What stops us from achieving the results we deserve?

As you know from reading my blogs, newsletter and listening to my audio work, I am dedicated to sharing knowledge and value with fellow business people so that they can in turn, give the best they can to their own community. I am even more committed to helping people actually convert this knowledge into actions to transform their business and their lives.

I firmly believe that inside us, all have the knowledge, experience and insights we need to become successful. We invest time and money learning new skills and keeping up to date with the latest trends and technique. We write to-lists and set goals. We think about how great our personal and business lives would be like if we achieved our goals and what we define as success (otherwise known as visualisation)

Yet, many of us feel a sense of disappointment, or frustration when goals are not met, plans fail to come into fruition or deliver the results we expected. Or we run round, chasing our tail with ever growing to-do lists, a sense of overwhelm and underlying anxiety, while family and personal demands are juggled between business priorities.

Why is that? Why don’t we keep hold of the clarity, enthusiasm and insights that come from a training event? Why does our passion, self-confidence and commitment to change ebb away even when we know that taking the right action will transform our personal and business lives for the better?

The fact is there is a world of difference from deciding to make a change, and actually having the determination and commitment to see it through. Making the decision in itself can be a big step for many of us – either out of choice or from necessity. However, the real test is making it happen – for change is an uncomfortable process for many of us, and there are many internal and external obstacles to make the path difficult.

Examining what makes us resistant to change and enjoying success is often a difficult process, forcing us to really dig deep into our backgrounds, upbringing & conditioning, and our current circumstances. It’s easier to blame outside forces and circumstances than to take responsibility for what we can control in our lives. It’s easier and we’ve all done it but it doesn’t actually move us any forward…

Many of us lack a sense of accountability, discipline, self-confidence and right mind-set to be successful. But these internal barriers can be overcome – accountability coaches, groups or buddies; mentors; good systems and support infrastructure are all part of the tool-kit of successful, high-performing individuals. But for some, even getting this set up can seem too much of a bother or expense.

My own (great) challenges in these areas have brought insights and understanding in how I live and work. I have come to see that there is much I can do to make things happen that supports my wish for a healthy work-life balance. And seeing how having this clarity and sense of purpose uplifts and inspires me to take meaningful action, I want to be sure that this is what I can bring to others in my work.

This is the impetus which drives the focus of my workshops, classes, programmes and writing: goal-setting, action-taking, accountability, support and implementation. So with a few months remaining until the end of the year, I’ll end by asking you to spend a little time reflecting on what it is that is stopping you from reaching the success you deserve? And what steps will you take to remove these barriers? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

What's stopping us from achieving the success we deserve?

Why Congruence is a key feature of successful…

Why Congruence is a key feature of successful business planning

I’ve been covering the theme of congruence and authenticity a great deal in my work, most recently in the teleseminar I gave on Creating A Compelling Online Brand. I refer to it in context of many key business goals & objectives such as attracting new clients, developing personal brands, and creating marketing copy that generates income and builds your pipeline.

Some of you might ask why it’s relevant to business planning and coming from a sales & marketing background, often in a corporate setting, the idea of working on congruence seemed rather unnecessary and rather self-indulgent. However, I am very happy to admit how wrong I was!

I firmly believe that one needs to have goals and visions set out before spending time and effort rushing out and doing. Prior preparation and planning (but not so much that one doesn’t actually do anything!) helps us to keep on track and not waste our valuable resources on actions that doesn’t generate the best benefits.

This is why I have learnt the value of spending part of that time is spent on really getting to grips with congruence – getting clear, really clear on what it is you offer, your value to your niche target market (your community), your understanding of what your niche actually wants or needs, and what makes you special and different.

Congruence in this context means that you are in true alignment with your sense of self – in terms of who you are, what you do, what you offer and although this sounds simple on paper, few people reach congruence without putting in some reflection and work.

If, for example, I gave you no more than five minutes to explain, in 15 words or less, what you have to offer a potential client/supplier/partner, could you do it? Can you say “without hesitation, deviation or repetition” (thank you, Radio 4’s Just a Minute) why you are just the right person to work with and what makes your different and special?

If you are unsure, you won’t convince someone else that you have the knowledge, expertise, understanding, experience, insight, authority, and products/services that are right for them.

Showing your target market/community your real sense of conviction and self- confidence makes you an attractive person and draws people to you – people buy certainty and trust what you have to offer. Establishing congruence allows your community to know, like and trust you.

