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Make 2011 a Breakthrough Year for Your Business

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 11th, 2011.

2010 was a great year for me. And it was one where thanks to a lot of factors but particularly my regular email newsletter and free Client Breakthrough course, I got to know an awful lot of solo professionals and small firms.

I met, spoke to and swapped emails with a huge number of extremely talented people with an incredibly diverse range of businesses.

And it reconfirmed my belief that there is just such a vast, untapped talent pool of professionals out there. People who are great at what they do, but who don't yet have the confidence, the knowledge or the skills to find and win all the clients they deserve.

Week in, week out I see clients playing it safe by hiring big firms with well known brands, when they could get access to much deeper capabilities and experience – if only they knew where to find it and how to recognise it.

It's my firm belief that if small firms and solo professionals could learn how to market themselves better. To get their expertise and experience known by their ideal clients. To get hired more often and at better rates. Then not only will it benefit the professionals themselves – but it'll make a huge difference to the success of their clients too.

If you're an independent consultant or coach, or a small firm of professionals, and you're the “best kept secret” in your field – then not only are you not reaching your own potential but you're doing a huge disservice to your potential clients too.

You could be out there doing brilliant work for them – but instead they're having to settle for second best because they don't know about you and what you can do.

It's not just in your own interests to learn to market your business effectively – in many ways it's your duty.

And in 2011, that's going to be my primary focus: evening the playing field. Helping the little guy compete against the big firms. It's going to be my mission to share the strategies and tactics that will help solo professionals and small firms break away from being the “best kept secret” and get the success they deserve.

Not that I have anything against large professional firms – I spent over a decade working for large consulting firms and it's where I learnt the basics of how to market and sell effectively. And if you work for a large firm I'm sure you'll find lots of the ideas I share to be helpful.

But my main focus is going to be on what works for the little guy. What will help small firms and independents get a real breakthough and start to compete and win against the big firms.

I'd like to invite you to join me on that journey.

I'll be sharing what's worked for me personally. Some of my successes as a sole practitioner competing head to head against big firms. And some of my failures too.

I'll be interviewing independents and small firms that have punched above their weight. Businesses who've successfully played David to the big firms' Goliath. I'll be sharing what's made them successful and how you can replicate their success.

I'll be particularly focusing on what I've labelled Authority Marketing. The strategies and tactics you can use to establish yourself as the “go to” person in your field – even if you don't start out as a well known big business.

So stay tuned for an exciting and busy year. And if you've not done so already, sign up for my free report on 5 Simple marketing Tweaks That Will Get You More Clients by filling in the form below this post.

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More Clients Memorandum

The starting point for all great marketing is…

Posted by

Ian Brodie on January 2nd, 2011.

…to build deep understanding of your clients.

The better you understand their hopes, fears, dreams, problems, issues, goals and aspirations; the better able you are to “speak to them” directly and meaningfully in their own language.

I wrote about this in a blog post a while back, using the lyrics of Lori Lieberman's song “Killing Me Softly” to illustrate the power of really speaking to your clients and prospects in ways that show deep empathy and understanding.

In many ways it's more important to showcase your understanding than anything to do with your expertise, credentials or other types of brilliance.

As leadership guru John C Maxwell said: “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”.

Sometimes it's expressed in the simple things. For example, I always talk about clients rather than customers. Since my clients are primarily consultants, coaches or people in the professions and that's the language they use – it makes me feel like an insider.

Sometimes building a deeper level of understanding can effect the whole way you do your marketing.

I certainly found that when I took the time to talk to clients personally, and survey them about their major frustrations a number of years ago. It turned out that many people wanted to know more about the way I market myself online and how they could do something similar.

I hadn't really put much thought into it back then. But it led to me to focus more in Momentum Club on online marketing and that's proved to be a winning formula that's helped members get great results themselves.

So how do you build up that deep understanding yourself?

The secret is to immerse yourself in your client's world. Talk to clients, ex-clients and prospects frequently about what they do and what gets in their way (in your field).

If you can, carve out the time spend a “day in the life” of your clients. Shadow them. Watch the challenges they face. You'll discover many things you can really help with that they didn't think of themselves.

You can also go a long way just by thinking in the right way. The trick is to get into specifics.

Build a “pen picture” of your ideal client. Who are they? What do they do? What motivates them? What frustrates them? What are their big problems and issues? What are their greatest hopes and ambitions?

