Why Bother?

First of all let’s determine why you need to be considered an expert or the leading authority in your field if you are wishing to grow your business. I think the real response to this statement is, “Why would you not want to become known as the person who has the answers to any questions that may arise in your industry?” I can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn’t want to be the “go to” person everyone recognizes when faced with the need for a particular service or product.

Create an Action Plan

How can you let people know who you are and what you can do for them? Not only is it important that your niche business is known in your local community through networking channels, such as your local Chamber of Commerce or networking groups, you must create an online presence using everything the Internet has to offer. To achieve this outcome, it’s important to stay focused by creating a comprehensive plan for publicizing your expertise. Using the list below, prioritize which items will give you the greatest results for the least amount of time and effort and place them at the top of your list. Sketch out a plan that identifies how long it will take to accomplish the first several items on your list. Then create a schedule for completion and stick to it. If you are uncomfortable with certain tasks, consider outsourcing. See How to Start Outsourcing for more on this.

How to Demonstrate Expertise

The following actions are important ways to show that you’re an authority in your niche market.

1. Article writing: Write articles for your industry and have them published in trade magazines or other relevant publications. This is often the first step many consultants take. Having your name attached to a successful article will help give you creditability as your name will become familiar to your target audience. Articles should be written for both print and online publications and should also be used for self-promotion when creating a marketing plan.
2. Write a book: This is important. By writing a book on your subject you are automatically thought of as an expert. If it’s too difficult to find a publisher, consider writing an eBook or self-publishing.
3. Develop Information Products: These can be videos, special reports, audiotapes, etc. Do whatever it takes to get these products out there—they can be both free or charged for but they are important in establishing your expertise.
4. Be a Guest Speaker: Offer to speak at events – these can be done for free since it also gives you an opportunity of selling your book or info products.
5. Give Seminars: Teach what you know. If you have written a book or developed info products you will probably be in demand to teach others who want to do what you do.
6. Distribute Newsletters: These should be sent out regularly giving helpful information for your target audience.  Send them in the mail or through an email campaign, but be consistent and provide something of value.
7. Create a Website: Having a website that advertises your consulting business is an absolute must have. Include testimonials whenever possible, and get listed locally in Google if your customers are regional.
8. Blog Regularly: Use some of that material you used to write your articles and book and start blogging today.
9. Engage in Social Networking: By interacting through forums and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn you can make a connection with your target client or customer.
10. Mentor: Consider mentoring new graduates in your field. This type of service is fulfilling and it can also serve to spread the word about your expertise.

By becoming known as an expert in your niche business area, you will establish credibility and reliability.  It’s up to you to ensure your name or business name becomes known through every method at your disposal and to make sure your brand has a positive reputation. Become the approachable expert everyone turns to when they need what you can offer and your business will automatically grow. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I got a call from a fellow networker and we began to chat. We weren’t trying to sell each other on the other one’s business or product. Instead, we began to share our knowledge and skills. He revealed a few tips and helped me adjust my system. I walked away from that conversation renewed and in total assurance that all I had to do was apply what he told me. Here’s what I learned.

Tip #1: Ask Questions

You must ask your prospect questions. If you are not asking the questions and learning about your prospect, then you are totally missing the boat. You might be wondering, “What questions do I ask?” Answer: Ask questions that open your prospects up, like, where are they from, are they married, what do they do for a living. Ask questions that help prospects talk about themselves easily and freely.

Tip #2: Then Really Listen

The next thing you must do is LISTEN! See, scripts may help give you a framework, but your listening skills will take you a lot farther than some rehashed script. Most of the questions you are going to be asking after the ones above will arise from how your prospect answers. So if my prospect says he or she is working full-time but is tired of working from paycheck to paycheck, I would ask, for example, “So what exactly are you looking to do on the Internet?” That is not a scripted question, it comes from listening and wanting to know more, not wanting to sell right there on the spot.

Tip #3: Assume The Close

The final thing you must do is two-fold. First, you must decide in your mind if this person is worth your time. See, you only have so many hours in a day, and if you spend your time with people who don’t match your drive, work ethic and motivation, then you will find yourself wasting the time you do have. And second, you must assume the close and have your prospect take action right then. This is where my glitch was. Ever since learning the magic phrase, convert those prospects into team members, customers, members or whatever, I can’t wait to call my leads everyday!

