Services That You Might Want To Solicit If You Want To Boost Your Business

Every single successful business – and business person – got to where they were through sheer hard work, diligence, and the right mindset. You cannot get anywhere in this life without putting in the effort and getting into a killer, winning mentality. Being a soft individual who doesn’t want to put the hours in will not land you anywhere special, unfortunately. Those born into wealth stay there because they put in the hours. Those born into wealth who lose all of the money they have did so because they were too lazy to keep hold of what they had. If you want to make money, you need to do the hard yards.

It’s not all down to you and your own physical capabilities, though. You need to exercise your hard work by getting in touch with others who know more than you do. You need to work hard alongside people that know what they’re talking about. Successful people also knew their limits. You can have a full marketing plan, the right product, and an amazing setup, but you’ll also need a group behind you and the right contacts. Certain individuals like Bill Gates and Elon Musk get all the credit for being the face, but their actions included bringing in the right people alongside them as they worked their backsides off. You’ll need to have the right services by your side, too. Here are just a few that you might want to consider as you grow your business: 

Recruitment

As a business grows, the individuals involved in the team become more and more important. Many businesses can get away with hiring people that don’t really suit the company, but the majority need to get the right staff members in. That’s where a recruitment agency can help out. They can vet and test people and ensure they’re the correct fit. Having a good relationship with the right agency can produce lots of talent for decades. 

Lawyers

You never know what might turn around and bite you in the backside in the world of business. One day you could be fine, the next day, you could be hit with a huge lawsuit. Having a good lawyer on your phone can be the difference between making lots of money and losing lots. Good ones cost a little, but they’ll be worth it in the long run.

Digital Marketing Pros

In this day and age, a lot of marketing is done online. Digital marketing is such a huge part of taking a business from good to great, so if you don’t have much of it going on, then you might want to hop aboard. You can learn more here about the kinds of digital marketing firms available, and perhaps they might pique your interest somewhat. 

Security 

Without at least a little security, your business will probably be attacked very easily. You need to make sure you’re guarded digitally and tangibly in order to protect yourself from disasters. Get some managed IT support for your devices, and install CCTV cameras around the place. Those two should be the basics in terms of keeping everything reinforced. 

What Does It Take To Create A Practice That Rocks?

We live in an interesting world. It seems like there is something "out there" in objective reality that is "real" and "tangible." But we can only ever perceive it through the subjective apparatus of our mind. We can never have an objective experience. We don't even know what such a statement means. 

The purpose of this article isn't to probe deep philosophical problems. It's just to point out that perception is much more important than many entrepreneurs believe. How customers feel about a product is usually much more critical than its measurable properties. 

Take the iPhone, for instance. While modern versions are good, there are plenty of more advanced products on the market that use better processors and have more memory. Apple, however, gets around this problem by focusing on customer perceptions, no product realities. It uses its marketing to create a narrative that almost completely ignores the products themselves and simply focuses on how they make people feel.

It's a wise strategy. The real world is still a constraint on what companies can achieve with finite resources. So if Apple can convince people that less expensive and resource-intensive products are better, it can achieve higher margins than its competitors.

So what does it take to create a product that rocks? The answer, in marketing terms, is simple: a good story. 

But how do you get there? Let's take a look. 

Know Yourself

Occasionally, businesses can cook up great products or services and deliver them to the market. But most of the time, the revolutions happen at the grassroots level. People have a problem in their lives, and so they decide to do something about it.  That’s where mediators and arbitrators come in.

Fundamentally, most products and services are organic. Entrepreneurs make things for themselves and then only afterward discover that they have broader market appeal. But the basic requirement is to have an "aha" moment where you know you've got something that can solve real problems in people's lives. 

It helps to have a masters in product development for creating something suitable for modern consumers. But the basic requirement is to have an "aha" moment where you know you've got something that can solve real problems in people's lives.

Use Testing and Surveys As A Form Of Marketing

If you've come up with a great idea, the next step is to start asking clients if they they too think it’s a great idea. Then begin testing it to see whether it works. Most mediators, arbitrators, and attorneys will beaver away behind closed doors to create an idea or something for their clients. But by using this approach, they sometimes miss a trick. 

Testing is actually a chance to find out a little more about what clients like and want. Thus, testing can become a form of marketing. 

Start Small

While including as many bells and whistles as you can seems like a good idea, it adds complexity and wastes time. Furthermore, most of your clients will only want your service for its core benefit. All of the added extras are often unnecessary.

12 Marketing Books That Will Revolutionize Any Business

ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK CONTRIBUTOR

CEO of iSucceed

Legendary management expert Peter Drucker once said, “Business has only two basic functions – marketing and innovation.” With Covid-19 detonating earlier this year, this quote has never taken on more meaning…….

…….. Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins

This is considered one of the greatest marketing books ever written. I was introduced to me by a friend of mine who does copywriting some time ago. He told me he reads it at least once a year. Written in 1923, people might dismiss this book as one of a bygone era. That would be a grave mistake. While social media marketing is all the rage these days, this book is a masterpiece in understanding marketing at its core.

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

Ogilvy worked on a number of campaigns including Rolls Royce, Schweppes and Hathaway Shirts. They are still considered classics today. He stresses the importance of headlines and the power of a USP (unique selling point) throughout all your marketing and ads.

How to Get Everything You Can Out of Everything You’ve Got by Jay Abraham

Jay Abraham is considered the expert when it comes to joint ventures. He also talks about the importance of something he calls the Power Parthenon. He’s a genius at finding numerous ways for companies to boost their bottom-line. You might be able to find some of his high-end seminars on eBay, but his books are really some of the best material you can find from him. This book is definitely a great place to start.

