Marketing & Design Creativity and Analytics Designed to Deliver Results
IN THIS ISSUE
How Much is ENOUGH? Feeling Stuck?
Overcoming Writer's Block
Happiness is a CHOICE SCORE Webinar Series
A Circle of Mentors
7 Awesome Marketing Tips!
Making the Sale Commercial Photography
July 2020
A publication of Face To Face Marketing, LLC
Marketing & Design
Contributors
Publisher
Vicki Morris
Sharon Heinz | Accountant “My goal is to provide
Editor
exceptional customer service to
Demetria Horton
my clients while maintaining the high level of community involvement that I love.”
Contributors Vicki Morris
Sharon@profitwiseaccounting.biz
Dr. Stephen D. Carter Vicki Morris
Kevin Pendergrass
Communications Strategist
Sharon Heinz
Founder
&
President
of
Face
To
Face
Marketing. Vicki has more than 20 years experience
Jay Newkirk
in
all
things
marketing,
communications and public relations. She holds a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from
Rachel Eubanks
Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.
J'Que Ellis
Graphics Face To Face Marketing, LLC
JQue serves every day as the CEO of Sun-Shyne Enterprises INC., Owner of Fitness
DEFY'd,
Host
of
Living and Wine" podcast,
Contact Us
& Producer for "Valley
"Healthy
Radio Host Sounds" on
WLRH 89.3, Director and Co-Host of the
Marketing & Design is a publication of Face To Face Marketing, LLC. We are located at 515 Sparkman Drive, HSV, AL 35816
TV
series
"Volume”,
and
some
how she still finds time for family and friends.
Rachel Eubanks
Rachel Eubanks is passionate about
We publish this magazine every month. We are always accepting ads for the next month's magazine, and content submissions. Email us for more information at Hello@FaceToFace-Marketing.com
Marketing & Design Magazine
2
small business owners and written content. She thinks the two should live harmoniously together, not as enemies or even frenemies! She’s a copywriter and marketing consultant with her business Inspire to Engage, but more importantly, she’s a wife and mother.
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hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. C.S.Lewis
s i r r o M i k c i V
A MESSAGE FROM I’ve been in business for 5 years this month. And during these 5 years I have catered to the small business community in my local area. There is something very special that happens in a tight knit
small
business
community.
We
are
supportive of one another, we want to see each business succeed. We take time to make introductions
and
foster
collaborative
opportunities for ourselves and others. We spend a tremendous amount of time networking with one another. We build relationships, we learn to trust one another, and we rely on one another. I came into the business world from a big business, and a large corporate structure, with offices in Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas and headquartered in Ontario Canada. I understand how a large international company works, and how to survive in such a corporate structure. It can be hard to get noticed by the decision initiatives because there are so many layers of
I can make a powerful impact right here where I’m planted.
approval that new ideas have to pass through
Life took some unexpected turns and I
before
am
decided to be a stay at home mom for 15
extremely thankful I had the opportunity to
years, raising my 2 awesome boys! This led
work in this type of environment. I learned some
to a 15 year gap on my resume, and
of my best networking skills there! (I have a
rendered me un hire-able for the types of
marketing degree and applied for and got a job
positions I wanted. Well what did I do, I
as an engineer for this company!) I held
eventually started a small business and I
positions
concentrated
makers, it can also be hard to start new
implementation
in
Customer
can
begin.
Service,
HR,
I
Public
on
seeking
other
small
Relations, and Engineering. If I hadn’t moved
businesses to work with and collaborative
away when I got married, I would likely still be
with. I came to find out, small business is
an employee in a big corporate business and be
where I can really thrive.This is where I was
completely satisfied professionally. However, I
destined to land. I can make a powerful
did get married, and I did move away, and I did
impact right here where I’m planted.
quit that job.
