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Day: January 13, 2020

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Marketing Personal Development

Move Your Customer up the Value Chain with Content

Want to add more value to your customers? Create content to help them.

Content marketing today isn’t about marketing for promotional sake. It’s about providing extremely valuable content to the people that matter most to your business.

The  definition of the value chain are the full set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product for the market.

Now that over 80% of the private sector is no longer producing raw material goods, but rather information-based service businesses. Today, the value chain begins with informational content.

Leading to the rise of “thought leaders“.

In short, today’s value chain begins with a value-added content strategy that leads prospects into the traditional sales funnel by attracting leads to customers and then creating advocates.

Starting with free content to create awareness.

The value chain purpose remains the same. The purpose of analyzing a company’s value chain is to increase productive efficiency so that a company may deliver maximum value for the least possible cost.

Small and medium-sized service businesses are taking massive advantage of content marketing by providing content that drives value to their target audience and minimizes the costs associated with traditional advertising and marketing methods in the process.

The bad news? Producing helpful content to your consumers takes time.

The good news? Your competitor knows they should be moving up the “thought” value chain but isn’t getting around to it.

The great news? There has never been an easier time to produce content to become the most helpful and in-turn valuable authority in your industry.

What’s the ROI of contributing content in your field?

  1. Establish domain authority on your subject matter
  2. Build brand awareness
  3. Engage your target audience
  4. Generate leads!

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Get Famous in Your Industry

More Visibility. More Customers. More Profit!

Why do you want to be “PR Famous?” At the end of the day, if it’s not you, it’s going to be someone else the media uses as their expert. Getting media exposure means more people know about you. Imagine what your business would be like if you were regularly featured in the media. Imagine if hundreds of thousands of potential customers or clients knew about you because they read about you in a national newspaper or magazine or saw you on television.

Before you meet with someone, what do you? You Google them. Guess what happens before people meet with or decide to work with you? They Google you or your company.

Imagine what would happen if someone Googled you, and there were several pages of articles or television segments featuring you as the industry expert. The credibility this provides you is tremendous! What do you think they are going to think about you when they see this? You’ll be seen as an industry Rockstar!

Below is the exact step-by-step formula I use every day in my own business to land media exposure (over 1,000 appearances to date). When you put my name into Google, I appear on the first 10+ pages. Together with my students, we’ve generated over 1 billion views from free publicity and over 8 figures in sales. This system works and I’d love for you to be next!

Implement the Get PR Famous formula and become PR Famous too.

Using all three steps when you pitch the media will put you light years ahead of your competition and get you to a “Yes” much faster.

Step 1 – Be Newsworthy

The key to being newsworthy is to provide value to the specific audience you are pitching. Do your homework and know what that specific media outlet covers and HOW they cover the news. Pitch the journalist in a way they tell their stories and make it easy for them to use you in a future segment or article.

1) Niche Your Pitch– what do you do differently than anyone else in your industry?

Everyone has a special gift they bring into what they do. What is yours? That is what will make you stand out.

Pitch a story around your unique expertise.

2) Use Statistics

Take industry statistics from a study or report as the backbone of your media pitch. Let someone else do the research and then you comment on it as the expert.

3) Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com)

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a free media query service that is made up of journalists looking for quotes, comments, and stories. Journalists using HARO are often from very high-ranking and even national television, newspapers, and magazines.

When you are quoted in these stories, they appear at the top of Google because these outlets have a lot of “Google Juice.” I call it riding the media’s coattails.

HARO is the predominant reason I appear on so many pages on Google and has single-handedly given me rockstar status in my industry.

4) Use the Non-traditional Calendar to creatively pitch the media.

Think of I-Hop on National Pancake Day or Dunkin’ Donuts on National Donut Day. What unique holidays can you pitch related to your industry?

I was featured for National Healthy Foot Month for my invention of medical boot accessories. I hosted a television segment about products invented by kids for National Kid Inventor Day. My client with a food product was on the Today Show for National Hotdog Day. The list is endless.

Get creative in your pitches by using these holidays. A simple Google search can help you find holidays applicable to your industry.

Step 2 – Create A Great Hook

A hook is what gets the journalist to open your email. A boring subject line could mean that your email never gets read. Get creative and entice them to read your media pitch.

1) Look at magazine covers

People get paid to convince you to make an impulse purchase in the grocery store line just by reading the cover of a magazine. Those are “hooks” on the cover. It makes you want to buy the magazine without even seeing what’s inside.

2) Think of “Coming up next…” on television

What could the news anchor say that would make you stay tuned-in through the commercials to hear that next segment? That’s a great hook.

