The customer “snooze button”

I don’t know about you, but I most certainly am not a morning person.

Even in my hardcore running days when I consistently woke up at 7am, so that I could enjoy the crisp morning air in my lungs, it was a struggle.

And let me not forget my job in college as a fitness trainer… I had the 6am shift.

It was not pretty.

Through it all was my friend and companion: the snooze button.

“Just a few more minutes in my warm bed,” I’d say to myself.

Click the snooze button.

“Another moment or two to rest my eyes.”

CLICK.

“I think traffic will be pretty light because of the holiday.”

CLICK.

But the snooze button knows its place.

It knows it’s just a small respite, a tiny diversion from the inevitable.

The alarm must sound again, and I must, cursing and crying, put my body into motion and do what I’ve got to do.

Your customers have a snooze button too.

No matter how great your offer, how much they might want it, something inside them will click that button.

“Cool deal! But I’ve got to pick up my kid from day care right now.”

CLICK.

“Interesting… let me put it in my inbox tray that’s already overflowing.”

CLICK.

Are those reasons legitimate?

Absolutely.

But you can’t let them snooze forever.

You’ve got to sound the alarm – again and again and again.

Keep sending them reminders, offers, thank you notes.

Do it until they eventually wake up and do what they’ve got to do.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. If you’ve been clicking the snooze button on your 2012 goal setting, it’s time to wake up and do that too.

I’m facilitating a couple of sessions next week, so keep an eye out for upcoming posts about those.

But whether you join me or do it on your own – do yourself and your business a huge favor and JUST DO IT!

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Is Social Media the Answer for Your Business?

If you’re like most people, you’ve put terms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in the “things for kids and passing time” category.  If so, you’re missing the boat – a very large boat – for your business.  Whether you’re a corner barbershop or international manufacturing company, in order to grow (let alone maintain) your business, you must start paying attention to social media.

Social media is the collection of internet-based technology that allows the widespread creation, distribution, and collaboration of content (e.g., articles, opinions, videos, entertainment).  The technology is typically low cost and accessible to anyone with access to the Internet.  Contrast this with “industrial” media such as magazines, newspapers, radio, and television, which are expensive to produce and limit content creation and distribution to just a few.

The old world of industrial media allowed businesses to distribute specific messages regarding products and services, while the general public could choose only to accept or deny those messages.  Consumers had no other say in the matter and generally they accepted marketing messages in direct proportion to their prominence (i.e., number of times they were seen).

Although this model was the accepted environment for many years, the tide has turned. In fact, the New York Times reported that many top publications like Forbes and Fortune were down over 15%.  Thanks to advances in technology and access to high-speed Internet connections, for the first time in history, consumers have their own far-reaching voice, separate from corporate marketing messages.

For businesses this represents both good and bad news.  The bad news is that the way people buy has changed.  Social media provides such a rich source of information and opinions on any product, business, or service that many can choose to simply ignore advertisements, taglines, and positioning statements.  Even the “expert” review has yielded its authority to peer reviews from fellow consumers.  Forrester Research found that the people who say companies tell the truth in their advertisements has dropped from 13% to 7%.  Today’s consumer is more savvy, research-driven, better educated, and talking to other consumers worldwide to make very informed buying decisions.

The good news is that social media does not discriminate. Businesses have the same access to social media sites, technology, and tactics as the consumer.  This is considerably good news for the small business owner that can’t afford traditional industrial media.  Like many advances brought by the Internet, social media provides a very level playing field.

As many more businesses now come to this realization, many make the fatal assumption that, “All I’ve got to do is learn how to set up a blog, or Twitter account, or Facebook page, then start posting!” While these are absolutely important steps in the process, businesses must first familiarize themselves with the most critical pieces in social media: strategy and conversation.

A typical approach for businesses new to social media is to start selling by broadcasting their marketing message.  Imagine a single male that’s desperate to find a wife, walking into a backyard party and shouting, “Ladies, I’ve arrived! Come over here if you wanna get hitched!”  I bet you’d agree that is not the best strategy.  A solid strategy requires careful thought and planning in consideration of your overall objective, your audience, your audience’s objective, and the specific actions required to get them from where they are to where they need to be.

