People in general are attracted to those they resonate with. There is a perceived bond – a shared energy that may be subtle, yet nevertheless is often quite powerful for establishing a relationship of mutual trust.

This is why personalization is now an essential consideration for every marketer that expects to build a sustainable business.

The challenge with personalization is that it goes against traditional marketing wisdom. Personalization takes time and attention, which makes it something that can be difficult to scale, though a few mega-sized businesses such as Zappos are proving it is indeed possible.

Your Ideal Customer Most Values One Thing

Apple and Zappos both discovered that giving personalized attention was the one thing that could differentiate their businesses, thereby transforming their prospects and customers into raving fans.

Even if you have never purchased a pair of shoes from Zappos, if you have experienced their legendary service, you may still be a fan that would recommend them to a friend.

There is nothing more powerful than the recommendations of friends, and astute businesses know that every favorable contact creates the potential for influencing dozens of friends.

Friends understand friends. They know what they value most. They understand the nuances that can affect buying decisions, such as a table at a restaurant with a special view, a personalized thank you note, or anything that could be considered VIP access.

Your Marketing Must Communicate Clear Intentions

If you focus on personalizing your business for your ideal clients, your increase your success rate. Before you can accomplish this, you must define your ideal client in terms beyond their economic capabilities.

When I was operating a contracting business, our ideal clients were those that trusted us, respected our expertise, and challenged us to create new and better solutions that were perfect for them.  Those that wanted a cookie cutter solution were not our ideal client.

To be clear, we had plenty of prospects that could easily afford our services, which were mostly luxuries, as opposed to necessities. Nevertheless, we were incapable of serving them without that essential trust for taking them where they wanted to go.

Once you know your ideal client, you now have to let them know who you are to create that magical bond of personalization.

This comes in the form of intention – clearly communicating that you know, understand, and are able and willing to provide that one thing they really want.

When you try to be all things to too many people, you resonate with nobody. Intention is a marker that says this is who we can be together in a mutually trusting partnership.

Markets Whisper To Those Listening

If you are not attracting the business you need to support your enterprise, then you either do not understand your ideal customer or client, or you are not communicating or delivering it well.

That’s really all there is to it. Markets don’t shout – they whisper. Astute marketers today have learned to use these new social media marketing channels to listen well, and respond in kind.

In a world where virtually every industry is being commoditized, those that are listening to the nuances and subtleties of the markets are the ones that will succeed.

Consider what is special to you – what you treasure most. It’s most likely not something of great economic value. What is special to most of us is something of intrinsic value that is sentimental, emotional, and thus, sustainable.

When all things are pretty much equal, it’s going to be the little things that stand out – those that one would only know if they shared an intimate relationship.

Intimacy stems from personalization, something that businesses who care about their customers are capable of accomplishing.

How are you personalizing your business for your ideal customer?

For more on this, consider exploring Personal vs Business Social Media Accounts.

Leave a comment below or share this with your community on with any of the share buttons below – or on the little red bar at the bottom of this page.  

Until next time,  Jeff

PHOTO CREDIT: KRISHNAN

In the pre-digital era of publishing, the printed word carried a great deal of authority.

The assumption by the general public was that “they” would never print anything if it wasn’t true. Of course, back then publishing was confined to established media outlets that employed professionals who were held accountable.

Now anyone can publish, and there are no rules. Actually, there are some rules, such as the rules of disclosure enforced by the FTC. Yet, with the millions of bloggers, and billions of people publishing on the social networks, there is little enforcement of the few rules that do exist.

As a result, the axiom that you can’t publish what isn’t true is long gone.  As you know, there is much being published that is pure fabrication, and that creates challenges for your business and mine.

Demand More of Your Business than Your Imitators

Now more than ever, actively working your craft sets you apart from imitators.

Imitators or posers hold themselves up as your equal, despite not having the decades of experience, practice, and study that you do. Thus, you have to find new ways to differentiate.

Consumers are always seeking better value, and with a web that is commoditizing nearly every profession, you have to prove that you are actually doing the work – and doing it well.

One of the best ways for accomplishing this is to hold yourself to a higher standard. While the imitators are still learning, demand more of your business – and your customer.

