Category: a slice of STRATEGY

Pure, unadulterated strategy: marketing, brand positioning, & entrepreneurial wisdom. New trends with staying power. Old standbys with inarguable value.
What to embrace, what to avoid, and what to attempt — with steady discernment.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Fix It!

Posted on by Maria Ross

06.07.16FixIt (Blog)

“Fix it, Mommy!”

My two-year-old repeats this refrain at least twenty times a day. It could be about his toys, or his socks falling down, or some milk he spilled.

“Fix it” doesn’t always mean that something is broken. What he actually desires is for something to work the way it’s supposed to, or be within reach or simply look tidier.

Many times, entrepreneurs or freelancers think their business is “broken.” No one knows who they are. They can’t stand out. They are not attracting the right clients, resulting in nightmare projects or people who haggle on price. Or they are not attracting ANY clients. They can’t get email signups, their sales inquiries are few and far between  – even though there is a lot of goodwill for what they do and they have built a solid reputation.

I never promise to “fix” anyone’s business. No one can do that for you because that’s a big, complex question. If you want to pay $20,000 to some guru who promises that they can, well, proceed with caution.

Why?

Because it’s not about “fixing.” Most of the time, I find that clients are offering real value, bold creativity and fabulous wisdom. Nothing is inherently broken.  They’ve got amazing talents, content or wisdom to share with the world.

What they actually need is clarity, because their message or offering is so confusing, the beauty of it gets lost in a less-than-stellar elevator pitch or overwhelming home page copy.

What they actually need is focus, because they are chasing every new shiny promotional object, praying something will work. And most of the time, they are chasing the wrong things that will never work. Once you focus on your ideal customers, where they are, and what they need and focus on doing a few activities really well, you will see great results.

What they actually need is creativity, because they are so busy grasping at everything that the creative well has run dry. The passion is gone.  I’ve so been there, believe me! They are cranking out soulless guides or bland social media posts or boring blogs (if they even have energy left to do these things) that lack the unique and strong voice I can instantly hear when they tell me why they do what they do.  All this busy-ness results in burn-out, not new customers. With my guidance, they reignite their spark to discover that the experiences, stories and passions that they are discounting are actually their greatest brand strengths.

You don’t always need “fixing.” What you may need is an infusion of clarity, focus and creativity. (Tweet this!)

If your business is not where you’d like it to be right now, I’d urge you to stop for a moment. Take stock. Perhaps, like my son, you simply want your business to work the way it’s supposed to, or for your goals to be within reach or that your efforts are more streamlined and tidy!

See if any of these three culprits is actually to blame before you try another tool or switch directions yet again.

Image credit via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

6 Simple Marketing Time-Savers

Posted on by Maria Ross

5.31.16WaystoReduceMarketingTime (blog)

“How can I get all of this done?!” is one of the most popular brand and marketing laments I hear from small business owners and solopreneurs.

We all know that marketing and promoting our business can take a lot of time. Time we just don’t seem to have if we want to also have a life.

First and foremost, crafting a strong, clear brand strategy before you start punching through your marketing to-do list can save you BOATLOADS of upfront time…not to mention money, headache, mistakes and dead-ends. You essentially draw the map before you embark on the journey so you know you’re heading in the right direction.

But even then, just writing a blog post or creating a newsletter or preparing a slide deck…..from idea generation to content development to the technical nuts and bolts, it all takes so much time!

Marketing can be exhausting and a total time-suck. This is coming from….a marketer. (Tweet this!)

Maybe we would all have more fun with marketing if each task didn’t take so damn long!

Here are 6 simple but effective marketing time-savers:

  • Create in batches: I schedule “content creation” times on my weekly calendar to work on blog posts, new course materials, or even a new guide. If I don’t do this, I’m distracted throughout my entire week as ideas hit me, or as I use it as an excuse to escape other tasks I should be doing! These times are sacred and I treat them like a client meeting You can focus on cranking out more than one thing at a time and get ahead of your calendar. If you blog weekly, set aside one day every 3 months to create your blog posts all in one sitting. And when those ideas hit you in the shower or while you’re trying to do something else? Simply jot them down in your phone and tackle them when your designated creation time comes.
  • Schedule in advance: My go-to tools are BufferApp to pre-schedule social media posts, WordPress to pre-schedule my blog posts – plus Facebook’s native scheduler within my brand page, as Facebook HATES when you use 3rd party scheduling apps and reduces your post relevance in their algorithm, meaning less people see it in their feeds. Scheduling in advance frees up your time and mental energy. You cross something off your to-do list once every so often and then you’re done.