Related: Easy Tips for Building a Powerful Marketing Email List

Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M. Schwartz

It isn’t hard to pick up used marketing books for under $10. Not this book. While it’s available online for free, people still pay over $250 for a used print version. And this masterpiece is worth every penny. Chapter 4 is titled “38 Ways You Can Strengthen Your Headline Once You Have Your Basic Idea.” That should tell you all you need to know about the book.  

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Godin has written some excellent books on marketing including Permission Marketing and The Icarus Effect but this was my personal favorite. In a nutshell, it talks about the importance of constantly working to stand out from all the other cows in the business field. While many companies look to their competitors to shape their advertising, products and services, Godin talks about doing just the opposite.

Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini

One book that marketing legend Dan Kennedy tells his attendees to his workshops to invest in. It breaks marketing down into six principles and uses a number of examples to explain each one and is a surprisingly enjoyable read. It’s also extremely powerful because of the all science and research that Cialdini put into it.

Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk

The newest book on this list, but one that takes an in-depth look at social media marketing and how to best tailor your content to suit each platform. It also includes many success stories of individuals which makes it a great reference book for a variety of industries.

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout

This book was named by Advertising Age the best marketing book of all time. Personally, I would rank a few other books on this list slightly higher, but nevertheless, it deserves a place on your bookshelf. For those who would prefer something lighter, Ries and Trout also wrote The 22 Immutable Laws of Advertising which is an extremely quick read. 

Related: This 28-Hour Bundle Can Teach You Today's Top Digital Marketing Tools

Triggers by Joseph Sugarman

An absolute gem of a book that isn’t talked about enough. In the late 70s and early 80s, Sugarman put on 5-day direct marketing seminars for a small group number of people. Part of his presentation was called Psychological Triggers which many attendees attributed to being not only the most interesting but also the part they most benefited from. This book is a distillation of those 30 triggers.

The Life of P.T. Barnum by P.T. Barnum

Facebook and LinkedIn have taken “personal branding” into the digital age, but P.T. Barnum was the original expert of self-promotion. This book is a fascinating read into how he was able to build, augment and strengthen his public image over half a century at a time before computers.

Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

This was the first book written specifically for entrepreneurs and small business owners in mind. Its concepts focus on being cost-effective and creative in order to gain visibility. It was updated back in 2007 to address using the concepts for our digital age. Whether you’re looking for online or offline ideas for your business, this is one book you’ll want to read.

No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing by Dan S Kennedy and Kim Walsh Phillips

Millionaire-maker Dan S. Kennedy and marketing strategist Kim Walsh Phillips teach effective direct response strategies for social media campaigns that convert to sales instead of likes.

How SEO Improves Your Marketing Efforts

When it comes to marketing, there can be various factors that can influence how successful a campaign might be or for the strategies that you put in place. With that being said, it’s important to look at SEO as one area that can help directly benefit your marketing. Here are some tips on how SEO improves your marketing efforts.

Benefits User Experience

As far as SEO goes, the technical side of improving it can really help to benefit your user experience when it comes to the website. It’s all about how well your business website functions and what the customer or potential customer is seeing when they first come onto the site itself. Does it load quickly, for example? Or is there enough content and information on there for your customers to make the decision to part with their money and spend it on your products or services?

These are all things that can be influenced by improving your SEO in some way, shape, or form. When you’re looking to improve your SEO, it’s good to outsource it if you haven’t got the available resources or manpower. Over here, you’ll find plenty of guidance when it comes to getting the help you need in order to make your search engine optimization better. This in turn, will help improve your marketing efforts when customers start coming onto the site and finding it to be a better user experience. 

Helps You Learn More About Your Customers

SEO can help you learn more about your customers than marketing can do just on its own. With search engine optimization, you can take advantage of the analytics that is collected when it comes to your website. Not only that, but social media platforms collect a lot of data too, and you can use that to help improve your strategies and campaigns moving forward.

Shows You Where To Target Your Promotions

Targeting your promotions in the right places is important, otherwise, it’s just wasted time and money. With SEO, you can help find out where customers are coming from and what it is that’s influencing them to hop onto the website. This can help to remove any promotions that aren’t working or worth the expenditures, and that can then be redirected to more rewarding places. It’s all about finding the right opportunities, and when it comes to advertising, it can certainly be beneficial.

Improves Visibility Of Your Company

Standing out is difficult nowadays, especially with the internet being as big as it is and allowing more people to hog the spotlight. With that being said, you can certainly help your business to improve its visibility as a company by focusing on your SEO efforts. The better your online presence is, the more it influences everything you do as a business going forward. Look at how you can improve visibility through your search engine optimization.

SEO is a great way to help with your marketing so embrace it and if you struggle to achieve it in-house, outsource it.

Common Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

If you are to survive and thrive during this difficult era, mastering marketing is a must. The problem is that a lot of businesses and entrepreneurs are stuck in the old days when it comes to marketing, using strategies that are not effective in 2020. With that being said, in this blog post, we are going to take a look at some of the common marketing mistakes that need to be avoided if you are going to make a big impact throughout the coming year.

Choosing black hat marketing techniques - There is only one place to begin when it comes to common marketing errors, and this is using black hat marketing techniques. This refers to techniques that are pretty much used to cheat the system. Examples include keyword stuffing or incorporating white text so that you can sneak keywords into your website. These sorts of approaches may have worked years ago, but Google is wise to them now. You may experience results in the short-term, but these results won’t last, and you will probably find yourself being penalised by Google, which is the last thing anyone wants when they are trying to gain more traction online.