It can be all too tempting for freelancers and contract consultants to limp along, hoping to sustain ourselves on existing client work and old standbys until the economy turns around. So is it realistic to expect a boon in new business? In a word, yes—with a targeted strategy and a little creativity:

1. Network, Network, Network

Yes, we have heard this one before, ad nauseaum and ad infinitum, but the power of ‘who you know’ cannot be underestimated. A few tried-and-true tips:

• Expand your network in non-traditional ways. ‘Who you know’ can include contacts from places of worship, schools and universities, hobby and interest networks, alumni associations and career placement offices in addition to former clients, colleagues and supervisors.
• Subcontract. Even if you prefer the ‘call the shots’ aspect of consulting on your own, consider subcontracting to a larger firm or consulting organization. Many consulting firms maintain an affiliate or subcontractor program through their recruiting departments. Registering with these firms/recruiters can help you fill in the gaps as your own client work ebbs and flows.
• Nurture your network. Stay connected to your contacts, even during the flush times. Sharing updates and new client success stories, and inquiring about your contacts’ recent work helps keep the lines of communication fertile during the lean times. Janet Borggren, a Chicago-based consultant has been freelancing for over 6 years. She offers, “(Be) the person your client wants to work with again. Being that person goes beyond producing great work. You have to nurture the relationship. It’s hard to impress strangers with your portfolio. Be someone your clients want with them in the trenches, and they’ll do your marketing for you.”
• Share the wealth: Pay your network back in kind. Pass along leads for projects or positions that may not fit your skill set or utilization. Make introductions between contacts across your network, offer recommendations to your colleagues on social media sites and suggest they use you as a reference should the need arise. Making yourself available to scratch others’ backs, helps ensure your own back never itches!

2. Offer your network something of value

Rather than reaching out to your network over and over with a vague message such as, “I am available for project work immediately,” offer your network something of value. Write and publish an article, then share it with your network. Join a panel discussion and share the recorded version. Attend a networking event and invite your contacts to join you. Offering insight, thought leadership or other points of value to your network:

• communicates your worth to the market
• emphasizes your ongoing achievements and connection to the market or industry you serve
• provides your network with direct examples of your skills
• and encourages your network to open and respond to your messages, allowing you the opportunity to communicate with your contacts regularly.

Ongoing ‘value’ communication will help to keep you top of mind, should an opportunity arise to consider you and your talents, without always having to say ‘Keep me in mind if you hear of something.’

3. Utilize technology to complete the ‘push-pull’ cycle.

Think beyond the ‘push’ communication process of online job/project searches and application submission. Job search sites are numerous, unwieldy and often a black hole of information input and output. While it is important to visit these sites and maintain a profile, searching and applying for positions online can be an overwhelming process, and can often feel fruitless. Consider using technology to ‘pull’ opportunities to you.

• Create and publish your own web site. Detail your talents, service and project success through inexpensive site build and hosting sites such as www.intuit.com or www.wordpress.com. Register your site with the major search engines and optimize your site so it is more attractive to spiders. Regular updates to the content, using keyword-rich text, can help to improve rankings.

• Post regular updates. Post to your blog and/or profiles on social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, detailing project work, recent successes, networking events you plan to attend, industry insight and other news about your work and services.

• Stay current. Subscribe to newsletters, blogs and other industry information sources to stay current on trends and to join online networking groups with similar interests and goals. Join network discussion groups and ask for ideas and advice from these contacts, in addition to your core network.

• Watch for trends. Stay abreast of events in capital project approvals within industry organizations. A major area of opportunity for consultants in a soft economy is to backfill or temporarily fill a project or position need associated with a capitalized project. Many companies are not able to hire a full-time permanent employee, but can justify the capitalized cost of hiring a consultant for part or all of a project’s duration. Use your network to target these opportunities and/or introductions to the department managers who may make these decisions over the next year.

The prospect of keeping the pipeline filled during difficult economic times can, indeed, be daunting. Tough times do call for tough measures – but a little creativity along the way can literally mean the difference between feast or famine for self-employed consultants industry-wide. Good luck!

Yet one of the biggest problems business owners have with blogging is they don’t know how to increase website traffic. A website that is not connected to any others, is like an island in the midst of a very large ocean.

Linking Strategies

Getting high-quality links to your business website or blog is an important way to get traffic. It also improves your Google ranking, which means your site will display higher in the list of Search Engine results. Obtaining these backlinks can be involved and time-consuming, so it’s best to develop a linking strategy for your business to keep you on track. Schedule tasks on specific days to accomplish some of the strategies discussed here.