If they are going to invest time & money working with you or buying your products and services, they need to know that you are the right person for the job. If you are to convince them, you need to feel that you are the right person too…

Don’t miss the replay for my webinar on Creating a compelling online brand. Sign up here http://tiny.cc/7o6py

Just confirmed I’ll be presenting a workshop as part of JMB Accounting’s free Seminar series. I’ll be talking about methods successful businesses use to attract new clients. Free event for SME owners and professionals who can travel to Liphook, Hampshire. More info on booking tickets from http://tiny.cc/y7oy3

I’ve also got a free five-day e-course on Attracting New Clients which is an excellent introduction to the topic.

Part two of “To tweet or not to tweet… should your business get involved with Social Media? Using appropriate Social Media platforms for research and customer engagement

 

Welcome!

 

PART ONE of my overview to Social Media (SM) and businesses, touched on the impact SM can have on a business’s relationship with their customers and on their brand identity. In this concluding post, I’m looking at the need to select an appropriate Social Media platform for your business and for real success, write a Social Media Strategy.

I will be going into the topics covered in this introductory series in more depth in future posts. Please feel free to RSS my posts to keep up to date!

Have you chosen the appropriate Social Media platforms for your business?

 

Businesses new to Social Media are often overwhelmed by the different Social Media platforms that are available. Almost everyone has heard of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Some people will be familiar with other sites such as Bebo, LinkedIn and Digg. Business owners under pressure to get on board the Social Media bandwagon, open accounts with these Social Networks, post a few tweets or updates, and then somehow, lose momentum…

They’ve ended up in one or more of the following scenarios:

• they’re unconvinced by the ineffectiveness of Social Media as they lack an immediate and large following
• they find the ROI too low in terms of the time invested and lack of income generated
• they can’t keep up with the content stream necessary
• they only have the time to post only erratically

Whatever the reason for their unrealistic expectations, the experience leaves them disinclined to continue with Social Media as a tool to market their services and raise income.

What a pity…

These businesses have failed to do their necessary market research or business planning before embarking on the Social Media journey. Clearly, knowing which Social Media platforms your customers are using (and for what purpose) will inform your decisions on which content distribution formats to use (i.e. what networks you’ll use to dispense your message) and how to put together your promotional campaigns.

For example, research indicates that consumers favour Facebook for their main SM platform, followed by Twitter and YouTube. If your main sales approach is B2C (Business to Consumer) then it makes sense to concentrate your efforts on these sites. After all, this is where your potential and existing customers are likely to be.

LinkedIn is the leading professional networking site, followed by ecademy.com and if you are selling a B2B (Business to Business) product or service, these are relevant Social Networks where you can find your customer base.

Your own market research and analysis will tell you which Social Network (s) to pursue based on the profile of your target customer and the demographics of the Social Network concerned. Be aware that the etiquette and expectations of each Social Network (SN) are different and you need to understand them before attempting to promote or sell your services.

Assuming your messages resonate with your target audience and you appear on the right search results, you have the ability to promote and sell to a large amount of people (who are actively interested in your field).

In future posts, I’ll be looking at specific techniques of marketing and promoting your products and services on these different Social Networking platforms.

 

Create a Social Media Strategy that fits your business’ objectives

 

Given the importance and impact Social Media can have your business, it’s very clear that compiling a Social Media strategy should be your number one consideration. Many SMEs dip into Social Media without thinking ahead, find the experience too difficult or time-consuming , and pull out.

Setting out clear, achievable and measureable business objectives is essential – i.e. what do you want from your Social Media activity and how will you measure success – visitors to site? Units sold/places booked? Number of subscribers?

To draw in a community and maintain their interest, you’ll need to produce a steady stream of high-quality, entertaining, and relevant content. A business which “twitters”, and has a Facebook page or LinkedIn profile, will be able to direct visitors to their website where they can be led to follow a particular call to action or generate valuable feedback. However, this level of engagement takes effort to maintain.

While SM is often promoted as a no-cost, high-impact method of promoting and selling services, there is an actual cost in terms of time and effort. Short, regular bursts (little and often) work well. Build in the time for participating in Social Networking into your business operations. If necessary, outsource or make necessary staffing adjustments to support this regular output.

To keep track of their activities and to make the process more time-efficient, businesses use online tools that help them send out specific content to selected networks and even control the timing and frequency of the updates.

I will cover these aggregate services in future posts, but a few to consider are Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for twitter updates and as well as Mybloglog for blogs and Plugged.it (which describes itself as “a social network that’s for people who want to promote“).

Content is reproduced in various formats: written (blogs, web content, email marketing, twitter, Facebook special groups and pages, PDFs, eBooks, white papers), audio (narratives, teleseminars, web page commentaries and podcasts) and increasingly, video (it is becoming much easier to create affordable video blogs and video presentations. These add impact to your website and provide valuable information to your customers before they commit to your call to action).