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A MESSAGE FROM
i s r r o M i Vick
Small businesses fuel the national economy. We are the feeders to larger businesses. Our federal government actively seeks small businesses to work with to carry out their missions. Small businesses can pivot much easier with various environmental changes. The path to a decision is much shorter and more easily adaptable to the needs of the clients they serve. Small businesses are the heartbeat and the backbone of our local and national economy. Because I have taken the time to stay small and learn how to fine tune my craft, and build the best team to carry out my objectives, I am now in a great position to scale and grow my business should I decide to do so. There are important lifecycle lessons I have learned while being a small business. Imagine the mistakes and missteps I could have encountered if I grew too big too fast. I do have aspirations of being a successful business for years to come. And that will likely include expanding my business to reach across the nation. I say this to encourage my fellow small business owners and entrepreneurs. We often hear criticisms, ‘you’re just a small business’, or ‘you’re too small to handle ….’ Be encouraged my small business comrades! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the elephant WAS eaten one bite at a time. But, …. Rome was built, and the elephant was digested, one SMALL step at a time!!
Rock on all my small business friends!!!!
5 Exceptional Years in Business! Marketing & Design Magazine
5
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TABLE OF CONTENTS July 2020 PAGE4 A Note from the Publisher PAGE 8 How Much is Enough? PAGE 10 7 Amazing Marketing Tips By Face To Face Marketing
PAGE 17 Making the Sale By Sharon Heinz | CPA
PAGE 19 Startup Story of Demiere Cosmetics By Demi Howell
PAGE 21 Commercial Photography By Mike Moorer | Photographer
PAGE 34 The art of the Follow-up A multi-part series by Kevin Pendergrass, Founder of Pendergrass Promotional Products.
PAGE 36 Feeling Stuck? Overcoming Writer's Block By Rachel Eubanks
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How Much is ENOUGH? by Vicki Morris | Marketing Strategist
We've all been there. We have spent years perfecting our craft, or developing our technology and the time has finally arrived. It's time to share our work with the world. We want our public, who are also potential clients, to know that we know our stuff. We launch out to build a great website and add enough pages to fully capture all the intricate details of how great this product is, or the depths we went to to research our findings about the technology we built. We want to tell every detail about what we know about the technology, or service, or product. We want to answer every questions a potential client may have. You feel that if the reader has all this information that you've shared, they cannot possibly question your position as an authority on the subject. They absolutely have to buy from you, because you've covered all the bases. No stone was left unturned. This product is awesome, and you am self appointed to tell the word just how awesome this really is. I know I've been there, and I'm sure you know someone, too who has fallen victim to this very noble, yet impossibly incorrect train of thought. The better method is to switch the view. Put yourself in the place of the potential client viewing the site. You are experiencing a problem within your organization.
Give them the necessary information upfront, then make the supporting details easy to find should they desire them. Most people can determine if they want to learn more in about 3 seconds of viewing your content.
Use bullet points and images to allow the reader to easily scan your information. Long paragraphs are not enticing for busy professionals who need a solution. That's your job, to offer a solution that your potential customers are needing. Your content should address the pain points clients face, and the solutions you offer. The beauty in this , is that you give them a reason to want to find out more!! You set yourself up as the expert. You offer a very easy to understand solution to a problem that face, and you become the rock star in their minds!! What a great position to be in :) Remember less is always more! When they want more, they will ask!
When deciding how much detail to put on your website or social media posts, remember that your potential clients may not have a ton of time to read a long post, or a lengthy website description.
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NEW ARTICLE SERIES
7 TIPS The 7 TIPS article series gives you 7 vital tips on marketing, business, innovation and more! Check it out each month for 7 TIPS you never knew you couldn't live without.
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7 TIPS
Learning Resources to give you an Edge! Oh! And did we mention they are FREE By Face to Face Marketing
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Coursera
Join for free. This site allows you to build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies. Skills you can learn
-Write your first novel -Leading People and Teams -Human Resource Management -Graphic Design Basics -Learning to Teach Online
Skillshare
Sign Up for Free. Skillshare offers classes, real projects to create, and the support of fellow-creatives, Skillshare empowers you to accomplish real growth.
