Archive for Business Tips for Coaches
Get More Sales By Using Audio
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When it comes to adding content to your website, consider using audio as an additional content and communication strategy. Audio not only broadens your product offerings and marketing tools, it can also motivate purchases.
How Audio Motivates Purchases
One of your biggest assets as the owner of a small business is your personality, and audio makes it extremely easy to communicate that personality to your audience. If people like you, and we’re assuming they do, then they’re more likely to purchase from you. You can use audio messages to connect with your audience and influence liking. Even a simple welcome message is a great start.
People buy from people or companies they consider to be an authority in their industry. Audio is an exceptional tool for you to use to demonstrate your authority on your niche topic. How to audio messages, interviews and lessons are all tools to demonstrate authority.
We often make purchasing decisions based on the opinions of others, particularly if those “others” are people we respect, admire, or want to be like. You can tap into this social proof trigger by interviewing an expert or posting audio testimonials on your website.
How to Use Audio on Your Website
We’ve already touched on a few ways you can use audio on your website to influence buying triggers. There are essentially two paths you can take – you can use audio as a product in your catalog or as a marketing tool.
Product Creation – Audio lends itself to many profitable products which you can sell or give away as a thank you or bonus, for example:
- Email training courses, workshops, and seminars
- Tutorials
- Podcasts
- Guest interviews
Marketing Tools – Many of the above items, which are mentioned as products, can also be used as marketing tools when they’re given away as freebies or thank yous. In addition to the above, here are some other possibilities for using audio in your marketing strategy:
- Product reviews
- Personal message
- Sales content
- Viral marketing
- Testimonials
Audio lends itself to a whole new audience which of course is good for you because the more followers you have, the better. When creating your content strategy or looking to the future, begin using audio in your product catalog and to market your business. Then watch your business grow.
Promoting Your Products
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When it comes to promoting a product there are definitely tools and tactics that work best. Much of the success of these tools will depend on when in the promotion cycle they’re implemented, the type of product and of course your target audience. Assuming you’re marketing to an opt-in list, here are a few suggestions for perfect product promotion strategies.
Make sure you’re not over promoting in your email communications
Email communications, like ezines and newsletters, are meant to be informative first and promotional second. That doesn’t mean you can’t promote in them, but it’s important to keep it to a minimum. A general rule of thumb, and this is by no means a hard and fast rule, is to make sure at least 80% of your content is valuable and informative.
How to articles, reviews, case studies and so on are great ways to provide value to your opt-in list. The other 20% can be promotional content. This can be an advertisement, links within your content, banner advertisements, promotional message at the bottom of your content and so on. Test and track to find the best mix and strategy for your audience.
Make sure your content is valuable and beneficial
One excellent strategy to provide 100% valuable content to your audience without any hard sell is to provide a review of the product you’re promoting. Reviews, particularly if they’re written in an unbiased tone, give your reader insight to a product. A well-written review will summarize the product’s purpose, highlight the strong points, perhaps tell a story about your experience with the product and then list a drawback or two.
The drawbacks can be written to sound benign or like strengths – much like you would do in an interview when the interviewer asks for you to tell them about your weaknesses. You turn your weaknesses into strengths. Then a quick sentence or two summary and of course a link to the product and voila, you have a great review (and promotional material for your product).
Make sure you’re not promoting all of the time
While your opt-in list expects and accepts that you will be promoting your business products and services, they don’t want to be inundated with promotions all the time. Time your promotional content right so that it coincides with launches, special promotions and even the holidays.
Your subscribers have come to expect the best from you, and product promotions are going to be held up to the same high standards. Treat them with respect, continually offer value and time your promotions well, and you’ll be on the road to more profits and a growing subscriber list.
Strategies For Website Traffic
Posted by: | CommentsWebsite traffic is a good thing. In fact for many business owners, driving traffic to their website is their primary avenue for business-building. And while traffic may be all well and good, what you really want is targeted website traffic. You want the people visiting your website to be potential prospects. Your goal should be to turn them into future customers.
Here are 6 effective strategies to guarantee targeted website traffic.
#1 PPC ads.
