Here’s what I see a lot… people marketing recipes: the ingredients for a cake – the step by step pieces you need.
But what a cake lover is more interested in is the finished article – what a cake lover buys is a CAKE! I get a lot more excited looking at a slice of carrot cake than I do a bag of flour, eggs, sugar, some carrots, a wooden spoon… and yet this is what I see a lot of people are ‘selling’ – the ingredients.
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If you ask me you can never give away enough information.
I am happy to share a great deal of ‘information’ for free, because I know that for it to be effective, for it to ‘do’ what it’s shared for, it needs to be put into action.
The difference between information and action is why people buy from you. And this makes a huge difference to how you market and ‘sell’ what you do.
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Sometimes it’s absolutely the right time to do something big, new and bold. Other times it makes sense to just move things a little bit. But you do need to move – onwards, upwards, sideways, longways, anyways 
Standing still might seem like a good idea if you’re having a wobble or a panic or just not sure about something, but actually it’s very rarely the best plan. If you stand still you can’t see what’s possible, you can’t tell if something is a good idea (or not) until you try it. Keeping yourself in one place (literally or metaphorically) isn’t always a safe plan. No one wants to be a sitting duck!
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Planning is great fun. It’s very important. You need to have a plan about where you are, where you are going, and how you’re going to get there for you and your business.
That said, it’s also good to be able to go with the flow – make sure you’ve got time and space to breathe in your plan.
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Transformations are what sell what you do. Features need to be listed of course, but it’s the results that count.
Typically we buy results – the transformation – more than we buy ‘what it is’.
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Sometimes what you need to do next in your business is simple. But we can very easily over complicate things.
Sometimes it’s just right there.
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I have been doing a lot of un-learning recently. Or, to put it another way, learning to do things NOT the way I had been doing them (for a long time!). Which is the best learning I think. Although hard…very hard!
What I wanted to write about today is un-learning. The picking apart of what you do now and making it better. And I wanted to talk about how uncomfortable that is!
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If you really want to get noticed in your market then a niche is not enough.
Absolutely you have to have a niche, no arguments from me about that, BUT you have to let people know you’re there, in that niche, doing your Thing, and you’re the perfect person to help.
So what do you do?
You get a Fame Name, you use your PSP (Personality Selling Point) and you become a Business Celebrity.
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You absolutely need a plan in business, and while I am not a big fan of the v-e-r-y long (and let’s be honest sometimes quite dull) ‘business plans’ that your bank manager might want to see, you absolutely DO need a plan.
Not having a plan is like navigating in the dark with no idea of where you’re headed. Things work out so much better when you have a plan.
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How much does the space around us (literal or metaphorical) restrict our thinking. And how big is your space?
It sounds simple and it is, but how often do you consciously change or upgrade your environment to match your plans? Do you work outside your usual space, do you go for a walk under a huge sky or by a vast ocean and think in a bigger way?
How big is your space?
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Lifetime value is not a new concept in marketing and business but it often astounds me (in a slap-on-the-forehead kinda way) that many business owners don’t ‘get it’.
Lifetime value is the ‘number’ you need to have in mind when you are evaluating your marketing, when you’re working out your investment into how much to spend (time or money or both) in getting a new customer.
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I don’t know everything. I am always learning, always finding more ways to solve things, and discovering more ways to share what I know.
What I do know is that I know enough. In fact I know plenty. What I know is that what I know is of value to other people.
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Are you in that relaxed place just seeing what comes along, not doing anything too energetic i.e. are you in ‘holiday mode’ with your business?
There is nothing wrong with taking it easy (I am not saying don’t relax!) but what I suggest is that like any good holiday you put some planning time in beforehand to pick the best time, place, location to get the MOST from it… I know I relax more when I’m where I want to be!
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How do you do what you do?
This is a really important question to ask yourself as it will really help you with your marketing and get you noticed.
Share the details, the thoughts behind your process, your procedures, the details, the ‘little things’ that you do to make how you do what you do different.
I am guessing that whatever it is you ‘do’ there are also lots of other people and businesses that ‘do’ it too.
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When you’re doing your marketing, your messages, your website copy, your ads, your talks, your landing pages, your flyers, your videos, anywhere you are talking about what you do… make sure you use the language that your clients (existing and potential) do.
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On the one hand, yes you have to be visible and be in ‘it’ (where ‘it’ is your ideal clients’ radar) to get noticed. On the other hand if you read ‘it’ as being ‘everywhere’ then that’s a recipe for marketing overwhelm if ever I saw it!
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Yes I am talking about Things again. I can’t help myself. It’s what I love to do!
