Apple just announced iOS 7, the new operating system for iPhones and iPads that will be available as a free download later this year.
It’s a massive overhaul of the iOS you’re probably used to –– a top-to-bottom redesign.
Be memorable
Take notice of what you remember and what sticks. Walt Disney didn’t just create another amusement park. He created an experience. What books stand out in your mind and you didn’t want the end to come? Watership Down was one of those books. Just recently I attended Creative Connections and someone told me that he hadn’t seen my enews around recently. That it is terrific. Hmm, just what I needed for motivation to get back in the swing with regular contributions. My intent in my blogs, carolnaff.me and solobizmarketing.com, and my enews is to help professionals. I hope it is memorable. Register at MarinerCo.com for your free copy.
Mark Hermann in Content marketing, Motivation, Standing out wrote sage advice on how to become memorable. In his blog, boostblogtraffic.com, he gives several (as a matter of fact, many) useful tips on becoming memorable. Become original and authentic. Create your own voice and art. Read the full article on Content marketing, Motivation, Standing out
In Mark’s studio, a framed poster on his desk fuels his imagination and speaks directly to this question. It’s from acclaimed filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch.
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”
Then, take action. Nothing will happen until you take just one step forward. Keep writing your blogs, articles, enewsletters, tweets, and/or FB posts. You’d be surprised at who is following you and just waiting for the perfect time to buy your service.
HOW TO GRAB AND HOLD PEOPLE’S ATTENTION
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I have a recurring nightmare that goes like this: I am in a room giving a presentation. I feel passionately about the topic, and I know that I’ve put together a great presentation. But as the presentation moves along, I start losing control over the group. I notice that a few people aren’t listening to me. They are having their own …” read more at 100 Things Every Presenter Should Know by Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.
Are you for real?
Exposure to nonstop negativity actually impairs brain function. Here’s how to defend yourself.
Do you hate it when people complain? It turns out there’s a good reason: Listening to too much complaining is bad for your brain in multiple ways, according to Trevor Blake, a serial entrepreneur and author of Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life. In the book, he describes how neuroscientists have learned to measure brain activity when faced with various stimuli, including a long gripe session. read more about the dangers and tips to avoid complainers.
Everyone is on a quest in their lives to find just the right thing and reach their goals. They want to know the most informative facts on a variety of subjects, to stimulate their senses, to discover the secret to lasting happiness, to find a solution to a problem, to see exciting entertainment, to connect with others that share their same passion, and to seek out what drives their purpose in life. Can you find just the right thing for your business? Determine your needs in this business assessment at Marinerco.com. Find the right marketing strategies. People are on a quest to find YOU and how you can give them a solution to achieve their goals or solve their problems.
Marketing Coach Carol Naff discovered that these main factors will make or break your business:
·Quality of your product or service, and
·Marketing strategies that you use.
Marketing strategies and tactics have changed greatly within the last three decades. The standard rules of marketing can change extremely quickly – in fact, almost daily with new and rapidly expanding developments in technology. It is moving at a very rapid pace and controls the effectiveness of reaching a copious amount of people with your message. Modern marketing also involves a great deal of creativity and constant adaptation to beat the rules that were previously established and controlled the way marketing was done for the past couple of years. Your marketing coach is your partner to find just the right marketing strategies to reach your goals.
These clearly defined tactics will get started on the road to marketing success:
#1 – Marketing Goals
Establishing a solid list of marketing goals develops a concrete foundation to anchor your business success. Without having clearly defined marketing goals, there will be no growth due to a lack of direction. A business with no direction is dead in the water. Utilizing marketing goals is like using a road map. Make them smart goals. Once the direction is established, the destination will be reached provided that the journey stays on course and that everyone in the business is all going in the same direction. Goals must be defined in order to create a logical and effective plan of action. The right action will produce positive results and will ultimately lead to business success.
#2 – Time Systems
Timing is everything in marketing. Knowing when the time is right to launch a campaign can be crucial to the success of the product or service being offered. Also, it is important to manage the time that is spent daily on marketing strategies in relation to the time needed for product development and in serving the customer or client. Utilizing a system for time organization should always be a top priority in order to meet marketing goals, deadlines, and build integrity with the customers.
#3 – Niche
Defining the target market (or niche) is an essential element in marketing strategies and marketing campaigns. It is a total waste of time and money to try marketing to everyone. You must live in the reality that everyone is not interested in what you offer. Your niche is your target market not necessarily everyone you can serve. Narrow it down and focus on the people who want what you are producing. The human race is not made up of a bunch of clones where everyone has the same goals and wants and needs the same thing. So conduct your demographic research and find the right people who will reward you for your expertise, refer you to others, and also return as repeat customers. Once you find your niche, then you will have control of the flow of your business and meet your goals.
