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What’s your model?

Posted byIan Brodie on June 15th, 2014.

Do you have a model?

What I mean by that is some kind of framework or methodology or way of looking at the world that you share with your clients that helps them make sense of the problems they're facing or the goals they're trying to achieve.

My models are things like Client Flow and Customer Insight Mapping.

Michael Porter is famous for his Value Chain and 5 Forces models. Tom Peters and Bob Waterman launched their careers by creating McKinsey's 7S model. You've probably used stuff like AIDA or the concept of a USP yourself. Or SPIN for selling or BANT for qualifying prospects.

Good models help simplify the world and guide action. And they show you know what you're talking about.

There are hundreds of books and thousands of blogs and articles on most topics. It's often claimed that if you want to become known as a “go to expert” you should add to that mass of information by writing articles and books yourself.

But for me, your first step should be to develop valuable ideas and concepts and turn them into a model people can use.

Writing articles and books without this just adds to the noise. Creating a valuable model that triggers “lightbulb moments” with your readers positions you as an expert.

If you don't have your own model, concept or methodology then you might want to start working on one. Like me, you might also find it helps you understand and teach your topic better too.

Your model doesn't have to be rocket science. In fact it's often better if it's not. What you're really looking for is something simple.

It could be the steps in a process (e.g. Client Flow for winning clients or SPIN for selling).

Or a way of analysing the big factors in a tricky situation (Porter's 5 Forces for strategy, for example).

It could be a list of the key factors for success (like the Good To Great Input Principles or Covey's 7 Habits).

It could be a situational tool that suggests what to do (like the BCG Growth Share matrix or Blanchard's Situational Leadership model).

In each case, you start off with what feels like a complex situation, but you simplify it down to the salient factors to guide action.

What you're doing is taking the processing you normally do in your brain when you work on a client problem and bringing it out into the open (often improving it in the process).

You'll be surprised at how helpful this can be with your clients. And it makes your insights much easier for them to share and talk about.

Want to be known as an expert? Have a model.

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You DO have the time

Posted byIan Brodie on June 8th, 2014.

A bit of tough love this weekend, for you and me.

I bang on a lot in these emails and my blog about creating content. Articles, blog posts, emails, free reports, videos, podcasts. Stuff than gets your message out there, builds your credibility, and has a call to action for people to get more from you.

And pretty much everyone I speak to about it “gets it”. No one says “no, that'll never work Ian”.

But what many people struggle with, perhaps you too, is actually producing that content. Finding the time in their busy schedule to get their head clear and write or record.

I get it too. There are dozens of pieces of content I have on my to-do list that I just haven't found the time to create. It's tricky. There's always another priority. It's so difficult for a busy person to get that extra time to make content.

And you know what? That's a lie.

It's not so difficult. Not if you prioritise it. Not if you knuckle down and do it.

We tell ourselves it's difficult and make it OK to have those important tasks rolling over on our to-do lists for weeks and months.

But we can get this stuff done.

If we skip a bit of TV watching, social media time or something else we enjoy we can easily find the time. It's just that we subconsciously prioritise those other things more highly and tell ourselves the lie that we just can't find the time.

I was reflecting earlier today on how I made the audiobook version of Email Persuasion.

I did it all on a Sunday afternoon. It took me four hours.

I'd planned to do the first couple of chapters but I just kept going.

I skipped the usual trip I make out for a coffee on a Sunday. I skipped listening to the Sunday game and watching a bit of TV.

And I created an audiobook which I've been able to offer to people as a thank you for reviewing the book.

I've shared a number of tips on making extra time for marketing over the years in these emails and on my blog.

But really, my experience with the Audiobook shows that for me, and probably for you, the biggest thing we can do is decide we want to do it and give it priority.

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When a bird in the hand isn’t worth two in the bush

Posted byIan Brodie on June 1st, 2014.