Because consumers have so much data available upon which to make their buying decisions, a simple one-liner won’t do the job.  Just like making friends at a backyard party, you must master the art of conversation.  People buy from people they like, and today’s Internet technology and online culture allow you to create meaningful connections with others you meet at the online party.  This is the key to social media – creating and taking part in meaningful conversations with others that will lead them to want to do business with you.

Social media CAN BE the answer for your business, provided you recognize it as another valuable tool in your marketing tool bag, create a solid strategy for its implementation, and respect the new buying landscape.

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Social Media Ain’t for Weak Brands

You must read this recent post from Al Reis called “Social Media Not The Answer For Weak Brands”. Aside from his pithy observation that “word of mouth” has become “word of finger”, he really hits the nail on the head regarding the proper way to approach social media.  Most companies have essentially bought the flashiest, fastest sports cars on the lot, hoping it will get them to where they want to go (wherever THAT is) in the best way (whatever THAT is).  Companies have to see social media for what it is – a tool.  If you start with a solid strategy, you’ll know exactly IF that tool fits and WHERE it fits.

What do you think?

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Hypnotic Video Marketing

If you want quick and efficient growth, you know the importance of getting traffic. The best widget in the world will not create a profitable business if no one knows about it. The rapid growth of online video is our cue to use it as a marketing channel for your business. Rather than pull people away from where they’re going so that they can view your message, simply bring your message to where the people are already going.

With the Internet’s wide reach and the reduction of technology costs, even small businesses are now able to leverage video in their marketing efforts. While the “big boys” can continue to spend millions of dollars producing Super Bowl commercials, many small businesses and people are claiming their piece of the opportunity. The proverbial pie has indeed gotten bigger. In addition, tests have shown that traditional online sales pages convert at 2-3% while those using video convert at 8-11%.

In both offline and online marketing efforts, most businesses focus on persuading their customers by using logic and unique product features. While that can play a role, as you know already, people buy based on emotion and back it up with logic. You probably experience this every day when you watch television commercials. The ones that are most popular and move you to actually buy the product are those that evoked a strong emotion within you.

So how do you begin to leverage emotion through your online videos? The key lies not in WHAT you tell your viewers, it rests in HOW you communicate with them. While some would consider themselves “naturals” in moving people emotionally, it is absolutely a skill that can be acquired by discovering the fundamentals of how the mind works, and applying the proper system.

While Hollywood has distorted the phenomenon of hypnosis to a resemble a form of mind control as a way to create compelling plotlines, the concepts upon which hypnosis is based are very real and useful to the savvy marketer.  Simply put, hypnosis is an altered mental state in which one does not use their critical, logical mind to evaluate information before accepting that information and acting on it.  By understanding the science behind hypnosis, will allow you to transform your videos from ordinary to powerful tools that will compel your customers to take specific actions like signing up to your email list or even purchasing your product!

Foundations of Hypnotic Communication

There are two parts of your mind: the conscious and the subconscious.  The conscious mind is your mind’s “gatekeeper”. It is responsible for logical thinking and reasoning, and the voluntary actions you take such as moving your hand to pick up an object. Your subconscious mind is like a computer, with no reasoning or making value judgments. It’s that part of your mind that controls involuntary actions such as your breathing, blinking, heartbeat, and emotions. It also stores all your memories and experiences.

Dr. Ray Birdwhistell of the University of Pennsylvania studied human non-verbal communication, or kinesics. He understood that a person’s words contributed only a portion of the overall message they were communicating. By filming people in social situations and analyzing their interactions, he discovered that there was much more being conveyed in a conversation that what was being said.  His research showed that a person’s words only accounted for 7% of the message being conveyed.  Body language accounted for 58% and voice tonality accounted for 35%.  Video allows you to use the entire spectrum of communication to deliver your marketing message and more effectively influence your audience.

Everything we as individuals have experienced in our lives is based on the filtered translations of the outside world. The filters and translators we use are our 5 senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, and taste. The more senses we engage in our communication with others, the more likely they will receive our message. We want to engage our audience’s senses directly. The key for more successful delivery is to relate those abstract concepts to tangible, sensory-based experiences. Great communicators (e.g., salespeople, orators, authors, teachers, etc.) throughout history have shared this rare talent.