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Skills you can learn
-Building an Etsy Shop that Sells -Accounting Fundamentals -Blogging Basics -How to get Published
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Udemy
Sign Up for Free. Udemy's offers a huge repository of teaching videos. Simply answer a few questions about your interests and abilities, and Udemy will provide you with a recommendation. Skills you can learn -Business -IT -Marketing -Design
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Marketing Resources to give you an Edge!
Codeacademy
Join for Free. Codeacademy allows you to start at any level of expereince and learn basic HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Python, and More. Skills you can learn
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Edx
Free Membership. Edx partners with Harvard, Berkley, MIT, IBM, and many others to offer professional certificates and micro degrees Most classes are free however verified certificates often costs..
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Skills you can learn
-Science and Humanities -Business -Technology
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Pluralsight
Sign Up for Free. Pluralsight offers courses, with a focus on technology, for individuals, business teams, educators and students. Skills you can learn -Software Development -IT -Data Security
Future Learn
Register for free. Future Learn is a general online learning platform that offers tiers of clsses in all subjects. Many courses are hosted by universiteies, businesses, or other organizations around the world.
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Skills you can learn
-Business -Computer Science -Art -IT -Media -History -Healthcare -Humanities
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So you think you can sing? Attention ALL SINGERS! Submit a video of you singing the National Anthem for a chance to sing LIVE at the War Dawgs Opening Home Game.
Submit your video to our Facebook Page
Follow us on FB for details, updates and announcements. Your video could even be posted as our feature singer of the week!
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Join SCORE Alabama Chapters for a FREE webinar series. Business leaders share insights and strategies to help your business THRIVE!! Mentors across the state are on the call ready to answer your questions.
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Circle of Mentors Guest Presenter
SONIA ROBINSON Make plans to catch this presentation on Everyday BioTech for your Small Business
Thursday Morning, July 23, 2020 10am CST FREE ZOOM webinar series
Register Here This series is supported by
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Making the Sale in a Taxing Industry BY SHARON HEINZ, PROFIT WISE ACCOUNTING, MARKETING AND TAX For decades accounting services have enjoyed a certain level of industry security, for as we all know, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. - Benjamin Franklin” However, increased consumer demand for “instant everything” and one-click fulfillment have led to firms changing both processes and offerings. Previously, achieving a sale required a firm to stand out against its competition. Now, it requires significant investment into a prospect, before even knowing they are considering a service.
Everything has to be instant now. From the first google ad-click to the number of questions on an appointment sign up page, anything with too many steps can deter a lead from reaching out. Additionally, taking too long between the initial appointment and the submission of the tax return can be off-putting and prevent repetitive business. Over the years, tax laws and policies have drastically increased how long it takes to complete a tax return while simultaneously, clients are expecting returns to be completed faster.
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An increase in professional service requests during a tax return proves that clients want to be able to do more in one place. In recent years, clients are asking to do even more of their financial transactions when coming in for a tax return. Quarterly tax services, catchup bookkeeping, business registration, and tax prep for minors’ requests have increased. Firms must offer an ever-wider array of products and services to maintain their business.
For accounting firms to increase sales, it’s crucial to keep integrating additional services while giving the illusion that less time is taking place between first contact and the completion of the transaction. Simple technology strategies prove successful in achieving the new balance; chatbots on websites and social platforms, digital document transfers, 24/7 self-serve appointment booking, and free 15-minute virtual consultations give clients the instant gratification without overwhelming firm resources. While planning for the future, including temporary services relevant to current events, such as the PPP loan application assistance and SBA loan forgiveness consultations, will keep a firm competitive.
To make sales in today’s market, a firm must consistently monitor and evaluate the sales pipeline and the changing service demands. Furthermore, it’s essential to establish proactive measures to make changes with speed and efficiency. In doing so, accounting businesses should experience a definite room in accomplishing their sales objectives for the year 2020.