Think of these when you are writing your subject line and write a compelling hook that will make the journalist want to read the rest of the email.

Step 3 – Find the Right Journalist

As crazy as this might sound… use Google to find a journalist’s contact information. “Who writes about [industry] for [publication name]” For local publications, you will usually get their name, phone number, and email address.

Here’s a great tool to get 50 free email leads, https://www.voilanorbert.com

Verify email addresses before you send by using MailTester, www.MailTester.com. If it ends up green, the email is valid.

Bonus – Join the Challenge

If you like what you’ve read and want to really dig in, join my free PR Challenge at www.YourPRChallenge.com. Give me 10 minutes a day for 10 days and I’ll make sure you start getting massive visibility!

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Can Your Customer Hear You? Start a Podcast Already!

It should go without saying, that on the go, mobile audio podcasting, is super convenient!

Most consumers nowadays don’t want to “read all about it” the way we used to. They want useful and entertaining information the easiest and most efficient way possible.

Podcasts have become one of the most popular conduits listeners go to gain knowledge and learn helpful personal and professional insights.

And now, with over 800,000 shows and 30 million episodes as of December 2019 it’s safe to say the audio medium is getting all grown up.

Podcasting is a smart way to develop your reputation on your subject matter expertise

For subject matter experts and businesses, podcasting offers a unique experience to provide highly valuable, in-depth information, to their target audience to enhance their value and brand experience with current and potential customers.

Beyond short-form content like social posts and blog articles, podcasting allows hosts to cultivate deeper relationships with your audience by connecting on shared topics of interest and stories.

It’s fun and effective.

Sharing helpful advice on your subject matter on a consistent basis can position you as an authority in your industry or subject niche.

Podcasting isn’t for hobbyist anymore

They’re a valuable business marketing strategy as an enhanced form of content. They’re more engaging than blogs and articles and they’re evergreen.

Not to mention the volume of decision-makers that are tuning in:

  • 40% of small business owners listen to podcasts
  • 72% of businesses owners with 100-500 employees do too

Here’s a guide to get started podcasting today.

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Entrepreneurship Management Negotiations Operations Sales Skills Women In Business

“When Is The Best Time To Promote Change” – Negotiation Insight

“Change is inevitable. Even if you don’t embrace it, change is changing you.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)   Click here to get the book

 

“When Is The Best Time To Promote Change”

 

There he was – with his life dangling on a fraying thread. He sensed that his career, all that he’d worked for, and all that he’d accumulated would soon be lost. He wondered how he’d allowed himself to get caught up in such a dire position – as he thought aloud, is there anyone that can save me. At that moment, as though God was giving him a second chance, someone whispered, is it time for a change? Would you like my help now?

In any situation, there’s an optimum time to introduce change. It’s the time when one can maximize the leverage one has in an environment. That’s also the sweet spot to seek before implementing change. Because that’ll be the point when you’ll have the most significant opportunity for your views and values to sway the opinions of those you seek to influence. And here’s how to go about doing so. 

Chaos

Anytime chaos exists in an environment, the chance for change becomes heightened. Because, when it occurs, there’s usually a lack of order and stressing factors that have become part of those surroundings. A lack of cohesiveness can also reveal itself in the unsureness of people that don’t know what direction to take. At other times, confusion may stem from a simmering feud amongst competing factions.

Regardless of when or how chaos occurs, be alert for it. And if it’s not prevalent, it may behoove you to insight chaos by feeding the desires of competing forces. Prepare yourself ahead of time with plans at the ready to nurture the calm that others will search for from the chaos that precedes serenity. When you sense it, hear the sounds of opportunity inviting you to take action. Then, search for ways to implement your plans to quench the thirst for harmony that warring factions will pursue. Be sure you’re the one recognized for ushering harmony back into the void that dispelled tranquility. Your reward will come in the form of increased authority and influence.

Crisis

While chaos can reside within crises, the latter has characteristics that avail the opportunity for change that chaos might not possess. For one, a crisis is usually the result of an existing, real, or perceived imminent threat existing, whereby people expect immediate actions to be adopted. That’s the main reason you should denote crisis from chaos and when the former occurs. You’ll need to address crises in a quicker manner, which means you’ll have less time to develop a plan. That’s the reason you should have a plan to address a crisis and a different strategy to address chaos. While pieces of either may possess interchangeable parts, you should create each design to stand alone as separate entities.