Hypnotic Techniques for Video

To create more effective and influential marketing videos you must use these psychological foundations as part of your video creation process (i.e., concepts, scripting, post-production, distribution).  Here are a few ideas you can begin using immediately.

  • Build rapport by identifying with their current point of view and where they want to go.  This will significantly reduce resistance from the conscious mind.
  • Tell lots of stories to get people engaged in following your train of thought.  In order for them to comprehend and identify with your story their conscious mind must accept what you’re saying as true.
  • Music is one of the most powerful ways to engage people’s emotions and other subconscious triggers.  Using appropriate intro or background music to your message is a key hypnotic influence strategy.
  • Make sure you (or your spokesperson) use body language and voice tonality to reflect the way you want the customer to feel.  For example, if you want them to feel calm and comforted by your message, you may want your voice to be quiter and slower, and your gestures to be slower and more reserved.
  • Engage your audience’s senses even more by using appropriate visuals (movie clips, photos, props) and audio (sound effects).  While these elements can be incorporated directly into the video, eliciting a strong sensory memory can be just as effective (e.g. tell them to remember the smell/taste/touch of their favorite meal).

As more people and businesses use video as a means of online marketing, you’ll want to use these techniques and many more to differentiate your message and ensure your audience gets the greatest impact.

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Your January 15th letter…

Happy [Almost] 2012!

I just ran across a really cool, and timely, article from one of my mentors and I had to share it with you.

I’ll get to that in a moment, but first…

I love this time of year – that sweet spot right between Christmas and the beginning of the New Year.

It’s when most others are making their list of resolutions.

24-hour Fitness memberships skyrocket.

MLM distributorships and franchise applications hit their peak.

Rosetta Stone orders hit the roof.

Of course we know that many of these things people have “resolved” to do simply don’t make it past the first week of February.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of New Year resolutions, or what I call “The four-letter R-word”.

Instead I’m more in line with the 3-R’s…

REVIEW
Really look back on the last year.  Go through photos, emails, calendars, etc. and reflect on what things have progressed and what hasn’t.  Make sure you bring emotion into this process.  Remember what could have been better, and celebrate what turned out better than you expected.

REVISE
Based on the results you just reviewed, ask yourself what needs to be adjusted.  This may be your end goal, your approach, your expectations, your relationships.  Maybe you need to stop one thing and do even more of another thing. Decide what specifically you must do.

REFOCUS
Knowing now what needs to take place, give yourself the “juice” to see them through by determining WHY it’s important to make them happen.  How will things be better for you?  Who else will these decisions affect for the better?  How will it make you feel?

It’s a simple and powerful process that you can do minutes at a time for different aspects of your life.

In the past I’ve hosted New Year goal-setting teleseminars or webinars for clients to go through a similar process, and I may offer one in the next few weeks.

In addition to the 3-R’s, one of the new things I’ll be doing for myself is adding a really cool technique I just learned from my mentor John Carlton.

John describes his “new year” ritual of “The January 15th Letter”.

Here’s how it works…

Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of a year in the future.

(John writes his on January 15th, hence the name.  But you can do it whenever you want.)

For example, if you’re doing this on December 31, 2011, date your letter December 31, 2012.

So the “future you” (1 year older and wiser) is writing to the “present you”.

In your letter, writing from the perspective of the “future you”, tell your younger self about all the amazing things you’ve accomplished in that previous 12-month period.

What did you accomplish?

Who did you meet?

What did you laugh about?

What did you celebrate?

Whose lives did you touch?

What are you most proud of?

Include all the stuff that’s “realistic” and remember to include those things that you’d consider “out of this world”.

Whatever you write, the key here is to write it from the point of view that THESE THINGS HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED.

You’re just writing to yourself as a way of saying, “Hey, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to.”

I’ve done similar “letters to self” in other contexts and let me tell you, it will blow your mind and open your heart to new possibilities and a deeper appreciation for yourself.

Do it now, thank me (and John) later :)

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. If you’d like to read the original post from John, you can check it out HERE

P.P.S. If you would like to participate in one of my guided goal-setting sessions, let me know by COMMENTING BELOW.  If there’s enough interest I’ll schedule something for sometime in January.  I’m not sure if I’ll charge for it at this point, but if I do it will be nominal.

