In my opinion, applying Guerrilla Marketing strategies, techniques and tools to your business is possibly THE most important marketing skill you must master to make more with less.

And although you may not know this about me, in 1980 I received a Masters Degree in Education with an emphasis in Environmental and Holistic Education. I had begun my journey of being dedicated to making and keeping the world a sustainable, habitable place in 1970, when – as a high-school sophomore – I created our town’s celebration for the inception of Earth Day. I haven’t stopped since.

Now my friends and colleagues Shel Horowitz (Founder of FrugalMarketing.com and “The Clean and Green Club”) and Jay Conrad Levinson (The Father of Guerrilla Marketing) have teamed up to publish a brand new book that brings Guerrilla Marketing and “going green” together.

Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green
Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet

This book is a MUST READ (and FOLLOW)!

This week (the last week in January, 2010), along with their publisher (Wiley) Shel and Jay are “launching” the book. Which means that when you get your copy, you’re also going to receive a great many additional “bonuse” products and services that have been donated by experts in the fields of business, marketing, “going green,” personal and professional growth.

I’ve included immediate access to more than four and a half hours of interviews and presentations containing Guerrilla Marketing strategies and tactics from me, Fran Harris, Jody Colvard, Chris & Janet Atwood, Chet Holmes, Scott Hallman and Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, that were recorded for the “Guerrilla Marketing to the Masses” training program co-created by me and Jay Conrad Levinson.

CLICK HERE now to learn more about the book and all of the extras you’ll receive, and to purchase several copies (one for you, and some more for your friends and colleagues). And to get all the extra goodies, too!

Then be in touch, and let me know what you think about “Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green,” and how you’re using this invaluable advice.

Here’s to your low-cost / no-cost, green success!

Jay Aaron Strategic
Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

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Please Note: The links in this article will result in a referral commission (at no additional cost to you) to Redwood Enterprises, should you decide to take advantage of membership in Shel’s “Clean and Green Club.” I only recommend products and service about which I feel strongly will increase the quality of your life and/or the profitability of your business. This is definitely one of them!

Women ARE Your Market

Not being a woman, I can’t claim to have an insider’s perspective on a woman’s mind or heart. Still, I’ve been fortunate enough to have women friends, colleagues and mentors all of my life, and I am grateful for how openly women are willing to share their insights and their wisdom with me.

It’s said that women are “in charge of” approximately 85 percent of all purchasing decisions. Independently, women do more shopping and buying than men, and devote more time to it. And in cases where a male/female couple are involved in a buying decision, it’s often the woman who gets “the final word” if they don’t agree.

One could put forth many explanations for why all of this may be true – including “traditional roles” and sexism – but it’s far less important to understand the “why” than to know that if you want to be successful at business (which means being successful at selling) you must master the art of marketing to women – even if your products, services or events are designed for a primarily male or all-male audience.

Here are just three things that I’ve observed and that women have validated to me as being important to them. These three critical concepts are not meant to be the only ones that are important, and this list is certainly not exhaustive. I’ve just chosen to focus on the ones I’ve included here, simply because they are “top of mind” for me as I write this.

I’ll write more about marketing effectively to women in future articles.

1. Be Clear at the Core Level

Being clear at the “core level” means being clear about your BUSINESS PURPOSE; the PURPOSE of your product, service or event; and your PERSONAL PURPOSE for doing what you do.

By now, surely you know that even men don’t buy features; they buy BENEFITS. People make purchase decisions based on how something will make them feel, or how it will make their life easier, or how it will make them appear to be a certain way to others, or how much perceived value they think or feel that they’re getting for their hard-earned dollars and/or precious time. The list of benefits goes on, of course, but in order to be successful at selling to anyone, you MUST focus on the benefits – either exclusively, or in addition to the features of what you’re selling.

But women go even “deeper” than “benefits.”

They want to know WHO YOU ARE – meaning who your business is (what it stands for) and who you are, personally (what YOU stand for).

Imagine three stores that sell exactly the same item. One sells the item at the lowest price. Another sells at a slightly higher price, but with no apparent reason beyond the obvious, such as basic operating costs for the business. The third sells the item at the same price as the higher-priced store, but donates 10% of their profits back into the community school’s parent/teacher organization.

On average, women will choose to buy from the store that gives back to the community – even though they could get the same goods at a lower price.

What’s not to understand about this? Virtually no buying decisions are made on price alone. So you’ve got to be aware of the other criteria that come into play, including simple things like “convenience.” And for women, one of the major factors in who they buy from is your “who we are / who I am,” “what we/I stand for.”

2. Resonance: The “Sixth Sense”

To take this even a little deeper…

Women buy not only on features, benefits and purpose, but also on other perceptions – perceptions that we might even go so far as to label their “sixth sense.”

Given two stores that offer the same goods at the same price, a woman’s “sixth sense” will kick in in both locations. She’s going to be influenced by thoughts, emotions and even beliefs that arise from deep inside her – often without  her conscious awareness.

And one of the qualities she’ll be responding to is a sense of “resonance” with the store environment and the people in it. And this sense of “resonance” will even extend to the intangible elements that make up a store’s culture, that comes from it’s core purpose.

Notice what women in your market “resonate” with, and give it to them. Besides making your prospects and customers feel good about you and about themselves, it’s just plain smart marketing.

3. Know That All Marketing is “Relationship Marketing”

All sales to anyone are grounded in “relationship.” People buy from companies and individuals that they know, like and trust.

But for women, “relationship” is EXCEPTIONALLY important. How a woman perceives your business, you as the owner, and even right down to her experience with the sales person will make or break a sale – often as a more important criteria than features, benefit or price.

Relationships are built on first impressions, and developed over time.

Focus on making your first impression one that your audience of women will resonate with and respond to – either by making an immediate purchase, or by being willing to enter into a longer-term relationship with you in which they honor your desire to serve them through ongoing communication.

Then maintain and deepen that relationship, remembering that…

A. Most sales take between five and nine marketing contacts before the purchase occurs.

Each contact is an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise, the quality and value of your products, and – most importantly – breed a sense of “familiarity” between your prospect and you. Remember: “Know, like and trust.” For someone who begins as unfamiliar with you, it takes time for these to develop.

B. Your most valuable marketing “tool” are your satisfied clients, who provide you with case studies, testimonials and – most importantly – referrals.

If there’s only one thing you want in your business, it’s satisfied women telling their family, friends and colleagues to buy from you.

What’s Your Opinion or Experience?

Are you a woman who has insights about what works when marketing to you and other women?

Are you a man who has failed and/or succeeded at marketing to women?

Are the three principles presented in this article (”purpose,” “resonance” and “relationship”) important factors to consider?