My method for doing this in a systematic way is here:

Customer Insight Mapping

The more of these questions you're able to answer, the better you'll understand your clients, and the more effective your marketing will become.

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Get Clients Online

How I Get Over 70% Of My Clients From My Website

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 19th, 2010.

Of all the things I teach about marketing and business development, the thing most people are interested in is “how do you get so many clients via your website?”

And it's a good question to ask. The web is a fantastic equalizer – allowing small businesses like you and me to match and beat our big competitors.

We may not be able to match their marketing dollars. We may not be able to send legions of foot soldiers out networking. We can't afford the fancy agency graphics and presentations. But if we know what we're doing – we can use the web to make just as much an impact on our potential clients as they can. Sometimes even more so.

In my case, I get somewhere over 70% of my clients from my website (ie – that's how they initially found me, and that's what triggered them to contact me). And my site is ranked higher for traffic than some of the top 50 consulting firms globally.

It's not because I'm some internet genius (far from it – I've made a ton of mistakes). But I have learnt a few simple lessons on what it takes to get clients via the web. And most importantly – I've put those lessons into practice.

Which, of course, begs the question – what are those lessons Ian?

Well, first up, I have a clear picture of who my potential clients are.

Most people have an idea of who their target clients are – but they haven't really got under their skin. They don't really understand them. They maybe did an exercise at a workshop for 20 minutes once, and that's it. Or they “just know”.

But the truth is that unless you really put work into it, you don't know. Not enough.

I spend literally hours thinking about my ideal target clients. Trying to get inside their head. To understand what their biggest needs and concerns are. What messages will resonate with them and what will turn them off. I try to infuse what I write on my site or the videos I do with that knowledge. I try to create useful resources to help them with what they're really worried about.

My hope is that they'll feel like I really understand them and am on their side (in fact my hope is not just that they'll feel like that – but that I really do understand them and I really am on their side).

I don't always get it right by any stretch of the imagination. But I do get it right often enough, and with enough people that I've been able to build a “following” of sorts.

I've also learned what people who need my services actually search for on the web.

I've learned that there are two primary sort of searches. People who have a problem or opportunity I can help with usually start out searching for useful information they can use to help them. Then eventually, they may come to search for people they can hire or services they can buy.

It would be nice if everyone came looking for help. But in reality, the vast majority of searches are for information. Where most consulting and coaching websites go wrong is that they try to sell to people. They talk about how brilliant the consultant is, what fantastic benefits the services will deliver, and how great everyone says they are.

That's great stuff – and you need those pages for the much smaller number of people who come looking for someone to help. But if you want to be really successful on the web you need to have content to attract and engage with the far greater number of people who are in the earlier stage of looking for valuable information.

Catch them early with blog posts, articles, videos and other resources which establish you as an authority in your field and you're positioning yourself to be the person they turn to when they decide they need help.

To do this you need to continually research what people are looking for on the web in your field – and to be able to distinguish between the searches that lead to winning business and those that don't.

Of course, if you want to get those searchers to your site, you need to know how to get traffic.

There are lots of different ways to get traffic to your website – from paying for it through pay-per-click and banner advertising, to getting to the top of google's search results, through to getting traffic from other related websites or social media.

All of these strategies take work. From on-site optimisation and link building to get traffic from google, to writing compelling pay-per-click ads and landing pages, to forming alliances for guest blogging and article syndication.

Your best bet is to master one or two strategies. I get most of my traffic from search engines – but also know how to boost it via social media and guest blogging. Getting traffic is the “grind” of succeeding online. It almost always requires a lot of work – though once you know what you're doing, much of it can be outsourced quite cheaply.

But I've also learned that getting people to your website is not enough.

It's great to get lots of visitors and to be at the top of the google search results for lots of keyword phrases. But since most visitors won't be ready to buy when they first visit my site, I need some way of connecting with them so that I can keep in touch and initiate more direct communication.

If you want to succeed online you can't rely on clients remembering to come back to your website.

Some people use social networks: Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter as a way of interacting more directly with potential clients.

Personally, I use good old email.

Potential clients who sign up for my free video training course get a weekly “Insider Strategies” email from me with useful articles and tips on how to get more clients. It ensures I stay top of mind without them having to remember to come back to my site.