Related to this, schedule ANY task you need to do on your calendar. I live by this. When it’s on my calendar, I know I have set aside time to do it – and I don’t worry about it at all until that time comes!

  • Create a text-only email newsletter: Being a brand queen, I adore fancy, beautiful email templates. And it makes sense to use visuals if you show products or need to evoke a mood. But, for me, a) it takes more time to create, find images or deal with crazy formatting and b) my audience often reads my emails on their mobile device, which means text is best for reading on the go. My emails still look nice and neat with formatted text, but there are no fancy headers or imagery. When I switched to text-only emails several years ago, I not only saved a ton of time, but my emails became more like intimate letters to friends (like, you know, ACTUALLY sending an email to a friend!) and audience engagement went up. Just sayin.
  • Set a timer for social media: The ultimate time-suck. Even if you follow #2, you still need to get in and interact with your audience on social media – It’s social after all – which possibly means falling down the rabbit hole and linking all over the place for hours on end. Simply set a timer and pop in for 15 minutes every other day or some other interval that works for you. Put this time on your calendar like a meeting if you need to. And make sure you don’t go over your 15-minute mark!
  • Use an online scheduler: If I could get back all the time ever spent trying to schedule a meeting with someone over email, I’d probably add three years to my life. No joke. When you work for yourself, this can easily take 20 emails and 2 hours of your day. Some folks pay assistants for this but you can do it yourself. Investing in Calendly was a game-changer for me. TimeTrade and Doodle are other ones (Doodle is great if you have multiple people you’re wrangling into a meeting).   While not a “marketing tool” per se, can I just tell you how much more time I have for marketing now that I use this?!
  • Outsource: I know this one can get tricky if you are on a budget, but hear me out: If you bill your time out for $100 an hour, isn’t it worth spending that hour on a paying client rather than on updating your website, setting up your email newsletter, writing copy or finding and resizing social media images? What small tasks add up to a big headache for you? What tasks only need your final blessing, not your involvement, to be successful? I posted some outsourcing resources for you in this blog post.

Crave more time-saving tips, sanity savers and realistic goal-setting approaches to avoid getting crushed? Check out: The Juicy Guide to Goal Setting and Time Management: Advice on How to Wrangle Your Calendar and Slay Overwhelm, available right here!

Image Credit via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

5 Ways to Make Marketing More Enjoyable

Posted on by Maria Ross

5.24.165ways to Make Marketing Fun (Blog)

I adore business owners that say they hate promotion. It’s super cute.

This comes in other forms as well: I hate sales, I hate networking, I hate marketing.  hate writing.

Why so much hate?

If this is you, let me comfort you a little bit. It’s not that you “hate” any of those things. Truly. Please save hate for things like reconciling your books or filling out government forms.

I believe that what you actually hate is the way you think it has to be done. Somewhere along the way, you associated cheesy spokespeople, ego-centric self promoters and jargon-filled web copy as “marketing.”

If you are trying to send any sort of message to the world, be it attracting customers or promoting a book or asking for donations, then you are a marketer.

You should be the most excited person in the world to share your story and your value. If not you, then who?

If talking about and promoting your work doesn’t light you up, then why should your audience care? (TWEET THIS!)

So let’s banish all of your old notions about what promotion “should” be, shall we? Here are 5 spicy ways to make marketing more fun:

  1. Make friends, don’t “network”: If you go a BBQ and you don’t know anyone, isn’t it fun to stumble upon an interesting person or someone you want to get to know better over coffee? You’re meeting them casually, letting mutual interests guide the conversation, and you can see if you click….or not. The truth is that we do business with people we like. Not everyone is going to appreciate that snarky sense of humor but then c’mon over to my house, because I’ll love you! If you want people to know about your business, you have to…you know, be around people! Offline AND online. Instead of tensing yourself up into a stress ball the next time you “have to” attend a networking event, think of it like a block party. Who do you like talking to? Who is interesting? Who did you exchange knowing grins with when you made that sarcastic crack about the boring speaker? Give yourself the challenge of meeting one (just ONE!) interesting or cool person at your next function or in your LinkedIn group or wherever and see where it takes you.