Of course, not all Pay Per Click ad campaigns generate targeted traffic. You have to study your prospects and design keyword-specific ads that send traffic to a web page related to the ad. If you have a website about foods for people with Celiac Disease and your potential customers have to dig to find information about bread alternatives, you’re not sending the right kind of targeted website traffic to the right place. Send them directly to your bread products page.
#2 A squeeze page, opt-in list and targeted email messages.
A squeeze page is essentially a way to capture the email addresses of people who are actually interested in receiving your information. True, they may be after your giveaway but that’s okay – they’re still a qualified prospect. Once you have their email address, you can begin sending them informative, entertaining and slightly romotional messages, all of which are designed to send them directly to your website – targeted website traffic.
#3 Article marketing.
Article marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate targeted website traffic. When you publish quality content, and it gets published online in article directories and republished on other websites, you’re reaching a wider audience. The link(s) in your article and in your bio box can all send targeted traffic right back to your website. The more articles you publish, the more targeted traffic you generate.
#4 Blog and guest blog.
Use the advice and strategy described above for article marketing to generate traffic with your blog.
#5 Social networking.
Social networking can send tons of traffic to your website simply because people are curious about you and your business. However, if you’re strategic about your social networking use you will occasionally include links to your website with attention-grabbing posts or headlines. If the idea of social networking is like “Greek” to you, I offer a powerful webinar program called Social Media Made Easy. You can find out more about this amazing program by clicking here.
#6 Comment on blogs and forums.
On most forums and blogs when you participate and comment you can post a link to your website in your signature. This does generate curious folks who just want to know “who said that?!” When you participate in forums and blogs that are relevant to your website and industry niche, you’re sending targeted traffic to your website. You can also try unique approaches like posting reviews on websites and directories for products related to your industry and include a link to your website in your review profile, for example reviewing on Amazon.com. You can post answers on Yahoo! Answers and you can post videos or podcasts on directories and drive traffic to your site much like you would with article marketing.
There are a number of creative ways to drive targeted traffic to your website. Analyze your traffic-generating strategies and tactics to ensure you’re sending the right kind of traffic to your website.
Promote Your Business With Podcasts, Online Radio Shows and Videocasts
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Part of promoting your online business is getting in front of as many people as possible. While you are there, give them something interesting to read, listen to or watch that will direct them to your website through a link. One of the ways that people like to hear about new sites is through podcasts.
What is a Podcast?
A podcast is a multimedia tool that people can follow. Think of it as audio or video information that you can listen to or view on your computer, iPod, mp3 player or any other multimedia enabled device. It’s like having your own radio show on your website.
Podcasts can be syndicated using RSS (really simple syndication). This is the same process that people use to keep up with blogs and websites. The RSS feed allows them to receive updates when changes are made on the site so they don’t have to visit every day.
Creating your Podcast
There is software available to help you create your audio and video files. You can embed code for them on your website so others can view them.
Beyond the technical aspects, the purpose of the podcast is to present interesting information to your readers in a new and unique way. People browse the Internet to find useful items. They like to read, but would admittedly like to watch or listen as it is a more convenient way to get the same information.
So what will make your podcast stand out? Use engaging dialogue, present relevant topics and use visually appealing props and sets for video casts.
Going Viral
For one, don’t forget the keywords. You want people to be able to find your podcasts when they use their search engines. Even if you are using mainly audio, include keyword optimized titles, tags and links in your podcasts.
Submit your podcasts to directories. Use every avenue to get yourself in front of the public. That includes creating press releases to announce your podcasts if you are introducing them for the first time. Optimizing your press releases and submitting them to free press release sites keeps people finding them even after you are through using them.
Let your existing customers in on the new podcast. Use your email list to keep them in the loop as you unroll your podcast project. Give them links directly to the podcast so they can view it and hopefully pass the link on to others.
Your podcast can be turned into a radio show with regular guest spots. Interview other business owners in your niche and notable online personalities who would be of interest to your readers. A recurring show can increase your traffic and your following.
Want to get people to your website? Create a podcast. Turn it into a radio show or recurring video cast to create a following and gain more traffic to your business.
Increase Your Visibility
Posted by: | CommentsYou may have a strong business idea and a great product, but are you doing everything you can to be seen by the right people? Increasing your visibility can change the way that potential customers see your business.
