You probably won't make any.
I'm not saying that you should do things for free, and I get people have to make a living. But- and this is a Big But-
When you think about WHY you want to start blogging or having some type of online presence, if money is the first thing on your list, you won't be creating the type of following that is sustainable over time, you are creating something from a place of need and taking. In essence, you are an online sales person, not an expert willing to help others achieve success. The energy that you put into your work will be what people take away from interacting with you. It doesn't matter how pretty and glittery your website is, because, underneath it all the true motivation of your why will shine through, and THAT is your brand.
If you want to build a tribe of loyal followers there is only one way to do that. Be a Loyal Leader.
Why do bulldogs have short noses?
In case you have not seen one lately, I am posting a picture of a bulldogs nose. As you may notice, there isn't much of a nose at all on this dog. Working with client's this week, I think that I now understand the importance of having a short nose. Confused? Good. Let me explain...
Here is a typical client scenario. The conversation usually starts like this:
Me: So, we are meeting today to talk about your marketing strategy. Tell me about what you do, where you see yourself in the market, and ultimately where do you want to be in say, six to twelve months?
Them: Well, I'm in transition. I have a job that pays the bills, but frankly, I am bored and burnt out. I want to do coaching, speaking and write a book for Corporate Leaders like me, because I know I can help clients who are typically in Leadership positions since I am one of them. I know what they go through, and I have some unique solutions. I am really excited about coaching people so maybe I could just focus there, but how do I separate myself from all of the other coaches out there? Maybe I shouldn't even be doing this. After all, I have a wife, 3 kids and I have bills to pay. I would need to see a lot of people to get my income where it needs to be, but the more I stay at my job, the more frustrated I feel. I must be crazy for even thinking about doing this, it will never work.
Me: Well, lets not get to far ahead of ourselves yet, and back this up a bit. When you were talking about doing the coaching stuff, you were pretty excited about it. But when you thought about the marketplace, the wind kind of went out of your sails, and then you got sucked right into the cycle of doom. Is that accurate?
Them: Yes. That is what happens. I get excited, but when I think about everything else, I get very unmotivated.
Me: That is because your nose is too long. You are way to far ahead of yourself to stay connected to what is important, and the motivating energy that gets created from there. If you are ever feeling ovewhelmed or unenergized about something, you need to shorten your leash, and get focused on the next smallest step you can take to go in the right direction.
Bulldogs stay focused on what is right in front of them because that's the way they are engineered. Their necks are short, keeping their head and their heart close together, and their best sense of all, their sense of smell is just a little bit further out than that. This way, they survey the territory right ahead of them, staying aligned and on course. The best way to cover great distances is to take small strides, and be aware of your direction. This way, you will arrive at your destination full of energy and enthusiam, and ready for the next smallest step.
As "Independent Professionals" a.k.a. "You do everything Yourself" you may have times where things are moving a bit quickly, and you may make a mistake or two along the way. Some mistakes may be more critical than others depending on your model of the world, and if you are like most people, you probalby take more pride in being right than being wrong.
I recently had the pleasure of making a mistake of the worst kind. I accidently charging a client 500.00 instead of 50.00, which to me is a Big-Time No No! When I realized what happened, I could have blamed the 'person who does that for me', the credit card processing company, or my computer for having a sensitive keyboard, but that only makes it worse. You need to accept responsiblity for everything you do, no matter how badly you feel when you mess up.
If you find yourself in a simular situation, I have found that it is best to say, "I screwed up, and it is completely my fault". No need for long explainations, just take total responsiblity. Then figure out what you can do to make up for the error, and follow through with the customer to make sure you have done all you can to fix the problem in their mind.
The nice thing is, you won't need have multiple meeting with a committee or get approval from your supervisior of boss to bring the issue to resolution. Do what you think is right, and do it quickly, and you may find that the biggest mistake you can make is not when you make it, but it is how you handle it when you discover it.
Many people who read my blog are familiar with Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, or NLP. One of the presuppositions of NLP is The Meaning of your communication is the response you get. What this really means is that we need to take accountability for how our messages are recieved by our audience. For example, if you are writing marketing material or a blog post, and you get several questions from readers about something, you have obviously missed something that your audience needs and you are responsible for that. Seth Godin does a great job of explaining this and how it relates to marketing. It's worth checking out. If you don't understand what I am talking about, just remember, It is my fault!
WOW! I feel like Rip Van Winkle who woke up from a 20 year nap! It has been over 3 months since my last blog post, which most people - myself included- would say is a complete no-no in the blogging world. In order to explain my absence, I could say that I was doing an experiment to see what effect it would have, but I would by lying to ya'll which isn't ever a good thing. However, I did learn a few things that you may be interested in:
1. Not posting has not changed my daily stats in a major way- only about 1%. Although that seems surprising, if you have a few 'cornerstone posts' that offer basic information that does not change over time, people will continue to find you long after your post hits the archives. This is another reason why great tags and keywords are important.
2. Nobody got mad at me, and said Hey, where have you been. This could be good or bad, but I didn't have people unsubcribe due to my lack of activity. In fact, posting again might remind a few people that they want to unsubscribe, but that is OK with me, I only want people on my list who want to be on my list.
3. I think that although there are guidelines for building your blog and readership, the most important guideline is YOU. What do YOU feel comfortable with? If you are blogging out of guilt and because you have to, I am not sure you are going to attract a huge following by guilt posting.
