but in all truth, of course I have time, we all have the time!   So what's our problem?  

Do we think they won't get read? Won't count?  One thing for sure is that if they are not written, they absolutely won't get read nor count. The internet is magical and it always amazes me when I look at my blogging stats. Someone out there is reading my stuff.  They will read yours as well ... trust the internet! 

So why aren't we blogging more? There are lots of blogs out there so they must add value to a business. Those of you who know me, know that a blog to me is "water cooler conversation." It's where your prospects and clients can get to know you and the behind the scenes thinking and activities of your business. It's the back door to your business ... the real stuff!   In that sense, it should be easy to create even a daily blog ... an ongoing dialogue with your market!  A great thing! 

How about this?  Let's make a promise to each other that we will "give our best effort" to maintaining our blogs!  If you need more incentive check out my Keep Your Garden Growing Newsletter/Mailing for this week.  It includes 9 ways that blogging helps your business grow. Also, if you haven't created a blog yet, Today's Way is happy to help you.  We provide 1-on-1 training for both blogger and wordpress blogs! 

Also, please share what you think keeps you from blogging!  If you don't know for sure ...guess! Maybe we can bounce off of your thoughts till we nail down what the block is. Time to help each other grab onto and use this fantastic resource for our business success.  Let me know!!  I welcome your input. 

Keep Your Business Garden Growing! 

margie

Writing From The Heart!

Hi everyone...

Today our Garden Club call was about heartfelt writing. It was a great call and after it ended  I did a few exercises of my own while out walking that I thought I'd share.

First, just a quick review of being heartfelt.  Basically, it is just taking the time to "process" the layers that are part of every experience we have each day!  Sorting out the many moments that are within a single moment. Our "brains" focus on assumed and "out of habit" communications whereas our "hearts" provide depth and meaning, emotion and authentic communications.

So here's a quick exercise to let you experience the difference!  First focus on your mind and look at something.  I chose a tree.  Pay attention to what you brain feeds back to you about the tree or whatever object you choose.  Next, focus on your heart and look at the same object.  What does your heart feed back to you? Is it different information?  Bet you it is!  Now try it by thinking of an event. Then try it by thinking of a person!  Let me know what happens!!  Can't wait to hear your input. Hope it opens up lots of ideas for heartfelt writing experiences!!

You are also invited to join us on a Garden Club call every Thursday at 4PM!  Recordings may also be found on the right side of this blog. Listen to today's call now!

Keep Your Business Garden Growing!
margie