Just COMMENT BELOW with your preference of a weekend/weekday, morning/evening session.  (e.g., “Phil, I’m interested and would like a weekend evening session.)

 

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Why the holidays may be VERY bad for your business…

One of the “personal productivity” websites I subscribe to just sent me a really useful guide on “How To Score The Best Holiday Shopping Deals”.

It shares some really good tips and tricks to make sure you’re getting the best bargain from a number of online and local merchants.

Great for me.

Great other consumers.

Bad for businesses.

Why?

Because these types of tactics effectively reduce a business’s value to one thing: PRICE.

The one with the best overall price (including shipping and tax) invariably gets the sale.

BTW… If you’re thinking, “Phil, that’s great and all, but I’m not selling electronics or toys or cookware, so this just doesn’t apply to me.”

BUZZ! WRONG ANSWER!

Make no mistake…

Whether it’s the portion of your servings, your star rating, the distance to your customer’s house, the number of reviews on your profile…

You are being compared to your customers in one way or another.

Back in my suit-and-tie days, we used to call these types of situations “column fodder”.

Purchasing managers would create reports for decision makers (AKA check signers) on their best recommendation for a product or service using a spreadsheet.

This would put every bid/vendor on an even scale so that they can make “fair apples-to-apples” comparisons.

Yeesh!  I cringe every time I hear that phrase… apples-to-apples.

So how do you get out of that one and still come out on top?

Two ways…

First, stop being an apple and be an orange instead.

Structure your offer, describe your business/product/service, and approach your prospect in a completely different way than your competitors do.

For example, bundle your services so that they can’t be broken out piecemeal and easily plugged into an Excel column.

Second, if you’re looking to win the price battle to attract customers, make sure you have a strategy for making back that lost margin.

Former customers of group buy services like Groupon and livingsocial know only too well that a flood of customers can quickly turn into disaster.

Don’t just look at winning that short-term transaction.

Think of your long term relationship with your new customer both in terms of repeat business and referrals.

Of course, this doesn’t just apply to the holidays, does it?

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. If you know you need help with creating effective, long term, automated marketing strategies, keep an eye out for my upcoming trainings.

Or for faster, more personal attention, you can request my comprehensive Marketing Process Audit at 909-297-1662.

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OINK! why you need to be a pig..

While eating Thanksgiving leftovers with my dad this past weekend, I was reminded me of something.

We were talking about relationships and how some people never really make a true commitment.

For example, when it comes to a breakfast of ham and eggs, the chicken is involved – it participated in the process.

But in the pig’s case, he’s COMMITTED!

As you approach the end of 2011, reviewing and renewing your vision for yourself and your business for the New Year, think about commitment in two ways…

First, in different areas of your business (e.g., marketing, educating yourself and your team, innovating), are you committed or just involved?

Look honestly at where you are now as a result.

Do you need to make any decisions so that you can reach your goals and realize your vision?

Second, who are you spending time with?

Whether they’re prospects, vendors, employees…

Are you spending time with the people that are committed or just involved?

No matter how much money we accumulate, no matter how much Hollywood and the beauty industry try to convince you otherwise, TIME is something you’ll ever get back.

Invest it wisely in people that are committed.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

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You asked for it, you got it!

A couple of weeks ago I sent out a survey asking folks what they wanted to learn most in my upcoming trainings.

The overwhelming majority of respondents wanted to learn two things: how to automate their marketing, and how to get found on Google.

So keep an eye out for upcoming training events from me on those two topics.

In the meantime, let me give you a quick lesson for getting found on Google.

Assuming you’re wanting to get found in order to generate more money for your business (and not “I’m #1″ bragging rights), there are two key points you must pay attention to when it comes to making this happen.

FIRST, you need to is stand out from your competitors.

While most people that hear this thinks it means “get my website to the top of the listings” that’s a pretty limited viewpoint.

While position CAN work in your favor, there are a variety of other ways to get noticed by your customers: star reviews, headline and description copy for your listing, maps location (if you have a physical location), and images.

SECOND, you need to make sure that whatever web page you’re sending those “clicking customers” to will convert them to take the next action in your marketing sequence (e.g., clicking on a link, calling a phone number, filling out a form).