I strongly encourage you to leave your comments and questions here for me and others to learn from and respond to.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter:  http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

Precise Language Matters. Distinctions Are Powerful.

I’m a stickler for precise language. Some of my friends and family members and colleagues think I’m too much of a stickler.

But consider these words:

Vision Statement

Mission Statement

Purpose Statement

Are they the same thing? Then  why three words to describe them?

Are they different? If so, how?

If you walk into a business and there’s a framed piece of paper that has the company’s “Vision Statement,” is it their vision, or their mission, or their purpose?

Does it matter?

I believe that it does. I believe that the words we use have power, and the more precise we are, the more likely we are to tap into that power.

Don’t get me wrong. I generally know what someone means, as long as their language is “in the ballpark.” When I see a “Mission Statement” on a business’ wall, I know that they’ve put some thinking into what matters to them. Still, I contend that those words don’t have their maximum power if they aren’t crafted in ways that affect their readers at both conscious and pre-conscious levels.

(Read more about my thoughts on the power of words by reading the article I wrote on January 1, 2010, in which I offered some distinctions between the words resolution, intention, and commitment.)

The Subtle Power of Words

Recently, I was at a gathering of women billed as both a seminar and a networking event. The women in attendance were entrepreneurs and small business owners – or aspired to be.

100% of the presenters were women. One of them addressed the attendees as “guys.” I think she meant it to be a “term of endearment,” something like “women bonding.”

The first time she said it, I winced. So did one of the women next to me. Most of the women didn’t seem to notice, or care, that they’d just been addressed as men. The second time she said it, I noticed a few more women raise their eyebrows. The third time – nothing. Perhaps the women who it already bothered were already numb to it. The rest still didn’t seem to notice, or at least didn’t seem to care.

At the end of the presentation, she gave her “call to action” which was at a reasonable price point for those in the room. I saw only one person approach her to talk.

Perhaps her offer didn’t match the needs or desires of the attendees. But from my perspective, it did. I can’t prove it, of course, but I sense instead that – sub-consciously – the women in the room just didn’t think of themselves as “one of the guys.” So they didn’t buy.

People Buy From…

People buy from people and businesses that they know, like and trust.

If someone doesn’t resonate with you or your message – which includes the language you use – they won’t buy from you.

Different Words. Different Results.

Here are two book titles:

“Write the Ideal Sales Letter”

“How to Write the Ideal Sales Letter”

Is one of these titles more appealing to you, if you wanted to know how to write a sales letter that generated the greatest amount of purchases?

What about if you’re the author or the publisher and want to sell the greatest number of books? Would knowing which title was likely to generate more sales be an important piece of information in making your choice about what to name your book?

Would you just pick a title and hope it sold your book? Or would you test the two titles against one another BEFORE you published, and choose the one that the greatest percentage of people said they’d buy?

Would you test those titles against other possible titles to learn if yet another title would outsell either of those?

Every good marketer knows the power of words, and how different words and phrases produce different results.

Every good marketer knows the importance of testing, and puts it to practice while their products are in development, and keeps testing even after the product’s initial release.

Most authors and publishers tie themselves to a book’s initially published name. But especially with today’s ability to do small-run quantities, and then to do large-quantity printings in much faster turn-around times than even 10 years ago, sticking to a title that doesn’t sell your book is unnecessary, and tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot.

In 1996, author Sapphire published her book with the title: “Push: A Novel.” In 2009, a film based on the book was initially released under the same title. But when Lion’s Gate Entertainment picked up the independent film, the film’s title was changed to “Precious” in order to eliminate possible confusion with a 2009 action film with the name “Push.” The book followed suit, and now you’ll find it at your local bookstore or online under the title “Precious.”

The book sold fairly well under the title “Push.” But the author and publisher had the wisdom to realize that it would sell far better after the movie’s release if the title of the book was changed to match the title of the movie. Smart move. And proof that book titles – or the name of ANY product, service and event – need not be set in stone.

Be Conscious and Conscientious of Your Words

Words matter. They influence how clearly people get your marketing message. They influence whether someone resonates with you and your marketing message.

Take the time to learn the skill of marketing with words. Learn how to create effective sales copy.

Treat words with respect. Learn to be precise in your language.

The  more value you place on precise language, the more you’ll prosper in business.

Don’t believe me, however. Create two versions of whatever you’re writing about. Test titles / headlines against one another. Test the specific words you use in your “call to action.” Test if a button that reads “Free Instant Access” results in more or less opt-in subscribers to your newsletter than one that reads “Subscribe.”

See for yourself if words matter where it matters in business – on your bottom line.

Do Words Matter?

I’d love to know what you think about this topic.

And I’d especially love to hear your stories about how subtle – or not-so-subtle – changes in language made a difference in your marketing and sales results.

Leave your questions, comments and stories on this Web site / blog for me and others to benefit.

Jay Aaron Strategic
Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

During a conversation with the publisher at Entrepreneur Press in 2008, we talked about some of the shifts that were showing up in entrepreneurial and small businesses. We agreed on many things, one of the most important being:

We are in a new economy.

There are lots of “negative” words that people are fond of placing on what’s happening with regards to the financial situation as we enter 2010. Personally, I don’t buy into any of them. Of all the many words and phrases being thrown around, that one thing is clear:

We’re in a new economy.

As a matter of fact, I believe that…

We’re in The New Economy.

As in, this is a new age, and it will be defined by the newly emerging financial situation in your own neighborhood and around the world, which after the events of 2007 through 2009 is unalterably changed.

For many people,  this New Economy is synonymous with “tough times.” And for anyone who holds that perspective, then that’s what’s true – for them. They’ll have a tough time succeeding in business, because their mindset and beliefs will rule their decisions, actions and outcomes.

Which is GREAT news for people who are willing to be successful in business right now.

Because business is commerce – the exchange something of value that others are willing to pay (or trade for).

And right now, people and businesses are in pain, related to their inability to overcome their own perceptions and find creative ways to be successful in a new set of circumstances, when what used to work no longer does.

People and businesses need to learn how to overcome their “obstacles to success” and whatever “problems” they perceive. And they will pay you if you can help them to that, or do that for them.Help with the following, and you’ve got a significant foundation for success:

Making money
Making more money
Overcoming worry, fear and doubt
Fixing and enhancing familial, romantic, personal and business relationships
Making tasks easier
Creating more joy and enjoyment

Of course, there are more “problems” and more “obstacles” that – for people who know how to solve and overcome them – are the basis for business success. The few that I’ve listed above are just meant to jog your thinking and remind you that “difficult” times provide the perfect opportunity to for whomever helps people get through those tough times to prosper.