Take the Lead to Define Minimum Requirements

One of my mentors shared his simple formula for success with me. It’s one that anyone can benefit from: “I did everything they asked of me – and more.”

That’s how you will maintain a vibrant business today, one that will withstand the challenges of imitators who are confusing the marketplace, and eroding your expertise by claiming it for themselves without earning it.

Expertise not only takes time to build, it also requires ongoing maintenance. That’s the beauty of being an authentic expert. As long as you are willing to do the work to polish and refine your expertise, your business will shine in a sea of imposters.

What are the minimum requirements to be considered an expert in your profession?  You may indeed have to define them yourself.

If you know your industry, you have a good feel for where it is going.  In most cases, it is not business as usual. Be the one to set the new standards and you will readily stand apart from imitators.

7 Ways to Showcase Your Expertise and Differentiate Your Business

#1 – Do the work others cannot (or will not) do.

In any profession there are three kinds of work – before, during, and after the sale. Most companies fall short in at least one of those areas. Some do not sufficiently prepare, a few do not execute well, and as you know, very few follow up after they have been paid.

If you can balance all three, your small business will be noticed, remembered, and rehired.

#2 – Pick a lane – one that is customer focused

Imitators often have no focus. The are willing to serve every client, which means they cannot effectively serve any of them well. Specialization creates differentiation.

Build a profile of your ideal client and say no to any prospect that does not fit that profile. They will respect you for holding your line, and that may even earn you unexpected referrals.

#3 – Educate your prospects and customers

Unfortunately, buyers often cannot differentiate between valid experts and their imitators. You have to do the work to help them.

This is what content marketing is all about. It’s a process of building trust by teaching your prospects how to be better buyers.

#4 – Prepare for taking calculated risks

Risk is something that paralyzes those that are unprepared. When you are doing the work to stay on top of your game, you see opportunity where others see risk.

The harder you work, the more opportunities you will see. And opportunities multiply when they are seized.

#5 – Challenge your customer to challenge you

Have you ever asked your customers what, if you could deliver on it, would enable them to look back on your working together with a great deal of satisfaction?

Then start doing it. When you challenge your customer to raise their expectations, you create the opportunity for owning your business relationship with them.

#6 – Make your buyer the hero

Full credit to @Chrisbrogan for this one. Customers are conditioned to make us the hero. Indeed, it feels good to be the hero.

Forego ego gratification and make your customer the hero. It works to build relationships that bring in more business.

#7 – Ask the questions posers don’t even know to ask

In any profession, the experts know the right questions to ask. Since nobody has all of the answers, one of the best questions to ask is – “What else should I be asking you?”

This one gets everything out in the open, such that you can get to work on what matters most for your customer.

We are experiencing a major reinvention of industries and professions. You basically have two choices – start redefining what it will take to succeed in the near future, or find yourself in a race to the bottom with your imitators.

How about you?  What are the changes you’ve been noticing in your industry?

Leave a comment below or share this with your community on with any of the share buttons below – or on the little red bar at the bottom of this page.  

Until next time,  Jeff

Photo Credit: David Castillo Dominici

The current economic conditions are redefining the valuation of business assets.

Traditional hard assets convey tangible monetary value that is realized when they are bought and sold, ideally at higher values than when they were previously exchanged.

But what happens when the exchange of these assets is a never-ending downward spiral that approaches zero valuation?

Hard Assets in a Forever Recession

Seth Godin recently coined a new term to describe our current economic environment – a forever recession. It’s one that has a great deal of merit when you consider what we’ve recently experienced, and especially what is possible in the future.

In a forever recession, the trend is towards lower asset values and higher maintenance costs. Whether you own a car, home, or stocks, their value has most likely been declining, but the maintenance costs have nevertheless remained the same – or even risen.

Do you really own an asset when the carrying costs can effectively bring its value to zero?  

Godin goes on to describe the race to the bottom, a condition that is affecting many industries. If you cannot differentiate your company such that you value is readily apparent in the markets you serve, then you are indeed in a race to that zero valuation.

Of course, when you get there you are out of business.

