Guerrilla Marketing – What’s In It For Me??

Some of you may be familiar with the saying that the shoemaker’s kids don’t have any shoes. Well, I had a rather embarrassing moment of being a shoemaker this week!

I was talking to my friend and master Guerrilla Marketer. Mitch Meyerson, this week and he asked me to explain the new assessment tool I just launched at The Coach Academy. So, I went on and on about behavioral this, and tool that, and all sorts of other ridiculous jargon – in fact, I was feeling really smart and important.

… and then he totally outed me by asking, “so what”? Huh? And, I realized, with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, that I had fallen into the classic marketing trap of talking in terms of features without giving any thought to what benefit that would give to my client! Wow. I was talking about what was in it for ME, as opposed to what was in it for my target market.

Suitably humbled, I then set about re-describing my (extremely valuable and beneficial!) tool in terms that would be of relevance to coaches and consultant, my target market.

This was quite an eye opening experience and served to remind me yet again that you have to practice what you preach, and you are no less susceptible to falling into the occasional pit than anyone else.

Want to share your “outing” moment?

Guerrilla Marketing and Social Media

I was talking to a friend and fellow marketer the other day and we were debating the relative merits of social media in the context of guerrilla marketing.

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it – social media is the perfect tool in a guerrilla marketers toolkit. When you think about what guerrilla marketing is all about, it practically defines social media. Think about it – guerrilla marketing relies on Time, Energy, and Imagination. What makes a person/company stand out on social media networks? (hint: it has to do with Time, Energy, and Imagination…)

What do guerrillas do well? They build communities and they nurture relationships. Wow! Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter all come to mind – aren’t they all about communities and relationships? The internet has long been a guerrilla marketers playground – now there are just a lot more toys to play with. I don’t for a minute want to suggest, however, that social media shoudl be your ONLY tool. Marketing is still about having a focused approach and using a complementary blend of tactics and tools. Guerrilla Marketers have knows this for years. Take a look at the various social media opportunites that exist and pick the right one or ones for your business, based on what you want to achieve. Then, implement and measure and adjust as needed.

Guerrilla Marketing Weapons – Part 2

So hopefully by now, you’ve amped up your e-mail signatures and business cards. And now I’d like to give you another couple of really easy things you can do.

I want you to take a moment right now and replay your voicemail message. Are you using it well? Are you using it to market your company? If not, I would ask that you take a moment right now and think about two or three things you could do with your voicemail message to make it stronger. If you are a coach, and you offer a complimentary introductory coaching session, why not tell people in your voice message? It might sound something like this, “hi, this is Suzy Coach. Thanks for calling. Did you know that you can sign up for a free coaching session with me? Visit my website at http://www.SuzyCoach.com and sign up now. And don’t forget to leave your name and number after the beep.” As with most things in guerrilla marketing, you are limited only by your imagination.

And let’s discuss freebies for a moment. Sometimes the best way to get someone to buy your product or service is to give them a free sample. I know several highly successful coaches who routinely offer a complimentary 15 minute laser focused coaching session. This is an extremely effective strategy to get people a taste of what you do. Alternatively, you may want to offer a free tele-seminar or webinar or free workshop. The idea is to let people experience a little bit of what you do so brilliantly so that they’ll be comfortable buying from you.

So go out and enjoy your new guerrilla-ness!

What is Your Guerrilla Identity?

So, you have defined your Target Audience and now you need to define…yourself!  Sounds simple, right? 

What I’m really talking about here is your brand or your business identity.  And, before you can do this, you really must have a good handle on who your target audience is, so make sure you’ve taken your time with that exercise (see last blog post).

1)  what is it that you do for your clients?  What will change in their lives/businesses through working with you?  This is important and I’m going to aks you to be really specific in answering this.  If you are vague about what value you bring to your clients, you won’t be able to target your marketing as effectively as a Guerrilla needs to.  What you may want to do here is make a list of all the positive outcomes you’ve helped your clients achieve – and don’t be modest!  The idea here is to capture as many values as possible.