Things HAVE Changed

There have already been significant noticeable changes in The New Economy.

People and businesses are spending less. They’re being more discriminating about how they spend their money. They’re doing more comparison shopping, and while not always buying the lowest-price item, are making buying decisions that are more consciously associated with their perception of “value.”

In many cases, people are expecting to pay less for the exact same product or service that they would have paid more for just a few short years ago. This is especially true about information products and training programs delivered electronically via the Web, and other products and services for which the consumer knows that the cost of inventory and delivery is low and the profit margin to the provider is high.

This does NOT mean that you must lower the price on everything that you sell. In some cases, you can charge MORE for the products and services that meet people’s and businesses most pressing CURRENT needs and desires than those same products and services would have cost before this economic change.

Pricing is Related to Your CUSTOMERS’ Perceived Value

Remember that pricing that will most likely result in a sale is related to perceived value on the part of the consumer. That is, if the buyer believes, thinks, and feels that the value s/he’ll get by owning / using what you’re selling is equal to or greater than the money s/he’ll pay PLUS the time s/he’ll invest to get the benefits, then “the price is right.”

Price something too high in relationship to a prospect’s perceived value, and you’ll lose the sale for obvious reasons. By the same token, price something too low in relationship to a prospect’s perceived value, and you’ll lose the sale – because people don’t want to waste their money and time on what they perceive to be “inferior” products.

You need to set or adjust your pricing according to the new conditions of The New Economy. Of course, you’ve got to take into account the “cost of goods” (manufacturing, shipping, inventory/storage, etc.) so that you don’t end up losing money on every sale. And while you can’t afford to price everything you sell below your own costs, you may need to consider offering one or more items at or below your cost as “loss leaders,” if you have a clear understanding of how such purchases will lead to profitability over the average lifetime value of a customer.

Asking prospects and customers directly is a simple, great way to get feedback about their perceptions of your price points in relationship to their perceived value of your products and services. Test your pricing when you can, which is especially easy on the Internet, where software you can install on your own hosting account and third-party services such as Google Analytics make it easy to do A/B testing, or even multi-variate testing. Use every available means to determine the “sweet spot” for the price of your goods and services.

How to Be Successful in Business in 2010. The Simple Version.

Be of great service and provide significant value. Help others move out of their pain and into joy and happiness.

Do these things – in any economy – and you’ll be successful when others are struggling.

What’s Your Opinion?

Are we, indeed, in The New Economy that’s here to stay, or is this just a “hiccup” that’s going to return to the way things were when we “recover” in coming months?

Is what’s happening now solely a matter of economic circumstances, or has what’s happened in the past three years created a change in people’s beliefs, thinking and feelings that has a much wider implication for how to be successful in business today and into the future?

What’s the best way to win at business in 2010 and beyond?

Please leave your thoughts, opinions and stories here for me and others to benefit from!

Jay Aaron Strategic
Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

Each day I read the thrice daily e-mails I receive from Peter Shankman’s “HARO” (HelpAReporter.com), in which writers, editors, publishers, etc. list topics for which they are seeking expert input.

On January, 5th, 2010, Meryl K. Evans, Senior Newsletter Editor for the Customer ePublisher service InternetViz.com submitted the following question posed by one of their readers”

“I’m pushing my sales team to add Social Media to its repertoire. We started with Twitter and tried to train the sales staff; however, they aren’t taking it seriously. They continue to use the hard-sell approach.

“I don’t think they understand how to use Twitter and LinkedIn to build relationships.

“Should we expect the sales team to use these tools, or should marketing maintain them and pass on leads to sales?”

Little Boxes

In many ways, our lives revolve around our skill as humans to categorize.

For the purpose of creating distinctions and being able to agree upon what we’re communicating about, categorizations are exceptional tools. But categories, by definition, are also limited and limiting. That’s their value, and their curse.

We (meaning men, mostly) have categorized the world’s historical timeline into various “Ages” to discern our relationship to technology and commerce. We’ve defined, for example, the Iron Age and The Bronze Age.

The most recent Age that has “stuck” in terms of people’s agreement of the categorization is the “Information Age.” We’re certainly beyond the Information Age, which because of being defined by easy access to information, has transformed (especially because of the Internet) into the “information overload” age. Myriad pundits and experts are attempting to create labels for the “Age” that we’re now in, and although some of these have merit, none have really “stuck,” in part because the categorizations are, by definition, more limited than the totality of people’s experience today.

The Relationship Age

I’m a bit of a rebel, so I’ve always contended that describing Earth’s timeline exclusively by definitions manufactured by (mostly) white males is inadequate and far too limited. There are many other perspectives by people of different culture; especially by women; and from different perspectives than technology and commerce, that would describe the world’s evolution – and certainly that of humans – in different terms.

Having written that, I’m not arguing the value of categorizations such as the “Iron Age” or the “Bronze Age.” They’re accurate from their own perspective, and are useful tools in terms of understanding and communicating.

Nonetheless, I believe that in addition to these categorizations, that there is one “Age” that has transcended – and continues to transcend – them all:

“The “Relationship” Age

Even before humans, there have been relationships. Relationships between the Earth and its non-human plant and animal inhabitants. Relationships between those creatures and the environments in which they lived, and live.

Humans have many relationships, generic and specific. Each of us has a relationship to our own self – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We all have a relationship to others humans. And as a very large class, we have a relationship to the world – even the universe – in which we live.

Breaking it down even further, we have familial relationships, business relationships, friendships. We have a relationship to our pets, and to wild animals. We have relationships to the food we eat, and to wildlife. We have relationships in our own geographic community, and to others beyond our geographic “borders.” The list is boundless, of course.

So I contend…

Everything is about relationships. Everything IS relationship.

The Trap We Laid

The trap we laid that continues to influence our perceptions, our actions, and our outcomes, emanates from the misperception that only some things are about relationship. Which leads to people asking questions such as:

“Should we expect the sales team to use [Social Media] tools, or should marketing maintain them and pass on leads to sales?”

Not everything in business involves direct person-to-person INTERACTION. For example, a graphic designer working on her computer to design a print ad may not be responsible for talking directly to customers to do her job. But that ad – and her role and what she designs – is intimately influenced by relationships. Between the ad content and people who view it. Between prospects or customers and the company represented in the ad. Between people who talk to each other about the ad, about the product it’s promoting, and about the company who sells the product, and the company that makes the ad.

Even the people responsible for marketing may have no direct interaction with people outside the company.

When it comes to sales, however, that is the ONE area in business in which it is most clear that “relationship” is THE most powerful, most influential factor in a prospects or customer’s decision to purchase or not.