You've probably heard that old saying before: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

Or as Hugh Rhodes originally wrote in The Boke of Nurture or Schoole of Good Maners in 1530, “A byrd in hand – is worth ten flye at large.”

And while it's true in most cases that it's better to focus on something you have with certainty rather than chasing things that might not come off, there are some important cases in marketing where the rule absolutely doesn't apply.

One of the questions I get asked most often by clients and subscribers is how I follow up on prospects that have gone quiet.

My answer usually surprises them: I don't. Not really.

I'll send one thing of value related to our discussion. Then one “seems like priorities have changed, call me if you want to progress” message.

And, of course, if they're email subscribers they'll get regular emails from me.

But I won't chase.

Over the years I've found chasing to be a huge pain with very little payoff. Sometimes it works. But overall you're much better devoting your energies to finding more prospects who are motivated to get going. Who get back to you on time.

So in this case, a bird in the hand definitely isn't better than two in the bush. Especially if the bird in your hand is dead. (Or to pre-empt the Monty Python references, if it's stunned or pining for the fjords).

“Now that's all well and good Ian” you might be thinking. “But that only works if you've got plenty of other prospects to work with”.

And that's absolutely true. If that prospect who didn't get back to you is the only one you've spoken to for months then you're kinda stuck. You have no option other than to desperately chase.

That's one of the reasons why being able to generate a steady flow of leads for your business is so vital.

It eliminates the peaks and troughs from your business. Allows you to select the very best prospects to work with. And means you never have to chase.

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Systems beat events online – hands down

Posted byIan Brodie on May 25th, 2014.

I spent some time with a friend this week who is a world-class business developer “offline” but who hasn't managed to make an impact online (despite spending a small fortune trying to do so).

He's got some brilliant online courses too. More than just the usual slides and audio, but live training with exercises, online quizzes, all sorts.

He just hasn't sold many of them.

The problem is that he's a bit of a “seat of the pants” person.

He's great live. Huge personality, loads of people love him. And because he's smart and hardworking he make time to follow up with key prospects.

But he's not a great systems guy. He thinks in terms of presentations and meetings and calls. Each one is a one-off event.

What he doesn't do is think of the big picture. How leads flow into a pool of prospects you then nurture and make offers to. And how you can tweak each stage to get more leads, more conversion into prospects, more conversion into clients.

Over the years my business has become more and more online focused and I think it's this ability to think in systems terms rather than seeing everything as a one-off event that has stood me in good stead.

Not that I'd say I'm a natural. It took a long time with a whiteboard and pen (and most importantly a whiteboard eraser) to figure out and simplify how the pieces fit together best.

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How NOT to use Linkedin

Posted byIan Brodie on May 18th, 2014.

Linkedin is a great tool for professionals with lots of useful features for finding new high potential people to connect with. You can use searches, check the contact lists of the people you know well, or monitor activity on the “newsfeed”.

But when you do identify someone you'd like to connect when, my advice is DON'T use Linkedin's “connect” button.

It sends a hugely impersonal message asking your common contacts to connect you by pushing some buttons and sending on a cover note to your connection requests. Something they're probably unfamiliar with and so not 100% comfortable doing.

The standard connection request doesn't give you a chance to ask if they know them well and how they know them. It doesn't let you say why you want to connect or what value you'd bring to the connection.

Much better to actually phone your contact up and have a discussion. Or email them.

Ask how well they know this person you'd like to connect to. Tell them why you'd like to connect and how the other person would benefit. Ask their advice: “if you were me how would you go about connecting with them?”.

You're much more likely to get a result than sending a bog-standard connection request.

Funny story by the way: Linkedin seem to have changed the way the button works. It used to go to a second page with options. Now there's a drop down next to it and the button immediately sends the connection request with no tailoring.

Anyway, I was showing some clients a few tips on Linkedin at a training course. You can probably guess where this is going…

I showed them how to use the advanced search to find high potential contacts to connect with and then said “whatever you do, don't just hit this connect button….” just as I hit the connect button. And instead of going to a second page that I could quit from as expected, I got a little message saying my connection request had been sent.

