One simple thing consultants can do to grow their businesses faster

January 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
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Most consultants are looking to grow their businesses.

Most consultants who have been in business for a while say it’s harder now to get business than it once was.

When consultants start to work with me they often say their problems have nothing to do with them and the way they manage their practices.  They say:

“It’s the economy.”

“It’s the cutbacks.”

“It’s the level of competition.”

Well, I’m not sure I agree.

When I start working with a consultant, one of the questions I ask in our first meeting is:

“How many sales meetings did you have last month?”

I often get blank looks.  Then I get lots of information about the one-to-one meetings and the discussions following on from networking meetings and the lunches and breakfast meetings the consultant has attended.

I take notes. It’s fascinating to listen and to work out how much time and money consultants spend on these activities.

In the end it turns out that quite a few consultants don’t have any sales meetings at all.

They have meetings where they talk about what they do.  They have meetings where they present proposals.  They have meetings where they discuss options and possibilities.  They have exploratory meetings.

They don’t actually have meetings where they say:

“This is what I am offering and this is the price.  Now, when can I start work on your project?”

That’s the main reason why they’re not making sales.  They just never get around to asking for the business.

How to make sales

If you’re going to do business you need to make sales.

We’re now into week four in the Business Start-Up month, which is why I’m writing about sales.  In week four in The Solo Success Start-Up Guide I concentrate on sales and doing one very important thing to get sales.

What is it?

It’s asking for the business.

If you don’t make sales, your business is doomed. Yet, when you delve into the way lots of consultants work, they never actually ask for the business.  That’s their biggest problem.

Do you ask for business?

Think carefully.

  • Have you asked for a piece of business in the last month?
  • Have you asked a customer for a start date for a project?
  • Have you asked in plain and simple terms that the customer makes a commitment to work with you?
  • Have you asked when you can submit your first invoice?

If you haven’t, then you’re missing out on business.

Often customers are just waiting for you to ask them for their business.  They want you to ask. If you don’t, they won’t offer to put the first meeting in the diary.  They won’t ask you about the best time to run that workshop.  They’ll let you walk away from the meeting empty handed.

You can improve your business if you make a point of asking for the business every time you make a proposal of any sort.

What have you got to lose?

They can only say no.

Over to you . . .

Be honest.  Do you ask your customers for their business?

If you don’t, what gets in the way?  Let me know in the comments.

If you like this post please “like” it on Facebook and tweet about it using the hashtags:

#startup

#smallbiz

#entrepreneur.

You might also like to read:

The real secret of consultancy success

How well are you closing the sale?

The most common mistake new businesses make and how to avoid it.

Filed Under: Sales Skills, Solo Success In Business, Starting Your Coaching Business, Starting Your Consulting Business Tagged With: , , ,

How to get more people to notice your tweets

October 3, 2011 By 6 Comments
Robin

His tweets get noticed!

There you are tweeting, retweeting, mentioning and using hashtags in your tweets.  However, your tweets are not being noticed, retweeted and mentioned as much as you’d like.

It’s not fair, is it?

Well, maybe and maybe not.

The point is that if you want to build a following on Twitter you need to be noticed.  What should you do?  Here are five pieces of advice for you to try out.  Are you following them?

Stop broadcasting

Please stop broadcasting. Stop telling people about you and what you’re doing.  At least make sure you only tell people a little bit and not very often.  I’m not going to retweet your tweet about that late train or the person who pushed in front of you at the station or the fact that you’re eating your lunch by the river.  To put it bluntly, I’m not interested in knowing.

Likewise, tweeting and retweeting the details of your latest blog post, the “great” networking meeting you’ve just attended or similar won’t get me mentioning you and what you’re doing.

Instead make sure you tweet about what of interest to me, the person following you, not what’s of interest to you.

Retweet what’s interesting

I retweet useful information tweeted by others.  I tweet about people’s blog posts that will be of interest to my followers.  I share really useful information that I’ve found online.  I read quite a few blogs and online journals so I find lots and lots of valuable material that I know will be of interest to people who follow me.   I share the useful advice I’ve found on the web with the people who follow me.  Guess what?  More people follow me just about every day.