People buy from people they know, like and trust. It’s really that simple.

Although it may be difficult to imagine, prospects and customers treat a company – a non-human entity – as if it was a person. Indeed, corporations are legally defined as a “legal person.” So people want to come to know, like and trust a company (via it’s brand and its market positioning) in the same way that they want that of an individual human.

So both as a company and as guidance to all the individuals in it, be knowledgeable and genuine in your interest to serve and your desire to have your customer, client, patient or attendee receive great benefit from what you sell them. Offer high-quality products and services that meet their needs and fulfill their desires. Be respectful in your communications and your interactions.

The Only Thing That Makes a Difference in Sales: Relationship

And, of course, prospects and customers want to know, like and trust the individual(s) with whom they interact in the company – especially the sales and customer service people.

So for all the valuable and effective sales strategies, tools, techniques, tips and tricks that you can learn and employ, all of them are related to the same CORE PRINCIPLE:

The only thing that makes a difference in sales is RELATIONSHIP.

Relationship is the deciding factor in whether or not someone decides to make a purchase, and how long they take to make that decision. It’s the basis for ongoing customer satisfaction and future sales. It’s the basis for what your customers say about your company and your products when they talk about you to others. It’s the basis for what the media reports about you.

So of all the people / roles in a business, the two job categories that MUST learn to use ALL of the tools available to them that help to develop, maintain and deepen relationships are the members of the sales staff and the customer service staff.

I’m not arguing the fact that “hard” sales tactics can produce a sale now and again. But they don’t create a satisfying relationship to the customer, and a “hard” sale that sticks (without a return and refund request) has a low likelihood of turning into future purchases by that customer.

Stop Trying to Convince People Who Don’t Want to Be Convinced

One of my favorite pithy statement is by author Robert Heinlein:

“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”

Trying to convince a “hard sale” salesperson to learn how to use the tools of Social Media – including Twitter – is very likely much like trying to convince a pig to sing. If a salesperson or marketer doesn’t recognize the value of Twitter or any Social Media tool to making the sale, s/he has very little motivation to learn to use those tools. If s/he has the perception that Twitter is “just a waste of time,” then it’s not likely that their perceptions will be easily changed.

(This written by someone who has created a training designed specifically to help entrepreneurs and small business owners and managers use Twitter as a highly effective business tool out of my belier that every business NEEDS to use the tools of Social Media to be successful in this day and age.)

A business owner or manager in the position of the person who posed the question that prompted this article is caught in the midst of significant change. The way – and the day – of the “hard sell” marketer and sales person is rapidly on the wane. Those who want to win in the game of business moving forward must acknowledge and embrace the increasing importance and the power of relationships in the marketing, sales, and customer service process. Those who refuse to embrace Social Media tools in the sales, marketing and service processes will be quickly eclipsed by those who do.

While it’s certainly appropriate to invite people in your company who are invested in their current way of doing things to learn about new strategies and tools, counting on them to do so is a fool’s quest, and requiring them to do so  will likely only result in disgruntled employees.

But NOT incorporating Social Media into your business is even more risky. So while it behooves YOU to learn to use these tools yourself, it may also make sense to bring one or more people on-board (either in-house, or as an independent contractor) who already believes in the value of Social Media tools and is already invested in the “relationship” approach to marketing, sales and service. Perhaps as an addition to – or even as a replacement for – those who don’t.

Social Media, or Die

We’ve entered a new age, and a new age for business.

Entrepreneurs and businesses that adapt and come up to speed stand the greatest chance of success. Those that don’t stand an even greater chance of failure.

Your customers are already using Social Media, and they’re talking about you. Your competitors are already using Social Media, talking to your prospects and past and existing customers. You and your business need to be there too, to be proactive in the conversation, and there to defend yourself when the need arises. You need to let people know that you’re out there, that you’re competent, and that you care.

Do this, and you’ll increase your chance of success. Don’t, and your business could go the way of the dinosaurs.

What Do You Think?

IS having a Social Media presence an essential aspect of entrepreneurial and business success these days? Do you have stories of success and failures using Social Media, and/or advice for how to use it successfully?

I’d like to know, and so would others. Please share your stories, questions and comments here.

Jay Aaron Strategic
Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

Marketing Changes Perceptions. ___ Changes Behavior.

In the article entitled “Marketing Success, Part 1” that I published on December 9, 2009, I wrote that “Marketing is anything you do designed to let people know what products, services and/or events your business has to offer, in an attempt to convince (not just encourage) them to buy from you.”

In that article, I revealed that “marketing changes perceptions,” and as such, is essential to business success, but insufficient on its own. To be successful, you need to add another element to marketing – one that’s specifically directed at catalyzing people’s actions.

What is it?

My mentor Alex Mandossian’s take on this is that “Marketing changes minds. Promotion changes behavior.”

The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines “promotion” as “…the furtherance of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising, publicity, or discounting.”

And in that sense, “promotion” certainly does affect the final outcome of marketing – the sale.

Influence Changes Behavior

Merriam Webster defines “influence” as “the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.” The Random House dictionary defines “influence” as a noun as “the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of another or others”; and as a verb as “to move or impel (a person) to some action”.

So I’ve modified Alex’s words, to make them my own:

“Marketing changes PERCEPTIONS. INFLUENCE changes behavior.”

Influence: The Noun

You want someone to buy something from you – a product or service; or perhaps to pay an admission fee to an online or offline event.

Time and again I repeat that in this day and age if you expect to win at the game of business, you must give people plenty of opportunity to come to know you, then like you (and eventually love you) and constantly deepen their trust in you. This applies to your business and the people in it, which certainly means you, if you are an entrepreneur or small business owner or manager who has a “public face” associated with your business.

People WANT to be influenced. They WANT to feel like they’ve had help making decisions – especially difficult ones, or ones that involve money. That doesn’t mean that they don’t want to have a sense of independence and feel as if in the end their decision is their own. But they want assurance and reassurance, and there’s certainly no harm in your giving it to them, as long as you do so legally, ethically and morally.

How much people know about you and your business, how much they like you, and how much they trust that you are knowledgeable and that you have their best interest in mind and at heart has a direct bearing on your “influence quotient” – the amount of influence they are willing to allow you to have in their decision-making process.

Do everything in your power to build your “influence capital” with your prospects and customers, and use it wisely.

Influence: The Verb

To win at the game of business, you must offer products, services and/or events that you, personally believe in. That you believe add value to people’s lives. That you believe helps them to solve a problem or avoid, relieve or eliminate a pain. That you have evidence that your customers place a higher perceived value on than the dollar amount they pay you.