Read: The 11 Laws of Likability by Michelle Lederman and I’m at a Networking Event—Now What??? By Sandy Jones-Kaminski

  1. Write Love Letters, Not Sales Pages: Maybe you’d rather dance on hot coals than write….anything. Or perhaps you’re a little less extreme and would just rather not write “sales copy.” Again, you may hate this because you’re conditioned to think it has to sound like a cheesy infomercial or that you simply must have tons of BUY NOW!!! arrows all over a 9-mile long page. Not true. The best sales pages are those that speak to the benefits the potential buyer gets, of course, but they are also personal and approachable. No one wants to be sold to, but everyone wants to be wooed! Approach your next sales page like a love letter: I know you crave x, y, and z, Maria, and this is why you’ll love what I made for you!” Think about how you convince your friends to read a new book or try a new restaurant that you love. You’re excited, not robotic. You talk about all the reasons they would like it. You immediately text them the link so they don’t even have to make an effort. Treat your sales copy like your next juicy recommendation to a friend and see how much more you enjoy writing it!

Do: Need more inspiration to get your writing juices flowing? Try this creative tip from Melissa Cassera. And here’s a fabulous template from Alexandra Franzen if you need one. Oh, and total thanks to verbalizing this concept goes to my friends and collaborators Alex and Melissa (I never titled it anything as eloquent!)

  1. Automate Where You Can: Rather than dying a slow death every day, batch and automate as much as you can for the week (or month, if you can be that on top of things.). If you can set it and forget it, it’s a lot less painful. I know a few successful solopreneurs that batch all their blog posts by locking themselves in a hotel for a weekend and cranking out content for the next six months. Then they just schedule the blog posts, all the associated social media posts to drive traffic and BAM, simply check in on comments when it goes live. If they even use Comments. Some folks choose not to do this.

Try: BufferApp, Hootsuite, Missing Lettr.

  1. Take an Improv Class or Join Toastmasters: If you have something to share with the world, you have to be able to tell them about it. No getting around it. If public speaking–whether giving a simple elevator pitch, running a small workshop or presenting a keynote to thousands­–horrifies you as much as the thought of a world without wine (GASP!), face your fear. Part of your anxiety comes from lack of practice or fear of the unexpected. Like anything else, the more you do something, the better you will get at it. Sharpen your skills and make a game out of it! Take a local improv class to get comfortable with thinking on the fly (and to get comfortable in your own body, which could be something adding to your angst.) And have fun doing it! I, personally, adore public speaking because there is no greater honor quite like enlightening and inspiring a person right in front of you and to see their eyes light up! When you attack your fear head-on, you will not only defeat the bully, you may find this is a wonderful and fulfilling way to spread your message.

Do: Type “Find an improv class” into Google. Join a local Toastmasters chapter.

Read: The Introvert Entrepreneur by Beth Buelow. And these 10 tips to improve your public speaking skills.

  1. When all else fails, outsource: OK, so there might be some ongoing marketing tasks that you really do loathe. That’s fine. You can always outsource tasks that bring you no joy or on which your time would be better spent elsewhere. Look to a virtual assistant (VA), intern, agency, consultant or perhaps even a new hire. You can find great inexpensive resources on sites such as Upwork, Fiverr and 99Designs­ but you need to be very selective and clear on what you want in these places, as they attract all levels of talent. Some specific folks I turn to are Worldwide101 for my VA, Virtually Savvy for social media management, Hey Eleanor for copywriting, and Tiny Blue Orange for website management. For interns, contact your local college or university to find business, marketing or communications students who are looking for internship opportunities.

Image Credit via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Hot List! 12 Fab Finds for Your Business, Brand + Soul

Posted on by Maria Ross

5.17.16HotList (Blog)

With today’s avalanche of information coming at us every day, one of my joys here at Red Slice is to curate some fabulous resources for you.

There are so many smart people doing amazing things in the world: writing books, inventing time-saving tools and creating soul-stirring, shut-up-and-dance music (and hilarious parodies of said music!)

Here’s my Hot List of current obsessions: the people, books, tools, and music that will make your biz and life easier and more joyful. (Tweet the love!)