Visibility is the glue that holds all other strategies together when it comes to achieving success as a business owner. Each strategy gets your name out among other business owners, movers and shakers and potential clients. Being seen goes a long way with the word-of-mouth crowd.
Here are a few ways that you can increase your visibility:
- Attend business seminars
- Public speaking
- Write press releases
- Start a blog
- Publish a newsletter or ezine
If you are comfortable doing what you are doing and it works for you, still try at least one or two of these ideas. No one ever became a success by playing it safe or being comfortable. Trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone is one key to gaining visibility.
For some business owners, business can become stale. They only want to do certain things all of the time. This goes back to the issue of comfort level. When you are on Facebook and a fellow business owner is looking for speakers for his online conference or a local event in your area, throw your hat in the ring. Try something new that will increase your visibility.
Does someone in one of your associations need advice or a speaker for the next meeting? Take that spot for yourself. Every opportunity places another feather in your cap. It is a point that you can add to your bio and to your press releases for new products or events.
And, you can create newsletters for your customers. Sending a monthly or quarterly newsletter about your business gives you the chance to add information about accomplishments that have occurred since the last newsletter. Each solidifies your expert status in the eyes of current and potential customers.
Once you put all of this in place, keep a monthly check list on your ventures to be sure that they are still bringing about the desired effect. Some of it won’t require much tweaking – just checking in with the movers and shakers to be sure they still know your name.
Achieving expert status inspires confidence on the part of customers and fellow business owners. Increasing your visibility is the first step and the information in this post can help you do just that.
Visit Reader Blogs and Get to Know Them
Posted by: | CommentsReaders visit your website each day. They are there for information to start. They may keep coming back because of your knowledge or to get to know you before they try your product or service offerings. Let them know that you are a real person by returning the favor and visiting them too. It’s great add a comment to your blog post where your reader commented, but it’s another game all together to return the favor by commenting on their blog.
Everyone is a real person but not everyone comes off like they are. Business owners who intentionally stay aloof from their readership set themselves up for all sorts of scathing comments. They are like royalty in ivory towers – high and unreachable.
You are one part of the business equation. Your readers (potential customers) are the other part. Without traffic, you can’t hope to make a sale. Unless you build relationships with the readers, they won’t see any reason to stay loyal to you.
Blogging
Chances are, at least one third of your readers have some sort of presence in cyberspace. More than likely it will be a blog. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Take some time to highlight some of your regular readers on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
Next, visit their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy “I came to visit you to say hello.” Really get involved. Remember the old saying, “treat others the way you want to be treated?” This old saying, when put into practice, can really catapult your expert status.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Participate just like any other follower of the site. They will recognize your name.
Sites, that you like, will benefit when you link back to them on your site. Organic links rank higher in search engine eyes than simply doing each other a favor and exchanging links. On your blog, you can post reviews of their blogs or just write posts that highlight each one. This is essentially a review without calling it that.
Interacting with your readers and getting to know them in this way is mutually beneficial. Those organic links work both ways. Besides, you never know who will hear about your business through these comments and other relationship building techniques.
7 Reasons to Use WordPress For Your Website
Posted by: | CommentsYou are ready to do it. You are ready to have your voice be heard. You are ready to start your own website or blog. Good for you – now to decide which platform to use…
Blogger, WordPress and TypePad are just a few of the more popular platforms. While there are several different applications that are low cost and/or free, most solopreneurs find themselves in the world of WordPress. There are many good reasons to choose WordPress over the competition, including open source content management and SEO ability. If you find yourself trying to decide which is right for you, here are some everyday reasons to use WordPress as your platform of choice.
1. Personality Zone – WordPress is all about you. There are hundreds of free themes available to personalize and provide an Internet presence that represents who you are as a solopreneur.
WordPress themes are flexible and can be customized to your niche audience, service and product line. Best yet, if you get tired of the theme you are using on WordPress, simply change it by uploading a new theme. With a simple click of a button WordPress moves your content to the new theme for you.
2. Plugins! Plugins! Plugins! – Get the idea? Plugins are another way to customize your space. Popular plugins include contact forms, site statistics, search engine optimization, and photo resources. WordPress currently offers many different free plugins and is adding to their plugin resources daily.
3. Pagination – Back in the early days of blogging or using a platform of this type, blogs appeared as online diaries with one post following the next and comments intermixed between. With WordPress you can actually create pages to separate your material or to provide additional information.