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START
UP
STORIES
July feature
Demiere Cosmetics was named after my youngest daughter, Dandi-Lione Demiere. My husband and I had named our beauty salon after our first daughter Demi Howell and felt compelled to honor our second with same level of homage. As an entrepreneur that is 100% consumer based the goal was to simplify the purchasing of cosmetics as well as the application process. This was imperative to me because of the heightened level of information and brands available to women and it believed all of the options can be overwhelming causing women to over purchase ultimately having a personal inventory of unusable products. To avoid this scenario we derived at a minimalistic approach to enhancing one’s beauty by ensuring what we offer fits each customers lifestyle through customization. This approach is based around a refillable custom kit. Now instead of purchasing with a hope of getting it right the consumer can choose what is needed, therefore, eliminating anxiety that comes with not having a full understanding of what is needed to fulfill the look that makes the consumer the most comfortable and confident. At Demiere Cosmetics we do not believe in overselling the consumer we believe in selling the perfect look for the lifestyle. Our top clients are the career women of the world that live a fast passed life limiting the time to apply the makeup application on a daily basis. The simplicity of the custom kit cuts a 30 – 45 minute application down to 15 – 20 minutes maximum. We have a full understanding that rejection is a part of the process as a retailer of any product, so we are constantly surveying consumers’ needs to ensure our products are compatible to all skin types and conditions.
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The biggest challenge was stepping outside of the comfort zone and making sure the products we offered not only fit the lifestyle of the career woman but also those individuals that are seen more frequently on movie sets, television shows, as well as, public figures. Demiere Cosmetics has sponsored 1 2 3 rooftop parties at the BET Awards, Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, 106 th and Park, and Suga Momma to name a few. These avenues have created a word of mouth marketing platform that generates a consumer loyalty by way of the trust of another individual that has their best interest at heart. We also utilize social media, the World Wide Web, testimonials, sampling opportunities, and trade shows to market and present our products to potential clients. Our goal is always to get the consumer intrigued with the simplistic concept then educate, instead just selling to get the product out of the door. Through the growing process outsourcing became an option that needed to be explored to not only capture a more national market but to reach international opportunities as well. In 2019, Demiere partnered with Curl Bible a major online distribution company that is frequented by over 100,000 people on a regular basis. To be an earmark in the cosmetics we had to stop playing it safe and take the belief in the Custom Your Face concept to the next level without the fear of rejection. Now I will admit the decision was not a no brainer at first because one particular obstacle we faced, getting the hometown consumer to buy in and trust the products and concepts that we were offering, had me contemplating shutting the line and trying something different. But as an entrepreneur you have to think bigger than just right outside of you front door and realize that there are millions of consumers to be reached. This brought on the confidence to be more vocal and start focusing more on the consumers that are buying in an allow them to be a catalyst for the next person. That consumer will always be important because not only are they able to tell the next person about Demiere Cosmetics the beauty enhancement will always speak for itself.
THE OWNER BEHIND THE STORY
DEMIERE COSMETICS OUTLETS: www.demeirecosmetics.com IG: @demierecosmetics FB: @demierecosmetics You Tube: demiere cosmetics
Inquiries: demierecometics@gmail.com 9 Â | Â BOOKISH MAGAZINE
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FEATURED ARTICLE
PHOTOGRAPHY
HOW IS YOUR BUSINESS UTILIZING THIS TOOL?
By Mike Moorer
When you think of commercial photography; what comes to mind? When I used to hear the term commercial photography, it always conjured up the idea of a multi-million dollar fashion photoshoot shot in Greece or Persia. It just seemed like a far-off foreign concept. How would it every apply to my life? My first exposure to the concept of commercial photography was when I used to look at my sister’s fashion magazines. I was able to see high dollar products and brands presented to me in a powerful way. In the fashion industry; businesses hire models, makeup artists and photographers to sell all kinds of products and services. The models sell clothes, jewelry, sunglasses, watches, shampoo, perfume and much more.
