Is Sales a Part of Marketing?

Feb 242013
 

Recently I had a conversation with a friend about sales and marketing. He said they are separate and I said that sales is another part of marketing (like market research is).

I’d like to clarify my beliefs. If you draw a “marketing funnel” then every marketing activity you do to get prospects is at the top or widest part of the funnel.

As you proceed down the funnel it  gets narrower and you keep marketing.

Then you get to the narrow part of the funnel (see in my diagram I’ve drawn a line there). You’re now meeting the prospect face to face .. or these days by phone or skype or online … and when you “close the deal”, they become a client (at the bottom of the funnel).

Then you go back to the funnel and repeat your marketing activities.

I know that you don’t use the same activities to sell as you do to market. I agree that they should be taught as two topics – but I still believe that sales is in the marketing funnel.

 

That’s my opinion. Tell me yours

6 Ways Offline and Online Marketing Are Different

Feb 062013
 

The world is always changing and we in business must keep up if we want to be successful (no matter how we define success for us).

Technology has REALLY changed. I remember (I’m 62 now in 2013) co-owning one of the first Apple computer dealerships in Toronto in the 1980s and a conference company in the 1990s where we held events for people who used what were then called hand-held computers (PDAs). I’ve always been at the “bleeding edge” of technology (just before the “leading edge” which means always being in the red and not making money but always the first to know about things).

We had/ were:

  • one of the first fax machines (in 1984 as big as a small photocopier but since very few others had one there were few  to send things to)
  • one of the first cell phones (in 1985 the battery for this was the size of a car battery and the handset like that of an “older” phone)
  • one of the first to use the internet to market with our “email blasts” in the conference business in1995 which were “fax blasts” using email addresses (some people had email addresses but most companies didn’t have websites yet)

Times continued to evolve and with this came what was in 1984 a revolution (we even produced a print booklet called A Revolution in the Making which in 1984 took 6 weeks to produce even though we had the latest desktop publishing software at that time) that caused all of us to transform ourselves and our thinking.

  In fact my nephew who is 22 now and studying at Ryerson University and producing art (by paint and on computer, films on his Macintosh and photos with his digital camera) is a great testament to this transformation. He is of the generation who grew up with and used all technology. He even had access to my brother’s Macintosh when he was a baby.  (From left to right: my brother Phil, his son Jake who I wrote about here and my other nephew Josh who’s 30 now and has been using computers since he was 4 and has been in the computer business since he was 17. He’s now 32!)

But I digress :-)

There are at least 6 ways in which online marketing is different from offline marketing.
One just needs a computer, a hookup to the Internet and a browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer.

  1. Speed  One can do EVERYTHING faster. Once you have set yourself up, just input some data and you can send it at the “touch of a finger”.
  2. Cost  EVERYTHING costs less or is free (do you know of the book   Free: The Future Of A Radical Price )   – audio and video production and even payment processing.
  3. Reach  One can connect (for free) with many contacts both locally and globally.
  4. Measurement & Tracking  One can easily get access to key metrics with ad trackers, newsletter openings, website analytics etc.
  5. Easy to do marketing   One can “do it yourself” (if you’re not a technophobe AND have the time).
  6. “Abundant”  information at your fingertips  With most search engines like google or Ask one can search for and find anything – anywhere in the world. (Remember that this info has the caveat of buyer beware as does any info you find online)

How has this blog post made you think – whether you use technology a lot or you’re a  “technophobe” who didn’t grow up with technology?

Here is access to the other post I wrote  14 Ways Offline and Online Marketing Are The Same

Compare the two and tell me what you think. I’m VERY interested in what everyone has to say!

How to use mindmapping to plan

Feb 012013
 

Mindmapping is a visual way to do a number of different things including planning what you want to accomplish in your business this year or what you have to do in a new website or to take notes.

I was first introduced to it by my friend and colleague Aletta de Wal “way back” in the late 1980s. She now runs  Artist Career Training . She uses it all the time and for everything including note taking on coaching calls with her clients. I’ve used it myself for planning and now that I can only use the computer in order to write, I use the Tony Buzan software.