#4 – ZINGER ELEVATOR SPEECH
So…what do you do? “Duh, I help people get out of debt.” (Huh…?) Come on people…make it a little more interesting like this: “I’m a Financial Power Consultant and I teach people how to totally control their money flow!” If you are not excited about what you do, then how do you expect others to be excited and intrigued enough to learn more about your services? DON’T BORE THEM. Make it sound exciting, make it sound like it will be fun and easy for them to accomplish it, and most of all, be original and different on how other people in your industry offer the same services. You have to show them that YOU have the solution they’re looking for. So grab their attention with an original and exciting elevator speech that will capture their interest and keep them hooked.
These are just four of the foundational tools that you can use to become better at marketing strategies. There are many more; especially marketing strategies that apply with the new technology becoming available every day. By learning more about how to effectively use these tools, you will be able to expand your business for greater success with your goals. Mariner Company can show you how to use these tools in the most effective way to grow your business. Visit our website at: marinerco.com and call Marketing Coach Carol Naff at 303-337-4394.
You can use the tools to beat the rules! A successful business future is in your control. Take action today!
Guest blog by Michael King, Designer/Owner, Black Swan Image Works, Graphic Design
Business card scanners have made it easier to control our lists of contacts. So far, so good. But not all cards scan equally well. Some don’t scan at all. What about your card?
I find that cards I have collected that don’t scan well end up in a second, “enter by hand” pile. Often that pile lies unattended for weeks or months. Certainly long enough for me to forget where I met the person or why I wanted their card. This is not ideal for either side in the transaction. How does your card measured up?
Most of the four traits are fairly easy for your graphic designer to rectify. But if you have a predominantly black and white or light color palette, you may end up having to recycle your current inventory of cards and go for a new design.
If you have any questions about any of the issues I have raised, please feel free to contact me at 303-477-4662 or michael@bsiw.us.
A LinkedIn profile is the perfect way to have a web presence with or without a website. People can get to know about you and your book. Yes, it does take time and expertise to set up all the options, but once it is in place, you can update most of it in an hour or so.
LinkedIn is the #1 Professional Networking tool on the Internet. Pinterest is quickly taking over that spot. More than 75% of all books are sold on the Internet. Identify ideas to update your profile by looking at other profiles. Visit linkedin/com/in/carolnaff
You’ve done it. Your book was reviewed in the newspaper. Your story was told in the media. Congratulations! Now what?
That’s right; now what? Today’s newspaper or magazine is tomorrow’s recycling, but that doesn’t mean the life of your review is over — far from it, as a matter of fact.
That piece written about your book, a top 10 list, book review, article, or “think” piece (like an editorial or letter to the editor), still has lots of promotional juice left in it if you know how to squeeze it out.
According to marketing coach Carol Naff, here are just a few things you can do with your published works. Obviously, the rest of the world moved on to the next edition of whatever periodical has published your piece. Use this opportunity to drive traffic to buy more books or bring in more potential clients.
See additional tips to keep your publicity in the sun on solobizmarketing.com
Finding new and exciting ways to engage with your customers online can help to revitalize a stale social media marketing campaign. Pinterest, a new image sharing social site, has built quite an online buzz and some brands are using the platform to engage with customers. Check out these great branded accounts:
One of the biggest advantages to Pinterest is the demographic that has made the site popular. The site caters to a female audience (reportedly nearing 70 percent), most of whom are under the age of 45. This much sought after demographic can play a key part in the purchasing decisions of the average American household and your bottom line.
Now you might ask yourself, how on earth can my brand use an image sharing website? When you sell a seemingly uninteresting product or offer a unique service it might be hard to see how you can use a site like this to your advantage. But, with a bit of creativity and research, you’re bound to find a way to use the new platform.
Here are seven creative ways some brands can use Pinterest.
Hold a Contest
One creative way to utilize Pinterest is to hold a contest. Lands’ End recently held a contest it coined: “Pin It to Win It.” Participants were encouraged to browse the Lands’ End site, create pins of items they liked, and the most creative and stylish entries won prizes. This kind of contest can engage your audience and also gets them to your site, browsing your products, and linking to them!
It’s important to review any site’s Terms of Service if you’re looking to run a contest on their platform. As you can see, Lands’ End successfully launched the contest, it’s just up to you to come up with the concept. I could see successful photo hunts/treasure hunts, define your style contests, wedding wish-list contests, and many more!