Because you offer something of such  great value and benefit, it’s imperative that you employ every legal, ethical and moral means you can to actively influence others to buy from you. If you don’t, you’re denying people the value and the benefits they’d otherwise receive by having what you offer. If you don’t actively and adequately market, promote and influence, you’re doing a dis-service to yourself, your business, and to your prospects and customers.

Influencing someone to take an action is the direct opposite of forcing them, or getting them to buy something by devious means. It’s helping people to make a decision that they’ll be happy and proud to have made, because it meets a need, fulfills a desire, and brings them great satisfaction.

Always Have a “Call to Action”

Influence (the verb) means that you must be willing to ask – or tell – people to take action that will put them on the path to receiving the benefits that they’re wanting to receive – the benefits you’re offering to them.

Informing, inspiring and motivating are important, but on their own, insufficient. With each contact with a prospect, existing customer or past customer, you must have a single, specific “call to action,” letting them know exactly what to do in order to receive something of great value in return.

Which means that you must have something ready to offer each individual or each audience with whom you come into contact, in the event that they will benefit. And a way for them to take action to receive it.

On your Web site, you can offer a free “white paper,” special report, audio or video with useful information, with your call to action being that visitors must subscribe to your e-mail newsletter. If you have a storefront, you can offer something special only on location, with your call to action being to tell people to visit your store. If you’re a presenter, at your presentations you can place a copy of your book or your audio CD in which there is one or more calls to action on each attendee’s chair , or you can offer to give attendees a gift with your call to action being that they must give you their business card.

Far too many sales are lost simply because the marketer or sales person doesn’t ask for the sale. Be careful to not be someone who falls into that category.

Learn to Influence With Integrity

I believe that learning how to influence with integrity is the second essential element of success in addition to marketing. Successfully utilizing the principles, strategies, techniques and tools of influencing with integrity takes learning from people who have this orientation toward influence, and then implementing and practicing what you learn.

Here are my suggestions for where to start, with two of my favorite books and one of my favorite audio books on the subject of “influence”:

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
“Making Marketing Work” audio book by Dave Lakhani

What Are Your Thoughts?

Alex Mandossian says: “Marketing changes minds. Promotion changes behavior.” I say: “Marketing changes perceptions. Influence changes behavior.” What do you say?

Is marketing enough? If not, what turns marketing into sales?

Do you have an opinion on any of the three books I’ve recommended, or recommendations of your own?

Let me and others know what you think and feel, and learn from your disasters and your triumphs. I look forward to reading your comments!

Jay Aaron Strategic
Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

© Camella Fernando.

In our culture, it’s a common idea to consider making one or more “New Year’s Resolutions.” People resolve – that is, (according to the Merriam Webster dictionary) they “make a firm decision” – to change something, to do something, or to not do something.

But how “firm” are people’s “firm decisions”?

The Power of Words and Their Meanings

I’ve often heard it said that the native Inuit Eskimo people have 18 or more words for snow. (Dr. Stuart Savory lists 18 here.). Of what importance is this in a discussion about New Year’s resolutions? It speaks to the power of discernment – the ability to make meaningful distinctions.

Resolutions

At the beginning of this article, I posed the question: How “firm” are people’s “firm decisions”?

The answer, of course, is that it differs from individual to individual.

A “firm decision” without a strategy to implement it and a support structure to ensure that it happens may be a decision, but has no firm foundation. So while the person making a resolution may, indeed, have good intent, the likelihood of keeping or accomplishing it is greatly diminished.

So I’m not a fan of using the word “resolution,” because it doesn’t have the power of fulfillment built into it.

Intentions

Similarly, I’m not a fan of using the word “intention” when it comes to being desirous of achieving a specific, measurable result.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines an intention as “a determination to act in a certain way.”

As with making a “firm decision,” the strength of each person’s “determination” determines how far s/he gets towards achieving her/his desired outcome.

I’ve “intended” – thought or felt that it might be a good idea; hoped; or dreamed – many wonderful things in my life. Just yesterday I intended to take the garbage out. But I got caught up in other activities, and no amount of my “intention” got that garbage into the pick-up bin. “Intentions” that aren’t coupled with action are just “good ideas” without any real-world results.

Marcia Wieder, “America’s Dream Coach” writes that “A working definition for intention is: “to have in mind a purpose or plan, to direct the mind, to aim.” She goes on to say: “Lacking intention, we sometimes stray without meaning or direction.”, with which I agree.

Marcia goes on to write: “But with [intention], all the forces of the universe can align to make even the most impossible, possible.” If only it was that easy. Just “set an intention” and poof, you get your wish – or at least anything becomes more possible than if you don’t set an intention.

Dr. Wayne Dyer titled a book and his PBS television special “The Power of Intention.” In it, he redefines “intention” (in the spirit of Carlos Castenada) as “something that I connect to” as opposed to “something that I do.” In this sense, one can’t “have” an intention, or “set” one – you can only “tap into” some non-specific, invisible force that already has your best interest and outcome in mind.

I DO, indeed, believe that there are forces in the universe into which we can tap and that expand our personal potential. But I don’t feel that using a word that means one thing to describe another makes it any easier to have the kind of discernment that allows people to get the powerful results they seek. If your unconscious is relating to “intention” as something you wish for or declare or must do, it will take a lot for your conscious mind to overcome that definition even if  you have the best of intentions to think of “intention” as a force you connect with.

Commitments

Of all of the possible words associated with future outcomes – whether of our own making by our own efforts or brought into being as a result of aligning ourselves with other universal forces – the only one that I feel has the greatest meaning is “commitment.”

The Random House dictionary defines “commitment” as “a pledge or promise; obligation.”

When you promise, when you make a pledge to yourself; when you obligate yourself, you form an unbreakable pact to bring to fulfillment what you have declared.

When you commit, you’re indicating that you’re willing to be unstoppable in your quest. You’re saying, in essence, that you’ll do whatever it takes (legally, morally and ethically, of course) to keep your word and fulfill your obligation. You’re indicating that you’re going to make a way, find a way, or be shown a way to get from where you are to what you have committed to.

Although the only person you can make a commitment to is yourself, when two or more people declare their commitments to one another, this shared, mutual commitment helps to increase the likelihood of the desired outcome. Likewise, you can declare to others a personal commitment you’ve made to yourself, as a a way to ask them to help you hold yourself accountable to keeping your word.

Do These Distinctions Matter?

I’ve observed that the distinctions you make have power in your life. And that the more discernment you have, the more precise your understandings and your outcomes.

So for me, the distinctions between resolutions, intentions and commitments are clear, and powerful.