I have to admit, a swear word came shooting out of my mouth. Luckily the client is a fun crowd and they just laughed rather than being offended.

I quickly shot off apology messages to the chief executive, managing partner and fellow consultants the message went to and thankfully they had a laugh about it.

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Follow up wisdom hiding in plain sight

Posted byIan Brodie on May 11th, 2014.

I was asked to join a panel on a webinar last week to discuss “whether sales should follow up content marketing”.

There were a lot of strong feelings. Panellists reported feeling hassled and “spammed” when business called them after downloading a whitepaper or signing up for reports.

And many businesses struggle to know how to follow up appropriately once they've made first contact. “Am I being too pushy? Am I following up fast enough?”.

Here's the answer hiding in plain sight: let your potential clients tell you themselves what's appropriate.

I don't mean just ask them outright. They probably won't know. I mean let their actions tell you.

Whenever someone signs up for my regular emails they usually fall into two camps. One group is ready to take action straight away, the other (usually larger group) needs some warming up.

So I send helpful emails with useful information to build credibility and trust. But I mix in emails that ask questions or offer something for them to do like watch a video or complete a survey.

Who should I focus my personal follow-up on? It's the people that take actions that show they're the most interested. The ones who watch the videos straight away or hit reply and ask me questions or give feedback.

I don't ignore the others. They keep getting my regular emails and I hope they find them useful. I've learned that at some point something will happen and many of them will get more active and I'll pick it up then.

You can do the same no matter how you interact with potential clients. Keep a regular “drip feed” of valuable communications going: invite them to events, mail them useful articles, invite them for coffee. Make sure you can see when they take action and if they do, increase the follow-up.

That way you'll get your follow up right. Fast and frequent for the ones that want it. Regular and value-added for those who aren't ready yet.

And it's effective follow-up that wins clients.

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Bad advice that makes me mad

Posted byIan Brodie on May 4th, 2014.

These days I get increasingly frustrated at the growing wave of advice for professionals saying you need to become seen as an expert in your field.

Not that there's anything wrong with becoming seen as an expert, it's something I often advise myself (though it's far from the only way to succeed, and it's not suited to everyone).

What's getting me worked up is that all the advice on how to do it seems to be missing the point about what it really takes to become seen as an expert.

I've read article after article and a bunch of books which all essentially say “write articles, publish a book, do videos, webinars, podcasts”.

And yes, if you want to be seen as an expert you absolutely have to get your message out to people.

But the problem is that literally millions of people are out there writing articles, publishing books, doing videos, webinars and podcasts.

And almost none of them are seen as experts in their field.

The point isn't that you publish. That's a given.

The point is that you have to have something new to say. Something that resonates with your target audience. Something insightful that gives them a new perspective and helps them do something they couldn't before. Something that simplifies the complex or clears up the fog.

We don't see Seth Godin as an expert because he's written lots of books. It's because his books have great ideas in them.

We don't see Michael Porter as a leader in the field of strategy because he wrote a couple of books. Lord knows how many wannabe strategy experts have written a couple of books. We see Porter as a leader because his 5 Forces and Value Chain models brought new insights and a new way of thinking when they were published. And they've become staples of pretty much every strategy analysis ever since.

So of course, we need to know the mechanics of how to get published, to write blog posts, to do podcasts and videos in just the same way that a great vineyard needs to know how to get its wine out to its customers. But it's not the distribution system that makes a wine or an expert great. It's what's in the bottle or article or video or book.

Far too much of what passes for content marketing is simply common knowledge regurgitated.

If you want to become known as an expert, your most important task is to create ideas and insights that are both valuable to your clients and genuinely different to what everyone else is saying. Focus on that first, then worry about how to get it out to the world.

Focus on that and you'll be doing both yourself and your audience a favour.