I've found it's vital to create the right impression with your website.

Your website needs to get across to potential clients who you are and what you'd be like to work with. I still see consultants websites these days with no About page, or just a generic description of the company. These days people want to know more about who they'll be dealing with. We like to see behind the scenes and get suspicious of businesses who don't “open their kimono” and share more information about who they are.

And these days, your website must look professional too. It doesn't have to be too slick with all sorts of clever graphics and animation. My site here is fairly simple in design.

But it must look professional. Clients make judgements about your professionalism based on what they see of your site. If it's ugly, difficult to use, and has errors on it (or even spelling mistakes) – they'll assume you won't be professional in your work with them.

Finally – and most importantly of all – I've learned you must take control of your website in your own hands.

That doesn't mean you have to do it all yourself (although these days it's pretty simple to do so).

But it does mean you have to understand it.

If you're hiring people to develop your website for you and to optimize it to get traffic, you must be able to know if they're doing a good job.

I've heard horror stories of consultants recently shelling out 5 figure sums for basic websites that have done nothing to help their bottom line.

You can't let that happen to you. You must understand the basic principles of succeeding online to make sure that whoever you hire is doing the right things to help you get clients.

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Mindset

Hustle, Hustle, Hustle

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 17th, 2010.

In my experience, the people who succeed at business development are not necessarily the ones who are the best at it. They're the ones who are the busiest at it.

They're not the people with the greatest skills. They're the people with the most “hustle”.

I'd like you to do a little exercise for me, right now.

Really simple. Will only take 2 minutes.

First – write down what your top 3 sources of new clients are. It could be referrals, your website, networking, giving presentations – whatever.

Then for each of those methods – write down when you last did whatever it is. The last time you went networking, wrote an article for your website, asked for a referral.

If it's not within the last few days then the chances are you're not busy enough at business development.

In my experience, the people who get the most business from networking aren't the people who are the best at it in the technical sense. They're the people who do it the most.

The people who get the most clients from seminars? The people who run the most.

The people who get the most clients from referrals? The people who ask the most.

The people who get the most business from their website? Well, you see where I'm going.

So ask yourself seriously – how busy are you at business development? How much hustle are you putting into it.

I see far too many people “waiting” for something to drop. They put some feelers out, do a little networking, speak to a few people.

Then wait.

Don't wait.

If you're not busy with client work – do something.

I found myself falling into this trap myself recently. I read a few articles on the web about how to get clients online and kept thinking to myself “I could do better than that”.

But of course, what I should have asked myself (and thankfully eventually did) was “why haven't I done better than that?”. Why don't I get off my backside and get some better articles written, published and attracting traffic for me.

Instead of looking at others succeeding and thinking you COULD do better. Get out there and DO better.

Hustle, Hustle, Hustle.

——

Photo by Steve Edgeworth

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Marketing

Getting Your Marketing Done: Top Tips to Get Results

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 17th, 2010.

All the great marketing plans in the world mean nothing if you don't get them implemented.

And I must admit, this is the area I'm personally the weakest at. I get my kicks from thinking: innovating or solving problems. It's probably what makes me quite a good consultant.

But I'm not so good at actually implementing my ideas myself. I just don't find that quite as exciting.

And my experience from working with hundreds of consultants, coaches and other professionals over the years is that I'm not alone.

It seems endemic that we prefer the intellectual to the practical or relationship sides of business.

So if like me, you're in that camp then the following implementation tips that I've picked up over the years may help you. They've made me vastly more effective at getting things done and getting results than I used to be.

The first tip is simple, but not often followed: don't attempt too much at once.

In previous posts, I've talked about planning your major lead generation campaigns. For an individual, my experience is that it's difficult to manage more than 3 or 4 such initiatives in a year.

And it's usually best to implement them sequentially rather than in parallel. When we multi-task we think we're achieving more, but we rarely give enough focus to each individual task to do it excellently.

And if you think about it logically, given we all have limited time, if you do 4 things in parallel it's going to take you 4 times as long to complete those tasks.

And since you usually don't see any results until you've finished – it means you don't get any results until right at the end.

But if you do each task at a time, you get the first one finished in a quarter the time and you start getting results straight away. Then you do the next and start getting results from that, etc.

Of course, it's not quite as simple as that – but it's not far off.

So focus on one important initiative at a time – hold back on your excitement and enthusiasm to work on them all at once.