You are inconsistent - Marketing works well when there is consistency. If you are constantly changing your mind, for example, using different colours and presenting your brand in different ways, this is only going to confuse the audience and it will dilute your brand as a consequence. Furthermore, you need to make sure that there is consistency with regard to your posting schedule as well. If you post a blog post three times in one week, then you disappear for the next week, you are going to struggle to get a following. Instead, it is better to post consistently, i.e. once per week. You can schedule posts to make this easier. The same can be done with your social media accounts as well.

Sticking with one marketing method - The most effective marketing strategies are those that are layered. They incorporate a range of different marketing techniques, which come together to create the perfect vehicle to push the brand forward. Of course, you have SEO. Then you also have PPC, which involves using Google Ads scripts automation for digital marketing. Or, what about social media marketing? Social media is a great tool for engaging with customers and prospective customers. In most cases, using a combination of all of these approaches is going to be best, rather than purely centering in one strategy.

Trying to do everything in-house without the expertise - It can be tempting to handle all of your marketing efforts in-house. After all, it can seem like the cheaper solution. However, if you do not have the necessary experience, this can end up costing you more money in the long run. This is because you will be missing out on opportunities. If you choose a team of marketing experts with care, you can expect a considerable ROI. Therefore, it is important that you look at the value from a monetary sense when you are determining whether it is better to handle marketing in-house or outsource it to a team of professionals. 

You don’t handle negative reviews well - Reviews are a very important part of marketing today, as they represent social proof. If you think about it, you are going to be much more likely to purchase a product if someone unassociated with the company recommends it, right? However, not all reviews are good! No matter how hard you try, you may end up with a customer who is simply never happy. While it can be disappointing and even offensive to read a negative review, it is important to take a moment to breathe and to consider your response. Yes, you should respond! Your efforts to rectify the problem and come to a good solution could turn a disgruntled customer into a loyal one. Even if the customer seems impossible to please, other people will see that you care about your customers, and this will help to boost your brand image in this respect.

So there you have it: an insight into some of the biggest marketing mistakes that people make. If you have noticed any of the errors that have been discussed above, there is no need to panic. However, there is a need to start looking at the changes that you can make to rectify these errors. The sooner you get your marketing efforts back on track, the better

How to Get the Most Out of Your Business Marketing

As a modern business specializing in mediation and/or arbitration, you need to make sure you focus as much as possible on how you are going to market your practice. You need to do as much as possible to make a big difference here, and it is important to have a procedure in place to deal with this. There are a lot of things you can do when it comes to improving this, and trying to develop the best possible marketing process is vital for continued practice success. 

There are a lot of marketing elements that you need to make sure you get right, and this is something that plays a role in this process right now. Try to think about some of the best ways of taking things to the next level in terms of marketing. Make sure you think about what it takes to bring things forward, and there are a lot of ideas that you can use here. 

Plan a Strategy

Planning and executing a business marketing strategy is one of the most important things that you can do, and this is something you need to work on right now. You have to do as much as possible to make the most of this, and having some sort of clear strategy and direction is massively important moving forward. You are going to need to come up with the best ways of marketing your company right now. 

Hire Marketing Experts

Hiring marketing experts is one of the best things you can do to help with this because they will be perfectly placed to improve your marketing strategy. You need to be turning to experts who provide the likes of web design and SEO services in order to help make the most of this right now. It is really important to make sure you think about the ideas you can use here. Marketing experts can be so transformative for your business, and this is something you’re going to need to work on right now moving forward. 

Inbound and Outbound Strategies

You have a lot of things that play a role in helping you with this, and it is important to do as much as you can to have a selection of inbound and outbound marketing techniques. This is something you are going to need to work on as much as possible, and it can help you in a big way. Try to work on doing your best to diversify, and use a mixture of inbound and outbound, online and offline techniques. You will find that this works so well when trying to market your business in such an important way.

Mediators and arbitrators need to have great ways of being able to market and improve their businesses as much as possible. There are a lot of things that play a role in this, and it is vital that you understand what you can do to make the most of your marketing right now. Try to think about some of the best ways of achieving this, and work on doing what you can to get the most out of your business marketing.

How To Start Connecting Your Online And Offline Marketing For Strong Results

Small businesses are drawn irresistibly to digital marketing. For a start, it's a no to low cost platform at a time when funds are stretched. It also allows you to be highly targeted about audience segments you want to connect with and what messages you want to give them. It's highly measurable, so you can see just what your return on investment is. It's scalable, growing easily alongside your company. And it has the potential to connect your business with a vast global audience. 

So there are many compelling reasons to make digital platforms the cornerstone of your small business marketing strategy. 

But if you've never created a considered other forms of marketing, you're missing a trick. The best strategies are multi-channel, seamlessly blending online and offline activities to drive specific conversion goals. 

So if you want to integrate your online and offline marketing efforts to maximize your strategy, where do you begin? 

Include An Online Call To Action In Offline Collateral 

One of the keys to a blended marketing plan is understanding that each channel has it's unique benefits and leveraging those to best effect. So if you had the budget to do a television ad, you'd be best placed to use it as a high-level, awareness raising move. But you could combine it with a call to action that draws people into your website with a special offer. Your website should be full of great and relevant content that hooks people in, or perhaps articles that they want to share on their social media channels. It could also encourage visitors to sign up to an email newsletter for specific information on special offers. In this way, you create a series of actions that draw people deeper into your universe. Each step should aim to extract some kind of data that informs your next series of actions. That way, you build up a much richer view of how and why your audience is choosing to interact with you. 

