Marketing YOUniquely Blog

Being in business for yourself can be a challenge. If you left a fairly good paying job to become an entrepreneur, then of course, there’s the need to generate income as fast as we can.

The problem is that when we need money quickly to pay our bills and prove ourselves to those who think we’re crazy for going it alone, we can often make poor decisions and operate in a mode of desperation, instead of confidence.

To be a successful entrepreneur we have to operate in different ways than those who just “go into business” for themselves. We ARE different. We’re Entrepreneurs! My definition of an “Entrepreneur” is someone who “does whatever it takes” to succeed.

To help develop your mindset of doing whatever it takes, here are 5 keys that you should adopt to master your entrepreneurial life:

1. Raise your standards! When we’re not getting the business we want, we tend to take what I call “crap jobs” just to pay the bills. We tend to also let others dictate how we’ll do business with them.

As a professional, you have to dictate to the people who do business with you how YOU do business, not the other way around.

When I started out as a consultant, I had this problem. It destroyed my credibility completely. I wasn’t revered as a successful marketing consultant. I was perceived as “miscellaneous project boy”.

The lesson here: Set the standards in which YOU want to run your business by. You make the rules, not your clients.

Raise your standards and build your credibility as a successful entrepreneurial professional.

2. Change your limiting beliefs! I’ve heard it said before “belief systems are nothing but B.S.”
Sometimes when we’ve not had much success it’s easy to believe one of a few different things: “I’m not worthy”, or “I don’t know if I should even be in business for myself”, or “the other people in my field are much more educated than me”, or “I have no time for marketing”, etc.

This type of belief system will ruin you. And, guess what? The things you’re thinking to yourself and believing are not real! You just believe they’re real.

To get on your with your successful entrepreneurial life, you MUST believe that anything is possible. You must believe that “if anyone can do it, so can I!”

When you allow your limiting beliefs to run your life, it shows in everything you do, and will ultimately destroy you. It destroys your confidence, self-esteem, and self-concept.

Walk with pride! You’re an entrepreneur! The fact that you took a risk to be in business for yourself says so much about you. Now, believe in that.

3. Modeling ’success’ works! My teacher Jim Rohn (www.JimRohn.com) says, “Success leaves clues.” What he means by that is, there are so many examples out there of people doing things right, we need to take notice.

If you’re struggling to get your business right, study those in your industry who ARE doing it right. Find someone who may not be directly in competition with you. Ask them out to lunch (you pay!) and interview them and ASK the tough questions.

They might say, “I read this book, and it changed my life.” Or, they might say, “I attended this seminar, and that’s all it took.” Or they might say, “I got myself around other successful people in my field, and it’s made all the difference.”

Take notes! Then, do what they do. Buy the book. Attend the seminar. Hang around similar types of people. It’s that simple.

Success leaves clues. Pay close attention to those who are already doing it well.

4. Increase your emotional intensity! You’re an entrepreneur! You’re in business for yourself! You help people! Be excited about it.

Be passionate about what you’re offering. Speak passionately about how you can help others!

To be perceived as someone who is good at what they do, you must have passion for what you do. It’s got to come out with everything you do and say.

Even if you haven’t reached all your goals yet, you must believe you will. And, you must operate with intense emotion about who you are and what you do. It’s so important.

5. Give more than they expect to get. One of the best ways I know to create a “Wow!” experience with your clients is to do more, be more, and give more than they could ever expect of you.

What does your competition do? They most likely give exactly what they advertise and nothing more – or worse – less than they promise!

What can you do that will “Wow!” them? This has to be a driving principle you live your life by. It’s not something you do once and then stop.

Here are a few examples of giving more than they expect:

You must always be thinking, “How can I go above and beyond for my client?” or “How can I WOW them?”

People will go out of their way to do business with you, if you go out of your way to make them feel special and give them more than they expect to get.

These concepts are simple and effective. They’re easy to adopt into your life. But, guess what? Most small business owners don’t… and that’s why so many fail.

There’s a difference between a small business owner and an entrepreneur.

Think and act like a successful professional and master these 5 keys to your entrepreneurial life. It’s truly a much more fun way to do business by.

Have a super-profitable week!

Craig Valine
blog@craigvaline.com
www.CraigValine.com

You know, back when I started out as a struggling consultant, I did do a couple of things right.

I wasn’t sure about getting my message out through direct mail or advertising… And of course, the Internet was pretty new to me.

One of a few strategies I used that DID work for me was public speaking. For many reasons, I believe using this strategy is beneficial to any service professional.

I don’t know that I was a great speaker or anything. But, I had just moved from Boston, MA to Pasadena, CA and had stumbled upon a little group called ‘Toastmasters’. Many of the successful people I’ve studied have recommended it in a big way. For the dues you pay, it’s training that can’t be beat!

I was an OK speaker, I guess. I was at least very passionate about my topic. I loved marketing and it definitely came out when I spoke about it. So, since I was bettering myself through public speaking, I figured I’d contact some local service groups, like Rotary, Kiwanis, Jaycees, Lions, etc., and ask them if they’d be interested inhaving me share money-making marketing strategies to their groups.

Many said ‘yes!’, and it was a great way to build interest in what I had so say. I got lots of chances to speak. I had one problem though. I wasn’t getting much business from it.

I got accolades each time I spoke. Everybody seemed to like what I had so say. But, I didn’t have anybody asking me to help them with their marketing.

I needed help. I needed to know how to use my speaking engagement to build my list of interested prospects. I just didn’t know how.