Next, don't try for perfection initially. Don't spend ages trying to get your talk absolutely perfect, or your 2-minute introduction for networking, or your article or brochure. Once you're 70 or 80% there, start using it.

That last 20-30% will take ages – and you'll never get it right. The only way to get your marketing right is to test it in the real world and see how people react – then refine it.

I remember very clearly how I spend an absolute age perfecting the way I was going to introduce myself when I went networking.

At the first event where I used my clever introduction, I thought I'd done a great job with the group I introduced myself to. All according to plan. Then a new person joined the group and asked me what I did.

Slightly flustered I kind of stumbled over my introduction and got it much less than word perfect.

But the comment I got from another member of the original group was very revealing: “Oh, that sounded much less scripted” he said. “And I think I actually know what you do now”.

Oops. My attempts to get something perfect had led me astray.

So just get something good, not perfect. Then refine it in the real world based on feedback. Remember – imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time.

Next create action habits. What I mean by this is get into a regular routine of doing things which drive action. It's a bit like going to the gym first thing every morning so it becomes an ingrained habit.

In my case, I find that if I review my project plans every Monday morning and transfer the key upcoming activities either to my schedule (if they're going to take more than about 15 mins) or to my To-Do list – then it gets them prioritised and more likely to happen. I try to get every major activity actually scheduled so that it doesn't get pushed aside by busywork.

Then every morning I check my schedule and To-Do list and I'm off with a clear plan for the day.

Doing this doesn't just help me get organised – it reminds me of all the important activities I have to do and puts a little hustle into my day.

I find that if I don't do this I have a tendency to “goof off” in-between tasks, not realising just how much I have on my plate.

Of course, this particular routine might not work for you. Find your own routine that gets you moving – and make it a habit.

Finally, make commitments. For things which I know I need to do but don't particularly enjoy I'll force myself into action by making a commitment to it.

For example, I'll tell Kathy I'm going to write an article and ask her to ask me about progress at the end of the day. Or when I do the first blog post or email in a series I mention what's coming next so people are expecting it. These external commitments help to keep me on track.

Whatever you do…

…make sure you do something.

My experience is that the people who are the most successful at marketing and business development are simply the ones who do it the most.

Marketing is all about action. Yes, you must do some solid thinking in advance of course. But without action, there are no results.

Don't be the person who sits back and watches others thinking “I could do better than that”. Go out and actually do better.

PS – to put a little oomph into your marketing and get practical support for doing it, rather than just learning it – check out the details of Momentum Club by clicking the link below.

Get Your 7-Day FREE Trial of Momentum Club Here(Just $97 per month after the 7-Day Trial)

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Selling

How To Differentiate Yourself When You’re Selling

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 9th, 2010.

We talk a lot about differentiation in marketing. Differentiation is something that sets us apart. Unique attributes of our services that are valued by our clients but that can't be easily reproduced by our competitors.

At it's simplest level, it could be a service we can deliver that no one else can. Or perhaps we specialise in working with a particular sector so we have more experience and knowledge in that field.

Differentiation in marketing can make us the obvious “go to” person for a client who recognises they need our unique skills and capabilities.

We talk much less about differentiation in selling however. But it's just as important.

If we're face to face with a client trying to persuade them to choose us over a competitor then unless we're different in some way, the client will end up choosing on price.

Differentiation at this level is hard. By the time a client is talking to us face to face they've already discarded the firms and individuals who aren't specialised in their sector (if that's important to them) or who don't deliver the services they're looking for.

At this stage, the short list almost always comprises firms who can perfectly well help them address their problems or opportunities (or at least claim they can). They might do it in a different way to us. But at the end of the day, it's highly likely that they'll claim they can achieve the same end results.

If a client says they want to reduce their indirect procurement costs by 20% – all the consultants pitching to them will say that's what they'll deliver.

If a client says they want a smooth divorce that doesn't impact the kids, all the lawyers will say that's what they'll deliver.

If a client says they want their accounts done quickly and efficiently with minimum hassle – then pretty much every accountant they speak to will say that's exactly what they'll do.

And if everyone is saying they'll do the same thing – then the only thing that sets them apart in the client's mind is their price, right?

That's not good. Certainly not if, like me, you price at a premium because you believe you deliver a premium service.