Incentives - Giveaways And Time Limited Offers

Experts estimate that the average person sees 5,000 adverts a day. That's a huge figure, and it goes a long way to explaining why the conversion rates on some of your digital ads are so low. Studies have found that combining online and offline media leads to a drip-feed effect that makes people more likely to eventually click on your ads. Once you have their attention, what you need is something which makes them want to part with their data - this is the first step towards creating regular communication with them. A giveaway or special offer is a time-honoured technique that can make prospects take that step of handing over their details - which is vital to make sure your marketing is compliant with GDPR legislation. So work with your Facebook ads agency to embed a competition element across your social display ads, or include a special offer targeted at people who have visited your site more than once through re-targeting. 

There are lots more ways to connect the online and offline worlds, so build that thinking into your plans from the start for the best results. 

Marketing Plan And Marketing Strategy - What's The Difference?

Two terms, use interchangeably but really shouldn’t be. Your marketing plan and your marketing strategy are two different parts of your business.

Simply put:

Your marketing strategy is what you need to achieve with your business. This will be tied to your business goals and vision. 

Your marketing plan is how you are going to achieve what is set out on your marketing strategy. 

Both are necessary for you to move forward with your business, and they will work in unison. 

What Does A Marketing Strategy Look Like?

Most of the time it is better for you to work with a company like Your Marketing People in all aspects of your marketing. But even so, it pays for you to understand some of the basics of a marketing strategy. 

You need to identify: 

Goals

What are your business goals, both long and short term? Are there some overall business goals that need to be met? 

Competitors 

Who are you, competitors, what are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What is their market position? You need to know as much as possible about your competitors. 

Target Market

Who are you talking to? If you haven’t nailed what drives the purchase decisions of your target market, then how can you sell to them? 

Positioning Goal

What makes you stand out from your competitors, and why should customers come to you instead. 

You will likely need a situation analysis unless you can answer these questions with ease. These things will help you identify your main strengths, weaknesses and amble you to get ahead of potential issues. 

What Does A Marketing Plan Look Like?

A marketing plan will typically have several topics covered. 

Executive summary - this is an overview of the company and will give a review of the plan. 

This section will be to the point for those who may not read the entire document.

Business Description

This section will describe what the business is all about, including the name of owners, the current situation, this means the position in the marketplace, the company mission statement, and any of the core values, and other essential information.

Situation Analysis

The situation analysis will cover the details for your marketing efforts. This section will take a closer look at the internal and external factors that will influence your marketing strategy.

Business Objectives

Any effective marketing plan will need to include business objectives. This is the overall business strategy and goals. 

Distribution and Delivery

Distribution and delivery outline of how your business will sell and deliver your products to consumers. This will include the methods of sale, including wholesale, retail, direct to homes and businesses, and online.

Marketing goals

Martin girls will tie into the overall business objectives. However, they will only focus on a small portion of the business that marketing can, in fact, influence. 

Target market

Target market is simple in concept, of course, it is unrealistic to think that you can attract everybody, you need to talk directly to your ideal customer.

USP

This is your unique selling proposition and talks about how your company has the edge over your competitors. What makes you unique?

Several other sections will be contained within your marketing plan. These are tracking and evaluation, to allow you to set measurable business goals, so you can check how each of your marketing activities has been effective. 

Budget will let you know how much you have to spend, and message and guidelines will ensure that you stand out from your competitors, and demonstrate value to potential customers.

They will work in unison to drive your business forward. 

Why You Should Not Pause Marketing Your Mediation Practice During Coronavirus

I get it.  It’s pretty weird outside.  None of us were prepared for Covid19 and it has thrown most of us for a pretty serious loop.  But some things remain the same.  I still wake up early every morning, jump on the elliptical and listen to a bunch of podcasts about entrepreneurship and marketing.  And just like you, I still go about serving my clients with integrity, honesty, and help them find innovative business and marketing solutions. 

One thing that has changed is how many of my clients seem to be overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty.  They worry about their practices or their job security, their friends and families, their colleagues, home schooling their children, maybe even food insecurity, and more.  It’s a lot to worry about. 

But in my humble opinion the resolution industry has responded with astounding flexibility, availability, and innovation.  As a group we were able to pivot into Online Resolution impressively fast.

What has not changed is that no matter the situation mediators and arbitrators are finding themselves in, there is one goal among all of them. Finding a way to keep their practices thriving. 

When this is over (and it will end) things will be business as usual. Stopping your marketing efforts in the midst of something like this is a lot like deciding to give up your diet and exercise regime because you are stuck at home. I don’t want that for you.  I want you and all my clients to surface from this in better shape than when we went into living with this virus.  

The best way to do that, is to keep your marketing efforts going and your mediation or arbitration practice growing.

Here’s why: Going dark on places like your social media platforms, Google My Business or even your blog, can be confusing for potential clients and parties when it comes to figuring out if your business is “still open and credible.”

Actions to take right now: 

Be open to different ideas and willing to pivot. If you had been resisting working with clients and parties online in the past, why not give it a try? Sometimes the ideas that you think will be the biggest fail end up being the most successful.

At a minimum I encourage you to continue posting on social media three to five times per week so that you can maintain your social presence during this time.   And if you’re more motivated try one or all these tips:

Ø  Reach out to periodicals and blogs and offer to write an article for their readers. 