Relationships are the True Business Assets

If you are working harder and harder to liberate value from your business, then it’s value as a revenue generating asset is declining.

When an asset ceases to provide value, yet you continue investing in it to derive that value, you do not own it.  It owns you.

The true assets in business are relationships, the ones that create opportunities, and otherwise invigorate you and your business. They give you confidence and make you happy – provided the maintenance costs are reasonable.

Start Building Soft Assets for New Opportunities

Most small businesses are built from the ground up, typically with a very small capital investment.

It’s your relationships that got you where we are today. As long as you continue to nurture them, they will be there to sustain your business in any economic environment.

If you are interested in another perspective on relationships as assets, gives Access is an Asset by Chris Brogan a read.

It seems there may be more than a few of us thinking about assets, and what is going to be essential for ensuring the relevancy of our businesses in the years ahead.

Hard assets can go to zero, and in a currency crisis, which is not unforeseeable, your liquid assets could do the same.

The relationships that you respect and nurture are the only true currency in a volatile business world. Value them as you wish, though the day will come when you recognize them to be priceless.

Leave a comment below or share this with your community on with any of the share buttons below – or on the little red bar at the bottom of this page.  

Until next time,  Jeff

Photo Credit: jannoon028

The customer may not always right, but they will always have a voice – and that gives them influence over your brand.

Traditional marketing and advertising was a process in which the enterprise controlled the brand. They had the facts, the expertise, and the resources with which to shape the brand identity.

Now customers can communicate their message equally well. It doesn’t matter if they are right or wrong in their beliefs, they will still be heard.

Who Really Controls Your Brand?

The answer is the one with the most influence.

Since you are only one business, and your customers and prospects are many, it stands to reason that they collectively have greater influence.

Nevertheless, you have the capability to make them part of your team.

Acknowledge Your Influencers

Giving up control of your brand is to acknowledge that your customers already have that control. It’s much like a marriage, in that giving up control actually strengthens the partnership.

Businesses that are succeeding today have acknowledged that they are in a shared partnership, with customers, employees, and other influencers in the community.

That’s right, even your competitors are potential influencers. They have a voice too, don’t they?  If you treat them fairly it’s likely they will respect you and your business.

Let Go and Enjoy the Dance

The truth is that you never really did have control of your brand. Even before social media, one customer in a local community had the power to influence your marketing message – either positively or negatively.

If you are doing what you do well, then you should celebrate the fact that you have dozens, hundreds, and maybe even thousands of influencers that can help to spread your message – and build your brand identity.

This is what viral marketing is all about.

When you artfully orchestrate your social media marketing, it becomes a dance with all of your influencers.

However, you indeed have to let go to strengthen your relationship with them.

Leave a comment below or share this with your community on with any of the share buttons below – or on the little red bar at the bottom of this page.  

Until tomorrow,  Jeff

The Only True Failure is Inaction

If you are going to succeed at anything you have to take action. The only true failure is the failure to act – one that is often the result of fear.

If you take action and fail, you produce a result that may be painful, but is nevertheless something that you can then build on.  

Failure is something we can even laugh about after it happens, because it’s out in the open for all to see. After all, do you really have a choice?

Indeed, you can even be proud of your failures. Why? Because you made the effort to take action – and that is always admirable.

The worst failure is quitting – ceasing to take action. Quitting is especially demoralizing because it is a personal choice – one that is usually not subject to circumstances beyond your control. 

Anyone who has ever quit knows that it gets easier to do it again the next time. If you quit before you get to the finish line, the next time around you may quit before the race even gets started.

Responding to Failure Begins a New Cycle

Failure begins a new cycle of practice – provided you respond to your new conditions.

When you create a result that falls short of your expectations, you can easily transform it with a short debriefing exercise.

#1 – Describe the experience you would like to improve – in writing.

#2 – List what worked well this time.

#3 – List the things that didn’t work.

#4 – Knowing what you do now, what would you do differently in the future?

#5 – Now create a step-by-step process to produce your desired result the next time.

The reason so few people achieve greatness is that they are too busy “winning.”

True – they have rationalized their limited capabilities – effectively accepting the status quo.