So when it comes down to the crunch. When you're sitting 1-1 with a client and discussing what you'll do for them, how on earth do you differentiate yourself?

Well, the first thing you need to accept is that simply identifying the client's needs and then telling them you'll address them isn't enough. Everyone will do that.

Here are some ways you can differentiate yourself in these competitive selling situations:

The “Safe Pair of Hands” Strategy

You may all promise you'll deliver what the client wants. But from the client's perspective, there can be major differences in how confident they are that you'll make good on that promise. If you're able to prove through testimonials, references, or just how much you seem to understand their situation, then they'll feel more confident that you'll be able to deliver what they want. And so they'll pick you rather than selecting on price.

The “Relationship” Strategy

People choose to work with people they like and trust. They won't pick you if they don't think you can do the job. But once you've proven that, then they'll almost always choose someone they like and feel they can partner with over someone they don't.

The “Change the Game” Strategy

When you're interacting with a potential client and talking about their needs – if you can identify problems or opportunities that they haven't thought of themselves – then you can mark yourself out as being different. The quality of your diagnosis immediately marks you out as being an expert – and (rather fortuitously) can prompt the client to question the abilities of your competitors who didn't highlight these new ideas.

It can be a risky strategy if the client has fixed ideas about what they need and doesn't want to be challenged. But it can be a particularly powerful way of pulling the rug from under entrenched incumbents who have better relationships than you and are seen as safer pairs of hands.

What's Your Strategy?

These aren't the only strategies you can use in sales situations – but they're good ones. Ones which I've seen work time and time again.

Whenever you're in a competitive selling situation you absolutely must have a differentiation strategy in place. Just diagnosing the client's needs and saying you'll meet them is not enough. That's the baseline – everyone will do that.

Unless you want to end up competing on price you must have a compelling reason why they should choose you. It might be different for every client – but you need one for every client. And that means in every competitive sales situation you've got to put the time and effort into developing it.

So for those upcoming bids, pitches and sales meetings you've got: what's your strategy?

———-

Image by Foto43

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Marketing

Two Simple Steps to the Greatest Marketing in History

Posted by

Ian Brodie on November 28th, 2010.

Bold claim, I know. But I believe it.

Step 1: Listen to this. Listen carefully, it's the lyrics I want you to get.

Don't skip ahead. Don't go any further until you've properly listened.

Step 2: Translate to your own business.

That's it.

OK – I'm sure you're ahead of me already, but let's play with this and look at some of the lyrics.

And there he was, this young boy
A stranger to my eyes
Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
I felt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud.

What would happen if when clients and prospects heard you present, or read your marketing materials or your blog – what would happen if they felt like that?

What would it mean if they felt you were strumming their pain and singing their life?

If they felt you'd found their letters and read each one out loud?

My guess is that you'd never have to worry about getting more clients.

My guess is that you'd be the person they'd most want to work with.

Because no matter how much we like to think clients are hiring our expertise, our intellect, our experience – what they want most of all is someone who deeply understands them.

So here's the big question: how can you get there?

What can you do to “get inside your client's heads” – no, scratch that, what can you do to “get inside your client's hearts“?

Because if you can do that, and if you can communicate that, then the battle is almost won.

Ian

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Marketing

Do you really need a USP?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on November 27th, 2010.

If you've been the recipient of any marketing advice over the last decade or so you'll no doubt have been told that you can't possibly succeed without defining your “Unique Selling Proposition”.

The concept was pioneered by advertising legend Rosser Reeves in the 1940s. Reeves' belief was that each advert should have a USP which:

Highlighted a specific and real benefit to the consumer of buying the product
Was one the competition could not or did not have
Was so strong it could “move the masses” to buy your product

There's a lot to like about this concept. It can be a powerful and succinct way of communicating with your clients – but unfortunately, since Reeves' day it's been mangled and misapplied repeatedly.

Note the order in which Reeves describes his points – start with benefits, then uniqueness.

Unfortunately, the very phrase “Unique Selling Proposition” tends to lead people to start off thinking internally about what's unique about them rather than thinking externally about the value or benefit they bring to clients.

If you start by focusing on what's different about you, you frequently end up with a proposition that just doesn't resonate with clients. There probably aren't many lawyers who wear clown suits – but I wouldn't recommend it as a USP.