However, commercial photography does not have to be some far-off thing that only multi-million dollar brands and super models engage in. For instance; I remember years ago sitting at home with a couple of friends during the summer. Food was the last thing on our minds until my friend turned the page on a magazine and tacos appeared. The images were so engaging, that we all jumped in the car and drove down to the restaurant. This is a perfect example of commercial photography and how it works. Commercial photography is the art of capturing images for the purpose of selling products or promoting a brand. The goal of commercial photography is to position the products and the brand that created them; in the minds of the target audience. Marketing & Design Magazine
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The term commercial photography is a broad term that includes several types of photography. Headshot photography Commercial photography includes, but is not limited to the following types:
Personal Branding Photography Advertising photography Fashion photography Real estate photography Corporate photography
One of the most common forms of commercial photography is headshot photography. This is an image created to sell yourself and your business. Most people have experienced this kind of commercial photography. When you think about headshots for an actor or actress; it takes it to another level. Their headshot is all they have to sell themselves to the casting directors.
It’s not uncommon for actors and actresses to pay $1500 for a professional headshot. They understand that a quality image is the only thing standing between success and failure. They realize the direct connection between commercial photography and the opportunity for financial gain. It is important for us to realize the power of commercial photography and how it can create wealth for us as well. Social media has opened a whole new world for branding and marketing. With the advent of social media platforms; we are forced to reevaluate the worth of our headshots, branding images and other forms of commercial photography. Is it possible that the quality of our images could be directly related to our success or failure? Before social media, it was not uncommon to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get your brand in front of potential clients. If you wanted your images up on a billboard, you couldn’t just upload them from your smart phone. Today’s technology has reduced many barriers that used to be between our brands and our target audience. Marketing & Design Magazine Marketing & Design Magazine
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Billboards have always captured my attention. Through the years I would look up and see branding and advertising messages while driving down the highway. Think about the concept of a billboard. Businesses purchase ad space on the billboards that are in high trafficked areas. Although billboards are still an important way to advertise, digital billboards have emerged. When you post on social media, it is like a digital billboard. Social media platforms can be equated to the digital highways of our times. Now the highest trafficked places are on social media and social media posts and ads are like digital billboards. However, the price barrier to enter the digital highways is lower than ever before. Now you can get your brand in front of your target audience through organic reach on social media using commercial photography. You can now hire a photographer to shoot your images and then you can post them directly to social media. The more consistent you post, the more visible you become. The more visible you become the stronger your brand becomes in the minds of the consumer. Commercial Photography is all about capturing the target audience’s attention long enough to sell them on your brand, your product or your service. To this day I can still remember seeing the images of those tacos on that one summer afternoon. The power of the images motivated us to rush out the door to purchase them. However, they did much more than that. The images created a response, that created an experience, that created a lifelong memory. This is how branding works. It creates a feeling and an experience that turns into a memory. Now when someone goes to make a purchase, they are influenced by the experiences and memories of using specific brands in the past. You want your clients to build a relationship with you in this same way. These brand relationships can have a generational impact. It’s crucial to understand that you can brand yourself with images you post on social media. Be strategic about creating high quality images to be displayed as commercial images on your behalf. Commercial photography is not just for multi- million dollar brands and supermodels, it’s for you and your brand.
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A FULL SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FIRM Creating a clear and professional branding message designed to get you noticed. www.
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Growing YOUR Business
B.Y.O.B. RADIO SHOW Be Your Own Boss
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How My Marketing Strategy Transitioned Along with the Rest of the Country During Social Distancing By Jenny Resmondo, MSPT, FAAOMPT
The business world was not expecting COVID-19 to enter in. As a relatively new business in Baldwin County, Alabama, it was quite a unique time to be a business owner. I saw many new businesses close their doors forever over the last several weeks and months. What was also noticed was the drastic shift in marketing and new opportunities that developed due to the pandemic. As I was sitting, relaxing one evening with my family, my son made a comment out of the side of his mouth: “Have you noticed how awful these commercials have become? I guess all the writers and illustrators have stopped working too!� Well, he is a smart boy and figured out pretty quickly that the time, effort and money available pre-COVID19 had stopped and now his favorite commercials were no more! In-person networking had stopped, paralyzed for fear of how to proceed, making sure mandates were followed and respecting others feelings. It became abundantly clear, that if I were to stay in business, I would have to pivot and pivot fast! No longer am I calling doctors offices and scheduling a lunch to provide the entire office lunch in exchange for 5 minutes or so with a doctor! What I found that worked well for me in this new era, post Covid-19, is that I am directly speaking to my potential clients. I turned most of my marketing strategy to social media. It still works!
