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Answer Upon - To Market or Not To Market: The Double-Edged Sword of Self-Promotion
Bad customer service is everywhere these days — unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. It’s no longer an exception ... poor service has become the norm.In an all-too-typical scene, a customer walks into a retail store with a question about where to find a product. The employee, who is busy and doesn’t want to be bothered, gives the customer a curt answer and continues what she is doing without even looking the customer in the eye. The cus
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan a
Do you hate your job? Are you dragging yourself into the office each morning? Do you feel like you are just going through the motions? And wish that you could be anywhere else?Be careful if this sounds like you, you could be heading for the sack. Take our CareersCoach/She said quiz to find out if you are heading for the sack.My Work Hours a.I am the first to arrive and the last to leave b.I am good at managing my time so don’t need to work excessive hours, however when necessary I work back c.I am the last to arr
It struck a cord with me because I remember being stumped a few years ago, when a photographer I met at a networking function asked me, “So, if you’re such a marketing expert and you help people attract all the clients they need, what are you doing here at a networking group each week?” I didn’t know what to say at first. Never had it been posed to me that way.
But then I started thinking about it all and I realized that I always have clients, because I’m always marketing. I feel comfortable knowing that marketing is part of my business, a large part of it. It doesn’t matter what you DO for a living, your primary job is marketing and your “skill” is whatever else you do to get paid by clients.
So, if you’re a consultant, you’re not really a consultant, you’re a marketer who consults. If you’re an interior designer, you’re not really an interior designer, you’re a marketer who happens to help clients decorate their homes. And so on and so forth.
Until a client of mine really GETS that, they always put marketing on the back burner, and as a result of not making marketing a priority in the past, they’ve gotten lackluster, mediocre results. But when they realize that their MAIN job is marketing, then they just accept that that’s what you do and start to do it well. Alternatively, they can just go back to the corporate world and get a paycheck again while having someone else breathe down their neck. (Ouch!)
But I think the fine line we talked about between looking successful enough not to market and needing to market is really about CHASING clients. It’s like anything in life: if someone is TOO eager about something, you start questioning their motives. Here’s the line I read in that seminar transcript:
The Ultimate Incongruity: “If you’re so good, why are you so available?...let alone chasing business???”
The first key is that you never CHASE business. It’s just too cheesy and it doesn’t make people want to work with you. If you seem like you need them more than they need you, then you’re in trouble.
However, if you follow the Client Attraction System™ or are a client of mine, you know that it’s about creating value, trust, believability, and credibility over the long haul. It’s about establishing yourself as a problem solver to your ideal clients and their biggest problems. It’s about creating a RELATIONSHIP so that clients naturally come to YOU and no one else, WHEN they’re ready. It’s never about chasing clients or strong-arming them to sign up with you. Here’s the formula:
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan an
A Marketing RiddleQuestion: What am I? I am the best low-cost marketing strategy in the world, I’m cheap, but few businesses use me.Answer: Credibility!Or for you real estate guru’s, what are the 3 most important elements of marketing:1. Credibility 2. Credibility 3. CredibilityCredibility is being believed and trusted by your customers and potential customers. You can’t buy it. No amount of advertising or promotion can hand it to you on a platter. Yet you can achieve credibility by trusting
But then I started thinking about it all and I realized that I always have clients, because I’m always marketing. I feel comfortable knowing that marketing is part of my business, a large part of it. It doesn’t matter what you DO for a living, your primary job is marketing and your “skill” is whatever else you do to get paid by clients.
So, if you’re a consultant, you’re not really a consultant, you’re a marketer who consults. If you’re an interior designer, you’re not really an interior designer, you’re a marketer who happens to help clients decorate their homes. And so on and so forth.
Until a client of mine really GETS that, they always put marketing on the back burner, and as a result of not making marketing a priority in the past, they’ve gotten lackluster, mediocre results. But when they realize that their MAIN job is marketing, then they just accept that that’s what you do and start to do it well. Alternatively, they can just go back to the corporate world and get a paycheck again while having someone else breathe down their neck. (Ouch!)
But I think the fine line we talked about between looking successful enough not to market and needing to market is really about CHASING clients. It’s like anything in life: if someone is TOO eager about something, you start questioning their motives. Here’s the line I read in that seminar transcript:
The Ultimate Incongruity: “If you’re so good, why are you so available?...let alone chasing business???”
The first key is that you never CHASE business. It’s just too cheesy and it doesn’t make people want to work with you. If you seem like you need them more than they need you, then you’re in trouble.