Ø  Connect with your target markets’ organizations and volunteer to be a presenter for a webinar.

Ø  Think about designing and delivering an online training to help the professionals within your target markets to improve their situations.

Ø  Finally write that book you’ve always been thinking about

Ø  Start a blog

Ø  Start a podcast

Ø  Start a YouTube channel

Ø  Send handwritten ‘how are you doing’ notes to clients

Ø  Get new photos for your social media profiles

Ø  Update your profile on all your social media platforms

Ø  Read a book, subscribe to podcast, and/or watch a video about entrepreneurship

Ø  Read a book, subscribe to podcast, and/or watch a video about marketing

Ø  Do a little research to see what your perceived competition is doing right now

Ø  Revamp your website

The point is that there’s so much you can do to keep your practice alive and well during Covid19 AND prepare yourself to thrive in the future.  If you’re not sure how or have too many other things on your plate to add a new concept in the mix? No problem.  I can help make this time easier. Contact me for a free 30 minute consultation and together we’ll create the solution that you need.  

Stay home, stay safe, and stay in touch.

“That’s a good idea”

“That’s a good idea”

“And then what happens?”

Repeat the second question 100 times. Because after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort.

Starting with the wrong idea is a waste of energy and time.

But not committing to the 100 steps is a waste of a good idea.

We put a lot of pressure on the idea to be perfect because it distracts us from the reality that the hundred steps after the idea are going to make all the difference. Nearly every organization you can point to is built around an idea that wasn’t original or perfect.

The effort and investment and evolution made the difference.

Written by Seth Godin - https://seths.blog/2020/06/thats-a-good-idea/

JUNE 20, 2020

Before, During and After

Before advertising mediators had word of mouth. Our services were talked about, referrals made, and our services purchased.

The best mediators had the best reputations and busiest practices.

During advertising it's pretty simple - if you advertise and market directly to consumers your sales go up. A partnership with an appropriate PR and Marketing firm means you can grow your company nearly as large as you can imagine.

After advertising, well, we're back nearly where we started. But instead of your practice growing slowly and awkwardly by word of mouth alone, the power of your network combined with intelligent PR and marketing can drive your practice to great heights at rocket speed.

Striking a balance between self-promotion and professional promotion can be the defining combination for success. If you're not a business-minded mediator find someone to help with business development. If you're not entrepreneurial find someone who is to help create that never-ending drive for you. If you're not a bookkeeper - outsource your books to a professional. Essentially - do what you do best (mediate) and find professionals to augment your business with their special talents.

The combination is unbeatable and the balance you create will pay for itself in more ways than just your bank account.

If you need help balancing your practice-building and marketing activities give me call and I'll help you with your strategic needs.

A Few Minutes a Day

As mediators we know that professional personal interaction is imperative. As marketers, that same interaction shouldn't be overlooked.

As a professional resolutionist your time is probably pretty full. It can be difficult to add additional time-consuming tactics to an already demanding schedule.

So rather than overloading your schedule with a lot of frantic items for your already busy daily to-do list, try this tact instead: Personally contact at least one previous client every day with no other motive except to find out if they were happy with your service and ask if there's anything else you can help them with.

For the vast majority of your clients, this can be handled with a telephone call, and on the average should not take you more than five to ten minutes. Even the busiest of my clients can dedicate a few minutes per day. A five- or ten-minute personal marketing foray is a modest demand on your time and great investment in your practice. And if you're thinking this activity can be replaced by a text or email please reconsider.  In a world of technology you can make yourself stand out by having an actual conversation over a cup of coffee, on the phone, or via video conference.

Are You Making Any of These 10 Deadly Business Mistakes?

These traps/mistakes are common to many ADR entrepreneurs .

1. Getting Wedded To an Idea And Sticking With It Too Long.
Don't marry a single idea. Remember, ideas are the currency of entrepreneurs.
Play with many ideas and see which ones bring money and success.

2. No Marketing Plan.
A marketing plan creates the kind of attention you need to get in front of the right
types of people, companies, etc. It is what attracts people to you! There may be as
many as 25 ways to market your business at no or low cost. A good marketing plan
implemented effectively, efficiently, elegantly and consistently, will eliminate
the stress of so called "flying by the seat of your pants".

3. Not Knowing Your Customers.
Changes in your customers' preferences and your competitors' products and services can
leave you in the dust unless you get to know your customers well, what they want now and will likely want in the future, what their buying patterns are, and how you can be a
resource for them even if you don't have the right services for them now!

4. Ignoring Your Cash Position.
The world (aka customers) doesn't respond to even superior products in the timeframe
that you think they should. You'll need plenty of cash to sustain yourself in the meantime.

5. Ignoring Employees.
Motivating, coaching and managing your staff is probably one of your toughest challenges as an entrepreneur/business owner today! Without your patience, persistence and "people skills," your problems can multiply quickly. Morale, productivity AND PROFITS can easily be destroyed!

6. Confusing Likelihood With Reality.
The successful entrepreneur lives in a world of likelihood but spends money in the world of reality.

7. No Sales Plan.
Without a sales plan, there's no serious way to gage the financial growth and progress of
your business. You need a realistic map for where the sales will come from, how they'll
come and from whom.

8. Being a Lone Ranger.
You might be the key to everything BUT you cannot DO everything and grow at the same time.  Even modest success can overwhelm you unless you hire the right staff and delegate responsibility.