As Aletta says “… Adapt your recordkeeping to the way that you think, instead of cramping your style. This visual note-taking and brainstorming method is a fun, easy way to get your thoughts out of your head and on paper.” She just interviewed Chris Welsh of Mastery of Learning who she introduced me to 20 years ago and they talked about “ideamapping” and how he uses it. You can find that interview here.

Tony Buzan is known as the originator of mindmapping and as such is world renowned and a respected authority on it.

Wikipedia lists some of the things you can use mindmapping to do.

  • problem solving
  • outline/framework design
  • structure/relationship representations
  • marriage of words and visuals
  • individual expression of creativity
  • condensing material into a concise and memorable format

Susan Gregory is a trainer and as a local Toronto person teaches productivity and thus mindmapping workshops and she adds to this list:

  • memory improvement
  • brainstorming
  • note tasking with clients or in meetings
  • organization of projects
  • writing blogs, articles and even books

Would you like to know how to use a visual method for your planning?  

Buzan suggests the following guidelines for creating mind maps:

  1. Start in the centre with one word and an image of the topic.
  2. Use multiple colors throughout the mind map for visual stimulation and to group things.
  3. Use images and symbols throughout your mind map.
  4. Use one keyword per line.
  5. Each word/image is best alone and sitting on its own line.
  6. The lines should be curved.
  7. The central lines are thicker from the centre and thinner as they radiate out.
  8. Make the lines the same length as the word/image they support.

If you’re looking for a non-linear approach to planning then mindmapping is for you.

How do YOU use mindmapping? Try it if you don’t yet and share your experience in a comment here. Remember to develop your own personal style.

Do Clients Feel A Strong Emotion When They Use Your Product or Service?

Jan 162013
 

Recently I went to see a movie alone. It wasn’t one I REALLY wanted to see but I wanted to get out of my place, be with people, have a coffee (there’s a cafe in my local theatre), and get “lost” for a couple of hours.

I had read the movie reviews of it and so thought I knew what I was going to see. It went along and I was enjoying myself but I wasn’t prepared for my feelings.

Near what I thought was the end there was a surprise. I felt sad at the time and happy at the very end. Happy AND sad — hmm – two very opposite emotions.

What I REALLY wasn’t prepared for was how strongly I felt each emotion. I stayed and watched the credits and thought about this and came up with this question — do people feel a “strong” emotion while using your product or experiencing your service? For example, we Apple computer users are often called “rabid fans”.

Do clients feel passionate about your product or service?

Marketing Tip: Ask your clients about their emotions when  using your product or service.

photo credit: craigCloutier via photopin cc
photo credit: craigCloutier via photopin cc

Marketing: What I learned at the bulk store

Jan 092013
 

For those who don’t go to a “bulk grocery store” you’d be surprised at what they sell there. They have the usual – nuts (did you know that here in Ontario if you buy the unsalted type there is no sales tax?), raisins, coffee beans, tea bags, flour, etc in bulk – but they have other groceries as well. Where I go they sell organic cereal and baking materials!

OK. My anecdote ….

Recently I got some things at the “Bulk Barn” – a chain in Toronto. I  had spent a bunch of money (as you do) and when I was at the checkout, the girl there gave me a gift certificate. I wasn’t expecting it and therefore didn’t spend/ buy accordingly – it was a surprise!

I knew it was to get me to come back (a type of marketing) but because I wasn’t expecting it, and the checkout person smiled as she gave it to me, it was a joy.

I smiled as I received it :-)

Do you give your customers gifts even if they have “strings” attached? This event made me think  about my own business and what I could give to my clients to get repeat business — or referrals — or even to  have clients remember me and talk about me.  HMMMM ….

What do you do to get your clients to keep coming back?

P.S. One Christmas my hairdresser gave me a gift certificate for a haircut at her shop. A very welcome surprise :-)

 photo credit: st_gleam via photopin cc

How to make your writing better

Nov 262012
 

writingSome people make their living writing like my colleagues Barb Sawyers and Suzan St Maur.  But most of us don’t. We either consider ourselves good writers or poor ones.

We also have many reasons not to write such as:

  • we’re not good at writing and don’t have the financial resources to pay for it
  • we’re too busy to write on social media like twitter, facebook and LinkedIn (and besides that’s not where our clients are)
  • we don’t need a blog (or we don’t have  .. time .. technical expertise .. money – pick a reason)
  • we don’t have the time or the writing ability to write the content for our website so we pay our web developer to do it

I could go on. All of the above are reasons it’s true but that’s all they are … just reasons.