LEARN:

7 Things to Do When a Big Website Links to Your Post by my writing partner-in-crime, Sarah Von Bargen @yesandyes

20+ Social Media Hacks and Tips from the Pros suggests oodles of tips and tools to get smarter about social media management, including introducing me to MissingLettr (Tip #8) which I really dig. By @LisaDJenkins on @SMExaminer

8 Ways Lead Pages Can Grow Your Blog or Online Business by @melyssa_griffin. I just started using LeadPages and it’s been fabulous. There is SO much you can do with it to grow your list and sell your offerings online, and Melyssa explains it all.

DISCOVER:

Use this to easily put together an inspirational, funky or thrilling custom playlist for your email subscribers or Facebook fans? @8Tracks

Surprise a special client or customer by recording a personal thank you message. Will certainly cut through the email clutter and they will adore it. @vocaroo

If you are a speaker or workshop leader, please check out PunchSlide Design to beautify your slide decks and make them pop. I’m using them for an upcoming keynote to 400 people and I can’t wait to show off my new deck! @punchslidedsgn

READ:

Career Courage: Discover Your Passion, Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Create the Success You Want by Katie Kelley: This amazing woman was my tough-love coach who, with just a few sessions, transformed the way I do business in 2010. Whether entrepreneur or corporate climber, you will love her savvy approach, meshing psychological counseling experience with her mad career coaching skills.  @Katie_C_Kelley

Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness by Shasta Nelson.  I adore Shasta personally and professionally. This woman is passionate about changing the world by creating better friendships. Unless you’re someone who does not want lifelong health and happiness, plus sizzling fun and nurturing friendships (whether you’re male or female), get this book.  @ShastaMNelson

Nail the Interview, Land the Job: A Step-by-Step Guide for What to Do Before, During and After the Interview by Michelle T. Lederman. Michelle is a dynamic and direct executive leadership and networking coach who is also a friend and a past client! With targeted information for the recently unemployed, new graduates, and parents returning to the workforce after an extended absence, this book is a crucial tool for people at any stage in their careers. @mtlederman

MUSIC:

This song is my everything right now.

This parody of it is a MUST-VIEW if you have toddlers…be prepared to laugh until you cry.

And THIS amazingly cool jam by JT may just be the song of the summer!

What hot picks do YOU have to share? Please post them in the Comments below!

Image via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The One Question to Ask Yourself to Make Better Decisions

Posted on by Maria Ross

5.10.16TimetoDecide (Blog)

Here’s why our recent garage clean-out is going to help you make more confident decisions.

When we moved last August, we stored boxes…and boxes… of books in our new garage. Why? We’re avid readers but now we have a tiny human toddler running around, so we gave away our old bookshelves in the name of safety, replacing them with two slimmer, more secure ones.

Did we cull through our books immediately? Heck no. We did what most normal people do when faced with a fun Saturday task like that: we put it off.

Fast forward: We finally dug those boxes out and I’m rediscovering many beloved books. One of them is Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath. And, in a fit of irony, the page where I’d left off was still marked. Maybe therein lies while I’m still so indecisive?

Anyway, back to you.

In a twist of fate, I just got an email from Dan Pink, an author I adore. He wrote a surprising and wonderful book called Drive about what motivates human beings. It’s not as black and while as you think, so it’s a fascinating read based on studies and research.

Dan’s email linked to his Pinkcast Tip…on the one question to ask yourself to make better decisions when you’re stuck. He references….wait for it….Decisive!

Clearly, the Universe is trying to tell me to share this one golden nugget with you:

When faced with a decision, we often see every single side of it and hem and haw over the endless possibilities. However, studies show that when we give advice to other people, we do a much better job of it. This could explain why so many consultants (including me) are their own worst clients!  The Heath Brothers go more into it in their book as to why, but for now, here’s the golden question:

What would you tell your best friend to do?

Duh, right? We do this all the time, whether it comes to business or relationships or parenting. We are so damn hard on ourselves but when a friend asks us for advice, we can immediately see the right answer.

Simple can also be the most powerful. (Tweet this!)

So if you’re overwhelmed at building your business, or if your relationships are suffering or if you have an icky business partner who keeps screwing you over and don’t know what to do, ask yourself: What would I tell my best friend to do?

Image Credit via Flickr

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

“I am not a marketer.”

Posted on by Maria Ross

5.5.16NoOneGetsMe(Blog)

Do any of these refrains sound familiar?

“I don’t know what I don’t know about brand. Why do I need it?”