Follow proven linking strategies such as the ones below.

Create Value

A basic premise for building backlinks to your site is that it must provide value to your audience. Whether it’s a site of technical tutorials or business advice,  it should be so compelling that other sites will want to link to your site. Here are some ways to create value:

• Add reviews to products that are relevant to your readers
• If you have enough traffic, add a forum so visitors can discuss topics related to your consulting business
• Provide content that is difficult to find elsewhere
• Teach how to do something related to your niche, or
• Write articles, white papers or eBooks of interest to site visitors and offer these as a free download

Write Articles for Other Sites

An effective way to build links is to write articles related to your consulting business. You can submit your articles to Ezine directories, which in many cases allow others to reprint your article as long as you, the author, is given due credit. You can also ask blog owners if you can write a guest post. Often bloggers are seeking more content and will oblige. Be sure that your business site url is clearly displayed on the article.

Industry Directories

Search for the authoritative directories in your niche or industry. Remember you want links from the highest quality sites. Then submit your site to these directories. Many directories have an obvious way to submit a url using a form. Others charge a fee. In some cases, you will need to email the webmaster and ask if he or she will link to your site.

Blog Directories

If your site is based on a blog using blogging software, such as WordPress, you can submit it to Blog Directories. After your blog has around ten posts, submit your blog to the major Blog Directories, such as Bloggeries, All Top, and others  specific to your area of expertise. You can also request to have your blog listed in the Blogroll area of some of the most popular blogs in your niche. If your blog provides value, blog owners are usually very willing to add you to their list. This is a good way to drive a targeted audience to your site.

1. Showcase Expertise

If you write at least one post to your blog every week, you will begin to build a large body of information that is available to anyone who has access to the Internet. By reading your blog posts, readers will learn about your business, your experience, your thoughts on the industry, and your body of knowledge.

If I want to hire someone to do my taxes, I go to the Internet to see who prepares taxes in my area. I’m more likely to hire the person who has a blog with dozens of posts on different aspects of preparing taxes. I can see she knows a lot about taxes. I give her a call.

2. Build Credibility and Trust

Credibility and trust are something that are built over time. I may not even know you, but after I’ve spent some time reading a little bit of the information on your page, I start to get a sense for who you are, how you do business, and what you know about your industry. I highly recommend you include a photo of yourself on the blog. This too allows readers to get to know you better and begin to trust you.

3. Boost Your Reputation

People like to do business with people and companies they know, like and trust. You may have your mission statement up on your wall in your office, but do your customers know what you stand for? And what you are trying to accomplish? Do they know what’s important to you as a company? On your blog, you can post about charities you are involved with, share customer success stories, demonstrate solutions you offer and problems you’ve solved, all with the end in mind of building your reputation and brand.

4. Create Customer Loyalty

The more customers know you, the more loyal they become. As you feature different solutions you offer, they are encouraged to do even more business with you. You might also feature some of your best customers and solidify your relationship with them even more.

5. Bring in Traffic

Blogs are a strong tool for search engine optimization. Search engine spiders like fresh content. A regularly updated blog provides fresh, keyword-rich content that search engines love. This will cause your site to rank higher when potential customers search for your products and services and drive more traffic to your entire site.

The internet savvy buyers today look to blogs for sources of information, reviews and recommendations. Until they are ready to buy, they will surf the internet gathering information. If you do not have an active blog, you are missing out on sales. If you don’t have the time or staff to post on your business blog every day, an experienced internet marketing service can be hired for much less money than paying a staff member to perform this all important task for you. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your business. Start your blog today.

With an email newsletter, you can broadcast your blog posts, send out information about industry events, provide targeted product and book reviews and so on. The key is to always be sure that your newsletter will be of interest to most of your audience. Experts suggest it is ideal if your newsletter is delivered on a regular but non-intrusive schedule, such as once a week or bi-monthly.

How To Get Started

To get started, first check out the email marketing services listed below. These are a few of the many respected email service providers that prohibit spam. The best email marketing services, as they are often called, have built relationships with large Internet Service Providers based on the fact that they do not allow spam. The ISPs know that these services use a permission-based model for building email lists.