We need to communicate with our clients and prospects. We need writing to do this.

Would you like to know how to change our “excuses” to possibilities?

You CAN do something about your writing and get better. Here’s how:

  • write more. “But I’m not a “good enough” writer”, you say. All the pros will tell you the same thing that if you want to become a better writer you have to write more. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect? We’re entrepreneurs. What do we do to reach our goals? Be focused.
  • write then before you “go live” somewhere with it, have someone edit it. I taught non-readers in the late 70s and one of the things I told them was to write whatever came into their minds then I would make it “look good”. It worked.
  • speak into a recorder then transcribe it. This is one of the tips that Suzan St Maur tells people.
  • “write like you talk” only better as the title of Barb Sawyer’s book suggest. I know that writing is a different skill than speaking but Barb tells you how.
  • learn about how to write. Take courses on writing, or free webinars, read books, and subscribe to writer’s newsletters. Both Barb and Suzan give lots of writing tips.

 

There are so many places you need to write nowadays. You have many places to write and therefore many opportunities. What have you done to be a better writer?

Boomers: It’s ok to run your small business slowly

Oct 102012
 

It was raining and that is what my taxi driver and I talked about. We discussed that whether it’s sunny, rainy, snowy or icy people drive as if it’s nice weather here in Toronto. We live in the biggest city in Canada and some people “forget” how to drive in rain or snow after a bout of “good weather”.

That made me think of speed. Do you “rush” your clients or do you really listen and go at THEIR speed?

This is another chance to not only live in the present but also to really listen to your clients. Listen to their words and their tone, look at their faces (if you can – email makes this difficult) and  take notice of the speed they use themselves and answer in your “slower” way.tortoise

Slow or fast?

Do you remember the story about the tortoise and the hare and how the tortoise won? The moral of that tale is that slow and steady wins the race. You don’t have to rush the way people who work in big businesses do or many young people can. Go at slow speed.

As a boomer you’ve already contributed a lot to society and you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone. Take your time. Run your business slowly. Do your marketing slowly. Having a lot of energy doesn’t mean you do things fast. If doing things slowly is one of your values promote it. Use it as one of the ways you’re different.

One of the people whose newsletter I get is Tad Hargrave of Marketing to Hippies. A great name, isn’t it? It’s very specific and tells what he does. I’m not a hippie and never was but I AM a boomer. He isn’t a boomer but he does think of himself as a hippie. He wrote a post on Slow Marketing. He writes for people who are healers, massage therapists and anyone who believes they shouldn’t charge a lot for their services.

But I thought as I read it that slow marketing is what boomers should do.

Examples …

Do you remember George Carlin the comedian’s comparison of the names of things in baseball and in football? “Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game. Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.” Baseball is slow and football is aggressive and fast. Which do you watch?

Another example. Do you prefer sailboats or powerboats? Sailing is slow and powerboating is fast. Hmmmm.

 

Is slow better than fast in business? My answer is that it depends but tell us what you think :-)

photo credit: laradanielle via photopin cc

Are you starting a business? Here’s how to use twitter

Oct 072012
 

twitterAre you starting a business or are you a boomer with a business who thinks twitter is only for young people and not only does it take too much time but you don’t understand how to use it. Don’t be afraid because here’s a step by step way with all you have to do for several weeks (or months) at the beginning.

Know who your client is. You hear this repeatedly for everything you do in business and it holds true here too. You must know who you want to attract before you begin anything.

Have a website. Most businesses in 2012 have a website so you can be found. Even if you don’t have any products (yet), your business is local or your business all comes from referrals you must be able to be found online.

Password. Choose one for use with twitter. You probably have passwords for several sites by now so write it down wherever you keep all your passwords.

Create your profile in twitter. What do want to be known for? Download a “friendly” picture of you. Twitter will size it to fit so choose a “headshot“. Remember to put your website in so that when people look at your profile they can click on the link to your website and learn more about you and what you do.

Spend 10 minutes a day. To start add the names of people you know in business and see if they’re on twitter. See who they follow. Look at the profiles of those they follow. If they fit your definition of your ideal client OR if they’re in the field you’re looking at then “follow” them.