And a question I get asked often is can you have more than 1 thing? So I thought I’d share my answer here.
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We all need to set ourselves some world records to break from time to time. Or at least some ‘personal bests’.
I have been feeling a bit under the weather the past couple of days, so my dedication of course has also waned. Then I see this article and video about Eddie Kidd still running the London Marathon (that started almost 5 weeks ago – and for most people finished the same day). He is covering a few hundred metres a day most days. Which is incredible for a severely disabled man.
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I was talking the other day with a client about ideal clients (as I always do!) and was asked in return what my ideal client is. And my answer surprised me as it was so simple – I said my ideal client has to be willing.
Knowing that you want to do more, or grow, or change direction is enough – the only other thing you need is willingness. Fear is bound to come up as new and different things can be scary (I am scared all the time) BUT the way to overcome fear is tackle it head on – so you need to be willing to do this!
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Do you ever do something or write something or have a meeting about a project and think ‘is this really me?’.
There are lots of things you CAN do but not necessarily all of them ARE you.
When you are really being you, you are being brilliant.
And you are being brilliant with ease and grace and fun.
If you have that sinking feeling when you look at some copy or design or a proposal that is ‘from’ you and it’s just not feeling right, then heads up – it’s not really you.
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Looking out the window gives you time to think and ponder. I use it productively to come up with ideas and solutions. For me sometimes thinking too hard about something doesn’t give the best solution. A watched pot never boils and all that
If you spend a lot of your time being busy you will miss your best ideas. You will be too busy looking ahead that you may miss what is right in front of you.
Continue reading...It’s Time to Get Out of Your Own Way!
Being a Business Celebrity is not just about marketing.
It’s also not about following a formula.
Quite often, the only difference between you and a business celebrity is YOU…
Continue reading...I am going to swear in a minute so that’s the parental guidance part of this out the way. Just so you have been warned!
Now this isn’t going to be a long, complex story, with lots of fabulous insights and funny asides, it’s really quite to the point.
And that is the point.
Sometimes you have to stop thinking, planning, plotting, strategising, working out, perfecting, polishing, tidying, testing, umming, ahhing, wondering, suggesting, procrastinating and JFDI.
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I love live events and I make sure I attend business events often to learn, meet people, share ideas, get new ideas, take time out from my business, and just feed off the energy. When I’m asked why I fly off to the US to attend events or take time out of my busy schedule to attend an event in the UK even, I say that for me it’s like plugging into the Matrix.
Continue reading...When WAS the last time you did something huge? Something you were afraid of doing? Something you’d been putting off as you didn’t think you could do it?
When was the last time you thought “You know WHAT? I don’t care if it doesn’t work… I am going to try this anyway”?
If it’s been a while that you scared yourself with a HUGE action for your business then I’d like to challenge you to do something today that is big
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What you see is most definitely what you get with Brad Burton MD of 4N Networking and authour of the not so subtlety titled (but actually rather good) business book ‘GOYA’ (Get off Your Arse!).
Never resting on his laurels, always out there pushing it for a bigger spotlight, or a new stage (4N is now expanding globally), Brad is a great example of how when you put your mind to shining, you stand out in your market.
MP3 recording of my interview with Brad Burton – don’t miss his success tips for getting in your spotlight!
Continue reading...I was having a conversation with someone recently about starting up in business and as ever the usual reservations and fears came up – what if it doesn’t work, what if we don’t make enough money, where will we find customers etc, but there was one fear that was bigger than all of them – what if we don’t get paid?
Now getting paid is important in business, but what you have to remember is that YOU are in charge.
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Get ready for an overload of metaphors. This whole blog is a giant metaphor for business as far as I see it, with lots of lessons and smaller metaphors along the way. Hold on tight (I was)!
So I need to clarify what I am going to write about… it’s about my circus skills (or lack thereof). It’s about me ‘learning’ the Trapeze.
Continue reading...Actually that might be a misleading question – its not so much about if you have what it takes to be a business celebrity but more about what you still want to achieve that means you want to be a business celebrity… let me explain:
Business Celebrities are people who are giving everything they have. They are doing exactly what they are here on the planet to do (and that’s not me being all ‘save the world’ – although if that’s your celebrity calling fantastic). Being a business celebrity is about really giving it everything – giving it all you’ve got. Strutting your stuff – literally.
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I see it all the time. I even take advantage of it. Some businesses have too many discount sales and special offers – in fact it can seem like a permanent sale. I call this the DFS effect
But what happens? – no one buys at full price.
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Lucy understood where I was coming from, flipped it around and drilled down to the essence. It felt very comfortable.
