Bridie Nelson
I’ve gained more clarity than ever before and I’ve now got the confidence to step my business up to the next level.
Marketing
Are you selling a cake or a recipe?
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.
Information vs. Action
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.
Be Bold! (or just move things a little!)
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!
Step back and sell the benefits
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’.
Sometimes it’s simple
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.
A niche is not enough
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.
Lifetime Value. An oldie but a goodie.
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.
What I know
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.
Are you on Holiday?
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!
How do you do?
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.
Say What? Say what is being said
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.
You’ve got to be in it to win it.
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!
Can you have more than 1 Thing?
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.
Be willing
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!
Is this really me?
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.
When did you last plug in to the Matrix?
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.
When was the last time you did something HUGE?
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
Business Celebrity interview: Brad Burton MD of 4N networking, Author, Speaker, & Action man!
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!
Flying through the air (& business) with the greatest of ease (eventually)
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.
Have you got what it takes to be a Business Celebrity?
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.
The DFS effect. What happens when you’re always on ‘sale’
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.
On the radio – me talking Inspired Marketing, Websites and business
I was recently invited by Andy Hayes of Travel Online Partners to be a guest on his TOP radio show. We discussed marketing, websites, the Hotel Success Handbook, being in business, and lots more.
Listen online or read the summary.
Selling online – How we design and build ecommerce websites
Selling online can be as straightforward as adding a PayPal button to your website, but if you’re looking to manage a full catalogue you really need something more sophisticated.
Talking your customer’s language – my advice on video!
So here I am now on video!
The really helpful Your Business Channel is packed with videos and shows to watch online, that have an incredible range of advice and tips for business owners from a huge range of experts (lots of which are quite famous) – and now me too!
Why I’m a big fan of Twitter (and how I use it for business)
I do like Twitter and what it can do for my business. Twitter is huge and growing every day — there’s a lot of people to Tweet to.
Here are a few ways that I use Twitter — and that any small business or individual can use it for too…
Playing nice in business — why manners maketh money
Sometimes I come across businesses, and business people, that just don’t seem to have any manners!
It’s not just customer service; you should also be thinking about how you work with other businesses too…
Every customer has their own agenda
Everyone who buys your product or service has their own agenda — they want ‘their problem’ solved, or ‘their need’ satisfied. This explains why customer segmentation is so important if you want to sell more to your best customers…
What does your perfect customer ‘look like’?
So who is your perfect customer? This is a really important exercise to undertake. Your perfect customer ideally is already your most profitable ‘best customer’(s), but it might not be…
Not all customers are created equal…
Now, while I do believe it’s true that all men (and women) were created equal, in business it’s very important to remember that not all customers are created equal. What I am talking about here is customer segmentation, and identifying the ‘best’ customers for your business…
Make more money from your website
How DO you make MONEY from your web site? Or, how I like to think about it: how can your web site make your business more successful?
Well, what a surprise… customers like good service! and they aren’t always bothered about price
Now, you may be thinking that, in these price conscious times, that having the best (lowest) price is all it takes to get customers. But, in many instances, this is just not true… in fact, pricing is less important than good experiences and service. That’s pretty vital to remember in business, whatever you are selling…
Are you special? Can you explain your uniqueness?
I was reminded again at the weekend (I am being Masterminded by Jonathan Jay) how important is it to be unique in business. We were talking about USPs, and why a business owner must know what their USP is before they can market their business with success.
USP stands for Unique Selling Point, or Unique Sales Proposition. I was reminded how hard it is to define these — to really make them totally unique.
It is quite easy to come up with a USP only to realise under scrutiny that it’s not, in fact, unique and could easily be applied to other businesses. So it was good to have the Mastermind group of business owners challenging each other to be unique.
Why blog for your business?
So why am I blogging, and should you blog for your business? And if you are blogging, is it helping?! Blogging is something that can be a very effective part of your marketing. It’s not always sensible to blog in the ‘traditional’ sense of a diary though, as if you’re not doing anything interesting day-to-day then you might not get value from it!
When new business is staring you in the face… and you look the other way!
Lots of businesses are turning away customers every day… and they probably don’t even realise it.
I’ve made a few calls over the last few days to travel companies (not all my own holiday research, I have to point out!), and it was incredible the number of the companies that didn’t even take my contact details. I could have walked away from them forever.
Here’s the range of responses I got…
Getting your ‘business head’ on (and why you need to keep it on!)
This morning I visited my friend Nicola, who’s just started running her own business (she’s my hairdresser), and it was great to hear that she’s already got her ‘business head’ on, and is busy working out how she’s going to start differentiating and improving her salon.
She’s taken over an existing business, and this of course can have its upsides and downsides — the upsides being that she is making money from day one (quite useful!), but the downside being that there isn’t a blank page to start from to do everything your way from the outset.
But here’s some things that we talked about that made me confident that the salon is only going to get better and more profitable…
What’s inside my head and how it can help your business
Yesterday, I got back from the first 2-day ‘Small Business Marketing Workshop’ run by the very smart Jonathan Jay in his new business venture Success Track.
The purpose of the 2-day workshop was for Jonathan to share his own experience in what does and doesn’t work in terms of marketing a business. Jonathan also offered a ‘marketing clinic’, where attendees could (perhaps crushingly honestly in some cases!) receive a critique of their current marketing materials and approach (note to anyone who attended here — you will of course get the irony of Jonathan describing this in his own words as “a clinic”!).