Yet, we are living in a world where amazing things are possible. Nobody could have ever imagined the success of the college project that has become Facebook. And we all know there have been plenty of failures associated with it.

We are all going to fail at something, so why wait?

The sooner you fail, the more quickly you can get on with building a better process for achieving your goals.

Then set higher goals, and fail away until you achieve them – and more.

Failing right is a process – one that is necessary for achieving what you know is possible.

How do feel about failure now?

Are you ready to get started?

Leave a comment below.

Share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff

Photo Credit: jscreationz

Pew Internet recently completed a study of Facebook user behaviors that provides valuable insights that can help you more effectively use Facebook to grow your circle of influence – and business opportunities.

Facebook Friends are Not Real Friends

Men and women especially, and all of us in general, differ on who we consider to be our real friends. Of course, social networking complicates this further.

Most of us would agree that our real friends are a small percentage of our Facebook friends, and the Pew study validates this.

How does Facebook make this determination? From your social graphs – those digital maps that define your online presence based upon your profile information, all of your connections with people, and every bit of online content that you have touched in some way.

When there is perfect integration among all of your friends, you theoretically have 100% connectivity. In other words, in a perfect world everybody knows everyone else. It turns out the average Facebook user has about 12% connectivity among their Facebook friends.

From a practical business standpoint, achieving deeper integration with your Facebook friends is something that will more likely lead to future business opportunities.

Referrals and new opportunities happen as a result of relationships. This is all the more reason why you should be using Facebook smart lists to organize your Facebook friends, so you can build those relationships.

Facebook Power Users Tend to Specialize

It should not surprise anyone that 20% of the Facebook users contribute the majority of the content. What’s interesting is that these power users tend to specialize in certain activities, such as Liking the content of others, tagging others in photos, or sharing fresh content.

For those who want to use Facebook to build expand their circle of friends and influence without having to live on Facebook, the message is clear. Just pick a lane – do something well, and do it consistently.

The fact that the majority of Facebook activity is contributed by the minority of power users tell us that the majority of Facebook users are there as passive observers.

For this majority, Facebook is effectively a source of news or entertainment.

This is an opportunity for businesses that are making the effort to contribute. Share ideas, photos, videos, or whatever is of interest to you – and watch your circle of friends grow.

Even for businesses, the true value of Facebook is building relationships. Business opportunities are by-products of others first knowing more about you.

That’s what predisposes them to even noticing the information you share about your business.

How are you using Facebook? Leave a comment below.

Share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff

As Facebook approaches its public offering, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is making one thing very clear.

“The world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph.”

In other words, your business needs to be social by design. Virtually every business in every industry needs to redefine itself around social to be relevant with the changing behaviors of consumers.

Define the Purpose of Your Company

Every business has a purpose – what some refer to as a higher purpose. It is your mission. It’s something that transcends profits – while also contributing to them.

It’s what you and your small business team believe in – and what is vitally important to your success.

My purpose is helping mainstream small businesses take advantage of this marketing opportunity of a lifetime – social media.

Social media can humanize your business to reveal what is real, authentic, and honest about it. And that is the magic that yields relationships, alliances, and everything else that differentiates your business in the marketplace.

Understand How Social Graphs Work

Mark Zuckerberg states in his message to potential Facebook investors that Facebook thinks the world’s information and infrastructure should resemble the social graph – yours and that of your small business.

Social graphs tell a story. They illuminate everything about us – what is good and what can be improved.

When a business is willing to be authentic and transparent, it communicates to its consituents that it is open, able, and willing to make improvements.

Does that describe your business?

Solve Important Problems

Businesses exist for the exclusive purpose of solving problems, what traditional marketers have referred to as serving needs and wants.

Determining the needs and wants of the communities you serve is like chasing your shadow. Yet, solving problems is something that most business leaders can easily wrap their arms around.

You understand the problems of your customers, especially if you are willing to test the boundaries that others have established.

When you have the mindset of solving problems, you are no longer challenged with what to share on the social networks.

The essence of content marketing is teaching – helping your prospects to become better buyers of not products and service – but solutions that will solve their most important problems.