One day I came across some videos from a guy named ‘Tom Antion’ and my speaking life changed. Tom, at the time, was a professional speaker who trained others to use humor in their presentations without telling jokes. He has since become one of the top Internet marketing experts (and multi-millionaires) in the world.

I purchased his ‘Wake’em Up Presentations’ videos and discovered so many things I was ‘leaving on the table’ each time I spoke.

Key things I learned:

And, tons, tons more!

As a significant part of my marketing strategy when I first started out, these videos helped me turn my ’speaking-to-acquire-clients strategy’ around. I started getting business because I learned proven ways to make more money from my presentations. I learned them all from the videos!

Once a year I watch these videos. Sort of a ‘back to basics’, if you will. Mine are in VHS. But, Tom has a new DVD collection with added videos that weren’t available when I purchased the program.

If you speak at all to promote your cause or your business, I recommend checking out Tom Antion’s Speaker Videos. You can see all the features and benefits of the program here: —> Tom Antion’s Website

To this day, I’m a serious student of what Tom has to say. And,you’ll learn a lot of what I learned from him in upcoming issues of my newsletter.

‘Speaking’ of great days… Have an outstanding one!

Craig Valine
blog@craigvaline.com
www.CraigValine.com

In the posting, I shared my thoughts and philosophy about setting yourself apart from any other in your field – by becoming the expert…or, the AUTHORITY in your highly targeted niche market.

My teacher Dan Kennedy says it best: “The last thing you want to be compared to is just another ___________.”

You know, “just another salesperson”, or “just another consultant”, or “just another [whatever it is you do].

I shared some of the ways that the most successful professionals use to establish themselves as THE ‘go-to’ people in their respective target markets. If you didn’t see that issue, or you need a recap…

The most successful, highly paid, and sought out professionals do the following:

If that’s not enough for you to massively set yourself apart from the rest, here’s another strategy that I learned from Bob Serling that will make you the ONLY person your target market seeks out.

By the way, I haven’t seen this particular marketing strategy taught anywhere else. But, it’s so simple, you’ll probably be shocked you didn’t think of it yourself.

The strategy is called “The Resident Expert”.

Here’s how it works:

Offer to become the “Resident Expert” for an association, business group, corporation, or any other organization that serves your highly targeted niche market. You simply tell them you’d like to make your services available for free, to their members on a regular basis.

“Resident” means or implies, “in-house”, “their primary option”, or “the expert the organization endorses”.

For example, if you’re an accountant, you would contact a large hospital in your area (with a huge staff of doctors, nurses, and other professionals who are excellent prospects for your services) and offer to be the Resident Expert. Tell the hospital administration that you will be available to answer any questions their members have regarding their taxes.

Offer specific times that their members can contact you on a private line for a brief consultation. This could be from 3pm to 5pm every Thursday – a day that might be normally slow for you.

You can also offer a series of monthly talks or teleseminars on topics of interest to your target market. Offer them helpful reports or freebees tailored for their needs.

So, how can YOU become the Resident Expert in your target market’s organizations?

Well, depending on what organizations your target market belongs to, start by sending a letter to the President or person in charge of benefits to its members.

Start the letter off with something like:

“I have a proposal I believe would be very beneficial to your members.”

Then you might add:

“I would like to be the ” expert in residence” for your association. I would like to provide free advice both by telephone and in quarterly presentations to your members.”

The important ingredients following this:

You might be asking, “why am I giving my services away for free to all these people?”

That’s an intelligent question… one which I have a respectful answer to:

You must always be giving a little of yourself, your knowledge, your skills, your expertise… to get A LOT of people to seek you out to do business with you.

In ice cream-speak… my colleague Andrea Lee calls it “pink spoon marketing”. Giving a little taste of the ice cream (or a sample of what’s to come), gets people to want more of it. And, they will pay dearly for it.

In Craig-speak, it’s called “building your herd”. You are building your list of interested prospects with whom you can force-communicate to whenever you feel like it, offering beneficial and compelling offers that will make their lives better over a period of time.

So, “What organizations does your target market belong to that you can become the Resident Expert of?”

Write a list of 5 different organizations you can become the Resident Expert in this week. Write to them. Follow up, if necessary. And, let me know the results.

Have a super-duper profitable week!

Craig Valine
blog@craigvaline.com

There are many experts in marketing – many who cater to the niche market to which I serve, which is YOU, the independent consultant, coach, or solo-professional.

What makes me different than any of my major competitors? Oh, I don’t know for sure. But, I can tell you that I rarely see or hear it from them. But, I think the major difference is, I confess to being a ‘former’ struggling consultant.

When I started out I had read & studied marketing from the ‘best of the best’ for more than two decades before I decided to ‘jump in’ the business world as a consultant. I had ‘insider’ information that could, if properly utilized, help businesses become massively successful and profitable. However, I had no ‘freakin’ idea on how to BE or MARKET myself as a consultant.

I attended lots of workshops and seminars, and I read a lot of books and listened to a lot of audios from ‘consulting experts’ – trying to find the secrets to selling myself as a credible consultant. One Saturday, I spent the entire day listening to a presentation on how the most successful and highest paid consultants market and promote themselves.

Do you have any ideas on how they do it?

I sort of knew, but I wasn’t practicing any of the strategies at all.

The most successful professionals in the world are the ones that position themselves as experts in their fields of expertise. They may or may not actually be THE expert (in the eyes of the few), but they position themselves as such with their highly-targeted markets.

Many not only position themselves as experts, but position themselves as an ‘authority’ on the subject for which they serve. The best of the best become a celebrity, in fact, thereby positioning themselves above everyone else.

(Can anyone say “Tony Robbins”?)

What do the most successful professionals do that we don’t do that make them so successful?

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