Timeliness

Before implementing change, you should consider the timeliness of it. There will be better times than others to do so, which will impact the degree of success you have. In assessing timeliness consider

  1. How dire the situation is where you seek to invoke change – if a condition is viewed as being acceptable, and thus not warranting modification, your thoughts will be less valuable and perceived as being less required. In that case, the change that you offer will be less likely to be accepted.
  2. The time-period you’ll use to introduce your suggestions for change based on the situation – it may behoove you to have a rolling implementation of your recommendations if you require time to assess the progress of the plans you’re currently implementing. At other times, it may be more beneficial to implement strategies to incite change faster. Always be aware of the time frame you’ll use to implement change. The period in which you do so will impact the probability of your success.
  3. Other people that have or may have a stake in maintaining the status quo versus those that want to alter existing conditions – either side may be a dominant force of contention. Therefore, the better you know what the contending factions are, the better you can plan for how you’ll use or combat them.

Reflection

No matter what activities surround you, if you seek a change, and it’s not happening fast enough, you must inject it into the environment. But you must do so at an optimum point and time. If you fail to abide by those parameters, you run the risk of having your plans met with failure. And if that occurs, others may banish you to an unforsaken position within the midst of your environment, never to have the opportunity to influence change again. To prevent that from occurring, mark your time when harmony abounds. But seek opportunity when you can wreak havoc passively, and don’t leave your fingerprints on your activities.

The more you can induce change for the betterment of the powers to be, the better will be the power that you can control. That will enhance your influence and persona, which will heighten the prospects of you being the ‘go-to’ person when other exciting situations arise. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

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Categories
Marketing Personal Development

5 Ways Writing a Book Will Build Your Marketing Chops

Writing a good book is step one. The next step is getting it to sell. Gone are the days when the big publishing houses scheduled your book tours, television interviews, and radio spots. Exceptions are made for big-name authors, of course, but most authors are responsible for their own marketing plans, and having a plan in advance may even assist in winning a publishing contract.

Put yourself in the spotlight

No more hiding behind the keyboard if you want to make book sales! Be proud of what you’ve produced and tell the world. Not a single soul will know about your book unless YOU tell them about it, via social media, press releases, and publicity events. And just remember: You can’t please everyone so keep your target audience in mind. Don’t listen to naysayers; pay attention to the reaction of your fans.

Perfect writing press releases and newsworthy pitches

What better way to tell the world about your new book than to write a press release. But to keep your press release from getting hidden at the bottom of the pile, learn how to write it so your book is seen as newsworthy. In media pitches, mention how you are also different from the competition and why you’re the best choice for interview guests. Yes, you want the publicity, but word your releases and pitches so it comes across as a win-win relationship.

Practice your scheduling acumen

Scheduling interviews, live readings, book signings, your book launch party, and social media promotions takes lots of planning and a calm, patient personality. Add some traveling into the mix and you may want to consider hiring an assistant and/or travel agent to handle the airline flights and hotel reservations. National interviews can be canceled or added at the drop of a hat so you may have to prioritize on the go. Always have a backup plan if a scheduled event is canceled so your time isn’t wasted.

Continue connecting with your social media followers

Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to connecting with your followers online. It’s all about building a trust relationship so your fans know without a doubt that you are credible and not trying to fleece them. Build that relationship, share parts of your life and/or business, be silly, and of course talk about your book. Just don’t hit them over the proverbial head with sales posts consistently. Show them that you’re a real person who cares about helping them more than about selling your book.

Start planning early and use a mind map to guide your marketing plan

Nothing says unprofessional quicker than a half-baked marketing plan or, even worse, no plan at all. If you want to sell books and expand your reach, planning is vitally important. Start early by brainstorming your ideas and then decide which of these ideas you can pull off based on the date of your book launch. Consider outsourcing any tasks you don’t know how to accomplish so you can move forward with your marketing methods. Save those tasks that you love or at least know how to finish for yourself.

If you’re apprehensive about this solo marketing approach, consider hiring help, either an assistant with marketing and publicity experience or a PR/marketing firm. Keep your budget in mind but also weigh the benefits of each and decide which option will provide the bigger ROI.

Pat Iyer is a C-Suite Network Contributor, one of the original 100 people to join the network 3 years ago. Business professionals hire her as a ghostwriter and editor to help them shine without having to do the work of writing. Contact her at patiyer.com.

Categories
Best Practices Marketing Personal Development

Words That Give Your Emails Life

Marketing emails need to quickly capture your reader’s attention. Keep your power words short and simple.

Three factors make certain words powerful.

Usually, they’re short. Consider words like “Buy,” “Now,” and “Sale.” Your audience can read them quickly.

Power words are commonly used and therefore easy to understand. Your sale may not resemble other people’s sales, but readers have an immediate understanding of the word “sale”.

