For most people I talk to, the answers they give are the ones they “should” give… things like:

• My customers are my #1 priority
• Making a great product/service is my #1 priority
• Marketing is my #1 priority (ok, that one is pretty rare)

But then I ask them what the first thing they do every day is and the answer is completely different.

• Check my email
• Check Facebook/Twitter
• Reconcile any new sales
• Process orders
• Check voicemail

In some cases, these are actually aligned.  Checking voicemail could be related to customer service being your #1 priority.

But most of the time, the actions people take are completely different from what they say is their priority.

ACTIONS WIN, EVERY TIME

The reality is this.  Your actions prove your current priorities, period.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.  If you check email first thing in the morning (and then get automatically dumped into “firefighting mode”) then checking email & firefighting is your #1 priority… not marketing your business, customer service, or anything else.

I’m not “up on my high horse” telling you this.  I have been just as guilty as anyone else for having a gap between my actions and my intentions.

But in the last few months, I’ve made it a point to spend the first 2 – 3 hours of each morning working on my business.  Not working on client’s businesses, not checking email or voicemail.

I write blog posts, send emails to my subscribers, brainstorm & create new products or work on sales copy for my sites.

Then, after I’ve spent time moving my own business forward each morning, I will work on my client projects and move their businesses forward.

I’ll check email & voicemail and see if anything urgent needs to be handled before I jump into projects.

THIS IS CRITICAL TO MY SUCCESS

It’s so easy to spend an entire day working for my clients.  So easy that if I don’t make working on my own business my #1 priority in the morning, it’s very easy to get to the end of the day and not spend even a moment working on it.

And if I don’t spend time working on my business, how can I expect to move it forward?

Paul Keetch
Marketing Consultant & Copywriter 

“Meaningful Marketing,
For People With a Purpose”

WHAT IS YOUR #1 PRIORITY IN THE MORNING
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW! 

1. Pain
2. Desire

Both can be effective tools in your marketing efforts and both can help you get new clients.

How you use them (and to what extent) will depend largely on your personality.

MOTIVATING WITH PAIN

Pain is the fear or frustration (or in some cases, actual physical pain) that your clients are in.  It’s what keeps them up at night, awake and unable to sleep at 2am.

For parents, this might be worrying about their teenage daughter’s new boyfriend, or whether their son is running with the wrong kind of crowd.

For people who have financial struggles, it’s worrying about how they’re going to pay the bills this month, whether they’re going to get laid off, or turning over and over in their mind how they can make more money to just to get by.

For folks who are overweight, it might be that they are in a sexless marriage caused by their own anxiety and self-judgement or worried that they’ll never to get to meet their grandchildren.

Pain is a great mover of people… but only when it is so acute as to be unbearable.

Pain is an external form of motivation and it can be used to get people started.  It’s definitely required as part of your marketing & selling efforts, since your prospective client needs to understand that you know what they’re going through.

They want to be able to relate to you and believe that you know how to help them.

MOTIVATING WITH DESIRE

Desire is what your client wants their life to be like.  It is an idealized version of the future based on the things that they cherish most.

Desire is also hope.

Hope that there is more to life than what they have now.  And a belief that it’s possible.

That parent may desire to have a harmonious family life and to see their children grow up to be successful in life, and to raise a good family of their own.

People with financial struggle dream of having more than enough money in the bank, of being able to care for themselves and their family without worry and to be able to enjoy the finer things in life.

Folks who are overweight dream of looking in the mirror and seeing a sexy reflection looking back at them, of having the confidence to wear a bathing suit to the beach in summer and the self-esteem of knowing that they look great.

Desire does not often cause people to move out of pain unless they are so internally motivated by it… but if that were the case, they’d probably already have done something about it.

Desire CAN keep your client motivated to keep going if the going gets a little tough.

Pain = where your client is right now.

Desire = where your client wants to be.

The difference = the gap in between and how they are going to go from A to B.

YOU ARE THE DIFFERENCE!

As a coach, you help people navigate the murky waters between where they are and where they want to be.  You have to understand both their fears and their desires…

…and it’s your job, if you truly believe you can help them, to use that understanding to help motivate them in to action.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? OPINION?
LEAVE THEM BELOW! 

You’ve probably noticed a higher-than-normal percentage of moustachioed men walking around in November… or I should say MOvember.

Movember is a movement created to bring awareness to Men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer.  As a sign of solidarity, to raise awareness as well as funds for drug research, men all over North America set aside their razors for the month of November and grow moustaches.

All month, as I’d walk down the street, I’d pass my “Mo Bros” and know that I was part of a community – something bigger than myself.

I felt connected.

COMMUNITY BREEDS CONNECTION

With the rise of social networks, it is no longer enough to push content at people.  You have to engage them as well.

And one of the best ways to engage your customers is by creating a sense of community around your brand.  Help them feel a part of something bigger than just themselves.

Community breeds familiarity.

3 WAYS TO BUILD COMMUNITY

1. Use “signature language” – Starbucks is famous for having short, tall, grande and venti sized drinks.  McDonald’s has the Mc-Everything.  Think of ways you can (usefully) add signature language to your business.
2. Create an “inner circle” – this intimate group gives your clients a different kind of access to you, protected from the general public in some way.  You might have an online forum, monthly private conference call or other premium content.
3. Invite input & discussion – whether it’s on your blog, your Facebook page or some other forum, invite your customers & fellow tribe members to contribute to the community in some way.  What we contribute to, we feel a part of.

Don’t think that just creating these resources will automatically build a community around you.  You have to commit to engaging your audience consistently, diligently and patiently.

Build a community takes time, but it’s definitely worth it.

JOIN THE PARTY! LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT COMMUNITY BUILDING

P.S. Now is the time to start planning your marketing for 2012.  Get Make My Marketing Work: How to Win Customers & Make More Money for just $20 (includes shipping in North America) and give your business the gift of more customers this Christmas.

Today I received an email from the video conversion software company ImTOO that perfectly demonstrates how to use this marketing idea when sending email marketing messages to your subscriber list.

I’m a customer of ImTOO, using their conversion software to convert one type of video format to another.  I’m a big fan of this company because of how easy their software is to use…

Now I’m a fan because of their effective marketing.  Here’s a screen capture of the email I received that illustrates perfectly how to use a free marketing incentive offer.

There are four important elements to note (and to model) for your own “free marketing incentive” offers.

1. The Subject Line (a.k.a. Headline) FEATURES the Free Offer – notice that they are very specific and clear about the fact that they are offering something free with my purchase.  It’s also related to the actual product they are selling, making their marketing aligned (more on aligned marketing next week)
2. They Provide a REASON for the Offer – this is a psychological trigger and has to be reasonably valid; in this case, to “celebrate the release of iPhone 4″, which they have a supporting product for.
3. Sell The Main Product AND The Free Markting Incentive – it’s not enough to sell one product or the other, both need to be viewed by the reader of as being EQUALLY valuable and worthwhile – the free item needs to be perceived as being worth the investment in the primary product, even if it has a lesser value!
4. Create URGENCY Through Limitation – in this case, this is a “Limited Time Offer” as noted at the bottom of the advertisement.

Hopefully this example illustrates how you can take the model of product bundling and use it to create a free marketing incentive for your next advertisement.

P.S. Do you have experience working with a free marketing incentive?  Share your experience by leaving a comment below.  Also a great way to get a question answered about how to apply this small business marketing idea to your own business.

Related Post: Small Business Marketing Idea – Offer a “Free With Purchase” Incentive