Archive for February, 2009

I am working on a book: You Hate to Market, and What to Do About It.  I got the idea from my clients, especially the introverted ones (i.e. the ones who recharge their batteries by being alone).  Many of them thought that marketing meant either cold calling or networking; both activities they hate.

This book is based on the idea that the best marketing is the marketing you actually do; and if you know who you are, it’s easier to figure out what that “best” marketing is.

If you want a complete picture of your type (as described by the Myers Briggs type indicator), go here and take the test, or buy the book Please Understand Me.

Here are some preliminary marketing recommendations, based on what type you are:

Introverted, Thinking type:  LinkedIn (a place for you to tell people about your professional credentials, and to link to other people).

How to start:

1. Fill in your profile completely, including a flattering, professional picture (sign up for the free account if you haven’t done that already).

2. Become a visible expert in your field.  Click on the Learning Center, then on Answers, then on Answering Questions.  If there are questions that LinkedIn users are asking that you have expertise in, consider answering these questions.

There are many more features and ways to use LinkedIn; if it captures you and you enjoy doing what I have suggested above, there are many websites (including the LinkedIn site) that will tell you how to use the site to your best advantage.

Introverted Feeling Type:  Blogging

How to start:

1. Read 10 other blogs written  by people in your same business (find them at www.technorati.com)

2. If any of the blogs you read interest you, post your own replies to their blog posts. (Make it more interesting and intelligent than “I like your blog.”

3. Write down ten possible blog post topics.

4. Write 2 or 3 blog posts (just in a word processor to start with), and see how you like writing.

5. Ask yourself if you can handle negative replies to your posts.

6. If you like writing, can handle the occasional negativity, and you don’t have a blog already, go to www.wordpress.com and sign up for a free account.

7. Start blogging.  Set aside an hour a week to do 2 posts.

If you are an Extraverted Thinker: MeetUp (a site where you can post your interest in creating a group where people actually meet face to face).

How to start:

1. Think about the characteristics of the people you would like to meet with in a group.  These might be your perfect clients, or they might be people who also work with your perfect clients.

2. Use the search function in MeetUp to see if a group like that currently exists.  If it does, go visit.

3. If it doesn’t, follow the directions on the MeetUp site to start your own group.

And if you are an Extraverted Feeling type: Facebook.

How to start:

1. Sign up for a (free) account on Facebook and set up a personal Profile.  Be careful what level of personal information you put on your page.  Only the people whom you accept as friends can see this information, but make sure you don’t disclose too much at the beginning.  You can go back and put more information in later.

2. Use the Facebook search to see if any other businesses like yours have Facebook Pages (these are different from Profiles in that they are visible to the whole Internet.)  If there are some businesses similar to yours that have Pages, take notes on what you like and don’t like.

3. Create a Page for your business.  Click on Advertising (at the bottom of your Profile), then click on Create a Page.  It will take you through the setup in five minutes.

4. Put useful information on your Page that your customers care about, then tell them about the existence of your Page by email, by putting the Facebook logo on your website, putting a note in their monthly invoices; and ask them to become Fans.

There are more details to learn about each of these types of marketing.  I will be starting teleclasses in March to help you understand both who you are, and what kinds of marketing will work for you.  In the meantime, if something calls you, look into it.  The best marketing is the marketing that gets done.  CONSISTENTLY.

Tags: Marketing, Social Networking, Success

I was coached yesterday by two skilled coaches: Carolyn Parrs of Mind Over Markets, and Noriko Ogami.

I am getting close to picking the designer for my first book.  This part is hard, and I was whining to them about making a mistake.  Of course, the biggest mistake is to agonize over the decision and make it take longer, but hey, I don’t want to Do It Wrong.  In the meantime I was bogged down by all this, which Carolyn and Noriko picked up immediately.

People have written a lot about this place.  In coaching school they called it “The Dip.”  When I had an IT company and we were in the middle of a big installation that looked like it would never get finished, I called it being in “the valley of the shadow of death,” (thanks to the anonymous psalmist).  Whatever it’s called, you’re supposed to recognize that these dips happen, even when you’re doing work you love, like I am; and you’re supposed to Slog Through.

The part that was fun in the coaching was the idea that I could slog through this with a different attitude.  I am an eccentric person, so weird things like puppets and sequined scarves and cat-eyed rhinestone glasses and 12 different colors of white board markers make me feel better already.

The coaches showed me it’s possible to slog eccentrically, which makes it feel less swamp-like and more fun.  It’s  possible to wear cat-eye rhinestone glasses while slogging, which makes me laugh.  It’s possible to make the whole thing less of a slog.  Evidently all you need is some rhinestones.  Or maybe some sequins.

Tags: coaching, eccentricity, Success, writing

The end of the writing road (and the beginning of the design and print and market and sell road), has come for my first book.  Thanks to Matt MacEachern of Lidera Consulting, it has a great title: Passion–Plan–Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business.

The experience of completing a book is different than I expected.  I thought the hard part would be the actual writing.  That part was challenging, but it’s one thing to finish writing a book and something else altogether to take the final two steps to get it published, even if I’m doing it myself and can control every step of the process. The book isn’t actually finished until it’s designed and printed.

I always thought this book was a good idea, but now I’m risking finding out if other people agree.  Yikes.

Tags: Add new tag, Business Plans, Success, writing