Facebook has become hugely successful by solving an inherent problem – enabling people across the globe to connect and share.

Forget about profits and consider the important problems that your business can solve for your communities.

The social design of your business will lead you right to them.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff

If you are a writer you know the challenges – including the distractions. Writers know that getting into and staying within “the zone” (or whatever you want to call it) is essential if you are to accomplish your writing objectives – and meet your deadlines.

Think of the times when your writing is marching along to amazing levels of accomplishment, only to be pulled out of your zone. Also consider the circumstances when you are faced with an impending deadline and need some help finding your focus.

Ambiance is a mobile app that can help. It has certainly worked wonders for me.

Creativity and The Power of Sound

Sound is the most primordial of the senses for human beings. All creation starts with sound. It is the basis of how meditation works.

When you practice traditional forms of meditation, you are mentally repeating a sound that brings your attention inward. That mental sound is known as a mantra. It’s a sound that has no intrinsic meaning, which is why it enables you to connect with your true self – the one that creates.

Ambiance offers thousands of sounds that you can explore to create the right mood that you need to get your writing accomplished.

If you are having trouble focusing, the deeper sounds help to stabilize your mental chatter. Some of my favorites are Gentle Intensity, Light Trails, and Resonance of the Gods.

I’ve created a playlist of these three sounds, and they work wonders for helping me to find and maintain my writing focus.

As you can see, the screenshots that accompany the sounds are also mentally stimulating and pleasing.

Change Your Writing Environment with Sound

Too much of any form of stimulation can dull the senses. Sometimes you need a spark to energize your thinking. This is when I’ll switch to a sound such as Fire, which is the crackling sound of burning leaves.

When I am writing in a public place and need a sound to simply hold my attention, I find that that the many of the Rain sounds (Ambiance categorizes sounds) work well, especially Thunderstorms in the French Countryside. It is one that offers variety, and I imagine evokes youthful memories of feeling safe while the outside environment is changing.

Ambiance offers premium sounds for a modest price, but I’ve discovered plenty of free sounds that work well for me. It is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile devices, and it also works from your desktop.

Now that I have Ambiance, when I am working from home and have my Bose headphones on, it’s a signal to my family that I am in the zone – doing the work of writing.

Even if you are able to find your creative focus, Ambiance may just be the thing to take you to a higher level of creativity.

We’re talking about the work of writing here. Couldn’t you use a little help from time to time?

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff

Small businesses naturally tend to focus on daily actions that generate results, such as engaging prospects with their sales process, and then efficiently converting that interest into profits.

Advertising is a form of media that fits well with the small business mindset. It creates awareness, a sense of urgency, and a desire to take action now.

Unlike traditional advertising campaigns, social media takes time to do its job.

This is one reason why many small businesses are challenged with using it well. They view it as another form of advertising.

This also leads to the temptation to set up business pages on every social network to drive traffic to your websites.

This is not a good idea – especially when so many others are doing the same thing.

If you really want to drive traffic to your website – get personal. Learn how to use social media to humanize your business. It’s a simple process, one that admittedly takes time – but it works.

If you learn how to do this right, you will indeed differentiate your business – and in ways that are much more sustainable than traditional marketing practices.

Personal is More Trustworthy

Traditional marketing makes claims, often with competitive comparisons that may or may not be true. Some of these claims include being the best, the most awarded, and so on.

As a result, consumers have learned not to trust advertising. They have learned from experience that if something seems too good to be true – it probably isn’t.

Now every claim is challenged. This is why more consumers rely on the Internet to validate what they have learned from other sources – including word of mouth recommendations from friends.

What are they looking for?  Not more marketing – that’s for sure.

Consumers are searching the web for reliable information – not necessarily from companies, but from real people who offer perspectives that are backed up by direct experience.

This is the power of content marketing - bringing truthfulness to the marketing equation.

Personalization is your strongest differentiator, and that is best accomplished via your personal social media accounts – and those of your team members.

Who you are is unique – and that is a business differentiator. It’s subtle, but it is nonetheless true.

The Company is Incidental

Anyone who manages a business presence on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ knows that it can be difficult to engage others. Why?