“I hate marketing, I’m not interested in being the star of the show. It feels slimy.”

And my favorite (and the most common):

“I’m not a marketer.”

Don’t get me wrong. The fact that folks have these beliefs is why I have steady employment and I’m more than happy to serve.

But let me be clear: You are a marketer. (Tweet me!)

You may not know the ins and outs of writing a killer blog post, or how to do Facebook ads correctly or why you need a messaging platform…..but you are a marketer.

Marketing, in my view, is about sharing the passionate truth of your story to the right people so that they know you solve a problem they have – or you can deliver something to them that they really, really crave.

When it comes down to it, your work either helps people avoid pain or find pleasure. Whatever that “pain” might be: struggling in business, feeling lonely, spending too much money. Or…whatever that “pleasure” might be: saving money, losing weight, gaining confidence, etc.

Marketing is NOT: Lying, coercion, extortion, bragging, selfish or cruel. While many soda, food companies or politician may not subscribe to this is beside the point.

FACT: Marketing is communication.

If you enjoy what you do, if it provides value for people and if you’re excited about talking about it, then guess what? That’s marketing.

Whenever you overdeliver for clients, delight customers, or tell someone about your cool new offering or snazzy new product with all the zeal of a tween at Bieber concert, you are marketing.

Doesn’t mean you still can’t grow and learn exactly which steps to take and how to get to success.

Never again let me hear you say, “You are not a marketer.”

There is a brand and marketing genius inside you, bursting to get out. You just need Glinda to the Good Witch (a.k.a, me) to show you how to use those ruby slippers you’ve been wearing all along and guide you down the right road to get home.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Two Tips to Score More Corporate Clients

Posted on by Red Slice

How-To-Get-More-Corporate-ClientsMany of my clients do amazing work for individuals. They are coaches, consultants, designers, or health and wellness professionals who have transformed the lives of those they serve.

But sometimes, they want bigger things.

They want to expand their client base to include corporate clients and get hired by organizations to do workshops, seminars or just be their go-to (fill in the blank) for the employees. Frankly, there’s just more money there!

But their brand has a problem: they are speaking the language of individuals and not understanding the way the corporate machine works.

See, I’ve been on the corporate side. For a long time. Vendors used to pitch me about their services and talents and I knew exactly what the world of the director or executive was like. I had to say “no” to people I would have loved to work with, simply because this was not a priority or I could not prove the value to the organization well enough.

It’s not enough to stick with the brand benefits you’ve been touting to individuals:

Reduce stress! Stay focused! Increase your self-esteem! Unlock your creativity!

When it comes to selling into large organizations of any kind, you have to bear these two important tips in mind:

  • In some cases, the buyer may not be your end client, which means selling them on what you can do to make them successful.
  • The buyer has to unlock corporate budget, which means tying your work back to corporate value.

The Buyer May Not Be The End Client

The buyer is often in charge of finding people like you, but may not be the person you will serve. For example, you might offer leadership coaching, but you’re being hired by the VP of Human Resources or Talent Development to serve their constituents.

This is important because the benefits you cite are not about the person you’re talking to, but what you can do for their “customers,” so to speak.

Who are they responsible for? What needs do they have to fill for those people?

It’s a subtle shift, but it’s about proving value to a third party. You are serving someone else, but the VP gets to make the decision. What are her goals? What are her success metrics?

Taking our leadership coach as an example: if Claire at Acme Company is responsible for employee retention, satisfaction and management capability, then chances are she needs you. She is responsible for employee success, performance, growth and succession planning. Claire is charged with grooming new leadership. Bingo! In addition to talking about what you bring to her employees, you need to make sure Claire understands how you will help her succeed in her job. Slightly tailored message that needs to be developed, but many of my clients have failed to think about Claire’s world before pitching their services.

The Buyer Must Unlock Corporate Budget

When selling to individuals, or even solopreneurs or start-up founders, they are making the ultimate decision and in many cases, using their own funds to do so.

Not so with corporate clients.

They are spending corporate budgets and need approval. Which means the client must justify how your work benefits the organization at large. It’s not enough to say how much happier, more creative, more mindful, more focused their employees will be from working with you.

You have to tie your work into benefitting the company’s growth or bottom line. (Tweet this!)

This just means taking an extra step or two with your messaging. What does all that great individual work buy the company? If you enable people to handle stress better, then the company can reduce sick days and burnout, which reduces costs and increases productivity. Can you cite any statistics or numbers? That would be insanely effective to convince the powers-that-be to loosen the purse strings.

Or maybe your work is about getting people to think more creativity or trust their intuition. How does this translate to a company benefit? Maybe you’ve seen it in action. Does it improve workplace relationships and foster better internal communications? Does it yield more innovation and employee satisfaction, which in turn helps the company not only stand out in the marketplace but attract the best talent?

Yes, many companies want to do right by their employees simply because it’s the right thing to do. They want them to be happier, to grow, to communicate more effectively, to be healthier. But the dark truth is that while the intentions are good, the bottom-line motives still exist: the expense has to benefit the company at large in some way, such as increasing revenue, lowering costs, decreasing turnover, or even attracting better talent.

The good news is that there are many simple ways to connect the dots when pitching such clients. You just have to remember the world your corporate clients live in and the challenges they face and adjust your message to be relevant.

Photo credit: Benjamin Child, Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Are YOU Your Ideal Customer?

Posted on by Red Slice

ideal-customerLast week, I had the thrill of speaking on the world-record-breaking Authority Super Summit. It was 100+ speakers providing content-rich strategies for how to build an authority brand. People I adore such as Dorie Clark, Michelle Lederman and more were all a part of it.

One of the questions I got in my session was, “When creating our ideal client profiles, is it okay if one of them is based on me?” My short answer was yes, this usually happens with solopreneur businesses, as one often starts a business because of a need he or she may personally have.

But let me expand on this, now that we have time.

Yes, in creating your two to three ideal customer or client profiles, someone just like you could possibly be one of your segments. But be careful how you approach this.

If you sell something that is not necessarily something you yourself would use, then no, you would not be one of your segments. For example, let’s say you are a psychologist who specializes in domestic violence survivors. You yourself may not have experienced this and therefore, it would be dangerous to assume you know their wants and needs firsthand. Or let’s say you sell skateboarding gear to teens but you are in your 50’s. Not to say you couldn’t do this, of course, but I wouldn’t assume that your target audience’s needs, wants, pain points–and even sense of humor–would be identical to yours. Lastly, let’s say you are a female leadership coach and you specialize in helping alpha male C-level executives increase their emotional intelligence. Again, you can see why basing one of the segments completely on you would be a mistake.

With my own business, I target solopreneurs who crave more knowledge and confidence in their brand and marketing efforts. They may not be sure where to start or what to do next. But I do, which is why they come to me! From this standpoint, I can’t make assumptions that they know the same things I know. I have to take a step back and explain fundamentals and terminology.

But…

Behaviorally, my ideal solopreneur client is indeed like me in many ways. We have the same ambitions, need to create impact, and drive to do something good in the world. We both balance work with making time for the joys in life. We might both like drinking red wine or watching Game of Thrones or even appreciate the same sense of humor. In those areas, I can base some of the profile on myself. And same holds true for my corporate segment ideal client, progressive marketing leaders in small to midsized growth companies who embrace what brand can do for their marketing effectiveness.

So my ideal clients are like me in some ways, but not in others. If they were too much like me in terms of their needs around my area of expertise, they potentially would not ever need my services.

It’s all about the blend. (TWEET THIS!)

I invite you to look at both where your ideal customers are different from you (where you can add the most value to them) and where they are the same (where you can create a brand voice and vibe to which they can relate). This blend of both is the sweet spot for attracting and delighting the right people, but more importantly, converting them to buyers and loyal fans.

Want to work with me on your ideal customer segments and exactly who you should be targeting? Let’s spend 90 minutes together in a Brand Booster Session to hash it out!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Listen to your clients and customers

Posted on by Red Slice

How To Talk To Your CustomersThere I was, working on an exciting new program for my audience. And I was struggling for words.

Yes. Me. Struggling for words. Alert the media.

It was one of those moments as a marketer when you question your own expertise. I mean, c’mon, I do this for clients every single day! Why was I doubting my message?

When it comes to our work for others, we have it nailed, don’t we? We can spot their mistakes as if they were bright neon arrows. We can detect the inconsistencies, see the creative brilliance or connect dots that might seem so obvious…to us. As observers.

The power of objectivity shows itself to be a sly little superpower, doesn’t it?

I can see those things in your business, brand or even your psyche so clearly because I’M NOT IN IT!  And I bet the same is true for you, too. But when it comes to following our own advice? Forget it! We’re too busy. As I often say….

Consultants are often their own worst clients! (TWEET!)

Our faces pushed up too close to the glass, we can’t see the bigger picture. Worse, we live in our own bubble when it comes to our businesses and we either think everything is important and needs to be communicated right now, or we fail to see when we’re out of touch or just plan confusing to others because it sounds so good in out own heads. We just love to guess.

To combat this, remember those people you serve? You know, your ideal customers? Your fans, your audience? Hell-oooooooo?! Remember them? The human who can tell you­– in words!–what they crave, hate, value or despise?

Your customers are right in front of you. So GO ASK THEM! How?

  • Send them a short survey. Easy to create using SurveyMonkey for free or perhaps just a short Google form.
  • Ask them a thought-provoking question via email and tell them to hit REPLY. About a month or so ago, I asked my email list which adjective they’d use to describe the “brand” they’d like to have? The results were enlightening. Feel free to get in on this, fill in the blank and email me  now: “I want my brand to be ___________!”
  • Interview them individually by phone. Recently, I reached out to a few beloved past clients and colleagues who match my ideal client persona and talked to them about what they want and need. The feedback was amazing and it’s all helping shape the new course I’m creating.
  • Gather a group of them together. I recently held a Business Tea Party in my home (and a virtual one by phone) for two select groups of entrepreneurs. They not only shared what their challenges and goals are but they gave each other resources and made connections of their own. Success!

Reach out to your existing audience or people who fit the bill for the type of audience you’d like to have. Send them a quick note, prepare a few direct and simple questions to discuss and be respectful of their time. And don’t forget….offer them a thank you: a coffee gift card, tea and sweets, or a donation to a charity they love.

Sometimes the easiest way forward is actually the simplest. When you are not sure of something, ask the people who know.

Looking to build, connect with and convert your audience from loyal fans to paying customers or clients? You may want to check out MOMENTUM Pro my digital course that puts you through the step-by-step paces to craft a strong brand strategy, identify your target audience, attract more clients and bring it all to life with ease.

Photo credit: Cole Hutson, Unsplash

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to Make Great Videos: An Interview with Nathan Agin

Posted on by Red Slice

Blog-VideoCamera-LauraLeeMoreau

Do you freeze like a deer in headlights when a camera starts filming you and your important message to the world?

We all know video is a fabulous way to communicate your brand. But something seems to happen when we turn that RECORD button on. Doesn’t matter if we’re surrounded by lights on a fabulous set – or recording on our iPhone.

As an actress, I totally get this – and it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen to me either. You freeze. You forget your lines. Or worse, you come across monotone and robotic. What is about that little flashing light that makes us lose all of our passion and focus?!

Never fear. Making great videos to amplify your brand is easier – and cheaper – than you probably think. And you can overcome your fears to come across brilliantly. Video is one of the best ways to really convey your story and personality so you gain that sought-after trust you seek from your audience.

Today, I’m talking with Nathan Agin to help you get over your video fears and create something simple, stunning and effective. Nathan is the founder of Videos in One Take, which helps entrepreneurs become more powerful and captivating in their videos, leading to more engagement and conversions. Nathan has appeared in feature films, a Super Bowl commercial, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live; he also produced and hosted a TV-quality travel/food pilot. He’s a classically trained actor and has created over 400 YouTube videos; on his Videos in One Take blog, he explains how he does it–and how you can, too.

In this interview, we chat about:

  • Why video is so important to an online business.
  • How you can get over your fear of being on camera.
  • The simple keys to creating great videos (without expensive equipment or fancy editing…as Nathan says, “You don’t need a crazy setup!“)
  • Different ways you can use video to promote your brand and your business..while showcasing your unique personality.
  • The challenges that even stump the pros!

YouTube video

As Nathan shares, “The videos you have the ability to create have more power than you realize.” (Tweet this!)

And don’t miss….Nathan is launching a new Videos in One Take course to teach you everything he talks about in the video and more!. Check out the details right here!

Photo credit: Laura Lee Moreau, Unsplash

After watching the video, please share in the Comments which tip or trick you’ll try out today to get started on making compelling videos. Do you currently use video or are you dipping your toe into the water?