For that reason, I choose my words all too carefully. When I don’t want to be held accountable (to myself, or to others) for a specific outcome, and want to have the greatest flexibility, I indicate that I “intend” to do something. I don’t make resolutions of any sort, or at any time. I find them unnecessary, because when I wish to hold myself fully accountable – and have others do the same – I make a full-on commitment.

Perhaps I’m nitpicking. But I’ve noticed time and again that the words you use and the unconscious meaning you place on them has a direct relationship to how you perceive and relate to the world, and yourself and others in it.

I encourage you to consider this, and examine the words you use, and the conscious AND sub-conscious meanings you place on them, to determine what distinctions you feel are important. Then begin using your words more carefully, in harmony with what you truly desire to communicate to yourself and to others.

What Do You Think?

I love how controversial this topic seems to be when I bring it up. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill, and making this out to be more important and influential than it really is?

Do you have an experience of having someone give you the impression (by what s/he said) that something was going to happen, only to discover that they meant something different than you perceived? Have you ever tried to hold someone accountable for their “intention” only to find out that they ONLY intended to do something, and never really had any true desire to do what they indicated they intended?

Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution or “set an intention,” only to find that it didn’t work out the way your desired – but you weren’t sure what went wrong, because you were so resolved or had the best of intentions?

Please let me know what you think and feel about the meaning of these words, and the value of these distinctions by leaving your comment. I look forward to reading them!

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2010 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

Branding and Positioning

“Branding” and “Positioning are two current “hot topics,” and two important concepts with regards to business success.

“Branding” refers to the distinguishing name and/or symbol associated with a company or product, and a clear recognition of the market that the business/product serves. The most desirable outcome of branding is that people immediately recognize your company name or logo along with what products/services/events your company offers.

“Positioning” refers to the process of attempting to create a positive image or identity about you, your company, and/or your products/services/events in the perceptions of your target market. The most desirable outcome of positioning is that others perceive you as  the top expert / recognized authority in your field, your company as the premiere company in your industry or niche, and your products/services/events as the cream of the crop.

You and Your Company. Which to Brand? Which to Position?

There’s a lot of discussion amongst marketing experts these days about branding and positioning as related to people, specifically.

Many “experts” tout the importance of “branding” one’s self – pointing to examples such as “Charles Schwab,” and noting that “people buy from people; not companies”

I beg to differ.

If you want athletic footwear, you buy a company brand. You don’t visit somebody’s personal Web site to purchase your Nikes or your Adidas or your Reeboks. You visit a company manufacturer or shoe store Web site, or go to a store with a company name on the sign outside.

Sure, you have a salesperson and you pay a real person behind the cash register, but their names don’t matter, any more than you care about who the Founder or President of Nike is.

And when I visit a Charles Schwab brokerage office, I don’t expect to meet with Mr. Schwab, personally. First, he’s dead. Second, he died bankrupt, having lived on borrowed money for the last five years of his life. I’d like to think that one of the “nameless” advisors in the brokerage firm that bears his name today would not send me down the same path as its Founder.

Brand Your Company

There are two significant downsides to branding yourself and your name:

1. When you build a strong business, you become so tied to it that others will not buy it; or its purchase price diminishes significantly in anticipation of what will occur when you are no longer at the head; or a purchaser demands that you, personally, come along with the sale, to ensure continued success (in which case, why bother selling?).

2. When you die, your if your business is dependent on you being alive, your business dies along with you.

Because of these considerations, I believe the best business practice is to name a business in such a way that it is clearly tied to what it does (think “SoCal Small Business Consulting Group”) or so unspecific that it gives great freedom to what directions the company takes (think Nike, Adidas and Reebok – words which have no meaning but are now clearly recognizable brands).

Build your company around systems that function to generate profits regardless of who’s implementing those systems. Then you can lead or participate in such a way that your presence makes a positive difference – especially at first – but is NOT critical to its success.

Don’t tie yourself so closely to your company that it cannot function, that it decreases in value, or even that it becomes worthless if you are not there. Allow it to grow in such a way that it can be sold (if ever you choose) and so that it – and your legacy – will live on long after you, continuing to do great service and generate profits for whatever (or whomever) you wish to follow you.

Position Yourself

A quality company can be built around you, even if you are “invisible” to the general public.

But there IS worth in establishing a “public face” to a business, and that face CAN be yours if you choose.

If you wish, position yourself as someone that people – prospects and customers – can come to know, like – and then even love – and trust. Position yourself as an expert – highly competent to serve the needs and desires of your market. Position yourself as a genuine person, who authentically cares about what your business offers and stands for, and the people who benefit by it.

Let people know that you are connected to your company in such a way that they can be sure that your company reflects your expertise, experience, wisdom and caring, but also that they can expect and trust that they’ll receive the same quality and service regardless of whether they get it from you or someone else in your company.

An Example of Branding and Positioning

Merle Singer is now in the 43rd year of her marriage to the same man, and their relationship continues to improve every day. Her experience alone makes her an expert about how to create and manage a high-quality, long-term, loving relationship. As a trained educator, Merle is also uniquely qualified to translate her own experience into systems that others can easily implement to improve their relationships, too.

Merle is building a business around her desire to serve women who are in committed relationships by helping them turn their relationship experiences around, or make them better.

Merle is building a BRAND around the public showcase of her company: ImperfectSpouse.com That Web site is being created as the central portal to all of the products, services, trainings, certifications, workshops, and other events that will eventually be part of the Imperfect Spouse (TM) brand. And although Merle is planning on being part of that company for quite a while, all of the company is being created in such a way that in the event that she desires to sell it, or to tune down her personal involvement, or even if she dies, that women will continue to be able to benefit by her wisdom, and the company will live on and continue to profit,  well into the future.

In addition, Merle is POSITIONING herself as “The Relationship Miracle Worker to Celebrities.” This is truly in harmony with her expertise and her primary audience of personal coaching clients, and as such, her involvement with ImperfectSpouse.com makes her a valuable asset to the company. But it does not make her necessary to the company, which can – and will – function without her. And it doesn’t make the company necessary to her, since she can act in her capacity as “The Relationship Miracle Worker to Celebrities” whether or not she’s part of ImperfectSpouse.com, or even if that company ceases to exist.

Are There Exceptions?

When long ago I began pondering this issue of what to brand and what to position, I thought that there might be an exception to this – one or more groups of individuals who should both brand AND position THEMSELVES, both.

Originally, I imagined that such exceptions would be authors, writers, speakers, musicians, models, actors, and other performers, whose names appear to be their “brand.”

But I held this opinion only as long as it took for me to realize that many actors use “stage names,” many authors and writers use “pen names,” many musicians – especially rock musicians – use “stage names,” and many models also make up names for themselves.

