The Marketing Mix | official blog of the Marketing Mentor community

Got a hammer? Need some nails?

Growing a business is all about the tools. Sometimes these tools come in the form of support, accountability, or guidance.

Sometimes, they come in a form that you can actually see or touch. That’s why we have the Marketing Mentor Toolbox where we offer the tangible tools that can help you grow your creative business. Here’s a Toolbox update:

* It’s your last chance to get the Ridiculous Deal of the Month for March, 31 Tips & Tricks: Starting Out For New Entrepreneurs. This downloadable PDF is only $4.99 until Monday, and will give you insight into networking, word of mouth, keeping your prospect pipeline full, keeping in touch with your prospects, and more. Details here.

* If you think you should be picking up the phone but just aren't sure what to say, Cold Calling: Overcoming Your Reluctance (from Creative Business) will help. (It’s the most popular report in the Creative Business Corner at Marketing Mentor Toolbox.)

* 2nd Quarter isn’t too late to start. With the Start Anytime Marketing Plan + Calendar, you can start your marketing “anytime,” and that means now! If you need a guide to keep you on track, this is it.

It could be easier than you think

I want to say congrats to Pam Foster, Sr. Web-SEO Copywriter, Consultant and Coach at ContentClear Marketing, for getting her article, Improve Web Site Conversions in Two Simple Steps, published by the prestigious DMNews last week.

When I asked Pam how she did it, she told me, “It was much easier than anyone would think.” Here’s what Pam said about how she got published:

I was reading a recent print copy of DMNews and saw a call for articles for their upcoming special supplement on Internet Marketing. I noticed I had missed the deadline, but I decided to contact the Editor anyway and submit an article I felt would be very helpful to her readers, just in case.

She liked the article and confirmed that I'd missed the supplement deadline, but she told me she'd run it in the weekly post for Digital Insider.

This happened very quickly -- I read the notice on Sunday and the Editor ran my piece on Tuesday. It must have helped that I followed their article-submission instructions to the letter and had sent her a relevant piece for her audience, ready to go.

Have you gotten articles published recently? Any advice on how others can do it too?

What's wrong with this email introduction?

I get variations on this message every day:

Hi. My name is Tom Smith. I am a graphic designer with a background in marketing.

I would like to offer you my services. I offer this, and I offer that.

You can see samples of my work here (website link). I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely, Tom Smith
 
Do you ever get messages like this? Do you write them yourself? What is it about the message that doesn't work? (Let us know what you think in the comments.)

More important, do you want to learn a more effective approach that will motivate your best prospects respond?  

You can, if you join my next Marketing Plan Group. It starts Tuesday, April 6th and there are only two spots left! Details here or fill out this form.

Why un-newsletters rock...

Welcome to Week 26 of my adventure as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

I got my new logo (thanks to Kara Smith Design), and sent out my un-newsletter (to all 84 of my business friends).

Did I get any response from my newsletter? I sure did. A heap of work to quote on from one contact (who I spoke with a while ago but wasn’t ready yet), a large project from a past client, an invitation to guest blog on an awesome designer’s site, and a few lovely back and forth catch up emails. All spurred by my newsletter about sneezing. Not bad.

A few minutes after I sent the newsletter out, and that first email came back (with the heap of things to quote on), I just started laughing. It can’t actually be that easy, can it? Ilise says “Not always… but sometimes.” Sometimes would have been never if I hadn’t sent that un-newsletter.

I’m thrilled that I now have a system for keeping in touch in place. It’s progress.

And for some reason, it seemed that as soon as I got the ball rolling by getting my new logo, updating my website, and really focusing on my newsletter and my prospects --  things started happening.

My phone was ringing, emails were flying, and quotes were being requested.

So far, I quoted on 5 projects this week and made some great new connections.

All 5 of these projects and new connections came from some area of my marketing machine: the un-newsletter, Google search, blogging, outreach, research calls I’ve made, and social networking. It works! Which reminds me -- none of this would have happened for me without the Marketing Plan Group. The next one starts the week of April 5th. Details or form here.

What are some of the best responses you’ve gotten from your newsletters?

Start creating business friendships

My mother once told me, “You've got to be a friend, to make a friend.”

I believe this bit of information is the key to unlocking the floodgates to our creative businesses. It’s all about putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes. If you had a problem, how would you want the person you came to for help to treat you?

The above principle also rings true in meetings, not only with clients, but with other creatives. If you’re going to HOW or CFC for the first time, and you strike up a conversation with someone else who is new to the conference, you both have common ground from which to start a new friendship.

You've got to be a friend, to make a friend. This little insight will work wonders in helping you hurdle you fears about being in a new place and meeting new people. You could talk about how many people are around, how shy you may be, who you’re excited about hearing speak and so on.

I read an awesome tweet the other day that said, “You don’t have enough business because you don't have enough relationships.” So, if you shift the perspective of your encounters with people, you will move forward in your career successfully. Start creating ‘business friendships’ instead of adding more ‘contacts’ and meeting with ‘prospects.’

Intentionally changing the language that you use to describe the folks you work with will change the way you perceive them. You’ve got to change who they are in your head before they become someone different (and better) in your life.

Are you targeting prospects? Or are you developing business friendships?

Special thanks to Clint Walkingstick from Eye Say Design.

Bob Bly on Marketing with Little (or No) Budget

You may not know that the marketing and copywriting guru, Bob Bly, and I have been working together, in one way or another, for more than 20 years. We share a lot of the same ideas but also disagree on various points, making for thought-provoking banter and new ways of thinking when we come together.