Creating compelling content takes time, effort and for the multi-media options, money. Yet, if done well, the response from already active and interested customers can be impressive; a business that takes the time and trouble to anticipate and answer their customers’ questions, will enjoy a higher conversion rate than one that doesn’t.

Focus, Clarity, Direction…

 

For many SMEs and individuals, investing in your website and accompanying Social Media machinery is a real alternative to hiring a sales team to find and convert customers. The reach is greater, you can target messages to reflect your different types of customer, and marketing content can be revised and updated almost in real time without incurring extra costs.

Social Media provides businesses of all sizes the ability to build relationships with their customers and create a loyal following. It also allows you to reinforce the brand identify that you’ve created. With such obvious benefits, it’s important that you make the right decisions before making a start…

Avoid the scattergun, crisis-management approach and instead, exercise patience; do your research, be focused, and PLAN AHEAD. Successful businesses have simply recognised that Social Media is an integral part of their marketing mix. By amalgamating their offline and online strategies, they increase profile and impact. With appropriate planning, so can you.

Having introduced a few terms and concepts on Social Media, I will be adding further posts that will cover topics in a little more depth. I look forward to sharing your thoughts,

Sumi

Olson Sales & Marketing Services

http://www.olsonservices.co.uk

Twitter: @ sumiolson

To tweet or not to tweet… should your business get involved with Social Media?

Welcome!

This blog is the first of a two-part introductory series that explores the benefits of using Social Media to sell or promote a product or service.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be adding further information and discussion based on the these key themes that this series has highlighted. For updates about future posts, please subscribe using the links provided.

 

Today, I’m touching on Social Media and how it affects customer relationship and brand identity.

The impact of Social Media
The growth of Social Media (SM) is a new and explosive trend, evolving rapidly just in the last five years. Its steady growth reflects the growing number of technological advances, accompanied by accessible pricing options for users. Significantly, many key Social Media tools are free to access and allow individuals and businesses to have a reach of millions within a global setting.

This geographical reach allows businesses to communicate directly with existing and potential customers locally, nationally, and internationally. Yet many SMEs are still unclear on how to make the best use of Social Media, and remain to be convinced of its value.

For individuals and SMEs using SM strategically within set business goals, the power of Social Media is increasingly clear.

 

Using Social Media to build relationships
One of SM’s primary strengths is the concept of engagement with customers. With increasing opportunities for interaction, both existing & potential customers/communities have new expectations of how a business should work with them.

Through Social Networks such as Facebook or Twitter, they want to interact with their chosen businesses and they want to know, (and “feel”) how your business and your business brand aligns with their own personal brands and values. In short, people are willing to do business with people they like and trust.

Decisive factors in why a customer decides to build a bond with you:

Desire – they want what you’ve got!

Ethics – they like the way you work

Sheer gut instinct  – they “like” or “get” you.

By collaborating on discussions surrounding ideas related to your industry and your business, and revealing your own (and the business’) ethics and values, you can build a  good relationship between you and the target community.

These are relationships which haven’t been paid for or cost very little (in cash terms), with people who have indicated interest in your business’ products/services. In direct marketing terms, these are hundreds or (if you’re really successful), thousands of “hot” contacts who want to do business with you!

In future posts, I’ll be looking at how you can develop relationships with your customers in more detail…

 

Using Social Media to support your Brand

A revolutionary aspect of SM is its ability to amplify Word of Mouth (WOM) recommendations to a wider audience. Your customers and potential customers can talk about you among themselves at their own leisure. Moreover, they’ll do so at great length if they’re either pleased or unhappy with your business or service!

SM is built on the philosophy of collaboration and shared opinion so feedback can be forthright, honest, or occasionally, even rude!

It’s in your best interest to take all opinions without rancour and try to put right what you might have done wrong. Using tools such as Google Alerts, or Twitter search, you can see comments made about your business and take proper action such as dealing with complaints, or thanking contributors for their positive remarks.

Getting actively involved and giving value are key tenets in SM relationships and if you show how you listen and respond, or are appreciative of customer feedback, you will have created good will as well as loyal followers.

Brand identity is important for individuals and businesses who wish to connect with potential customers and subscribers.  I’ll be adding further posts and resources to help you create a strong, relevant brand which will resonate with your target groups…

 

Part two of “To tweet or not to tweet… should your business get involved with Social Media?”
My next post in this introductory series will look at Appropriate Social Media Platforms for Research and Engagement and Identifying your Social Media Strategy. After this, I’ll be getting into Social Media Marketing in more depth! If you are interesting in learning more, please feel free to subscribe.

I look forward to sharing thoughts and experiences!

Sumi