Know Your Difference

Right People On The Bus

Rhonda Page — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:43:15 +0000

I’ve been working with an organization called Hoffman International for the past two years. They teach a “life changing” personal development program in 11 countries. They have a big vision – to be a well recognized name throughout the world and my mission is to help them to increase their recognition by strengthening their brand (remember brand is not a logo).

Before you being to move toward your vision you need to take stock of where you are now and what the gap is. Its like mapping out your road trip. We began by interviewing the leaders in each country. This series of interviews revealed that we needed to understand the percpeptions and attitudes of graduates of the program so step 2 was a market research study where an online survey was sent to all graduates of the program around the globe. The results of this study revealed some great messages and facts and reinforced the positive feelings that graduates have toward this organization.

Stop for a minute and imagine what it would take to “pull off” these two projects. Enter Jennifer Kelly (right), my partner in crime, who is an experienced marketer and really, the person you need to bring in once you have your vision set — to get it done. She links the people, processes, and elements that need to come together to make your business vision a reality. On this Hoffman project Jennifer managed the 11 countries, suppliers, and our team of specialists to completion. This required her to understand the client, the project goals and outcomes, and ensure it all worked as a well-oiled machine. Throw into the mix the different cultures, five languages, and time zone differences between the 15 countries, and it really felt like we had our own mini UN! It’s one thing to have a big idea and it’s a totally other thing to make it happen.

When you think about your vision, you need to find the right balance between ideas and implementation and make sure you have “the right people on the bus,” as Jim Collins said in his best seller “Good to Great.” We can’t do it all alone. Do you have the right people on your bus?

Branding Red Flags

Rhonda Page — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:00:18 +0000

By now you should be used to me talking about the importance of creating a brand and how your brand is an important piece of your business success. If you’re not getting the overall business results you want, it may be time to examine your brand more closely.

You’ll know it’s time if you can identify with any of the following 6 red flags:

1. You’ve lost sight of your vision and are unclear of your “why”
2. You aren’t meeting your revenue goals and your profit margin is slipping
3. Your message is unclear and nothing matches
4. You don’t stand out
5. You’re tired of working so hard
6. You’re in marketing overwhelm

1. You’ve lost sight of your vision and are unclear of your “why”

We all go into business with a big vision. Then we get caught up in servicing our clients and the day-to-day activities of running a business. If you’ve lost sight of your vision and are not 100% clear on your why (beyond making money) you may be losing steam. As soon as you hit a roadblock, you may easily get distracted, you may be expending energy in the wrong direction and you may be beating yourself up with every little thing that goes wrong.

2. You aren’t meeting your revenue goals and your profit margin is slipping

The numbers speak for themselves. If you don’t like how they look, you may be marketing to an audience who doesn’t have the budget to afford you, your business may be growing quickly and perhaps your service offering has changed a few times and is unclear. If you are not clear on your ideal audience, what services they need, what to charge or where to find them, you may be wasting time building relationships with people and spending time in places that aren’t driving the results you need.

3. Your message is unclear and nothing matches

Also a result of growth, is a changing message that may be unclear to prospects. Strong brands consistently deliver on their promise to clients in every interaction. Inconsistent messages and visual imagery can confuse clients, forcing them to search for someone who does have a strong consistent message. If your website or other marketing materials look like they come from multiple companies, you need to redesign them so you communicate a consistent message at all times.

4.You don’t stand out

If your competitors’ message speaks clearly and their image outshines yours, it may be time for a change. It’s important to stay ahead of the curve and stand out. It may feel more comfortable to be similar to your competitor but essentially you are just creating more noise. If you don’t look, sound, and behave differently, there is no clear reason for them to do business with you. Graphic design is becoming more and more important. Fantastic designers are rare and it’s difficult to know who to work with to get your image right.

5. You’re tired of working so hard

Are you putting in a 70 hour work week? You thought that starting your own business would give you freedom. Is it time to create a product, an ecourse, or something you can leverage for greater return on your energy investment?

6. You’re in marketing overwhelm

With all the choices available today, it’s hard not to be in marketing overwhelm and when you’re in marketing overwhelm you may be sporadically marketing without a plan or focus and as a result experiencing inconsistent sales.

If you can relate to one or more of these red flags it’s time to take a step back and get clarity.

That’s where I come in. My “why” is to help you get the clarity you need to move your business forward. Having said this, I invite you to apply for a FREE Brand Assessment. Please complete the application by clicking the link below. You will be contacted for a strategy session with me if you qualify.

