Do your customers like you?

Did you watch the Heroes vs. Villains Survivor finale last weekend? If you didn’t, stop reading now then come back when you do watch it cause there’s a spoiler coming up.

People are saying that this year’s season was the best ever. I might have to agree, even though Colby didn’t win and how can you not love that smile?

Anyway. If you watched the finale, you know that Russell was sitting there thinking he had the whole thing in the bag. He brought Sandra and Pavarti to the finale with him (as if he really believed it was him that was in charge of the game) because he assumed he would have all of the jury’s votes because he was “obviously” the best player of the three.

What he didn’t take into account, however, was that nobody liked him. He screwed over every person on the jury and they hated him.

He really believed that the deceiving way he played the game would be rewarded. His strategy centered around lies and betrayal and not everyone respects that as much as he thought they would.

At the end, Sandra won. She always seemed to know what people were thinking. She knew where she stood and everyone else playing knew where Sandra stood. She outsmarted them all and she can be proud of the game she played.

That being said though, if I were on the jury (maybe someday), I would have voted for Parvati. Not only did she work her butt off during the entire game, but you can’t possibly discount the greatest move in Survivor history – giving not one, but two hidden immunity idols away to her fellow teammates during a tribal council to keep all the villains safe. It was simply brilliant.

Now where was I going with this again?

Oh yes.

Remember when I said how Russell assumed everyone would put his name down?

They didn’t. Not one single person thought he deserved their vote for one million dollars.

And what does this have to do with business?

Well. How many assumptions are you making today in your business? Is your process streamlined – as streamlined as it could possibly be? Are your clients’ needs being met? Are you meeting their expectations?

Do they like you?

How do you know? Unless you’ve asked them recently, that is. So have you?

If Russel had considered the fact that everyone on the jury could possibly hate him, he may have changed his strategy and who knows? He could have won.

I challenge you this week to implement a step in your process to ask your clients how they enjoyed their experience dealing with your company. You’ll learn ways to improve the way you do business and you might even get a client testimonial or two in the process!

I’ll be working on mine this summer while I’m in the process of doing a little business revamping…you heard it here first.

Diversifying the Content you Create

On Tuesday we talked about the importance of keeping the content processing preference of your target audience in mind and how, for example, you are essentially blocking out those who don’t like ezines when that’s the only type of marketing you do. (Catch up by clicking here.)

Today I’m going to go over some different types of content you can create to connect and communicate with all of the different types of people who make up your target audience:

Now, in a perfect demonstration of how shorter entries are just fine, I’m going to leave you hanging here and you can come back on Tuesday for some more ideas. Really, do you have time to read anymore at my little old blog today anyway?

Didn’t think so! See you next week.

Are you ignoring a large segment of your target audience?

Ever heard the phrase: “to each his own?” Well if so you should keep it in mind when working on your marketing and content creation strategies. Too often, business owners stick to what they know…what they’re comfortable with…without ever taking a minute to think about whether or not that’s the same as what their audience wants.

Marketing is not a one-way street and your audience does not fit into a tiny little one-dimensional box. Each of your prospects has their own way of learning, sharing and listening. It’s up to you to make it easy for your customers and potential clients to access your information, act on it, and more importantly, share it.

All Marketing Is Not Created Equal

Creating various forms of content is imperative to your business, but distributing content to your audience from different directions gives you a better chance of standing out from the crowd.

All Prospects Are Not Created Equal

There’s another phrase that I KNOW you’ve heard: “You can’t please everyone.” Ok, now I know I’ve touted this before when it comes to business owners trying to please everyone by doing everything themselves…you just can’t. It’s impossible. Your efforts are best served by sticking to what you know and outsourcing what you don’t. Otherwise you’ll never be truly happy in your business and you most certainly will never get ahead.

But in this case, you can throw it out the window because you actually can please your entire audience. How? By making sure you cover all your content bases so they are working together…in tandem…for your business and your target market.

Make it EASY for your audience to:

Because remember, your audience has its own preference of how to obtain that information.

20% of them might love reading electronic newsletters, 35% might go for RSS feeds, 10% might react to video, 25% may respond to social media connections, and so on and so forth.

If you’re only distributing an electronic newsletter once a month, where does that leave the rest of your audience?

On Thursday I’ll tell you about some forms of content you can create to connect and communicate with your audience. In the meantime, think about what you’re currently doing to market your business and how many different learning styles you might be catering to.