For that reason, I sometimes prefer the phrase Value Proposition to USP. It forces you to think first about the value you bring – and then second about how it's different to what others do.

Being able to articulate the value your services bring is particularly important when that value is intangible.

If you help clients with leadership or team building or anything where there’s not an immediate dollar value associated with the results you get for them, then you need to find a way of making that value more tangible and visible. Because at the end of the day no matter how enthusiastic your client is to work with you, when they have to go and get the budget and compete against all the other people looking to spend that same pot of money, they need a really strong business case for why they should be spending it with you.

The first step in developing a powerful value proposition is to review your insights from your ideal client persona to identify their biggest problems, challenges, goals and aspirations that you can help them with. Choose the ones with the greatest financial and strategic impact.

If you end up with a long list, narrow it down to the ones where what you deliver is the most different to what your competitors offer. If needed you can do a simple rating of the value of each area and how different it is on a scale of 1-5 and select the highest scoring ones to explore further.

As you do this, remember that in order to win clients, you don't have to be completely unique and the only person in the world doing something. You just have to be unique in the eyes of your potential client.

In other words you have to be different to the other potential suppliers they're considering, not everyone else in the world. If you're a coach who works with small businesses based in Manchester, it really doesn't matter that another coach in New York does something similar to you. What matters is that you're different and add more value than the other coaches your client is considering in Manchester.

Next, you need to articulate your value in a way that's instantly clear to potential clients.

A good way to do this is to try to put your value into a series of value proposition templates:

I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] (or I help [target clients] [solve unwanted problem])
I help [target clients] get [functional value] which results in [bottom line/emotional value]
I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] without [undesired side effect]
I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] even if [typical objection]
I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] with [additional benefit]
I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] in [specific timeframe]
I help [target clients] get [desired outcome] using [unique approach]
The only [unique difference/outcome] designed specifically for [target clients]

The first template is one you'd use in a relatively new or immature market where clients know they have a problem they want to get rid of or an outcome they want to achieve, but there aren't a lot of alternative solutions for them available in the marketplace.

In that case, just telling them you can solve their problem is enough. If you have an issue that's causing a lot of pain but you've never heard anyone offer a solution before it's a huge relief when someone says they can help with your specific problem and you tend not to need a lot more persuading.

More usually though, there will already be people offering to help them with that problem. So you need to offer a solution they see as a better fit for them.

That might be a solution without some of the undesired side effects that normally go with it (e.g. “more sales without becoming a pushy salesperson”) or a solution that addresses some of the common objections your ideal clients have (e.g. “build your own website even if you can barely use Microsoft Word”).

Or it might be they get additional benefits from your particular service, or you get them those benefits in a specific timeframe or with a guarantee, etc.

Use the templates as starting points and triggers for your thinking – not a straightjacket. And get your ideas out on paper first before worrying about wordsmithing them. Once you've identified a value proposition statement that feels the most attractive to potential clients you can strengthen it by making it more specific, succinct and memorable.

In practice, you won't necessarily use the “I help…” format everywhere. It's just a good way of starting your thinking.

On your website home page, you'll probably want to word your value proposition more in terms of what your clients will get. For example “Rapid Sales Growth for Software Startups”.

In that case, you might use “I help software startups grow their sales quickly” in your Linkedin profile or on your About page. But on your home page, you want to make it more about them than you and use the “Rapid Sales Growth for Software Startups” version.

Follow this simple process and you should end up with a solid Value Proposition.

And if you want in-depth training and direct help to do this, Creating a Powerful Value Proposition, is one of the core modules in my Momentum Club Rapid Results Program. If you'd like to start getting better results from your marketing and business development then you can find out more by clicking the button below:

Find out more about the Momentum Club 7-Day FREE Trial

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News

Don't Vote For Me

Posted by

Ian Brodie on November 25th, 2010.

I was honoured recently to find out I'd been nominated for the “Top Sales Blog of 2010” award.

And I do mean honoured. The awards are run by Jonathan Farrington who I have the utmost respect for. In the field of sales, Jonathan is one of the elder statesmen. A gentleman and a hugely knowledgeable authority.

And the nominations were based on an entirely objective formula – looking at the popularity and google ranking of the blogs (I think I came in at #6 globally).

But here's the thing: the final decision is made by internet voting.