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I have turned to narrowing down my target audience as “niche” as possible and speak to their specific pain points. I have also created my own “reality” show on my personal Facebook page. Why do this? With the nature of my business, it is very close and personal; people need to be able to develop a trust and relationship with me in order to want to do business with me. By creating my own reality show, I have lowered the barrier to entry and become personable with all of my new clients before ever meeting them in person. This is just another way of creating my brand!
My goal is to continue to grow my audience on my Facebook page. I continue to join groups that my perfect clients are in, and I offer as much free value as possible. This is not a short term gains solution; I’m in this for the long run. So, if you are looking to make millions of sales instantly, this suggestion is not for you. I know this strategy works for the long haul, because I have had people reach out to me to work with them, and they reference posts that happened so long ago, I had no idea what they were referring to!
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My marketing has changed and will continue to change as our society changes. The top takeaways are to always target a specific audience, speak to their pain points, demonstrate your authenticity, and lastly develop trust. If you can do this, then you will have as many clients that you are looking for!
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The Business of Being By J'Que Ellis
“The business of being happy requires making a conscious choice. People think being happy will just happen to them someday, if only they do this or that right. But it doesn’t – you have to choose it. You choose happiness, you don’t wait for it to choose you.” ~Bethenny Frankel IF I can only get finished, I’ll be happy… IF I get this job promotion, I’ll be happy… IF the person I like asks me out…I’ll be happy…
We can literally “If” ourselves right out of happiness! The truth of the matter is, there is no tomorrow. There is no someday. There is no faraway, distant, magical future that’s going to suddenly flip the switch on our happy. There is only HERE & NOW. This moment. This day. This hour. Your beautiful, wonderful, fantastical life is staring you in the face… waiting for you to stop wishing it away and start LIVING it.
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Sometimes I feel like we treat happiness like that kid in gym class who we always picked last for the kickball team (and I know, because I was always that kid.) We choose fear first, we choose hate first, we choose misery first, we choose unforgiveness first… but the only way we’re ever going to kick “BUT’s” is if we ardently, passionately, exuberantly choose HAPPINESS!
Today: You’re up. It’s your turn to pick teams. Will you go on debating and waiting and hesitating, or will you choose this moment to make HAPPINESS your #1 draft pick? Remember: It’s a lot more fun to win, when you’re doing it with a grin.
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FOLLOW-UP SHOULD BE DONE CONSISTENTLY By: Kevin Pendergrass Last time, I talked about how follow-up should be done purposefully. There needs to be a reason. There needs to be an objective. Once you understand the importance of follow-up and realize that it needs to be done intentionally, the next step is understanding the consistency of your followup.Random follow-up is certainly better than no follow-up at all, but there needs to be a plan for your follow-up that is consistent in order to really see results. This also helps to ensure you stay on track. Your work day is busy. Trying to remember to follow-up with people and relying on good intentions is not going to cut it. There needs to be a follow-up plan that is consistent with your schedule and workweek so your follow-up doesn’t become hit or miss.
The below represents a general negative trend of the follow-up pattern of salespeople we have worked with and have been able to help:
1. You have a realization that you need to follow-up. 2. You begin to follow-up more with prospects and are excited about it. 3. You have a busy week and forget to follow-up. 4. You have another busy week and forget to follow-up. 5. You are becoming overwhelmed with other tasks and decide to quit following-up. 6. Weeks later, you realize that you need to follow-up. 7. Repeat steps 2-5. So, how can you get out of this negative pattern and begin to find consistency (and longevity) with your follow-up? It begins by putting together a specific and consistent follow-up plan that fits your business model. In our business, every company we work with or want to work with is placed into certain groups. We have several groups that we place companies in. Some of these groups include: generally receptive, current quotes & estimates, scheduled callbacks, and our client group. Without giving everything away, let me give you an example of how we follow-up with just one of these groups.