Power words are specific. “Easy” promises that whatever the email is describing is simple to understand. The word offers reassurance.

Thanks

Some people might think this word is overused, and they’re right. Any word loses its impact when it’s carelessly and frequently used. Don’t overlook it, though.

Sending a customer who bought a product or service from you a thank-you note evokes a positive response. People want to know that their patronage of business means something.

It’s also appropriate to thank subscribers for reading your newsletter or special report. This thanks should come towards the end of the message. However, some successful newsletter writers open each issue with a general thank you to readers for maintaining their subscription.

Personalization

This is important. The reader knows that you don’t know him or her personally, but people have an almost-instinctive positive response to seeing their names. It captures their attention.

Using the words “you” or “your” has a similar effect of giving a message a personal feel. You lose your audience when you use the third person form instead. Compare these two sentences.

“People enjoy the warmth generated by this low-wattage space heater.”

You can lose your audience. “People” is impersonal. The reader might think, “Good for them. They’re not me.”

“You will enjoy the warmth generated by this low-wattage space heater.” Only two words are different, but in addition to the element of personalization, these sentences encourage the reader to imagine a warm, cozy room.

Easy

This is an important word. Many people feel challenged and even threatened by technology, which can include considering whether to buy anything that needs assembly. The word “easy” can reassure them.

I recently published a book, 52 Writing Tips: Fast and Easy Ways to Polish Your Writing. Putting “Easy” in the title was important, as I know how many people think it’s difficult to grasp grammar, punctuation, and other elements of writing.

However, I didn’t use the word “easy” lightly. The content is easy to grasp.

Truth in Advertising

This brings me to an important point. You can use all the power words recommended by experts in email marketing, but don’t use them carelessly. You’re giving your readers a promise. Make sure that you can deliver.

If you say it’s free, don’t introduce some little twist that will cost the reader money. For example, if shipping fees apply, say, “Pay only a $X.XX shipping charge.”

If an offer is only good for the next 24 hours, make sure that you don’t have it available for the following month.

Power words may draw your readers in, but to hold them, you need to fulfill your promises.

Pat Iyer is a C-Suite contributor, one of the original 100 people to join the network 3 years ago. Business professionals hire her as a ghostwriter and editor to help them shine without having to do the work of writing. Contact her at patiyer.com.

Categories
Best Practices Marketing Personal Development

Do You Need Both a Blog and Newsletter?

Does your company you need both blogs and newsletters? How are they different?

Maybe you’ve been writing a blog for a long time, or perhaps you’ve just begun. Either way, you know it takes time and a regular commitment to keep your blog from gathering dust and cobwebs.

I know you’ve seen the blogs showing the most recent blog was from 2 years ago. Crickets!

The idea of adding yet another writing responsibility to your list may worry you. Let me reassure you. Whether you write a daily, biweekly, or weekly blog, you won’t need to write a newsletter as frequently. A regular monthly newsletter represents the minimum commitment you should make.

Here is another frequency: What I do is write a blog once a week and make it part of my weekly newsletter (I call it an ezine). That way I am repurposing my blog. I start my newsletter with the first part of the blog, give readers a button to click to read more, and then add one or two additional items, such as announcements to my newsletter.

The click on the button in the ezine brings them to my website, where hopefully they see other information that encourages them to linger. I also know by their click which topics interest them, and can give them more of the same kind of content.

With attention spans decreasing, keep in mind that blogs and newsletters should be short. Sometimes you may add special, time-sensitive announcements to your mailing list. Please note that magic phrase, “mailing list.”

Opt-in offers of “sign up for our newsletter” are rarely attractive. What is the value in a newsletter? The visitor to your company website needs to see the value in asking for information. We are all inundated with information. But offer me a free report on the 3 ways I can do X, and if I have that need, I am interested.

Getting people on the company opt-in list solves a couple of pf problems: it is permission-based marketing, which avoids the CAN-SPAM laws, and it enables you to study your prospects’ behavior and continue to offer them value.

Without a list, you have no reliable method of contacting website visitors. Your only way of knowing who specifically has read a post comes when someone makes a comment.

In contrast, you ask people to subscribe to your newsletter. You may offer an incentive, like a special report or free e-book. You want to collect email addresses; they can form the nucleus of a loyal following.

Many authors offer some type of free report or course in the front or back matter of their books. I highly recommend this. Amazon and the other online booksellers won’t give you the email addresses of people who buy your books. An announcement within a book gives you the opportunity to make direct contact.