Permission-based Marketing

In a permission-based approach, all potential receivers of your newsletter must opt-in or consent to getting an email from you or your business in their Inbox. This means business owners can’t buy a list of 10,000 email addresses and blast a newsletter to everyone. By going with one of the respectable service providers, your emails are more likely be delivered to the recipient than to end up in someone’s Spam folder.

How to Build a List

To begin building an email list, you’ll need to place a sign up form on your website. Email marketing services typically provide the html or javascript you need to place one in your blog’s sidebar or somewhere prominent on your site. If you’re not technically minded, you can outsource this task. Then you’ll need to encourage clients, peers and website visitors to sign up for the newsletter. Consider giving something in return for a signup, such as a well-written tip sheet, report or white paper.

Features of Email Marketing Services

Most email marketing services provide templates for making newsletters, tutorials on how to get started, and access to statistics so you can see who has signed up and how many are opening your emails. Two well-known email marketing services (who are also site sponsors) are reviewed below so you can compare their pricing and features. There are many other email marketing services that you can find online.

AWeber

AWeber is probably the most well-used of the automated email systems for sending out newsletters because it has all the features of an autoresponder, provides blog broadcasts, website sign up forms and allows as many lists as you’d like for the same monthly or yearly price. AWeber has an affordable pricing structure and provides a free “test drive” so you can check it out before signing up. For help services, they provide online chat, tutorials and live webinars. Go to AWeber site.

iContact

iContact also provides excellent service for setting up, sending and tracking newsletters, surveys, RSS feeds, autoresponders and other email campaigns. They have a guarantee to Internet Service Providers that their customers will not send spam and they terminate customers who do. iContact also has a free trial period. Go to iContact site.

Other Marketing Articles:
Social Networking: Turn Relationships Into Profit
Personal Branding 2.0

There are some who think that unless you meet someone face-to-face, they don’t care enough to remember you no matter how often you converse online. There are those that say Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn are a waste of time and energy. Everyone likes the face-to-face meeting!

Many businesses are guilty of this type of closed-minded perspective. But just think about it. When you partner Social Media with the phone calls and face-to-face meetings, you can create double the opportunities.

The question is: Do you have to have face-to-face meetings to create real relationships (and eventually opportunities)? I find that working the whole spectrum of opportunity is best. I have been successful gaining business from individuals I met through LinkedIn as well as from people whom I have called, chatted with and met face-to-face. The bottom line is this: it is more about the person you are connecting with, not the method of connecting.

The point is that in-person methods for building relationships don’t negate social media methods and vice versa. Imagine for a moment that in your consulting business, you suddenly stopped using the telephone. You would never get any business through that channel. The same is true for those who rely solely on the Internet as a way to connect. There needs to be a marriage of the two approaches in order to make business successful.

The secret to success is finding the right balance of communication and relationship building for your clients and your business. In an informal survey of my clients’ preferences, they responded with a wide age range of unpredictable answers. Some prefer e-mails and LinkedIn, others liked meetings and snail mail, and some liked it all.

At the end of the day, only you know your business and purpose for using social media. Perhaps for some, social media does not yet have a place in their business, but times are changing quickly.

Consider These Three Questions

1. What worked and did not work for you in the previous year?

• Seems obvious, but people often forget what went “wrong” and repeat it again and again.  Something going “wrong” doesn’t mean that it blew up or cost you money.  It can be as simple as not achieving the results you desired  or that  it took too much of your time.
• On the same note, people often forget what went “right” in the previous year.  Funny, as this is how we succeed. Try not become too content with where you are and what you are capable of achieving. Aim high!  It is a new year!

2. What do you want to accomplish in 2010?

• Something as small as acquiring 10 new qualified Linked-In contacts this year or as ambitious as becoming the #1 in your field.
• Do you want to learn to build deeper relationships through social networking? Keep your goals top of mind in everything you do. Schedule them into your day or week so you have time to achieve your goals.

3. What new Social Media outlets would you like to try (or not) this year?

• Many people are content with the outlets they are using, which is fine.  At the same time I know (first hand) that there are so many social media outlets available, it can become overwhelming.  You either try too many at once to keep up, or avoid using any at all.
• One idea is to consider how you are going to juggle the social media you are currently using. Is there a way to work smarter not harder?  Would it be more convenient to send updates with your  a Blackberry or iPhone? What about pre-writing articles and updates?
• Like many people I have spoken to, you may even decide that in 2010 you are going to stop using some outlets for social media.  Perhaps the return on investment isn’t worth it the effort. Regardless of what you decide, it’s most important that you are thinking things through. Remember that your social media presence is your face on the internet.  Make it true to who you are and how you want to be seen!

