More Clients Memorandum

This is great for sitcoms, bad for you

Posted byIan Brodie on September 6th, 2015.

“Will they or won't they?”

It's the staple of many great sitcoms. Sam and Dianne. Ross and Rachel. Jake and Amy. John and Kayleigh. 

We know they like each other. But neither wants to make the first move. They want to be asked.

And so they flirt and dance around the issue.

Great for sitcoms. But truly awful if that's the relationship you have with your clients.

I know so many business people who just can't bring themselves to make a direct approach. They fear that being seen to make the first move will somehow damage their credibility. Or put the other person off.

Or worse (in their minds): they'll be embarassed if they've misread the situation and the other person wasn't really interested.

And all the time their potential client is wondering why they don't seem as interested in working with them as they thought.

I love inbound marketing. I love creating content and building a platform so that people reach out and contact me. 

But sometimes it's just simpler and quicker to take the direct approach. if you'd like to work with someone, pick up the phone or drop them an email to set up a meeting.

Your chances of getting that meeting will rise 10-fold if you have something of value to offer in the meeting, of course.

But even the worlds greatest lead magnet won't attract anyone if you don't reach out to them.  

More Clients Memorandum

I believe this is our duty

Posted byIan Brodie on August 30th, 2015.

Primum non nocere.

First, do no harm. The foundation of medical ethics. 

Yes, I'm going to go a bit philosophical today. 

For while almost every profession has a set of ethical principles to guide it, marketing seems somewhat exempt.

Sure, there are codes of conduct. About not being deceptive. Not invading privacy. Not revealing private information.

But I think we should aspire to so much more.

In particular, I think far too much marketing focuses on problems.

Sure, we've all read the studies that show that people are more driven by fear of loss than anticipation of gain. By escaping from pain rather than achieving a goal.

But that doesn't mean we have to play to that.

You've probably heard the advice to focus on your clients' problems. To “twist the knife” so they're desperate to get them fixed.

But what does all that highlighting of their failings do for your clients? Does it leave them in a better place than before they saw your marketing?

Not really.

I believe that telling your clients they're “broken” just because you want to sell them the fix is pretty distasteful. And don't get me started on “twisting the knife” that so many people recommend.

I believe it's our duty to recognise our clients' strengths and to help them go on to greater things. Not to spend our time knocking them down to make it easier to sell things to them.

It might be easier to sell to problems and pain. But it's better to sell to goals, ambition and gain.

More Clients Memorandum

Small extra steps = big extra results

Posted byIan Brodie on August 23rd, 2015.

I've been doing some research this week into people who seem to be getting exceptional results from the same basic activities that most people get mediocre results from.

So in other words they're not following a completely different strategy. They're doing roughly the same as everyone else. But they're doing a few extra things that make a real difference.

And by and large it turns out that those few extra things aren't mysterious or difficult to do. They just involve hard work and going the extra mile.

I spoke to one guy who's getting great results by sending video and audio messages to his clients and prospects instead of just emails. It's helping him really stand out from all the other people trying to get through and just going the easy route.

I studied another guy who is uber-systematic in his networking. When he meets or finds out about someone he'd like to have a strong relationship with he sets a goal of having 6 touchpoints with them in the next few weeks.

He then makes sure that during that time he'll have spoken to them face to face or over the phone, connected and interacted on social media, commented on a blog post etc.

And he goes way beyond the trite communications most people do. He researches that person, sees what they're interested in and who they interact with. Then he ensures he has something of real value for them when he communicates.

Third example: I saw a great case study today of a guy who's been winning a number of consulting projects with well known names on the web. His secret: cold emails. 

But not just any old cold emails. And certainly not the “I can get you to number one in google” type cold emails.

Instead he does personal reviews of their websites on video with detailed (but respectful) recommendations. He sends them the videos and offers to work with them to make the improvements he's identified.

In all these cases (and many more) the person didn't do anything radically different to their competitors. But they took a number of small extra steps that made a big difference and made them stand out. Steps any of their competitors could have taken, but didn't.

Often we don't have to radically change what we're doing to get big improvements in results. We just need to figure out those small steps that our competitors don't or aren't prepared to do – and do them.

More Clients Memorandum

The #1 thing missing from most presentations

Posted byIan Brodie on August 16th, 2015.

I see a lot of people using presentations for lead generation. And I'd say about 70% of them miss a critical component.

And it's something that usually doesn't get taught at presentation skills training courses because most presentations aren't about generating leads.

The missing component is an irresistible call to action.

One that will connect you with your potential clients and set you up for ongoing communication.

You can deliver the most brilliant presentation in the world, but the chances are that most people, perhaps everyone in the room won't need your services right at the moment you deliver the presentation.

So they've got to remember you later and call you if they need help.

Which means they have to remember you perhaps months later, remember that this is the sort of thing you do, and be able to find your contact details. 

Not impossible, but a long shot.

On the other hand if you close with a call to action that connects you with them: something like offering a detailed report on how to implement the ideas you shared in your presentation; then you can follow up yourself to your heart's content.

Send them something useful every week and months later you'll be top of mind even if your presentation wasn't all that great.

Because consistently good follow-up beats one-shot brilliance. Every time.

More Clients Memorandum

Man creates dating website only for himself: what can we learn?

Posted byIan Brodie on August 9th, 2015.

Given the title of the email I'm not 100% sure this won't end up in your spam folder, but I thought this was interesting enough to share.

Brooklyn bartender and comedian Brandon Scott Wolf made it into the news by creating a dating website (datebrandonscottwolf.com) where he is the only dating option.

Anyone wanting to date him needs to create a profile, then write an essay between 500 and 1,000 words about “an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.”

In return, he promises to be the perfect partner for a woman seeking a serious relationship, which he defines as “being able to lay on a couch together while wearing pajamas and watching ‘Bob's Burgers' (LOL).”

At the time of writing, he'd had over 45 applications. According to Wolf, “Half seem real, a quarter seem VERY real”.

All joking aside, there's definitely something to be said for architecting a situation where you're the only possible choice for clients.

Now you'll probably have more luck by positioning yourself as an authority in your field: the very best choice for people wanting what you do. Or even better, the only sensible choice.

But in some ways it works the same.

On datebrandonscottwolf.com all searches end up with Brandon. He's everywhere.

You want the same thing for your ideal clients. You want them to hear you speak. To read your articles. To see your video channel. To get emails from you at least weekly.

You want to be the first and last name that comes into their head when they think of your topic.

Hard work, to be sure. And something that takes time.

But something that absolutely can be done if you work at it.