Conduct Market Research
Have plans to revamp services or products in 2012? Why not test out new products or even your upcoming ad campaign on Pinterest?
Other brands have started using Pinterest as a platform to conduct market research or test product launches. In a recent Mashable post, one creative suggestion was to use Pinterest as sort of a social online focus group to see first-hand reactions, on a platform not as inundated as Facebook.
Feature Customers
One way to appeal to this demographic is to play to their vanity. Feature customers on your Pins, especially if you have a clothing boutique or store. “Customer A paired these shoes, belt and top to create this stylish winter cocktail party look!” Showcase customer purchases that exemplify their style or pin photos of products that go well together and that customer X recommends.
Have a wedding venue? Create pins for each of the events or weddings you hold at your venue. Feature each bride and groom and wedding party and take it that next step by creating a style board of the bride’s wedding style. Pin photos of decorations and elements that made the wedding unique. This will help other prospective brides to see that your venue can be transformed to fit their unique needs.
Present Concepts in a New Way
Did you know Pinterest allows you to add contributors to your boards? Have a few team members put together a storyboard on Pinterest to present to a customer. Or co-Pin with a customer to create a board full of ideas for their next event or shopping spree.
I could see this working especially well for an event planner, photographer, bakery, travel agent, art dealer and gallery, or even a jewelry designer. Each of these professions requires both parties to be in agreement on what is the final product style or idea. If the product or idea is presented in a clean, simple, and creative way, using Pinterest, it can stand a chance of being better received. Not only that, it allows you to creatively engage with customers, and prospects can see too!
Put a Face to Your Brand
Personalizing your brand’s style or what your brand stands for can be a hard thing to do with plain ol’ web copy. Use Pinterest to showcase your style, what makes you different, what your brand stands for, and use it as an opportunity to highlight your employees too. Putting a face to your brand is easily done with Pinterest.
Promote Your Image Content
I recently started a board of all my favorite infographics and a brand can do something similar. Feature all of your image content in one place for easy access.
Infographics, product photos, and your own photography can be featured. Do your research and see how other brands are using Pinterest to share their image content by browsing a few of the brand pages listed above.
Stylists, fashion editors, and personal shoppers can feature their image content to help them sell their services. Their style and ability to put together an outfit can be easily translated through a board on Pinterest.
I could see travel agents using Pinterest to help a customer see the full picture of their luxury vacation. Pin photos of activities in the area, landscape photos, and photos of the hotel lodging and other accommodations. The possibilities really can be endless.
Sell More Products
Add a “$” or “£” to your Pin description and Pinterest will automatically create a price banner for your photo. In the gifts section of Pinterest users are able to see your products, and if you do your job right you just might sell some products – by putting a link to the site where a user can buy your product (duh!). Don’t forget to take down the Pin once you sell the product, if applicable.
Using Pinterest in this way is great for artists, designers, arts and crafts peeps, jewelry designers, and even real estate agents.
Imagine creating a board of a property you’re trying to sell. Take photos of the property and surrounding areas. One idea might be to add photos of possible improvements that can be made to the home or those improvements the seller might be willing to pitch in on. By creating a board of all these items a viewer can quickly and easily see just how amazing the house is (or can be).
Summary
These are just a few of the creative ways brands can use Pinterest to spark interest and engage with customers. And to whet your palate for Pinterest even more, check out the announcement from Facebook last night – 60 new and exciting apps were unveiled including a Pinterest app! If you aren’t convinced Pinterest is here to stay, you certainly should be now.
How is your brand using Pinterest? Do you see additional benefits to using this popular site?
Sally Bonkrude
Guest blog by Sally Bonkrude, PositiveInnerChange. How would you like to grow your business by positioning yourself as an expert in your field? The best way to do this, is to get your message out to the world. And the best way to get your message out is by public speaking. Today, we have service groups where you can speak, and tons of meet-up and networking groups who want speakers. Public speaking is an important marketing tool for your business and there is no reason not to use it.
To position yourself as an expert by speaking, you not only have to know your stuff, but you have to be able to deliver your message in a way that draws people in and persuades them to take action.
Here are some beginning pointers….
During your presentation, pay attention to your audience’s body language. If they are bored, adjust your presentation. You might try asking questions or go for more interaction. Relax and be open to what needs to happen in the moment.
Sally Bonkrude is a professional speaker and also works with speakers to create and deliver a message that sells. As a psychotherapist, Sally also helps performers to overcome anxiety and step onto the stage with confidence. To connect with her go to: SallyBSpeaks.com/blog and positiveinnerchange.com
Carol Naff, Marketing Coach 