However, if you follow the Client Attraction System™ or are a client of mine, you know that it’s about creating value, trust, believability, and credibility over the long haul. It’s about establishing yourself as a problem solver to your ideal clients and their biggest problems. It’s about creating a RELATIONSHIP so that clients naturally come to YOU and no one else, WHEN they’re ready. It’s never about chasing clients or strong-arming them to sign up with you. Here’s the formula:
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan a
Benefits of a Coupon Adsense Website - Everyone loves a good bargain and what better way to get savings then with coupons? Take a look at some ideas to launch a coupon websiteTopicsGrocery Coupons Baby Coupons Beauty Coupons Where to Find Coupons ContentSaving your coupons Where to find the best savings Interactive AreasDirectory of coupons Swap and barter coupons Message forums Online coupon database Keywords to UseCoupons Bargains C
Until a client of mine really GETS that, they always put marketing on the back burner, and as a result of not making marketing a priority in the past, they’ve gotten lackluster, mediocre results. But when they realize that their MAIN job is marketing, then they just accept that that’s what you do and start to do it well. Alternatively, they can just go back to the corporate world and get a paycheck again while having someone else breathe down their neck. (Ouch!)
But I think the fine line we talked about between looking successful enough not to market and needing to market is really about CHASING clients. It’s like anything in life: if someone is TOO eager about something, you start questioning their motives. Here’s the line I read in that seminar transcript:
The Ultimate Incongruity: “If you’re so good, why are you so available?...let alone chasing business???”
The first key is that you never CHASE business. It’s just too cheesy and it doesn’t make people want to work with you. If you seem like you need them more than they need you, then you’re in trouble.
However, if you follow the Client Attraction System™ or are a client of mine, you know that it’s about creating value, trust, believability, and credibility over the long haul. It’s about establishing yourself as a problem solver to your ideal clients and their biggest problems. It’s about creating a RELATIONSHIP so that clients naturally come to YOU and no one else, WHEN they’re ready. It’s never about chasing clients or strong-arming them to sign up with you. Here’s the formula:
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan a
When an employer decides to conduct an interview with you, there are certain things that they are looking for from you. Naturally, you are likely to focus on these things during an interview, but you should remember all of the tips in this manual because following those tips is what is going to make the employers see all of those things in you.Since everybody wants to have a leg up when it comes to an interview, it naturally seemed to be appropriate to let you in on what the employers are evaluating you on during an interview. So here i
The Ultimate Incongruity: “If you’re so good, why are you so available?...let alone chasing business???”
The first key is that you never CHASE business. It’s just too cheesy and it doesn’t make people want to work with you. If you seem like you need them more than they need you, then you’re in trouble.
However, if you follow the Client Attraction System™ or are a client of mine, you know that it’s about creating value, trust, believability, and credibility over the long haul. It’s about establishing yourself as a problem solver to your ideal clients and their biggest problems. It’s about creating a RELATIONSHIP so that clients naturally come to YOU and no one else, WHEN they’re ready. It’s never about chasing clients or strong-arming them to sign up with you. Here’s the formula:
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan a
R?sum? TipsSome basics about job hunting...First of all, nobody owes you a job! This obvious fact is often overlooked by the eager job hunter -- at least for a couple of months -- when he or she gives up looking for a job! Many people think employers should hire them because of their award-winning personality. You have got to have a little something to show for yourself besides your pretty smile. The simple truth is, you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd so that your potential employer will
Value plus Trust over Time.
(As a side note, that photographer who almost stumped me with her question ended up being one of my favorite clients of all time, a RAVING fan and a consistent referral source of new clients to my practice. She’s also become one of the best and most diligent marketers I’ve seen, and she markets consistently, not just when she needs clients. She GOT it.)
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
So, now that we’ve gotten away from any semblance of you chasing business and looking too eager, what would you say if someone asked YOU that Ultimate Incongruity question?
Here’s what I say:
- “I market consistently because I know that if you don’t market consistently, you don’t always have clients. Even when I have a waiting list of people waiting to work with me, I still don’t stop marketing. I’d be foolish to do that.”
- “Two clients recently graduated, so I have openings for just two new clients.”
- “I have decided to take on more clients because…(tell the truth).”
Oh and by the way, always tell the truth. That’s what authentic marketing is about. That’s how being a marketer with integrity makes you stand out in the marketplace. Anything else would be sleazy and that’s not Client Attractive.
© 2006 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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