2)  Okay, now that you’ve done that, we’ll start distilling it down a bit.  Go through your list and circle the words that have the strongest value proposition, in the eyes of the customer.  For business coaches, this may be things like “increased revenue” or “reduced costs.”  For a career coach, it may be “successful job interviews” or “career change.”  You get the idea.  Okay, get busy and make your new list of value propositions.

3)  Great!  Now, I want you to capture that in ONE sentence that will tell people what you can do for them.  This is your Business Idendity – it is what you are about as a coach (or any other business, for that matter).  Good Guerrillas are clear on what they do in terms of bringing value to their clients, and they are able to express it in one or two sentences.

Maybe some of you would like to share their business idendity?  Mine is that I provide the tools and training to help coaches and consultants make more money, market more effectively, and have more fun.

How Social Networking & Brain Tumours Create Friendships

Okay, this is totally unplanned, but I was inspired by Lorenzo’s comment to write just a bit more about social media networking.  You see, Lorenzo and I met online (and no, there is nothing improper going on – we’re both very happily married to our respective spouses!)  We met on a website for acoustic neuroma Brain tumour patients and we have continued to get to know each other on my personal blog and on Facebook.

We’ve never met face to face, but I feel that I know Lorenzo and he has, in fact, become someone I consider to be a very good friend.  And when you read his comment on my last blog post, you may start to see why.  Lorenzo embodies what I have been blogging about – he is funny, transparent, willing to share, and he has something to say.  He is willing to share his passions.   One of the first comments I ever saw from Lorenzo was about food – well, I love food.  And I already knew he had a brain tumour because we were hanging out on the same forum.  Then I read another post from him about a nice wine he had recently enjoyed.  And, bingo, we started creating a friendship born on a mutual experience with brain tumours, and a love of food and wine. 

Since then I have come to learn that Lorenzo is a briliant photographer and artist, he’s got a wicked sense of humor, and he is a kind and caring person.  I know all of this because of his willingness to let the world see who he is, and he is willing to invest time in getting to know other people.  We actually have a whole group of friends in common now. 

Social media networking pays back in so many ways.  Try it … you may be surprised to see what happens…

More Social Netiquette – Be Visible & Transparent!

Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?  In fact, what I’m talking about here is something that goes to the very heart of networking of any sort, which is relationships.  And, in order to establish good relationships, we need to be visually and emotionally engaged. 

 

So, why would you even consider having a profile on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc without posting a picture of yourself?  Come on, if you want to form a relationship with me, let me see you!  And, I’m sorry, but a picture of your goldfish isn’t going to do it – in fact, it is going to make me wonder if you are really authentic, or if you’ve got something shady going on.  So, come on, get those pictures up on all your social networking sites!

 

And, while we are on the subject of relationships, please let me know something about you.  I’m talking who you are, not just what you do.  Remember the good old days when you’d meet someone for lunch or a cup of tea and engage in some social chit-chat, get to know each other?  Well, this takes a little more intention when you are establishing online relationships, but it still reaps great rewards.  So, tell me a little about yourself, let me get a glimpse of the real you.  If you are the proud father of two beautiful girls, why not tell us that?  If you just love geeky stuff, tell us that, too.  Or how about if you you’re an Aztec dancer? 

Never lose sight of the fact that this is still networking and it is still about building relationships.

 

So, tell me something about yourself…

Social Networking – Tell Us What You Want!

When I first started my business, I set about networking with a vengeance. I made it my mission to meet with anyone and everyone who might possibly be able to introduce me to a potential client. And, being a social-type by nature, I had a lot of fun and made a lot of new friends. The referrals didn’t fly in, though, and those that did were sometimes pretty crummy. So, what was the problem? Simply put, I wasn’t being specific enough about exactly what I needed.

Why brings me to today’s topic – Being Specific. Here again, Social Media networking isn’t any different than “old fashioned” networking – if you want something, you need to let your followers/friends know specifically what you want. You really can’t just say, “I’m a coach and I need clients.” Nor can you say, “I’m a business coach and I need small business clients.” Tell us what kind of business clients (retail, start up, distressed, etc.) you need, and define “small.” Give us your parameters.