9. No Mastermind.
Get an advisory board or a mentor! Sounds crazy for a small operation? It's not! The board can be family members that you trust, or friends. Ask them to be your board of directors and review your business plans and results with them. Having someone to bounce ideas off and get an objective opinion is critical.

10. Giving Up.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs failed several times before doing extremely well.  So, if you're failing, fail. And fail fast. And learn. And try again, with this new wisdom.

Do NOT give up. Yet, do not suffer, either.

If any of the above situations are stopping you from achieving your success, give me call or email me and I'll be happy to give you a 30 minute consultation for free.

Building Your Own Think Tank

I received a question recently from one of my readers in New Zealand. He asked, “I've heard the term "knowledge network." What does it mean, and how does it fit into my business networking efforts”?

Thanks John. This is a great question.

This is a tool that I have used in my own business development for years.  A “knowledge network” or its more formal cousin an “Advisory Board” can prove invaluable to business people in the resolution industry.

I’ll use my own Board as an example.

Just like you, I have to make decisions about growth strategies, internal systems, and much more. As is frequently the case with any complex project, anyone will begin NOT seeing it clearly after a while. Personally speaking, I was relatively young when I started my company. It was important to recognize that there were lots of business experiences that I hadn’t had yet, and many that I didn’t want to know about first hand. In order to gather the information I needed and avoid some of the inevitable pitfalls, I created an Advisory Board.

My own Board is comprised of business people who have created their own business
successes over the last 45 years. Most of them are entrepreneurs and only about half of them are in the resolution industry. My Board was designed to involve resolution professionals who understand ADR, my business, and my clients’ needs. All of my advisors are very successful in their own industries (e.g. oil & gas, fashion, construction, real estate, healthcare, entertainment etc.). Their commonalities are that they are all highly successful in their own rights.

Since I have clients all over the world, I intentionally invited Board members who live and work around the globe.  Each of them are kept up to date about my business strategies, subsequent growth, quandaries etc. I don’t seek advice from all of them on every situational need.  Most often, a particular need can be matched with a Board member who has the corresponding specific experience. There are times when many of us meet via conference call and many more times that single calls are made to single advisors.

The Board is informal and not paid for their advice – however we have referred work to each other and frequently provide introductions that have proven to be quite lucrative.

How can you build a Board of your own? Seek out those individuals in your area that are successful business people. They will provide you much needed advice and may become tremendous advocates of ADR. Also seek out some of the successful resolutionists in your area to serve as both ADR and business mentors. Explain your current position as well as your goals and endeavors. Go to them with specific questions and challenges that your practice is facing and listen carefully to their advice. My experience has been that the advice from my Advisory Board has been a treasure trove of information that no college degree could ever provide.

The Personal Touch

One of the most rewarding things about being an entrepreneur and a mediator is how you personally identify with your company. Since most of us are solo-practitioners we tend to feel tremendous pride in our practice creation. However, too frequently practitioners treat their practices in an officious and overformal way. Instead try treating your small business a little more warmth.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I advocate that you never attempt to be something or someone you're not. Phonies don't fool many people for very long. Staying true to your nature almost always pays off in profits. You're not some multinational conglomerate or large bureaucracy. Take advantage of this fact and use the warm, friendly personality of your small business to your benefit. It has an endearing appeal that the 'big boys' would die to acquire, if they only could, and in fact an appeal that they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars feigning. So instead of putting on airs and pretending to be what you are not, put on a smile and get down-home friendly, figuratively speaking of course.

All the marketing dollars in the world cannot buy what you start out with, that friendly demeanor that comes with a new, small-scale entrepreneurial enterprise. Call it the corner store identity, or the 'mom and pop' atmosphere.

Call it anything you like, but take advantage of while you have it.

Begin capitalizing on your practice's small friendly nature, you can and should develop personal marketing habits, and make sure that you live by them, which also has the pleasant side effect of setting an example for your staff if you have one.

Remember that people do business with people they like.

The Words You Choose

Quick Tips:  When writing content for any promotional piece remember to use words that

1.     Have a Benefit Orientation

2.     Are Positive

3.     Are Active as Opposed to Passive

4.     Are Clear

5.     Are Brief

6.     Have a Visceral effect

Writing copy (or content) is all about persuading and motivating your reader.  In order to persuade and motivate your reader you will need to break the process of writing into two sections – the first is prior to writing and the second is while you’re writing.

Prior to writing you need to analyze your service.  First, analyze your practice from both your perspective and your potential client’s.  Find those qualities about your service that you think will be of greatest interest to your target market.  Second, think about your position in the market place.  How and why is your practice and service superior to the competition?  Third, what are the tastes of your readers?  Are they executives, teenagers, housewives, attorneys, governments, etc.?  Alter the “tone” of your message depending on the personality and of the reader.  And fourth, does the copy you have in mind fit with your entire marketing concept?

While you’re writing it’s imperative not to lose sight of the objective: to establish your practice as credible, authoritation, and appropriate via writing something of value to the reader.

Remember to use words that persuade and motivate. 

Here are seven things to keep in mind while writing.

1.     Don’t overstate with too many words like fabulous and extraordinary.  They will destroy your credibility.

2.     Be accurate and truthful.

3.     Be specific.  Vague approximations leave the reader unsatisfied.

4.     Be organized.  Your message should progress logically from headline to clincher.

5.     Write for easy reading.  The style should suit your reader, but some rules apply to all content writing.  Seek to write smooth, uncluttered, involving and persuasive content.