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FOLLOW-UP SHOULD BE DONE CONSISTENTLY Let’s take our “generally receptive” group for example. This group consists of companies who have never brought anything from us before, but they have shown interest. They haven’t said “no” and every time I speak to them, they give me permission to stay in touch with them. So, what does a consistent follow-up plan look like for the “generally receptive?”
First, it means that you have a set time/duration to follow-up. Specifically, for us, the "generally receptive group" have a one-year life period. If someone in the generally receptive still hasn’t bought from us in their first year, then we will move them to the “no response group."
Second, it means having a specific plan. The objective of following-up with the generally receptive is to move them to either a specific time to contact them when they will need items, move them to a quote, move them to order, or move them to a “hard no” so I can move on. Throughout the course of the year, the generally receptive will receive contact from me once per month through a drip campaign I have set up hoping to meet this objective. The drip campaign could include an email, a phone call, a card, a gift campaign touch (using promo items), a personal visit, etc. The idea here is to go ahead and map out your 12 “touches” so you don’t have to think about it.
All of the people in the generally receptive group will be followed-up by me the same way and at the same time each month. This makes it extremely
·
January – Phone call
·
February – Send out a promo item
·
March – E-mail
·
April – Handwritten card
easy for me to remember and be consistent. So, for example, let me give you a 12-month follow-up plan below of what it looks like for me to follow-up with my generally receptive group.
It doesn’t matter when or where someone begins, because the process will be consistent throughout the year. If after 12 months, the company
·
still hasn’t moved to action or told us no, then we move on. The above is only an illustration, but it shows you how simple it can be if you are
May – Phone call
·
June – Send out a promo item
·
July – E-mail
·
August – Handwritten card
willing to put the time into it. For every “group”, we have a similar plan. It will look different for each group and the duration may be different, but the idea is the same. Is it possible to be consistent in following-up with prospects and clients? Absolutely! As seen above, not only is it possible, but it is
·
September – Phone call
·
October – Send out a promo item
very manageable if you are willing to have a plan and be consistent with it. So, the take away I want you to have in this article is to be consistent with your follow-up. This week, take the time to segment
·
your prospects into groups and begin to build your follow-up plan that is consistent to you, your prospects, your business, and your time.
·
Before you know it, you’ll become a follow-up machine. Next week,
November – E-mail December – Handwritten card
we will continue our education by looking at how follow-up must be done creatively.
Marketing Magazine 30 Marketing&&Design Design Y O UMagazine R W O R K B O O 35 K
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Feeling Stuck? 5 Tips to Get the Words Flowing Again by Rachel Eubanks | Inspire to Engage As the person behind the brand and business, we feel great pressure to always know – to always know the answer, to always know what message to send and to always know what words to write. But the reality is, we often don’t. We feel stuck many times.
Perhaps it is that we’re in a busy phase with little margin in our lives for creativity and reflection, or we’re navigating a new area of business and learning to pivot (hello, COVID-19).
Whatever the reasons, feeling a loss of words is common. This article briefly describes 5 ways to get the words flowing again so we can get our message to clients.
Tip 1 – Acknowledge the feeling of being stuck. Too many times we berate ourselves because we cannot find the right words. But this feeling is a common one. We should acknowledge it, like we would if we had a headache or if we were hungry and needed to grab lunch. This way, we can address the issue, lose the shame and help ourselves; the following tips are a good start.
Tip 2 – Know our ideal customers well. This tip, more than any other, is crucial to marketing, sales, content writing and copywriting (writing for the purposes of marketing). When we know our ideal customers extensively – their daily struggles, tasks they consider big achievements, the phase of life they are living in currently and motivations for purchasing – our purpose for writing becomes very clear. We know who it is we serve and why.