I happen to believe that most of us genuinely enjoy helping other people. Let’s face it, it makes us feel good. So, why is it so hard to ask for help when we need it? If you’re on Twitter and you want people to Re Tweet your message, tell ‘em! And, how about those Groups you belong to on Facebook and LinkedIn and Plaxo – why not start a discussion about whatever it is you need – I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the responses you get. I love Keith Farrazzi’s book, “Never Eat Alone” because one of the things he talks about is how to ask for help.

So, what can I do to help you?

Social Networking Etiquette – Be Valuable

What I mean by this is that you should give freely and generously of yourself – just like in face-to-face networking enviroments.  Ivan Meisner, founder of BNI, said it best when he coined the phrase “Givers Gain.”  This goes to the very heart of building relationships, which goes to the heart of networking.  If you give, you’ll get – simple.  So, when you jump into the great universe of social networking, take time to give some value.

On Twitter, share interesting story links, cool new technology you’ve discovered and don’t forget to ReTweet stuff other “Tweeps” have tweeted.   On Facebook, take time to read the posts that your friends have written and comment, offer suggestions, ask how you can help.  Visit the discussion boards of the groups you belong to on Facebook and take a few minutes to answer questions.  Same think on LinkedIn – take time to answer questions.  You may be surprised what happens.

I am not advocating that you spend an undue amount of time on this – take a half hour every couple of days and see what you can offer.  The key to networking is to let people see your value.  Don’t be shy!

Social Networking Isn’t a Spectator Sport!

In netspeak, this means don’t just lurk.  If you want to get maximum value from your networking, it pays to get involved.  It’s kind of like joining the local Chamber of Commerce.  Some people join and never attend a function and then wonder why nothing is happening.  Those people eventually drop out, never to be heard from again.  Then, on the flip side, there are the folks who join the Chamber and immediately volunteer to serve on a committee (or two) and attend all the events.  Pretty soon, everyone knows them and referrals start to trickle and then cascade in.

The same thing applies in social media networking.  If you are on LinkedIn and all you ever do is update your profile once in a while, you’ll be like thousands of people on LinkedIn – invisible to most of us!  If, however, you join some groups and get involved in some of the discussions – well, presto, people get to know you!  Same goes on Facebook – join some groups and invite your friends and colleagues to get involved.  And, Twitter, same thing! 

If you don’t get involved, no one is going to know what a spectacular and talented person you are.  So what are you waiting for???

Social Networking – Be Interesting and Interested

Remember that old mantra – you only get one chance to make a first impression? In face-to-face networking, we spend hours crafting our perfect “elevator pitch” so that we make a great first impression. We (hopefully) make it interesting and engaging, and give people a reason to want to get to know us better.

The same applies online, times ten! When you meet people in-person, you engage all of the senses; online you are only engaging the eyes and you are relying on the written words to make your impression. When you meet someone face-to-face, they can hear your voice, see your face, watch your body language – in fact, your actual words will only account for about 7% of your message in these situations. However, online is a different animal all together!

Here is where you need to spend time crafting the right message to grab the reader’s interest. (And, yes, please use a profile picture – more on that later!) If you are a coach, don’t just say you are a coach – tell us you help entrepreneurs realize their dreams, or that you help businesses sizzle on the web, or whatever it is that you do … for the reader!. The key here is to make it interesting – give me a reason to want to know more about you.

Be Interested

I could sum this all up in one sentence, “It’s not all about you.” Again, social media networking isn’t really any different than face-to-face networking – people want to know that you are interested in them and in what they have to say. So, be interested in people, get engaged, and be curious. Visit other people’s blogs and leave comments; leave comments on your Facebook friends “walls;” post questions on LinkedIn; engage in some “twitersations” on Twitter.

In short, let people know that you are interested in them. If you see something interesting in someone’s bio or profile, ask them about it.