I also try to explain why I’m doing what I’m doing.

That means I’m not just tweeting or retweeting something.  I’m giving my followers a reason why they should go and look at the blog post, or read the article, too.

Respond and reply

Make a point of checking who’s mentioning you on Twitter.  Check who’s replying to you.

Talk to them on Twitter.  Thank them.  Engage with them.

Just do it, either via a direct message or via a tweet.

People notice.  They realise you “get” Twitter.  You’ll generate more interest in what you do as a result.

Limit automated tweeting

Yes, it’s fine to thank people automatically for following you.  If you’re building a list and looking to do so quickly, then there’s no harm done by sending an automatic message.

However, automatic messages don’t create relationships.  When someone who you really want to get to know follows you, make sure you send a personalised note of some sort.  Show you’ve read their tweets.  Show you’ve done some research about them.  Show that you’re a real person communicating with another real person.

That will make you memorable.  It will also start to differentiate you in the minds of the people who you believe matter to your business.

Be positive

People love positive people.  Therefore, just be positive in your entire approach to using Twitter. Remind people that you’re tweeting information of value.  Be enthusiastic when you endorse other people’s tweets.  Spread good news in your own tweets. You will get noticed if you do the above.

Now how do you get your tweets noticed?

What do you do that really helps you to get your tweets noticed?

  • Do you use the approaches above?
  • Do you have other approaches you’d like to share?

By the way, I will be tweeting about this post, so tweet about it, or retweet yourself, and see if it generates interest for you, too.

See also:

Not enough Twitter followers? Are you making these seven Twitter mistakes?


Filed Under: Becoming A Market Leader, Growing Your Business, Marketing Your Business, Productivity, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Seven subjects to tweet about when you don’t know what to tweet about

September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Birds

They know what to tweet about!

You’re on Twitter.  You’re keen to start connecting with people.  You want to tweet, but you have a problem.  You don’t know what to tweet about.

You’d be wise to wait and not just tell the world about what’s in your sandwiches, how tight your shoes are and what you intend to do now you’ve missed the train you wanted to catch.  You’re in business and you need to remember you’re tweeting to help your business.

Here are seven subjects that you can tweet about that will help you to build the right sort of reputation on Twitter.

Tweet about today’s news as it affects your industry.

Let’s assume you’re in the pensions business. There are news stories just about every day that affect people’s retirement planning.  Make a point of tweeting about them.  From the RPI, the CPI and the state of the FTSE to annuity yields there’s so much to say.

Tweet really useful information from thought leaders in your industry

Take a step back from this one for a moment.  Do you know who the thought leaders in your industry are?  If not, who writes about your industry?  Who’s on TV?  Who speaks about the subjects that matter to your customers at conferences?  Go and follow them.  Read what they have to say. Then start tweeting about them, quoting them and mentioning them.

If you can also offer comment on what they’re saying, so much the better.

Tweet your top tips

Yes, tweet your top tips.  You’re an expert.  Start to let your followers know some of the gems of wisdom you offer to your customers.  Write a series.  Use hashtags to help to group your tips together.  Then when you’ve done your ten top tips, you can write a blog post summarising them.  That will give you something else to tweet.

Tweet relevant quotations

People love quotations. Choose good ones and they will be retweeted.  That means your original tweet will be in front of lots more people, too.

Tweet useful but not widely known information

Here’s where you can score over lots of other people.  Be alert.  Watch for great blog posts, useful articles that other people aren’t promoting.  Then tweet about them.  I’m always on the look out for good infographics to promote to my followers.  Infographics pass on useful information quickly.  They’re also not used that widely so they’re still a bit of a novelty.  My readership values them.

Tweet questions, questions

Ask questions.  Ask for help with something.  Ask a question about a popular topic.  Ask about a trend in your industry and so on.  Don’t worry if you don’t get too many replies.  Just remember to thank the people who do respond.