During our session, you’ll get my feedback on where your brand opportunities are. We’ll talk about where you are now, where you want to be and strategize how you can get the business transformation you are looking for.

To get started go to: http://knowyourdifference.com/survey/

Is your website address hurting you?

Rhonda Page — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:47:35 +0000

This is one of those things that you may not have thought about. I know it’s hard to get domain names but really … the hyphens and weird spellings may be hurting you.

Start with the topic of “naming” and what you’ve called your business. Your name must align with your brand positioning or the statement that explains what you do and who you do it for. Take my company name for example, “Know Your Difference.” It lines up well with what I do … I help small businesses get clear on how they’re different to they can market themselves effectively. Think about your company name. Does it line up well with your positioning? If it doesn’t you may want to spend some time with one of my products. If it does, your next steps is to examine your domain name or website address – mine is www.knowyourdifference.com. It’s tiny bit long but it makes total sense. It’s memorable, it’s easy to spell and remember.

Here are 16 things to think about when choosing a domain name.

1. Stick with “.com” – The .com domain is by far the most widely accepted extension for a domain name.

2. One possible spelling – Try to find a domain name that only has one possible spelling. Most people cannot spell so make it easy for your website visitors to remember by choosing a domain name without a confusing spelling.

3. Shorter is better – The shorter your domain name is, the easier it is for your visitors to remember, the easier it is for your visitors to type, and the easier it is for your visitors to tell others about your domain name.

4. No hyphens – If at all possible, avoid using a hyphenated domain name. Sure, many businesses will use a domain name with a hyphen or even two or three but the two main problems with hyphenated domain names is that people forget where the hyphens go (or forget them altogether) and hyphenated domain names can lose traffic to similar domain names that do not have hyphens (i.e. a visitor wants to return to your domain name which is www.bobs-carpeting.com but instead types in www.bobscarpeting.com and inadvertently ends up on a competitor’s website).

5. Other extensions – If you find the perfect domain name ending in .com then it usually makes sense to try and grab as many of the other common extensions that are available as well and then redirect those other extensions to your domain name that ends in .com. For example, if you are able to purchase the domain name clearshift.com and you definitely have long term plans for the website then it is probably a smart thing to go ahead and register clearshift.net, clearshift.biz, clearshift.info, etc.

6. Price – To register a brand new domain name you will pay approximately $10 a year. To purchase domain name at an auction from someone looking to sell one of their existing domain names then you could pay anywhere from $5 to hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more plus the annual registration fees.

7. Keyword rich – Choose a domain name that is full of keywords that are related to your website. If your site sells vitamins then try and choose a domain name that contains the word “vitamins” in the domain name.

8. Avoid numeral substitutions – Numerals in a domain can work ok but avoid substituting common words with numerals as they can often be confusing and hard to remember. For example, try not to use the numeral “4″ instead of “for”, “2″ instead of “to”, etc.

9. Avoid slang – Stay away from slang spellings of words for the same reasons that you should stay away from numeral substitutions. It is one thing to think up a great brandable name that is easy to remember and quite another to buy a domain name with “u” instead of “you”.

10. Easy to type – The easier the domain is to type then the better the domain will be.

11. Easily understood – When someone reads or hears your domain name for the first time then they should be able to easily understand what your website is all about. Of course, there is often a give and take between trying to find a domain that is easily understood and one that is brandable as well.

12. Unique – The more unique a domain name is then the easier it is to remember. Stay within the constraints of the other rules when searching for a unique domain name but if you can be clever and pull it off, then finding a unique domain name can pay off handsomely for years to come.

13. Use a thesaurus – If you feel stuck when trying to choose your domain name then bring up two different tabs: open up Thesaurus.com in one tab and then GoDaddy.com in another tab. Plug in the word or words that most closely describe your website into the thesaurus and then as your find good synonyms then start entering the word combinations into the domain search tool to instantly check the availability of the domains.

14. Memorable – If you can easily remember a domain name after hearing it just once then there is a good chance that you have found a memorable domain name.

15. Brainstorm – If you have a business partner or a friend then use them to bounce some ideas around. Start by thinking of your ideal domain name and then throw out as many words and combinations of words related to that ideal domain name as possible. Sooner or later you are bound to have a flash of genius and find a great domain name.

16. Do it now! – even if you’re not 100% sure, register your domain name now as soon as you can before someone else snaps it up! There are people out there registering domain names all day just so they can sell them!

What’s your experience been with choosing a domain name. Please share your comments below!