Maybe you have a blog that focuses on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each of these could be placed onto their own unique page, making it easier for your readers to find the information they are looking for.
You can also create additional pages such as ‘Contact Me’, or ‘About Me’ pages. This functionality also makes WordPress the perfect platform
for businesses, not just bloggers!
4. Performance – Believe it or not, not everyone who uses WordPress is an expert at web design. Creating your own website or presence can be a daunting task for anyone. WordPress provides easy to use functionality with a built in dashboard to help manage your sight. Also, because of its popularity WordPress has many resources available to their users including online forums, help references, and support teams. Best yet, if you just want to try blogging out for a bit before you invest in your own domain name, WordPress allows you to register your blog on their site for free at www.wordpress.com.
5. Permalinks – When you create your blog and/or website, you want the world to be able to connect to that specific blog quickly. This is where permalinks come into play. For every blog you post, WordPress creates a unique permanent link to that specific post.
6. Ping Back to Me – What is auto pinging anyway? It is a tool that allows you to notify the search engines that you have posted a new entry. By default, WordPress has pingomatic.com built right into the platform, so the search engines are automatically notified that you have posted to your blog. In addition each time another website or blog owner links to one of your blog posts, you are notified on your WordPress Dashboard as well as in the post iteself in the comments section.
7. Pathways Back – Have you ever commented on another person’s blog? Many times the blog will only post your user information when you leave a comment, but if you use WordPress and you are commenting on another WordPress blog, then WordPress has the ability to automatically provide a link back to your blog for anyone to see. A great and free tool to increase your readership.
This is only a small list of reasons bloggers choose WordPress to host their blog. Ultimately, you need to choose the platform that’s right for your needs. Keep in mind, WordPress prides itself on being one of the most user friendly platforms and is constantly striving to make things better for users.
Adding Speaking As An Additional Income Stream
Posted by: | CommentsGetting speaking engagements is not all hard work. What it takes is a mind that is open and knowledgeable about your business subject. With a little bit of creativity, you can leverage what you do already by adding speaking to increase sales and product variety.
The first strategy you use to become known as a speaker is visibility. Others have to know that you exist and have something important to say. Through speaking and building relationships with your audience, your “sphere of influence” will begin to grow.
Wouldn’t you like to take advantage of tools that help you become an expert without breaking a sweat? We figured that you might. So, here are some ways that you can do that:
The Pitch…
Let’s say that you have been coaching individuals and get great results. The next logical step may be to create an entire program around a specific need that you serve. For example, if you write articles to increase your visibility and coach others to do the same, why not create a 4 week teleseminar series dedicated to “Increasing Your Visibility By Writing Articles.” This will help you get your feet wet speaking, will increase your visibility and increase your expert status. Not to mention the additional income stream you created for your speaking.
The Hit…
The speaking engagements that you do aren’t just for one time use, but rather carry a ton of potential. One single speaking engagement can give rise to another. Look at your topics with new eyes. You can probably see them turning into:
- Ebooks
- Special Reports
- Audio products
- Video products
- Articles
The list goes on but you get the idea. The information in just one 60 minute speaking topic can morph into each one of these. Better yet, take a series of talks, bundle them to create a special report or an ebook if there is a lot of information. Take each section of the eBook and create a course that customers can buy. Add audio and video to the course and turn your course material into a study guide to accompany them.
It’s Out of the Park…
Instead of one speaking topic, you now have leveraged that piece into a variety of product offerings all of which will add to your expert status and your bottom line.
Creating A Strong Brand for Your Business
Posted by: | CommentsCreating a business brand is one thing, but creating a strong business brand is another. Every entrepreneur needs to be aware of the fundamentals involved in creating a business brand that will enable your service or product to excel in the market. However, you must not be scared by this process, instead, try to enjoy building your brand by creating one that you can be proud of and that your customers will love.
Focus on the Business
Before thinking of a brand, think first of your business. After all, the brand is merely a representation of your business. So, you must refrain from focusing too much on developing an effective brand without giving attention to your business. Your brand must come as a result of your business, not the other way around.