Tweet replies and mentions

Reply to other people’s questions.  Thank people for mentioning you.  Thank people for retweeting you.  Note what’s being said about you and join in the conversation.

Should you tweet about your business?

You might be wondering where tweeting about what you do and what you have to offer comes into the Twitter equation.

Well, it’s there, but you’ll get and keep more followers, if you entertain, inform and educate them rather than selling to them all the time.

I tweet about my own blog posts.  I encourage people to join us on Facebook.  I mention our offers.  I just don’t do it all day and every day.  Tweeting is about striking a balance.  I aim to offer lots of good advice and a little information about our business.

What to do now

Do take a look at some of my other posts about Twitter. I think you’ll find them helpful.

Not Enough Twitter Followers? Are you making these seven Twitter mistakes?

What do your tweets say about you?

You can also follow me on Twitter and see how I put all of this into practice.


Filed Under: Becoming A Market Leader, Business Skills, Growing Your Business, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: ,

How to promote your business on video

September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Filming

Ready for the movies?

If you’re running a consulting business or a coaching practice, or if you’re a leading a professional services firm, there’s a lot you can do to promote your business and your brand using video.

In the last post, where I started talking about the use of video,  I dealt with how to build your brand using video:

Build Your Celebrity status – Make a Video

Today, I’m focusing on the content of your video.

When you create your video you’ll need to pay particular attention to this, because it’s the content of your video that really matters. That’s why I’m specifically dealing with ways you can use to make your video script professional and interesting.

What makes a good video script?

Writing a video script is very similar to creating a presentation to be delivered to an audience sitting in front of you. You need to help people to follow what you’re saying.

In the last post I explained that the structure of the video script would be quite straightforward. It’s built around three tips.

However, if I’m going to maintain interest, and help people to follow the “story”, I need to ensure that the three tips fit together logically and the script flows from one point to another. When you read the script, let me know if you think I’ve done this.

In these circumstances I tend to offer a tip to begin with that reduces anxiety. If people are worried about the topic then I set their minds at rest.  This presentation is all about using social media to build your business.

My first tip is:

You don’t have to be on all the social media platforms.

A lot of people worry that getting involved with social media is going to overwhelm them. This tip reassures. When I’m speaking on the best ways to use social media in business I often start by telling the audience that I give them permission not to be on social media at all. They don’t have to do something just because other people do it.

In this video presentation the second tip is: be consistent.

Again, it’s not a technical tip. It’s one that people understand, and welcome. It’s one that makes sense. It also helps people to bring a structure to what they do on social media. That’s what’s lacking in so many businesses. I get people thinking about their online and offline presence with that second tip. It’s bringing these together which is the main point of a lot of the work I do with businesses.  Therefore, I really want the audience to associate this great idea with me.

The final tip is to encourage people to be patient. Once they’ve realised they can do something useful with social media, as I’ve hinted in tip two, they may want to get started right away. I’m encouraging caution in tip three.

How to write a great video script

I’m always careful to place my tips in a context. Advice is only good advice when people know how to use it. Therefore, the video script is placed in the context of better business communications before I mention any of the tips.

Clearly I hope people will take the advice which is.

  • You don’t have to be on all the social media platforms.
  • If you are going to get involved with social media, then be consistent in your approach.
  • Don’t expect to get everything right and to get great results all at once. Be patient.

Note that my points do flow together. I could have written them in a paragraph rather than using bullet points. However, I’ve demonstrated their consistency and utility by summarising them in a way that brings the ideas together.

That confirms to me that the script will work.

Now it’s your turn. I’ve reproduced the script below with all the spaces I use to enable me to read it easily on camera.

  • Does it flow?
  • Is there a clear structure?
  • If you know me, could you imagine me saying this?
  • If you don’t know me, could you imagine someone delivering this script in a natural way?

“Margaret Adams here.

I’m an expert in business communications and social media marketing.

I help businesses to become famous in their niche.

The result is that customers will think of them first when they’re looking to buy.

Today I’m sharing three tips to help you to build your fame online so that you’ll be the person they remember.