Promises Kept

Rhonda Page — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:31:22 +0000

There was an article in the paper this weekend about Marie-Josée Lamothe, the Chief Marketing Officer for L’Oréal Canada who had a great marketing idea. In the cosmetics business, sampling is the cornerstone of marketing so when Lancome Paris – one of the 25 brands in the L’Oréal portfolio developed a new fragrance called Midnight Rose, a key piece of the marketing strategy would be to give away 2,000 samples via a Facebook promotion.

Unfortunately they underestimated the marketing power of Facebook and in the first 2 minutes more than 3,000 Facebook users requested their complementary vial – crashing L’Oréal’s internal server and exhausting the supply of samples.

They created a HUGE disappointment for their customers. I have found in my experience working with big companies that often the operations folks don’t know what the marketing folks have promised, resulting in disappointed customers. I’ll explain how this translates to small business and why it’s important for you.

Think about all the marketing messages you see out in the world every day. How many actually keep their promises? Now think about your business and what you are promising your clients. How well are you delivering. Make a list of everything you promise your clients when you are pitching. Now review the list and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 how well you are delivering? It may be time to pay attention in a few areas. If you really want to be sure…ask your clients!

In my program, Your Brand Boost, I teach you simple and no cost ways to do your own market research and find out how well you are delivering on your promises. It’s all about authenticity. If you don’t deliver, how much loyalty do you think you are creating?

Choosing the right graphic designer

Rhonda Page — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:02:04 +0000

Choosing a good graphic designer is extremely important in the development of your brand. There are dozens of graphic designers around and everyone you know will recommend someone. When desk top publishing became popular, suddenly everyone was selling themselves as a graphic designer. Make sure to work with a designer who has had formal graphic design training at a reputable institution. Spending some time to choose the right person will really pay off in the end. Look for a designer who has done work in your area of focus. If you are marketing a food product, make sure to choose a designer who has packaging, and in particular, food packaging experience. Packaging food is quite different from packaging electronic equipment! Most designers will gladly send you their portfolio for your review. I recommend starting with three designers and narrowing it down to one. Make sure to have a conversation with each designer to see if you feel aligned to work with them from a personal chemistry standpoint.

How to find a graphic designer?

Start with your network and ask friends who have done a great job on their brand. Look for design that you like and find out who did it. That’s how I found my designer Megan Hunt. Every major city has a graphic design association you can call for recommendations. AIGA (www.aiga.org) was founded in 1914 and is the oldest and largest professional membership organization in the United States for graphic design. It has a chapter in every state. In Canada, you can contact the GDC, Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (www.gdc.net) for recommendations.

If you are tight on budget, go to a local art college and find out who their top graphic design students are.

Pricing design work

Before you speak to a designer for the first time, send them your brand summary. Make sure you are very clear on what you need, your timing and your budget. If you don’t feel comfortable telling them your budget, make sure you have a number in your mind of what you are prepared to spend on design. Don’t waste their time, asking for a proposal before you know if they are in your ballpark. Ask for a verbal price range to make sure they’re in your ballpark. Once you know you are somewhat aligned with pricing, you can ask them to spell out the scope of the project, the deliverables, schedule and budget. I strongly advise that you do not make your decision based on price alone!

I’ll say it again and again. Make sure you’ve done your upfront work and you know your audience and differentiator. They need this information to do a good job on your project!

GOT AN IDEA,THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS, LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!

The One Thing You Should Do For New Years

Rhonda Page — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:12:19 +0000

When I was a kid, we used to go on a family road trip every summer. We borrowed my grandfathers Lincoln because it was big and I’d make my little brother lie on the floor so I could have the whole back seat to myself (before the days of mandatory seat belts). Long story short, we always got lost! We’d spend anywhere from 2 hours to half a day asking for directions and trying to get back on track. Many years later I drove to California with my husband. He had the whole trip organized with maps and “Trip Tiks” that set out your whole route. I was so impressed and when I told him, he said to me “did you not go on a family driving trip every summer”? I said yes, but I never saw a map!

I tell this story all the time when I speak to people about their brand vision – it gets a lot of laughs but in a way it has a deeper meaning. Without a map or a vision for your brand…how do you know where you’re going?

I learned about the power of visioning about 4 years ago. New Years is the perfect time to let your brand vision bubble up. I don’t mean sitting and working at it. I really mean letting it come to you. There are 3 techniques that I use regularly to help my brand vision become reality:

#1. Set your intention and then do something else

It’s the perfect thing to do at this time of year when you’re having more quiet time and in a more relaxed state. Have in mind the intention of getting clear on your vision for your brand and then just go do other things. Be open in your mind to new ideas. Insights will come when you are not trying to find them.