One of my favorite (and most effective) ways of setting my clients apart from their competitors that can handle both of those at the same time is video.

When Google puts a video on the search results page, it adds a thumbnail image to the listing, making it stand out like a sore thumb.

Here’s an example:

Because video adds another level of complexity to online marketing, most businesses are NOT using it as a marketing tool.

In addition, tests have found that pages with video convert better than those without video by up to 30% with some reporting up to 400% increase in conversions.

So what does all this mean?

Time get a jump on your competition and start using video right now!

Cheers!

Philipp

P.S. I’ll have more trainings specifically on video marketing in the coming weeks. If you have questions about it, just COMMENT below and I’ll be sure to address them on the trainings.

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When it comes to your customers just ask, “WWMD?”

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love throwing parties, especially around the holidays.

Like any good host, I not only want people to have a great time, I want them to STICK AROUND and keep the party going.

It’s one thing for people to show up.

Keeping them from slipping out the back door is just as important.

There’s nothing that bums me out more than a guest telling me they have to leave early because they’ve got another party to go to.

“Why??  Aren’t you having a good time here?”

Forget what they told the other guy, I want them to stay at MY party!

You need to think of your business as a neverending party.

You want your customers to stay for a long, long time.

To keep any of your customers leaving your party prematurely, you need only ask on simple question…

“What would Martha do?”

And by Martha I mean the one and only Queen Hostess herself, Martha Stewart.

She knows everything there is about throwing a party and keeping guests happier than pigs in mud.

Superb hors d’ oeuvres .  Check.  Creative decor.  Check. Stimulating conversation.  Check.  Introductions to other interesting guests.  Check.

Whatever it takes, keep your guests happy so that it never even enters their mind to leave your party for someone else’s.

And even if they already had plans and made their promises to the other guy, make your party so good that they’d completely blow them off.

Even better…

….Make your party so good that they call their friends and family to come over to hang out at your shindig.

What would Martha do to spice up your party?

Cheers!

Philipp

P.S. This is one of 3 strategies I shared at the book signing/seminar event I held event last week “How To Turn Your Business Around Overnight in 3 Simple Steps”. Actually, I ended up sharing 5 strategies :)

I’ve made the 45-minute recording available to anyone that supports the homeless by purchasing my book “Bodybuilders in Tutus”.  A portion of proceeds are going directly to Union Station Homeless Services.  To help your business, help the homeless, and get access to my seminar, just click the following link and get your copy now http://www.bodybuildersintutus.com/bizturn

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Confessions of a hair clip expert

When I was growing up, I had my fair share of cool toys: Transformers, GI Joes, Legos.

But I also had equally good times improvising playtime with my sister’s – wait for it… hair clips!

Her spring-loaded plastic clip became a catapult that launched paper balls.  Her banana clip doubled as my futuristic x-ray vision visor (way before Star Trek thought of it).

It’s interesting how karma works out though….

With two daughters I’m now a hair clip expert – which includes hair brushing and ponytail tying.

While the older one is does a pretty good job of keeping her barrettes and scrunchies in her hair, the youngest isn’t quite there yet.

I put one on her, she takes it out.  I put it back on, she takes it out and throws it across the room.

She just doesn’t like having anything in her hair… or so I thought.

The other day I noticed a sly look in her eye that made me finally realize what was REALLY going on.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like having a hair clip on…

It was that she was playing a game!

“Let’s see how many times I can get this stooge to do this,” I imagine her laughing to herself.

What you think is happening isn’t always the case.

For example, when asked the question, “Why do your customers leave you?” most business owners would guess that their lost customers are going to competitors.

But according to data from the Rockefeller Corporation, only 14% leave due to competition.

68% leave because of “perceived indifference”.  They simply feel that the company or people they dealt with just didn’t care about them.

How well do your customers know that you value and care about them?

Are you sure?

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. I’ve just completed editing the video recording from last week’s book signing and marketing seminar where I share more lessons on “How to Turn Your Business Around Overnight in 3 Simple Steps”.

But at this time I’m only making it available to those that are helping me help the homeless by purchasing my book from the website.  (I’m donating portion of the book sales to Union Station Homeless Services.)  To get your copy of the book and the link to the video, just go to http://www.bodybuildersintutus.com/bizturn

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