*** UPDATE *** Jonathan's just told me that the vote only counts for 50% of the result. The rest comes from a panel of judges

We do all know that anything decided by internet voting is bullshit, don't we?

Who wins in an internet vote?

Either someone who's popular, or someone who knows how to game the system.

It's incredibly easy to fix internet voting. If you have lots of website visitors or social media followers – ask them to vote for you.

If you're smart and you think the PR will help, hire some folks in a third world country to vote for you. Or do it yourself through an IP proxy, if you've got too much time on your hands.

Currently I'm at #2 in the voting for Sales Blog of 2010. Is it because I have the best or second best sales blog?

No. It's because I'm popular. I have a lot of Twitter followers and I shamelessly asked them to vote for me here.

Anthony Iannorino is number one. I guess he did something similar. We're miles ahead of anyone else.

So here what I'm going to ask you to do. I'm going to break with years of tradition and buck all the “rules”.

What I'd like you to do is go to the site with the list of all the blogs here.

And I'd like you to actually read them all.

Rather than voting for me ‘cos you like me, I'd like you to actually read the blogs. They're all excellent. They're all full of great ideas and tips which could really help you.

Rather than treating this as an opportunity to vote for someone you like (that would be me) – I'd like you to treat this as an opportunity to explore the best of the best. Learn something valuable. Then vote for the one you think is the best – not the person you're the most friendly with.

Now, of course, here's the $50,000 question: who would I vote for? And who do I reccomend you vote for?

Well, personally, I'd vote for Charlie Green's blog.

You may know Charlie as the author of the Trusted Advisor and Trust Based Selling.

Here's the thing: all the rest of us write great stuff. Really valuable hints and tips. Articles that can radically improve your results at selling.

But Charlie writes the only blog that can change your life. He writes about trust and what it means to us, our clients, our families, our life.

Out of all of us, it's Charlie who's really making a difference – not just helping people get a bit better.

Out of all of us, it's Charlie who's driving for that deeper understanding and meaning.

Out of all of us, he's the one who's going to change the world for the better.

Vote for Charlie.

*** UPDATE *** Hey, judges – you vote for Charlie too.

Featured

Mindset

Overcoming Procrastination

Posted by

Ian Brodie on November 24th, 2010.

A slightly off-topic post, but one that should be highly relevant to most professionals: overcoming procrastination.

Since most professionals have a high degree of control over their activities and schedules, they very often fall victim to procrastination.

Last night I read an excellent article in the New Yorker reviewing a collection of essays on procrastination – and how to overcome it.

The good thing about the book is that it presents a variety of different viewpoints on procrastination (rather than one dogmatic view) and hence offers a range of potential solutions.

Here's a quick summary of some of the major viewpoints and my experience and ideas on how to use each one to overcome your own procrastination.

Viewpoint: Procrastination happens when you're overwhelmed. You have so much on your plate that doing any specific task doesn't seem like it will help – so you put off the tasks and do something trivial instead.

Idea: Take a radical review of your tasks and cut out those that aren't absolutely essential. get down to a psychologically manageable task list. And in future, only take on essential jobs.

Viewpoint: You procrastinate with something if subconsciously you don't think it's worthwhile.

Idea: Sometimes your subconscious is right. If there's a particular task you're avoiding, take a good look at whether it really is worth doing.

Viewpoint: You procrastinate when you don't realise the full impact of doing so. In other words, if you realised how much damage you're really doing by avoiding the task, you'd get on and do it.

Idea: Make sure that before adding tasks to your “to do” list you've properly assessed what you're required to do and the impact of doing/not doing it. Often I find that I'll write down actions but not really think them through and so I don't realise what impact delaying them has. Make sure you break down big tasks into concrete steps – it's much easier to procrastinate big, fuzzy things than specific actions. Probably also a good idea to remind yourself of the impacts on a regular basis too when reviewing your to-do list.

Viewpoint: Procrastination is a natural condition that's almost impossible to overcoming using your own willpower.

idea: Use external rules and help to get you to stay on track. Create deadlines and commit to them publicly. Find an accountability partner who you can discuss progress with your goals with. Join a mastermind group who will support you (this has really worked for me in the past). Block yourself from distractions (head to a room with no TV, use Freedom to block the internet etc.)

My take is that there's not one simple cause of procrastination – so there's not one best way to beat it. But by looking at some of the different ideas above you should be able to find something that helps you.

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