Building Rapport: Who Are You & Why Should I Care?

 No Responses »
May 242013
 

Building Rapport With Your Target Market

who am i and why should you careFirst of all, what is “rapport”? It is the “connection”, the “understanding”, the “camaraderie” between two people. It is what bonds us as human beings to one another. Rapport is when two people feel that they have things in common and they feel comfortable with each other as if they’ve known each other for a long time. Haven’t you ever met someone that you didn’t know before but within just a few minutes you found yourself really liking them, and feeling like you’ve known them for a long time?

People like to do business with people they know, like, and trust – this is a well known fact! In this crazy world we live in, where we are “friends” with people literally ALL over the world  – thanks to technology – how do we develop that rapport over a computer screen? How do we use the 3+ seconds we have of someone’s attention to GRAB it in order to even get a CHANCE to establish rapport? It is NOT easy but it is doable!

Remember, “They” Are Thinking “Who Are You & Why Should I Care”?

Use your 3+ seconds wisely. Be different, be creative, be remembered. Once you GRAB their attention, then you can start building that relationship and building that “rapport”. Business relationships are not that different than personal ones in the sense that if it is “all about YOU”, you will not have many friends or very effective business relationships. Relationships in general are a two-way street – or at least they should be. Business relationships are more about “them” than YOU from the get go. Most people don’t care about you (until they get to know you) EXCEPT in what you can do for THEM!

Gear Your Marketing To Answering These Two Most Important Questions

  1. Who are you?
  2. Why should I care?

Period! That’s it! IF you have the solution to a problem someone has, you will get their attention. If not, they are off to the next website, social site, forum, blog, etc.

How Do We Do This Online?

The process begins with:

  • Capturing leads: grabbing attention with effective, compelling, valuable, and relevant information so that someone will give you their contact information
  • Following-up via auto-responders: use the auto-responders to tell a little about yourself (so they will get to “know” you), tell a LOT about what your opt-in offer is about – in other words, deliver what you say you are going to deliver. After all, that IS why someone opts-in.
  • Pick up the phone at some point and CONNECT personally with your lead.
  • Continue building that rapport and relationship.
  • Even if the person is not ready at that particular time to make a purchase, they will remember you BECAUSE of your relationship with them, when the time comes that they ARE ready to  make a purchase.

I Almost Forgot! Who Am I?

Julie Weishaar The Video MagicianWith over 10 years Corporate Marketing Management Experience, I now helps small business owners hone in on exactly what their business offerings are, who their target market is, and come up with creative ways to get their marketing message across to their target at the right time. Based in New York, but with an International target market, I also help business owners learn how to use video as part of their overall marketing mix.  I have a passion for creating videos and create and use videos to help business owners strategically plan how to use videos online, increase their web presence, and promote their brand. Video branding/marketing is the way of the future as video is such a powerful marketing tool. I also work with the automated marketing systems from Priceless Possibilities (very video-centric and incredibly powerful and valuable). Creativity is in my blood. I love coming up with unique and memorable ways to make anything stand out! :) My sidekick’s name is Sebrina. She is a 7-pound little white ball of unconditional love (also a toy poodle)!

Don’t Underestimate The Importance of Relationships

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Effective Email Marketing Builds Relationships

 19 Responses »
May 022012
 

Building a Solid Relationship With Your Subscriber

business relationshipBuilding a relationship is important because it can make the difference between making a sale and losing it to your competitor. If you had a choice between making a purchase from a friend or a stranger if you needed a certain product or service, all other things (including price) being equal, who would you choose to buy from? Your friend of course. People like to do business with people they know and trust.

Email Marketing Can Give You A Competitive Edge

When two companies offer the same or similar product or service, building a strong rapport with your list can give you the competitive edge.

How to Build Rapport With Your Subscriber

  • Keep in touch with your mailing list often.
  • Don’t mail them only when you need to promote a product
  • Ask about their needs and concerns.
  • Use questionnaires and get them involved.
  • Ask them what they want you to provide for them to help them with their business.
  • Send them freebies occassionally. It could be in the form of free reports, blog templates, graphics or even free membership access!
  • Be personal. Let them see your human side or your personal life. It sure beats dry, stale E-mails that talk about product launches all day.
  • Be educational. When you impart something of value to your subscribers, they will see you as your industry-expert that lends credence to what you have to say. This will come in handy when you want them to ‘listen’ to you and buy whatever you are selling

Establishing Your Credibility

  • Talk about your experiences as a business professional. If you’ve run an offline business before, use it to establish your credibility as a business owner. If you’ve been in sales and marketing before, use it to establish your credibility as a marketing professional.
  • Let others tell the story. It would be better to let others sing your praises – especially in the form of testimonials.

Helping Small Business Owners Leverage The Internet

  • Increase your sales and profits while reducing your marketing expenses
  • Grow your business with cutting edge internet tools
  • Creating your own internet driven marketing systems is time consuming, demanding and intimidating if you’re not technologically savvy.

Introducing The Instant Sales System

  • Develop and Nurture Trusting Relationship With Your Customers
  • Reduce your time on the computer to engage with your current and future customers

You can see Introducing The Instant Sales System From Priceless Possibilities on my Youtube Channel along with other videos about Small Business and Video Marketing.

Tell Me More!