#2. Be prepared to receive and write everything down

You may be skiing or sitting on a beach but have a notebook with you so you can jot down things that come to you. If you have the intention set, insights will come to you when you least expect it. Be prepared to receive them. Even if something comes to you that doesn’t make sense, write it down and go back to it later. You never know where it might go. Even if it seems crazy or totally out of reach – be open. In visioning there are no limitations.

#3. Believe it will happen and take action

As you begin to formulate an idea, allow yourself to get excited about it and believe it will happen. Think about small actions steps that you can take to begin to move you there. It could be something really small like reorganizing your filing cabinet or hiring a virtual assistant. Every vision needs to be energized with action steps and belief that it will really happen. I’m learning more and more that the belief part his the most important thing. You don’t need to know the little details of how it will happen just know that it will.

I encourage you to take this opportunity to bring in 2012 with an exciting brand vision. I speak from experience when I say this…it’s such a joy to have work that you love. So create your vision and start moving in the right direction!

Happy New Year to all!

Love Rhonda

The 4 Factors In Making Money

Rhonda Page — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:58:29 +0000

I recently had a very simple conversation with an accountant about making money. He said “There are 4 factors in making money.” These 4 things seem very obvious but as entrepreneurs we often need a reminder:

#1. Control your costs

Controlling costs, means rent, supplies, salaries etc. See where you can cut back. Remember this is one of the most important strategies when it comes to making a profit!

#2. Get more clients or customers

This one speaks for itself. If you missed my 2 recent articles entitled “No More Cold Calling” make sure to check them out. I talk about a number of important business development strategies.

#3. Get them coming back more often

Make sure they are loyal to you by making sure you are well differentiated in your market. If they have the perception that they can’t get what you offer anywhere else, how loyal do you think they will be? Provide a unique experience so they stay loyal to you. Deliver on all your promises!

#4. Increase transaction value

What products or services can you bundle together. How can you add value to what you offer and increase the transaction value at the same time. This is where it’s great to do your stakeholder interviews and ask them what else they need. Have fun and get creative with this. My clients often need graphic design, maybe I should bundle this with my virtual course? There’s a thought!

The 4 ways to make money are very simple, not always easy but definitely doable! Take a fresh look at your business through this lens!

To Your Clarity!

Rhonda

GOT AN IDEA,THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS, LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!

No More Cold Calling Part 2 – My 5 Favorite Business Development Tactics

Rhonda Page — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:57:17 +0000

Last week I talked about the 6 rules of effective business development. This week I’m going to tell you about my 5 favorite business development tactics (none of which include cold calling). Before I tell you these 5 best tactics, I want to remind you to ’MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR ON YOUR MESSAGE AND HOW YOU ARE DIFFERENT’. I’ll always keep coming back to this because you can do tons of marketing and put all your time and energy into it and see no return. Your audience must be made to understand why they should choose you over your competitor.
These are in order starting with the most powerful:

#1: Speaking

Speaking is by far the best marketing tactic. Whether you’re speaking to large groups or at your local Chamber of Commerce chapter meeting, speaking establishes you as an expert. You can speak for free and if you’re really good and you love it, speaking can be a great revenue stream. If you’re speaking free of charge, make sure you showcase your products or services - but remember you’re helping not selling!

#2: Media Relations

A basic definition of media relations is to shape and maintain the image of a company, organization or individual, by being quoted or featured in various media (newspapers, magazines, television etc). This tactic also establishes you as en expert. There is cost attached and no guarantees but If you have a good story it can really build your brand. You’ll want to bring in some outside expertise if you have the budget.

#3 Networking Events

Most major cities have lots of business networking events happening. Don’t go running from one event to the next. Be very strategic about the events you go to. Be very clear on the audience attending the events. Are they your ideal audience? Are they influencers who will lead you to your ideal audience? You want to use these events to cultivate relationships not just to give out as many business cards as you can! Becoming involved in one of these organizations is where things really start to happen, so pick the right one for you and show up on a regular basis. People will get to know you but it is only the beginning of the relationship. Invite them for a coffee and start building!

#4 Blogging and Article Marketing

Blogging and article marketing also establish you as an expert. Google loves new content. Every time you add to your blog, you are adding new content and this gets you ranked higher in the search engines. I mix my blog up with personal content and business content but it all relates back to branding. I’m having a lot of fun with this. Blog posts don’t need to be long, just real and engaging. Try to throw in some key words too!