A way to apply this tip is to write, “Dear [ideal customer’s name],” at the beginning of an email, social post or product landing page. By using this trick, our minds become focused, and we can visualize writing to that specific person. Before posting or sending, delete “Dear [blank]” and replace with the greeting you typically use to your audience.
Tip 3 – Use business principles and customer’s pain points in written content. We kill ourselves to churn out new content week after week. The reality, though, is that our customers do not see every post we share or every email we send. And, even if they did, so what? Repetition is a great teacher!
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Your business probably has core principles, ideals like “local is best” or “work hard and play hard.” Use these principles as the basis for much of your content. For example, if as a restaurant owner or as a jewelry designer, you source much of your resources locally, write about that often. Use examples, highlight local providers, find quotes promoting this ideal and report on statistics supporting why this practice is important. All of these are examples of different types of content but illustrate just one principle – local is best.
The same can be done for customers’ pain points. If your business assists the elderly who want to live in their homes but need help with daily chores, a pain point for the family members hiring you is how to ensure their loved ones’ needs are being met each day. What solutions do you offer to ensure customers’ needs are met and family members can be reassured? This question is asked often in consultations so it should be written about often too.
Tip 4 – Take a designated break. usually
overlooked
for
us
hard
This is common sense but
working,
goal
driven
business
owners. Build in times during the year, even if only a couple days at
a
time,
when
you
create
no
written
content.
The
word
“designated” is important here. To get the optimal mental rest, the
break
should
be
predetermined.
To
illustrate,
we
say
to
ourselves all day, “I’m going to sit down to write that email when I finish this.” By 11:00 pm, we realize that email will not be written and sent today. This example is NOT a break. In fact, it’s the exact
opposite!
We
stressed
about
the
all
day
and
continued to put in on the to-do list, hence no mental break.
Instead, we should designate times in advance for resting our brains
from
written
content.
It’s
amazing
the
ideas
that
start
flowing when we take off the stress of “having to” write.
Tip 5 – Rely on imagery. Whether it be graphics, infographics or photographs, images speak to us. In a survey report published by Venngage this year, 100% of the marketers who participated stated that visual content was important to their marketing strategy for the year.
As for photos, batching is key. Hire a branding photographer several times a year to take a gazillion photographs of your business and you. Or, set aside one day a week or month for you to take product shots or shoot images behind the scenes. (Snapping one photo for one social post one day at a time is time consuming and takes the joy and inspiration away from photography.) Stock photo subscriptions is another option. For a monthly or yearly fee, our businesses have access to beautiful, high quality images to share.
For graphics and infographics, those can be batched as well. But due to the nature of creation, batching can be more difficult here. Canva is an excellent tool, and the free version offers lots of options right out of the gate if you want to experiment. Venngage is a tool specifically for infographics but only has a free version for students.
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Most of us business owners are over achievers and perfectionists. That is why writing can be taxing for us. The words get stuck sometimes because writing is a subjective sport. We rarely get a pat on the back, and everyone say, “That’s perfect.” But with the right mindset, we can embrace writing for our businesses and learn to speak more clearly and directly to our ideal customers. First, we have to own the feeling of being stuck. We all experience a loss of words at times. Second, knowing our ideal customer very well helps us to write more directly because we can visualize a real person reading our content. Third, we should write often about our principles and the pain points of customers. No one is going to see every post or email we write! Plus, repetition is a great teacher. Lastly, take designated breaks from writing and rely on imagery to help the words flowing again.
Rachel Eubanks
is
passionate
about
small
Next Event July 24 Live on ZOOM!!
LeTonya Moore presents! Register HERE!!
business
owners and written content. She thinks the two should live
harmoniously
together,
not
as
enemies
or
even
frenemies! She’s a copywriter and marketing consultant with
her
business
Inspire
to
Engage,
but
more
importantly, she’s a wife and mother.
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