People have conversations with people – not companies.

You are more likely to engage your audience with a personal account – one where they can get to know and trust you.

Look at this from the perspective of a customer. When you receive outstanding service, you are more likely to recommend not just the company – but the person within it that was responsible for your favorable experience.

The company is incidental. What matters is who personally made a difference for you.

People Take Care of People

It has been said the best way to build a business is not to focus on the consumer, but those who serve them.

Have you ever been unsatisfied and ready to discontinue your relationship with a business – only to change your mind due to just one interaction with an especially caring representative?

That’s the power of personalization. When someone cares about you, its memorable.

This is also why personal social media accounts that are linked to a business can accomplish more than a business account.

Businesses often wonder if they can trust their staff to represent the company well online.

This is pretty simple. If you do not trust your staff to represent your company online, then you have the wrong people. If they are now successful offline, then they can do it online too.

As long as they respect the company, its vision and mission, and most importantly, its values – then let them be who they are.

Your staff will use social networking differently than you.  That’s OK. Let them be themselves – because that personalization is the magic that makes it work.

Successful business is people taking care of people.

There just is no other way.

How exactly is this done?

This related article on Personal vs Professional Social Media Accounts will give you some ideas for further personalizing your online presence.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff

Photo Credit: krishnan

Google+ is an emerging social network that promises to challenge Facebook – especially in regards to its benefits for businesses.

While Google+ is only a fraction of the size of Facebook, it is indeed backed by Google – the corporation that controls 2/3 of all search on the open web.

Search results are and will be increasingly influenced by what is shared on the social networks. However, much of the sharing on Facebook is completely invisible to Google and the other search engines.

That alone ought to be reason enough to learn how to use Google+ to make your business more attractive – for Google and consumers alike.

Chris Brogan shares quite a few more reasons in his latest book: Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.

In our 16 minute video interview, Chris shared a number of tips and best practices for using Google+ for business.

Here are a few of the highlights.

Make Your Buyer the Hero

If you want to connect and build mutually beneficial relationships with potential buyers, you want to focus on them – making them the hero.

Consider the nature of the noise on the social networks that causes people to tune out. It’s selling, and too much about them – which of course, is another form of selling.

When you are engaged in a conversation that has you feeling good about you, suddenly, all of that noise melts away. This is easily the most valuable tip Chris shared – one that I now have posted right above my desk.

Build Your Personal Presence First

One of the laws of human behavior is that if you are desperately seeking attention – you probably won’t get it.

People are hard-wired to interact and socialize with other people. Understanding and implementing that in all of your business activities is sure to make your business brand more desirable.

Brogan notes that we are still in the early days of Google+, and even major brands such as Pepsico and Ford are finding people are not quite yet ready to interact with brands. This answers the most frequently asked question about Google+.

Do we need a Google+ business page in addition to our personal profile? Chris Brogan suggests you can create a Google+ business page as a placeholder for your brand – but in these early days of Google+ it’s best to focus on building your personal presence.

Be Accessible to Potential Buyers

The purpose of social networking is making connections, sharing, and otherwise learning about people and new business opportunities.  Right?

So, why is it that so many fail to share their contact information on their social networking profiles?

The About page of your Google+ profile is a unique opportunity to embed links to your sites, other networking sites – as well as a direct link to your email address. Don’t forget to include your telephone and snail mail address too.

Easier than that are the message and email share buttons on the left side of your Google+ profile.  Take the time to edit your profile and make the settings for these public so that anyone can contact you.

Video Messaging – A Cool New G+ Feature

There are a number of additional tips in Google+ for Business – and in these FREE instructional videos on ChrisBrogan.com (where you can also go to buy the book).

One that isn’t is the new feature that allows you to create a video message to share with your Google+ communities.  Here’s how – just click on the Add Video button at the bottom of the box where you post your message, and it will open to several options – including one to record live video.

Live Video Messaging with Google+

Is Google+ just another social network?

It’s more like a direct line to Google, one that you can dial up to get more business.

You just have to know how it works – and Google+ for Business will show you how.

Thanks Chris for sharing your insights!

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff