June 2010 | Choosing the Truth | Choosing the Truth

My Crazy Idea for This Weekend: 20 New Blogs by Monday

Written on June 26, 2010 by Jerry in activity, entrepreneur, Small Business Success, social media

So, I had this crazy idea on Wednesday: why not spend this weekend doing a Blog Building Marathon? After all, I love blogging, I love the setup process, I know people who want to start blogging but don’t know how, and, best of all, it beats doing yard-work. Never one to think small, I immediately set a BHAG I could be proud of: I set the intention to create 20 new blogs between Friday evening and Monday morning. I know, crazy, right?

I told a few friends what I was planning and asked them to spread the word to anyone they knew who wanted to start blogging but needed a little help to get going. There were questions, of course. I also posted my plans on Facebook, which generated a few more questions. I got my first two new bloggers lined up, and they had even more questions. So I thought, why not write a blog post to let everyone know why I’m doing this and to answer some of those questions publicly. Here goes:

Why are you doing this? First and foremost, I’m doing this because I love blogging. I think blogging is a great way to connect with other people who share your passions. I believe that blogging is a fantastic tool for attracting new clients to your business (or new fans for your music, or new readers for your books…you get the point). I’m also doing this because I’m getting tired of hearing stories from people who’ve paid big money to blogging “experts”, waited for months to see their sites, and still been disappointed with the results. I figured that if I could knock out 20 blogs in a weekend for a minimal cost, maybe more people would realize that it’s not as complicated as the “experts” make it sound.

What are you offering? Basically, what you’re going to get is a WordPress blog configured with what I consider to be the essential plugins (if you don’t know what plugins are, don’t worry…I’ll send instructions for using them), including a domain name of your choice and hosting for 12 months. The blog will be built on one of the thousands of available free WordPress themes, with a little bit of customization to make it uniquely your own. Nothing fancy, unless you really want it, in which case we’ll need to work out some details. The blog will also be integrated with your accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so that when you write a new post, your followers on those sites will know about it automatically.

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The “Secret Sauce” for Sales Success

Written on June 23, 2010 by Jerry in attitude, beliefs, customer engagement, mindset, Small Business Success

For over a century, since the invention of selling as a profession, really, salespeople have been looking for the secret formula that would get more customers to buy. They’ve developed sales processes and interview practices and presentation styles and closing techniques, and still they’re frustrated by the lack of results. Countless millions of dollars are spent every year on books and training programs in an effort to uncover the secret to sales success.

Well, today is your lucky day: I’m going to tell you the secret to selling more than you ever have before, and I’m not even going to charge you for the information. Sounds good? Okay, here we go.

Before we get to it, though, let me warn you right now that you’re not going to believe that it could be so easy and obvious, which may cause you to ignore what I’m about to say. Don’t ignore it, though. Do your best to quiet the part of your brain that’s going to resist. Take some time to evaluate the information, answer the questions presented, and see for yourself whether it makes a difference in your results. If it doesn’t feel free to come back and call me an idiot…but not before you’ve tried it out. So now, here we go:

Do something you believe in.

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How Do You Treat Your “Super Patrons”? – Guest Post by Ryan Snethen

Written on June 22, 2010 by Ryan Snethen in customer engagement, customer service

There is a question everyone in business for themselves should consider: “How do I treat my Super Patrons?”

What is a Super Patron? The “Super Patron” is the model customer, someone who not only values your product or service; they don’t only religiously visit your blog, website, store or place of business. The Super Patron sees the true value in what you have to offer and appreciates it so much that they promote you and your business to their family and friends. They go to serious trouble to be sure that the people around them at least try your goods or services for themselves.

Unfortunately, because the Super Patron is so rare, they can sometimes be lost in the shuffle, being seen as simply a “good customer”. There is an easy way to tell a good customer from a Super Patron. A good customer comes to you when they need something. Once their needs are satisfied, “thank yous” are exchanged and until next time, communication is severed.

A Super Patron does more. They introduce you to those close to them and most likely, show their gratitude in some way: they give you referrals. They pass on information that could be of value to you and your business. Even small thank you gifts or cards, while rare, are not unheard of.

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The Problem With Building Herds

Written on June 17, 2010 by Jerry in customer engagement, customer service, HERO, Small Business Success

A lot of people responded to a post I wrote last week about marketing like a douchebag. The post was written in response to an e-mail I received from someone who wanted me to come to a “herd building day” at an upcoming seminar he’s hosting.

While much of the feedback I received was in the form of objections to the use of the “d-word”, there were a couple of questions that jumped out at me that I wanted to take a few minutes to address. WARNING: the aforementioned “d-word” might pop up a couple of times in this post, so I’ll get that one out of the way first.

Question: Why did you describe the offending info-marketer as a “douchebag”? Answer: First of all, it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s an information marketer. I have no problem with information marketers, especially since I consider myself to be one…or at least I’m testing the waters. What I object to, and what inspired the name-calling, is bad information marketing practices. More on that later. The reason I used the word “douchebag” is that’s the only one I could think of that captured the visceral reaction I’d had to the email I’d received. I spent a good two minutes trying to find another word that captured the feeling. I couldn’t. Moving on.

Question: What is a “herd building day”? Answer: I have no idea. I tried to figure it out, but the page that the email linked to had very little information about what the event actually entails. Maybe you can figure it out. I’m not going to dignify the page with a link; just google “herd building day” (with the quotes); it’ll be the link right under the post from this blog.

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Game-Changer Alert: Sharon Drew Morgen Is a Sales Heretic!

Written on June 16, 2010 by Jerry in cool people from around the web, great books, sales process

As some of you know, in addition to writing this blog I’m also the co-host of a podcast about sales and sales leadership. One of the perks of that job is the fact that people send me free books to read and talk about. I love my job!

This week, I’ve been reading Sharon Drew Morgen‘s book “Dirty Little Secrets: Why Buyers Can’t Buy and Sellers Can’t Sell and What You Can Do About It” in preparation for an episode of the Sales Management 2.0 Podcast that we’ll be recording this weekend. I’ve gotta say, I’m blown away by the concept of the book.

Sharon Drew (yes, that IS her first name) is out to change the face of sales, and I’m signing on to help her in any way I can (and I’m only on chapter one of the book). She’s created a system she calls Buying Facilitation, and it’s based on a simple premise, one that readers of this blog have heard before: while salespeople may control the sales process, your prospects control the buying process. Which of those two processes do you suppose it’s more important to understand? Well, if you really want to succeed, Sharon Drew says you should be far more concerned about what’s going on in the buyers head.

I’m not going to ramble on too much, mostly because Sharon Drew does such an excellent job of explaining the concept on her own blog. I’ll defer to her wisdom on the subject and encourage you to a) go read her blog posts and form your own opinions of whether she’s a madwoman or a maven, and b) pick up a copy of “Dirty Little Secrets” to enjoy.

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What Can Small Businesses Learn From Mobius Technologies?

Written on June 15, 2010 by Jerry in cool people from around the web, entrepreneur, entrepreneurialism, HERO, passion, social media

I love the moxie of a small company in a small town in Northern California who looks at a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and says “Yeah…we can fix that.”

That’s exactly what Mobius Technologies, of Lincoln, CA, has done, and they didn’t stop there. When Mobius realized that it was going to take too long to get through the bureaucracy and red tape required to get their product approved for use in the cleanup, they set about using social media tools like YouTube and Facebook to recruit a volunteer army and encouraged them to spread the message.

And while I think the powers that be at Mobius Technologies are making a huge mistake by not engaging with bloggers to help them spread their message (it seems they don’t consider bloggers to be “true” media outlets), I can’t argue with the results they’re getting. Have a look at this video from the local ABC affiliate in Sacramento.

Mobius is starting to get some traction, and I applaud the work they’re doing. More than that, though, I applaud the way they’re going about it. Here are some valuable lessons other small business owners and entrepreneurs can learn from the example of Mobius Technologies:

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Can Small Business Solve Huge Problems?

