Schoffner

Leverage to "Uplevel Your Business"

SInger and songwriter Christine Kane has carved out a niche as a coach for creatives. Her Wednesday teleclass, "Uplevel Your Business: The In's and Out's of Clients, Creativity and Cash," previewed the four-month program she's kicking off to bring clarity, action and a blueprint for living an empowered 2010 to business owners. Wednesday she shared five power sources for entrepreneurs and her stories of growth in each. 

One story surrounds the word "leverage." Kane told of arriving to do a show to find only 150 people, a half sold-out venue. A professional who would still give her best to her audience, she asked herself how to take where she was right then and lengthen out the end point. Call it leveraging, making lemonade out of lemons, maximizing an opportunity or indefatigable marketing. She thought about the women's seminars she was doing that she hadn't "put out there in a big way" and some other seminars she'd "done quietly." Kane decided to start connecting all the parts of her brand, her package and her creativity with those before her. These were people in the audience by choice; they had already "opted in" to a relationship with her.

So between numbers she told a couple of funny stories from a women's retreat and from creativity training she'd done for the CIA. "I just talked about that work with enthusiasm," said Kane, who gave energetic insights into her other talents as well as her soulful music. After the show, five women came forward and wanted to get information on her next retreat. Two people wanted to hire her to speak at their companies. The additional income: $18,000. The lesson in leveraging: priceless.

After listening to her free telesession, I'd say that lesson in leveraging was no one hit wonder. She gave a 75-minute sample of the savvy and business brain behind the songwriter to 1,000 people from her social network. By sharing insights and telling her stories as a creative and coach, she further built her brand and gave her audience something of value, as well as a choice in how to grow as creative entrepreneurs. The goal: entice up to 50 people to sign up. Yes, the word is "leverage." 

What can sharing on social media cost you?

Have you tried to attract business by using social media to tell about a successful project you completed for a noteworthy client? A LinkedIn user reported that doing so actually armed a competitor with a source of leads. And the competitor began targeting his clients. He asked if others found social media marketing to be a double-edged sword? My thought: Time to refine that social media strategy!

Lee Witcher of Database Marketing Solutions in Oklahoma City, reminded LinkedIn Answers readers that "social media marketing is about building trust with your target market and positioning yourself as an authority. Direct selling in the social space tends to be ineffective. People are looking for information and/or connection there...Companies are increasingly using social media to build communities of devoted followers...Once they have been sold on you, people will seek out your products, services, and recommendations. In this sense, social media marketing is a longer term lead generation process."

Mike Volpe, vp of inbound marketing at HubSpot, said social media is one of this company's top five sources of leads and sales. He answered: "I don't think what your competitors are doing will be effective. The last person they should want to call is one of your super happy case studies! Also, while they are cold calling your happiest customers, other people (like me maybe) see your case studies and then want to call you! The right way to do lead generation in social media is by answering questions and posting useful information. This builds authority and makes people curious about what you do, and makes it more likely they will read some of your resources (blog, videos, etc).

Volpe gave four basic steps for implementing this form of inbound marketing:
1) Produce useful content (blog articles, videos, webinars)
2) Optimize that content for search engines
3) Promote that content by using social media (Volpe gave links to his company's Web resources and a free July 9 Webinar, as well as his Twitter moniker)

4) Convert using offers, calls to action and landing pages 

Volpe: "The key step for lead generation is to use the links you leave within social media to start your prospects down a path to get to know you better. You should have some great content, but also calls to action next to that content for them to fill out a form or subscribe to your list. Over time as the relationship progresses you can call them and ask them how you can help, or send them some product info."

And like any business relationship, the real sharing begins in "private" when you feel there's a connection and all parties involved want to move forward to develop something of value together. 

Your social media strategy is fluid, something to be revisited and continually refined to avoid getting stabbed by a misstep of sharing too much. The good news: course corrections can be made quickly. Social media opens doors, but you can't win the "sell" without proving your worth.

Five Strategies in a Challenging Market

Work life would be good if it took only five actions to get a business-building reaction in today's economy.

But I applaud Principal Financial Group for its latest teleclass for business owners, "Marketing Your Business: Five Strategies to Position Your Company in a Challenging Market." The transcript should be available online in a week (visit "For Business" and "Teleclasses for Business Owners" under the Education Tab).

Carolyn Sawyer, Tom Sawyer Company, shared the following: 1. Stay Connected (use high tech tools, join groups, attend conferences to connect and stay top of mind with people); 2. Create an Online Presence (your Website is your storefront, keep it fresh, blog to communicate and share company news); 3. Maintain Flexibility and Creativity (get in front of people wth e-newsletters and awards—whatever has value—and do it simultaneously to maximize at all levels, be fluid and alert and adjust); 4.Develop Partnerships (with large companies or bring small companies together to increase one's capacity to serve); and 5. Leverage Internal Investments (to keep your talented folks, reorganize teams and retrain them for a more active area of business).

Carolyn give me some good reminders:

• Do the right thing for your business, not just the hot thing.
• Ask yourself, What is it my customers ARE willing to buy?
• Marketing is critical for visibility, but balance it with being healthy and happy. Get your sleep. The strong survive.
• Find the right fit. An opportunity that is really FOR YOU is for YOU. It's not a bad thing to say NO.

When asked what was her favorite marketing tool, Carolyn replied: "A good reception. It's what I do well. I make connections and build relationships." She told of attending a reception at the White House, visiting with someone she'd known through a volunteer opportunity, and learning about a contract (the gentleman called it just a small government contract) that became the largest contract her company had to date.

One just never knows what action will get the reaction that brings in the next energizing piece of business. Keep working all those marketing strategies.