You Can Experiment with a Mailing List

Email delivery programs offer ways you can test the effectiveness of your promotional efforts. You can split your list in a variety of ways and send slightly different messages or use different email subject lines to these different sections in order to test the effectiveness of varying approaches.

You can also determine how many people have opened your newsletter and how many have clinked on links within it. You can’t do any of the above with a blog.

You Can Go In-depth with a Blog

While people debate about what’s a good length for a blog, you can often write something longer than you would in a  newsletter. You can quickly respond to news in your industry.

For example, if important news relates to your area of business, your clients or potential clients will be looking for opinions. You may need to drop everything and write about it.

That kind of pressure doesn’t exist with a newsletter. You may want to review the news, but you can do so in a less rushed manner.

Speaking about avoiding rush and making reading convenient, this year I’ve created a way of sharing with you through new app, BizEdu for iPhone and Android phones.

Get our mobile app here at patiyer.com/biz-edu. Receive videos, blogs, free reports and more related to writing tips.

Pat Iyer is a C Suite contributor, one of the original 100 people to join the network 3 years ago. Business professionals hire her as a ghostwriter and editor to help them shine without having to do the work of writing. Contact her at patiyer.com.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Writing Effective Headers for Individual Emails

When your potential customer or client opens their email, they will scan the email headers. Make sure yours attracts their attention.

Keep your header short (35 characters or under so they can be easily read on a mobile phone). Lead with the most important point. Don’t use CAPS. Be specific.

You will typically write emails to request or offer a favor to someone you don’t know but with whom you’re interested in having a collaboration or partnership. These could also include job applications, emails to co-workers, and messages to businesses such as your accounting firm, lawyers, and those with whom you have other business relationships.

The Initial Approach: Be Specific

One of the most annoying approaches I see in email headlines is one that is vague.

A bad headline approach is “Hey, do you have a moment?” No, I don’t know you. I have 50 emails in my inbox, and if this is the best headline you can write, I only have the second it will take to delete your message.

Even worse is “Do you have a quick moment?” No, I have a slow one, but it’s already reserved.

“I have an interesting idea.” This is a good example of why “show” is much more powerful than “tell.” “Interesting” is not an interesting word.

“I would like to promote your book/business/website.” This is tricky because lots of scammers say this in their email headers. However, this approach has a somewhat better chance of getting an email opened. Make sure that your offer gets spelled out clearly in the first sentence of the body of the email.

You will get even more opens if you write something like “I read your book and I loved it.” No author can resist. You can modify this approach by writing, “I spent a lot of time on your website.” If you prove it by mentioning specific details you liked, you can have an even better result.

Make a Reference to a Mutual Acquaintance

If Martin X, who likes your work (whatever it is) says, “Why don’t you email Maureen Z? I think you two could collaborate well,” you have an opening. If possible, you will want to ask him to email or call Maureen Z with the same message. If that’s not possible, use Martin’s name in your headline.

“Martin X suggested that I email you.” Spell out why in the first sentence of the body of the message.

The Cold Email

This is analogous to the cold call to get business. Make it clear that this isn’t a mass emailing by specifying the name of the company and, if you have a referring name, use it. Also, use a contact name from the company you’re calling if you have one.

“I can help ABL have an expanded reach in the small business community.”

“Jim V of DataReach suggested that I contact you.”

Occasionally, a headline like this may exceed the recommended 35-character length. In that event, get your most important information in at the beginning.

 The Follow-up Email

If the email is a follow-up to a face-to-face or phone conversation you had, refer to this briefly in the headline.

“Regarding our meeting July 15”

“Information you requested about my business expenses”

“Operation Make a Date follow-up”

For All Individualized Emails

If the subject matter is time-sensitive, say so in the headline.

“Please reply by Friday, March 3.”

This doesn’t mean that they will, especially if they don’t know you, but if they do, you have a far better chance of jumping the email queue.

Don’t write an incomplete headline, like “Can You Answer This Question . . .” and continue in the body of the email with “about best email practices?” Don’t force people to open your email. They won’t like that for good reasons. You’re not showing respect for their time, and if you blow it with an email, they imagine what you must be like in real life.

If you have a question for the email recipient, put it in the last line of the email so the reader won’t overlook It.

Would A Phone Call Serve You Better?

Always consider this possibility. We grow addicted to the ease and speed of email, but sometimes you have a better result if you pick up the phone and speak directly to the individual. This may not be appropriate with someone you don’t know, but if you do, you may find that the personal contact may serve you well.

Pat Iyer is a C-Suite Network Contributor, one of the original 100 people to join the network 3 years ago. Business professionals hire her as a ghostwriter and editor to help them shine without having to do the work of writing. Contact her at patiyer.com.