All you have to do when you begin is retweet what others have written. Just choose the “right” people and “right” tweets.

Retweet. Read tweets written and then retweet those by people who have something that your “ideal clients” would be interested in. For example I retweet most things by Susan Ward who is @boostbiz in twitter because she is a web developer (and she did my website).

Eventually if you retweet somebody often enough they thank you by tweeting their thanks and list your twitter “handle” (it will be @thenameyouchose).

 

That’s all you have to do to start. Spend 10 minutes 5 days out of 7 and go on to twitter at different times of the day.

Tell me what accomplished the most for you and try this method and let me know if it works for you.

 

photo credit: Scott Beale via photopin cc

Networking: Why you shouldn’t expect business immediately

Oct 042012
 

networking groupAgain and again we’re told that in-person networking events are not just where you pass out your cards. You should “give before you get”. Get known by going often to the same group. Look people in the eyes and REALLY listen to them. Be memorable. Build relationships. Meet one on one for coffee.

I use the analogy of dating. You wouldn’t ask someone to marry you at your first meeting, would you? You’d meet for coffee or tea, then perhaps a movie or dinner several times.

I was reminded of how long it can take for someone to become a client at my own networking event. In my introduction of our speaker Manuela Gobbato I said that we had met at the Canadian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Executives (CAWEE) and she jumped in and said we’d met at a networking meeting of Women in a Home Office years ago when she was just starting her business and she’d remembered me ever since.

Arlette Garcia who was also there used to work at a design company and now has her own business. She and Manuela looked at each other and wondered where they’d met. After a bit of conversation they both remembered the other and plan to meet and perhaps do business.

Like the title says, it takes a long time sometimes and you shouldn’t expect business right away from networking. Be patient. Wait but find a way to keep in touch.

What have you used as a way to stay in touch with those you met at networking event?
photo credit: Peter Bromberg via photopin cc

3 Ways to train your clients

Sep 252012
 

Is faster better than slower? The advent of new technology has brought expectations of speed in everything. That’s not true. While the technology itself is faster everything shouldn’t be. Let me give you an example.

Assumption #1. Technology means faster
In the early 80s when personal computers were new most people assumed that because of technology their work would get done faster. I know firsthand what they thought because I taught our clients (I co-owned an Apple computer dealership in Toronto) how to use computers and their applications.

They were both right and wrong. While computers could do work faster than a human, a human took a lot of time to learn how to use a program.

By 1990 most companies had computers and the user’s learning curve was shorter. But now it took them time to develop a template.

Assumption #2 Learning slows you down
This is only partially right. Yes, learning slows you down at the beginning in order to do the work faster later. It’s like return on investment. Spend more now and get more later.

People eventually understood the two assumptions but like forgetting what it’s like to drive on snow and having to relearn it every winter, with the advent of voice mail and email and their speed they have forgotten what they learned about technology and its speed.

… This leads me to our topic about training clients ….

How to train your clients

Does it bother you when clients using email expect you to reply right away? Don’t they know that you’re working on something for another client just then? Aaargh!

You’ve probably unknowingly taught that you’d reply right away or that you work on weekends or late in the evening.

Here’s how to train clients so they have expectations that match yours.

#1. First meeting
You have a set of questions you ask clients in your first meeting. Conclude by asking them the best manner to communicate with them and then tell them the best way to communicate with you and even more important when you’ll get back to them. In summary tell clients how and when.

#2. Voicemail
Record a message which is very explicit about when you’ll get back to them. For example “This is Trudy of BoomerBizBuilder. Thanks for calling. I answer all calls within 2 business days and read my email at 9 am and 3 pm. Please help me by leaving your phone number. That will save me time looking it up. Thanks and I’ll speak with you soon.”

#3 Email
Email time and date stamps every message so you know when it was sent … and so do your clients. If you don’t want them to know you’re working at night or on the weekend type the reply whenever you can and save it as a Draft. It’ll be put automatically in the Drafts folder. Then send it during working hours.

Remember you can “train” your clients about communicating with you. Just be sure you do what you say :-)
Keep learning, and until next month’s newsletter :-)

Trudy Van Buskirk

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