Try This to Change Your Perspective

January 5, 2017 By Susan Baier

Testimonials are great. Not only are they key when prospective customers or clients are checking us out, but they are an important reminder that we’re not, actually, complete losers. (This is my primary use case for LinkedIn.)

And they can serve another critical purpose — reminding us what the hell we’re here for.

Take a moment and try this:

Write yourself the perfect testimonial. Right now. Grab a pen and paper, or pull up your laptop, and write the testimonial that would totally make your day.

Include everything that would make you happiest to hear, from an imaginary someone who really REALLY loves you for you are and what you do.

This is the testimonial you’d send to your parents to show them how awesome you are. So go ahead — GUSH about yourself, your work and your impact on a single human being.

Write it now.

Done? Ok.

Now — read it. And as you do, ask yourself these questions:

Who wrote it?

Who IS this person? What do they do, what kind of things do they struggle with and how do they face these challenges? What would they be like if you came across them in a coffee shop or at a business function?

How did they find you?

Did they stumble across you, or did someone/something point them in your direction? What were they trying to find when they found you? What problem were they trying to solve?

Where did they find you?

Did they hear you speak, or see your website, or hear about you from a friend? Did they read one of your posts or see you on the news?

When did they realize that you were going to provide the solution they needed?

What about you or your stuff gave them that lightbulb moment when they figured out that YOU were going to be the one who could really help them? What did they read on your site, or hear you say, or hear about you?

What did you do that made them so happy they’d not only PAY YOU, but also go out of their way to write a testimonial?

What really sent them over the top into true devotion, where they want to share your brilliance with everyone? What did you provide that no one else did? What do they absolutely love about you?

Now, stick that sucker up on the wall next to your desk and remember that THIS IS WHY YOU’RE HERE.

THIS is the work that fulfills you.

THIS is the person you’re trying to help.

THIS is how you need to reach them.

THIS is what you need to say to them.

THIS is why they’ll say, “Where have you been all my life?”

THIS is why you’re working so hard.

Now go do whatever you need to do to turn this fake testimonial into a real one. And stop messing around with anything that isn’t making it a reality.

5 Reasons to Do Less

September 9, 2016 By Susan Baier

I get it.

You’re a multipotentialite. You’ve done tons of things in your long career, you’re great at pretty much ALL of them, and your audience needs every single one.

But you’ve heard me preach about the power of focus, and the importance of identifying a small number (like three or four) problems that you want to solve, and crafting all of your marketing and sales efforts around those problems.

And it’s just not adding up for you.

“But wait!”, you cry in anguish. “How can I choose just a few problems to focus on? Can’t I just help with all of them?”

No.

You can’t.

Not if you want your business to grow.

Do Less to Do More

This sounds counterintuitive to many small business owners, but to grow your business, you need to do less. And you won’t get there if your approach is, “I do tons of stuff, just let me know what you need and I’m probably going to be able to help you.”

Like it or not, you need to FOCUS. Here’s why choosing a few key problems to focus your marketing is so critical: [Read more…]

Ramp Up Your Referrals

September 2, 2016 By Susan Baier

For many small businesses, referrals (also referred to as “word of mouth”) are the single most productive source of new business.

Being referred by a friend, a family member or a customer costs a business far less than online advertising, and research has shown that a personal recommendation is far more influential than most of the things we use to drive interest and purchase among our prospects.

But the trick to building the business you want with the help of referrals isn’t just in generating the referrals themselves — it’s also in getting the right kind of prospects referred to you.

Referrals Rely on Trust

One of the reasons that referrals are so influential is that they bear a personal “seal of approval” — the referrer must trust that you’re a good fit for the person they’re sending you, and the person being referred trusts that exploring your offerings won’t be a waste of their time.

(This is particularly important with regard to pricing. Nobody feels good if they’re referred to someone they can’t afford, and you certainly won’t appreciate being sent prospects who clearly can’t pay what you’re worth.)

But how do you referrers know whether they’re sending you the right prospects? And how do those prospects being referred know whether it’s a recommendation worth pursuing? [Read more…]

Building a Painless Post Process

August 12, 2016 By Susan Baier

Regularly producing helpful and engaging content is essential to increase the visibility of your work and engage the prospects you want to reach.

Of course, writing is hard. Making videos is hard. Doing a podcast is hard.

But for many of us, identifying what to write about, or make a video about, or discuss on our podcast is just as frustrating and daunting as the actual development of the content itself.

I struggle with this too.

Audience Axis is a relatively new venture for me, and providing helpful content is going to be critical in getting it noticed by the people I want to reach. My blog is a core component of my content strategy.

But it’s not always easy for me to stay focused and consistent when it comes to developing content, given all the other stuff I’ve got to accomplish in a given week.

Thankfully, with some help from a friend, I’ve developed a process that has been very effective for me in getting focused about topics, generating new ideas and keeping my writing plans organized.

It’s not only made it easier to determine what to write, but it’s made the whole process much more fun and less stressful.

Here’s how it works. [Read more…]

5 Steps for Messaging Strategy in Multi-Layered Customer Relationships

August 5, 2016 By Susan Baier

Many small businesses have multi-layered customer relationships, serving one audience who purchases or recommends their work, and an end-user audience who is the ultimate consumer of their product or service.

If you are a professional speaker, you need to satisfy both the organizers managing the event as well as the attendees who will rate your talk. Both groups are important, and their satisfaction will impact your reputation and the likelihood that you’ll be invited to speak in the future.

My research company conducts custom research for marketing agencies, for the benefit of their clients. I need to meet the needs of my agency clients, but also those of THEIR clients, who ultimately pay for my research and whose opinion of my work directly impacts their level of satisfaction with the agency that brought me in.

If your company serves consumers, you may have a buyer who isn’t the person actually using your product or service — perhaps someone is purchasing it as a gift for someone else, or making a purchase decision for a child, elderly parent or another person.

When your business has multi-layered customer relationships like these, you need to take specific steps to ensure your marketing and messaging strategy responds to the needs of both the direct as well as the end-use customers for your products or services, and that you are supporting your direct customer’s selling activities on your behalf. I recommend these five steps to get you started:

[Read more…]