What are your social media goals and strategies for 2010? Our readers would appreciate your ideas!

NPOs Have Unique Challenges

Unlike for-profits, an NPO cannot arbitrarily increase its percentage of spending on advertising and marketing when times get rough. People give to an NPO expecting their money to impact mission critical topics and programs, not to be used to generate more revenue. An NPO is expected to keep the percentage of its revenue used to fund staff positions, marketing and non-program related expenses to a minimum. Failing to do so could adversely affect its ability to attract future contributions.

Today, an NPO needs to be wiser and more efficient than ever. Factors such as appealing to the public because you have a worthy mission; demonstrating that the people you serve have increasing needs, or doing good work are unlikely to separate an organization from all the other groups with their hand out. More than ever, an NPO must demonstrate value, return on investment, and above all else, differentiation from every other group out there that claims to perform a portion of the same mission. Brand consulting to an NPO requires a mix of skills including organizational development, business strategy, human resources, board and volunteer development, and of course, marketing.

Showing the Story Increases Public Awareness

Telling an organization’s story has become less effective. “Showing” is what moves people. Rather than telling the story of March of Dimes (MOD), those of us involved a few years ago in repositioning it focused on showing the results of wise investment in community programs, medical research, public and professional education. Showing mothers and their successful pregnancies through proper prenatal care helped to greatly increase the public’s awareness and understanding of MOD, resulting in more donations.

Working with the Alaska Wilderness League we adjusted its brand to better reflect how people living in the lower forty eight states were impacted by decisions made in Washington, DC relative to the use of land and resources in Alaska. The League dramatically increased not only its donor base and level of giving, but also drew more attention to its successful leadership of environmental issues and public policy on Capital Hill.

Enhance the Feeling of Personal Connection

To successfully brand an NPO it is critical the organization present itself in a manner that allows the target audience to say “I see me” and not merely applaud the good work being done. Whether as a recipient of services, helping to deliver services or programs, or taking action in some manner, people seldom want to give money to a cause where they do not feel a personal connection.

Among all the groups tasked with providing emergency services following Hurricane Katrina, only the American Red Cross (a volunteer driven aid organization) was recognized for performing up to expectations. The US government, state and municipal entities all fell short. Red Cross volunteers rushed to help, and other people identified with them, or were helped either directly or indirectly themselves. The Red Cross coffers grew as a result.

Finally, the National Family Caregivers Association, based in Maryland, made significant strides in distinguishing itself as one of the preeminent authorities on the subject of care giving in this country by shifting its strategy from merely supporting family caregivers to recognizing that nearly every adult American is, or has been a caregiver, will be a caregiver, or will be the one to whom family care is given.

* Giving USA, 2009

I learn a great deal from studying other social media masters. After all, how can you be the best if you don’t learn from them? Regardless of your political views of Obama as President, I urge you to read on so you can apply these lessons to your business. Although I am Canadian, so I am not a US voter nor am I a supporter of any candidate, I was fascinated by the book, Barack 2.0, which I have read through multiple times. If you have not read it, I strongly suggest that you do. This was one of the best purchases I made in my career.

The premise of this book is teach readers how to put Web 2.0 tools and strategies from the Obama campaign to work for your business. It is all based on how they were able to connect, engage and communicate with millions. It is not a secret that part of the success of Obama’s campaign came from his Internet presence. He reached out and appealed to the public by allowing them to feel they were important to him and were becoming a part of history!

Facts about the campaign:

• He has over 2,379,102 supporters
• He has over 833,161 friends on my space
• His You Tube has over 114,559 subscribers and 18,413,100 channel views
• His Twitter has over 2,338,865 followers
• He sent over 1 billion e-mails during the campaign
• He has 500+ conections on Linked-In (remember Linked-In does not show past that)
• In total Obama has over 5 million supporters on Social Media Networking Sites
• He had over 3 million people donate to his campaign online
• He has over 120 widgets
• His online staff was 10 to 1 against McCain’s
• He started his own social network (MyBarackObama.com) and over 2 million people have profiles on it

Obama’s Presidential Campaign was the most successful “small business” use of social media that I can find. You’ll find this model works as well for business as it does for politics.

Get Barack Obama’s Social Media Lessons For Business on Amazon.