You need to come up with your brand depending on the following factors:
*nature of business
*type of service
*distinction from competitors
Nature of Business
One of the main purposes of creating a brand is to communicate to the consumers what your company does. Therefore, take time to evaluate the nature of your business and the distinct attributes and images it conveys to the market. If possible, try to produce your brand according to the specific target market of your business. Is your business catering to doctors, six figure entrepreneurs or children? This will help establish the name and image for your business.
Once you increase awareness of your brand as a representation of your company’s products or services, only then can you expect to experience increased sales. Creating a firm brand that will be easily remembered and distinct will enable you to create a loyal customer base.
Type of Service
The concept surrounding a brand name such as a logo, mission statement, or color scheme are just abstract concepts. What establishes a brand as a concrete representation for your company and business is the experience that your customer has with your product or service. Therefore, you need to establish that relationship between your customer and the kind of service you bring to them.
The perceived value of your company is a vital formula that will produce a strong business brand. It is not all about images, but includes delivering of tangible results to the emotional and physical needs of your customer.
Distinction From Competition
Although examining the type of brands that are utilized by your competitors will help you establish your own brand, you need to differentiate from them while exceeding them at the same time. Distinction must not only arise from the business name or logo itself, but in terms of the quality of service that you deliver. What can you offer that your competitors do not and cannot offer? Then, incorporate that into the creation of your brand so you will easily be able to capture your customers’ attention to the possibility of doing business with you.
In a market that is flooded with several other businesses, making yourself unique and distinct from others is one way to establish the reputation of your business. Couple that with a passion for delivering top-notch customer and quality service and you are sure to establish a strong business brand that will help your company achieve its goals.
Use Social Networking in Your Marketing Plan in 2010
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You’d be hard-pressed to find someone these days that isn’t a part of at least one social network. Use that to your advantage. Join in and find ways to engage users, promote your website and increase your traffic for at no cost.
Social Networking Craze
Social networking is one of the easiest ways to stay connected to friends and family near and far. You can share pictures, stories and send instant messages when you are both logged in. This way of keeping in touch has extended into the business world and become useful as a marketing tool. Joining a social network is free so there’s no reason not to give it a try. These sites bridge the gap across the miles better than simple email.
Which sites can you use? Actually, business owners have found most of the more popular sites useful: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. The results from each site are different for every business so don’t be afraid to test and track which ones yield the best outcome for your business. Once you sign up with a valid email address and password, you are ready to get started.
Using sites like these, you can create a page that tells all about you and your business. Look for friends, family and business associates who are also connected so you can keep up with what is going on in their lives and businesses as well.
How to Use Them Effectively
Let’s look at a site like Facebook. It is highly popular and can be beneficial for both business and personal use. On the business side, you can post links to your website when new products are launched, new newsletters are published or sales are going on. If you blog, post links to your newest blog posts (or to guest blog posts you’re doing elsewhere around the blogosphere). Highlight contests, guest bloggers and other events that you are a part of. Have an online radio show? You can invite friends to listen to live podcasts to learn more about your business.
On a site like YouTube, you can post videos and add the links to your Facebook profile, Twitter stream, etc. Invite friends to view and leave comments.
The best part about social sites such as these is that friends and business contacts can pass your links on to others who might be interested in the topics as well. Quite possibly viral marketing at its best!
Relationships Matter
The one thing to remember about promoting your website or blog on social networking sites is not to do so just for that purpose. Relax and get to know the people you are trying to reach out to. They say that social networking can be addictive. While it can be a double edged sword if you’re not careful, setting boundaries will make it addictive in a good way by growing your business.
Just like so many other marketing tools, the name of the game is relationships. You can build meaningful ones not only with friends and family, but with your target audience and business associates on all the social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook of course, and others.
Comment on your friends posts and visit their links as well. As an Internet marketing tool, social networking works both ways. Don’t think of it as a means to an end but one of the more fun marketing tools you get to use to grow your business.
If you aren’t currently using any social networking platform, now is a great time to start. It can serve dual purposes in your life; both to your benefit. Each business contact you meet, invite them to be your friend or follower. Who knows? You could be connecting with a future joint venture partner or find that diamond in the rough service provider to help you take your business to the next level.
If it feels like I am speaking another language or you want to learn more about social networking and its advantages for your business, join me for Social Media Made Easy.