If you like writing, you can turn your blog posts into articles and post them on sites likewww.ezinearticles.com. These sites get huge traffic and lots of people looking for content. It also gets you seen as an expert.

#5 Social Media

I’m sure you hear a ton of buzz about social media. Many of you tell me you don’t want to waste time on this but you should know that I actually got a speaking gig that paid $3,000 from a conversation that started on Facebook. Remember in social media it’s all about the conversation.

There you have it – my 5 favorite business development tactics. If you do all of these or even pick 3 and do them on a regular basis, you’ll be surprised how people start buzzing about you. I’m always so surprised when I run into people I know and they’ve been following everything I’m doing and are so excited about it. This is what starts buzz and this is what builds brands — but remember to always stay true to your message!

No More Cold Calling

Rhonda Page — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:54:40 +0000

I have not made a cold call in years! Any calls that I make are warm calls. I’ve been building my brand and connecting with people so by the time we get to the phone we are both glad to be talking. It’s much more than making a sale It’s about building your brand (strong and differentiated message) and building relationships. Here are the 6 rules to get you started in thinking about business development in a different way.

RULE #1: If you are not POSITIONED properly, the sales process is extremely slow and difficult!

I can’t emphasize this enough. I don’t want you going out and doing business development until you’ve done your background work and are very clear on your vision, your audience, your differentiator and your message. Otherwise you’re just adding to the noise. Whether you do my virtual course Your Brand Boost, http://www.yourbrandboost.com, buy the workbook http://www.knowyourdifference.com/workbook or work with me one-on-one http://www.knowyourdifference.com/services/, you need the clarity before you go out into the world and try to sell. When you stand out, they come to you! (no more cold calls)

RULE #2: Don’t be so keen to write a proposal

Ask 4 key questions before you jump to write a proposal: 1. What exactly is the need here? (if they aren’t completely clear, a proposal is a waste of time) 2. Who is the decision maker? (you might be talking to the wrong person) 3. What is your timing (hopefully soon) 4. What is your budget (this is the scary one but you might as well through out some numbers up front to see if they’re in your ballpark).

RULE #3: Be very clear on who your ideal client is and be prepared to walk away if they aren’t ideal

This is a sticky one but very helpful. As much as your prospect is assessing you, you should be assessing them. This is where gut instinct comes in. If you get that weird feeling that they aren’t quite the right client for you…pay attention! I know you don’t want to give up the money but trust me on this one, there is someone else right around the corner who is your ideal and does want to work with you.

RULE #4 Charge what you’re worth

This is a really big one. I see too many people way undercharging for their expertise. Step into your expertise. Many of you have over 20 years exprience but don’t feel you’re an expert. You’re intimidated by all the other experts out there and in my experience it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors there are many claiming to be experts who have 1 year of experience. I’m going to make this up but “step into your expertness” Examine your issues around money and the beliefs you have about money that were instilled in you as a child.

RULE #5 Know where they’re at in the buying cycle

Are they putting out feelers or are they seriously ready? This ties in with the timing question above. There are many stages to the buying process from the research and enquiry where they are thinking about doing something to the other end of the spectrum where they are ready to start next week.

RULE #6 Think of helping instead of selling

The word sales has become a dirty word. It congers up images of the encyclopedia salesman standing at your front door (remember the movie Foul Play with Goldie Hawn). You have valuable information and a product or service that is going to help someone. Start thinking about what you’re doing in that way and you’ll feel much better about sales.

These are important rules that will help you move forward in your business development and establish yourself as an expert to they come to you. Next week I’ll talk about the various level of business development and you’ll understand more about why you don’t need to cold call any more!

Platform Shoes and Centers of Influence

Rhonda Page — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:17:42 +0000

Last month my niece had a Bat Mitzvah. Her party was at the Hardrock Cafe and there were about 80 kids there. I observed an interesting fashion trend. Platform shoes…not the kind we had – this is in a whole different league!

I remember begging my mother when I was that age to let me wear platform shoes (without much success) but they were nothing like the platform shoes of today. Check it out.
I was wondering how a trend like this gets started – nobody could walk in the things but every girl there had them. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point” he talks about how trends get started and in his opinion all you need is one centre of influence and an idea spreads like wildfire.

When you think about your business, who are your Centers of Influence? Who are the ones that are going to be talking up your product or service. Are you marketing to them or are you marketing to one person at a time? Definitely something to ponder.