So while I agree that the name “John Denver” IS a business asset and a GREAT brand because of the image it conjures up in the minds of those who know his music, it’s also a great reminder that it wasn’t necessary for John to “brand” himself by his birth name – Henry John Deutschendorf. But it WAS necessary for him to position himself as the voice of a generation of people who cared about the world around them and wanted to hear their message expressed in poetry and song – and John and his management and advisory teams did a phenomenal job of positioning him and his music in this way.

And in addition to his music, John Denver’s legacy lives on through The Windstar Foundation – a non-profit organization that promotes a holistic approach to addressing environmental concerns – which he co-founded with Tom Crum, Founder of Aiki Works, Inc. John was the public “face” of that organization, which was set up in a way that did not make it’s success so tied to John’s name or participation that it could not continue without him, or beyond his death.

Although a topic for another article, I strongly believe that each individual artist, actor, writer, model or anyone else whose career appears to be tied to his or her own person would benefit by considering setting up a company (e.g. corporation, llc, trust, etc., but not a “d.b.a.,” according to his or her needs and legal advice) into which his or her intangible assets (copyrights, trade marks, service marks, etc.) are placed, so that that “behind the scenes” company can manage those assets while that person is living, and continue to manage and profit from them after his/her death.

Brand Your Company. Position Yourself.

Business success depends, in great part, about what strategies you employ.

While it’s possible to “brand” yourself, and while it can be argued that there may be benefits (especially short-term benefits) to doing so, I believe that there is great benefit to considering branding your company instead – while, of course, positioning it as the leading company in your industry, niche, or geographic area – and focusing on positioning yourself as a qualified leader and/or a recognized authority.

By doing so, as long as you properly set up systems that function independent of who’s implementing them, you ensure that your company can always function and exist without you, and that you can use your expertise to your and other’s benefit independent of your company, or what happens to it.

What’s Your Opinion?

What do you think? Do you believe that it’s important to brand one’s self?

Do you have a story of business success or obstacles associated with self-branding?

Do you have any advice about branding and positioning that can help other entrepreneurs and small business owner or manager.

I’d like to know your thoughts on this subject. Please leave a comment here.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2009 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

The end of the calendar year is always a good time to do a little reflection and a little looking ahead. (Heck, any time is, but this is a time that seems to bring that out in us a bit more.)

Among the things we think about is “giving.” There are several holidays that occur at this time of year (Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, to name a few), all of which revolve around the concept of giving.

The Rewards of Giving

Not everything is about business, and not everything is about money.

People who live a balanced life know that their life is enriched by both “giving” and “giving back” – whether that be giving charitably financially and/or volunteering their time and expertise to whatever cause they feel most worthy. The “return on giving” comes in the form of emotional rewards, an uplifted spirit, relationships formed, a sense of satisfaction in the outcome, and more.

Business is Commerce

But if you’re in business, the transaction that you’re looking for is customer satisfaction on the one end and profit (not just income) to you on the other.

I like to have entrepreneurs and business owners or managers consider that the most satisfying transaction – whether it involves a trade of energy, time, goods, services or money – is one in which both (or all) parties feel that they got the best end of the deal. That means that your customer feels that s/he paid less for the value s/he places on what s/he received than s/he feels it’s worth to her/him, and you feel like you profited well, both financially AND vis-a-vis the relationship you have with that customer after the sale.

Giving as Marketing

In terms of business, I define “giving” as both giving something for free, and as giving something unexpected and/or out of the ordinary.

How many times can you be reminded that the “relationship timeline” that you must be aware of is that first your prospects must come to know you, then you must give them cause to like – and eventually love – you, until over time and in degrees they learn to trust you more and more?

Customers prefer to patronize – and then become loyal to – vendors who are generous. Not those who are “generous to a fault” or who “give away the store,” because how can you trust someone in business who doesn’t act as if they’re in business to make a reasonable profit? By generous, I mean generous in ways that add great perceived value to the customer without detracting from your bottom line.

Information as Positioning and Incentive

The easiest way that I know for any business – whether online or “brick-and-mortar, and regardless of the industry, products or services – to be generous is with information, with their expertise and experience.

I believe that offering free information is the easiest, fastest and least expensive means of marketing. You can use information to entice new customers, to incentivize prior and existing customers to do more business with you, and to help position you as “THE go-to” source for your products, services and/or events in your industry and/or your geographic area.

Examples of Free Information That Enhances Business Success

For whatever reason, I like to use dry cleaners as an oft-cited example. Perhaps because dry cleaners are in a highly competitive business that’s also (in general) geographically limited, and is often considered a “luxury” service, in that for the most part, most people can live their lives just fine without ever going to a dry cleaner. All in all, that adds up to the “worst-case-scenario” for me in terms of how difficult it might be to succeed.. Worst case – but not by any means insurmountable. Some dry cleaning businesses are highly profitable.

So how could a dry cleaner be generous in a way that ATTRACTS business rather than costs business? Here are two examples:

1. Publish a guide to helping people care for their clothes, carpets, draperies and other dry cleanable items so that readers can save money and time and/or even “do it themselves.”

The “call to action” in such a guide is to turn to its publisher (the dry cleaner) at times when someone MUST use dry cleaning to deal with problems that can’t be easily solved by someone on his or her own.

This “free” guide can be “given away” as a printed pamphlet or on a digital computer disk at the dry cleaners and/or at other locations willing to give it out, and/or as a downloadable file on the company’s Web site.

2. Hold a monthly “teleseminar” during which the owner, manager or other employee of the dry cleaner discusses ways to save time and money, avoid using dry cleaning services, and/or answering questions submitted either before and/or during the live call. This call can be recorded and made available for replay on the company Web site and/or as a digital audio file on a computer disc or even an audio CD.

As with the downloadable or printed “guide,” the call to action during these teleseminars is to call on the dry cleaner when it’s necessary.

When possible, the “cost” for obtaining a downloadable or print report or attending a teleseminar or listening to the recording could be obtaining the prospect’s or customer’s contact info – first name and e-mail at the very least; full name, phone, fax and physical address where possible and appropriate.

Won’t This Cost Me Business?

At first glance, it might appear contrary to a dry cleaner’s purpose to teach people how to AVOID using them by taking better care of their clothes, drapes, rugs, etc. and handling problems on their own.

But this kind of information provides two significant marketing benefits:

2. It sets up the dry cleaning company and it’s owner, manager or employee as being people who care about YOU – who care that you save time and money, and don’t feel like you’re “held hostage” by your lack of knowledge or skills. It sets them up as the kind of people and business you want to do business with because you LIKE them and TRUST that they have your best interests in mind.