Written on June 9, 2010 by Jerry in cool people from around the web, entrepreneur, HERO, Small Business Success, social media

I wanted to share something I came across last week that I believe demonstrates a lot of the principles that this blog is all about. Have a look at this video, but don’t form an opinion just yet:

The reason I asked you not to form an opinion just yet is that I’d like for you to get a little more information before you get too excited and start demanding that this product be used in the Gulf oil spill. I don’t want you guys and gals to start acting like a “herd”! I do, however, want for this product and Mobius’ claims to get some media attention so that the product can be vetted for use in the cleanup efforts.

So why am I sharing the video, then?

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You Can Be a Successful Marketer Without Becoming a Douchebag

Written on June 8, 2010 by Jerry in attitude, beliefs, entrepreneur, HERO, sales

I received an email today from a well-known information marketer (who I have the misfortune to share surnames with) inviting me to join him at a “Herd Building Day” at an upcoming seminar he’s putting on. I’m sorry, but something about the title of that program just screamed “Come on out…you can learn to be a douchebag like me!” when I read it.

“Herd Building Day”? Seriously? I have a question: are they going to teach me how to build a “herd”, or am I going to become part of the “herd” that they’re building? My guess is the latter. But wait, there’s more: if I’m one of the first 800 to sign up, I get a super-razzoo discount AND they’ll let me to be part of the “herd” day for free! Please. Spare. Me.

I’ve had my suspicions about this particular marketer before. The worst was when I received a series of “invitations” to a previous event that became progressively more abusive the closer the event got, eventually culminating in an email that seemed to question my intelligence, pleading with me to pay up and attend the seminar so I could be smart like them. I wish I would have saved that email, since it was about the closest thing to a perfect example of how to market like a jackass I’ve ever seen. Instead, I let it get under my skin and deleted it. Oh well…I’m sure there will be another.

So, back to “Herd Building Day”. Can you think of a more insulting way to refer to your clients than calling them your “herd”? I can’t, and I’ve been trying to think of something for the past 20 minutes. Maybe your “mindless zombie pack”? No: I think I’d actually rather be a zombie than part of your “herd”. At least if I was a zombie, I could still come after you to eat your brain.

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You Don’t Need a Sales Process – Guest Post by Joel D Canfield

Written on June 4, 2010 by Joel D Canfield in Guest Posts, HERO, sales process

Apparently May was ‘launch a new coaching program online’ month. Launch guru Dave Navarro wrote about some negative reactions to the flurry of program launches which left some folks feeling assaulted. Dave shares some thoughts from his side of the table; he’s the expert and I’ll stay out of that.

Instead, I’ll get into this: would everybody please stop looking for a magic process, and understand that it’s all about outcomes?

We all want a machine where we drop in $20 bills and crank a handle that turns them into $100 bills. It doesn’t exist. There is no machine to make money in sales. Selling is not about processes.

Yes folks, you read that right: selling ain’t about process.

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Sleep Is Overrated, Especially for Entrepreneurs

Written on June 3, 2010 by Jerry in entrepreneur, entrepreneurialism, passion

I was having a conversation via Skype with my cousin Ed, an entrepreneur who runs Natural Merchants, an importer of organic foods and wines from Europe to the USA. He lives in Spain. It was 1:00 AM for me on a day that had started at 6:00 AM, and 10:00 AM for him on a day that had started at 5:00 AM and would end around midnight.

Ed is just getting into using social media to expand his customer base (if you like organic European wine and foods, you should become a fan of their page on Facebook), and we were chatting about some of the tools he could use to make his life a little easier as a social media newbie. The conversation came around to the same question it always does: where am I going to find the time?

And we agreed on the answer: if you want to add to the mix of what you’re doing, something else is going to suffer. This goes back to the discussion about work/life balance from a couple of weeks ago. Remember: there is no such thing. Building or growing a business means extra work, and extra work means you won’t have time for something else.

That’s not a bad thing; it just is. Accept it as a fact and move on to deciding what you’re willing to sacrifice to squeeze in that extra work. If you’re not willing to sacrifice anything, forget about committing to the additional work. You can’t do both, at least not with our current understanding of space/time.

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Monthly Archives: June 2010