Because I am Worth It

The other day I headed to Target to pick up a few things. I had my kids with me and my oldest  daughter decided she had to have this art set she saw. You know, the big Crayola set with all of the paints and crayons and paper…she had to have it (good little designer’s daughter).

I was focused on my list and only getting what was on it but the baby was getting cranky and my eldest caught me in a moment of weakness and I just didn’t fight it. I put the art set in my cart with all the other items I had and went to the check out.

But when I got there I told the cashier that I didn’t want to pay the $30 for the art set. I said I could get it on Amazon for less so I offered them $20 for it.

Have I caught your attention?

Of course I didn’t do that, but it makes a really good point, doesn’t it?

Target sets their prices based on their profit margins. There’s a formula, people. They tag their merchandise and the price stays the same until they advertise a sale or mark something down for clearance. Target is a business. They aren’t running a full time tag sale over there.

You can’t negotiate prices in a brick and mortar store and you shouldn’t try it with a designer or other “virtual” or online professional.

Haggling prices with a professional is not only insulting but it’s a complete waste of everyone’s time. Telling me that you can get a designer for $10 less than my rate is fruitless, annoying and it isn’t going to make me lower my rate. I did not pull my prices out of thin air. A lot of thought and strategy went into setting my rates and putting together my packages. The prices are set based on my skills, level of expertise, and past experience of performing these tasks day in and day out. And honestly my rates are much lower than other designers that produce the same quality of work. How many designers do you know who actually post their rates on their website for the world to see anyway? Not many. Mine are there in plain sight so you know what to expect or can fit within your budget.

You should actually be wary of any “professional” who is willing to dicker their rates because it’s really not something that people who are worth their rate do and frankly, I’m worth it. That is not me being vain, in fact I don’t even possess that gene. And anyone who knows me will tell you the same thing.

Does this mean I can’t work within a budget or alter my packages for you? No, of course not if that budget is within reason and you’re not asking for the moon in return. I also advertise discounted ratess through my Signature Specials newsletter each month…hint, hint.

If you like my work but you don’t like my prices or policies then sorry if it sounds harsh but I really don’t care. You get what you pay for and if you want garage sale prices expect some dents and scratches. Although I don’t recommend it in the branding and marketing of your business. Your business image is a direct reflection of you and how others perceive you do business.

Penguins & Preschoolers: A lesson for business owners

I know what you’re thinking. Connie’s lost it. What on Earth do penguins and preschoolers have to do with business? At first glance, maybe nothing. I mean preschoolers are like 4 years old and we’re…well…older and supposedly wiser.

I love to read a good blog and one of my favorites is the Mann Made Blog by Jaime Lee Mann. It amazes me how she can spin an everyday happening or event into a blog post that teaches you a life or business lesson. Seriously. She can be cooking, gardening, playing with her children or visiting a local coffee shop and she thinks of something about the situation that sparks a great blog post about business. Things we already know, but forget or choose to ignore.

Jaime’s latest entry revolves around her 4 year old preschooler bringing home a picture of a penguin she drew, or so Jaime thought. You’ll have to read the whole story over at Jaime’s blog, but the morale of the story involves copying off of someone else. Something that happens way too often in business.

I couldn’t tell you how many business owners, many have been potential clients, literally want me to copy someone else’s logo, website, marketing piece, or even web content. This is something I cannot wrap my head around because it simply isn’t something I would do. For many reasons. And the fact of the matter is, I have morals and blatant copying is just plain wrong.

Some people think imitation is the highest form of flattery, but it feels more like a slap in the face. It happened to me a couple of years ago when someone decided to not only copy my website content…word for word mind you that also included my personal bio…but this individual also decided to steal my design.

Think about how that felt. This was something that I poured my heart and soul into. I spent many hours, weeks, and months working hard to set myself apart from other business owners in my industry. Do you think I was flattered that my copy and design was so good that they wanted to copy it? Hardly. Not to mention that this person didn’t even have the decency to apologize when I contacted them to remove it immediately.

Jaime makes an excellent point and one that everyone should pay attention to. It is the same thing I preach to my own clients and they love me for it. I push them to think past their own comfort zone, to set themselves apart, to be the one that their potential clients want to work with. But Jaime said it right on target: “Market with your own personality. Be authentic. Be yourself. Make your own unique, individual mark on the world and be proud of it.”

So what are you doing to set yourself apart from your competitors?

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