6.     Don’t offend the reader.  Be careful using humor.

7.     Revise and edit – revise and edit – revise and edit.

Writing is a great way to educate your prospective about the industry, the processes, and you and your practice in specific.  But the most important thing about writing to sell is that the information benefits the reader.  Time is valuable.   Asking a prospect to spend their time reading your article, brochure, website, social media post or any other piece is asking them to invest in your information.  Make it worth their effort.

Three Ways To Grow Your Practice (or How to Make More Money)

A confession: I have a reading disorder. A serious vice that requires between 2 and 5 books each week to be satiated.  I am a bookstore owner's fantasy and my library's least profit-producing cardholder.

On that note - while in my favorite bookstore, perusing the business section, I began to count the number of books that attempt to tell you how to grow your business.  I lost count, then lost interest. I have spent hundreds of dollars and euros to own a great number of these kinds of books,  and have read even more of them. If the book is any good, it will eventually get around telling you that the following 3 activities are key to growing any business.

1.Increase your caseload volume,

2.Increase your fees,

3.Increase the amount of repeat business.

Let me save you the time and money of buying or borrowing these books by explaining how each of these apply to resolutionists.

Point number one reads "Increase your caseload volume".

Clear and simple - promote your practice through networking, writing and speaking. These are the time and money-proven most effective strategies for a resolutionist.

On average a practice requires between 18 months and two years to build. Remember that to be successful, you must consider yourself a businessperson first and a mediator second. The same would hold true for any business. If you told me that because you're such a great cook you're going to open a restaurant, my first question would be "what do you know about running a culinary business?" You can't have the second (a mediation or arbitration practice) without the first (some business acumen).

Point number two reads "Increase your fees".

Again - pretty simple, but will depend on a couple of variables (and perhaps one mathematical formula).  If your background or current job is one in which you make money based on billable hours,  like a lawyer or consultant, then you will want to charge at least that same hourly rate.  Your time as a arbitrator / mediator is no less valuable than your time as a consultant or expert witness etc. It's simply a matter of cost opportunity. Your IQ does not diminish as soon as you stop into a mediation. Your time is valuable - put a value to it.

If you have a job that is a salaried position, that is not in the field of law, and you need to determine how much to charge - take the average fee charged by local attorneys within your same practice area. For instance, if you have worked for the State's Health and Welfare Department as a psychologist and are now building a practice with family as the focus, research the average hourly fees local family lawyers charge. If it is less than you make on an hourly basis - keep your current rate. Why on earth would you leave money on the table?

Or, if you just read the previous two paragraphs and are still unclear, try the following mathematical formula. You have to get paid for the work you do, or you will soon have to find some other way to make a living. Not only must you get paid, but you have to get paid enough. How do you know how to charge for your services so that you get paid enough? The economics of a mediation practice are so simple that they can be reduced to the following:

P= (H time B time R) minus C

Where:
H = total hours available
B = percent of those hours that are billable
R = hourly rate
C = costs

If you want to make more money you can lower your costs, increase the percentage of your time on paid work, or increase your rate. You can also work more hours - keeping in mind that as hourly-paid professionals we are all capped on how much our practices will earn unless we increase our rates. Why? Well there are only so many hours in a day dear reader. Once they've been billed out ... where can you go from there?

Point number three reads "Increase the amount of repeat business".

What's that you say ... just a beautiful theory? Wrong. They're more than just a theory, they're the reality for many of us. Referrals are out there. You only have to ask for them. Next time you find yourself in a networking situation, with someone for whom you've worked, or a friend or colleague who socializes or works within your target market, ask them for a referral. Ask them whom in their organization should you speak with about getting cases. Ask them if they know someone who could either directly benefit from your services or someone who could lead you in the right direction. You'll be amazed at the results if you just ask.

So there it is. Growth in a nutshell. My miniature course on "Success 101" and all you had to pay... was attention.

You’re Marketing Check Up

Time for your annual marketing check up. Use the short survey of Robert Middleton's
below to assess your practice development health. Give yourself from 1 to 5 points
on each statement. A perfect score is 125 points.

Positioning Solution. I have a clearly articulated solution statement for my business (Audio Logo) that tells that problems I solve and what solutions I provide my clients.

Target. I know who my clients are, where they are and what benefits and features they are looking for in my kind of service.

Benefits. I have outlined a number of specific client-centered benefits that my clients receive when they use my services.

Uniqueness. I have a Unique Competitive Advantage that explains why I am different than my competition and what that means to my clients.

Qualities. I am clear about the unique qualities I bring to my business and people know me for those qualities.

Packaging Identity. I have an attractive and appropriate "business identity package" with cards and letterhead printed with my own unique company identity.

Value. Everything that I offer my clients is presented as a value to the client. I always answer their question: "What's in it for me?"

Services - What You get. My services, what I do and how I do it, are clearly presented in a brochure, marketing package or web site. It's no mystery what you get.

Pricing and Proposals. I have a well-defined pricing strategy and proposal outline.

Personal Presentation. Everything about my business, including my personal presentation are presented in a way that truly represents who I am.

Promotion Relationship. Through all my promotional vehicles people get a sense of who I am and what my services are really about.

Referrals Systems. I have several ways to actively generate referrals from existing clients.  Referrals are one of my strongest sources of new clients.

Visibility Systems. I stay visible to my target market and expand my credibility through networking, social media and a web site.

Expertise. I communicate my expertise to my target market through speaking to groups and writing/publishing articles.

Keep-In-Touch Systems. I send information to clients and prospects on a regular basis through a newsletter, eZine, social media or other marketing.