1. It sets up the dry cleaning company and it’s owner, manager or employee as being highly knowledgeable and highly competent . It sets them up as the kind of people and business you want to do business with because you KNOW and TRUST (have confidence) in their ability to handle your problems and deal with you professionally.

Give More!

These two simple examples of “free” information products are just the tip of the iceberg of what you can offer free to your prospects and customers.

You can offer free samples, if you’re in a business that would benefit by that. You can offer a free “qualifying” consultation. You get the idea.

Think of – and implement – anything reasonable that  you can offer for free. Brad Fallon, CEO of Free IQ, calls this “moving the free line: – giving more value, for free, as an important part of your business success. You can watch his video about this topic below. In it, he focuses primarily on Internet Marketing, but you can easily transfer this concept your offline business as well.

And remember, great customer service doesn’t cost anything more than lousy customer service. Make being committed to offering truly outstanding customer service – before and after the sale – a high priority on your “free” bucket.

What Do You Think?

Do you agree that providing prospects and customers with more for free adds dollars to your bottom-line profits?

What ideas do you have for implementing this concept in your business?

How have you used “free” in your business, and what results have you achieved?

I look forward to reading your feedback! Leave it here as a comment, of course.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2009 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.

In a prior post, I wrote about claiming a blog on Technorati. I “claimed” this Business Marketing Success Strategy Blog on November 24, 2009 and followed the procedure for having Technorati verify that the blog existed and was “owned” by the submitter. Technorati “found” it posthaste. But it’s now December 22nd, 2009, nearly a month later, and Technorati has yet to return to further verify this blog and add it to their directory.

Since writing about the importance of submitting your blog to Technorati, I’ve received a couple comments from others who, like myself, have submitted their blogs but have not yet been confirmed/listed in Technorati’s directory.

Here’s the most recent comment. (Thanks, Ephman!):

“That’s so funny! My blog was “claimed” on November 25th 2009. Still nothing.
Not holding out much hope…. But do you REALLY need Technorati anyhow?

And my reply:

Do You REALLY Need Technorati?

One simple answer would be: “No.”

There are so many blog directories now, and so many ways to ensure that people can find your blog, that focusing on whether Technorati lists your blog or not would not be productive.

Use Multiple Web Site / Blog Promotion and Traffic-Generation Strategies

Here are some other ways to get your blog noticed and visited:

Use “organic” SEO (search-engine optimization) by focusing on keyword-rich posts, with a keyword-rich sentence or two at the beginning, and a repeat of the primary keywords for that post used about two more times – once in the middle and once near the end.

Install and use the “All-In-One SEO” plugin or any other effective SEO plugin for Wordpress if you’re using a Wordpress platform.

Set your blog for automatic pinging, and ping it from Ping-O-Matic now and again, to ensure that your blog is listed in other major (and even minor) blog directories.

Use opt-in pages (to generate subscribers for your e-mail list) at other domain URLs that lead back to your blog.

Post audios with link mentions of your blog URL to iTunes and podcast directories.

Post videos with link mentions of your blog URL displayed at the beginning and end of the video (and spoken in the audio portion of your video, if appropriate) to YouTube and other video directories.

Submit articles with your blog link in your author bio to article directories such as EzineArticles.com

Write guest posts on other bloggers’ Web sites/blogs with a link back to your site in your author bio.

Invite other bloggers to write guest posts for you on your blog, with their URL in their bio. They’ll mention their article on your site on their blog, which will result in traffic from their site back to yours.

Diversify Your Promotional Strategies

Any blogger who becomes too dependent on only one means of promoting and “driving traffic” to your blog will simply not do as well as you can at that, and will not do as well as other bloggers who use a variety of promotional and visitor traffic-generation strategies.

When you use multiple means of generating awareness about and visitor traffic to your site, you needn’t concern yourself about whether just ONE of these – e.g. a listing on Technorati – is in place.

Should You Submit Your Blog to Technorati? Definitively: Yes!

Still, the answer to your question about the importance of being listed on Technorati is also: “Yes.”

Although it’s best to use a variety of promotional and traffic generation strategies and techniques to help people who are interested in your topic find and visit your blog, Technorati remains one of the most visited and most well-organized blog directories.

So although it may take a long time for Technorati to “verify” your blog – and there’s a possibility that they may, unfortunately, NEVER get around to yours – it’s vital to submit it to them for consideration anyway.

Because if you don’t need them (because you’re also doing other promotion), then your blog shouldn’t suffer too much if Technorati doesn’t list you. But if they DO list you, then you’ve got yet another means by which your blog and blog posts will be more easily found by potential readers.

Summary

Submit your blog to Technorati for consideration to be listed in their blog directory service.

But don’t “put all your eggs in one basket.”

Use as many promotional and traffic-generation strategies as you can, so that whether Technorati lists you or not, or whether any one of them does less well than you hope, then you have other means by which people are finding – and ultimately visiting and reading – your blog.

BONUS: Use Metrics to Become More Efficient and Effective

ALWAYS Measure. Everything you do. In this case, measure where your visitor traffic is coming from to your Web site / blog.

Make sure to have Google Analytics or some other reliable visitor tracking analysis capabilities on your Web site that can show you where visitors are coming from when they arrive at your site.

The 80/20 Rule ROCKS!

After you’ve used a variety of traffic generation strategies consistently for a while, patterns (discerned from your site visitor traffic analysis) begin to emerge about which of your strategies is most effective at bringing visitors to your site.

It’s likely that at some point you may discover that 80% of your visitors are coming from 20% of your promotional efforts.

When you know the 20% of your promotional strategies that are working the best for you and your audience, shift 80% of your attention to them – doing them more often and tweaking how well you use them.

That will leave you with only 20% of your promotional time to put your attention on the remaining 80% of the less effective strategies that you started with. Eliminate or improve your ability to use the ones that are generating no interest in or visitors to your blog. Then do just enough of the rest to maintain some consistency, because you never know. At some point, one person who’s visit might prove highly valuable might find you through one of those means.

That shift – becoming more efficient and more effective – can result in a multiplier effect on your visitor count to your site.

Measure. Evaluate. Respond. It’s really that simple.

What Do You Think?

Do you really need Technorati?

Should you submit to it anyway, if you don’t really “need” it?

Do you have any experience with effective and efficient ways of getting your blog noticed and visited? Any of the ones I’ve written about here? Any others?

Please leave your comments.

I look forward to your feedback and to learning of your promotional and visitor traffic-generating stories and successes.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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All contents of this article are International Copyright 2009 Jay Aaron. All International Rights reserved. Like the content? Please link to it here at this Web site. Please contact the author through this Web site to request permission to reprint it elsewhere.