4. Bark with Purpose! I think if you don't have anything that you feel compelled to write about, just wait until you get a burst of inspriration. If you have ignored your blog for awhile, you may be better off going through old posts and re-tag and reposting them to give you some fresh search criteria. Who knows, maybe you will get a great idea or two along the way!
You have defined your ideal client, you know what you are going to sell them, you have your marketing material ready for them to land on, so now you should be pulling at the leash and ready to set the world on fire. So what's next you ask?
Get Yourself A Client!
For some of you, this is a no brainer, for others it may be a bit of a stretch, but if you begin to understand the difference between marketing, networking and sales you will be able to create a game plan that will drive qualified prospects to you, and then you can work them through your sales process.
I like to think of it this way- Marketing and Networking Activites drive suspects into the top of my sales funnel. My sales funnel is where I work with suspects to turn them into prospects and eventually clients.
In case these terms seem a bit foriegn to you, here is the way I define things:
A suspect is somebody that might be a good candidate for your product or service, but you have never exchanged any real dialogue with them.
A prospect is somebody that shows interest in your offerings, and you have had some sort of contact with them, and they have acknowledged that interaction. I make this disctinction so you understand that just because somebody is on your email list doesn't automatically mean they are a prospect. They very well could be, but I like to think of those people as suspects.
Marketing- Marketing is all about your message, and getting your message out to as many people as you can. Marketing encompasses things such as websites, blogs, brochures, content and even speaking engagements. In the beginning, you will probably feel like you spend most of your time creating marketing 'stuff' but it is worth the effort. You want your marketing material to have a 'call to action' where people can sign up for your newsletters, articles, or free downloads and you can begin to build a relationship with people who have expressed a level of interest in your products and services.
Networking- This is where you can rely on your spheres of influence and who they know. The goal of networking is to spead the word and educate people so they can help spread the word for you. The best place to send your networking contacts is to your blog or website, and let THEM decide what the best next step is for them.
Sales- This is the part where people get confused. Marketing and Networking are NOT sales activities. If you are set up to sell things online, selling takes place when people click through to your your sales page or shoppng cart and purchase something.
If you are in the position where you may be selling coaching or consulting services, it is important that you understand when you are entering the 'Sales Zone'. In my opinion, that happens when somebody sends you an inquiry about your services. Basically they have raised their hand and said they are interested in what you have to offer, and are looking for more information. It is now your job to ask questions to determine if there is a good 'fit' between what they are looking for, and what you have to offer. Selling is nothing more than that, so the good news is, you don't need a huge long sales pitch, you just need to have a few really good questions to help your prospect determine if your solution is the one for them.
Your homework is to take a good hard look at your current interactions with suspects and prospects and being very honest with yourself, ask yourself the following questions:
Am I doing more marketing than sales activities?
How many real sales opportunities do I have in my pipeline?
Are my marketing efforts creating a call to action that will separate qualified prospects from suspects?
Do I have a list of questions that I can ask prospects to help them decide if my products are a good fit for them?
Once you get clear and get the facts, you will see where you need to spend your time when growing your business, and you may find out why you have more lookers than buyers in your pipeline.
You know who you want to sell to, and you know what your product offering is, and you may have created your products. So now what?
You need to tell people about what you are doing, which means it is time to create your marketing materials and spend some time marketing yourself. Your marketing material and activities may consist of:
Blogs
Websites
White Papers
Free E-Books
Speaking Engagements
Networking
In the bulldog world, which means keeping it simple, easy and quick and you are starting out from scratch, I would suggest using a blog as your key marketing piece. If you are unsure about how to go about doing that, the good news is, this blog is all about that, so read away, and figure out what you need to do to get going.
In the beginning, you will spend most of your time creating 'Marketing Stuff' but it is worth the effort. The goal of your marketing material is move Suspects ( people who may be interested in your products or services, but you have never made any type of contact with ) to a place where they are either saying "Tell me More" by contacting you, or in the ultimate case, If you are selling online, getting them to click through and make a purchase through your shopping cart.
When you are getting started, you need to have enough material so that if you encounter someone through a networking function, or if they come to your site, they will know enough about what you do and what you offer to figure out what the next best step for them should be.
Rembember that your marketing message will change over time, so try to balance sitting alone at your desk with getting out and getting feedback from the marketplace. That way, you won't lose sight of the goal, which should always be getting clients!
After you have identified your market segment or niche, and have a clear picture of your ideal client it is time to figure out what you are going to offer them. The key is to offer multiple products so that your clients can Buy and Rebuy from you, in a very natural progression. If you are curious about how to create a client lifecycle roadmap, here is a post I did on that a while back.
Some other things to consider are:
1. Are you offering your products in a way that your clients will purchase and use them? There are still a few people who don't really want to order downloadable products, so really take some time and interview people in your market niche to determine HOW they would like to do business with you.
2. Do you have at least 5 different price points for your customers to choose from? In other words, you should have a low priced product that people can purchase to get to know you. If the only thing you offer is a 2500.00 seminar, you may have a hard time getting people to hand over their credit card on the first pass.
3. Do your products have a natural order to them? Think about how you can lead a client down a path with each product building upon the last. This keeps it interesting for your clients, and they will feel as though you are right there for them handling their needs as they come up.
4. Are you making a profit on your products? You need to think about your time, and any packaging and development costs that go into each of your products. If you are selling physical products, be realistic about how many you might sell. I know lots of people who have large inventories of outdated products sitting in their garages.