Persuasion Focus. Whenever I speak to someone about my services and their needs, I am totally focused on what I can do for them - how I can help.

Needs. I am skilled at building rapport by learning the past and present situation of my prospects through a series of well-thought-out questions.

Objectives. I am skilled at motivating my clients to use my services by discovering
what future objectives are the most important to them.

Presentation. I have a well-structured and well-organized presentation designed to
inform my prospects about exactly how I can solve their problems and meet their objectives.

Recommendation. I am successful in asking for the business. I know what to say and do to win a prospect's commitment to my services.

Performance Communication. I understand that the key to successful client engagements is clear communication.  I work constantly at improving this skill.

Promises. I make clear, unambiguous promises for what I will deliver and what results clients can expect when I undertake an assignment or project. I keep my word.

Requests. I make crystal-clear requests of my clients so they know what I expect of them in a client engagement.

Extra Mile. I don't just offer good service. I do everything in my power to deliver service
that consistently exceeds clients' expectations.

Personal Performance. I stay motivated and true to my personal vision of my business. I get the things done not only for my clients but for myself to make my business successful.

Well..., how did you do? If you scored above 100 you're doing great - keep it up! If you
scored below 100 - you've some work ahead of you and if you scored below 50 - yikes - give me a call and I'll help you get on the road toward a healthy practice.

Are You Ready?

Are you ready to get business to come to you instead of having to spend your time drumming it up.  Odds are that you’re eager to get word-of-mouth and mind share marketing working for you.

But are you ready to do what it takes to get it?

To find out, complete this checklist and then stay tuned to the next six articles for a complete break-down of each component.  You might be surprised to find you’re not as ready as you think.  You might realize why you don’t yet have all the business you can enjoy.  And you’ll know what to do right away to get things going your direction.

Have you decided on a single thing you want to become well known for?

OR…

Are you still trying be everything to everyone?

Have you committed to spending all of your available time, money and energy into developing this one thing?

OR…

Are you dividing your time between numerous possibilities?

Have you developed your own niche that capitalizes on your background and expertise?

OR…

Are you doing what numerous other providers in your area are doing?

Can you clearly demonstrate why you’re the provider prospects should choose?

OR…

Are you just hoping that folks will believe enough in ADR to want to do business with you?

Do you have a long-term plan to reach your prospects and then maintain their attention to create mind share?

OR…

Are you marketing efforts sporadic and inconsistent?

Are you able to follow your plan with the consistency and frequency to attract the clients you’re interested in obtaining?

OR…

Do you let your marketing efforts wax and wane due to a lack of time or interest?

Unless you’re already exceptionally well positioned, getting business coming to you will take time.  How long it will take depends on how ready you are.  You might find that you’re ready immediately.  Conversely you might find that you have several weeks or months to get yourself and your practice in a position to begin attracting clients.  If you rush into trying to get business without positioning yourself solidly, you’ll just have to go back later and redevelop your practice into a better position.

Why not start now?  Check back next week for more.

If you need help with any of the above, just send me a message and together we’ll get you started on the right path.

Don’t Get Lost

Getting lost or overwhelmed by all the choices in social media platforms is easy to do.  It wasn't always this way.  Until the late 1990's marketing and promoting a practice was as easy buying space in newspapers and periodicals or on TV, and doing some smart networking to build trust and lasting relationships.  That was it.  That was the magic bullet.

But in today's market there's no such thing as a magic bullet.  Consumers are more savvy about who we are and what we do.  They know that there are many choices for resolution services.  Establishing trust and creating relationships with prospective clients is still a requirement.  In fact it's the primary asset that we're building.  And only connection, direct connection, does that.  Whatever platform you want to use is fine, as long as it leads to a direct connection with your primary, secondary, and / or tertiary target markets.  In that vein, I always recommend that you use the platform your target market is most comfortable using.  You may not like Facebook, but if that's where your clients are, you need to get really good at using Facebook.  If your clients love it you need to love it too.  The same goes for Twitter, Instagram, etc.

For most resolutionists, LinkedIn is the platform of choice.  Making best use of this platform is a great way to connect, establish credibility, authority, and availability.  Make best use of messages to invite people to connect, thank them for connecting, offering to be a resource for them, and providing them something of value will start the all-important dialogues to creating trust and building business.  If you have connected with previous clients, ask them to endorse you or write a recommendation - the best way to do this is provide an endorsement or recommendation to them first.  LinkedIn is a powerful library of articles - write and post one.  Is video your preference?  Record and post one.  Use LinkedIn to find groups and interact with them.  Comment on your connection's posts.  The key to LinkedIn is to connect and interact.

Regardless of your choice, log on to your social media platform profile and with a critical eye update your bio, update your photograph, make sure that your contact information is complete and correct.  Link to any other platforms and your website.  The goal is to make it easy for prospective clients to confirm your professionalism and contact you.

Being in many places is far less important than occupying one space extremely well.  Own that space and state it clearly eg: "I'm a blogger not a podcaster".  Be in that space in a way that other resolutionists without your tenacity have no way to occupying in the way you do. Do one thing and do it really well.

After all that, if you sincerely feel that you need to be on numerous platforms concurrently, that's fine too.  It can get overwhelming to manage all those accounts however.  You might want to simplify your life by using a social media management tool like Hootsuite.  The point is this ... don't get lost or overwhelmed by all the platforms and then not use any of them.

If you're not sure which platform is best for you, how to use your chosen platform(s), or simply don't want to become the social media master that your practice needs, give me call and I'll help you find the best solution or even help you manage your accounts.