My first tip

You don’t have to be on all the social media platforms.

Make your decisions by finding out where your customers are. Follow them to the social web.

So, if your customers are on Twitter and LinkedIn, you know where to apply your efforts.

Once you know this, make sure you can use that particular platform well and then go for it.

My second tip is about consistency. Be consistent.

Some people encounter you in person first and then go to your website. Some people will find you first online.

Make sure your online and offline images match.

Don’t give people a surprise by being different online from how you are in the real world.

I work hard at this at Margaret Adams. co .uk. I make a point of writing as I speak. In the real world I speak in the same way as I write. . It really helps to be consistent.

My final tip is to ask you to be patient.

Business success takes time.

You won’t get hundreds of fans for your Facebook page immediately.

You have to generate interest first. Then build trust and finally build relationships.

So be patient and keep working.

Those are my three top tops to help you to build your fame online.

That’s all from me, Margaret Adams. Thank you for watching.”

If you like this post please share it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Filed Under: Business Skills, Marketing Your Business, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Build your celebrity status – make a video

August 12, 2011 By 1 Comment

Margaret Adams - Solo Success Expert Probably the first thing you’ll notice about this post is that there isn’t a video embedded in it.

However, it is a post about my first video presentation.

Now, the video isn’t up on the web yet, so I won’t say too much about that side of things.  What I’m writing about today is the important starting point for your video: your script.

Creating your video script

I was asked to speak for somewhere between ninety seconds and two and a half minutes.

When I began to plan, the first thing I did was to think about what I could cover in a short space of time and remain interesting to my audience of small businesses.

I decided to offer my top three tips to help independent professionals, (coaches, consultants, counsellors, therapists and other expert professionals) to build their fame online.

  • I chose a “top tips” approach because there’s an obvious structure to that sort of film script.
  • I chose that approach so that people watching would obtain advice they could use immediately.
  • I chose the tips approach because it’s a memorable type of structure.   There is a defined number of things to remember.

Then, of course, I had to think about producing something that would last for the right amount of time.

As an ex-teacher and lecturer and a professional speaker, I know it’s important always to work to the time limits you’ve been given.  I’ve run conferences and training programmes in the past where the first presentation has over-run by half an hour or more, and I’ve then spent the rest of the day trying to catch back time.

Therefore, it’s really important to think about how long your script will take to deliver.

It’s a good idea to use some of the statistics about speaking to help you to plan.

Now, when you speak in conversation, you can deliver around one hundred and forty words per minute.  If you’re thinking about speaking to an audience, then you’ll probaby deliver about one hundred and twenty words a minute – maybe a bit less.  That will tell you how long your script should be.

I created my script to be two minutes in length.

Practising your delivery

That’s the next stage.  Practise delivering your script.

Practising delivery means making sure that the script lasts for the right amount of time.  It also means thinking about the structure of your delivery.

  • Is what you have to say broken up in a meaningful way?
  • Can you deliver the script in an interesting way?

Well, my top tips approach helped with both of these requirements.

I practised the script and reworked it until it sounded right and the words really felt natural to deliver.  That’s the real advantage you gain, if you write your own script or have a sympathetic speechwriter.

Developing a professional approach to being filmed

Some filming takes place in studios.  Some filming takes place elsewhere.

In the case of my video I was filmed in a hotel where the staff were busy clearing up after a morning meeting and setting the room up for lunch.

It wasn’t quiet.

It wasn’t ideal.

However, we did get the job done.  The professional videographer I was working with did a lot to make things run smoothly and his approach was helpful and positive.

I was as well prepared as I could be and that was what was important.

Margaret Adams’ Three Top Tips To Help Small Businesses To Build Their Fame Online

So where are the tips?

I’ll post the script for the filming session next time along with some tips to help you to write an interesting and engaging script for your own film or video debut.

If you like this post…… please tweet about it and share it on Facebook and on LinkedIn.  Comments are always welcome, too.

Filed Under: Business Skills, Growing Your Business, Marketing Your Business Tagged With: , , ,
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