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Social Media Marketing is a Waste of Time for Professional Services Firms

 17 Responses »
Oct 052010
 

social media marketingSocial media is an area of business that is wrought with conflicting opinions. Some say that it is an essential marketing strategy for all businesses. Some say it is a total waste of time and not right for their industry. And then there are those who have the right idea – the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

The reality is, like it or not, social media is here and it is here to stay. The challenge for any business in any niche becomes finding the right channels for your particular industry and your particular business-specific situation.

Those who are anti-social media consider it to be a waste of time, not easily measured in terms of ROI, and perhaps see it as just a passing fad. Some of this type of thinking could be because many business people are intimidated by the idea of social media either because they don’t fully understand it or perhaps they are from the old school marketing mentality. Marketing today should consist of a well-integrated mix of many different marketing channels including the Internet. In order to be successful today, business owners must adapt to the changing business world to achieve and maintain a competitive edge.

Social media is a set of tools – it is not a means to an end. It is the tool-set professional services firms (and others) use to:

  • Build awareness
  • Gain exposure
  • Engage in conversations
  • Build relationships
  • Inform, educate and/or influence
  • Establish industry leader status

If looked at in this light, professional service providers will see that the role of social media is indeed important and valuable to getting more clients. Did you know that Corporate Counsels read blogs? Well they do and you can read about some interesting statistics on Corporate Counsel Read Blogs? Who Knew??  The article states:

“Nearly 70 percent of respondents aged 30 to 39 expect their consumption of business and legal industry news through social media platforms to increase within the next six months.”

This article also discusses an increased use of Facebook amongst younger counsel (30-39 year olds) which is interesting in that Facebook tends to merge personal and professional lives together as opposed to a site like Linkedin which is completely professional. It will be interesting to see how the increased use of Facebook works out for professional services groups, as this author, is a little wary of mixing business with personal information.

With the jury still out about social networking on personal sites like Facebook, there is no doubt that blogs and industry forums provide a highly visible online means for professional service companies to:

  • Increase their online presence
  • Establish themselves as an industry expert
  • Build and maintain relationships
  • Increase brand visibility
  • Distinguish themselves from their competition
  • Build their reputation by letting potential clients SEE their expertise rather than simply hearing about it
  • Establish themselves as an industry thought leader

Keep in mind that the more visible your professional services firm is, the more likely you will able to benefit from cross-selling opportunities. If you are a law firm providing entity formation services for a client, it is not unreasonable to assume that this same client might not be aware of other legal services your firm offers.

If you consider social media as channels of communication, you will realize that utilizing these channels to inform, engage, interact and influence your target audience will eventually translate into a higher conversion rate and increased profits. Connect rather than collect. Build relationships and nurture them. People like to do business with people they know and professional services firms are no different. Introduce yourself to your target market via social media channels, engage them in conversations through meaningful interactions, and let them see for themselves what you are all about. Share your knowledge with your potential clients. This knowledge doesn’t necessarily have to be your own original content. Sharing others’ knowledge (with the credit given where it is due) will only help your reputation and others’ perception of you as a provider of knowledge, valuable information, and someone they will want to do business with.

Are you an Active Listener?

 5 Responses »
Feb 162010
 

What is active listening?

It is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Many people do not use active listening skills in their communications.

Oftentimes they are planning what they response will be to a particular point made by the person they are conversing with – sort of planning their “attack”. Other times they might be distracted by their list of to-dos for the day, the weather, what they want to wear, or any other things on their mind that have nothing to do with the conversation.

What is the result of not using active listening skills?  A lot of misunderstandings and potential trouble in that relationship.  In order for communications to be effective, the communicator needs to really LISTEN to what is being said and they need to care about how the other person perceives the message he/she is trying to send.

Personal relationships usually disintegrate because of poor communication skills. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations lead to resentments and walls are then put up between the involved parties. These resentments and walls grow over time and eventually the relationship falls apart.

It is so important to understand the different between the message one is trying to relay and the perception of that message.  They are more often than not, not the same thing.

From a personal perspective, I have this tendency to blurt things out loud – I am not necessarily expecting anyone to act on these messages. For example, I just found out, after three years in my relationship with a wonderful man, that when is say “I am thirsty”, that he thinks I mean “get me something to drink”. I was shocked to think that is what he thought, but when I thought about it from his perspective, I realized that this is what it sounds like. When I reminded him that I also often blurt out “I have to go to the bathroom”, we both laughed, realizing that my intentions in both instances were NOT for him to take action. How could he possibly go to the bathroom for me?

This is a real life example of how the perception of our message becomes the reality – not the intention. What does this mean for a business owner?  It means that he/she needs to use active listening skills when dealing with customers and potential customers in order to truly understand, from their perspective, what the needs/concerns are for each customer and potential customer.

It is even more important in today’s marketing and economic environment, for sales people, small business owners, customer service representatives, and anyone involved in relationships with those who affect the bottom line, to be effective communicators. The massive influx of social media marketing sites is leading businesses towards the new model of marketing. This new model demands building relationships, engagement and two-way communication channels.

Learning how to be an effective communicator will be helpful in all aspects of someone’s life – both personal and professional. “We have two ears and one mouth so we can LISTEN twice as much as we SPEAK” (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135