One of the things that Bob and I agree on – is that he is full of intelligent insights. Here’s some proof:

• Bob’s interview with Jim Blasingame of Small Business Advocate, called: Marketing Your Business with Little or No Budget. Learn about Google Adwords, how to capitalize on local search, how to get higher quality leads, SEO, why everyone really needs a website, and how to market with content (no matter what your product or service).

More proof of Bob’s good instincts?

• Bob has given his first-ever “yes” to private coaching, and has agreed to do a Marketing Plan Group with me and 10 small business owners starting April 14th. There are only 10 slots in this 6-month process of private group coaching so if you're interested, find details here or fill out this form to receive an application.

Are you talking sissy talk?

Welcome to Week 25 of my adventure as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

In school, I was a bit of a hypochondriac. I spent many hours in the nurse’s office trying to convince her that I had a fever and should be allowed to go home sick.

Most of the time I wasn’t sick at all. She knew it, and deep down I did too. I suppose I fled to the nurse’s office because I didn’t feel like being in class at the time – but aside from a momentary delay, I always ended up in class anyway.

Yes, I can admit I was a bit of a sissy.

Fast forward to today… I’m a self employed 30 year-old, and in my Marketing Plan Group, it’s time to set some tangible financial goals. And I’m sort of resistant. I’ve been resistant to the idea of a financial goal since I heard the words mentioned. It sparks terror in me. It makes me want to go to the nurse’s office and get permission to go home sick.

Why? Here’s what seems to be getting in my way of setting a financial goal:

• If I don’t reach my goal, I’m afraid that I’d be disappointed in myself instead of proud of myself.
• Knowing that I’d actually be accountable to a number frightens me. I’m a big fan of setting loosely defined goals so I never have to actually fail. But by picking a number and not reaching it – there’s no room for lying to myself.
• I know about how much I make each month without trying too hard – and that amount sort of works for me.
• I know I’d actually have to work for it, and maybe I’m scared of what that would entail.
• I’m not a big fan of pressure. I already put enough pressure on myself as it is.
• Happiness, freedom, and enjoyment were the main reasons I became self employed. I worry that focusing too much on money will take some of those things away. I worry that I might resent the goal, or the business.

So, when I told Ilise that I hated the idea of setting a financial goal, she asked me why. I jotted these things down. Then we had a little chat on the phone.

As I heard these things come out of my mouth, I realized that they are simply excuses. It’s just FEAR that’s getting in my way – and fear can come up with a lot of excuses if you let it.

So, now that I’ve gotten the sissy talk out of the way, it’s time to get back to class where I should be. Learning, growing, and moving forward. It’s time to set a monthly financial goal.

Here is a tool from Freelance Switch that I’m using to help me get a realistic view of what my goal should be: http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Are you talking sissy talk too? What does your sissy talk sound like?

If you hear yourself talking sissy talk, and you need someone to send you back to class, consider joining the next Marketing Plan Group. It starts the week of April 5th and there are two spots left!

Freelancers are small business owners too

When freelancers shift their mindsets to think of themselves as businesses rather than individuals, it can make a huge difference to their success.

• Here is an interview I did with Jim Blasingame from the Small Business Advocate. It’s called: Freelancers are small business owners too. Listen to it here (on the Marketing Mentor podcast).

• My opening keynote at this year’s Creative Freelancer Conference is called: You are a Business. If you want to come here me talk about this in-person, the early bird deadline has been extended through April 15th. Sign up here.

Have you shifted your mindset from freelancer to business? If so, did it make a difference?

What I learned by not winning the project

I just learned this morning that I did not win a juicy design and branding project that I submitted a proposal for, in response to an RFP, and am bitterly disappointed. I feel I was an extremely strong candidate – well-qualified to handle the work, with a strong creative portfolio. This was a project in the tourism sector and included a “quality of life” brochure series; new county-wide brand identity for this central New York region; and a web site portal that would be utilized by several city and county agencies.

When I do not win a project, the first thing I do is ask the prospect why. Do you do that? It’s very useful. I promptly picked up the phone to discuss the matter with the agency leading the search, and was able to learn some things about how the committee made their decision and also how I can improve my proposals for the future. Our talk also led to some unanswered questions, so if you have any insight I’d really like to hear from you.

I learned that the committee – made up of reps from various city and county agencies – used a fair, thorough methodology to score candidates, consisting of categories and a point system. The decision was not based on price. Apparently I came pretty close to the top three firms that made the cut (I came in fourth).

In an ideal world, after I submit a proposal, I should be able to meet with the committee making the decision in order to discuss and answer questions. In this case, unfortunately, insisting on an in-person meeting was just out of the question. Because I was not able to talk to them, I’m afraid they made some assumptions about my work and my proposal that I was not able to defend:

• the committee questioned my ability to handle the research necessary to complete the branding portion because they thought Julia Reich Design consists of just one person – me – even though I emphasize “my creative team” in the cover letter. Which leads me to wonder if I need to change the name of my company. Does using my name make it sound like I am just one person?

So nice to finally meet in-person

Here I am with members of Marketing Plan Group #2 who gathered from across the country and met in-person over dinner at Carmine's in NYC recently.

 
  
Last year, the group’s members, Mallory Gazecki of Slick + Slicker Designs, Stephanie Helline of Strategic Design Studio and Joan Reilly of Life of Reilly Organizers developed a real bond during the group process, working so hard and learning so much together. It was wonderful to finally put faces to the voices.

(One member of the group had dropped out to go to nursing school. Maybe blood and guts was less scary than research calling?)

When you share your goals, your successes, and your weaknesses – and when you learn and grow together – you really do form a tight knit group, even if it's virtual. One of my current groups is planning to meet at this year’s CFC (June 5-6, 2010 in Denver CO).

If you want to find out what this group thing is all about, consider joining one of the next Marketing Plan Groups. There are 2 spots open in the one that starts the week of April 5th.